ERA LA NOTTE

Anna Caterina Antonacci (photo by Magalie Bouchet)

At least one thousand tapers burned brightly in the background while soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci burned as brightly onstage at the Rose Theater, as part of the White Light Festival of Lincoln Center. Accompanied by soloists of the orchestra Les Siècles who offered several works by Marini before the vocal pieces, in between and afterward, Ms. Antonacci gave a performance that was visually stunning, dramatically riveting and vocally perfect.  The artistry of the staging lifted the evening way beyond the concept of a vocal recital.

The music dates back nearly four centuries but sounded fresh and original. The opening piece  Giramo's "Lamento della pazza" (the lament of a crazy woman) offered Ms. Antonacci the opportunity to express  a variety of moods suffered by a woman made mad by love. A tribute to the artistry of Ms. A. is the depth of feeling evoked by her intensity.  She appeared disheveled and barefoot, but attired in an ivory gown suggestive of the baroque period; toward the end, she upturned a series of buckets of water downstage; the water reflected the myriad lights upstage.

Following an instrumental Sinfonia, Ms. A. sang the sorrowful "Lamento d'Ariannna" by Monteverdi in which the abandoned Ariadne laments her lost love Theseus.  This is the only surviving element of Monteverdi's opera  L'Arianna and contains "Lasciatemi Morire" which would be familiar to any singer versed in the baroque repertory.  It was shattering.

Another instrumental Sinfonia was interposed before Ms. A. sang the cantata "Lagrime mie, a che vi trattenete".  What captured our interest about this work is that it was composed (and probably sung) by Barbara Strozzi; how rare it was for a woman to have her compositions published in that epoch!  Not only that but Strozzi was presenting the point of view of a man spurned by his lover.

The final work on the program involved a change of costume.  Gone was the gorgeous gown and Ms. A. appeared in a black tunic and pants, vaguely suggestive of a knight's attire.  She performed Monteverdi's "Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda" which was written for the 1624 carnival in Venice.  In this major work, with text taken from Tasso's epic poem about the First Crusade, a Christian knight unknowingly kills Clorinda, the Saracen woman he loves, who has disguised herself as a warrior.  Ms. A.  conveyed the voice of the narrator as well as the individual combatants.  Sword in hand, she enacted the pitched battle between the two.  We were spellbound.

The program notes went into quite a bit of detail about various aspects of the compositions of that period; composers created a revolutionary musical vocabulary to intensify the dramatic situation which was considered quite an innovation.  The emotionality of the works stands in stark contrast to our post-modern coolness and irony. These works are downright raw!  One could not escape feeling involved.

Era la Notte premiered in 2006 and has been performed by Ms. A. all over Europe.  This was the American premiere and we were grateful to have the opportunity to experience Ms. A.'s deeply committed artistry and intense expressivity.  The work was conceived for her by Director Juliette Deschamps with lighting by Dominique Bruguière and set design by Cécile Degos.  The evocative costuming was by Christian Lacroix.  Johannes Keller conducted from the harpsichord while Manuel de Grange played the theorbo.  Violins were bowed by Sébastien Richaud and Rachel Rowntree; viola da gamba by François Joubert-Caillet, cello by Julien Barre and contrabass by Christian Staude.

This work ran barely over an hour but left us with a feeling of having been transported to another time and place.  The rain fell onstage at the end, extinguishing most of the candles, but the feelings evoked in us could not be extinguished.  It was a memorable event.

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OPERA INDEX AWARDS RECITAL

Michael Fennelly, Juan Jose de Leon, James Edgar Knight, Avery Amereau, Nian Wang, Tracy Cox, Murray Rosenthal

Opera Index has a lengthy history of supporting young opera singers and has gotten countless of them on the path to stardom.  Last night at the annual membership party, members were treated to a recital of arias by five of them--five promising artists on their way up, accompanied by pianist Michael Fennelly and introduced by President Murray Rosenthal.  It would be an understatement to say that the audience was appreciative; there was a loud chorus of bravos and bravas after each one.

The program opened with Tracy Cox singing "Pace, pace mio dio" from La Forza del Destino, one of our personal Verdi favorites.  Ms. Cox has a sizable soprano and an expressive quality that gives us goosebumps, not to mention a marvelous messa di voce and a big "money note".  It is easy to see why this Young Artist at LA Opera has been wining competitions all over and, as she matures and harnesses that big voice, a Wagnerian future may be down the road.

Mezzo Nian Wang gave a polished performance of the Violin Aria from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman, using her fine French to convey the composer's intentions with remarkable communicative skills.  The training she received from Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance Program was evident.

Tenor James Edgar Knight, also a graduate of the same program, has a warm romantic sound that was perfectly suited to Lehar's "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from The Land of Smiles.  His training in musical theater as well as in opera makes him a double-threat.  His dynamism engaged the audience and drew us in.  He seemed to change the colors of his voice with great ease, but we are sure it took a lot of study and work to achieve that flow.

Mezzo Avery Amereau delighted us with a sound as rich and warm as a cup of espresso.  In "Connais-tu le pays?" from Thomas' Mignon, she sounded rich and yet delicate.  We are looking forward to hearing more from this young artist whose French diction was impressive.

Tenor Juan Jose de Leon chose the right aria to dazzle the delighted members of Opera Index--"Ah! Mes amis, quel jour de fête!" from Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment.  His secure high C's were tossed off with ease; we speculated that this aria was what won him so many awards.

These five singers won Emerging Artist Awards and Encouragement Awards.  Many other awards were given at the Opera Index 2013 Vocal Competition and their achievements will be celebrated at future events.  It is easy and not at all costly to join Opera Index and one can thereby support these stunning singers and participate in the many membership events.  We recommend it highly.

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CROSSING THE GOWANUS

Kirsten Scott, Liana Guberman and Boya Wei

Did we really spend an hour on the subway and cross the Gowanus Canal to hear a (reported) 100 minute version of Mozart's masterpiece Le Nozze di Figaro?  Yes, we did.  Was it worth it?  YES!  We would have traveled twice as far.  Was it really a severely truncated version?  No, it clocked in at nearly three hours and the judicious editing did nothing to impair the musical cohesiveness nor the comprehension of the delightfully silly plot.  The only things missing were bios of the artists (about whom we wish to know more) and the harpsichord continuo.  Music Director Laetitia Ruccolo did just fine on an electronic keyboard.   Conductor Dean Buck had the 20-piece orchestra well in hand, or in baton as was the case.  The young maestro started Loft Opera with singer/producer Daniel Ellis-Ferris and we feel glad to have gotten on board in time for this weekend's performance and sad to have missed their first effort--Don Giovanni.

The yearling company has succeeded on two counts; artistically and socially.  In an epoch in which young people have shown very little interest in this art form, it was heartening to see a loft bursting at the seams with twenty-somethings who might have been encouraged by the presence of Brooklyn Brewery beer which could be consumed during the performance; but their enthusiasm for the performance knew no bounds and the whoops, cheers and applause at the end left no doubt that they were well on the pathway to opera addiction.

The seats were benches but we weren't squirming.  The shoestring set was nothing more than a chair, a bench, a table.  The costumes made a modest attempt at evoking Spain.  But the commitment of the singers was total.  They had so much fun performing; it was only exceeded by the fun the audience had watching.  Comic turns were everywhere, especially in the case of character tenor Francisco Corredor who put a very personal stamp on the roles of Don Basilio and Don Curzio who had a very funny stutter.

The eponymous hero, sung by Pnini Grubner, was a charming Figaro with his "Se vuol ballare".  His Susanna was the adorable Boya Wei who won our hearts; her final aria "Deh vieni, non tardar" was lovely.  Liana Guberman made a dignified Countess and sang "Dove sono" even better than "Porgi amor".  The philandering Count was sung by Suchan Kim whose spiteful and clueless nature was another source of great amusement.  Kirsten Scott made an appealing Cherubino and did justice to "Non so piu" and "Voi qui sapete".  Yoojin Lee performed the role of Marcellina, making the rapid change from wanting Figaro for her husband to accepting him as her long lost son.  Producer Daniel Ellis-Ferris put in an appearance as the gardener Antonio and also as Don Bartolo who is obliged to accept Figaro as his son and to marry Marcellina.  Larisa Martinez made a winsome Barbarina.

All the voices measured up and we particularly enjoyed the duet between Susanna and the Countess whose voices blended beautifully.  Ensembles were similarly well-balanced.  The opera was directed by Carlos Conde.  The audience was so close to the playing area that we felt like members of the Count's household.  This operatic intimacy is rare and to be cherished.

You could not do any better than to cross the Gowanus Canal this weekend; the opera will be performed again Friday and Saturday night.  It deserves the wide audience it attracted and we hope there will still be tickets left for YOU!

(c) meche kroop

NED AT NINETY

Ned Rorem, Michael Barrett, Andrew Garland, Steven Blier, Kate Lindsey

There is music that we adored on first hearing and there is music that we had to get to know in order to appreciate.  Tchaikovsky is in the first category; Mahler is in the second.  Likewise with songs. Schubert thrilled us on first hearing, rooted as we are in the 19th c. Twentieth century songs in English have never been our favorites but, under the guidance of Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song, we have been broadening our horizons over the past year.  Last night's tribute to Ned Rorem on his 90th birthday offered many delights; we were surprised to have enjoyed the evening so thoroughly.  Most of the songs were composed by Mr. Rorem, but some were by his teachers and colleagues.

Mr. Blier's enthusiastic narration and fascinating anecdotes added immeasurably to our experience but the songs themselves offered interesting harmonies and singable melodies.  The superb singers, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey and baritone Andrew Garland, made wonderful sense of the lyrics and their enthusiasm was infectious. Mr. Blier's and Michael Barrett's accompaniments contributed equally.  Mr. Blier and Mr. Rorem have a long and profound association and both are Francophiles; Mr. Rorem was inspired by Ravel and Poulenc among others.  In every song, the language is clear and the text well served by the vocal line.

We are particularly fond of duets and the opening one "From whence cometh song?", a setting of a text by Theodore Roethke was a fine introduction and a moving one.   For us, the most interesting duet was a unique setting of Robert Browning's "Life in a Love" with its overlapping voices.  Or was it the final song of the evening "A birthday" with text by Christina Georgina Rossetti?

Mr. Garland was especially memorable in "The Lordly Hudson" (text by Paul Goodman) and concluded the song with a beautifully controlled crescendo.  In Barber's "I hear an army", with text by James Joyce, he let loose his powerful baritone.  But he was ever so gentle in Marc Blitzstein's "Emily", which may have been the most moving song of the evening.

Ms. Lindsey was adorable in Virgil Thomson's "Sigh no more, ladies" from Five Shakespeare Songs, singing through slowly and meaningfully the first time and friskily the second.  She was equally charming in Emily Dickinson's "Dear March, come in!" from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, set by Aaron Copland.  In "Rain in Spring", setting of a text by Paul Goodman, the final line sung by Ms. Lindsey "Falling without haste or strain" was a perfect description of her singing.  But my favorite song in that set was a setting of Gertrude Stein's "I am Rose" which she imbued with scintillating personality.

Mr. Blier and Mr. Barrett shared accompanying duties.  We especially enjoyed the syncopated jazzy piano in Mr. Rorem's "Alleluia", played by Mr. Barrett and the achingly simple pianism of Mr. Blier in Rorem's "Little Elegy".  It needs scarcely be mentioned that the youthful Mr. Rorem (still going strong) composes all kinds of music, not just song--but it does need to be mentioned that he has written several books which Mr. Blier, in his own inimitable manner, assures us are quite racy.  Mr. Rorem once admitted to being a "pretty thing" in his youth.  He still is.

We left with an enhanced appreciation of the songs of Mr. Rorem and his associates, thanks to Mr. Blier's astute curating.  We doubt, however, that we can persuade him to love Schubert's lieder as much as we do, since he confessed that they do not thrill him.  Oh well.

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OH HOW SHE SANG!

Bradley Moore and Jamie Barton

Inaugurating an exciting new series at the Schimmel Center of Pace University--called Voce at Pace--was the astonishing mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, fresh from her stunning success as Aldagisa in Bellini's Norma at The Metropolitan Opera.  Ms. Barton has been making quite a name for herself since winning the Met National Council Auditions six years ago.  A Richard Tucker Career Grant followed. And now the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, both Main and Song Prizes.

The first thing you notice about Ms. Barton is the poise with which she commands the stage.  There is not a whiff of arrogance but rather a sureness that says "I have a great gift and I am delighted to be sharing it with you today".  And share she did!  The capacity audience was so enthusiastic that they applauded every number.  It was remarkable how cell phones were permanently silenced, candies remained wrapped, coughs were stifled, and whispering was nonexistent.  In an artist of this caliber, there is nothing left to say about her superlative voice.  What one notices is her skill at relating to the audience.

The program opened with Purcell's "Music for a While" adapted by Benjamin Britten; indeed, all our cares were beguiled.  A set of songs by Brahms followed, each one in a different mood.  The playfulness of "Ständchen" was followed by the passion of "Meine Liebe ist Grün"; "Unbewegte, laue Luft" began dreamily but became ardent.  Ms. Barton captured the two voices in "Von ewiger Liebe", the concerned young man and his resolute sweetheart.

The Sibelius songs that followed were equally enthralling.  "Svarta Rosor" had a bitter flavor while "Säf, säf, süsa" was dirgelike.  We have heard the popular "Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte" numerous times but Ms. Barton made it new again as she gave voice to the questioning mother and the evasive daughter.  "Marssnön" is a gentle song about a late snowfall delaying the onset of Spring.  "Var det en dråm?" was filled with melancholy and nostalgia.  So many colors in her voice!

The second half of the program comprised songs by Charles Ives and Edward Elgar.  Twentieth century songs in English will never make it to our Top Twenty list but we happily admit that Ms. Barton made sense out of poetry that we favor not at all.  Actually "Memories Very Pleasant and Very Sad" rather delighted us.  Ms. B. milked every drop of childhood excitement from "We're sitting in the opera house" and actually whistled!  The sad memory about a threadbare tune associated with a dead uncle was given a full measure of grief.

In Elgar's "Sea Slumber Song" Ms. B. got a chance to show off her powerful lower register, and in "The Swimmer" to show off her big money note at the end.  Her reknowned collaborative pianist Bradley Moore was supportive throughout and we enjoyed his rippling piano in "In Haven".

The first encore was "Never Never Land" from Peter Pan--music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Comden and Green.  Yes, Virginia, an opera singer can sing a Broadway tune without sounding affected!  Drawing the afternoon to a stunning close was "Stella del Marinar" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda.  Major WOW!

There will be two more impressive singers in this series; watch out for tenor Paul Appleby on January 26th and Nadine Sierra on February 9th.  We cannot imagine better choices and are thrilled to have a new vocal series in New York City.  This one is well worth the trip downtown.

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ROMEO AND JULIET FOR TODAY

Scott Ingham and Kendra Berentsen-photo by Jacob Lopez

In Shakespeare's play, we are moved by the language; in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ballet, the choreography gives us thrill after thrill; in Charles Gounod's opera Roméo et Juliette, the music goes straight to the heart.  As presented by the New York Opera Exchange this past weekend, we were presented with a modern dress version performed by some superb young artists and the New York Opera Exchange Orchestra, conducted by David Leibowitz.

Gounod's music always relates to the emotions of the scene and serves to augment the feelings.  The overture is portentous and has some interesting fugue-like figures originating with Concertmaster Suxiao Sue Yang.  We want to commend the chorus (comprising singers with smaller roles) for such fine diction.  French is one of the more difficult languages to sing clearly and, in this case, every word was understood.  We wondered who coached them--perhaps Music Director Alden Gatt?

We were very impressed with soprano Kendra Berentsen who made an innocent and vulnerable Juliette, expressing her emotions with a room-filling sound and beautiful phrasing.  The challenging aria "Je veux vivre" is filled with trills, thrills and scales, none of which daunted her; her easeful upper register resonated gloriously.  The harmonies with her Roméo were delightful and emphasized the chemistry between the two.  Tenor Scott Ingham was superb in that role, demonstrating a powerful sound and some top-notes that were free of the strain so often heard in young tenors.  We loved his "Ah! Lève-toi soleil". We eagerly awaited the softer orchestral passages in the final scene in order to hear what he sounded like at reduced volume.

Special mention must be made of baritone Nicholas A. Wiggins who performed the role of Mercutio as well as we have ever heard it.  The "Ballad of Queen Mab" was superb.  Mezzo Rebecca Henry made the most of her role as Gertrude, Juliet's nurse.  Initially she was quite disapproving of her charge's romance but she comes around to a place of empathy.  In the pants role of Stephano, mezzo Sarah Miller gave a spirited performance and sang "Que fais-tu blanche tourtourelle?" with a lovely sound and fine vibrato.

Bass-baritone Colin Whiteman was fine as Frère Laurent, Victor Starsky sang the role of Tybalt, Joseph Palarca performed the role of Benvolio, Joseph Beckwith was a kindly father Capulet and Javier Ortiz was Paris.

We were delighted to observe the youthful nature of the audience; perhaps they related more to the contemporary clothing (costumes?).  We, sadly, did not.  The story is a window into another century and another country.  It could not have happened in the USA in present times.  We did not miss the swordplay but we did miss the authenticity.  For example, a sleeping potion would not be given by a cleric to his parishioner whereas a friar would have known all about herbs and potions.  Similarly we found the bizarre headdresses used to replace the masks at the ball to be a distracting touch; indeed Juiette was obliged to wear a schooner on her head!  But these are minor quibbles when the overall production and musical values were so excellent.  The production was directed by Andreas Hager.  We are looking forward to Die Zauberflöte in February!

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GREAT COACHING=GREAT PERFORMANCE

Mitchell Lyon, Bretton Brown, Elizabeth Sutphen

Once more, a "cocktail hour" spent at Juilliard was more intoxicating than a cocktail.  This "six à sept" was notable by the fact that it comprised only Italian canzone and that the singers were coached by Diego Tornelli.  When all of the actors in a play are terrific, we generally acknowledge the brilliance of the director.  When all the singers are terrific, some credit must go to the coach.

The lovely soprano Elizabeth Sutphen opened the program, along with her collaborative pianist Bretton Brown, singing Rossini's "L'invito"; she has a fine vibrato in her voice with an open-throated upper register and a warm sincere stage presence.  In Ponchielli's "Piangea", Robynn Quinnett's violin wept along with the sad text.  In Ponchielli's "Eternamente", Mitchell Lyon's cello made some beautiful harmonies with her voice.  We have enjoyed witnessing Ms. Sutphen's growth as an artist on her way through Juilliard.

The same could be said for tenor Nathan Haller, whose piano partner was Valeriya Polunina.  He gave a rather subdued performance of Verdi's "Non t'accostare all'urna", a song of bitterness that we have cherished as one of Verdi's best songs; he was absolutely undaunted by the low notes, starting pianissimo and building to a passionate crescendo.  He followed up with some Tosti songs; we thought that "Ideale" suited his voice perfectly and observed a deep connection with the text and a sustained mood.  In Respighi's "Invito alla danza", he loosened up and evinced a lot of charm.

Also on the program were some singers we had not heard before but hope to hear again.  Tenor Hyunho Yoo, accompanied by Miles Fellenberg, sang Cimara's "Non più" with a sweet sound and legato phrasing.  He also sang a few songs by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, our favorite of which was "Al tè", a charming song with a lighthearted text describing conversation around a tea table.  But we noticed the most connection with the text when Mr. Yoo sang about nature, as in Davico's "O maggio bello" in a later set.  Mr. Fellenberg shone in Campogalliani's "Piangete occhi".

Also new to us was mezzo Avery Amereau who sang early 20th c. canzone by Santoliquido.  Ms. Amereau has a true mezzo sound, and a most agreeable one at that, in contrast with many young mezzo-sopranos who tend to sound like sopranos with low notes.  We liked the way her voice opened up when she sang the passionate "L'incontro".  Her pianist was Art Williford and they worked well together.

The program closed with baritone Elliott Hines, accompanied by Siyi Fang who has a lovely delicate touch, performing songs from several different periods.   Calestani's 17th c. "Accorta lusinghiera" was the earliest and Castelnuovo-Tedesco's charming "Nova angeletta" the most modern.  Mr. Hines seemed as comfortable with the baroque as with the "modern".  The final work on the program was Schubert's "Il traditor deluso"; had we not read the program we would never have recognized Schubert's compositional hand.  What a surprise!

We left Paul Hall feeling as if we'd taken a course in the history and evolution of canzone.  We also observed the value of having the singer do his/her own translations.  This was a real Halloween treat, the only "trick" being the Schubert!

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