DOOMED HEROINES

 Nobuko Amimiya and Cassie Chang

Only on rare occasion do we get to witness the Lincoln Center debut of one of our favorite young singers. The excitement of the occasion was matched by the artistry we witnessed in a recital of operatic arias that we wish had been longer in duration. Ms. Chang's promise has been noted by the Bradley Family Foundation whose support underwrote the concert and by legendary voice teacher, Bulgarian bass-baritone Valentin Peytchinov of Vocal Production NYC.

Mr. Peytchinov himself was on hand for a post-concert discussion of the makings of an opera singer. He pointed out the uniqueness of the profession. In any other profession, you get a degree and then you earn a living by practicing that particular profession. In the world of opera singing, very few graduates actually succeed. It seems to us that success comes partly from artistry, partly from persistence and determination, and partly from a lucky break.

Ms. Chang is a hard worker, having learned last night's repertory in a relatively brief period of time, in contrast with the arias we have heard her sing before, which have fit like a second skin. Although there were one or two that she will grow into, several of them were not only close to perfection but also astonishingly beautiful and moving.

Take for example Cio Cio San's hopeful but delusional aria from Puccini's Madama Butterfly--"Un bel di", which most opera lovers are so familiar with that they might have been surprised, as we were, to find tears springing to our eyes as if hearing it for the first time. This is not the time or place for a discussion of identity politics and casting choices, but in all honesty, an Asian face contributed something to our belief that we were witnessing a Japanese girl barely out of adolescence experiencing her first love. All the technical accuracy disappeared behind the illusion created by Ms. Chang and we were deeply moved.

There were no such accidents of physiognomy to help Ms. Chang in the similarly moving "Salce salce...Ave Maria" sung by the doomed Desdemona in the final act of Verdi's Othello. Our heroine is facing an unjust death at the hands of her woefully deceived and jealous husband. The colors of Ms. Chang's voice varied according to the complex emotions Desdemona was feeling as she said her prayers in this emotionally draining and technically challenging scene. The terror peeped out from the plaintive blanket of sound. Verdi gave Desdemona some repeated words, giving the artist an opportunity to build intensity and vary color. We must say we found it spellbinding.

Opening the program was  "Crudele? Ah no mio bene...Non mi dir ", a beautiful aria Mozart gave to Donna Anna in his masterpiece Don Giovanni, a fine example of legato writing with some stunning upper register challenges and some fioritura worthy of a bel canto composer which surely must have inspired their more consistently florid vocal line.

This aria was followed by an aria from a bel canto master. In Anna Bolena, Donizetti gave his doomed heroine (another doomed heroine!) a gorgeous scene as she faces death in "Piangete voi...Al dolce guidami". The queen, a victim of the King's fickleness, is distracted almost to the point of madness as she remembers happier moments. Here, Ms. Chang created a sympathetic character going through a succession of moods, something which is particularly suited to the bel canto treatment. We loved her facility with the scale passages and arpeggi.

Doomed women of the 20th c. do not get such gorgeous music lavished upon them. We cannot say we were swept away my "Marie's Lullaby" from Alban Berg's Wozzeck but that has more to do with our failure to appreciate such despairing "modern" music than the artistry of the singer. About all we were able to appreciate was her adequate German which we appreciated more in the light hearted "Mein Elemer" from Richard Strauss' comedy of manners Arabella. Although written in the 20th c. we find Strauss' music more pleasing than Berg's and the story more gratifying.  Arabella has many suitors which she will eventually overthrow for Mandryka, and Elemer is one of them. Ms. Chang successfully captured Arabella's flirtatious nature.

To completely round out the demonstration of Ms. Chang's linguistic facility we had the obligatory French aria,  "Il est doux, il est bon" from Massenet's Hérodiade in which Salome's innocence shone forth. We enjoyed the magnificently expansive top note. As a matter of fact, throughout the recital we were impressed with Ms. Chang' instrument which filled the Bruno Walter theater with overtones, having just the right amount of vibrato.

The token English aria was Ellen Orford's "Embroidery Aria" from Britten's Peter Grimes, and it is here that we felt let down because the English was not sufficiently crisp to be understood. (Frankly, we find the English language to be nearly unsingable unless the text is by W.S. Gilbert or Stephen Sondheim.) Indeed our companion didn't even realize it was English!

However, the encore was a very personal aria in which Ms. Chang's youthful excitement about coming to New York to study voice was set by Iranian composer Pouria Khadem. Perhaps because the register was lower, every word was clear and the performance left us with joyful feelings.

Upon reflection, we had a great time mentally curating a program comprising doomed heroines. We believe that Ms. Chang could handle them all! 

© meche kroop

LOVERS, SWINDLERS, AND CLOWNS

Asher Denburg, Jeremy Griffin, Anna Viemeister, and Valentin Peytchinov

We love new experiences; we love being introduced to new singers; and we love getting more evidence for our strongly held beliefs. The belief in question has to do with American opera and its definition. The academic music world insists on presenting the public with works which we see out of curiosity, works which very few people ever wish to see again.

Meanwhile, there are writers of "Broadway Musical Theater" who entertain us in the same way as Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, and Puccini did in previous centuries. These works hold our interest and endure mainly because of one feature. They have melody. The melodies stay with us and we want to hear them again and again.

Of course, looking at 20th c. musical theater, there was a lot of trash, but there were also forgettable operas in the 19th c. So, dear reader, last night found us back at St. John's in the Village, the Rector of which is a true music lover. The occasion was a celebration of the centennial of Prohibition and celebrate we did with a compelling concert of music theater and cabaret, performed unamplified (YAY!) by a trio of splendid singers, accompanied on the piano by Asher Denburg, a pianist new to us but one we look forward to hearing again.

The singer who was new to us is Jeremy Griffin whose baritone voice readily encompasses the lower register. Whatever he sang was given the full force of his personality; he has plenty of presence and uses his entire body to get a song across. And he enunciates English clearly so that every word is understood.

Our favorite number of the evening was William Bolcom's "The Song of Black Max"--in our opinion the best song Bolcom ever wrote. We were introduced to this song by none other than cabaret artist Kim David Smith and we fell in love with it on the spot. We have heard it several times over the past few years with feelings of disappointment because the other singers failed to paint the picture. 

Mr. Griffin succeeded where others failed. He virtually created the character of Black Max but also created the characters of the "lady organ-grinder", not to mention "all the sons behind her", as well as the "little girls with little curls in little dollhouse jails".

He was very funny in "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" from Eric Idle's Spamalot, adding in some appropriate dance moves. 

He conveyed different facets of fatherhood from the silly to the serious. The father in "The Baby Song" from I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change by Roberts and DiPietro is dealing with the challenge of a new baby, whereas the father-to-be in the "Soliloquy" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel is dealing with his fantasies of fatherhood. The father in "I Confess" from Snow and Pitchford's Footloose is dealing with far more serious issues, as a preacher laments the son he lost.

In an entirely different mood was "Epiphany" from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in which Mr. Griffin created a scarily believable angry and vengeful character. And how about that relaxed and confident singer of Paul Anka's "My Way" who's nearing the end of a fulfilling life! So many different characters and all so well realized!

Although Mr. Griffin did the heavy lifting for the evening, mezzo-soprano Anna Viemeister created the hilarious character of Prince Orlofsky from Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, singing in heavily accented English his famous aria "Chacun a son goût" in a pretty clever English translation. She also made a superlative emcee for the evening.

To cap things off, Bulgarian bass Valentin Peytchinov lent his venerable instrument and larger than life personality to create the character of French planter Emile de Becque lamenting the loss of his love in "This Nearly Was Mine" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.

What a treat to hear such wonderful music unamplified in an intimate environment and sung by such terrific talent! We celebrated Prohibition at a post-concert reception with bubbly toasts and a sing-a-long with Francisco Mirando at the piano.

© meche kroop

JUAN JOSÉ LAZARO--MASTER OF COLLABORATIVE PIANO

Juan José Lázaro, Rosario Hernandez, Sonya Argiro, Anna Viemeister, and Valentin Peytchinov

We have heard Juan José Lázaro performing on the piano at Manhattan School of Music, most often with Maestro Thomas Muraco conducting the Opera Repertoire Ensemble. There was no way we were going to miss his Master of Music recital! Collaborative piano is an art form into and of itself. The collaborative pianist must not only be an exceptional technician and artist, but he must also learn the art of collaborating with other musicians.

Because of our passion for vocal music, most of our knowledge comes from listening to voice/piano collaborations. Not mentioning any names, but we have heard one who is very famous who drowns out his vocal partner. There are others who provide inadequate support. The best of this art form know when to "keep it down" and when to "let out all the stops". The art of coaching is yet another aspect of this art form. Many singers have their favorite coaches and prefer to take the stage with ones they know they can count on to make them sound their very best.

We consider Mr. Lázaro to be one of the top collaborative pianists of his generation. Yesterday he collaborated with four very different singers, each with his/her own repertory. Certain choices seemed designed to show off versatility.

The pianism could not be faulted. Mr. Lázaro's technique is flawless and he indulges in just enough expressiveness to credit the composer and the singer, without indulging in theatrics or grandstanding.

In the first set he accompanied soprano Sonya Argiro in some deeply felt Russian music that went right to the gut. "Lisa's aria" from Pique Dame was sung by Sonya Argiro with great intensity. Mr. Lázaro created the mood right from the start and emphasized the repetitive descending figures.

Two songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff provided an entirely different experience with gentle coloration in "How Fair this Spot" and, in "Do Not Sing to Me", sufficient emphasis of the "Oriental" mode to convey painful nostalgia.

As far as Ms. Argiro, she poured plenty of feeling into the song and delivered some gorgeous melismatic passages, but interrupted her connection with the audience by being on the book, as did all of the other singers, to our dismay.

Anna Viemeister used her pleasing mezzo-soprano with lots of variety of coloration, matched by Mr. Lázaro, in Barber's Hermit Songs. Their joint artistry moved us along the path toward liking this cycle. We particularly enjoyed the delicate colors of the brief "Church Bell at Night". Although it is not our favorite song, the duo conveyed the delusional quality of "St. Ita's Vision". We always like the irreverent "The Heavenly Banquet" and the sweetly personal "The Monk and His Cat", all given the appropriate colors.

Manuel de Falla's Canciones Populares Españolas is a favorite cycle of ours, with its varying moods, rhythms, and tempi. The fingerwork in "Seguidilla Murciana" is challenging but one would never know that because Mr. Lázaro dispatched the challenge with ease. We also liked the rubato in "Jota" and the anguish of "Polo".

Mezzo-soprano Rosario Hernandez performed the songs in perfect Castilian and the texture of her instrument was perfectly suited to them. She actually surmounted the presence of the music stand, although we hope to hear her perform this cycle again without the score.

We know bass Valentin Peytchinov primarily as an impresario and pedagogue, a nurturer of young talent. We came to opera too late to hear his onstage performances so it was a special treat to hear him yesterday in the Mussorgsky cycle Songs and Dances of Death. In these songs, Death is conceived as a female figure who comes gently to take a suffering infant, an ailing maiden, an elderly drunk, and soldiers in battle.

In spite of holding the score, Mr. Peytchinov astonished us with the depth of his interpretation and the resonance of his sound.

It was a valuable experience for us. Usually we focus on the singer but yesterday we got to focus on the piano and left with a better awareness of the art of collaboration.

(c) meche kroop

FIFTY SHADES OF GRIEF

Francisco Miranda and Lawson Anderson

Last night's recital at the National Opera Center presented bass-baritone Lawson Anderson and collaborative pianist Francisco Miranda performing, no, living Franz Schubert's 1827 song cycle Die Winterreise, presented by Vocal Productions NYC. The event was so compelling that we were unable to wield pen or camera.  The emotion was so intense that it has stayed with us all night. On our row alone, we observed a couple other audience members dabbing at their teary eyes and softly blowing their noses.  It was unbearably real.

Award winning bass-baritone Lawson Anderson, whom we have been writing about for a couple of years, employed excellent German, gorgeous phrasing, and some very dark colors--but none of this mattered.  What mattered was the intense involvement that conveyed itself to the audience.

Wilhelm Müller's text describes the decompensation of a presumably young man, disappointed in love. He leaves the town where his sweetheart lives in dead of night. Every object and natural element becomes a metaphor for his loneliness, isolation, and feelings of hopelessness. One could say that this is an exaggeration of German Romanticism but we saw it last night as a severe case of melancholia, especially through the interpretation of Mr. Anderson.

In our time, the young man would have been hustled off to the psychiatrist and treated with anti-depressants and group therapy. Two centuries ago, he would have been filled with shame and seen no way out.  As Mr. Anderson sang, we heard the fellow sinking into ever deeper and self-referential gloom, in spite of some feeble attempts to rouse himself. By the latter part of the cycle he seems to be hallucinating. In the final song "Der Leiermann" he is able to project his despair onto another isolated human who grinds out songs to which no one listens.

We don't know if Müller suffered from depression, but his text surely appealed to Schubert who, for many reasons, including poverty, lack of public recognition, syphilis, and possibly homosexuality, was frequently morbidly depressed. Only a person who has suffered from deep depression could have composed such music, illuminating Müller's text so effectively. 

We hope Mr. Anderson has not experienced such sorrow and wondered how he was able to communicate it so effectively.  Such is artistry--something that goes way beyond good technique.

Still, we admire the expansion we have witnessed at the bottom of the register. There's a lot of depth there that makes us think Verdi and Wagner. Mr. Lawson has been coached by Valentin Peytchinov.

Mr. Miranda's piano enhanced the references to natural elements, bringing out the howling of dogs, the rattling of chains, the sound of the hurdy-gurdy, the wind, the graceful linden tree, the pounding of the heart, the sound of the posthorn. The two artists succeeded admirably in creating an aural picture.  As a matter of fact, there were many times during the recital that they disappeared from our eyes and we could visualize the lonely wanderer in the icy landscape. It has been only a few days since we ourself trudged through the snow, making the evening a very timely one.

(c) meche kroop

VPNYC FILLS THE BARBER CHAIR

Patricia Mullenaux, Charles Gray, Madison Marie McIntosh, Yun-Kwan Yiu, Sam Varhan, and Don Raymond in Vocal Productions NYC's Barber of Seville at the Rose Nagelberg Theater

Rossini's opera buffa, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, has been delighting audiences for two centuries with its ear tickling melodies tumbling out from capo to fine and it's charming age-old story about rebellious young lovers triumphing over possessive parent figures. Indeed, we never tire of Cesare Sterbini's witty libretto adapted from Pierre Beaumarchais' comedy. The situations are hilarious and it is impossible not to fall in love with the spunky Rosina, the wily Figaro, and the clueless Count.

In the role of Rosina, we heard the marvelous mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh who always astonishes us with her lavish ornamentation and seamless races through the vocal register. She had just the right mix of rebellious girlish glee and womanly resolve,  and sang "Una voce poco fa" with pinpoint accuracy in the ornamentation, much of which was original. She is definitely superstar material.

Before we move on, she is also cast for Saturday night, and the famous bass Valentin Peytchinov, who is the founder and Artistic Director of VPNYC, will himself sing the role of Don Basilio on that same date. Most of the roles are double and triple cast and we recognize the names of so many of the singers we enjoyed at the VPNYC benefit on Giving Tuesday which we reviewed earlier. So you can't go wrong no matter which date you choose. But the run ends Sunday so don't miss out!

As most of you know, Rosina is the ward of the grumpy Dr. Bartolo who would like to get his hands on her dowry and probably her person as well. She has been secretly wooed by one "Lindoro" who is actually the Count Almaviva in disguise. Tenor Sam Varhan has a distinctive comic flair and was hilarious in his disguises as a drunken soldier and as a music teacher.

In a wig itself worthy of giggles, Charles Gray performed the role of Dr. Bartolo and impressed us with his acting and singing. "A un dottor della mia sorte" was sung with pomposity and fine phrasing. He deals graciously with his ultimate defeat and we admire him for good sportsmanship.

Aiding and abetting the romance between Rosina and the Count is the wily Figaro who seems to come up with clever ideas in proportion to the amount of baksheesh he gets. Baritone Yun-Kwan Yiu gave an engaging performance. It seemed to be a running joke that he kept appearing in different wigs. 

We loved his duet with Rosina in Act I -- "Dunque io son...tu non m'inganni?" He also had a fine duet with the Count "All'idea di quel metallo".

The slimy music teacher Don Basilio was performed by the bass Gennadiy Vysotsky who carried off the aria "La calunnia è un venticello" along with some fine help from the percussionist. 

Berta is one of Dr. Bartolo's much put upon servants and we always enjoy the aria in which she laments her loneliness. This was finely performed last night by Patricia Mullenaux who doddered around the stage in humorous fashion. Dr. Bartolo's other servant Ambrogio was performed with much comic stage business by Don Raymond, who also performed the role of Fiorello, leading his ragtag group of musicians in the Count's opening serenade. It was interesting to see women in this group of musicians! Bill Atkinson was Chorus Director.

Jane Leathers did a fine job of directing, keeping things moving briskly and giving each performer stage business that helped to create his/her own character.

Kent Gasser designed an effective set which included Rosina's balcony above. This set element revolved so that we could see her bedroom on the other side of the doors. Dr. Bartolo's home was furnished with the necessary harpsichord, table and chairs, and a chaise longue. Figaro had a portable salon on wheels with all the accoutrements of a barber and hair stylist.

The lighting by Michael Celentano and Eowyn Joy was particularly effective during the storm scene, assisted by some stormy sounds coming from the orchestra which played well for Maestro Francisco Miranda.

Costuming by Hannah Conradt was colorful and period appropriate. Ms. McIntosh looked adorable, the military looked official, and the music teachers looked scholarly.

Finally, we would like to mention how excellently the cast sang the Italian. There was a wonderful ensemble feel which made the septet at the conclusion of Act I an absolute delight. Not only was the Italian diction excellent but the voices were well balanced as well. One of the major advantages to opera in a smaller theater is the opportunity to hear the different vocal lines instead of a wash of sound.

(c) meche kroop

A DAY OF GIVING

Emerging artists of Vocal Productions New York City

A benefit to celebrate Giving Tuesday was held last night at the Church of the Holy Apostles where renowned Bulgarian bass Valentin Peytchinov assembled a group of talented up-and-comers to provide an evening of favorite arias. Some of these emerging artists are well-known to us and some were new discoveries whose careers we plan to follow.

It is no secret that VPNYC is presenting Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Baruch Performing Arts Center from December 12th through the 17th, with Mr. Peytchinov himself singing the role of Don Basilio on the 16th. It was fitting that members of the cast presented excerpts from Rossini's comic masterpiece and we heard just enough to know that it is a "must-see".

Mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh has been on our radar for a few years and we have witnessed her transition from soprano to mezzo; we are delighted to report that every time we hear her we hear more expansion at the bottom of the register, with absolutely no loss of ping in the upper extension.  She has also contributed some really interesting ornamentation to Rosina's famous "Una voce poco fa" (with some help from Will Crutchfield) that served to maintain interest in this oft heard aria. There is nothing like an original cadenza to grab our attention.

As the scolding Dr. Bartolo we heard newcomer Keith Milkie who overcame youthful good looks by means of his resonant low voice and fine acting to convince us in the role. We have heard handsome young basses and bass-baritones accomplish this feat with appropriate makeup and costuming completing the illusion. We will be alert to this when we attend the performance!

Another singer we have been following is bass-baritone Lawson Anderson who performed Prince Igor's aria from the Borodin opera of the same name. He performed it with such passionate intensity and such fluent Russian that we were absolutely riveted. The texture of his voice is perfectly suited to this aria and we would very much like to hear him perform the opera someday. We heard it three years ago at the Met with Ildar Abdrazakov in a reconstructed version.

Perhaps it was because we had a moment of silence in memory of our beloved Dmitri Hvorostovsky or maybe Mr. Anderson was just that good --but perhaps he will fill those sadly empty shoes.

Dramatic soprano Anna Viemeister stunned us with "Vieni t'affretta" from Verdi's Macbeth. Not only was her instrument compelling in its intensity but she convinced us of the qualities of the power hungry character--powerful but seductive and manipulative. Her fioritura shone in the cabaletta.

Emma Lavandier is new to us and we heartily enjoyed her performance of Siébel's aria "Faites-lui mes aveux" from Gounod's Faust. She has a bright crystalline sound and an affecting delivery. But most important, she is a Francophone and it was a distinct pleasure to hear the language sung the way it should be sung.

Charlotte's aria "Je vous écris de ma petite chambre", from Massenet's Werther, was given a lovely performance by Viktoriya Koreneva, one which was notable for its excellent French but also for a convincing portrayal of the varying moods of a woman torn between duty and romantic longing she is trying to suppress.

Highlights from Verdi's Il Trovatore ended the program and both singers were superb and new to us. Dramatic Soprano Julianna Milin exhibited a fine rich tone and dramatic import in "Tacea la notte placida" in which she tells her companion how she came to fall in love with Manrico. In the cabaletta we were impressed by the neatness of the skips, runs, and staccati.

Mezzo-soprano Lorna Case grew in power as she delivered "Condotta ell'era in ceppi", the aria in which the gypsy Azucena relates the terrible story of her mother's gruesome death, burning at the stake. The horror of throwing her baby into the fire can be conveyed even though the story defies rationall belief. Ms. Case brought the tale to a dramatic conclusion.

This review is growing longer than the concert but let us mention the ardent performance of the serenade "Ecco ridente in cielo" by tenor Raymond Storms, baritone Yun Kwan Yiu's effective "Largo al factotum", and bass-baritone Claudio Mascharenas' creation of the nasty character of Don Basilio in "La Calunnia". You will be able to catch these performances at the December run described above.

Perhaps a Faust is in the works as well.  We got to hear baritone Jeremy Griffin sing "Avant de quitter ces lieux" and Charles Gray sing the devilish "Vous qui faites l'endormie".

The evening ended with the Act II Finale from Il Barbiere di Siviglia with soprano Sangying Li singing Rosina, Mr. Yiu taking the role of Figaro, and Samuel Varhan singing Count Almaviva. The renowned Francisco Miranda was accompanist for the evening and matched the glorious singing with some impressive piano playing.

We hope that the artistic generosity of the singers will be matched by the financial generosity of the audience. It is organizations like VPNYC that provide opportunities for emerging artists to learn new roles and gain performance experience.

(c) meche kroop

LUCIA--A GHOST STORY

A ghost (Christine Duncan) haunts Lucia (Kristina Malinauskaite)

It's been over two years since we heard soprano Kristina Malinauskaite sing "Regnava nel silencio" at a Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble recital.  Yesterday we got to hear her perform the entire role, one for which she is well suited. Donizetti's masterpiece Lucia del Lammermoor is a gothic tale that resonates with us today since it shows the enormous personal cost of tribal rivalry and the subjugation of women.

Poor Lucia is robbed of the love of her life, Sir Edgardo of Ravenswood (Michael Celentano), by her selfish manipulative brother Enrico (Yun-Kwan Yu), who forces her to marry Lord Arturo Bucklaw (Lindell Carter) to save himself from political ruin. This cannot end well and of course it doesn't. Lucia goes mad, stabs Arturo, hallucinates, and dies. Edgardo stabs himself when he learns of her death. Enrico is filled with remorse and shame.

The opera received an honorable production by Vocal Productions NYC with some valuable contributions by students of the High School of Art and Design, the auditorium of which was host to the production, and a fine space it is!

The costumes, credited to Zhanka Melnechuk were appropriate to the 19th c. and suitable for a household in mourning for Lucia's late mother. Costumes for the wedding scene were lively and colorful.  Men wore sashes emblematic of their clan.  Set designer Kent Gasser kept things simple but effective for Act I with a fountain and a cemetery. Projected on a screen upstage were scenes reflective of the setting.

Captain of the Guards Normanno (David Roush) is trying to locate an intruder with whom Lucia has been meeting secretly at dawn. His ratting her out to Enrico sets the tragedy in motion.

Lucia's scene with her handmaid Alisia (Viktoriya Koreneva), as she waits for Edgardo, serves to show the audience just how fragile she is. Donizetti's music here is eerie and Associate Conductor Francisco Miranda's handling of the "harp" was superb. Ms. Malinauskaite shone in the cavatina--beautifully lyrical in the cantabile and increasingly frantic in the cabaletta. 

The scene was enhanced by the balletic presence of the ghost of a woman who died at the fountain (Christine Duncan). This spirit reappears in the scene when Lucia dies. We found it powerful although others may prefer to have the spirit exist only in Lucia's mind and not onstage. Alisia is worried for Lucia and tries to persuade her to abandon this hopeless love since the two families have a long-standing blood feud.

Of course the scene we were all waiting for was the mad scene and Ms. Malinauskaite did not disappoint. She built the scene slowly to the fioritura fireworks. The duet with the flute was haunting. One rarely hears a glass harmonica these days!

It was great to see a young woman conducting and Vera Volchansky was fun to watch as she used her body as well as her baton to pull together an orchestra that got off to a somewhat ragged start. We always enjoy the woodwind solos and the recalcitrant horns. The Maestra brought out the hoofbeats of Enrico's horse as he approaches Edgardo's castle where he challenges the latter to a duel.

Kevin Courtemanche served as Stage Director and kept things moving along. Not only was the ballet of the spirit an interesting addition but also the inclusion of a scene we had never seen before--a scene in which Chaplain Raimondo (Kofi Hayford) accuses Normanno of creating the tragedy.  Normanno fall at his feet in shame.

Trevor Trotto is credited with the lighting and this was most appreciated in the storm scene when Enrico comes to challenge Edgardo to a duel.

Chorus Master Bill Atkinson can be credited with the fine work of the small chorus. Valentin Peytchinov is Artistic Director of Vocal Productions NYC and we cannot help spilling his beans. Next May they will be presenting Verdi's Don Carlos!  After seeing their Contes d'Hoffman and their Lucia di Lammermoor, we are convinced they are not afraid of a challenge.

On a final positive note, the titles were exceptional and added a great deal.  They included identification of which character was singing what.  We need more of this!

It's a great mission to put on fully-staged operas with orchestra, giving young singers an opportunity to perform an entire role and giving audience members an opportunity to see good opera at a minimal price point.  Bravi tutti!

(c) meche kroop