Wolf Trap Opera's Semele: A Cornucopia of Delights

Do you like classic Italian, French, or German opera?  Semele (George Frederic Handel, 1744) is not that.  Do you like baroque music and Handel’s The Messiah?  That’s closer but with a big difference.  Semele is not a religious event unless you are a believer in Roman/Greek gods that populate the opera.  It’s secular and sexy, and it has tunes that are as much Broadway-like as opera aria-like, sung in English by the attractive, talented, and energetic Filene and Studio Artists, who are spending a summer with Wolf Trap Opera to hone their skills and be seen.  As always, WTO’s opera selections are strongly influenced by the singing talent available that year, and this year’s cast for Semele is a very strong one.  In fact, there are aspects to enjoy in each of the performance’s elements, a cornucopia of delights.

Semele (Ester Tonea, center) in send off to endless pleasure, endless love by reception well wishers. Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

The first time my son listened to Bizet’s Carmen, he said that it had too many pop tunes to be called an opera.  Think of Semele as Handel’s Carmen.  In fact, composer George Frederic Handel wrote it as an opera to be performed as an oratorio, and that is where it gets even more interesting for modern audiences.  Performed as an opera gives directors an open palette for interpretation and staging.  In Director Tara Faircloth’s hands we get very clever, creative staging…more later. 

A popular saying when I was growing up in the South was “don’t get above your raisin’”.  A lyric in a Lester Flatt song by that title, goes “don’t get above your raisin’, stay down to earth with me”, but what if one of you is a god.  The mortal Semele, for reasons that can be contested – a high minded young woman wanting to elevate her position or a lovesick young woman wanting to be fully with her true love – tried to go above her raisin’.  Semele is smitten by Jupiter (Jove), the king of the gods, and they begin an affair, but Semele moves beyond just having an affair with a god and wants to become a god.  Juno, the jealous wife of Jupiter, schemes to have Semele extract a promise from her love that he will appear to her in god-like form; Semele believes this will make her immortal.  Juno knows that seeing a god in their true form causes mortals to burst into flames, fait accompli for Juno.  Semele, too inflamed with the possibility, will not heed Jupiter’s warning and becomes the victim of Juno’s revenge.  There are several other engaging characters who have their own issues and add family intrigue.  In the end, the Roman legend and composer Handel offer us a happy ending for all but Semele: in death she has born a child who is Bacchus, god of wine-making and fertility, which makes everyone believe their troubles are over.  I’d be happy to settle there, but references tell us he was also the god of insanity and madness.  Clunk.  So, was Handel’s message that good things come from extending yourself, or was it don’t get above your raisin’? 

The jilted Prince Athamas (Kathleen Felty) being approached by the love-struck Ino (Emily Treigle). Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

My guess is that Handel wrote Semele like all his operas as vehicles for excellent singers to show off singing his arias.  Regardless of the opera, a strong appeal of WTO performances is the fresh, invigorating experience of hearing the emerging artists who perform.  The soloists for Semele, with one exception, were drawn from the Filene Artists and the chorus and supernumeraries came from the Studio Artists. Handel filled this opera with several characters who get to sing beautiful arias, but make no mistake, this is Semele’s opera and a chance for that soprano to shine.  Soprano Ester Tonea sang the role of Semele.  Ms. Tonea was a Winner in 2022 in the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.  As Semele, she demonstrated a big instrument, capable of vocal fireworks, with clarity and a pleasing tone.  Her singing was bright and beautiful, but I suspect baroque style is not yet her forte; melisma, in general, was in short supply in this production, perhaps purposively.  Her rendition of “Endless pleasure, endless love” was engaging, and her “Sleep, why dost thou leave me” was a truly lovely performance; and her aria “Myself I will adore” was delivered with an appealing light comic touch.  I thought she played Semele with more of a wives of Hollywood appeal than a Romeo and Juliet one.  I hope she returns to the DC area for performances frequently; this young soprano appears to have a high ceiling.

Juno (Emily Treigle) plotting with Iris (Véronique Filloux). Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

Mezzo-soprano Emily Treigle performed in two roles, as Juno and as Ino, sister of Semele who purloined for Prince Athamas, Semele’s jilted betrothed.  Ms. Treigle was a Winner in the 2021 Laffont Competition, and she proved to be quite the actress.  She portrayed the roles as different personalities and was completely believable in each.  Her singing was also impressive in each, and her arias showed an appealing array of colors in her voice.  Juno was assisted by her messenger Iris in her efforts to bring down Semele.  Director Faircloth turned what is largely a minor role of Iris into a bit of a showstopper, casting soprano Véronique Filloux as Iris, decked out in a colorful uniform that a circus master might have worn.  Ms. Filloux complemented her on point singing with energy, humor, and impressively deft choreographed movements.  Ms. Treigle and Ms. Filloux were well matched and played effectively off each other on stage. 

Juno (Emily Treigle) tempts Somnus (Eric Lindsey), the god of sleep, with a reward for his help. Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

Handel often wrote to have castrati sing roles in his operas; today these roles are most often performed by countertenors or by mezzo-sopranos in a pants role.  Mezzo-soprano Kathleen Felty, who was previously in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, sang the role of Athamas well and anchored the first scene with the stature and manner to make it believable.  Her sad aria “Your tuneful voice my tale would tell” was well done and her duet with Ms. Treigle, “You’ve undone me”, was especially enjoyable.

Semele (Ester Tonea) sleeps in the sensuous abode that Jupiter has built for his mistress. Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

Lunga Eric Hallam, a tenor from South Africa, was a standout as Jupiter, definitely an emerging artist to take note of.  He sang with clarity and sweetness in all his arias, with romantic appeal singing “I must with speed amuse her” and a special pathos in “Whither is she gone, unhappy fair “.  Another two-role player was bass Eric Lindsey who played Cadmus, King of Thebes and father of Semele and Somnus, god of sleep.  Mr. Lindsey was effectively an officious father and a funny Somnus.  I especially appreciated the beautiful tone of his voice in the slow singing as Somnus.  The lone Studio Artist appearing as a soloist in this performance was tenor Samuel Krausz who gave us a joyful performance as Apollo announcing the happy ending.  There are many enjoyable duets and ensemble numbers in Semele, and another delight of this production were Handel’s choral numbers, sung marvelously by the Studio Artists; kudos to Chorus Master David Hanlon.

Jupiter (Lunga Eric Hallam) embraces Semele (Ester Tonea) in a love scene. Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

Handel’s music, as well as his arias, are exceptional in Semele.  The music was delivered in pleasing, baroque simplicity by Conductor Timothy Long and the Wolf Trap Orchestra, limited to twenty-something players by the relatively small orchestra pit in The Barns.  Conductor Long maintained the musical pace in a timely manner, showcasing the emerging artists, keeping the music much in the accompaniment background.  This production was somewhat trimmed from the full production of the opera.

Semele’s story is presented in broad strokes, and this emphasizes the individual scenes, more than the flow.  Director Faircloth’s staging took advantage of this aspect and presented a different styled staging for each scene.  Her attention to detail added comic touches in each.  I was delayed by a traffic jam getting into my seat, arriving at performance time.  With the stage still empty, and the music yet to begin, I thought more late arrivers were flowing in behind me, but it turned out to be the cast flowing into the temple on stage for a wedding service to begin.  It was an effective beginning, immediately drawing me into the story.  The dating and costume styles of each scene were different, perhaps to better connect with modern audiences and to show that the themes remain true across the centuries, or maybe just to make the opera more entertaining. Kudos to Ruth Varland for great work with the costumes and to Anne Nesmith for wigs and makeup.  Lighting effects were well done by Mark Stanley, and special kudos to Cameron Anderson for a striking and effective scenic design; each was a bit of a surprise and the scene opening in the quarters Jupiter had prepared for Semele was a standout.

Apollo (Samuel Krausz) and Iris (Véronique Filloux) appear in the center to assure everyone their troubles are over. Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

So, Wolf Trap Opera’s Semele, that opens their summer season of fully staged operas, offers Handel’s beautiful, tuneful arias beautifully sung by a multitude of enthusiastic emerging artists, supported by the fine playing of his marvelous music, with enjoyable choral numbers, all enhanced by an engaging, creative staging.  Yes, I think a cornucopia of delights describes it very well.

The Fan Experience: Semele is scheduled for performances on June 23, 25, 29, and July 1 in The Barns at Wolf Trap.  The opera is sung in English with supertitles in English shown overhead; with one intermission, run time was about 2.5 hours.  Limited tickets are available for remaining performances.  WTO has also scheduled fully staged productions of Faust (The Barns) and Don Giovanni (Filene Center) this summer as well as several concerts/recitals; check their website for details.

One aspect of Wolf Trap Opera’s productions worth noting under the management of Lee Anne Myslewski, Wolf Trap Vice President of Opera and Classical Programming, is their commitment to diversity.  Among others, Semele includes a female stage director, a South African tenor, and a conductor of Muscogee Creek and Chocktaw descent.  This commitment is very much appreciated.

The Barns is an excellent venue for opera, intimate with good acoustics.  Even the seats at the back and in the balcony are relatively close to the performers, but some of those in the very front and in the back on the floor lack a view of the supertitles.  The floor seats are not tiered but those in the balcony are.  Food and beverages are available before the performances and during intermissions.  During DC’s hot and humid summers, it has excellent air-conditioning.  Parking is free, plentiful and is easy-in/easy-out.  There can be traffic slowdowns approaching The Barns on days when Filene performances are scheduled at the same time, so leave some extra time for commuting on those days.

Washington National Opera's La Bohéme: Likable and Sustaining

Washington National Opera’s current production of La Bohème is many things.  This popular choice offers a homecoming for fans of classic opera; it is click-bait to hook new fans; it is a showcase for young opera stars; it is an opportunity to hear some of the most beautiful music ever composed; and it is a fitting dessert, a sweet ending for WNO’s 2022-2023 season.  The performance Monday night was Puccini at his likable best, comfort food for fans of opera.  I have now seen La Bohème frontwards, backwards, and as remembered by Rodolfo, and it’s all good.  The story and music hold up well as companies and director’s infuse novelty into their productions of an opera that has been regularly performed by almost every opera company since its premiere in 1896.

Mimi (Gabriella Reyes) and Rodolfo (Kang Wang) search for her key on the floor and find love. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

Let’s begin with the story, and if you are an opera newbie, be warned that there are spoilers ahead.  Giacomo Puccini and librettist Luigi Illica developed the story line from tales of bohemian friends and acquaintances related by author Henry Murger in his book, Scènes de la vie de bohème (1896).  The opera has four acts, each a stage of the love affair between the poet and playwright Rodolfo and the seamstress with a cough Mimi, which takes place in a bohemian community in Paris.  In act I, we meet Rodolfo and his good friends and compatriots in art, Marcello the painter, Schaunard the musician, and Colline the philosopher, all leading impoverished lives to devote themselves to their art, feeling they have the “soul of a millionaire” while unable to pay for heat in winter’s cold.  Their comradery is further demonstrated in their comic attempt to dispose of landlord Benoit’s attempt to collect the rent.  We also meet Mimi who is to become the love of Rodolfo’s life.  In act II, our lovers further bond at a festive and lively Christmas Eve dinner at Café Momus, and we meet Marcello’s love interest Musetta as they bicker and reunite.  In act III, Musetta and Marcello continue their tempestuous ways while Mimi and Rodolfo have become estranged though still deeply in love.  In act IV, the deathly ill Mimi and Rodolfo reunite while their friends can only offer comfort as Mimi dies. 

Musetta (Jacqueline Echols) takes the stage at Cafè Momus to sing “Quando me’n vo” as her wealthy benefactor, Alcindoro (Peter Rose) looks on from the lower right. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

WNO’s La Bohème is set in post-WWI Paris of the 1920s, also a time when artists came to Paris to develop their skills, commune with like-minded souls, and become world famous.  WNO chose to revive their 2014 production by Jo Davies, using the lavish sets and detailed costumes from those performances.  The sets, costumes, and staging under new direction of Peter Kazaras were quite impressive and effective in presenting a classic production of Puccini’s opera.  My one wish for La Bohème’s staging is that the stage director would add a character to begin act III who, in poetic terms, prepares the audience for the shift from the warmth of Christmas Eve to the icy cold waters of act III.  Puccini and Illica had prepared another act to transition more smoothly between acts II and III but decided not to use it.  I find that having now viewed the opera multiple times, I can better appreciate the power and beauty of act III in the moment.  There are also some small jolts in transition from act III to IV, such as the lovers all being separated in the beginning.  Nonetheless, the opera has so much to offer that the classic staging certainly works well.

The classic production also works well when the singers can communicate their individual charms as well as their group comradery with both acting and singing.  WNO’s production gets high marks on this aspect with a bevy of young opera stars with strong voices who fit the molds laid out by Puccini and Illica.  Mimi is portrayed by soprano Gabriella Reyes, tagged for stardom, who had two performances in Met Opera’s 2021-2022 season.  For Bohème to work you must like Mimi.  Ms. Reyes made her easy to love as she explains to the poet Rodolfo in poetic terms the simple life she leads and why she loves to embroider flowers.  Award winning tenor Kang Wang, previously seen in WNO’s Cosí fan tutte, was her match in warmth and passion.  Marcello played by baritone Gihoon Kim and Musetta sung by soprano Jacqueline Echols were an amusing and ultimately, an endearing couple with their relationship accentuated by love-warfare.  I have seen La Bohème enough that I enjoy it relatively tension free.  For this performance, it was so nice to be able to just sit back and listen to the beautiful singing coming forward from this cast; all of them stood out. 

The four bohemian friends, (l to r) Schaunard (Blake Denson), Marcello (Gihoon Kim), Rodolfo (Kang Wang), and Colline (Peixin Chen), have a moment of play. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

Rodolfo’s compatriots, Schaunard and Colline were ably and enjoyably played by baritone Blake Denson and bass Peixin Chen in completing the circle of friends.  Bass Peter Rose played the roles of both the landlord Benoit and Musetta’s wealthy benefactor, Alcindoro; he made both comic treats.  The other players of minor roles, and the WNO Chorus as singers and supernumeraries contributed to the effectiveness and enjoyment of the performance, though I thought the chorus in the Café Momus scene seemed a little underutilized.

I thought the music in WNO’s La Bohéme was superb as played by the WNO Orchestra under the direction of guest conductor, Alevtina Ioffe, in her WNO debut.  The music played a strong role in the effectiveness and likability of this performance, so crisp and clear, painting scenes with strokes of color and beauty, never dominant and never too distant.  The music warned us when trouble lay ahead and then reassured us that love was still the guiding light.  I became consciously aware several times in the performance of how much I was enjoying the music.  I wish I had a recording to hear this musical performance again.

Rodolfo (Kang Wang) and Mimi (Gabriella Reyes) have renewed their vows of undying love at the end. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

I sometimes ask myself if I want to see yet another performance of La Bohéme as I do for many of the popular classic operas, but I attend La Bohème again, and on the way home, I feel all warm and toasty inside, like someone gave me a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night.

The Fan Experience:  Performances of La Bohéme were scheduled for May 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 24, 26, and 27; Cafritz Young Artists were scheduled to perform the principal roles on May 13 and 26.  The opera is sung in Italian with supertitles shown overhead in English.  May 19 is WNO’s Pride Night Out, with ticket savings and a private champagne intermission event.  Performance information and tickets can be accessed at this link. Neither masking nor proof of vaccination is required to attend performances. 

Half hour pre-opera talks are given to ticket holders one hour before performances.  Post-performance question and answer sessions were scheduled with members of the cast on May 14, 15, and 21.

Parking in the Kennedy Center is typically plentiful at around $25 per day, with a small discount for Kennedy Center members when reserved ahead of the day.  The Metro to Foggy Bottom and the free Red Kennedy Center buses from there to the Kennedy Center which run every 15 minutes are an excellent option.  There are snack stands in the main lobby, and on the Terrace level, the KC Café offers food cafeteria style at moderate prices; fine dining is available on the Terrace level in the Roof Terrace Restaurant. 

There are many side activities to attend at the Kennedy Center.  Mini-concert, free performances are scheduled on the Millennium Stages at either end of the main floor foyer.  There also is a still new, permanent exhibit on John F. Kennedy’s life and support for the arts on the Terrace Level.  The REACH is a modern addition to the Kennedy Center that offers numerous activities.

Opera Lafayette's Opéra-Ballet Premieres: a Fun Léandre et Héro and an Audacious Io

The timing for these performances was all wrong.  On Tuesday Night, Opera Lafayette blew the roof off the Kennedy Center and continued its recent trend towards bringing yesterday’s French music to today with authenticity but in ways that modern audiences can more fully appreciate and enjoy.  The operas and music were good; the singers and dancers were great; and Machine Dazzles’s costumes must be seen to be believed.  These two performances together should either have been held on New Year’s Eve in the Kennedy Center or as part of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, and soprano Gwendoline Blondeel as La Folie would have been declared queen of the ball.  For Io in particular, Opera Lafayette put the spectacular in opera’s spectacle.  As they say in New Orleans: Laissez les bons temps rouler!

La Folie (Gwendoline Blondeel) in Opera Lafayette’s Io surrounded by Graces and Pleasures (Séan Curran dancers). Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Composer Pierre de La Garde’s and librettist Pierre Laujon’s Léandre et Héro (1750) and composer Jean-Phillipe Rameau’s Io (2023) were expected to provide a pleasant evening of authentic 18th century French music, singing, and dancing performed beautifully by polished performers with dash added by the creative efforts in costuming by Machine Dazzle.  It was so much more.  The costumes dazzled alright, but so did the staging, the choreography, and the performances.  Founder and Artistic Director Ryan Brown remains true to OL’s mission but refuses to let this company rest on its laurels.  I am literally still decompressing from Tuesday night’s experience. 

Cast photo from Léandre et Héro with Maxime Melnik as Léandre and Emmanuelle de Negri as Héro in center, surrounded by Séan Curran Company dancers in modern costumes, Triton costumes and dancers in period shepherd and shepherdess costumes of The New York Baroque Dance Company on either side, and Douglas Williams as Neptune on the pedestal in the background. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

I covered much of the background for these two works in a preview report but let me touch again on a few important points:

1.     Léandre et Héro and Io are actes de ballet, which are single act versions of French operas-ballets, a mix of opera and dance with an ending divertissement of primarily dance intended to be “joyous, festive, and conclusive”.

2.     Léandre et Héro was presumed lost, but a copy showed up at auction in 2021; Opera Lafayette obtained exclusive production rights from Bibliothéque Nationale de France for one year to produce a modern premiere, not seen for about 270 years.  Because this acte de ballet, being last in a trilogy, lacked an overture, and for this performance, OL added an overture from similarly themed Clerambault’s Léandre et Héro and de La Garde’s La Toilette de Venus.

Douglas Williams as Neptune, god of the sea, with Séan Curran Company dancers in the foreground. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

3.     Io was thought to be unfinished, but scholars with Rameau’s Opera Omnia led by Sylvie Bouissou recently surmised that the missing parts had been removed for use in another opera, Rameau’s Platée, and they were able to reconstruct Io.  OL’s is a first-ever production of this 280-year-old work.

4.     Performances of these two actes de ballets was the final segment of OL’s 2022-2023 DC season whose theme has been the life and times of Madame Pompadour.  She, King Louis XV’s chief mistress, sang the role of Héro at Versailles; she was also a major supporter of Rameau and other composers, and had a substantial influence on the development of French music in the mid-18th century. 

Séan Curran dancers in modern costumes and Triton attire in the Baroque style, dance before Neptune (Douglas Williams), Léandre (Maxime Melnik), and Héro (Emmanuelle de Negri). Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

5.     All three productions of Opera Lafayette’s 2022-2023 season now move to be performed next week in a festival format in NYC.  This expert combination of history, education, and performance art, all solidly researched by experts, is typical of Opera Lafayette and is what makes it extraordinary.

Léandre et Héro tells the dramatic story of two mythical characters, Léandre who swam every night across a sea to visit his forbidden love, Héro, until he drowns in a storm, and when Héro learns of this, she jumps into the sea and drowns.  Neptune brings them back to life, making them immortal so their love can survive forever.  Io is a comedy in which Jupiter and Apollo, in disguise, compete for the affection of the mortal Io.  Jupiter wins and creates a storm revealing his godly nature.  Apollo leaves and La Folie (Folly) appears, leading Jupiter’s charge for everyone to partake in fun and games, pleasures, and graces.  The ending divertissements for each work were about one-third of the acts – a substantial dance involvement.

left photo: Patrick Kilbride as Mercury and Douglas Williams as Jupiter. right photo: Emmanuelle de Negri as Io. Photos by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Stage direction and French libretto translation (shown on an above screen) for both works was done by Nick Olcott.  The same simple set was used by both actes de ballet, white columns in a V-shape pointing to a pedestal with a screen projection of the goddess of love appearing above the pedestal and screen projections of clouds behind the columns.  Credit to Lighting Designer Christopher Brusberg for lighting changes that enhanced the scenes. For the first work, in front of the columns was the sea composed of six dancers from the Séan Curran Dance, wearing modern blue tights.  The first surprise of the night, both funny and delightful, was the manner by which Léandre swam through the sea to meet his love.  The stormy sea in which Léandre died and then Héro committed suicide required some nifty choreography by Séan Curran.  Standing on sidelines in baroque costumes were six dancers representing inhabitants of Sestos and Tritons from the New York Baroque Dance Company; the baroque dance moves were choreographed by Catherine Turocy. 

left photo: Maxime Melnik as Apollo. right photo: Gwendoline Blondeel as La Folie being attended by Séan Curran Company dancers as three Graces. Photos by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

The excellent cast of singers for Léandre et Héro included tenor Maxime Melnik as Léandre, making his U.S. debut, the pure-voiced soprano Emmanuelle de Negri as Héro, who starred in OL’s the Salons of Versaille, and bass-baritone Douglas Williams as Neptune.  All sang beautifully and effectively portrayed their roles.  Ms. de Negri was especially captivating in this role, which fit her singing style perfectly, allowing the beauty in her voice to shimmer and shine.  The de La Garde’s music, well-played by the Opera Lafayette Orchestra was led by Avi Stein as both conductor and harpsichordist.  The pleasing music accompanying the vocals was mostly by harpsichord.  The soloists were joined impressively by a 15-member chorus who sang off-stage, then from rows in the audience, finally joining on stage in costume as characters of Sestos, Sailors, and Divinités de la Mer.  The music for the divertissement was livelier and fuller, played by the complete 23-member ensemble, a mixture of strings and woodwinds.  The visual appeal of the dancing greatly elevated the appeal of Léandre et Héro, making it fun; may the lovers live forever.  However, as inventive and enjoyable as it was, this performance did not prepare me for what was to come.  Opera Lafayette kicked it up a couple of notches with Io.

Séan Curran Company dancers in left photo as Fun & Games and in the right photo as Pleasures. Photos by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

For Io, the three singers switched roles and continued their excellent vocals; and, importantly, some new ones were added; dancers were from Séan Curran Company with choreography by Séan Curran.  Bass-baritone Williams became Jupiter and tenor Melnik became Apollo, both trying to win the heart of Io, played by soprano de Negri, played in campy style.  Mr. William’s singing as Jupiter commanded the stage even more effectively than it did as Neptune, and Mr. Melnik was an appealing loser in the race for love.  The reliably effective tenor Patrick Kilbride joined as Mercury in the early going, assisting Jupiter in his plot.  The early part of this comedy was Marx brothers-like with lots of banter and characters running about in and off stage trying to see and not be seen; Director Olcott enhanced the pace and fun with a snappy, slang filled libretto translation.  Finally, Jupiter called the question and created a swirling storm, followed by a celebration of Graces, Fun and Games, and Pleasures.  Machine Dazzle’s costumes to this point in Io had been striking, with great attention to detail and meaning, i.e., Apollo was dressed in a fishnet with fish attached signifying his failed attempt to woo Io, caught in his own net.  In an essay in OL’s program booklet, Melissa Hyde and Mark Ledbury point out that Machine Dazzle’s exuberant, boundary defying costumes fit the rebellious Rococco style and culture of the mid-18th century France arts scene, the period of Io’s composition.  The attached photos can serve as an introduction to the costumes’ color and design, but you need to be present in person to fully experience the textures and vibrancy of the pieces.

Then, the explosions came, first in the form of the storm, where the characters were blown around and were joined by costumed Séan Curran dancers, three twirling about holding costumed whirlwinds overhead (this must have taken a lot of practice).  Then as the storm recedes, three dancers appear as Graces in beautiful, alluring costumes; two male dancers appear in purple, erotic outfits as Pleasures; and one dancer in a black and white striped costume with large balls attached appeared as Fun and Games.  Even this did not prepare me for what was to come.  Suddenly the action slowed as someone in an enormous yellow and pastel costume was assisted onto the stage.  The lights came up and soprano Gwendoline Blondeel as La Folie was in place on the pedestal bedecked in a huge, stunning, ostentatious, bright yellow costume.  Apollo had departed, and she has stolen his lyre to lead the merriment, proving life is crazy by turning things topsy-turvy, making sad songs fun and fun songs sad. 

Finale photo from Io featuring costumed Séan Curran Company dancers. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

La Folie’s entrance was eye-opening itself, but if you saw Ms. Blondeel singing “Stabat Mater” in a reverent church girl performance in Opera Lafayette’s Pergolesi! earlier this year, you’d find her performance as La Folie a rather shocking transformation.  The first few minutes of her center piece solo, I felt like I was in Las Vegas and Beyoncé had just come on stage.  She soon unbuckled her outsized costume and gave a leggy showgirl performance from then on.  Wow, what a dynamic singing performance; it was beautiful operatic singing, but it was also showtime, a strong contender for my favorite performance of the year!  The Opera Lafayette Chorus, also costumed in Machine Dazzle’s shimmering duds appeared on stage to join in the fun.  Delightful fun, singing and dancing filled out the performance.  Special kudos to Ms. Blondeel for her show-stopping  performance in what was quite a show.

Conductor Avi Stein also led the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus in Io.  The musical performances were excellent. I enjoyed Rameau’s music which seemed fuller and more complex than de La Garde’s, but honestly, the visuals in Io were so engaging that I could not focus on the music or playing; perhaps the most appropriate comment might be that the music and the chorus participation fit beautifully with an overall outstanding program.  To have been less would have been distracting.

Opera Lafayette, you have outdone yourself!  I cannot imagine what next season drawn from The Era of Madame de Maintenon will bring, but I do not intend to miss it.

The Fan Experience:  Léandre et Héro and Io were scheduled for performances on May 2 and 3 in the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center and on May 9 at the El Museo del Barrio Theater in NYC; the entire Festival program for NYC can be found at this link.  The actes de ballets were sung in French with supertitles in English.  The performances were scheduled for two hours, including a 20 minute intermission but ran closer to 2.5 hours total.

An informative pre-opera discussion that took place one hour before showtime included Opera Lafayette Artistic Director Ryan Brown, Mathais Auclair of the Bibliothéque Nationale de France, music historian and Rameau expert Sylvie Bouissou, and music historian Rebecca Harris-Warrick.

These experts also contributed to an extensive program book that includes essays by these authors and others.

Opera Philadelphia's Bohème La: Love and Death Becomes Death and Love

My wife says it’s not a competition and that Director Yuval Sharon’s production of Puccini’s La Bohéme should not be compared to classic productions.  I’ll try, but that’s a tall order given that practically the whole thing is taken from the classic production, just reversing the order of the acts, and adding a character to tell us what is going on.  Remember that this is one of the most popular and beloved operas of all time.  Few opera fans will view this production without already having feelings for the characters and making comparisons.  I guess the important question isn’t which version you might prefer, but how will this telling affect your feelings.

Mimi (Kara Goodrich) is dying as she is surrounded and comforted by her friends (l to r) Marcello (Troy Cook, kneeling), Rodolfo (Joshua Blue, kneeling), Schaunard (Benjamin Taylor, sitting), Colline (Adam Lau, standing), and Musetta (Melissa Joseph, sitting). Photo by Steven PIsano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

In Act I of the original La Bohème, we meet four bohemian friends – Rodolfo the poet, Marcello the painter, Schaunard the musician, Colline the philosopher, and Benoit their landlord.  Then we are introduced to Mimi the seamstress who will quickly become the love of Rodolfo’s life.  In Act II, there is a Christmas Eve party at Café Momus where lovers Mimi and Rodolfo bond forever and lovers Marcello and the coquettish Musetta spar with each other.  In Act III, Rodolfo’s and Mimi’s relationship has become strained, and they struggle to reconnect; Musetta and Marcello spar more.  In Act IV, Mimi dies from consumption and everyone, including the audience is sad.  But for this production, Director Sharon has reversed the order; you get the sad stuff at the beginning of the opera and the happy stuff at the end.

The National Gallery of Art has a series of paintings by artist Thomas Cole titled “The Voyage of Life”, four paintings depicting childhood, youth, manhood, and old age.  They have fascinated me since I was a young man, and one can view them in chronological or reverse order, but they represent stages of life, not specific events.  Puccini’s opera portrays four scenes from a developing relationship: chance encounter, celebration of love, a falling out, and the risk of loss.  The exact scenes depicted are the result of specific decisions made in a timeline, even though they also represent different stages of a love affair.  Normally, these stories are told as leading from one stage to the next, but what would be the effect of viewing them in reverse chronological order, of telling or remembering them differently?  In Fall 2021, Virginia Opera performed La Bohème: Rodolfo Remembers, a shortened version which begins with Rodolfo remembering Mimi and trying to come to grips with his loss; it was affecting, an excellent production.  After all, they are just stories – Puccini himself omitted one act from the original five acts in the libretto.  What is gained in the changes?  What is sacrificed?  How do the changes impact the listener?

Mimi (Kara Goodrich) sings to Marcello (Troy Cook) of the trouble in her relationship with Rodolfo. Photo by Steven PIsano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

What was gained in this production of La Bohème?

First, Opera Philadelphia further enhanced its reputation as a leading, progressive opera company.  This production could have been featured in the coming O23, OP’s fall festival that seeks to discover opera’s boundaries. 

The audience got to see something different while viewing a classic opera.  One of the director’s goals was to give modern audiences the opportunity to view a classic opera as a world premiere.  In that, it succeeded.  It helped a lot that Puccini’s music holds up to changes in the order played, and that Conductor Corrado Rovaris and the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra played the music so beautifully, woven seamlessly into the timing of the singers and the plot.  Impressive.

A scene with cast and chorus as characters celebrating Christmas Eve in the town square near Cafe Momus, revealing the circular, rotating disk tilted up. Photo by Ray Bailey; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

Speaking of singers, this was a fine cast, beginning with soprano Kara Goodrich as Mimi.  She sang beautifully with a powerful, attractive, emotion-filled voice.  It was easy to understand why, after her appearance in a minor role in OP’s Rigoletto in May of last year, OP had no problem casting her in a major role.  Tenor Joshua Blue was also excellent.  For much of the opera I thought his voice waxed and waned in intensity, but in his major arias, he shone brightly and drew well deserved applause.  The principal singers were overall quite good: baritone Troy Cook as Marcello and soprano Melissa Joseph as Musetta; bass Adam Lau as Colline and baritone Benjamin Taylor as Schaunard.  In this version, Schaunard and Colline are also a couple.  In a contributing supporting cast, Musetta’s sugar daddy Alcindoro was well played by bass-baritone Frank Mitchell.

At Cafe Momus, Musetta (Melissa Joseph) delivers “Quando me’n vo’”, perhaps La Bohème’s most famous aria. Photo by Steven PIsano; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

An audacious staging by Director Sharon, who is Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of Detroit Opera and a Macarthur Fellow (the genius award), added to the enjoyment of the new and different in this version.  This production had been previously honed with performances in Detroit, the Spoleto Festival, and Boston.  With very limited sets all assembled in place on a large circular, rotating disc, the action flowed from scene to scene non-stop, without intermission.  I liked the absence of an intermission, personally, but staging was sans the visual appeal of the Zeffirelli staging used by the Met, which requires pauses for set changes, but draws you into the scene more completely.  The many costumes were colorful and fun; kudos to Costume Designer Jessica Jahn. The singers on the disc were frequently handing things off to the costumed actors appearing at the edge of the disc; whether this was done for effect or was simply functional was not clear.  The Zeffirelli production focused on enhancing the romantic aspects.  Mr. Sharon’s seemed a little more verismo focused; he wanted us to appreciate the poverty of the bohemians and question how things happen.

Members of the Philadelphia Girl’s Chorus and the Philadelphia Boy’s Chorus added color to the Cafe Momus act. Photo by Ray Bailey; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

The lack of a more complete set was most notable in the Café Momus scene, but was largely offset by the brilliant use of an extra large chorus which paired the Opera Philadelphia Chorus with the members of the Philadelphia Girl’s Choir with the Philadelphia Boy’s Choir.  The use of such a robust chorus with limited props was exceptionally effective, and they sounded great under the direction of Chorus Master Elizabeth Braden.  The rush of a horde of chorus members to begin this act was fun, but near the end, I did find that the thinness of the set began to wear on me.

For me, the best moment of this version came in Sharon’s Act II/Puccini’s Act III.  That act has always been somewhat of a shock and downer as we leave the joyous lovers and are plunged into the icy water of their estrangement (the act Puccini removed helped bridge this change).  Coming as relief to the death just witnessed, I was more receptive to the arias sung in this act.  This is really a great act, and one that the singers excelled with; Troy Cook as Marcello was especially strong in this act.  The final act where Rodolfo and Mimi forge their love had some outstanding vocals by Joshua Blue and Kara Goodrich and perhaps Puccini’s most compelling music, but this was my favorite act in this production. It was new to me, almost like really seeing it for the first time; I now look forward to seeing that scene in a classic production.

In the last act, the friends are gathered for friendly banter as Colline (Adam Lau) and Schuanard (Benjamin Taylor) dance as Rodolfo ( Joshua Blue) and Marcello (Troy Cook) look on. Photo by Ray Bailey; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

What was sacrificed?

For me, there are two things that every La Bohème must do.  First, make the audience feel like bohemians, connect with the youthful idealism of living for soul-felt art and willingness to suffer the deprivations and creature comforts that requires, and second, convey the friendship borne of that special bond comrades in purpose enjoy.  It’s not so important that we feel serious sympathy for their living conditions.  La Bohème is a romantic work.  Rodolfo tells Mimi that in his soul he is a millionaire; the production must impart that feeling to the audience; it puts everyone in good spirits.  It is the true setting of the story, and coupled with Puccini’s outstanding music, we are put in the perfect mood to respond deeply to the love story.  With the right players, and OP had the right players, it happens readily in the beginning of the Puccini version where the bohemian friends are a major focus and then head off to party.  There is even a comic scene, excised from this version, where the friends tease and trick landlord Benoit in his attempt to collect the rent.  If you don’t like the four friends and their irrepressible spirit, the romance of the entire opera is deflated.  I already knew the four friends, but I suspect that starting with the heartache of Mimi’s death somewhat mutes that aspect for audience members meeting them for the first time.

I think the other essential element of La Bohème is that you must like, even fall in love with Mimi.  She must make you want to put your arms around this charming, gentle spirit we meet in Puccini’s Act I.  Ms. Goodrich acted that part well, but we meet her in this telling on her deathbed, staggering in movements; and in the next act, we experience her in argumentative conflict with Rodolfo.  I was already bought in to Mimi’s character through multiple viewings of La Bohème; how did novices respond to Mimi?  Did they manage to love her at the end?

In the end, which was the beginning, Mimi (Kara Goodrich) and Rodolfo (Joshua Blue) fall in love. Photo by Ray Bailey; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

Some of the staging did not work especially well for me.  The introduction of a new character, the Wanderer, to explain the scenes was more a distraction than helpful, even though actor Anthony Martinez-Briggs was outstanding in the role; I liked the Wanderer very much, just not in this opera.  His refrain was that ‘it could have all turned out differently if’ was supposed to make us think.  I was thinking already.  A brief introduction at the beginning by one of the existing characters would have sufficed.  In the final scene where Mimi and Rodolfo meet and fall in love, their big arias were sung to the audience as they watched each other from the background.  For me, it gave the scene a little bit of a recital quality, but the performances of those arias were outstanding.

Should you go see this version?  I strongly recommend it for the novel staging by one of America’s most creative, young stage directors, the marvelous singer/actors, and wonderfully played music and the extraordinary choruses.  If you have seen La Bohème enough to be a little weary of it, this might be a good refresher and offer some new insights like Sharon’s Act II/Puccini’s Act III did for me.  If it’s your first viewing, I’d like to know what you thought.  Perhaps most importantly, Bohème La did rekindle my affection for La Bohème.

The Fan Experience: Performances for La Bohème were scheduled for the Academy of Music on April 28, 30 and May 5, 7.  The opera is sung in Italian with surtitles displayed on the overhead screen in English.  There are four acts but no intermissions.  Running time was one hour and forty minutes.

I’d also recommend making your plans now for Opera Philadelphia’s O23 festival to be held over twelve days this September/October.  This event has consistently been a hightlight of the opera season for my wife and me.  My preview of O23 can be found at this link.

Opera, Dance, and Dazzle: Opera Lafayette's May Premieres of Two Opéras-Ballets

Logo courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Opera Lafayette is best known for performing 17th-19th century French music and vocal works authentically using period instruments. However, one aspect of Opera Lafayette’s productions that I have found to have endearing appeal has been the frequent inclusion of dance - see photos below - which was seminal in French operas until the mid-20th century.  To me, dance seemed such a natural part of the works performed that I have never given it much thought.  However, the upcoming performances of Io, reconstructed though detective work, and Léandre et Héro, made possible by a rediscovered score, can be referred to as “opéras-ballets” (a genre of French baroque theater that combines opera and ballet), or more precisely, “actes de ballet” (opéras-ballets with only one act), and have caused me to give the inclusion of dance in opera some thought.  Are opéras-ballets ballets or operas?  I suspect the question is like asking whether Reese’s Cups are chocolate or peanut butter candy; they are both, but so good together!  Not only that, but Opera Lafayette has decided to put them in dazzling new wrappers, costumes by designer Machine Dazzle.

Charles André Van Loo - Madame de Pompadour en belle jardinière - v.1754-1755. Image from Wikipedia is in the public domain.

I don’t think that OL chose these works because they are a fusion form, but rather, because the works themselves are central to the theme of their season constructed around the life and times of Madame de Pompadour, a fascinating and controversial figure in 18th century France, who had a significant impact on French opera and music in her day (see my report on OL’s “The Era of Madame de Pompadour”).  Mme Pompadour achieved court status by becoming the chief mistress of King Louis XV.  Despite the derision and opposition from court members dismayed to have a commoner in their midst, she became a friend and principal advisor to the king, who rewarded her with other appointments as well.  In addition to bearing the gifts of intellect and personality, she was also a talented musician and opera singer who managed salons at a theater named the Théâtre des Petits Cabinets, which she had constructed at Versailles; she was well prepared for this role, having established a presence in the Parisian salon scene prior to achieving court status.  Performances there, which often included her, were immensely popular with the king.   Invitations to perform and attend became coveted among singers and musicians, which gained her influence with Opéra Paris, and courtiers, which gained her additional influence at court.  Her interests swayed the interests of France’s musical establishment.

Therein lies the special appeal for Opera Lafayette, but the plot is a good bit thicker.  The composers of both operas received patronage from Mme Pompadour, and the subject matter for each opera may have been, at least partially, intended as payback for that patronage.  In each work, a woman of true spirit is challenged and love triumphs; their light illuminated Madame de Pompadour quite favorably.  King Louis XV’s chief mistress commissioned several works by composer Pierre de La Garde, including Léandre et Héro, and secured for him the position of music instructor for the king’s daughters.  She was a staunch supporter of Jean-Phillipe Rameau, composer of Io, securing commissions for him from the Opéra Paris; you might think of her perhaps as the Francesca Zambello of her day.  Rameau was fifty years old by the time of his first opera and needed her support to challenge the operatic paradigm established by composer, and Louis XIV favorite, Jean-Baptiste Lully.  The score for Léandre et Héro by de La Garde was believed lost to antiquity, but recently surfaced.  Opera Lafayette supporters enabled Bibliothèque nationale de France to secure this work and was rewarded with exclusive rights for productions of this opéra-ballet for one year.  If you attend OL’s modern premiere next week, you will be among the first to see it in 250 years or so.

Portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau, 1728, by Jacques Aved. Photo in Wikipedia in public domain.

The plot is even thicker when it comes to Io; you see, Io was never performed, and its manuscript did not survive intact.  The existing musical manuscript of Io lacks the overture and most of the final divertissement (an ending scene in French baroque opera that includes dance).  Musicologist and Rameau expert Sylvie Bouissou, who is working with Opera Lafayette on this project, has made a compelling case using evidence from history, texts, and music that the missing portions were excised for use in a later Rameau opera, Platée.   This reshuffling of music and scenes was a common practice of 18th century opera composers. Rameau was a respected musical theoretician in his day and became a major composer of French opera. Musicologist Bouissou has provided a proposed complete Io by using the overture and divertissement from an early version of Platée.  In the plot, Jupiter and Apollo in disguises compete for the affection of Io; forced to choose, she chooses Jupiter, who reveals his true self, while Apollo goes off to sulk. Folly or La Folie appears, having stolen Apollo’s lyre, to show how crazy the world is, making merriment in Jupiter’s call for graces, pleasures, and games.  The only two Rameau operas where Folly appears is Io and Platée, further strengthening Dr. Bouissou’s case.  Io also further strengthened Madame de Pompadour’s case as her being the choice of a powerful leader.  This reconstructed Io has been sanctioned by Rameau’s Opera Omnia as a complete Io. 

Portrait of King Louis XIV as Apollo in the Ballet Royal de la Nuit (1653). Image in Wikipedia in public domain.

Let’s talk about ballet in opera, since it is a significant part of OL’s premieres, a modern premiere of Léandre et Héro and an original premiere of Io.  Ballet began to be included in French operas in the seventeenth century as Italian operas were imported and modified to fit French tastes; ballets had already been featured at royal courts often including royalty among the dancers and often carrying political messages, such as the king is the divine ruler.  Ballets included in operas were mostly interludes or divertissement added between acts or at the end to entertain and give a pause from the singing, sometimes only loosely related to the opera’s plot.  This adaptation perhaps took strongest root in Jean-Baptiste Lully’s operas and evolved by the nineteenth century for it to become de rigueur for French opera; even the great Verdi acquiesced, adding ballet scenes to meet French expectations.  It is claimed that during the 19th century the ballets were needed to attract to the operas an important audience, the wealthy male patrons of the Paris Jockey Club who liked to gaze at the lovely dancers.  Unfortunately, the incorporation of ballet in opera seems to have faded in the modern era.  The inclusion of ballet in opera to me seems a valid part of opera’s goal of engaging all the senses in as many ways as an artistic work can muster.  As a fan, I love it!

Artistic Director Ryan Brown often adds novel elements to OL’s eighteenth century opera performances to better engage modern audiences; in 2020, he even turned a French opera comique into a Hollywood-style western.  It is primarily in the dance portions that such enhancements have been made for these operas-ballets.  Director Brown sees the ballet portions as integral to the overall production.  In a telephone chat, he noted, “The inclusion of dance and ‘divertissements’ in opera is usually very carefully integrated into the experience of the whole. In Mozart's Idomeneo, an opera based on what was originally a French libretto, and including dance, for instance, the choral and dance segments relieve the tension of the plot involving the main characters. When I saw a televised Met production from the 70's or 80's (it included Pavarotti), something seemed terribly amiss when the cameras focused in on the tense faces of the principals during the choral and dance segments when those principals were not singing, thus giving us no emotional relief, and missing what I'd call the emotional pacing of the opera. Similarly, there have been productions of Berlioz's Les Troyens which cut all the dance sequences, but which seem much longer than productions (like the Gardiner one in Paris) which include them and preserve the intended emotional pacing.”  Regretfully I think, the ballet portion of Idomeneo is most often omitted in contemporary productions.

Photo of dancers from the Séan Curran Company in a scene from Opera Lafayette’s performance of Handel’s Radimisto in 2019. Photo by Louis Forget; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

First up will be Léandre et Héro, where the two lovers are each drowned by the sea and then brought back and given immortality by Neptune; Madame de Pompadour originally sang the role of Hero, which again placed her and her relationship with the king in a favorable light.  In OL’s production, the Séan Curran Company’s dancers will portray the sea using a modern free form style of dance, while the New York Baroque Dance Company will play onlookers on land using a formal 18th century dance style.  The acte-de-ballet Léandre et Héro was the third part of the opéra-ballet, La journée galante; the second act, La toilette de Vénus, was also recovered at the same time, and these can now be combined with the existing first act Æglé to form the complete work.

Photo of a scene from Opera Lafayette’s performance of Rameau’s Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ou Les Dieux d’Égypte, performed in the 2014, featuring dancers from the New York Baroque Opera Comapny in period dress and dancers from the Séan Curran Company in modern dress; not shown, but also featured in this performance were members of Kalanidhi Dance. Photo by Louis Forget; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

The historic premiere of Io, which will follow Léandre et Héro, will have dancers from the Séan Curran Company, and both singers and dancers will have extraordinary costumes.  Director Ryan said that, “The fact that the libretto called for everyone to be in disguise (the singers are the character of Jupiter, Apollo, and Io and Mercury and La Folie, and the dancers are Graces, Pleasures, and Games), plus the fact La Folie arrives to make everything topsy turvy, and because we have Machine’s costumes for all, combined to suggest to us that contemporary dance movements would be appropriate for this half of the show.”  The show is 18th century opéra-ballet.  Director Brown became a fan of designer Machine Dazzle through articles about him, his awards, and Dazzle’s first solo exhibition, Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle, at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC; Mr. Brown was impressed with the designer’s talent for using “ordinary objects to extraordinary effect”.  Through a contact, he was able to bring Machine Dazzle on board for this production.  Machine will have to go some to top Louis XIV’s costume, but rest assured - I stated that the singers and dancers will wear extraordinary costumes, but Opera Lafayette says they “will don Dazzle’s works of art”. 

Authentic French music played on period instruments, excellent singing, intriguing dancing, and dazzling costumes, and all this in the intimate Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center - what more could you want for a fine night out?  And while I’m not too sure about Reese’s Cups, I feel safe in claiming that Opera Lafayette’s operas-ballets will be good for you.

The Fan Experience: Léandre et Héro and Io will be performed in the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center on May 2 and 3 and in El Museo del Barrio in New York City on May 9.  Each opera is one act; vocals are sung in French with English subtitles displayed on side screens.  The May 9 performance will be part of the Opera Lafayette New York Baroque Music Festival that will include In the Salons of Versailles on May 10 and Pergolesi! on May 11; both works were presented previously in DC as part of this season.

The opéras-ballets Léandre et Héro and Io will be directed by Nick Olcott who has previously worked with Opera Lafayette, and the music will be directed by harpsichordist/organist Avi Stein.  Renown French soprano Emmanuelle de Negri and tenor Maxime Melnik, making his first U.S. performance, will star in the title roles and be joined by bass-baritone Doug Williams, soprano Gwendoline Blondeel, and tenor Patrick Kilbride.  As noted, the productions will feature Seán Curran Company (choreographer Seán Curran) and New York Baroque Dance Company (choreographer Catherine Turocy).

Opera Baltimore's La Traviata: An Elegant and Entertaining Evening of Love and Death

You might think because I saw another production of La Traviata just two weeks ago that I might have little to say.  If so, you don’t know Violetta!  La Traviata (1853) by composer Giuseppe Verdi and librettist Francesco Maria Piave was Opera Baltimore’s second fully staged production, and like last year’s The Barber of Seville, the opera played to a packed house in both performances --- and deservedly so.  Look, I gave up March Madness to attend Friday night’s performance, and all through the performance I kept thinking that this experience was so much richer than anything on TV.  Part of my response was that it was a live performance of singing, music, and storytelling being enjoyed as part of a community, part of it was the greatness and sheer pleasure of Verdi’s music, and part of it was the life breathed into La Traviata, with love, by Opera Baltimore. 

Soprano Lindsay Ohse plays Violetta in Opera Baltimore’s performance of La Traviata. Photo by Kiirstn Pagan; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.

In La Traviata (translated as “a fallen woman”), Violetta is a highly sought after French courtesan who is committed to living for pleasure and frequents lavish salon parties with her upper-class gentlemen benefactors; she has contracted tuberculosis and is faltering.  She is wooed and falls in love with a young gentleman, Alfredo.  Violetta experiences true love for the first time, and they live together briefly, until Giorgio, Alfredo’s father, visits her to demand, then plead with her to give Alfredo up before she sullies the family name and reputation, which would ruin Alfredo’s sister’s chances of marrying into a good family.  Violetta, whose sickness is worsening, gives in, proving her virtue and honor, showing her to be a person of courage and resolve.  She slips away and returns to the Baron, her previous sponsor, as the only way to make Alfredo leave her side.  Alfredo, angry at this apparent rejection of his sincere devotion, denounces her in an ugly confrontation in front of a shocked salon party crowd and goes abroad.  In the finale, Alfredo has been told of Violetta’s sacrifice by Giorgio, who has grown to deeply respect her, and Alfredo returns to renew his vows to Violetta, finding her on her death bed.  Now, that’s opera!

left photo: Matthew Vickers as Alfredo. right photo: Benjamin Taylor as Giorgio. Photo by Kiirstn Pagan; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.

The great opera composers were not only imbued with extraordinary musical and compositional talent, but they were also gifted with an acute ability to recognize the complexities of human personalities; their characters are typically a mix of admirable and not so admirable qualities.  In most cases, that ability matured over time as did their musical talents.  One report I read on composer Verdi said that in 1844, a close friend recommended a work to Verdi as a possible source for an opera.  Verdi is quoted as responding, “I know the subject you suggest.  The heroine is a character I don’t like.  I don’t like prostitutes on the stage…“. 

Matthew Vickers as Alfredo and Lindsay Ohse as Violetta backed by a cast emsemble. Photo by Kiirstn Pagan; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.

Yet, in 1852 he began work on an opera about a French courtesan, a high-level prostitute, determined to show her good heart and honorable soul…on stage.  Why the change in attitude you might ask; maybe Verdi just knew a good subject for an opera when he saw it, but there is more to the story to consider.  The source further notes that Verdi found the story for La Traviata in a play he attended titled La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, a play that Verdi attended with the famous soprano Giuseppina Strepponi, a sophisticated, cultivated woman who gave birth to three children out of wedlock and while details are murky, not all from the same father.  She later became Verdi’s wife, remaining so until she died.  Verdi wanted to title the opera Amore e Morte (Love and Death), a subject Verdi knew well from personal experience, but the sensors would not allow it.  He also strongly wanted the opera to be set in his own time period, the middle of the 18th century, but opera companies insisted it be moved to the year 1700, perhaps fearing it struck a little too close to home?  I think there are connections between all these events, to each other and to viewing audiences that have been seminal in making La Traviata among the most popular operas in the world for 170 years.

La Traviata has three acts that move from the lovers meeting, their time together and breakup, and the death bed.  Stage Director Kaley Karis Smith did an excellent job telling the story with a compelling flow in those settings.  Her choices added accents to the story, such as an opening scene during the overture that made the point that Violetta was passed between men and such as adding photo-taking, where the expression on Violetta’s face changed dramatically between waiting for the photo to be taken and when the picture is snapped, a hint her life might not be as gay as she professed.  I did find it a little concerting that often the singers were singing to the audience and not each other.  The sets by Scenic Designer Jefferson Ridenour were attractive and evocative of Verdi’s era, and settings for each act were designed to aid the storytelling.  The costumes by Costume Designer Glen Breed were fabulous.  Effective lighting changes were employed throughout by Lighting Designer Tláloc López-Watermann.

The Opera Delaware Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Domenico Boyagian played Verdi’s music capably and generally in a satisfying manner (Opera Delaware is a co-producer of the opera).  Keep in mind, I’m responding from a single hearing with other parts of the performance competing for my attention, but there were a few times when it left me wanting.  I personally found it somewhat lackluster in the first half of the evening, perhaps thin in a few spots in instrument selection, and at one point Alfredo and the orchestra seemed out of sync.  The orchestra did have some highlights, such as the crescendo that takes place in the confrontation scene and most of the softer, gentle playing.  I was not underwhelmed by the playing but I was expecting to be overwhelmed, and I was just whelmed. I certainly was able to enjoy the beautiful Verdi music that was being played in support and enrichment of the drama. 

left photo: Matthew Vickers as Alfredo, Lindsay Ohse as Violetta, and Daniel Sampson as Gaston. right photo: Rachel DiBlasio as Annina and Lindsay Ohse as Violetta. Photo by Kiirstn Pagan; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.

La Traviata is a personal drama; attention is focused almost exclusively on Violetta, Alfredo, and Giorgio, but it is Violetta’s opera.  Soprano Lindsay Ohse proved to be an excellent one; her “sempre libra” was simply thrilling.  Her trills and coloratura flourishes were good, but it was the beauty of her singing and the emotional palette displayed that were outstanding.  She also excelled at acting, a believable, endearing Violetta from beginning to end.  Tenor Matthew Vickers who played Alfredo sings well with a burnished tenor voice, and he gave an enjoyable performance, especially singing.  I have seen and enjoyed Mr. Vickers’ performances several times.  I am almost always impressed with his vocals and almost always wishing his acting was less stiff and formulaic, which I thought it was for much of La Traviata; to his credit, his acting was much stronger from the confrontational scene until the end.  Baritone Benjamin Taylor was good as Giorgio, but it was how shockingly good his velvet baritone voice was and how almost effortless his singing was that caught me off guard.  His vocals were a highlight.  I had a hard time accepting him as Giorgio because the youthful virility in his voice seemed to belong in a romantic lead role.  He is certainly a singer not to be missed; he will of course appear when the production moves now to Opera Delaware, and he appears again in late April in Opera Philadelphia’s new production of La Boheme (I have tickets). 

left photo: Melanie Ashkar as Flora encircled by dancers/chorus members. right photo: Lead dancers in the ballet, Antonio Rosario and Taylor Ciampi. Photo by Kiirstn Pagan; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.

The performance was further embellished by the overall excellent quality of the supporting cast that included: mezzo-soprano Melanie Ashkar as Violetta’s friend, Flora; tenor Daniel Sampson as Gastone, Alfredo’s friend; baritone Ben Lowe as Barone Douphol, Violetta’s sponsor; mezzo-soprano Rachel DiBlasio as Annina, Violetta’s maid; baritone Jeffrey Gates as Marchese d’Oigny; and bass Mark Hightower as Dottore Grenvil, Violetta’s physician.  A strong highlight for me was the chorus which made me sit up and take notice with their impressive, enthusiastic singing throughout the performance; kudos to Chorus Master Aurelien Eulert. The brief ballet in the second half of the second act was a delight, especially the dancing of the two lead dancers, Antonio Rosario (choreographer) and Taylor Ciampi, who gave us a charming pas de deux..

Opera Baltimore’s performance of La Traviata was attractive, polished, and highly entertaining.  If you have been to a few of their performances, you know it becomes addictive.

The Fan Experience: La Traviata was performed in Stephens Hall at Towson University on March 24 and 26.  The opera was sung in Italian with English surtitles.  The opera was about 3 hours including two 15-minute intermissions placed between the acts.  My thanks to the folks who set up and staffed the snack and drink stands on the lower level before and during the intermissions; much appreciated.  This production was developed in cooperation with Opera Delaware and now moves to the Copeland Hall at the Grand in Wilmington for March 31 and April 2 performances; tickets available at this link. 

Opera Baltimore was known as Baltimore Concert Opera until last year and current plans are to continue to offer a mix of concert performances in the Engineers Club and fully staged performances in Stephens Hall.  The operas to be performed in the 2023-2024 season will be announced on June 6; both venues are modest in size; so get your tickets early.  Opera Baltimore is the only company performing high quality, professional fully staged operas in Baltimore and seems to be growing.  The strong ticket sales are encouraging but ticket sales cover less than 20% of the cost of a production; the remainder must be made up from contributors within the community. As always, the community will decide the fate of opera in Baltimore.

Dr. Aaron Ziegel, Associate Professor of Music History and Culture at Towson University provides the pre-opera talks an hour before performances.  He also oversees OB’s “Opera Insights” series, four lectures on each upcoming opera, providing a deep dive into the opera itself and insights into the elements of opera and opera history during the period in which the opera was composed.  The lectures begin as Zoom calls but are later placed online.  They are archived and available for viewing to all, not just ticket holders as in the past, as are the Zoom call presentations. 

If you are interested in La Traviata, I especially recommend lecture #1 where Dr. Ziegel discusses the woman who was the inspiration for Dumas’ novel and play and Verdi’s opera, courtesan Marie Duplessis.  Learning of her history of sexual abuse at the hands of many men, including her father, made me wonder what Violetta’s history might have been if she were a real person and how her history led her to become a courtesan.  We don’t really know Violetta.

Annapolis Opera's The Marriage of Figaro: Singing that Impressed and Music Playing that Wowed

The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro, 1786) is one of the most beloved operas in the repertoire.  Why?  The old saying is that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely; power has been corrupting mankind since Adam and Eve.  Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, however, also saw that human beings are capable of magnanimity, reform, redemption, and plain silliness, as well as corruption, but most importantly, they understood that the healing grace is love.  The team’s profound insight that human goodness is a work in progress, coupled with their keen sense of humor, provided us with stories in which we can see and laugh at ourselves.  Color those stories with Mozart’s ability to write music of great beauty and charm that fully illuminates the human heart, and classics emerge, beloved in every age.  Annapolis Opera delivered a faithful, entertaining, and satisfying performance of The Marriage of Figaro this past weekend. 

The Marriage of Figaro was the first of three operas by Mozart and Da Ponte that included Don Giovanni followed by Così fan tutte.  All three are among the most often performed operas in the repertoire.  This team seems an unlikely pairing, the roguish, rookie librettist Da Ponte and the superstar composer Mozart.  However, Da Ponte was Austrian Emperor Joseph II’s court poet and a favorite of the emperor.  Mozart realized the best path to a court sponsored production was to engage Da Ponte, a collaboration determined by fate and circumstance and the fact that both men were worldly wise.  Mozart suggested to Da Ponte that he write a libretto using a Beaumarchais play of the same name, the second play in a trilogy about the Count Almavira and Rosina.  The first play in the series was The Barber of Seville, later made into the highly successful Rossini opera, and the last play being The Guilty Mother.  Fans of Cosí fan tutte will notice the Mozart/Da Ponte joke when a line in Figaro states that all women are like that.

Rachel Blaustein as the Countess, Helen Zhibing Huang as Susanna, and Efrain Solis as Figaro. Photo by Michael Halbig; courtesy of Annapolis Opera.

As was the case for all Mozart/Da Ponte collaborations, there is more afoot than comedy; social change rippling through society at that time was also a target of the opera.  The play, The Marriage of Figaro, was barred from production in Vienna by the emperor due to incendiary language inspiring subjects to throw off the yoke of the nobility.  The choice was timely for impact, but Da Ponte had to reduce and modify the spoken play to text that could be sung in an opera that he might be able to pass under Joseph II’s radar.  Thus, in a scene where Figaro is angry with the Count, the Beaumarchais text reads “Because you are a great lord, you think you are a great genius!  You took the trouble to be born, that’s all.  You remain nothing but an ordinary man; while I…had to use more science and calculation simply to survive than it has taken to rule Spain for the last hundred years!”  See why Emperor Joseph might object to a servant uttering these words?  In the opera, Figaro merely sings, “Well, little count, if you want to dance, I will choose the tune.”  The aria makes the point that the servant does not accept the count’s yoke of control, but in a safer manner, flavored by high comedy to make the medicine go down.  Da Ponte and Mozart knew what they were dealing with and how to navigate the terrain.

Helen Zhibing Huang as Susanna, Kevin Godinez as Count Almavira, and Elizabeth Sarian as Cherubino. Photo by Michael Halbig; courtesy of Annapolis Opera.

The Marriage of Figaro plot has a lot going on in a short period of time; I suggest prior reading of the program’s synopsis.  Briefly, in the opera, Count Almavira desires to bed Susanna, his wife Rosina’s servant, supposedly justified by droit du seigneur (right of the lord); this was the purported feudal right of a lord to bed a servant girl on her wedding night before her husband could sleep with her, a right Count Almavira had disavowed.  Susanna’s betrothed, Figaro, in cahoots with her, the Countess, and a love struck page, Cherubino, lay plans to outwit the Count, but first they must invalidate an existing contract that would require Figaro to marry Marcellina, Dr. Bartolo’s maid, both continuing characters from The Barber of Seville.  Plots and subplots are begun and go astray, and hilarious surprises abound in classical opera buffa style, which is to say, in classical commedia dell’arte style.  Now, le droit seigneur has a murky history at best from the medieval period and certainly was not found in 18th century Europe.  Regardless, it was an excellent plot device for Beaumarchais to make the point quite clearly that nobility had more control over their subjects, even their bodies, than should be granted; this was a controversy roiling aristocracies of the continent at that time.  Da Ponte and Mozart bring us to the conclusion that both rulers and subjects are flawed human beings and that love conquers all, with the only path forward being to ask for and give forgiveness and move on.  Surely that was the shared belief that allowed them to work together and produce great works.  When forced to confront his philandering and abuse of his wife, the Count asks for forgiveness.  The social order took time to change but has; the themes of human susceptibility to transgression and the need for forgiveness continue, and thus, we still embrace The Marriage of Figaro.

Let me digress for a moment: think of opera as baseball.  Hang with me here!  I enjoy watching baseball at all levels, from Little League to the Majors.  Opera is also played at different levels based on resources and market size available to a company.  AO’s President in opening remarks noted that this was Annapolis Opera’s 50th Anniversary Season.  Congrats!  Annapolis Opera continues to impress by consistently providing productions of a quality one would only expect of a much larger city.  AO’S Figaro sparkled with both talent and professionalism. 

Rachel Blaustein as the Countess, Helen Zhibing Huang as Susanna, and Efrain Solis as Figaro. Photo by Michael Halbig; courtesy of Annapolis Opera.

The cast that Artistic and Music Director Craig Kier assembled for this production was one I greatly looked forward to seeing and hearing, having enjoyed performances by many of them previously.  The number of singers and creative staff needed for Figaro is demanding.  Twelve named singers are listed in the program and there was a fifteen-member chorus.  Several of the soloists are emerging stars that are no longer just displaying talent and potential, but are beginning to dazzle. 

The role of Figaro was played by baritone Efrain Solis, whom I have seen previously in productions by Washington Concert Opera and Virginia Opera.  He played well the crafty Figaro, deeply in love with his wife and determined to protect his interests, very capable in the humorous banter, which was often ongoing.  Mr. Solis has a deep roasted baritone and sings expertly.  His Susanna was soprano Helen Zhibing Huang whom I have heard previously with Washington Concert Opera.  She has a bright soprano voice and sings well, playing a beleaguered Susannah, feigning emotions to carryout plots, as well as displaying sincere ones.  It was my first time hearing baritone Kevin Godinez, who has a rich, lighter baritone, and sang exceedingly well, sometimes impressively, as Count Almavira.  It was interesting to watch his performance as the Count who changes over the course of the evening, moving from an effete nobleman difficult to take seriously to a ruler who begins to take control and appears threatening before his transformation as a recalcitrant; at the same time, he fully participates in the comedy.  The Countess is the most sympathetic role in the opera and has some of the most beautiful arias.  I have seen soprano Rachel Blaustein, who played the role, several times:  in the 2019 Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, in an Opera Theatre of St. Louis performance this past summer, and earlier this year in a performance with Maryland Lyric Opera.  She has a lovely soprano voice and sings beautifully, maneuvering easily in her higher register.  My takeaway from this performance is that she is no longer an emerging opera star; soprano Rachel Blaustein has arrived.

In addition to the Figaro-Susanna romance and the Count-Countess romance, Mozart and Da Ponte gave us Dr. Bartolo-Marcellina and Cherubino-Barberino romances, each with their own issues.  Bass-baritone Andrew Adelsberger was an excellent Dr. Bartolo, officious and pompous.  Marcellina was played by mezzo-soprano Hannah Shea.  I first heard Ms. Shea sing in Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative and then in WNO’s performance of Carmen; she is a highly promising young performer.  In Figaro, she displayed a talent for comedy as well as singing.  Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Sarian in a pants role as Cherubino was one of the highlights of the performance, singing and acting and cross dressing (do you think that Figaro can now be performed in Tennessee?).  Turkish soprano Öznur Tülüoglu made an impression in a minor role as Barbarino, love interest of Cherubino.  Can she be that good?  I’d like to know, more please.  Bridesmaids soprano Amanda Densmoor and soprano Denique Isaac were pleasing in their duet during the marriage scene.  Tenor Brian Walling was a bright spot in two roles, Basilio, the music teacher, and Don Curzio, the judge; he displayed a deft, natural comic touch.  Bass-baritone Christopher Hartung was an amusing Antonio, the drunken gardener.

Kevin Godinez as the Count, far left, Elizabeth Sarian as Cherubino, seated, and Efrain Solis as Figaro, on right. Photo by Michael Halbig; courtesy of Annapolis Opera.

There were many fine solo arias in Figaro allowing each of the principal soloists their moment or moments in the spotlight, and all were reasonably well done.  However, Mozart was the master of composing ensemble singing, ranging from two to seven singers.  If you think a piece of music can only serve one emotional purpose, listen to a Mozart opera where three or four characters are singing at the same time about their different issues.  The ensemble singing in this performance, supported by a fine chorus and impressive orchestra accompaniment, was outstanding.  Craig Kier also served as the Conductor for the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.  From the spirited opening of the Figaro’s overture to the sublime pathos in Act IV’s ending, the playing of the music was outstanding.  Honestly, I was very impressed; this was some of the best playing of Figaro’s music I have experienced.  Bravi!

Stage Director Corinne Hayes did an excellent job of staging and communicating the story, moving a large cast effectively around a stage with little room to spare, and spicing the action with comedic touches.  The showing of fireworks on a screen at the ending, referred to in the libretto, meaning to be cheerful, added little for me.  The choreography by Sarah Oppenheim of the marriage dance added to the enjoyment.  The simple set used for all acts with slight modifications was reflective of the age  and were quite pretty, which enhanced the performance of a romantic comedy.  The costumes were beautiful and perfect for the era, also adding richness; kudos to Costume Designer Patty Hibert.  Lighting by Christopher Brusberg was well done. 

Mozart, Da Ponte, and Annapolis Opera proved to be a symbiotic combination this past weekend.  If you saw the performance, you likely went home satisfied, happy, and whistling one of Mozart’s catchy tunes.

The Fan Experience: Performances of The Marriage of Figaro were held March 17 and 19 in the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.  The opera was sung in Italian with English super titles.  The performance lasted about three hours including one twenty-minute intermission.  Parking at the Maryland Hall was free.

There are two events remaining in Annapolis Opera’s remaining 2022-2023 season:

“Voices of Our Time” on April 15, a recital featuring countertenor John Holiday.

“35th Annual Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition” on April 16, a free event where audience members can vote on the winners.

Virginia Opera's La Traviata 2023: Great Cast in a Visual Delight

I contend that La Traviata (1853) is the perfect opera (my son prefers Tosca, and I concede a case can be made for Madama Butterfly).  Traviata has three acts, each a standout dramatically, and each filled with some of the most catchy, beautiful music and arias you will ever hear.  Traviata will warm your heart with its love story and thrill you with its music, and in the end, will leave you weeping; but on the way home, you will start to hum and whistle the melodies you just enjoyed.  With operas that are performed so frequently, one never knows how a stage director might present them to provide some novelty.  Director Tara Faircloth chose a classic nineteenth century staging enhanced by a set that was a visual delight.  Virginia Opera provided all that and introduced us to some standout singers new to the area in their weekend performances at George Mason’s Center for the Arts.  If you are the rare person who hasn’t seen La Traviata before, I envy you the treat you have ahead.

Won Whi Choi as Alfredo and Brandie Inez Sutton as Violetta in center, surrounded by ensemble. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

La Traviata’s composer was Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901); need I say more?  Traviata was the beginning of his middle period around 1850 in which he stepped up his game, following La Traviata with Rigoletto and Il Trovatore, a trio of operas that pushed him to the top of the opera world.  He and his librettist Francesco Maria Piave based the opera on a book titled La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils (fils because he had the same name as his father, a more famous author – The Count of Montecristo and The Three Musketeers).  Piave, who became a good friend of Verdi’s, wrote over seventy librettos, ten with Verdi.  The play was inspired by the life of a real-life Parisian courtesan, Marie Duplessis, who died of consumption and with whom Dumas, the son, had had a non-exclusive liaison that lasted a little under a year.  La Traviata is said to be Verdi’s most realistic opera. In opening comments, General Director Peggy Kriha Dye said that this was Virginia Opera’s eighth production of La Traviata. 

Grant Youngblood as Giorgio Germont and Brandie Inez Sutton as Violetta. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

(Spoiler alert – a synopsis follows) There are three roles in Traviata that are showcase roles: Violetta, the courtesan, Alfredo Germont, her lover, and Giorgio Germont, the father of Alfredo. But in truth, La Traviata is all about Violetta; you can’t get the soprano who sings Violetta wrong and have a good opera; more on that later.  Violetta is a beautiful and highly popular courtesan who is beginning to suffer from tuberculosis in nineteenth century Paris where lavish salon parties are a regular part of French nightlife.  She encounters Alfredo who has fallen in love for her.  At first, she attempts to push him away.  He lives for love, but she lives for pleasure.  Slowly, Violetta finds herself deeply in love with Alfredo.  They move in together in the Paris countryside and live blissfully for a while.  Then Alfredo finds Violetta has been secretly selling her assets to cover their expenses and leaves for Paris to secure financing.  In his absence, his father Giorgio appears and asks Violetta to give Alfredo up.  Alfredo’s sister is engaged to a man from a proper family and if word gets out that Alfredo is involved with a courtesan, suburban cancel culture will block the marriage.  At last Violetta agrees; Giorgio having gained respect for her honor promises his support.  Violetta flees back to her courtesan life, leaving Alfredo devastated.  He pursues her at a party, insults her, and throws money he has won at her.  Giorgio arrives and castigates his son for his treatment of Violetta.  His behavior leads to a duel and Alfredo goes abroad.  In the final scene, Violetta is on her deathbed when Alfredo, knowing the whole story, returns to see her and again they declare their love for each other.  She dies in his arms.  Where did I put those tissues?

Won Whi Choi as Alfredo Germont and Grant Youngblood as Giorgio Germont. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

There are four scenes with different sets, each a visual delight.  I marveled at how beautiful and how believable the opening set and costumes for the ballroom scene were; same for the exotic party scene when Violetta returns to courtesan life.  Their countryside living quarters and the final bedroom scene were quite lovely, quite mood enhancing.  Kudos to the creative team, including Robert Little for scenic design, John Leymeyer for costume design, Molly Tiede for lighting design, and Elyse Messick for wig and make-up design.

Now let’s talk about who played Violetta.  I trust VO’s Artistic Director and Conductor Adam Turner to make good choices in staffing VO’s productions, but I’m always a little edgy when going to hear a soprano I don’t know sing Violetta.  His choice for Virginia Opera’s Violetta was more than fine; as each scene unfolded, she became more and more impressive.  In her opening, I thought that this was a talented young performer with a strong, lovely voice worth hearing, though she seemed to labor a bit getting her flourishes just right.  However, her confidence seemed to grow as the party goers left her and Alfredo alone, and then by the end of the scene, alone on stage, she was floating in a high register showing off her trills and coloratura; while some in the audience were shouting brava, I was thinking, “You go, girl!”.  I am now a fan of soprano Brandie Inez Sutton.  In the final Act, she owned the role.  I’ve seen too many Traviata’s to get emotional, but by the end, she had tears in my eyes, perhaps the best performance in the death scene that I have experienced.  Like many emerging, young opera stars, Ms. Sutton already has a wealth of experience, including performing at the Met Opera and internationally, that undergirds her confidence.  I hope we get to see more of her.

Fran Daniel Laucerica as Gastone and Taylor-Alexis DuPont as Flora surrounded by Virginia Opera Chorus in the exotic party scene. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

The leading men were also strong choices with whom I was unfamiliar.  Alfredo needs to be youthful, appealing as a love interest, and a bit hot-headed.  Tenor Won Whi Choi, who has also appeared at the Met proved to be an excellent choice; his burnished tenor voice fit the role perfectly.  When he began, I was starting to compare him to great tenors.  His acting was quite good, but then I thought his singing varied during the performance, ranging from outstanding and impressive to merely good and back to outstanding.  This is a singer whose development is worth watching; he has a high ceiling.  The pairing of an Asian tenor and a black soprano in these roles was noticeable and totally unconcerning; besides, it showed that love has no boundaries.  Baritone Grant Youngblood, a veteran of many of the top opera stages, was an outstanding Giorgio, Alfredo’s father.  Verdi and Piave made Giorgio a juicy part, a man on a mission forced to come to terms with feelings arising from his respect for the person of which he asks so much.  Mr. Youngblood has a beautiful baritone voice and sang with impressive control, fully displaying the mixed feelings arising within his character.

Brandie Inez Sutton as Violetta and Erik Grendahl as Baron Duphol. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

There are nine more named singers in supporting roles that contributed to the success of the production.  I will single out four for special mention: Fran Daniel Laucerica as Gastone, Alfredo’s friend, Erick Grendahl as Alfredo’s rival Baron Duphol, Taylor-Alexis DuPont as Flora, Violetta’s friend, and Kayleigh Reiss as maid Annina.  There were also twenty-four chorus members who performed as party goers and sang beautifully; Verdi always makes good use of the chorus as does Associate Conductor & Chorus Master Brandon Eldredge.  Director Tara Faircloth had a challenge moving so many players around a relatively small stage.  In general, the direction was excellent with some minor quibbles: some of the minor elements such as movements of the minor characters in the countryside setting lacked focus and definition; a more significant concern was that I did not find the confrontation where an emotionally distraught Alfredo insults and disgraces Violetta to have the dramatic impact it should (noted - my wife takes exception to this assessment); at that point no one in the audience should be able to breathe.  On the other hand, that death bed scene was perfect.

Grant Youngblood as Giorgio Germont, Brandie Inez Sutton as Violetta, and Won Whi Choi as Alfredo. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

Verdi’s gorgeous music is served up well by the Richmond Symphony under the direction of Maestro Adam Turner.  The music ranges from the soft, sweet melancholy violins that open the prelude to the boisterous sounds of the party beginning on stage.  The orchestra also played a huge role in producing perfectly accented music in the final scene that was so emotionally affecting.

Won Whi Choi as Alfredo and Brandie Inez Sutton as Violetta. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

In measure now, for me, seeing La Traviata is like visiting an old friend.  Virginia Opera’s production and cast made it a memorable visit.  If you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for? If you have seen it before, go visit your old friend; you’ll be the better for it.

The Fan Experience: Virginia Opera’s performances of La Traviata have been completed for Norfolk and Fairfax.  Two more remain in Richmond on March 17 and 19.  The opera was sung in Italian with English subtitles shown overhead.

The pre-opera talk by VO’s scholar in residence by Joshua Borths begins 45 minutes prior to curtain time.  Prior to each new VO production, he conducts a zoom one hour meeting where he presents information about the opera.  His presentation is recorded and placed online.  You can access the discussion of La Traviata at the following link.  It’s worth watching just to hear his comments on the development of the Verdi style.   

Washington National Opera's Blue: A Deeper Understanding of Each Other

I was drawn to Blue, but I also didn’t want to see it.  I was drawn to see it because I am a fan of modern opera, and I believe racism needs to be addressed in opera.  I didn’t want to see it because I knew it would be painful, a young black man shot and killed by police; the horror of all the shootings reported in news headlines were pain enough.  I also wanted to know if it was a good opera, beyond the timeliness of its story.  Would it both entertain and touch our hearts?  I wanted to know what understanding it might provide that I was lacking and what it had to add to our understanding of this societal controversy.  I was curious how police would be portrayed.  Part of me wanted to attend; part of me wanted to let it go, stay home, and watch basketball.  With considerable trepidation and after much procrastination, I decided to attend.

left photo: Kenneth Kellogg as The Father and Briana Hunter as The Mother celebrate the arrival of their baby boy. right photo: Sixteen years later, the same couple grieves over the death of their son. Photos by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

Blue premiered at Glimmerglass Festival in 2019 and was to have appeared next in March 2020 at the Kennedy Center when the pandemic shut down Washington National Opera’s rehearsals; it has since been performed in several American cities and abroad at the Dutch National Opera.  The opera has won awards, and partially due to the timeliness of its subject matter, much has been written about it.  Commissioned in 2015, the opera was borne of Francesca Zambello’s concern about what was happening in American society and her desire to see opera address race in America, which led to her contacting composer Jeanine Tesori to have her compose an opera for Glimmerglass, which led to the composer contacting poet, playwright, and director Tazewell Thompson to serve as librettist.  Ms. Tesori is one of the most prolific and highly honored composers for musical theater, and she has also composed a children’s opera for WNO, The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me (2013).  Together the pair, with occasional discussions with Ms. Zambello, created the opera that became Blue.  Mr. Thompson who grew up in Harlem says that he felt the story as he created it.  He identifies with the son in the story, which made him at first resist Ms. Tesori’s suggestion that the father be a police officer and not the struggling jazz musician he first envisioned; and therein lies the title of the opera, Blue for the blue police uniforms. 

l to r: Katerina Burton as Girlfriend 2, Briana Hunter as The Mother, Ariana Wehr as Girlfriend, and Rehanna Thelwell as Girlfriend 3. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

In Blue, we see a family and friends react to a mother’s pregnancy carrying a son and then the aftermath when that teenage son is shot and killed by a white police officer during a protest.   Ms. Zambello, who served both Glimmerglass and Washington National Opera in 2015 did not want the opera to take sides; she wanted to present the human not the political element.  The son, made rebellious by the social injustice of his daily life, had been involved in several minor, provocative illegal acts, and the police, in confronting protesters, resorted to excessive, lethal force; the only other detail provided in the libretto is that the officer who had done the shooting was white.  Mr. Thompson, who was an altar boy and star boy soprano in his church, learned about Greek opera in his Catholic schooling.  The team decided to use a Greek tragedy format with the violence not being seen on stage.  The team also decided not to give the characters specific names; we only know them in their roles as father, mother, son, reverend, girlfriends, and policemen buddies; the team wanted the audience to see themselves in the characters.  Librettist Thompson took the Greek format further using the three girlfriends of the mother as furies, or fate, that pleaded with the mother to get rid of the child because it was a black boy to be born in America.  He also presents three policemen, colleagues and friends of the father, with more heroic temperaments; they only envy their colleague for getting a son on the first try.  God and religion presented by The Reverend are a strong, cohesive force in the community.

l to r: Jonathan Pierce Rhodes as Police Officer Buddy 2, Kenneth Kellogg as The Father, Camron Gray as Police Officer Buddy 1, and Christian Simmons as Police Officer Buddy 3. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

I found the storytelling in Blue to be masterful, though the ending was at first unsettling.  After the expressions of anguish and torment and a final prayer, what seemed to be the final scene evolves to become a family dinner with the father, son, and mother, but I suppose that served as a reminder of what had been lost.  One might have wished for more in the development of these likeable characters but that would have taken a series not a single opera.  Character development is not a part of Greek tragedy.  The few moments of comic relief provided by the girlfriends and the policemen were most appreciated.  The elements of racism in the story are there mainly because they are present in life today, including young black men being shot and killed by police.  One racial disparity point made directly was the opening scene as a large man dressed in a hoodie sits in a chair as policemen approach; he gets up to leave but in each direction he turns he is confronted by a policeman.  Quickly he discards his clothing and dresses in his blues; then, there is laughter and hugs all around for the same black man.

Kenneth Kellogg as The Father and Aaron Crouch as The Son. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

Mr. Thompson also served as the stage director for this production.  The set is simply a projected image of a tenement building in Harlem.  Props such as chairs, tables, beds, and a casket are moved on and off stage as the scenes unfold.  The placement and movement of the characters was well choreographed.

All operas are plays set to music, but Blue seems especially so.  The story and the emotional vocals take center stage, and I found the orchestral music, when I noticed it, to be somewhat spare, mostly accents and embellishments; perhaps I need another listen.  The music, as played by the WNO Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Joseph Young was enjoyable.  Ms. Tesori’s score draws on many genres, including blues, jazz, and hymns, as well as classical styles, and dissonance is employed as called for by tension in the scene.  I would invite a fuller orchestral treatment for this work as an opera, even a prelude, likely a necessity for becoming entrenched in the modern repertoire.

Joshua Conyers as The Reverend and Kenneth Kellog as The Father. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

A talented cast of singers was headed by bass Kenneth Kellogg who has played the role of the father in all productions so far of Blue.  Mr. Kellogg has a fine, resonant bass voice, and uses it effectively to convey the emotion of the father’s many moods.  He often extended and held his ending notes to great dramatic effect.  Explaining his commitment to Blue, he has said “I knew this story in my soul.  A Black story.  Opera was no longer about the other. It was about us.”  Mezzo-soprano Briana Elyse Hunter portrayed the mother; she originated the role at the Glimmerglass Festival.  She sang beautifully with affecting emotion in the work’s different musical genres, her voice carrying warmth as the expectant mother; one could easily envision her on Broadway as well as the opera stage.  The angry teenage son, stigmatized in his own community because his father was a policeman, was played by tenor Aaron Crouch who also originated the role at Glimmerglass.  At first, he sounded somewhat light-voiced in this group of artists, but that improved.  The duet between father and son, as their deep love and need for each other was pushed aside by their conflicts, was a highlight of the performance. 

It was a pleasure to see still-young baritone Joshua Conyers, well known in this area, return to play an elder, The Reverend.  He gave a stellar, moving performance in that role, steadfast with God, as he desperately tries to reign in the profound anger of The Father, in the face of excruciatingly painful tragedy.  The supporting casts of girlfriends and policemen were outstanding.  The trio of women included soprano Katerina Burton, mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell, and soprano Ariana Wehr, who also had an impressive performance as the nurse.  They brought infectious life and energy to the stage.  The men included tenor Camron Gray, tenor Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, and bass-baritone Christian Simmons, who brought a sense of deep friendship to their roles as police friends.  The supporting casts of women and men also portrayed members of the congregation who served as an especially good-sounding chorale, making me wonder and hope that Ms. Tesori has written other religious works to enjoy.

In the closing scene of Blue, the Reverend and congregation stand while on the right a memory takes place of father, son, and mother sharing a meal. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

I suppose each member of the audience took away something different from the performance of Blue on Saturday night.  The grief at the loss of a young son certainly resonated with me.  I refused to let awareness of my son come to mind while watching the opera, and I’ve never had to worry he was in danger because of the color of his skin.  Did the opera add to the discourse on this topic?  Well, no, not in a political sense.  Well, what did it add beyond revisiting the pain of these shootings?  Perhaps because I needed to, I latched onto a line delivered by The Reverend near the end, a prayer where he said, “God, through thy love, may we find a deeper understanding of each other.”  For many perhaps that was a throwaway line, but I needed the glimmer of hope it provided, that if we get to know one another, then Mr. Thompson will be wrong in his expressed sentiment that “the themes in Blue have no expiration date”.  I pray that one effect of the opera will be to move the needle towards a deeper understanding of each other, providing hope and a way forward.  Yes, Blue’s arrival in the turbulence of current events is by its nature a plea to white conscience and a call for justice, but its dart is pointed at our hearts – may we have a deeper understanding of each other.  Amen.

The Fan Experience:  Blue, scheduled for performances on March 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, and 25, in the smaller KC Eisenhower Theater, is close to a sellout with few tickets remaining.  The opera is sung in English with English supertitles.  The opera is 2 hours, 15 minutes long plus a 25-minute intermission, just under three hours in all.

The first few scenes occur at a time before The Son has been killed, but my response to those scenes was certainly anchored by the knowledge of what was coming.  Blue does not include scenes of violence, and its language is PG – I can only remember one example of profanity.

Washington National Opera has produced a studio recording of Blue, available for purchase.  

Parking in the Kennedy Center is typically plentiful at around $25 per day, with a small discount for Kennedy Center members when reserved ahead of the day.  The Metro to Foggy Bottom and the free Red Kennedy Center buses from there to the Kennedy Center which run every 15 minutes are an excellent option.  Neither masking nor proof of vaccination is required to attend performances, but many in audience still wear masks. 

Washington Concert Opera's Nabucco: Verdily, I Say Unto You

Forgive the pun, but frankly, I was a little shocked by Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco, knowing little about it going in.  First, I had not seen this opera because it hasn’t been performed in the mid-Atlantic since 2015 as best as I can tell, about the time I first became an opera fan, and as Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera and his first opera to achieve notable success, it frankly was a low priority item, given the many great ones of his to see first; I had just seen his Shakespearean masterpiece, Otello, performed the night before by Maryland Lyric Opera, and I have seen a dozen operas by Verdi in total.  Nabucco had been on my list but not urgent.  I now feel a debt of gratitude to Washington Concert Opera’s Artistic Director and Conductor Antony Walker for bringing it forward.

Washington Concert Opera’s Orchestra and Chorus on stage for performance of Nabucco. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

What gave me a bit of a jolt in viewing this work is that Nabucco is a Bible story, complete with redemption and miracles.  It’s not just surprising to see this in today’s more secularized American society, but given all the other Verdi operas I’ve seen, it seemed surprising to me that Verdi chose a Bible story.  He did write the religious work Requiem, but that was to commemorate the death of Italian novelist and poet Alessandro Manzoni.  Nabucco is a Bible story.  As I thought about it, I wondered why there aren’t more well-known operas based on stories in the Bible; only Sampson and Delilah and Salome come readily to mind.  This despite the history of music and religion being so closely entwined in the development of music.  Early composers seemed to prefer Greek gods for their subjects, perhaps because censors, through much of opera’s existence, were quite picky about how Biblical characters were depicted on stage?  In fact, Nabucco’s religious aspect gets largely explained away by music historians who state the story struck a chord with Italians of Verdi’s day because it dealt with displaced people at a time of the Risorgimento, the drive to reunify Italy.  It’s most popular choral number “Va, penseiro” became an anthem for Italian unification and independence.  Verdi was a strong supporter of the Risorgimento, and as such, became a hero to supporters of reunification.  In 1859, a phrase began appearing on the walls of Naples, “Viva, Verdi!”, a coded salute that was an Italian acronym expressing support for the King of Italy (Viva Vittorio Emmanuele Re D’Italia).  Regardless of whether Verdi knew what he was doing or lucked onto the right theme for a hit opera, the rest is history and history is based on a true story.

The librettist for Nabucco was Temisocle Solera.  He was an author who penned five operas in all with Verdi, but Nabucco is the only one to remain in today’s repertoire.  Their previous opera together, Un Giorno di Regno, was a flop and was hissed off the stage; Verdi almost gave up composing.  That opera was written at a very difficult time for Verdi; his wife at age 26 and his two young children had died over a three-year period.  Writing Nabucco helped pull him out of depression and launch his illustrious career.  Solera based the libretto on the history of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia (Nabucco in the opera) as related in several books of the Old Testament, especially the book of “Daniel”, but of course the team added a love story and some political infighting as operatic opportunism.  In the opera, the fierce warrior king attacks and destroys Jerusalem and relocates most of its Jewish people to Babylon in bondage; this part accords with historical records.  With his battlefield success, he became so arrogant he declared himself God which caused the Hebrew God to strike him with a thunderbolt making him infirm and unfit to serve, but he later repents, and God restores his faculties, allowing him to serve and make amends; this loosely accords with the Old Testament, though the dreams interpreted by Daniel are not included.

Lester Lynch as Nabucco and Alexandra Loutsion as Abigaille. Photos by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

Meanwhile for the fictional part of the opera, his daughter Fenena, who just wants everybody to get along, was in love with the Hebrew Ismäele and had converted to Judaism.  Ismäele then got into trouble for appearing soft on the Babylonians due to his relationship with Fenena.  This made it ripe for Nabucco’s ambitious, adopted daughter Abigaille (like adopted daughter, like father) to seize the throne and threaten her sibling and all of the ancient Israelis with death; she eventually also has a conversion when Nabucco regains his senses thanks to appealing to the Hebrew God and takes back the throne.  All of this creates the characters and drama allowing Verdi to compose accompanying music to complement the action and communicate the human feeling and emotion for which he is known.  Clearly, Verdi’s interest was in people and human nature, and at that, he was very, very good.

Peter Volpe as Zaccaria and Conductor Antony Walker. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

Would I go to see Nabucco again?  If it had a cast of the caliber that WCO brought forward, absolutely!  It may be early Verdi; yes, the story could use some work, and the music could use some finesse, but it’s still Verdi!  It has the beautiful emotion-filled arias that challenge the singers and provides the dramatic melodies that engulf you, exactly what we expect of Verdi.  Maestro Walker conducted the WCO Orchestra with his usual dramatic flair, beautifully bringing forward a sumptuous rendition of Verdi’s music, including directing a banda of horns placed behind the audience in the hallway.  It is a delight visually and acoustically to have a full orchestra on stage instead of in a pit, a positive feature of concert opera.  With Verdi, the chorus is always a major player in telling the story, and led by David Hanlon, the WCO Chorus also contributed beautifully to the evening, especially noteworthy was their lovely singing of “Va, pensiero”.

Andres Acosta as Imäele and Melody Wilson as Fenena. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

The role of Nabucco was played by internationally acclaimed Verdi baritone Lester Lynch.  We have seen him locally in WCO’s Maria di Rohan in 2018 and just last year as Macbeth in Maryland Lyric Opera’s Macbeth. Mr. Lynch commands the stage in every performance as he did Saturday night, although soprano Alexandra Loutsion as his daughter Abigaille went toe to toe with him in a powerful duet.  One highlight of the performance was Mr. Lynch’s ability to elicit sympathy for Nabucco in his incapacitated state.  Another was Ms. Loutsion’s command of her upper register and the delight she demonstrated in playing a meanie; I will have to give her some slack, after all, her love interest in Ismäele was rejected.  I have seen Ms. Loutsion before as Tosca for Wolf Trap Opera, as Florencia for Pittsburgh Opera, and Brünnhilde for Virginia Opera, and she always delights.  The other singer of the evening to be added to the highlight reel was bass Peter Volpe who played high priest Zaccaria proclaiming God’s power at several important points in the action.  He has a jaw dropping appeal as an authority figure with his strong deep, deep bass voice.

l to r: Rolando Sanz as Abdallo, Matthew Scolin as High Priest, and Lester Lynch as Nabucco. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

The singers playing the young lovers acquitted themselves impressively, tenor Andres Acosta as Ismäele and mezzo-soprano Melody Wilson as Fenena.  I saw Mr. Acosta recently in Virginia Opera’s Fellow Travelers, and he is clearly a rising star in the opera world.  Ms. Wilson brought a tenderness to her role with her lovely mezzo voice; I hope to hear more.  The excellent cast of supporting roles included base Matthew Scolin as high priest, soprano Teresa Perotta as Anna, and tenor Rolando Sanz as Abdallo. 

l to r: Peter Volpe as Zaccaria, Melody Wilson as Fenena, Andres Acosta as Ismäle, and Teresa Perrotta as Anna.

Following the singing of “Va, Pensiero” in Act III, the enthusiastic audience response included shouts for an encore to the point that Conductor Walker turned to the audience and stated we would get our encore, but at the end.  At the end of the performance and after audience applause for the performers, he preceded the encore with comments explaining that this piece was loved by the Italians at a time when they identified as a displaced people and that he wished to dedicate the encore to all the displaced people of the world.  To which, I add “Amen”.

The Fan Experience: Washington Concert Opera concluded their 2022-2023 season with the performance of Nabucco on March 4 in George Washington’s Lisner Auditorium.  The opera was sung in Italian with English surtitles on a screen overhead.  There are plans underway for “Outside Opera” events this spring; check back with the website for announcements.

WCO’s 2023-2024 season was announced in opening comments by Executive Director Meg Sippey and will include Rossini’s Ermione on Dec 2 and Puccini’s La Rondine on April 7, 2024.  She also solicited the audience to send feedback on whether Saturday or Sunday performances were preferable; December 2 is a Saturday and April 7 in 2024 is a Sunday.  My sports preferences occur on both Saturday and Sunday, so no preference there for me.  On the other hand, Saturday is more of a night out night, so I might prefer that day, slightly, but I just hope to be there regardless.

Peter Russell, General Director of Vocal Arts DC, presented a pre-opera talk and provided program notes.  Mr. Russell also presents a one-hour lecture on each production in the free Opera Gems Online series.  His lectures are impressively detailed and informative, with samples of the music to be heard; he also writes the program notes for WCO.

In my experience, all the seats in Lisner Auditorium are fine for viewing the performance, but the sound is probably better towards the center of the auditorium.  Parking on the street around the auditorium is catch as catch can; be sure to read the signs!  Metro is two blocks away.  WCO has a visitor web page with directions and parking info, helpful in finding nearby parking lots. 

Maryland Lyric Opera's Otello: Beautiful and Meaningful Entertainment

Maryland Lyric Opera’s powerful performance of Verdi’s Otello got through to me.  Their beautiful performance of this masterpiece based on Shakespeare’s Othello left me a bit shaken.  I rarely have epiphanies, but I think I finally got all of Giuseppe Verdi’s message and how important it is today.  Yes, the singers, the chorus, and orchestra were all excellent, but for me, it was Verdi’s understanding of humanity that commanded the auditorium Friday night in the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda; to their credit, the talented performers for this one were the medium, not the message.

The cast, conductor, orchestra, and chorus in a scene from Maryland Lyric Opera’s production of Otello in the Music Center at Strathmore. Photography by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

Verdi was a huge fan of Shakespeare and reportedly worried he was not equal to the task of transforming one of his plays into an opera.  He did pretty well I’d say with Macbeth in 1847. He retired from opera without completing another one after composing Aida in 1871, but he was lured out of retirement to work with young librettist Arrigo Boito to revise Simon Boccanegra and compose an opera from Shakespeare’s Othello.  With Boito’s help, he created what is said to be a masterpiece based on a masterpiece: Otello premiered in 1887 when Verdi was 74 years old.  In the plot for both the play (Othello) and the opera (Otello), a powerful military leader is brought down by an underling, a clever manipulator named Iago, and pushed to the point of smothering his innocent wife, Desdemona, whom he has been led to believe has been unfaithful to him.  Iago, while representing himself as cautious and responsible, was able to create believable lies, tamper with evidence, and distort interpretations of scenarios that convinced Otello that Iago’s suspicions were correct.  Starting to sound a little modern day? 

Eleni Calenos as Desdemona and Gregory Kunde as Otello with Conductor Phillipe Auguin in the background. Photography by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

The play had to be shortened to make it a reasonable length for an opera.  Verdi and Boito omitted act one, where we learned more of the beginning of the lovers relationship; they shifted the emphasis in the opera to more of a focus on Otello and gave us an Iago less a thief by nature and more an evil doer by desire, one who got off on causing harm; his “Credo” in act two is chilling – “I believe in a cruel God”.  Among the changes, they added a tender scene between Otello and Desdemona in the first act where they sing of their deep and abiding love for each other.  In the opera, Desdemona remains much the same while Otello perhaps becomes more human, and Iago becomes more sinister.  Shakespeare told us that jealousy is bad, and that there were clever bad guys to watch out for; Verdi said that it’s not so easy, emphasizing our vulnerability to the destructive effects of lies and the deep pain caused by uncertainty of where the truth lies.  I think Verdi wanted to extend Shakespeare to communicate human vulnerability to deception more forcefully; much of the opera is Otello suffering the torment of that uncertainty as well as his jealousy. 

Maestro Phillipe Auguin conducting Maryland Lyric Opera’s performance of Otello. Photography by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

MDLO brought in some heavy hitters for this performance.  First, the guest conductor for this production was Maestro Philippe Auguin.  The Maestro is currently Conductor in Residence for the Greek National Opera Stavros Niarchos Cultural Foundation in Athens.  He is well known in DC circles for his seven years as Conductor and Music Director for the Washington National Opera, through the 2017-2018 season; he is currently WNO’s Music Director Emeritus.  I especially remember Maestro Auguin for conducting WNO’s fantastic Ring Cycle in 2016.  His acumen and sensitivity were again in evidence Friday night.  The MDLO orchestra gave a beautiful rendition of Verdi’s Otello under his direction, including the banda of muscians participating at different points from the rafters.  This was a very mature and sophisticated Verdi, every aria and scene beautifully shaped and colored by Verdi’s gorgeous music, smooth and unrelenting.

MDLO also attracted a star performer for the lead role of Otello.  Tenor Gregory Kunde not only performs in the leading opera houses around the world; he has performed the role of Otello in most of the leading opera houses around the world.  An American tenor, he is a leading international opera star.  Mr. Kunde has a strong, polished tenor voice.  He sang with authority and impressive emotional depth.  His acting eloquently conveyed Otello’s dilemmas and range of emotions. 

Mr. Kunde’s portrayal of Otello was a truly excellent performance.  However, this opera includes a racial issue.  Otello as a Moor had dark skin, and this is an important element of the story.  When Desdemona sang of Otello’s dark brow, my suspension of disbelief would have been less challenged if the singer’s brow was naturally dark, and it would have given stronger impact to her expressed sympathy for what her husband had endured. This was apparently an attempt by Shakespeare to begin to address the impact of group identity and looking different on how an individual was received by society.

l to r: Lucas Levy as Roderigo, Yi Li as Cassio, and Mark Delavan as Iago. Photography by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

Tenor Kunde was paired with accomplished singers in the roles of Desdemona and Iago, also with strong voices.  MDLO’s Desdemona was also an import from Greece, soprano Eleni Calenos who gave a beautiful portrayal of the virtuous, wrongly accused wife of Otello.  After what seemed to me a slightly uneven beginning, her love scene with Otello and her scene with Emilia, wife of Iago, when she is disoriented by the fate she sees approaching were on point and very affecting.  Iago was portrayed with suitable menace by baritone Mark Delavan, who has become a regular with the company, having just played the role of Falstaff in MDLO’s January production.  Mr. Delavan is a polished performer singing and acting.  He sings with artistry and nuance, so convincingly in this portrayal that he got some good-natured boos when he appeared for his well-deserved applause at the end.

There was also a strong cast of supporting performers for this production.  MDLO regular, tenor Yi Li gave another fine performance, this time as Cassio, Iago’s captain accused of the illicit relationship with Desdemona.  Also in the strong supporting cast was mezzo-soprano Patricia Schuman as Emilia, bass-baritone David Pittsinger as Lodovico, baritone José Sacin as Montano, and tenor Lucas Levy as Roderigo. 

Some additional kudos should be given for this excellent production.  Verdi always gives the chorus a strong role in his operas, and once again, the MDLO Chorus under the direction of Husan Park gave a fine performance.  Stage Director David Gately managed, in a concert performance, to add to the believability of the story with limited actor placement, gestures, and props.  Lighting by Stuart Duke enhanced the impact of the performance.  It takes a team effort to give a compelling performance, and this was an excellent team.

Gregory Kunde as Otello and Eleni Calenos as Desdemona. Photography by Julian Thomas Photography; courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

As I was watching Otello, I thought of the assertion made in The Godfather that one lawyer with a briefcase can steal more money than a hundred men with guns.  I then had the following thought: one Iago with an iPhone and social media can steal more piece of mind than a hundred lawyers with briefcases.  Up until Friday night, I had always thought of Otello/Othello as a story of personal tragedy brought about by a mean guy; it was about Otello’s jealousy and Iago’s treachery.  It’s more than that, and Maryland Lyric Opera’s performance of Otello brought me up to speed.   We all share in Otello’s dilemma today.  How do we deal with the torment of uncertainty about what is the truth in things that matter?  Truly, this is a dilemma confronting us in today’s world – what solution will we choose?  Otello chose badly.

Maryland Lyric Opera’s Otello brought beauty to our lives, entertained, and conveyed the important existential ideas in Verdi’s opera.  As I keep telling anyone who will listen - MDLO opera on the weekend; it’s what you do.

The Fan Experience: Otello was performed twice by MDLO, on March 3 and 5, in the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD.  The opera was sung in Italian with supertitles in English on raised screens at the back of the stage.  Otello concludes MDLO’s “Season of Verdi”, preceded by also excellent productions of Macbeth, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Falstaff,; all three of Verdi’s Shakespearean operas have been performed this season.  It’s been a great ride.

MDLO again offered a pre-opera discussion with legendary baritone Sherrill Milnes which was informative and tremendous fun. If MDLO continues this feature, and I hope they will, I might suggest allowing attendees to submit questions ahead of time for possible discussion.

The Strathmore concert hall is a beautiful structure that has outstanding acoustics for concert performances.  Strathmore is conveniently located close to the Grosvenor Metro Stop on the Rockville Pike.  Use of the parking deck is free on evenings and weekends.  I have found parking there to be easy in and easy out.  Cafeteria style food is offered again as pandemic restrictions have been lifted, and there is a cash bar on the stage entrance level.

Thanks to Maryland Lyric Opera patrons and contributors, tickets for any seat in the house will remain $10 for students with a student ID. 

Opera Philadelphia's Festivals O23 and O24: Trips to the Edge

There is little that I relish more in the opera world now than attending Opera Philadelphia’s annual opera festival in Sept/Oct each season.  This event which began in 2017 returned in 2022 as Festival O22 after a two-year hiatus imposed by the COVID pandemic.  Multiple events, often including new opera premieres and new productions, occur over a two-week period beginning in late September; I still fondly remember the fun of The Trial of Elizabeth Cree that premiered in 2017.  Each year, events are scheduled to push the boundaries of opera, such as the premiere in O22 of the rock opera, Black Lodge, and O22’s staging of The Raven with audience participation.  The events are held at various venues around the city.  If your interest in opera extends beyond classic opera, it is simply a must-see festival, and for classic opera fans, it always includes a classic.  For me, it’s the fun event of the season and reason for a great short vacation to Philadelphia.

Festival O23 leads off with an opera premiere: 10 Days in a Madhouse - left photo: Soprano Kiera Duffy in 2016’s Breaking the Waves, an OP premiere, will star as Nellie Bly (photo by Dominic M. Mercier). right photo: Central character, real life investigative journalist Nellie Bly (photo by H.J. Myers). Photos courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

This year, Opera Philadelphia was so pleased with the new festivals they have planned that they went beyond announcing just their 2023-2024 season which includes O23; they also announced a preview of new offerings in O24.  OP’s website is one of the most user-friendly ones for finding the information you need, but let’s have a quick look to whet your appetite; I am already salivating:

Festival O23 (events on the same day are held at different times) –

            10 Days in a Mad House (Wilma Theater) – Sep 21, 23, 26, 28, 30

            Simon Boccanegra (Academy of Music) – Sep 22, 24, 29, Oct 1

            Unholy Wars (Suzanne Roberts Theatre) – Sep 23, 27, 30, Oct 1

            Afternoons at AVA (Helen Corden Warden Theater) – Sep 23, 27, 30

            Curtis Voices (Field Concert Hall) – Sep 22, 29

            Late Night Snacks (return of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret) – TBA

Festival O24 new opera premieres –

            The Listeners by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek

            Woman With Eyes Closed by composer Jennifer Higdon and librettist Jerre Dye

Ever heard of Nellie Bly?  10 Days in a Mad House by composer Rene Orth and librettist Hanna Moscovitch tells the story of the journalist who put “investigative reporter” in today’s jargon by pretending to be mad to gain entry to an insane asylum in the late 19th century, on what is now Roosevelt Island in Manhattan.  She then exposed the dreadful conditions and practices in that facility and how they reflected societal biases against women.  Soprano Kiera Duffy will sing the role of Ms. Bly in her first return to Opera Philadelphia since her star-making performance in OP’s premiere of the Mazzoli/Vavrek team’s award winning Breaking the Waves in 2016. Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis and tenor Will Liverman will also be featured.

l to r: Baritone Quinn Kelsey (photo by Dario Acosta) will star in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in a new production from Opéra Royal de Wallonie Liége (photo by Jonathan Berger, Opéra Royal de Wallonie Liége), which will also feature soprano Anna María Martínez as his daughter (photo by Ashkan Roayaee). Photos courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

Simon Boccanegra is a late opera by composer Giuseppe Verdi (1881 revision by librettist Arrigo Boito of the 1857 original with librettist Francesco Maria Piave).  A new Doge of Genoa is enmeshed in the conflict between the deadly power politics of his position and his love for his daughter.  Baritone Quinn Kelsey plays Boccanegra and Anna María Martínez plays his daughter.  The pair previously sang in OP’s performance of The Drama of Tosca as a concert version forced outdoors by the COVID pandemic.  While I thought that production was flawed, I thought the singing was exceptional and wished I could have seen that pair in the originally planned indoor performance of Tosca.  A film of The Drama of Tosca is available for viewing on the Opera Philadelphia Channel.  I greatly look forward to the pair’s return, and this will be my first Boccanegra. 

left photo: Tenor Karim Sulayman and dancer Coral Dolphin in the 2022 Spoleto Festival’s premiere of Unholy Wars (photo by Leigh Webber). Scene from the same production featuring dancers and visuals (photo by William Struhs). Photos courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

Unholy Wars is a soul-searching venture as well as an opera.  This one emerges from the boundary pushing arena.  Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman has combined Handel and Monteverdi opera selections to reframe baroque presentations of characters they had no direct knowledge of from an Arab American perspective.  This work premiered in last year’s Spoleto Festival and was well received, rated highly for emotional impact.  Original electronic music by composer Mary Kouyoumdjian is included as connecting interludes in the performance which has three sections; dance and visual projections are also included.  The middle section focuses on Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, wherein, during the Crusades, Christian warrior Tancredi kills a Middle Eastern female warrior, Clorinda, with whom he has fallen in love, but did not recognize in her suit of armor.  Having now sampled a wide variety of classic operas from earlier time periods, it is typically the boundary pushing pieces that I look forward to the most.

O23 will be embellished and fleshed out by recitals by young artists from the Academy of Vocal Arts (Afternoons at AVA) and the Curtis Institute of Music (Curtis Voices), who are rightly referred to as the opera stars of tomorrow.  Finally, a popular feature of previous festivals, a cabaret performance by the Bearded Ladies in Late Night Snacks will return; the program will offer “a new selection of guilty pleasures, soul nourishment, and tasty cabaret treats”.  Singers and repertoires for these events will be announced this summer.

The festivals are typically the only offerings of OP in the Fall.  The 2024 portion of OP’s new season will feature a semi-staged The Anonymous Lover in February and Madame Butterfly in April/May.  While there are still a few opera fans who haven’t seen Puccini’s Butterfly, I question whether there are any who haven’t heard of it.  It’s not a guilty pleasure.  It’s a full course meal of exquisite music and singing.  You may not have heard of the rarely performed The Anonymous Lover.  Fear not; it’s good; it might remind you of Puccini.  It is the only surviving opera by black composer Joseph Bologne, successful in his day and a fascinating French character of the 18th century – he was a child prodigy borne to a French planter and his wife’s African slave.  The plot by librettist Madame de Genlis involves two friends who discover their deep love for each other.  I saw a performance of this opera two years ago by Wolf Trap Opera and enjoyed it greatly, especially the music. 

Breaking the Waves star singer returns to Opera Philadelphia in O23, but in O24, its composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek return with their new opera The Listeners.  OP says that this new opera is “a thriller about social rejection, suburban loneliness, and the role of charismatic leaders in our society. Based on an original story by Jordan Tannahill, the story is inspired by an actual phenomenon called “the global hum” a low-pitched sound that people around the world claim to hear”.  Opera Philadelphia says the hum leads to the formation of a cult with destructive effects on families, just like life today.  Hmmm…imagine that with a humming sound.  This could be an important opera beyond music. 

left photo: Composer of The Listeners, Missy Mazzoli (photo by Marylene May). right photo: Composer of Woman With Eyes Closed, Jennifer Higdon (photo by Andrew Bogard). Photos courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

No wonder OP is already excited about its plans for O24; a second major premiere is also planned for that event, Woman With Eyes Closed by composer Jennifer Higdon and librettist Jerre Dye.  This new opera was “inspired by the real-life 2012 theft of seven masterpieces from Rotterdam’s Kunsthal Museum. At first, the mother of the prime suspect confessed to incinerating these priceless artworks to protect her son, but she subsequently denied it. Never recovered, their fate remains shrouded in mystery”.  It poses questions about the impact of art on an individual and the lengths a mother will go to protect a child.  The press release, if I read it correctly, says that three endings have been devised with different performances having different endings.  See the problem here?  I will want to see all three endings.

One of my guilty pleasures in O22 was the inclusion of a section of innovative videos and films from Opera Philadelphia Channel’s repertoire and those from other companies submitted in a competition.  My lone disappointment is that there are no plans to make this a feature of O23.

My wife and I have attended all the fall festivals so far, since 2017, and each has been a highlight of our year.   We are already looking forward to O23 and O24!

The Fan Experience: The calendar for Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O23 can be found at this link.  Now, the hard part is prioritizing which performances to see during the two-week period.  There are both matinees and evening performances.  You will have your work cut out for you in deciding your schedule.  Ticket packages are already on sale. 

If you are from out of town, know that there are many good hotel options in downtown Philly, but bear in mind that, because of its great food, arts, and museums, it is a popular destination to visit and hold conferences, retreats, meetings.  Make your plans early; buy your tickets and reserve your hotel room as soon as you can.  Parking in downtown hotels and lots ranges from around $30-$60 per day; plot your strategy early to deal with that as well.

Knights of the Opera Table: Mid-Atlantic Opera Critics Return to Normalcy in 2022

Public domain knight illustration by Paul Mercuri: http://www.oldbookart.com/2012/01/15/middle-ages-medieval-dress/.

OperaGene reports annually on opera critics in the mid-Atlantic, a group who in good natured humor, I refer to as “Knights of the Opera Table”.  Their charge is to champion good performances and slay the bad ones, and…in all seriousness…to provide knowledgeable opinions and information about opera performances that the rest of us can learn from, compare our own responses against, and be provoked to think further about and discuss what we witnessed, deepening, and widening our enjoyment and appreciation of the art form.

The mid-Atlantic region is blessed with a wealth of good opera companies and an excellent group of professional opera critics, some who report for daily newspapers and some from online sources. Critics who frequently review opera tend to be centered around the major opera centers in the region: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington DC. The Virginian Pilot in Norfolk usually employs guest critics for Virginia Opera performances and classical music; newspapers in Baltimore and Richmond once had but no longer have regular opera reviewers on their staffs. Here is a list in alphabetical order of the opera critics in the mid-Atlantic that I read most frequently:

Michael Andor Brodeur – Washington Post

Peter Dobrin – Philadelphia Inquirer

Charles Downey – Washington Classical Review

Susan Galbraith – DC Theater Arts

Cameron Kelsall – BackTrack.com

George Parous – onStage Pittsburgh

Jeremy Reynolds – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

David Patrick Stearns – Philadelphia Inquirer

By the beginning of 2022, most opera companies had returned to normal schedules, and by year’s end, vaccination requirements had been dropped and even COVID-masking was optional for most companies.  Opera critics returned to performance venues, but while audiences are building again, they proved slow to return to pre-pandemic levels, as evidenced by the BachTrack Annual Statistics report.  Even America’s premiere opera institution, the Metropolitan Opera is having difficulty with attendance.  The good news, from my perspective, is that their attendance crisis is causing the Met to embrace new works which are delivering their best audiences.   

Pittsburgh Opera continues to be a focus for Knights Jeremy Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and George Parous who covers opera and classical music for onStage Pittsburgh.  Mr. Reynolds’ newspaper duties now appear to be exclusively on his role as classical music and opera critic, the better for Pittsburgh Opera, but he also occasionally writes thoughtful articles for other publications; check out his discussion of the paucity of new operatic comedies in Classical Voice.  Mr. Parous was back in full swing, covering the full slate of PO productions as well as classical music concerts in the Pittsburgh area.  Opera is especially well served by Mr. Parous who often writes previews as well as reviews of upcoming operas.  His review of a new opera, I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, made me aware for the first time of Resonance Works, a non-profit performance company in Pittsburgh whose mission is to “challenge assumptions about classical music and invite audiences to connect with the work in fresh and unexpected ways”.  Reminded me of the DC company, IN Series.

In the city of Brotherly Love, National Football League champs, and Patrick Mahomes’ victims, Peter Dobrin reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer on “classical music and the arts with an emphasis on the business of the arts and the life of the city”.   His lone opera review in 2022 for Opera Philadelphia was The Raven which was performed as part of OP’s Festival O22.  That performance included audience participation, an aspect which Mr. Dobrin felt added little, though he liked the opera.  Too bad, I saw the same production and found that aspect amusing and entertaining, providing insight into the characters in the poem.  Mr. Dobrin does occasionally review other companies such as the Academy of Vocal Arts as well.

The Inquirer’s classical music critic, David Patrick Stearns, regularly reviews OP performances, although his coverage of the O22 festival was rather light this year; the two-week festival included 42 events, and he only reviewed Otello.  I enjoyed a comment he made in reviewing OP’s return to in house productions with Oedipus Rex and Lilacs, two works with heavy themes.  Reflecting the heaviness that we all experienced during the pandemic, his last line stated, “Let’s have some feel good arias. Soon.”  I’ll drink to that, anytime.  On the downside, opera productions by the Academy of Vocal Arts and the Curtis Opera Theatre got relatively little notice in the Inquirer.

Knight Cameron Kelsall is another Philly area opera critic; formerly of the Broad Street Review, he now appears to be reporting most often for Bachtrack.com.   All of these critics can turn a phrase, some over the top; his Bachtrack review of Opera Philadelphia’s Otello began “Verdi’s Otello may be the Mount Everest of tenor roles, but Rossini’s rendering of the Shakespearean tragedy is the Mount Rushmore”; he was referring to the need in Rossini’s version for three star tenors. 

The most prominent knights currently covering the DC area are Michael Andor Brodeur, Charles Downey, and Susan Galbraith.  Mr. Brodeur is the classical music critic for the Washington Post; he includes frequent side trips to cover the Met Opera in NYC.  I had to be amused by one of his reviews this past year, that of Washington National Opera’s Carmen in May.  Mr. Brodeur, who I consider a brilliant features writer, but whom I have thought of as critic light, took the plunge into hard core criticism with his review of Carmen and received the flak from readers that was often directed at Anne Midgette when she was the Post’s critic - “Mr. Brodeur, the next time you awake in a miserable mood, please have a colleague fill in for you.”  I thought his reviews returned to normal after that, but then he also was quite critical of the Met’s new production, The Hours, in November – the comments for that review were kinder; perhaps, the farther away the production, the less offense taken?  Don’t miss his reviews and the continuing saga.   

Unfortunately, my impression is that the Washington Post seems to be unintentionally restricting its coverage of local performances; I see fewer reviews by guest critics these days, and more good performances seem to go unnoted.  My sense is that smaller opera companies in general are getting less coverage today.  Newspapers are in a stressful period competing with free internet news sources and social media, and because audiences are smaller for small companies than for the large opera houses, newspaper coverage is less.  Also, classical music critics for news sources cover operas, classical music concerts, and choral music concerts, all bountiful in the mid-Atlantic; there is only so much they can report on. 

Having mentioned the Post’s former critic, Ms. Midgette, I noted that this past year she published her first opera review since leaving the Post in 2019.  She could not resist posting a thoughtful, heartfelt review on her website for a work that had been so meaningful to her over the years, Bernstein’s Mass.  It was a pleasure to read.  I think then she was back to working on her book.

Knight Susan Galbraith continued to post insightful reviews at DC Theater Arts for area opera and theater productions.  I read one of hers just recently that I had missed and that I especially  recommend, her interview with dramaturg Kelley Rourke, as she takes on the role of artistic adviser for WNO’s American Opera Initiative, a program that gets far too little coverage by area media, in my humble opinion.  Ms. Galbraith’s article covers some of the history and features insights from artistic advisor Rourke into how it functions in producing new operas every year.  New operas seem to be an area that is thriving and could use even more coverage and encouragement.

My current favorite Knight continues to be Washington Classical Review’s Charles Downey for several reasons.  First, his reviews are always enriched by the depth of his knowledge and expertise in classical music and opera.  He has a fine ear and his critiques of the performances are both illuminating and a pleasure to read; he writes beautifully in a concise style.  Finally, I appreciate the volume of reviews he produces and the breadth of his coverage of the DC area extending to Baltimore (which has no critic of its own).  I will even add one more kudo – his reviews are typically posted the next day, usually the first to appear.  To appreciate his breath and commendable area coverage of the DC area, read his report on his ten favorite performances of 2022.  Thankfully, Washington Classical Review extends their reach even further by having critic Alex Baker, who also writes for Parterre, as a backup to do some opera and classical music reviews.  Perhaps he will be a candidate for the Knights of the Opera Table in the future. 

I try to read as many of the opera reviews that I can in the mid-Atlantic region, and I highly recommend the reviews by the Knights I mention here to add to your knowledge and enjoyment of the art form, as they do for me.  I also encourage reading the comments sections on reviews, which can sometimes offer new insights; I wish there were more comments from opera fans.  Tip of the hat to the mid-Atlantic opera critics for their work in 2022 and glad to see everyone back in business.

The Fan Experience: You can read reviews in many online sites at no cost, such as Washington Classical Review, onStage Pittsburgh, and DC Theater Arts.  However, to read journalists who work for newspapers, such as the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, you will need a subscription.  Sometimes visitors are allowed a few articles at no cost, and you can often take advantage of special online rates that occur from time to time.  I am a fan of newspapers and their journalists and subscribe to several. 

Virginia Opera's Fellow Travelers: Sometimes Love Does Not Triumph Over All

First it was a 2007 book, then it was a 2016 opera, and later this year it will be a television miniseries…let me amend that slightly.  First, it was reality.  It is the story of how love died because the ground it sprang up in was poisoned, and then again, maybe it was just the different natures of the two lovers and it would not have survived anyway, and I wish we could know; we do know the poison was real.  The book is Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon, a work of fiction that we know in our hearts and the historical record to be true; the poison was homophobia, the rule, not the exception in the 1950s America.  The television series by Showtime scheduled for later this year takes the name of the book.  So did the opera based on the book composed by Gregory Spears with libretto by Greg Pierce, and this past weekend, in 2023, the DC area received its first showing of Fellow Travelers, where the stories took place, the fictional ones and the real ones that actually happened.  Many thanks to Virginia Opera and the Center for the Arts at George Mason University for bringing the opera to Fairfax.

l to r: Andres Acosta as Timothy and Joseph Lattanzi as Hawkins in Fellow Travelers. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

Composer Spears, born in Virginia Beach, has established himself as a leading opera composer of today.  His new opera Castor and Patience premiered with Cincinnati Opera in July of last year, and his new opera The Righteous will premiere at Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2024.  His librettist for Fellow Travelers was Greg Pierce; Mr. Pierce was recently the librettist for composer Kevin Puts The Hours, which premiered at the Met Opera in 2022.  Famed director Kevin Newbury who directs the Virginia Opera production worked with this team on the creation of Fellow Travelers and directed its premiere with Cincinnati Opera (from Mr. Newbury’s bio: Kevin has directed over 100 original projects in multiple mediums. Career highlights include three productions for PBS Great Performances: the world premiere of Bel Canto (Lyric Opera of Chicago), the world premiere of Doubt (Minnesota Opera) and Bernstein’s MASS (Ravinia Festival).  This is a highly accomplished team.

(the remainder of this report contains content spoilers)

Fellow Travelers is composed of 16 scenes that flow smoothly from one to another, providing some of the most incisive character delineations that I have witnessed in opera.  All the characters felt real, as though I knew them, or people like them.  By chance encounter, State Department employee Hawkins Fuller meets college intern Timothy Laughlin seated on a park bench in Dupont Circle, DC.  The attraction grows into a passionate love affair, which must be kept secret or have society come down full force upon them. 

Behind Timothy (Andreas Acosta) is a wall of portraits of unidentified individuals meant to symbolize the thousands of victims of the Lavendar Scare. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

At that period in history, Senator Joseph McCarthy was gaining fame and power by leading an effort to identify and censure communists and their fellow travelers in American society in an effort known as the Red Scare.  Senator McCarthy went further with an effort that came to be known as the Lavender Scare, promoting a fear that gay people, “liberal leftists by nature”, might sympathize with communists and be more susceptible to blackmail schemes that threatened to expose them.  Furthermore, homosexuality was widely considered deviant behavior at that time, excuse enough to purge gays from the federal government; the actual language used in official government documents to describe gays was too offensive to use here, but can be read in a National Archives report at this link.  Thousands of gay men and women and even those suspected of being homosexual lost their jobs and livelihoods, were often censured…blacklisted…subjected to physical attacks and incarceration; many committed suicide. 

Hawk, older than Timothy, had grown jaded and had compartmentalized his life, living as a straight man publicly and a gay man in the shadows, doing this so completely that he passed a lie detector test forced on him by the State Department to determine if he is a homosexual.  Timothy, also referred to as Skippy, is an idealist who wants to be with Hawk regardless of the cost; he believes Senator McCarthy’s efforts to root out communists attempting to destroy America is a good thing.  In that zeitgeist, the smart move was to stay in the closet, but the cost of staying in the closet was living an inauthentic life, as Skippy says later, to feel like he never existed; the poison could be lethal to a personality.  Though the dark shadow of homophobia shapes their lives in great measure, this opera is not preachy; it is and feels like a love story with two real people coming to terms with who they are and their feelings for each other.  It is our reflection on the exposition of our shameful past that provides the indictment, and knowing the poison is yet to be completely expunged.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are not here today to reach a verdict on social issues of today, but to ask whether Fellow Travelers is a good opera.  First, let me say, “Contemporary opera is not a sin.”  It is okay to like contemporary opera.  Virginia Opera’s scholar in residence, Joshua Borths made a point in his excellent pre-opera talk that many people’s views have been tainted by modern operas of the first half of the 20th century that pushed the boundaries of music, in many cases too far to be acceptable to the larger opera going public.  That is now history.  Contemporary operas of today are now highly diverse but strive for accessibility through tonality and melody. 

This certainly describes the music of composer Spears.  In fact, one of the highlights of Fellow Travelers is the music, especially as played by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Adam Turner.  The score includes piano, and Maestro Turner added extra violins, increasing the lushness of the music.  The music is always engaging, employing both modern minimalism with repetitive themes and classic opera ornamentations such as trills and melisma.  The music always seems to stay in bounds, no sudden dramatic crashes.  My first thoughts were how pretty the music was and how expansive it was, seeming to wash over and fill the entire theater.  This is music to seek out, not shy away from.

l to r: Andreas Acosta as Timothy and Joseph Lattanzi as Hawkins. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

Another highlight is the performances of the singer/actors.  There are four principal roles in the opera sung by four singers; there are thirteen secondary roles sung by five singers.  I thought the acting was spot on bringing each of the characters to life even in their smallest moments on stage.  Hawkins Fuller was played by baritone Joseph Lattanzi, who originated the role in the Cincinnati Opera premiere.  He delivers the vocals precisely, which range from federal office small talk to heartfelt arias.  Certainly, his aria sung, as he sits in the brick house he has rented for his assignations and reaches the verdict that he cannot be to Timothy all that he wants, is touching and quite beautiful.  Tenor Andres Acosta plays Timothy.  He again impressed me with the loveliness of his tenor, beautiful singing, and clear diction; he was also excellent this past summer in Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ premiere of Awakenings.  I often have trouble understanding sung words, even in English, not so with Mr. Acosta.  He made me feel his youthful vulnerability, making his disillusionment even more painful.  After his first romantic encounter with Hawk, he goes to church the next morning and delivers the highlight aria of the opera, “I died last night”, struggling with his religious beliefs and fulfillment of what he has just experienced.  Yet, their last comments to each other will be devastating.

l to r: Katherine Pracht as Mary and Katrina Thurman as Miss Lightfoot. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

Mary Johnson, played by soprano Katherine Pracht, works in Hawk’s office and is his best friend; she once thought she might be the one for Hawk and tries to warn Skippy.  Her acting was very compelling; I quickly came to care for her.  Ms. Pracht sings a duet with Skippy beautifully, which has one of the best lines in the opera, “He’s wonderful. You are right about that.  But he’s a certain kind of wonderful, Timmy.”  Hmmm.  Writing this makes me remember that I generally don’t think English is such a good language for opera, but Mr. Spears and Mr. Pierce might be changing my opinion on that.  Miss Lightfoot, played by soprano Katrina Thurman, is Ms. Johnson’s colleague in the office; she is the busybody you might like to throw a bucket of cold water on or worse after she turns Hawk in.  However, she sings with such a perverse appeal, you want her in the show as someone not to like.

l to r: Andreas Acosta as Timothy, Kyle White as Tommy, Joshua Jeremiah as Senator McCarthy, and John Fulton as Senator Potter. Photo by Dave Pearson Photography; courtesy of Virginia Opera.

I’ll run down the list of other singers, each of whom added good vocals and excellent believability to the script.  Baritone Joshua Jeremiah sang the role of Estonian Frank, Interrogator, and Senator McCarthy; baritone John Fulton portrayed Senator Potter, General Arlie, and Bartender; soprano Kaileigh Riess portrayed Lucy, the woman Hawk married to add to his cover; Tommy McIntyre was sung by baritone Kyle White; and in bravura performances, Virginia Opera and Wolf Trap Opera veteran, bass Jeremy Harr portrayed Potter’s Assistant, Bookseller, Technician, French Priest, and Party Guest.  It was remarkable how well this cast blended in and carried the story.  It was entirely believable that these scenes were from the 1950s.

Remember that there are sixteen scenes?  That is a lot of changes over a two-hour period.  In Fellow Travelers, they flow by as easily as memories through your mind, especially if you lived through part of this era.  Director Kevin Newbury keeps the action moving smoothly, with welcome comic touches to lighten the mood.  Additional kudos are also due for the believability in recreating the 1950s: Victoria Tzykun for scenic design, Paul Carey for costume design, Thomas C. Hase for lighting, and James P. McGough for wig and make-up design.

Is Fellow Travelers, as performed by the Virginia Opera a good opera?  Without hesitation - Yes, the music is exceptional, the performances are excellent, and it speaks to the human heart.  Ok, nobody got killed in true operatic sense, but might not spiritual death qualify?

The Fan Experience:  Fellow Travelers was performed in Norfolk on January 27, 28, and 29 before moving to Fairfax on February 4 and 5.  The final two performances are scheduled for February 10 and 12 in Richmond.  The opera has two acts with an intermission.  It is sung in English with English surtitles displayed on a screen. 

Virginia Opera has advertised the opera as “steamy”, perhaps as an inducement to some and a caution to parents.  There are a couple of scenes with the two lovers kissing and caressing on a bed stripped to their undershorts.  VO’s website cautions: This production has adult content; not suitable for children under 13.

The pre-opera talk by VO’s scholar in residence by Joshua Borths begins 45 minutes prior to curtain time.  Prior to each new VO production, he conducts a zoom one hour meeting where he presents information about the opera.  His presentation is recorded and placed online.  You can access the discussion on Fellow Travelers at the following link.

Opera Lafayette's Pergolesi!: A Program to Remember

Opera Lafayette constructed a three-part series for its 2022-2023 season titled “The Era of Madame de Pompadour”, covering the time when she was official chief mistress, confidante, and adviser to Louis XV; Madame de Pompadour was well known for her salons and theater that held sway on the music of that period.  Each episode in the series features important music composed and played at that time in France; the company also offers its audiences opportunities to learn about social and political issues of those periods which influenced and were influenced by the music to be performed.  Perhaps it appears surprising that this middle episode was devoted to music by the Italian composer, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736), who likely never entered France and whose most influential music likely did not until long after his death.  The two works OL presented in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater on Thursday evening, La Servante maîtresse (The Servant Mistress), a French version of Pergolesi’s intermezzo comedic opera, and Stabat Mater, a sacred vocal work in Latin, could hardly be more different.  Nonetheless, both were the subject of controversies; and each became among the most popular works in France in the second half of the 18th century, remaining in the repertoire to the present day.

La Servante maîtresse (1754) is the French version by Pierre Baurans of Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (1733; librettist Gennaro Federico) and was the version that came to be preferred in France, mais oui.  However, it was La serva padrona, first presented in Paris in 1752 by an Italian traveling group of comedic singers (bouffons) that initiated its popularity and led to a furious, two-year debate in Paris called the “querelle des bouffons” over whether this new Italian form of comic opera was superior to French opera.  Some big wig French intelligentsia of the day, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (“Man is borne free but everywhere is in chains”) championed the new opera, perhaps with an underlying motive of wanting to encourage social change in France.  The debate died away, but Italian comic opera had arrived and swept across Europe.

Jonathan Woody as Pandolfe and Hannah De Priest as Serpine. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

La serva padrona had to be altered when first performed in Paris because opera performed outside the Paris Opéra at that time had to include dialog; so, the recitative with continuo had to be replaced with spoken dialog, also continued in the French version.  The French adaptation also injected a few new arias giving the female lead a softer edge, but the story and music were largely kept intact.  This forty-minute opera with two singers, was originally performed as entertainment between the acts of larger serious operas.  In the story, a male head of the household, Pandolfe (Uberto in the La serva padrona), is upset with his maid who consistently fails to do his bidding.  The maid, Serbine (Serpina), wants to become his wife and mistress of the house.  She is aided in a bit of successful trickery by a mute manservant, Scapin (Vespone).  Overall, La Servante maîtresse provides a French-Italian pastry: some funny scenes, delightful singing and music, a happy ending…and proof that the women of 18th century France wielded more power than had been formally authorized.

Listening to OL’s performance, my first impression of this opera was that the rapid delivery of text in the singing, often of a patter nature, and the relatively large amount of spoken dialog was pushing the music into the background; it took me a moment to adjust, and perhaps the singers as well, who had to sing in French and recite dialog in English.  Director Nick Olcott wrote rhyming couplets for the spoken dialog to assist the largely English-speaking audience in quickly spotting and reacting to the humor; it worked but did require some getting used to, which then allowed me to enjoy the tuneful music more fully.  The performance was semi-staged with the orchestra on stage behind the singers. Mr. Olcott effectively used chairs to help control the movements and give focus to the interactions.  The costumes by Marsha LeBoeuf were colorful and period appropriate, adding to the fun.

Patrick Kilbride as Scapin. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

The comedy was greatly enhanced by the antics of tenor Partrick Kilbride, portraying the mute attendant Scapin who pretended to be a suitor for Serpina, in accord with her plan; this was Mr. Kilbride’s first appearance with Opera Lafayette in which he did not sing.  Another OL veteran, bass-baritone Jonathan Woody sang the role of Pandolfe, convincingly expressing emotions ranging from exasperation with Serpina to accepting his deep-felt affection for her.  He sang well and soon found a natural rhythm for the spoken rhyming couplets.  This is Serpina’s opera and OL had engaged a soprano to match her.  Hannah De Priest with her beautiful voice, singing, and acting ability won over the audience long before she did Pandolfe; she gave us a young woman who not only survived but prevailed by her wits.  Her performance was a highlight of the evening!  Opera Lafayette managed to handle the edgier aspects of the social order on display in the opera without dampening enthusiasm for the comedy.

Jonathan Woody as Pandolfe, Hannah De Priest as Serbine, and Patrick Kilbride as Scapin. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

La serva padrona introduced a new musical style to France, one more direct and simpler compared to the intricate and complex music of the most popular French operas of the day, and the opera’s style influenced many of the French composers who rose to prominence in the second half of the 18th century.  The Opera Lafayette Orchestra for the evening was led by Guest Conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley.  The orchestra uses period instruments, providing an authentic production of 18th century music.  In an OL online discussion, Conductor Quigley pointed out that the two works presented were very different in both musical style and vocal delivery.  I thought the orchestra’s delivery on both under Maestro Quigley’s leadership was engaging and enjoyable throughout the evening, fully supporting the singing.

l to r: Sarah Mesko, Gwendoline Blondeel, and Conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

The 13th century poem “Stabat mater dolorosa” (“mother standing in sadness”, author uncertain) described Mother Mary’s anguish on Calvary and served as the text for Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, as it did for a great many composers.  In fact, if you wanted and were able to find recordings, you could listen to Stabat Mater by a different composer everyday from January 1 until September before you would have to play a repeat.  This would include versions by Rossini, Schubert, Dvořák, Vivaldi, Verdi, Poulenc, and quite a few other well-known composers.  However, if you type Stabat Mater into the search engine of almost any music service, the first version shown will be that by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (not even his family’s given name, which was Draghi; his family came to be known for the town they were from, Pergola). 

l to r: Sarah Mesko and Gwendoline Blondeel. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Stabat Mater initially focuses on the grief of a mother, who stood while forced to watch her son being crucified; the second half of the poem moves to a spectator’s viewpoint, that of someone wanting to share in Mary’s grief as a path to salvation.  This sacred work was composed shortly before Pergolesi’s death from tuberculosis at the age of 26 and was written in a monastery where he died in poverty.  Some have suggested it was Pergolesi’s gift to God in his final days; let me suggest that it might also have been God’s gift to Pergolesi and all of us.  From that young man came one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever, written near the end of a composing career of only five years.  One difficulty I have listening to this work is how much pleasure it gives me, given its subject matter.  Perhaps because I fell in love with this piece long before I read an English translation of the poem, I find the music beautiful and reverential, not beautiful and sad.  The Catholic Church had difficulty with this as well, which later led to a papal decree that opera music using religious texts could not be performed in church.  Art won that one and churches all over the Catholic world have staged it; in 2017 a new Stabat Mater by composer Sir James MacMillan was premiered at and later streamed from the Vatican.

Gwendoline Blondeel and Sarah Mesko. Photos by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Stabat Mater is scored for a soprano and an alto, originally male singers since women were not allowed to sing in the Catholic Church.  For their performance, Opera Lafayette employed two extraordinary singers with extraordinary voices, French soprano Gwendoline Blondeel, in her first appearance in the U.S, and mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko in her OL debut.  Ms. Blondeel has a bright, crystalline soprano voice, while Ms. Mesko’s mezzo-soprano voice sounded much deeper, darker.  Within minutes, the beauty of their voices and their harmony creating its own beautiful sound caused my eyes to well up with tears.  The piece has four movements and many opportunities for solos and duets.  Ms. Blondeel approached the piece as church music, her face reverent but expressionless.  Ms. Mesko treated it more as opera; her final solo was a dramatic rendition, both acting with facial expressions and singing the part.  The OL orchestra under Mr. Quigley’s direction brought Pergolesi’s music fully to life tightly intertwined with the vocals.  The performance overall was simply exquisite. 

Photo of Stabat Mater performance rehearsal; the ensemble for La Servante maîtresse also included two horn players and a bassoonist. Photo by Jennifer Packard Photography; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

We all have memories that stay with us.  I recall watching the first moon landing on television and the first time that I saw the Sound of Music.  I have no doubt that Opera Lafayette’s Pergolesi! is burned into my memory.  It was a performance to remember.

The Fan Experience: The performance of Pergolesi! at the Kennedy Center was the first of two that OL will give; there is still time to get tickets for the second one (see below); program notes by OL musicologist Julia Doe, are available online.  Subtitles in English were shown on a screen above the orchestra for both works, a major advantage for hearing Stabat Mater for the first time. An informative and entertaining pre-concert talk was given by Cornell Emeritus Professor Rebecca Harris-Warrick, an expert on French baroque music and a guest scholar with OL.

All of Opera Lafayette’s productions for 2022-2023 were scheduled to be performed in both Washington, DC (Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center) and New York City (El Museo del Barrio).  In DC, they will be spread over the entire season and in NYC performed as a festival.

Washington, DC:

In the Salons of Versailles – December 2

Pergolesi! - February 2

Opéra-ballet - Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro  - May 2, 3

New York City:

Opéra-ballet: Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro - May 9

In the Salons of Versailles - May 10

Pergolesi! - May 11

AOI’s 2023 Three 20-Min Operas: Breathing New Life into Opera

The American Opera Initiative’s “Three 20-Minute Operas” is always a highlight of my opera season.  Each year since 2012 (paused last year for the presentation of four, new short operas in “Written in Stone”), Washington National Opera provides teams of emerging composers and librettists with the space, resources, and mentors to create new chamber works and have them presented at the Kennedy Center; they also get to interact directly with the singers from WNO’s Cafritz Young Artists Program and the WNO musicians who will be singing and playing their compositions, which benefits the creative artists and the performers.  Importantly, this framework also allows emerging creative artists to take risks they might not otherwise be willing to take, both in subject matter and musical compositions.  I have been a devoted opera fan for many years now, and the vast majority of operas I have attended have been 100-400 years old and are played in large opera venues insuring large audiences.  I love Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner, but it is a refreshing change of pace to see operas that connect to my life in both time and culture as well as in universal themes.  AOI annually feeds that hunger, breathing new life into opera by providing new creative artists the chance to grow and develop their skills.

l to r: Kimberly Reed (librettist mentor), Cecelia Raker (librettist, Bubbie and the Demon), Jens Ibsen (composer, Bubbie and the Demon), Walken Schweigert (librettist, What the Spirits Show), Carlos Simon (composer mentor), Silen Wellington (composer, What the Spirits Show), B.E. Boykin (composer, Oshun), Jarrod Lee (librettist Oshun), Kelley Rourke (librettist mentor and AOI Artistic Advisor). Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington National Opera..

This year’s group of three were presented in two showings Saturday night in KC’s Terrace Theater.  I attended the 7 pm showing which was sold out; a 9 pm showing followed.  The singers were from WNO’s Cafritz Young Artist Program, and each work was accompanied by a 13-piece ensemble from the Washington National Opera Orchestra led by WNO’s Conductor Evan Rogister.  The operas were semi-staged with the singers in costume aided with a few props.  Each opera was preceded by a film clip featuring comments by the creative artists and their mentors.  The 20-minute operas were:

Oshun

     composer: B.E. Boykin

     librettist: Jarrod Lee

What the Spirits Show

     composer: Silen Wellington

     librettist: Walken Schweigert

Bubbie and the Demon

     composer: Jens Ibsen

     librettist: Cecelia Raker

Mentors to composers: Carlos Simon and Evan Rogister

Mentors to the librettists: Kimberly Reed and Kelley Rourke

Oshun’s plot included aspects of the Yoruba religion of West Africa which has both a supreme being and lesser gods known as Orishas, both male and female.  The costumes had colorful African themes, and the music included drums and rhythmic singing.  The libretto featured both English and words from the Yoruba language.  The role of the Supreme Being, Olodumare, was sung by bass-baritone Christian Simmons.  Failing to sway Olodumare to bring rain and relieve the drought was Shango, Orisha of Thunder, sung by baritone Daniel Smith.  Pushing him in this effort was Esu, a supplicant, sung by tenor Anthony P. Ballard.  When they fail, they call on Oshun, sung by soprano Katerina Burton, to use her beauty to influence Oludamare, but on the path Oshun loses her beauty and thus her confidence and hope.  Suffering through this despair, she is told by Oludamare that her beauty and power was still there; it always had been what was inside her, and he provided rain.  This was a feel-good story of self-empowerment.  It was also a story accompanied by beautiful music and lovely singing.  Ms. Burton was again a standout in her performances with WNO.

l to r: Christian Simmons as Olodumare, Daniel Smith as Shango, Katerina Burton as Oshun, and Anthony P. Ballard as Esu. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

What the Spirits Show was a hard-edged drama, most obviously targeting transgender prejudice and oppression, which also can be viewed as a more general call to see the beauty in letting everyone be who they really are.  The story centers on teenage artist Calamus played by mezzo-soprano Mack Wolz; they are able to shapeshift their body using a magic elixir “expressing their true spirit by bending into different forms and offering the poetry of transformation”.  A politician who weaponizes religion to force conformity on Calamus is played by baritone Justin Burgess.  He causes Calamus to be incarcerated and be denied access to the elixir.  Calamus begins to lose their identity.  Buoyed by the love of their parent Aurora, played by mezzo-soprano Hanna Shea and their friend Sylvan, played by contralto Cecelia McKinley, Calamus hung on while their spirit was receding.  With great courage and determination, Sylvan sneaks a dose of the magic elixir into the prison, and Calamus, drinking the potion, transforms into their true poetic identity, and the walls come down as their beauty fills the stage.  The music under girded the intense drama, and vocal performances were well done by everyone. 

left photo: Cecelia McKinley as Sylvan and Mack Wolz as Calamus. middle photo: Justin Burgess as the Politician. right photo: Mack Wolz as Calamus and Hannah Shea as Aurora. Photos by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

Bubbie and the Demon turned out to be a comedy based on a clever premise, and it was very funny!  Maybe composer Ibsen and librettist Raker could approach Netflix about making an operatic version of The Addams Family.  In a second turn on the stage, contralto Cecelia McKinley plays the elderly granny in a night robe, isolated by a pandemic, who in filling out a crossword puzzle online stumbles onto an incantation that summons a threatening figure from the dark side.  The Demon intends ill for Bubbie, but she believes him to be her goth grandson come for a visit and treats him with love and respect.  A neighbor Karen, played by Teresa Perrotta, comes in to assist Bubbie with her computer problem, and is shocked to find the demon there; she tries but fails to get Bubbie to see what she is actually dealing with.  Eventually the Demon is softened and then won over by Bubbie’s kind and loving treatment.  Three characters were each given their own musical style, and the singing, music, and acting by all worked together to provide the audience with delight. 

left photo: Jonathon Patton as the Demon and Cecelia McKinley as Bubbie. right photo: Jonathon Patton as the Demon and Teresa Perrotta as Karen. Photos by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Washington National Opera.

The comedic portrayal of a dark force is naturally funny; the audience needs to laugh to relieve the tension created by such a figure.  However, one reason that Bubbie and the Demon is so funny is that the audience can identify with these circumstances, such as the loneliness enforced by the pandemic, the stress of modern parenting, and the impact of social media on our lives.  We may not recognize what’s off in the exchange between a peasant and a nobleman, but we easily sense the frustration when a computer freezes up and the relief when help arrives.  Modern times and contemporary issues readily connect with modern audiences.  Finding the underlying beauty in those situations is what makes opera great.  Revealing the true hearts of Bubbie and the Demon is how opera is elevated to art.

As a thought experiment, how early in human history could What the Spirits Show have been created and produced?  Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner would not have tried; the general public and rulers would have all stood in their way.  Strauss, Britten, or Glass?  Ever hear of the “lavender scare” of the 1950s?  My point is not to comment on social issues here, but to make the point that composing cutting opera today requires courage from creative artists and opera companies as it always has; Puccini and Verdi had to battle censors and royalty to tell human stories.  Contemporary opera is needed to respond to modern needs and opportunities to contribute to wholeness.  Thank you, AOI.

The Fan Experience:  This year’s Three 20-Minute Operas were presented in two showings, one at 7 pm and one following at 9 pm on Saturday, January 23 in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater.  My experience is that these frequently sell out.  The audience included the composers and librettists, and cheering fans. Get your tickets as early as possible for next year’s event. 

I would like to watch these works again to get a better appreciation for both the music and the vocals now that I know the stories.  It seems unlikely to happen in this area any time soon.  During the COVID pandemic, when live performances before audiences were not possible, WNO filmed the 2021 edition of Three 20-Minute Operas and placed them online for viewing.   I have learned that this year’s operas have been recorded for archiving.  I suspect contractual arrangements might be limiting, but I’d love for WNO to make these available online if possible and to make this a regular practice.  Just a wish.

Maryland Lyric Opera’s Falstaff: Great Cast Delivers an Entertaining Evening

Maryland Lyric Opera’s latest edition of its world class, community-based opera program took another step forward with Friday night’s performance of Falstaff by composer Giuseppe Verdi and librettist Arrigo Boito.  One of the best crowds of the season turned out, filled out in part by students from local schools; MDLO’s policy of any seat in the house for $10 for any student with a student ID is paying dividends for the company, and I believe, for opera itself.  A highly entertaining pre-performance talk included Conductor Joseph Colaneri and an appearance by one of the all-time great baritones, Sherrill Milnes, who took questions and entertained the attendees with anecdotes from his storied career.  A stellar cast of mainly MDLO veterans delivered another highly entertaining episode in MDLO’s a Season of Verdi. 

Brian Major as Ford (l) and Mark Delavan as Falstaff (r). Photo by Julian Thomas Photography and courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

In the opera, Sir John Falstaff, struggling with his impecunious situation, attempts the seduction of Mrs. Alice Ford and Mrs. Meg Page.  His motivations are as much to prop up his ego and replenish his purse as to satisfy his sexual urges.  He sends the same letter of interest to both Alice and Meg, who are friends and compare notes.  With the help of their friend Mistress Quickly and Alice’s daughter Nanetta, they plan to have some fun humiliating the fat, old knight and teaching him a lesson.  Separately, Alice’s wealthy husband Ford learns from Falstaff’s associates, Bardolfo and Pistola, of Falstaff’s plot, and he sets a plan for revenge in motion.  The ladies are better connivers, and it is they who teach Falstaff a lesson; they also successfully plot to get Nanetta married to her chosen, Fenton, instead of the wealthy Dr. Caius, her father’s choice. 

(l to r standing): Mary Feminear as Alice Ford, Catherine Martin as Mistress Quickly, and Allegra de Vita as Meg Page as a hiding Falstaff (Mark Delavan) peeks out of the basket. Photo by Julian Thomas Photography and courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

Falstaff (1893, three acts) was Verdi’s final opera, completed when he was approaching 80, and his second full collaboration with Arrigo Boito, the first being Otello (1887).  It was Verdi’s second comedy; his first, Un giorno di regno, written early in his fifty-year career, was unsuccessful.  While Falstaff is a comedy based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and parts of Henry IV, the great Maestro considered Falstaff to be a depiction of character, not an opera buffa.  Musicologists and opera critics consider Falstaff to be an uproarious comedy; but though amusing, there was only mild laughter in the audience Friday night.  Musicologists report that Boito used humorous language from 17th century Italy (in the manner of Boccaccio’s The Decameron) to create inside jokes.  Soprano Rosa Feola has said, “The story is taken from Shakespeare, but it has an Italian soul.”  That said, I personally find its comedy to be stale at best, though I find it appealing as a humorously played character study, with Falstaff forced to see himself as he really is when his ego is demolished.  The MDLO production was a concert version that was semi-staged.  Director David Gately arranged for the comedic elements as well as could be done in this setting. The stellar group of ten named singer/actors were well cast and made for an entertaining, enjoyable performance, impossible not to like, especially in the second half with the MDLO Chorus completing the ensemble under the direction of Chorus Master Husan Park.

left photo: Rachel Blaustein as Nannetta and Yi Li as Fenton. right photo: Mark Delavan as Falstaff seated at desk, Andrea Silvestrelli as Pistola seated on floor, and Mauricio Miranda as Dr. Caius standing. Photos by Julian Thomas Photography and courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

The overall excellent cast was headed by bass-baritone Mark Delevan, who was outstanding as Falstaff.  Mr. Delavan commanded the stage, singing with authority and convincingly conveying the different facets of Falstaff’s personality, most dramatically in portraying his final disillusionment and, at least partial, redemption.  He was ably assisted, then duped by his colleagues, Bardolfo sung by tenor Joseph Michael Brent and Pistola sung by bass Andrea Silvestrelli; each singer added to the fun. These three performers had appeared with MDLO previously as had tenor Mauricio Miranda who ably played the role of Dr. Caius and tenor Yi Li who engagingly portrayed Fenton, Nannetta’s love interest.  The lone newcomer to be added to the MDLO fold was a prized one, baritone Brian Major who sang the role of Ford with superb voice control and acting; he proved to be an excellent choice for this character.

(l to r): Yi Li as Fenton, Rachel Blaustein as Nannetta, Joseph Michael Brent as Bardolfo, Andrea Silvestrelli as Pistola, Brian Major as Ford, and Mauricio Miranda as Dr. Caius. Photo by Julian Thomas Photography and courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

The interactions and ensemble singing of the four female singers was a highlight of the performance.  Soprano Mary Feminear sang the role of Alice Ford while soprano Rachel Blaustein played her daughter Nanneta; mezzo-soprano Allegra de Vita sang the role of Meg Page, and mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin played Mistress Quickly.  All were delights.  Perhaps most impressive for her acting as a messenger/instigator of plots was Ms. Martin, while perhaps the most impressive singing was by Ms. Blaustein, new to the MDLO stage, who floated frequently and beautifully in her high range.

Full stage view of the MDLO Orchestra on stage and the MDLO Chorus in the balcony behind the stage with singers Rachel Blaustein as Nannetta, Allegra de Vita as Meg and Mary Feminear as Alice standing. Photo by Julian Thomas Photography and courtesy of Maryland Lyric Opera.

Conductor Joseph Colaneri, who also conducted Maryland Lyric Opera’s Macbeth, led another good performance by the MDLO Orchestra.  Unusual for Verdi, his last opera has no overture and is through composed without the usual arias; thus, the music moves fast, constantly changing to reflect the dialog.  Couple that with ten singers moving on and off the stage, many ensemble numbers, lighting changes (Lighting Designer Stuart Duke), subtitles on one of two screens that are changing with interesting mood-reflecting images (Projection Designer Sarah Tunderman)…it was a lot to take in, making it difficult to focus on any one element and sometimes difficult to keep up.  Great entertainment but difficult to follow sometimes, and I found it difficult to receive the full measure of Verdi’s music for this opera in the half before intermission.  However, in the second half I thought the orchestra became more of a focus involving the chorus, and it included a few beautiful almost-arias, one by Falstaff, one by Fenton, and one by Nanetta; the ending fugue involving all ten singers was also a treat.  The second half made me more of a Falstaff fan than I had been.  In retrospect, while an overload of entertainment is probably audience preferred, I might have liked a more traditional format of just singing and music, allowing for greater appreciation of Verdi’s magnificent music.

Maryland Lyric Opera’s Season of Verdi will continue in March with a production of Otello.  As I am fond of saying - MDLO opera on the weekend; it’s what you do.

The Fan Experience:  There were two performances of Falstaff, January 20 and 22, at the Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda (Note: on January 22, the role of Mary Ford was sung by soprano Teresa Perrotta).  The opera was sung in Italian with projected subtitles in English. MDLO’s Season of Verdi will continue March 3 and 5 in the same venue with performances of Otello.  There were hints that baritone Sherrill Milnes might again be part of the pre-opera discussion again for that one.

The Strathmore concert hall is a beautiful structure that has outstanding acoustics for concert performances.  Strathmore is conveniently located close to the Grosvenor Metro Stop on the Rockville Pike.  Use of the parking deck is free on evenings and weekends.  I have found parking there to be easy in and easy out.  Cafeteria style food is offered again as pandemic restrictions have been limited, and there is a cash bar on lower level.

Thanks to Maryland Lyric Opera patrons and contributors, tickets for any seat in the house will remain $10 for students with a student ID. 

Opera Philadelphia Channel Presents The Passion of Scrooge: Carnival of the Instrumentalists

Opera Philadelphia recently added a film version of composer Jon Deak’s The Passion of Scrooge (2018) to its streaming Channel lineup for the holiday season.  Combining opera and Scrooge, how could I resist?  This filmed version of Mr. Deak’s composition, with libretto by Isaiah Sheffer and Mr. Deak, has the Dickens’ story bound in the composer’s personal life journey.  I caution you not to compare this production to your favorite version of A Christmas Carol; it will most likely lose a battle with the film or stage production that impacted you the most (for me, it is a tie between Reginald Owens from 1938 and Alistair Sim from 1951).  While I had a few tears in my eyes near the end, I enjoyed this performance more as one might a new Christmas toy, something fresh and colorful with movement, sounds, and surprises…and more.  Accepted on its own terms, it is a wonderful Christmas time treat! 

The score and libretto of The Passion of Scrooge were created over a ten-year period (1986-1996) at a time when the composer was having personal and family problems, a self-confessed time of great difficulty and much introspection for him.  He poses the question in this production of what is the story behind a composer’s work?  His thoughts came to focus on how remarkable it was that Scrooge had within himself the power of redemption, to see the error of his ways and to change, to make the business of life less about earning money and more about compassion, helping others, and love, the message from A Christmas Carol that transcends religious boundaries (his co-librettist is Jewish).  The film opens with Mr. Deak in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, where he engages Shakespeare’s the “Seven Stages of Man” before making the short walk to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church where the chamber opera, a partially staged, concert version is to be performed without costumes or sets.  As he walks along, he mulls Marley’s admonitions to Scrooge, and on seeing holiday street scenes, he is reconnected with thoughts of children at Christmas.  Engaging children in composing music is a special interest of composer Deak’s.

Movie frame from The Passion of Scrooge with multiple image overlays. Photo by H. Paul Moon; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

The drama that unfolds in the church has perhaps most aptly been compared to a radio drama, complete with music and sound effects, such that imagination provides the details of the story.  The story is marvelously told by baritone William Sharpe through both narration and acting, sometimes sung and sometimes with dialog.  The vocals are entirely recitatives, faithfully relating Mr. Dicken’s tale.  Mr. Sharpe is a fine singer with extraordinary story telling skills; he seemed a natural for the part.  Composer Deak chose to use just one singer because he felt that all the characters come out of Scrooge’s head.  However, in the telling of this story, the instruments and their players also play parts, adding dialog and color using their instruments in response to Mr. Sharpe’s revelations portraying Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.  In this production the musicians also engage in a bit of choral singing, making of ghostly sounds, and uttering of a few “bah humbugs”.  It is very clever and amusing and fun.  Listening to the audio alone the film reminded me somehow of the beloved Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals when done with narration; thus, this report’s name, the ‘Carnival of the Instrumentalists’, said with great affection for Mr. Deak’s music drama. For me, the delight of watching and responding to the interplay between the story and the music and the musicians is a trade off with the drama’s impact, but it is what makes this performance compelling viewing.  Heard over the radio, the drama might reign.

Baritone William Sharpe as Scrooge. Photo by H. Paul Moon; courtesy of Opera Philadelphia.

Composer Deak’s music is pleasing and inventive and constitutes a lesson in how instruments and music can engage in storytelling.  Listening to the music is a pleasure for the ears and the emotions.  Much of the music has the rhythm of speech, using composer Deak’s technique known as “Sprechspiel” or “Speech playing”.  The musicians are members of the 21st Century Consort, a group dedicated to playing contemporary music.  They were led in this performance by Conductor Christopher Kendall who clearly faced a huge challenge in coordinating the timing with so many stops and starts and changes, interspersed with critically timed sound effects.  This was a highly talented group of performers who carried off the production flawlessly (with the advantage of film editing, of course).  The members of the Consort, seated in a circle, included:

 Richard Barber, Contrabass

Paul Cigan, Clarinet

Daniel Foster, viola

Lee Hinkle, percussion

James Nickel, French Horn

Alexandra Osborne, violin

Susan Robinson, harp

Boyd Sarratt, add’l percussion

Sara Stern, Flute

Jane Steward, violin

Rachel Young, cello

Lisa Emenheiser – piano, prologue improvisations and end credits

left: Image of composer Jon Deak in The Passion of Scrooge; image by H. Paul Moon and courtesy of Opera Philadelphia. right: 1842 Painting of Charles Dickens by Francis Alexander; image in public domain on Wikipedia.

The performance includes two acts.  The interlude in between the acts features the composer taking the subway and walking the streets of New York City into Times Square.  The camera pans some of the street people making the point that even today the poor need our help.  The photography, direction, and film editing was done by H.Paul Moon; kudos to him for an excellent job.  He used a “floating camera” technique with constantly moving and rotating views of the performers.  Scenes from an early film titled Scrooge (1935) are effectively intermeshed onto the filmed performance during many of the scenes, triggering memories for me of past viewings, as though ghosts of Christmases past.

Like A Christmas Carol, The Passion of Scrooge ends on a note of hope (“the shadows of things that would be may be dispelled”) and a strong appeal to the human spirit (“there is time, there’s still time”).  As these phrases and others from the drama resonate through our heads as they do Scrooge’s; we all are brought face to face with the redemptive power of love, and its inclusiveness is proclaimed with Tiny Tim’s “God bless us, everyone”. 

 The Fan Experience: The Passion of Scrooge is available on demand to Opera Philadelphia Channel subscribers only, now until January 8, 2023.  Annual subscriptions are available for $99, monthly for $9.99 and can be cancelled at any time.  For more insights into the film, check out the YouTube video, “The Making of “The Passion of Scrooge””.

Most of the videos on the Channel, but not this one, are available for individual purchase.  However, you can cancel your subscription after one month at a total cost of $9.99 and have access to this video and the others on the Channel for the entire month.  Frank Luzi, Vice President of Marketing Communications & Digital Strategy Executive Producer, explained that The Passion of Scrooge is one of a series of “programs produced by other artists and companies under the banner of ‘Opera Philadelphia Channel presents’, and these are meant to come to the channel in limited runs and available only to subscribers.”  Here is a link that lists some of the upcoming additions in this category; I look forward to the upcoming screening of Hansel and Gretel.  

The Passion of Scrooge is available for renting or buying from several other streaming services as well. Subscribers to the Channel have 24/7 access to a variety of content, including videos of Opera Philadelphia classic opera performances and new, imaginative content.  Check my report on the Channel’s 2021-2022 season. 

Washington Concert Opera’s Roberto Devereux: Classic Italian Opera Well Done

Washington Concert Opera’s first production of the year follows their usual recipe but bear in mind that it is a gourmet recipe: a classic opera chosen by WCO Artistic Director and Conductor Antony Walker, that you are not likely to hear in other venues in the DC area, performed in concert with a full orchestra and chorus on stage, sung by a world class array of opera singers, giving some of their best performances.  Some of my favorite opera performances have been by WCO.  Each production is reliably more than satisfying, and thus, similarly delicious was Roberto Devereux.

Singers Daniel O’Hearn as Lord Cecil and Roberta Mantegna as Elizabetta with full orchestra and chorus on stage behind them. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

Composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) who composed over sixty operas had a major influence on Italian opera; he was one of three developers of bel canto opera, along with Giacomo Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini.  He led a highly successful but tragic life.  His opera Roberto Devereux (1838) was composed during the period surrounding his 29-year-old wife’s death in 1837; none of their three children had survived more than a few days.  Although he also composed successful comedies such as L’elisir d’amore, it is no wonder he is known for the strong infusion of drama in his tragedies.  He composed three operas involving Tudor queens, Anna Bolena (1830), Maria Stuarda (1834), as well as Devereux; the first made him a star Italian opera composer.  The librettist for Devereux was Salvatore Cammarano; he worked with Donizetti on five other operas, including their most famous opera, Lucia di Lammermoor, and he also worked with several other renown Italian composers, including Giuseppe Verdi.

Roberta Mantegna as Elizabetta, Conductor Antony Walker, and Andrew Owens as Roberto Devereux. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

One of my favorite aphorisms is “History is based on a true story”.  In opera, plots dealing with real life characters are typically loosely based on history, but that’s what makes it fun.  Let’s consider the plot of Roberto Devereux:  Devereux, the Earl of Essex, returns to court from battle; he has made enemies.  Before leaving for battle, he had become a strong love interest and favorite of Elizabetta (Queen Elizabeth I).  Devereux also had fallen in love with Sara, a friend and confidante of the Queen.  While he was away, the Queen married Sara off, over her objections, to the Duke of Nottingham, who could provide for her support; the Duke was a good friend of Roberto.  You see the problem here?   It’s not a good idea to prefer another love to the Queen, nor to be that rival.  However, in fairness to Elizabetta, she did feel bad about having the Earl beheaded, so bad in fact she abdicated the throne to her cousin James VI.  And, in fairness to the composer and librettist, they created quite a powerful drama, though with some serious modifications to actual history.

left photo: Elizabeth DeShong as Sara. right photo: Conductor Antony Walker and Ricardo José Rivera as the Duke of Nottingham. Photos by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

Setting the record straighter: Roberto Devereux was a real Earl of Essex, and Elizabeth I, of course, was a real Queen of England.  The real Earl was a rogue and highly self-centered according to reports.  They did have an interesting relationship; for some reason she favored the Earl, son of Ann Boleyn for most of his life, indulging him much more than other subjects committing offenses.  Elizabetta had come to be known as the “Virgin Queen”, casting doubt on whether their relationship was passionate, though some historians suspect her purity was overly reported.   In real life, the Duke was actually an Earl who had no special relationship with the Devereux; furthermore, the Duchess’s name was Catherine, and she did not have a love relationship with Devereux.  It is true that the Queen had Roberto beheaded, but the reason was the unsuccessful insurrection he led against the crown.  Finally, something that must really be corrected is that Queen Elizabeth I stopped being queen because of her death, not an abdication. 

The true story is interesting, but Donizetti’s/Cammarano’s version with a love triangle is even juicier and a setting richer for possibilities for opera.  They also added some suspense by having Devereux give Sara a ring that will save him if given to the Queen, but the Duke, now angry with his former friend, blocks her attempt to take the ring to the Queen.  It’s opera!  We need something more dramatic than boring affairs of state to get our juices flowing; a love triangle ending in tragedy provides big emotions for great singers to bring us to tears using their beautiful voices and vocal skills, assisted by orchestral and choral music that further embellishes the emotions and enriches the telling of the story.  Donizetti’s opera fits the bill so well that this was the second time WCO has performed this work, once before in 2004.

left photo: Roberta Mantegna as Elizabetta and Conductor Antony Walker. right photo: Daniel O’Hearn as Lord Cecil, Andrew Owens as Roberto Devereux, Ricardo José Rivera as the Duke of Nottingham, and Conductor Antony Walker. Photos by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

The overture for Roberto Devereux begins with the melody from “God Save the Queen”, also the tune for “My Country Tis of Thee”.  Maestro Walker and the Washington Concert Opera Orchestra delivered Donizetti’s music faithfully, beautiful music filled with many appealing melodies and soaring arias for the principal singers.  To sing the role of Elizabetta, WCO recruited Italian soprano, Roberta Mantegna, for her U.S. debut; she has sung in leading roles in the major opera houses of Europe and is now beginning a world tour.  Elizabetta is a difficult role to sing and is sought by top sopranos as a showpiece for their skills.  Ms. Montegna has a beautiful tone to her voice that dances around higher octaves effortlessly and sings embellishments flawlessly.  She also acted the part convincingly projecting a vulnerable woman as well as a Queen.  Overall, her performance was quite a special treat for her Washington audience.  Joining her in the other female role in the opera, that of Sara, was Washington favorite, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong; Ms. DeShong was stunning in WCO’s Maometto II last season, and gave another strong performance as Sara, with beautiful vocals expressing a range of emotions from love for Devereux to affection for her Queen, to fear for her life. 

The men also shone well in this production.  Accomplished tenor Andrew Owens who played Devereux was a recent replacement for the originally announced tenor René Barbera who had to withdraw.  Mr. Owens has a marvelous voice for bel canto roles and sang beautifully.  Regrettably, in his final beautiful, impassioned aria, his voice broke several times as apparently a cough or dry throat could not be completely overcome.  Leaving the stage he indicated through gestures his apology and the audience responded favorably.  Baritone Ricardo José Rivera gave a standout performance as the Duke of Nottingham.  The strength and attractiveness of his voice were equally matched by an ability to convey the emotions sweeping over the Duke. 

Kerry Wilkerson as Sir Walter Raleigh, Daniel O’Hearn as Lord Cecil, Roberta Mantegna as Elizabetta, Conductor Antony Walker, Andrew Owens as Roberto Devereux, and Ricardo José Rivera as the Duke of Nottingham. Photo by Caitlin Oldham; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.

The performance was also well served by singers in the supporting roles: Tenor Daniel O’Hearn (a late substitute for Patrick Kilbride) sang the role of Lord Cecil; base-baritone Andrew Yergiyev as a Page; baritone Kerry Wilkerson as Sir Walter Raleigh; and baritone Jose Sacin as a Servant.  Mr. Wilkerson provided one inadvertent comic moment when he reached into his coat pocket to provide the Queen with an incriminating scarf, but pulled out something not approximating a scarf; the audience laughed and even Ms. Mantegna had to smile.  The Washington Concert Opera Chorus, led by David Hanlon, also gave a strong performance.  The ensemble numbers were well served by all the singers, and the ensemble numbers ending acts were quite powerful, bringing strong responses from the audience.

So, in all, just another routine performance by Washington Concert Opera, and I hope never to miss one.

The Fan Experience: Roberto Devereux was performed on December 4 in their usual venue, Lisner Auditorium of George Washington University.  The performance ran three hours with 15-minute intermission between each of three acts; the opera was sung in Italian with super-titles in English. WCO only gives one performance of each of their operas.  Also scheduled for their 2022-2023 season is Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco on March 4; the March 4 performance is on a Saturday, not the usual Sunday performance.  Masks are no longer required, but be sure to check what, if any, COVID requirements are in effect on the date of a performance.

Many thanks and wishes for a speedy recovery for Maestro Walker who conducted while recovering from knee surgery just three weeks ago.

Peter Russell, General Director of Vocal Arts DC, presented a pre-opera talk and provided program notes.  Mr. Russell also presented a one-hour lecture on Roberto Devereux in the free Opera Gems series.  His lectures are impressively detailed and informative, with samples of the music to be heard.

In my experience, all the seats in Lisner Auditorium are fine for viewing the performance, but the sound is probably better towards the center of the auditorium.  Parking on the street around the auditorium is catch as catch can; be sure to read the signs!  Metro is two blocks away.  WCO has a visitor web page with directions and parking info, helpful in finding nearby parking lots. 

Opera Lafayette’s “In the Salons of Versailles”: Elegant and Sparkling Performances

Opera Lafayette’s first performance of the 2022-2023 season was like visiting the Smithsonian’s precious stones exhibit, each piece dazzled.  On Friday evening in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, OL gave their fans a French salon experience performing selections that not one, but two mid-eighteenth-century women salonniéres of influence might have arranged, one who preferred an all-French composer program and one with a love of composers across Europe.  The program for “In the Salons of Versailles”, designed by violinist Jacob Ashworth, featured a renown French soprano and an ensemble of highly regarded early music specialists:

l to r: Jacob Ashworth, June Huang, Justin Jonathan Taylor, Emmanuelle de Negri, Isaiah Chapman, and Serafim Smigelskiy. Photo by Sierra Prasada; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Artists:

Jacob Ashworth…musical direction & violin

Emmanuelle de Negri…soprano

Justin Jonathan Taylor…harpsichord

June Huang…violin

Isaiah Chapman…violin

Serafim Smigelskiy…cello

Last year, OL began the first of three seasons dedicated to eras associated with French women who exerted an influence on French music and history of the 18th century, with eras of Marie Antoinette, Madame de Pompadour, and Madame Maintenon (see my overview of OL’s 2022-2023 season devoted to the “Era of Madame de Pompadour” at this link).  Approximately half of the Salons’ program were selections that Madame de Pompadour might have made and the other half likely choices of Dauphine Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, also an influential member of the court at Versailles at that time. 

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour was chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and friend and confidante beyond that.  Though a member of the bourgeoise and not nobility, she came to be useful to the king in some areas of decision making and was awarded her title.  She was an astute politician who used support for the arts to overcome prejudice against her for being a commoner and to increase her influence.  Her love of music was genuine; she was a talented soprano and harpsichordist.  Her co-salonniére for this program, Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, was born into nobility and became Dauphine through an arranged marriage to a son of Louis XV.  She also was a talented harpsichordist.  Whereas M. de Pompadour strictly favored French music, the Dauphine, born in Dresden, pushed the court to be more cosmopolitan in its appreciation and support for music.  Both seemed to have agreed on Rameau’s eminence (I’ll make that three). The distinctions in their preferences was reflected in a controversy of the day called the Guerre des Bouffons, a hotly contested argument over whether French music or Italian music was superior.

The historical background for this production was provided by Opera Lafayette in educational offerings prior to the concert, in a pre-opera talk, and in the online program. The concert itself was straightforward with the performers entering and leaving the stage without introductions or comments. English subtitles were provided on a screen for the vocals.

left photo: Jacob Asworth, Justin, Jonathan Taylor, and Serafim Smigelskiy. right photo: Justin Jonathan Taylor, Jacob Ashworth and June Huang. Photos by Sierra Prasada; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

“In the Salons of Versailles” Program:

Pièces de Clavecin avec voix ou violon, Op. 5 – Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville

            III. Benefac Domine (performers: de Negri, Taylor, Ashworth)

            VII. Quare trusts es, anima mea (de Negri, Taylor)

“Fureur, amour, secondés mon impatience” from Scanderberg – François Rebel and François Francœur (de Negri, Taylor, Smigelskiy)

Pièces de clavecin en concert: Cinquème concert – Jean-Philippe Rameau

I. La Forqueray (Taylor, Ashworth, Huang)

II. La Cupis (Taylor, Ashworth, Huang)

III. La Marais (Taylor, Ashworth, Huang)

Sonata for Harpsichord and Violin, K.6 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Taylor, Ashworth)

“Lascia i fior”: Cantata for Soprano and Continuo – Johann Adolph Hasse (de Negri, Taylor, Smigelskiy)

Sonata for 2 Violins in E Major, Op. No. 12, No. 2 – Jean-Marie Leclair

III. Minuet, non troppo allegro (Ashworth, Huang)

IV. Allegro (Ashworth, Huang)

Concerto for Violin in B-flat major – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Ashworth, Huang, Chapman, Smigelskiy, Taylor)

“Loin de nos coeurs les tristes plaints” from Scanderberg – François Rebel and François Francœur (de Negri, Ashworth, Smigelskiy, Taylor)

La Dauphine for Solo Harpsichord - Jean-Philippe Rameau (Taylor)

“Mentre dormi Amor fomenti” from L’Olimpiade – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (All)

“Sur nos coeurs épuise tes armes” from Zoroastre - Jean-Philippe Rameau (All)

left photo: Isaiah Chapman and Serafim Smigelskiy. right photo: Justin Jonathan Taylor. Photos by Sierra Prasada; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.

Opera Lafayette Founder and Artistic Director Ryan Brown has forgone his usual involvement as conductor and violinist this season to remain largely behind the scenes, allowing other creative staff and performers the opportunity to develop their skills in this area.  The selections for “In the Salons of Versailles” were well chosen by Mr. Ashworth; I’m sure Madame de Pompadour and the Dauphine would have approved.  Perhaps because of my life long exposure to cosmopolitan, cross cultural, and multi-generational music, I had trouble seeing what the Guerre Bouffons fuss was all about. The program seemed highly cohesive to me, combining both women’s preferences.

The selection of performers was also outstanding.  The musicians all performed with impressive artistry. Opera Lafayette takes pride in the authenticity of its performances using period instruments.  I had the feeling it was a privilege to hear this group perform.  Special recognition should go to soprano Emmanuelle de Negri.  She seemed supremely confident, at home, and in control of the moment. The lush, beautiful sound of her voice and her extraordinary artistry singing with both emotion and technical skill seemed the perfect fit for this program. 

Overall, Opera Lafayette’s “Salons of Versailles” was a pristine, elegant, and beautiful program that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Fan Experience:  All of Opera Lafayette’s productions for 2022-2023 will be performed in both Washington, DC (Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center) and New York City (El Museo del Barrio).  In DC, they will be spread over the entire season and in NYC performed as a festival.

-Washington, DC:

In the Salons of Versailles – December 2

Pergolesi! - February 2

Opéra-ballet - Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro  - May 2,3

-New York City:

Opéra-ballet: Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro - May 9

In the Salons of Versailles - May 10

Pergolesi! - May 11

Christine Adams, co-author of The Creation of the French Royal Mistress: From Agnès Sorel to Madame Du Barry, gave an excellent pre-opera talk on Madame de Pompadour.  She illuminated the talents and achievements of a woman who rose from the bourgeoise to have great political influence in 18th century France. 

A digression for the interested:  I’d like to pose the question of how might a 21st century audience be expected to respond to performances composed and performed with 18th century audiences in mind.  The beauty would come across for both audiences and there would be pleasure for both.  However, the 18th century auditory environment was very different from today’s.  The only music heard in the 18th century was live and the constant noise we hear today (cars, planes, ambulances, etc.) was largely absent then.  It’s likely few suffered from sensory overload in those times; any piece of music heard by them must have seemed more exciting and special when choices were so much more limited.  OL reviewed historical aspects of the salon for attendees separate from the performance for those who took advantage of them (a minority), but 18th century listeners likely had some familiarity with the composers and performers already as well as the language.  They would have had added expectations creating excited anticipation.  The Guerre des Bouffons of that period pitting French versus Italian music would have perhaps made them more excited to attend; something akin to football fans today?  No question that all of last night’s performances were jewels, but they were jewels displayed separate from their settings for most of today’s audience.  No doubt the painting is what is important, but the framing can enhance or distract from its appeal and the likelihood it will convey its message.  Somehow, I have the feeling it lacked the excitement it could have generated presented differently. 

I remember a few years back that Wolf Trap Opera staged the opera L’Opera Seria by including cast members in the audience who behaved like audiences of that day might have behaved; it was great fun and gave me a better appreciation of opera in that day. In 2020, Opera Lafayette converted a French opéra comique to a Colorado comic opera in cowboy english. It might be interesting to see a French salon performed that way. “In the Salons of Versailles” might have knocked the socks off an 18th century audience.  Though flush with enjoyment and appreciation, my socks stayed on; I have to admit my wife said her socks did come off.  I guess that I am just jealous that I can’t hear it the way that someone in the 18th century would have.