MAD FOR THE MAD SCENE

Soprano Brenda Rae as Lucia and Santa Fe Apprentices in Donizetti's Lucia de Lamermoor (photo by Ken Howard)

Another brilliant evening at the Santa Fe Opera brought to us another compelling heroine--the fragile and vulnerable Lucia portrayed by the brilliant soprano Brenda Rae who impressed us four years ago as Violetta. What a stunning contrast with last night's Alcina, a heroine who is manipulative and deceitful! Lucia is a an unfortunate young woman who wants nothing more than to wed her beloved Edgardo, sung by terrific tenor Mario Chang who has also impressed us in the past five years since we began writing  www.vocedimeche.reviews. Mr. Chang made an exceptional Edgardo, gathering impact as the evening progressed. His final scene was heartbreaking.

In Salvadore Cammarano's libretto, based on a work by Sir Walter Scott, poor Lucia is thwarted by her desperate brother Enrico, whose political future, and perhaps his life, hang upon his establishing a relationship with Lord Arturo Bucklaw; Baritone Zachary Nelson (about whom we have also been writing for about five years) lent his forceful stage presence and rich voice to the role. Lucia becomes a pawn in this political intrigue and is manipulated into signing a contract of marriage with Lord Bucklaw, here portrayed by a promising member of the Apprentice Program--Carlos Santelli, who has a pleasing, if somewhat covered sound. 

Obviously, this cannot end well! Indeed, by the end of the opera, Lucia has died of a broken heart, Arturo has been murdered on his wedding night, Edgardo commits suicide by grabbing Enrico's dagger, and Enrico will probably suffer the ignominious defeat of one who falls out of favor with the court.

What makes Gaetano Donizetti's opera such a favorite is the theme of a woman's suffering at the hands of men, the torrent of tunes that fell from Donizetti's pen, and the opportunity to hear a favorite soprano unravel to the accompaniment of the eerie sound of a glass harmonica, here played by international expert Friedrich Heinrich Kern. (Thanks Benjamin Franklin for this amazing invention!) The lengthy mad scene requires the casting of a soprano of prodigious coloratura skills-- but the rest of the opera requires her to arouse our sympathy. To this end, Ms. Rae succeeded admirably on both counts. It was a riveting performance that completely deserved the standing ovation at the end of the performance.

Also notable was bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Raimondo the Chaplain and apprentice Stephen Martin as Normanno, Captain of the Guard, who takes the rap for Lucia's death by virtue of having exposed her illicit romance with Edgardo of Ravenswood, her brother's arch enemy.

One of the great pleasures of the Santa Fe Opera is witnessing the rise of the apprentice singers. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit captured our notice when she sang the role of Laurene Jobs in a preview of The (R)Evolution of Steve Jobs which we attended in NYC at Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum.  Last night she sang the role of Lucia's companion Alisa and she sang it with superb vocal resources and appropriate deference to Ms. Rae.

Maestro Corrado Rovaris, a notable bel canto expert, led the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra which sounded superb, as always. We thought that his somewhat accelerated tempi for the first act was a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it increased the sense of urgency in the plot; on the other hand, we missed the sense of spaciousness he provided for the singers in the second act.

All of the singers impressed us with their musicality of phrasing; the variations of dynamics and tempi as well as vocal coloration indicated the presence of true artistry. The vocal blending in the sextet (when Edgardo crashes the wedding celebration) could not have been better and was second only to the mad scene in its ability to astonish us with the writing of Donizetti and the performances of the singers.

Also noteworthy were the confrontational duets between Mr. Nelson and Mr. Chang--two powerful artists matching artistry with equivalent artistry.

Director Ron Daniels went for a minimalist approach, such a contrast with last night's overcooked Alcina. He set the opera at the time Donizetti composed it--thankfully not in contemporary times. The principals seemed well directed toward sustaining dramatic verisimilitude but the chorus seemed static, standing in rows and moving rather mechanically and in unison. We take issue with Lucia visiting her brother in his bedroom; it just seemed inappropriately informal. And it bothered us that Lucia's hallucinations were invisible to the audience whilst Edgardo's dying hallucination was presented onstage.  However, it was indeed a gorgeous image of Ms. Rae looking pure and heavenly!

The chorus, comprising the Santa Fe Apprentices and under the fine direction of Susanne Sheston, sang with similar superb musicianship and well-defined diction. We expect no less!

Riccardo Hernandez' set design was also minimalistic. The walls and ceiling comprised square panels done in skewed perspective that emphasized the feeling of claustrophobia that Lucia must have felt. The fateful fountain at which Lucia hallucinates a ghost was a fluorescent plastic tub of water. There was nothing great about the great hall in which the wedding ceremony took place. Edgardo's room was nothing but a chair and tiny table with a lamp. This simplicity is not a bad thing but another double-edged sword in that it allowed us to focus more on the performances than on the background.

Peter Negrini's projections overlay the walls with images of forests. Effective lighting was by Christopher Akerlind.

Emily Rebholz' costume design worked very well for the women who wore muted ball gowns to the wedding, as one would expect among the Scottish aristocracy. But the men at the ball were dressed in white tie and tails and not sporting kilts or the colors of their clan, which we have come to expect. The men looked more authentic in the first act, wearing dark clothes trimmed in fur.

The ball scene also included some dancing, choreographed by Zack Winokur, which was vaguely "folk" but markedly un-Scottish.

We left at the end of the opera feeling fulfilled on all counts, but especially that of witnessing the success of former apprentices.  We hope to find Ms. Coit, Mr. Santelli, and Mr. Martin following in their footsteps within the next five years!

(c) meche kroop

ALL HAIL THE DON AT SANTA FE OPERA

Leah Crocetto as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni (photo by Ken Howard)

Nothing matches the thrill of opera when everything comes together.  Apt casting, effective conducting, great singing, respect for time and place, colorful costuming and sets that "stay out of the way".  Last night at the Santa Fe Opera, we saw and heard a Don Giovanni that will remain in our memory, thanks to all the above conditions being met.

Mozart's music is sublime from the portentous opening chords in D minor, leading to a stunningly melodic overture replete with upward and downward scale passages; this lets us know we are in for quite a ride.  Mozart even inserts a private joke toward the finale; the Don enjoys listening to the Count Almaviva's aria "Non piu andrai" from Mozart's own previously written opera Nozze di Figaro. And just listen to the party scene when we hear a sedate minuet for the aristocrats and a lively peasant dance simultaneously!

The opera premiered in Prague in 1787 toward the end of The Enlightenment. The social order was shifting and aristocrats were fair game.  Lorenzo Da Ponte's radical libretto included attempted rape, murder, licentious sexuality and freedom of expression. It also reflects upon an interesting aspect of Mozart's character; Mozart was quite a rebellious rascal himself and refused to repent his behavior, although a controlling father would have had him do so. 

The eponymous Don was portrayed by bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch who not only sang with gorgeous tone and phrasing, but who commanded the stage with great power and presence.  This Don seems to have some self-awareness and has a sense of humor, even when abusing his servant Leporello. We particularly enjoyed his "Champagne Aria" and his serenade "Deh vieni alla finestra"--in which he employed very different coloration.

Leporello was portrayed by bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen. Mr. Ketelsen, making his debut with the Santa Fe Opera, was just as effective at drawing laughs from the audience as he was at singing. Does anyone not love the "Catalogue Aria"? He portrayed the character as easily bought and ultimately eager to find a less troubling master.

The role of Massetto was given an interesting twist by second-year apprentice Jarrett Ott. This young baritone has star quality written all over him. He not only has a steadfast tone but the ability to create a believable character.  Massetto is usually portrayed as a clumsy simpleton but Mr. Ott's peasant exhibited strength and will, leading to all kinds of interesting variations on the theme of his relationship with Zerlina. He could be a worthy rival to Don Giovanni and was only held back by the power of the aristocracy.

Lithuanian tenor Edgaras Montvidas is new to us and to the SFO as well. His tone has more texture to it than that we usually hear in the role of Don Ottavio, which made his duets with Donna Anna that much more interesting. He performed both of his arias with feeling--"Dalla sua pace" and "Il mio tesoro". The lavish applause was probably 90% for his lovely singing and 10% bonus for being completely unflappable when the heavens delivered a torrential downpour that swept through the partially open house.  Too bad the storm didn't wait for the scene when Don Giovanni gets dragged into hell!

As the Commendatore, Soloman Howard, also making his SFO debut, used his booming bass and stage presence to create a terrifying figure.

Lest you think that the men carried the show, let us reassure you that the three female parts were brilliantly sung and played. As Donna Anna, soprano Leah Crocetto, first heard at SFO in Maometto II six years ago, was a revelation. Her tone is substantial in size but creamy in texture. Her "Non mi dir" in Act II was deeply affecting.

Keri Alkema's Donna Elvira was equally compelling; her soprano was variously colored as she went from loving feelings to angry ones. We especially enjoyed her aria "Mi tradi quell'alma ingrato".

The role of Zerlina is a great one and Welsh soprano Rhian Lois was absolutely adorable. This role is her American debut and it was an auspicious one. She has one of those sweet light instruments that falls pleasantly on the ear.  She excelled in both arias--"Batti, batti, o bel Massetto" and "Vedrai carino". Her duet with Mr. Okulitch, the famous "La ci darem la mano" was pure delight.

If you surmised that the ensembles came across marvelously well, you would be as right as the rain that doused the house.

Mozart's magnificent score was well played by the orchestra, under the baton of John Nelson. Apprentices graced the stage as liveried servants and (strangely) nuns.

Thankfully, director Ron Daniels did not try to impose any weird concepts on this work, which is firmly rooted in the late 18th c. It is indeed a dramma giocoso and the direction milked every ounce of humor from the libretto. This served to make the final horror even more powerful as the Commendatore dragged the Don to a fiery hell, in which the stagecraft worked quite well.

This is not to fault Mr. Daniels but no director has ever made clear why a woman would pursue a man who tried to rape her. In this production, the Don is not wearing a mask so it became confusing when it took so long for her to recognize him as her father's killer.

The costume design by Emily Rebholz added much to the visual impact. Costumes seemed to be modern interpretations of 19th c. styles and were uniformly flattering.

Scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez was spare--just a few sconces on the wall and a huge sculpture of a head which occupied a substantial amount of onstage real estate. It was supposed to suggest a death mask but we didn't perceive it as adding anything to the otherwise perfect production.

However, Marcus Doshi's lighting design compensated for the lack of sets. In the party scene, the lighting was warm, as if the room had been lit by thousands of candles.

(c) meche kroop