LA DONNA SENZA LAGO

Joyce DiDonato--photo by Ken Howard

Here you see the lovely mezzo Joyce DiDonato standing on the moors of Scotland with a painted backdrop of the sky.  Wait!  She's standing on the stage set of La Donna del Lago at the Santa Fe Opera and the SKY is REAL, seen through the proscenium.  Rossini sure had a thing for the mezzo voice and Ms. DiDonato made the most out of the master's gorgeous bel canto vocal lines. Her embellishments were as accurate as any we've heard and her trill gave us a thrill.

Here she portrays Elena in Andrea Leone Tottola's adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's poem "The Lady of the Lake"--given an Italian flavor of course.  Elena is the daughter of one Duglas d'Angus (performed by deeply resonant bass Wayne Tigges) who was once the tutor of Giacomo V--King James of Scotland; he has, at the time of the opera, joined the Highland Clan, opposed to James' rule.  He has plans for Elena to wed Rodrigo di Dhu, the fierce chief of this clan.  Elena has other ideas; she is in love with the more gentle Malcolm Groeme, portrayed by mezzo Marianna Pizzolato, who sings like an angel and looks nothing like a man.  The love duet between the two of them was one of the evening's highlights.

Fortunately, Rodrigo gets killed in an uprising and the only other rival for her hand is the king himself who, disguised as Umberto, has met her, accepted her hospitality and fallen in love with her also.  (And who wouldn't fall in love with the beautiful and charming Ms. DiDonato!)  It is the king's respect for Elena that finally heals the rift so that peace in Scotland is achieved.

Lawrence Brownlee sang the role of the king and René Barbera the role of the ill-fated Rodrigo.  Both tenors have beautiful voices for the most part but both fell into the "tenor trap" of pushing their top notes instead of floating them, lending a harsh sound to otherwise fine bel canto singing.

We enjoyed seeing several apprentices onstage in smaller roles.  Soprano Lacy Sauter made a fine Albina--an interesting variation on the customary situation in which a mezzo is the confidante of the star soprano.  David Blalock and Joshua Dennis portrayed servants.

Maestro Stephen Lord conducted with high spirits and Paul Curran directed with a sure hand, making sense out of a confusing plot.   Costumes by Kevin Knight were appropriate to time and place; his sets were spare and lit by Duane Schuler to emphasize the gloom.  The chorus sang beautifully under the director of Susanne Sheston.

We understand that this production will appear at the Metropolitan Opera in a couple years.  How wonderful that New Yorkers will get to enjoy one of Rossini's lesser known operas.  Just don't expect the sunset!

© meche kroop

ROSSINI'S BIBLE STORY

Keri Alkema as Amaltea (photo by Carol Rosegg)

We were quite sure that we couldn't take any more bible stories this week but fortunately we changed our mind and had a grand old time at New York City Opera's production of Rossini's Mosè in Egitto.  This 1818 opera tells the same story as Schoenberg's Moses und Aron but it's a lot more fun and a lot more accessible.  Although the master rewrote the opera a decade later with a French text, we are completely in love with this version from the three sustained opening chords.

If you haven't read the bible lately, we shall remind you that there was a big stand-off between Moses and Egypt's Pharoah, as in the spiritual "Let my people go".  Moses threatens the Pharoah with all kinds of plagues which his god will invoke on the recalcitrant Egyptians if the Hebrew people are not freed from slavery.  In this libretto, written by Andrea Leone Tottola, there is a rather unbiblical love story between the Pharoah's son Osiride and one of those nice Jewish girls Elcia.  (Oh, those Italians!  But what's Italian opera without a love story and un sacrifizio?)

In this version, Faraone is a flip-flopper, depending upon whoever is more persuasive at the moment.  His wife (or consort) Amaltea is the voice of reason and urges him to release the Hebrews.  His son Osiride is in love with the Hebrew girl Elcia and doesn't want to lose her.  He is assisted by a rather manipulative priest Mambre who presents all kinds of political arguments in favor of their remaining.  On Mosè's side is his brother Aronne--and, of course, the Hebrew god who produces the plagues that eventually lead to the Exodus.

Rossini's music is melodic and inventive all through the opera.  We loved the quintet and the love duet. We enjoyed the way Rossini has the same melody reflected by various voices and instrumental groups, giving the ear something to hang onto.  Having settled into the run, Conductor Jayce Ogren elicited a fine performance from the orchestra; we heard some mighty fine clarinet solos from Steven Hartman and some shimmering sounds from harpist Victoria Drake.

Still, opera is about the voices and we heard some fine singing as well.  Most admirable was Keri Alkema whose coloratura was accurate and precise; not only does she have an impressive instrument but she created a character with stature.  Just as wonderful was Siǎn Davies, the soprano who sang the role of Elcia and created an abundance of sympathy as she weighed her love against tribal loyalty.  Mezzo Emily Righter sang her small role as Amenofi so well that we are eager to hear more of her.

To our ears, the women somewhat outshone the men.  David Salsbery Fry was fine as Mosè with a pleasant bass-baritone, duking it out with the other bass-baritone Wayne Tigges who sang with a full rich sound in the role of the ambivalent Pharoah.  Tenor Aldo Caputo fulfilled the role of Aronne with distinction and tenor Zachary Finkelstein was weird and chilling as Mambre the manipulative priest.  Tenor Randall Bills was not quite accurate in the fioritura and tended to push his high notes instead of floating them.  He had a stiff and uncomfortable stage presence which made one wonder what Elcia saw in him.

The production itself was just shy of excellent.  Although we have not been a fan of video, in this case the projected images, realized by Ada Whiney of Beehive, were mostly wonderful.  The scene in which the lovers enter a cave was astonishing; the realistic scenes of desert and dunes and the night sky won us over while the abstract scenes turned us off.  Something seemed amiss at the end when the Red Sea parted and the Hebrews walked off into the wings; and the video of the drowning Egyptians was silly if you thought they looked like tadpoles and upsetting if the image recalled the victims of the 9/11 attack who jumped out of windows.

Michael Counts is credited as Director and also Production Designer and we hope to see more of his work in the future.  Costumes by Jessica Jahn seemed appropriate, subdued biblical dress for the Hebrews and dramatic regal garb for the Egyptians; sadly, poor Ms. Davies was peculiarly and unbecomingly gowned.  Lighting by Ryan O'Gara was effective.

We hope that no more will be written about the misfortunes of the NYCO; let us instead applaud the revival and resurrection of "opera for the people".  Next year's season is already in the works.  Stay tuned!

© meche kroop