Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
June 11-13 2009: Le Nozze di Figaro
June 25- 27 2009: Don Carlo
July 9-11 2009: Ainadamar
July 23-31 2009: Carmen
Cincinnati Opera’s 2009 season includes Michelle DeYoung singing Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, Dawn Upshaw as Margarita Xirgu in Ainadamar, and William Burden as Don José in Carmen.
* Notes *
A friend of mine, harpsichordist and organist Vince Ho, is having a concert series at St. Alban’s over in Albany, CA. The latest installment was yesterday’s “Cantatas, Songs, and Arias from the Time of the English Restoration and the Glorious Revolution.” The music performed was from the time of Charles Stuart‘s exile in Europe and his reign as Charles II. Vince’s approach on the organ was straightforward, blunt even. The soprano, Stefanie Renee Wetter, has a very clear, bright voice. In the two Giacomo Carissimi pieces, “Filli non t’amo più” and “Lamento di Maria Stuarda,” Wetter’s voice bordered on overly sweet, like a mouthful of sugar. Her volume was good, though her breathing was occasionally noticeable and there was the tiniest amount of strain at the top of her range.
The second half included several pieces from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, which Wetter sang beautifully, coming off as much less cloying. She has a fine control of her vibrato and good diction, and she sang “Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air” particularly well. The harpsichord was not exactly in tune, but it had just come from the UK and is adjusting to the climate, one imagines. The playing did sound a bit labored as a result. The encore was the lovely “Endless Pleasure” from Semele.
* Tattling *
There was scattered chatter from the audience, and they did applaud too early for William Gregory’s Suite in D minor. At least there were no electronic sounds whatsoever.
Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West finished a short run at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from July 23rd to 26th. The work is in Mandarin but was first performed last year in Manchester, and has since appeared at the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Spoleto Festival USA.
Reviews of ROH Performances: Daily Mail | The Independent | Telegraph | Guardian UK | Bloomberg | Financial Times | Times Online | Evening Standard
Reviews of Spoleto Performances: New York Times | Charleston City Paper | Washington Post | Greenville News
I'm being kept quite busy with non-opera activities, so I present to you an opera painting from 2003. This acrylic on paper work was painted after I had gone to a performance of Händel's Serse at the Bavarian State Opera. It was one of the few times in Munich that I wasn't in standing room. The Königsloge is quite nice, the painting does not capture how shiny it is. This is one of the first paintings I had ever sold.
Soprano Marnie Breckenridge has been released from her contract to sing Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Festival Opera next month. She will be replaced by former Meronlina Ani Maldjian. Breckenridge will cover the role of Sierva Maria in Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne.
Opening night tickets for Don Giovanni at Covent Garden will be only available to readers of The Sun.
* Notes *
Yesterday’s matinée performance of Tosca ended Berkeley Opera’s 2008 season. The main conceit of the production, directed by Barbara Heroux, was an upstage pentagon screen on which images were projected. The images alternated between representing the physical scene and showing the internal state of the characters. The latter were invariably paintings from famous Italians, including Titian, Tintoretto, and Caravaggio. The costumes were attractive, especially Tosca’s Act II red gown, which was flattering and well-made.
The orchestra sounded fairly good under Jonathan Khuner, though there were a few times when the singers were just a hair ahead of the players. The singing and acting from Michael Crozier (Jailer), Steven Hoffmann (Angelotti), and Nicolas Aliaga (Sciarrone) were all fine. Bass John Bischoff (Sacristan) was particularly good, not only was he funny, his voice is quite nice. José Hernández was a touch quiet as Spoletta, though his voice is not unpleasant. John Minàgro (Scarpia) lacked heft, and at times one could not hear the actual words he was singing, though the notes were discernable.
Tenor Kevin Courtemanche did not make for a dashing Cavaradossi, but his voice was beautifully lucid. His Act III aria “E lucevan le stelle” was the strongest moment of the performance. As for Tosca herself, soprano Jillian Khuner sounded both heartbreaking and lovely during “Vissi d’arte.” However, she had a rather wide vibrato and did occasionally sound painfully shrill.
* Tattling *
For the most part, the audience was well-behaved, no watch alarms were able to sound because of the two intermissions, and no cellular phones rang. There was much cellophane unwrapped during the beginning of Act II. However, I was bullied out of my seat for the last act. I was over in the left side section, in the last row, and it was rather splendid as there were only 4 or 5 people in these seats, so everyone was nicely spread out. Also, the supertitles were half-obscured, so I was able to ignore them with ease.
An obese woman had been sitting near the back, three seats in on the left. She was not comfortable as she had a cough and did not exactly fit in her seat. In fact, a person next to her tried to make more room by trading seats with a smaller companion. Just before Act III, the woman in question was speaking to her companion and pointed at me, then sat directly in front of me in the left side section, as the seats here had no arms. I could tell that she was not going to be considerate, so I moved to the last row in the middle section. The woman moved into the seat I had been in, moved the chairs around, and unwrapped cough drops.
Composer Ned Rorem has withdrawn from Little Nemo in Slumberland, which was to have a world premiere at the Sarasota Youth Opera on May 8, 2009.
The Met’s sputnik chandeliers are being dismantled and repaired this summer. Lobmeyr director Hans Harald Rath designed these chandeliers for the opening of the Met at Lincoln Center in 1966.
Article in the New York Times | Slide Show | The History of Lobmeyr | Lobmeyr’s Official Site | The Metropolitan Opera’s Official Site
* Notes *
This evening the Merola Opera Program‘s Albert Herring opened with the first of two performances. The production, directed by Peter Kazaras, is charming. Donald Eastman’s sets are clever and use the small space well. The lighting design from Kate Boyd is nice and simple. Though the opera was originally set at the turn of the 20th century, this production seems to inhabit a time closer to when the opera was written. For example, Wendy Lynn’s lovely costumes were from the 1930s or 40s rather than the Victorian era. The only real compliant I have about the production has to do with Act III, when most of the characters are lamenting the apparent death of Albert. Some of the singers open umbrellas inside Herring’s Green Grocer out of grief, which didn’t seem well-motivated. Then the ensemble clumped up and started doing strange head-bobbles. At least they were more or less together.
Mark Morash conducted the dozen orchestra members well, and they sounded crisp for the most part. The cello and viola solos were particularly good. There were a few moments when the singers were not exactly with the orchestra, but these did not last long. Most noticeable were the claps of the children in Act I, they were not all on beat. In general, the children’s voices were a bit cloying, one can only imagine that this was intentional.
The singing from the Merolini was impressive nearly across the board. Natasha Flores has both warmth and depth, she made the most of Mrs. Herring, and shone in Act III. Renée Tatum was funny as Nancy, her voice is pretty, and blended well with Darren Perry’s clear-toned Sid. Benjamin LeClair made easy work of Mr. Budd, his volume was good and his voice is appealing. Tyler Nelson (Mr. Upfold) also sang with ease, his full tones were very pleasing. Eugene Chan was amusing as the vicar Mr. Gedge, though this role does not show his voice off, he sang well. Comely Ellen Wieser looked elegant, her voice was unpleasantly shrill, but this was not inappropriate for a neurotic schoolmarm. Nicole Birkland had her vibrato under control as beleaguered Florence Pike and Kate Crist was hilarious as Lady Billows. Crist has beautiful low notes but her high notes are somewhat harsh. James Benjamin Rodgers was utterly delightful in the title role. He acted well and his resonant voice was a joy to hear.
As for the actual opera, I enjoyed the various comical lines. I was especially taken when Florence Pike sang Act I’s “Doctor Jessop’s midwife,” which has the word brain in it, not something that is normally in a libretto. I nearly had a hysterical fit when Albert sang “Albert the Good” in Act II Scene 2, as he sings the words “Albert the sheep” and also mentions guinea pigs and pastries.
* Tattling *
The audience was not too bad, no watch alarms or cellular phones were noted. There was talking during the orchestral parts, I had to hush the couples both behind and in front of me during the Act II overture, despite the fact that we just had an intermission.
A woman in the production crew, I assume it was the costumer Wendy Lynn, wore Stop Staring‘s Pleats Dress in an eggplant shade. Her gloves, hat, and stole were charming with it, but one is not quite sure about fur in summer.
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