New Feature: Show the Critics Some Love

One of the first pages that I added to OperaGene.com was a listing of opera critics and as much of their biographical information as I could find.  I have previously discussed why critics are important and what can be gained by reading reviews.  I’d like to add one more reason for your consideration:

Reading the reviews and commenting online is a way to support the arts. 

Newspapers give priority to news areas that generate reader interest, and tallying clicks and comments to the articles online is one way they do that.  The Washington Post review of L’Opera Seria by esteemed classical music critic, Anne Midgette, got zero comments (before yours truly added one) even though it got 2000 hits online and was read by an indeterminate number of subscribers to the print edition.   Compare that to any sports article and its number of hits and comments.  Editors and publishers notice.  They also notice other aspects of visits, such as how long the visit to an article occurs on average.  There is no way to know how many readers print newspaper articles get or demographic data of visitors, or patterns of visits, but very quantitative data is generated by online visits.  A survey two years ago showed that there were 11 full time classical music critics left at U.S. newspapers; two decades ago there were 65.

Reading critical reviews of opera performances contributes to your opera education.  Any thought that bloggers can replace critics should be put aside as unrealistic.  I have in the past emphasized that my opinions are those of an opera fan who knows what he likes, but opera critics bring critical knowledge and experience to the discussion.  Critics are both reporters and judges.  When you read a critical review, you will likely learn more about an opera, its history and historical context, its staging, the music, and how well the performers did from someone who knows what they are talking about, and to some extent, the evening will be re-created for you in prose.  Like any judge or umpire, sometimes they get it wrong.  So?  That’s where you come in, to take the critics to task - online!

Classical music critics perform an absolutely critical function in ensuring that standards of the art are upheld.  Suppose baseball asked for volunteers from the stands to umpire the games and these umpires called balls and strikes according to how much they liked or disliked the pitch.  What would that do to the game?  I have observed that, like umpires, critics take a fair amount of abuse, being accused in comments of being haters, of routinely trashing operas, and doing so to enhance their careers.  One comment I saw accused the critic of not appreciating people who can’t afford front row seats because the critic came from a wealthy family.  I think very few critics are critical because they have have an axe to grind or a mean streak.  They have a job to do.  They keep the bar high and negative comments actually lead to better opera in the long run.  So, if you care about the arts, especially opera, show the critics some love. 

Fortunately, we are blessed with some outstanding classical music critics in the mid-Atlantic region.  I urge you to read the reviews and comment on them. Tell your friends who appreciate the arts to read the reviews and comment.  You will feel better, or not, but if you do, the newspapers will give more of their limited pool of resources to the journalists covering the arts.

To help you access the reviews, I will add review links to the three-month listing of operas in the side bar of the blog page.  Check the side bar now and you will find that Read Review links for operas already performed have been added for L’Opera Seria, Julius Caesar, and The Silent Woman.  If you spot a review I have missed, please bring it to my attention.

WTO's L'Opera Seria Takes Opera Off Its High Horse And Makes It Fun Again

Was opera ever fun?  I know opera to be beautiful, affecting, and enriching, and some operas are amusing and occasionally elicit a laugh, but… is opera fun?  I honestly cannot say based on my experience that it is, but I have read that there was a time when it was more of a social event.  Wolf Trap Opera Senior Director, Kim Witman, made this point in her pre-opera talk.  In the baroque era, the lights were up during the performance and people chatted with their friends.  They brought in food and cards, and were sometimes rowdy, with ‘claques’ (fan clubs) cheering their favorite performers, occasionally shouting comments, and sometimes booing their competitors.  During the boring parts their attention strayed from the performance.  The performers sometimes reacted to what was occurring in the audience.  In my experience, attending the opera is more akin to attending a religious service these days: no talking, drinking, or eating for the audience, and no deviation from the canon for the people on stage.  The third act of L’Opera Seria gives the audience a taste of baroque atmosphere, and the laughter that frequently broke out in acts one and two of the night's performance, reached sustained levels in act 3.  It was fun and I want more.

Richard Ollarsaba and Clarissa Lyons in L'Opera Seria. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera, 2016.

Richard Ollarsaba and Christian Zaremba in L'Opera Seria. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera, 2016.

Clarissa Lyons, Kihun Yoon, Richard Ollarsaba (background in beret: Rebecca Claborn) in L'Opera Seria. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera, 2016.

Anne-Marie Stanley, Amy Owens, and Rebecca Claborn in L'Opera Seria. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera, 2016.

Kihun Yoon, Clarissa Lyons, Amy Owens, Jonas Hacker, Alastair Kent, and Mane Galoyan in L'Opera Seria. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera, 2016.

Cast on stage, Act III, L'Opera Seria. Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera, 2016.

Ok, what about, you know, stuff like the singing, the plot, the staging, the music, the individual performances and the refreshments at intermission.  Actually, intermissions could be fun, except for the pressure to get your refreshments and consume them before the next act.  The Barns actually helps with this - orchestra seats have cup holders.  Moving on to the story, I have previously discussed L’Opera Seria as a satire presenting an opera within an opera.  The plot is about what goes on between opera company members arriving, rehearsing, and performing an opera.  No one involved escapes skewering.   I give the performers high marks all around, as well as Ms. Witman and the WNO staff for bringing this opera to Wolf Trap for its U.S. premiere.  I predict it will soon be taken up by other U.S. companies.  Kudos to the director of this production, Matthew Ozawa, and his creative team, who trimmed a four-hour opera into a three-hour version with punch; the ending could have been shortened even a bit more – by that time I was sated with laughter, but that is the only critical comment I care to make.  Eric Melear led the orchestra well, especially in having to sound discordant and out of tune at times.  I do wonder if this opera would work better for American audiences if there was an English version; the one liners come very fast.

Let me say first of all that the talent of these young singers as a group is impressive.  And not only can they sing, but they can act.  I think we will hear much more from many of these people.  Previous comments on these singers can be found in my report on Aria Jukebox.  Here are my favorites from the night’s performance in order:

1.     Clarissa Lyons, who played Stonatrilla (out-of-tune), has a beautiful voice as noted by me before.  She can also act with a deft comic touch, easily provoking laughs with her expressions.  Acting for tv and the movies could be in her career path.

2.     Christian Zaremba, who played Passagallo, was a huge surprise.  I previously praised him for his role as Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia and his tender singing of a Russian folk song for Aria Jukebox.  He seemed to be the tall, serious hero type to me, but in his performance, as the effeminate dancing master, strutting and bouncing around the stage, he was hilarious.  Some smart tv producer should start working on the Clarissa and Chris show right away

3.     Kihun Yoon, who played Sospiro, showed off that big baritone voice in a significant role and nailed it.

4.     Amy Owens, who played Porporina (purple face) sang effectively in a comedic number, and the dancers who accompanied her contributed to making the tuna and dolphin aria a hoot!

5.     Richard Ollarsaba, who played Fallito (failure) has a strong, beautiful bass-baritone voice and showed his acting aplomb in this production.  Success is ahead for this young man.

6.     Mane Galoyan, who played Smorfiosa (smirk face), sang beautifully.  I thought she was quite impressive.

7.     Florian Gassman, the composer, must have been bold to put forward an opera that some might take offense at if they thought a character was about them.  He has given us an inside look at opera in his day and I suspect in ours as well.  I found his music to be delightful and fit the story beautifully.

Overall, this was a comedic ensemble piece which seems to work well in the Barns.  They also offered an outstanding production of The Ghosts of Versailles last year that was an opera within an opera.  It was also fun.  Now that I think about it, it was also fun to attend Madame Butterfly at the Filene Center last year and am looking forward to La Boheme on August 5.  The Filene Center itself adds a bit of fun to the proceedings; it is an outdoor arena, easily accessible with free parking, and lawn picnicking seats are available as well as other dining options. Last year I noted a much higher than average ratio of young people in the audience, I suspect due to the venue. 

The opera enterprise should take note about what is happening at Wolf Trap Opera.  Presenting something new or reviving something overlooked, removing the barriers between the opera professionals and the audience, making opera more easily accessible, and even making it fun on occasion, while insisting on a high talent level and commitment to the art form might be a winning formula for other companies as well.  And a personal plus is that I no longer have to feel guilty about eating my lunch while I am watching opera dvds on my big screen tv.  Eating during the performances used to be normal.  No one wants to abandon the great, grand opera that the major opera houses can do so well, but a little fun occasionally even there might be a good thing.  One of Ms. Witman’s comments in her pre-opera talk was to say not to worry about the details or the plot, that if by the third act this was important to you they had not done their job.  They had done their job and that is real involvement.

Oh, there is one more performance on Saturday night, but it has been sold out for several days.  You can’t say you weren’t warned.  Hopefully you also saw the Post review of the opening night’s performance.   

First Operas in the New Season and Ticket Availability Dates

It is not too early to begin planning for operas you wish to see this coming season.  Single ticket sales for the 2016-2017 season for Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan Opera in New York are ongoing already, and those for other opera companies will become available between now and the end of August when exclusivity for season subscriptions expire.  Seasonal listings for opera companies in the mid-Atlantic region can be found here.    .

Timing is important.  The good seats go first, especially the good cheap seats; matinees also tend to fill up early.  If you are well off or want to splurge, and want to be nose to nose with the singers, or want to hang with the gilt-edged crew, then get the expensive seats and shine, but don’t pooh, pooh the cheap seats.  I sat in the first and second tier balcony seats at the Kennedy Center for the recent four operas of the Ring Cycle; the views were good and the sound was great, better I think than the orchestra section seats!  Cheap seats also allow you to see more operas.  I sat next to a young woman on a flight from NYC recently who said she had attended almost all Met Opera performances the last two years, usually spending about $35 per seat.  I was envious. 

Right now you can buy full-view tickets to the WNO production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro for as low as $45.  Figaro is on just about everyone’s list of the ten best operas of all time, and Met opera star, soprano Lisette Oropesa will play Susanna.  Also, please keep in mind that such a low a price may not be available later.  Beware the Kennedy Center's "dynamic pricing": as demand for tickets goes up, so does the price of the remaining tickets.  I learned this the hard way with my late purchase of Ring tickets.

To help get you going, here is a chart with the dates when public sales of single tickets begin and the first opera offered by that company for the 2016-2017 season.  Good luck and see you in the cheap seats:

Opera Company              Tickets avail.          First Opera and First Date

WNO/Kennedy Center….... Now…………..….The Marriage of Figaro, Sep 22

Opera Philadelphia…………..Aug 1……………..Breaking the Waves, Sep 22

Virginia Opera*…………….…. Aug 22……………The Seven Deadly Sins/Pagliacci, Sep 30

Pittsburgh Opera……………..Late Aug…………La Traviata, Oct 8

Metropolitan Opera…………Now………………..Tristan und Isolde, Sep 26

Met Opera in Cinemas……..Jul 20………………Tristan und Isolde, Oct 8

I included Met Opera because, even though not in the mid-Atlantic region, it is hard to leave the Met out.  I included Met Opera in Cinemas because that is a locally popular series available at theaters though out the region.  Anne Midgette of the Washington Post wrote an interesting and timely article recently on the impact of HD opera in cinemas, very balanced and insightful; recommended reading, and you will see several comments from OperaGene in the comments section if you access the article online.

*Keep in mind that Virginia Opera performances rotate from Norfolk to Fairfax to Richmond.  The Seven Deadly Sins/Pagliacci offering begins in Norfolk on Sep 30, moves to Fairfax on Oct 8 , and to Richmond on Oct 14.

Wagner Leitmotifs and the Optimistic Rat

Scientists are at it again.  They can now tell whether rats are optimists or pessimists.  Rats can’t answer a rat therapist’s questions, so how can scientists tell?  In a clever and amusing article in today’s Wall Street Journal, columnist Robert Sapolsky explains how.  First, did you know that rats chirp when they feel pleased, sort of like cats purring I suppose?  You may not know this because it is inaudible to the human ear (not sure about cat's ears), but scientists have instruments that can record it.  Let rats play or mate with other rats, they chirp.  They will even press a lever to hear rat chirps.  And tickle them, they chirp.  Sorry, I haven’t read up on how to tickle a rat.

Now let’s stick with rats but change gears slightly.  Rats quickly learn to exhibit behaviors to seek rewards or to avoid actions that lead to pain, not unlike humans in this regard.  In a clever scientific experiment, rats learn that pressing lever number one when an A-sharp note is played gets them a reward and by pressing lever number two when A-flat is sounded they avoid a shock.  A-sharp, you can get a reward; A-flat, you can avoid a shock.  Easy.  But what if an A-natural is played, a note in between the A-flat and the A-sharp; what should they do? It turns out that some rats consistently choose lever one and some consistently choose lever two.  Some rats are optimistic about getting a reward and some are more worried about getting a shock.  I must point out that I can’t vouch for the validity of the results just from reading the WSJ article, either statistically or in terms of proper controls; for example, might have the rats who decided to avoid the shock been more sensitive to shocks or partially tone deaf?  Hopefully the scientists accounted for other possible causes for the results, but my real point to make here is that hearing musical sounds leads to expectations about what is going to happen.  Composers often change notes and scales to play on your musical expectations, but when we get to Wagner, it gets even more involved.

The Sapolsky article itself goes on to speculate on potential implications (and do keep in mind that those are speculations and not in any way proven, in particular as it relates to humans).  The pessimistic rats were more prone to depression.  It was found that tickling rats (chirping) made them more optimistic; so did antidepressants and enriching their surroundings, but stressing rats made them more pessimistic.  Sort of I think, good feelings build on good feelings and vice versa, and boredom doesn’t help.  I have made light of these studies as an amusement, but they are quite serious and important in their attempts to establish the relationships between behavior and emotions and their exact impact on health.

What does this have to do with Wagner?  Well, remember my earlier post with a brief discussion of leitmotifs, those charming little themes that foretold a presence in the story and elicited our associated remembrances and feelings?  I also talked about these in my reviews of the Ring Cycle.  Wagner was an innovator who employed these extensively to introduce characters, moods, and ideas.  So with Wagner, we hear something and we think, feel, or anticipate something.

Below is a Youtube video that presents movie themes as lietmotifs, to introduce high school students to the concept.  It is fun to see how many movies you can recall from the movie themes played, and it does point out the concept of musical cues to connect musical themes with expectations, a concept used in music long before Wagner:

I have no copyright on any of these songs. I made this video to introduce my Analysis of Visual Media classes (high school) to leitmotifs.

Another, more in depth, explanation of leitmotifs and why Wagner was an innovator can be found in this Backstage Lincoln Center Youtube video:

From a PBS Great Performances broadcast in 1995. This has a simple explanation of Wagnerian leitmotifs, specifically in Siegfried's Funeral March and Brunnhilde's Immolation, from the opera Götterdämmerung.

I suppose that we now must expect that the emotions each leitmotif elicits in us may be somewhat different for different people, depending on whether they are more optimistic or pessimistic.  When you hear Siegfried’s theme do you remember his heroism and promise or his death and its implications for the world?  I first remember the feelings associated with his beauty and promise.  In fact, I also recall the beauty and grandeur of the Ring, and how lucky I feel to have seen it.  I’m an optimistic rat.  Opera helps.

Top Ten Lists Of Operas

I ran across this Top Ten List on Opera America's website that set me to thinking about top ten lists, and I did a little searching.  The Opera America list is their Ten Most Frequently Performed Operas in alphabetical order.  The source of data or inclusive dates is not given, but it is a believable list and the only surprise to me is Hansel and Gretel, an opera often produced at Christmas time for children.  Opera Pulse has a website that maintains statistics on opera performances.  If we look at the data for 2014-2015 season from the Opera Pulse database for the operas most frequently produced in that period, we must remove Aida, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel from the Opera America list and add Tosca, Rigoletto, and Don Giovanni.  However, we can't fault Opera America too much; the three deletions from their list are nos. 12, 27, and 16 on the Opera Pulse list; note that means that Hansel and Gretel is still in the top twenty.

Opera America List              Opera Pulse List

Aida                                                                      The Barber of Seville

The Barber of Seville                                        La Boheme

La Boheme                                                         Carmen

Carmen                                                               Don Giovanni

Cinderella                                                           Madama Butterfly

Hansel and Gretel                                           The Magic Flute

Madama Butterfly                                          The Marriage of Figaro

The Magic Flute                                               Rigoletto

The Marriage of Figaro                                  La Traviata

La Traviata                                                        Tosca

How many have you seen?  Well, starting in August you can add FIVE operas to your ‘seen in person list’ over the 2016-2017 season: La Boheme (Wolf Trap Opera), The Barber of Seville (Virginia Opera), The Marriage of Figaro and Madame Butterfly (Washington National Opera), and La Traviata (Pittsburgh Opera).  These companies are also offering other members of the classic repertoire as well as newer operas; see the Seasonal Listings page.

One might also ask how do the lists of most performed operas compare with the ten “best” operas lists sometimes seen.  These are lists compiled by critics and other writers about opera. However, this is where it gets…shall we say complicated.  It depends a lot on who has compiled the list, usually one writer or one critic, and often they make a number of caveats or qualifying statements about the list, and sometimes, it is really just a most popular list.  Forthwith, let’s take a look at a Best Operas of All Time list on the website, Ranker.com.  It turns out that the ranking is determined by audience votes, making it more likely a popularity contest. 

Gramaphone, a well-known classical music review site published their Ten of the Best Operas list, which they termed “a newcomer’s starter pack,” and it's worth a look; they are trying to give you a broad view of opera.  In addition to operas already mentioned above, they included Fidelio, Tristan and Isolde, and The Cunning Little Vixen, and helpfully, also specified the specific recordings to listen to.  First I have heard of Janecek’s The Cunning Little Vixen; got to check that one out.

The Guardian, another trusted website is unable to stop at ten and lists the Top Fifty Operas, which is a good list to help focus your attention on consensus repertoire members.  I am not familiar with his website, but The Imaginative Conservative lists the Top Ten Greatest Operas; it is a somewhat different list, but to the author’s credit Nixon is not on the list and there are several we can agree on.  For liberals, NPR (hey, that’s what conservatives say) has taken a stab with our longest title list, 10 Operas You Need to Know from the World of Opera.  Additions not previously mentioned include Pelleas and Melisande, Wozzeck, Eugene Onegin (one of my favorites), and Werther; audio samples are offered from each opera.  Their list also includes Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen.

It’s interesting that the “classic repertoire” of operas that get repeated over and over is largely a recent development.  Until the mid 1800s, operas were produced and offered a few times, maybe then moved on to opera houses elsewhere.  But mainly, they played a run and were soon replaced by a new offering, sort of like movies currently are.  It is only recently that new operas have slowed in coming and opera as an enterprise has moved to largely repeating classics.  I think I am seeing a move to more new operas.  We'll see.

You can find other lists on the internet or in books.  There is a lot of overlap, but each may have a few favorites of their own. However, make sure you check the basis for the selections to understand where the list comes from.  You can start your own list, which is after all the most important one, and living in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., you will have lots of opportunities to add to it .

Saturday Roundup, 7/9/2016 - Tweaks, Washington Concert Opera, Streaming Opera for Free, Non-singers Help, and Rick Steves Opera Note

note to readers on changes,

A few more tweaks have been made to the website: 1) a search bar has been added to the blog page that searches all pages on the website; 2) an Archive page has been added that lists all previous blog posts, hyperlinked, by year and month.  These additions should help when looking for something you read that you want to go back to or to see if a topic has been covered.  I have also updated the ‘For Parents’ section.  I still would welcome any suggestions for this page or the ‘Opera Ed To Go’ page.

washington concert opera's new season posted,

Do you mostly just want to listen when you attend opera, or want to try opera in a different format?  Washington Concert Opera’s motto is that “it’s all about the music,” and its website  states that “A concert opera is a complete, full-length opera presented with the soloists, orchestra, chorus and conductor on stage. There are no sets, costumes or props to distract the eye…and ear...from the operatic score. The focus is entirely on the performers and their dynamic interaction with their audience.”  Many recordings of operas are made this way (but usually without the audience), and I have heard good things about this company’s performances.  The performances are in Lisner Auditorium on the George Washington University campus.  I have added their 2016-2017 season to the ‘Seasonal Listings’ page and plan to do a more detailed blog post on them in August.

two more options for streaming live opera, both for FREE,

I have heard, of course, of “pants” roles in operas whereby a female, usually a mezzo soprano, plays a male role, such as Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi .  This is typically not due to a shortage of male singers, at least in this era, but to the composer’s intentions.  However, I just read an article about “no pants” opera – think about that for a moment; ok, now lower your expectations.  The article addresses what to do when you want to watch opera but don’t want to put your pants on and go out.   This Observer article by James Jorden covers Met Opera in Cinema and Met Opera On Demand, the PBS Great Performances at the Met series, and using Youtube to watch opera, all of which I covered in Affordable Opera, part I and part 2.  However, he also includes two services I had overlooked.  First, Staatsoper.TV broadcasts live opera for free; the next two scheduled broadcasts are Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes on July 24 and Wagner’s Der Meistersinger on July 31.  These appear to be Met quality productions.  Opera star and perhaps the current leading tenor in the world, Jonas Kaufman, will appear in Meistersinger. I am not familiar with Indes, but heartily recommend Meistersinger if you are game for a five-hour affair.  Since these broadcasts are live and from Germany, you must allow for the six-hour time difference, which means the opera will likely start around noon, U.S. east coast time.  Visit the website to see all the devices these can be streamed on.  The second service that Mr. Jorden revealed is The Opera Platform which streams recorded videos on demand for free, which I imagine does not make the Met a happy camper.  I signed up for their newsletter and watched a few minutes of their recording of Carmen.  It looks great to me and offers subtitles in English, French, and German.  The opportunity to see different versions of operas is actually pretty exciting.

can’t sing, you are wanted,

Every once and awhile I run across a feel good, human interest story, and this is one concerning scientific research.  First, you should understand that I can’t sing and truly wish that I could; I’m sure that I would qualify for this study.  I first ran across this piece in Slipped Disc: the Guildhall School of London has initiated a research study that will focus on learning best practices for teaching adult non-singers how to sing and the best methods of supporting them in the process.  The study is motivated by much more than a desire to help people who want to sing.  Studies have shown that participating in music is good for your health.  Just last week I ran across this report, “Playing a Musical Instrument as a Protective Factor Against Dementia and Cognitive Impairment: A Population-Based Twin Study.”  I cannot say for certain the results apply to singing, but my expectation is that they would.  Besides, it is heartwarming to run across research so directly involved in helping people.  If you are going to be in London in July and August you could try applying.  I notice that one of the co-authors of the study is at Bucknell University in the US; maybe there will be some replication attempts here.

rick steves agrees vacations are opportunities for opera,

A reader alerted me to a recent post on the Rick Steves travel blog pointing out that live opera was being videocast onto the street in Vienna, Austria just outside the Vienna State Opera House; he was making a point about Vienna’s commitment to culture.  It raises another good point.  Opera is popular in Europe.  If you are vacationing this summer in the EU, check out what is being performed at the opera houses or in more local venues, such as museums or parks; it will be enriching in many ways.  See my blog post on Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu as an example. 

L’Opera Seria at Wolf Trap: Tickets are Going, Get Yours Now

Want a delightfully fun evening?  Wolf Trap Opera takes a fresh look at L’Opera Seria, which until recently, was a little known classical opera, using their highly talented and accomplished, young performers.  This second of WTO’s summer triumvirate of operas and last one at the Barns, begins on Friday, July 15, with additional performances on July 17, 20, and 23.  I previously discussed this production in my blog post of March 17:  

“L’Opera Seria (1769) by Bohemian composer Florian Gassmann (b.1729-d.1774) has played to recent acclaim in Europe according to Ms. Witman [WTO Director], though he is apparently better known for his well-regarded symphonies and chamber music.  A fall from a carriage led to his untimely death.  I read that the opera is a satire on the state of opera seria in his day (opera seria is defined in Wikipedia as an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and “serious” style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from 1710 to 1770).  I am not familiar with this opera or the composer’s work, but given that the lead sopranos are named Smirky, Out-of-Tune, and Purple-Face, I am willing to venture that it is a comedy.  And I am willing to bet that the young performers will extract every ounce of enjoyment from it for your evening’s pleasure.” 

I have done a little more reading, and yes, it is a comedy, one where the composer skewers many of the players in the popular opera community of his day for their vanities.  I find this a little surprising.  Gassman was very well known in his day and definitely part of the establishment of his era.  I also find it pleasing in that it is evidence of his integrity and adherence to principles.  He was eventually appointed Court Composer by Emperor Joseph II of Austria, enjoying a good deal of prestige and respect.  As an aside, he was responsible for the appointment of a student of his as his successor, Antonio Salieri, Mozart’s old friend.  Gassman is credited with breaking with traditional Italian Opera and furthering Christoph Gluck’s progressive style of the musical drama and for imaginative use of the orchestra.  If you go or if you have a copy already, read “A Portrait of the Composer,” on pages 21-22 in the WTO Summer Program Brochure, to see how an expert musicologist like Christoph-Hellmut Mahling is able to discuss the backgrounds of composers and their operas; I am impressed.  Director Matthew Ozawa and the creative team have been challenged to reduce a roughly four-hour opera into a three-hour condensed version while remaining true to the composer’s intent and musical composition and the librettist’s (Calzabigi) script.  I am very much looking forward to the enjoying the fruits of their efforts.

principal characters and performers in order of appearance,

Falito (Failure, the impresario) – Richard Ollarsaba: bass-baritone; Bachelor of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music; Master of Music from University of North Carolina; just completed a residency at the Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; played roles in nine operas thus far, many with the LOC.

Delirio (Raving, the librettist) – Kihun Yoon: baritone; Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Han Yang University in South Korea; also a member of Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program; appeared in eight operas thus far.

Sospiro (Sigh, the composer) – Jonas Hacker: tenor; Bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; also a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia; appeared in ten operas thus far.

Stonatrilla (Out-of-Tune, the prima donna) – Clarissa Lyons; soprano; Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley and Master’s degrees from The Manhattan School of Music and Bard College Conservatory; in her first year of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program; appeared in four operas thus far.

Smorfiosa (Smirky, the seconda prima donna) – Mane Galoyan; soprano; Bachelor’s degree from the Yerevan State Komitas Conservatory of Armenia; a member of the Houston Grand Opera; appeared in three operas thus far.

Ritornello (Refrain, the primo musico): Alastair Kent; tenor; Bachelor of Music from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts; also a Resident Artist at the Vocal Academy of Arts in Philadelphia; appeared in six operas already. 

Porporina (Purple Face, secondo uomo): Amy Owens; soprano; she holds degrees from Brigham Young University and Rice University; a former Wolf Trap Studio Artist who appeared in last year’s The Ghost of Versaille; appeared in two operas already and also sang Mater Gloriosa in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, to be released as a commercial recording.

More complete biographical information and their photos of the performers can be found here.  My counts of operas appeared in are estimates from reading the bios and are likely not completely accurate.  My purpose in including bio information is to impress on my readers that these young artists are already accomplished, professional artists.  All of these singers performed in the recent Aria Jukebox concert; see my blog post of June 28 for comments.  You will hear some outstanding performances by talented people, excellent value for your entertainment dollar.

ticket info as of July 4

I don’t know for sure that L’Opera Seria is going to be a sellout, but the better seats are in short supply; thus, I recommend buying your tickets as soon as you can:

July 15 – tickets $36-78; 164 seats left, limited prime seats

July 17 – tickets $48-88; six seats left with full view

July 20 – tickets $32-52; 118 seats overall, but limited prime seats; best value day

July 23 – tickets $36-78; 144 seats, but again limited prime seats

Tickets can be purchased online here,  http://www.wolftrap.org/opera.aspx. As noted above, this is a typical length opera of three hours with two intermissions.  Plan your bathroom breaks accordingly

hints for the Barns

By large opera house standards all the seats in the Barns are close to the stage.  Rows P, Q, and R have reduced prices and appear to me to be the cheap seats with good views.  Other cheap seats can have partially obstructed view or the inability to view subtitles; these are well marked as such when making ticking selections online.

The seats on the floor are not tiered and so you risk having partially obstructed view if a person taller than you sits in front of you. The prime balcony seats are the same price as the prime orchestra seats, but they are tiered which might be an advantage.  The front row of the balcony seats have a large wooden rail topping the balcony fence that I could see over to have full view of the stage if sitting upright, but not if slouching; the rows behind the front balcony row might be better for shorter folks.  Each of two paths to the seats in the balony ends with a support beam that makes some seats partially obstructed view.  They are small but there.  Again, the website makes this clear.

The snacks and the beverages in the dining room are varied and good, but can be pricey; see menu here.  Make sure you know the cost before ordering.  But any splurge here is largely reimbursed by the free parking and the relatively easy egress after the performance.

most important hint

Besides buy your ticket now, the most important hint is don’t forget the pre-Opera talk held one hour before the performance in the Center for Education next to the theater!!!  I am always glad that I attended the pre-show talk.

Want Fries With That Aria?

Scientists, you gotta love ‘em.  They just won’t leave anything be.  Now they are investigating the effect of sound on taste.  We know that popcorn and soda are staples for movie watching or maybe pizza if watching at home; but do we need to consider options depending on what we are going to hear, cheese or pepperoni for a particular soundtrack?  The phenomena of “sensation transference” as it is termed by the authors of a new study, is now under the microscope.  Sound and taste are connected, and they can prove it.  Travis Andrews, writing for the Washington Post, reported that the newspaper had obtained an early copy of a research report to be published in the scientific journal, Food Quality and Preference, that links different sounds with the perceived taste of beer.  We shouldn’t assume that the results can be believed because we have no data to judge whether the study is valid or not, and most importantly, it is yet to be validated by other scientists, but since it deals with beer I am willing, like most readers, to suspend my skepticism.  It seems that higher pitched sounds make Budweiser taste sweeter; if you are drinking Budweiser I’d push the pitch to the limit.  On the other hand, heavy-base music makes it taste more bitter and alcoholic than it usually tastes; sounds like an improvement to me.  In fairness, other beer styles were also examined.  The study's author, F. Reinoso Carvalho, stated that piano sounds tend to increase sweetness whereas metal instruments such as the trumpet increase the sense of bitterness.  Dr. Carvalho is now looking at the effect of sound on the taste of chocolate.  Again, I am all in.  Sweeping statements about the potential effects of music on taste are made, but only sounds, and not music, were tested in the study.  The effect of melody is likely to be a little more complex.  We are a long way from definitive answers, if ever, but getting there is going to be a lot of fun.

There doesn’t seem to be any data being reported in the other direction, that is, the effect of food on sound.  Maybe right now, that beer will be sweeter with sopranos and more bitter with baritones is all we need to know.  Of course this all could lead to conflicts – the husband wants a sweeter beer and the wife wants one more bitter.  Dinner might have to come with headphones – see below; it’s been done.  However, the fact that opera goers tend to be wine drinkers puts us back in the dark ages.  Nonetheless, the opera-food connection has not gone unnoticed by restaurateurs.  In fact, in St. Paul, Minnesota a few restaurants have gotten together to form something called the St. Paul Food Opera, as reported in twincities.com.  Later this year, multi-course lunch and dinners will pair dishes with musical selections; speakers will be placed at the center of each table.  Composer Ben Houge, one of the partners in this adventure, has been promoting the concept of “food opera” since 2012.  An interesting example of mixing sound and dining he cites is from Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, England; for a dish called Sound of the Sea the chef provides diners with an iPod in a conch shell and ear pods so that they can listen to the sound of seagulls and surf as they dine; the dish is also served with sand to make it more authentic, gritty, but authentic.  Personally, I look forward to hearing how these different ventures begin to sum up, i.e., whether over time patterns emerge that are reproducible.  Perhaps they could even be used to judge the quality of a musical performance or compare singers – the manicotti was scrumptious with Anna Netrebko; let’s try it with Kristine Opolais.  Acoustics could replace noise level as a restaurant rating criteria; I’m for that one regardless of the science.  

I intend to do some experimenting myself.  I occasionally have lunch in front of my big screen tv watching an opera dvd.  Maneuvering a fork and knife and subtitles can be a little tricky, but from now on I also intend to take notes on the effect of opera on food, or should it be the effect of food on opera; I will figure it out.  I can only report from my experience so far that Rossini definitely goes better with Italian food, but then, so do most of the other composers.  If listening to Wagner, don’t eat, just drink, and maybe dig that Viking helmet out and put it on.

Aria Jukebox: The Wolf Trap Family Singers Strut Their Stuff

The Wolf Trap Opera Filene Young Artists - learn their names for the future.

Wolf Trap Opera Filene Young Artists 2016. Top row, left to right: J'Nai Bridges, Timothy Bruno, Ben Edquist, Mane Galoyan, Jonas Hacker, Summer Hassan, Alasdair Kent. Middle row: Sarah Larsen, Will Liverman, D'Ana Lombard, Clarissa Lyons, Richard Ollarsaba, Kerriann Otano.  Bottom row: Amy Owens, Shea Owens, Brenton Ryan, Reginald Smith, Jr., Kihun Yoon, Yongzhao Yu, Christian Zaremba. Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

Wolf Trap Opera has several development programs to help young singers to further develop their careers.  WTO supports three types of young artists: Filene Young Artists, Studio Artists, and Fellows. The distinction among these categories is the point at which the young artists are in their careers.  There is also an Artist in Residence who is an alumnus/alumna of the company who returns during the summer season to mentor the young artists.  The term ‘resident artists’ get used for all these categories.  On Sunday, I chose to buy a ticket to attend the Wolf Trap Aria Jukebox Concert, performed by seventeen of the twenty Filene Young Artists.  The website says this about the FYAs: “They have recently finished graduate or professional degree programs from the top music schools in the country and have often participated in year-long young artist companies or summer apprenticeships. Many of them have already won prestigious awards and are on their way to significant careers. Approximately 15-20 singers are chosen annually from an initial pool of approximately 800 applicants.”  Most of the roles in WTO opera productions are played by members of this group.  Each singer for Sunday’s Jukebox had prepared four arias to sing and attendees voted prior to show time to decide which of the four would be sung.

Think of this like you might going to see an All Star sporting event; the FYAs are certainly among the ALL Stars at their level.  You want to see and enjoy the game, but you also want to see each player showcase their individual talents. For the major league baseball All-Star game, I want the National League to win, but I also want to see Bryce Harper hit a homerun.  I wanted to hear the arias on Sunday, but I also wanted to see who hit the ball the farthest.  It was truly delightful to be able to hear these young, but already accomplished, performers display their talents, both acting and singing, and sometimes, amusingly, their personalities.  And there were some home runs.

I now must run a risk to my reputation as someone who prefers sopranos.  After all, it was my newfound love of listening to great sopranos like Birgit Nilsson and Renata Scotto that drew me into opera some six years ago.  I’d also like to preface my comments about yesterday’s performances by reiterating that my likes or dislikes are those of an opera fan, not an opera expert.  I have an opinion and enjoy expressing it and encourage others to do the same, but it is just my opinion.  I should also say I did not take notes, preferring to just enjoy the performances, so I hope I don’t confuse any of the players.  Having listed all the caveats, here is the shocker, at least to me: I have to say that I was even more blown away by the guys than the gals on Sunday.  But to be fair, there were more guys than gals by 11-6.

Katherine Carter served as host and kept things moving at a good pace, staying in touch with and entertaining the audience with her comments, and WTO Director, Kim Witman, was impressive performing accompaniment on the piano for all of the arias.  When I heard the first aria, one from La Traviata , performed by Reginald Smith, Jr., who sings with a beautiful baritone, the impact of the emotion that he was expressing took me by surprise.  It is to be expected that the arias are sung in character, but the clear conveyance of the emotion without me knowing the words caught me off guard.  Mr. Smith will play Marcello in WTO's upcoming production of La Boheme.  Brenton Ryan, who played the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia sang “The Aria of the Worm” with gusto and drama.  Among the other tenors, I thought Alastair Kent sang his aria with a voice that was unusually effective at conveying the emotion of the aria.  I am not sure such a sensitive voice will be able to fill the large opera houses with sound, but I feel strongly he could be a successful singer of popular ballads, along the lines of Andrea Bocelli or Enrique Inglesias.  Yongzhao Yu had a nicely resonating and attractive tenor voice, though I liked him much better singing Wagner in the encore.  He will play Rodolfo in the upcoming La Boheme.  I thought that perhaps Jonas Hacker had the strongest, most attractive tenor voice, and I expect a successful professional career in opera for him; and with the name Jonas he has a head start. 

My favorite among the male voices are the baritones.  I sort of agree with the sentiments of “I’m Glad I’m not a Tenor” performed by Shea Owens, who played Junius in The Rape of Lucretia.  His aria was the humorous highlight of the afternoon, and he was even joined for a few bars of Nessun Dorma interlude by a chorus of the FYAs sitting in the balcony.  He will play Schaunard in La Boheme.  Will Liverman who played Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia sang with dramatic conviction; I would like to hear him sing some softer numbers that allows us to hear the color of his voice.  Baritone Kihun Yoon has what is known in the opera world as a powerful instrument that will very likely power him to a successful singing career.  Richard Ollarsaba has tremendous stage presence and a clear, powerful bass-baritone voice; I feel he is destined for a successful career playing villains.  Christian Zaremba, who played Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia, sang a very tender Russian song with such feeling that even this non-Russian was touched.  The last guy to mention is Timothy Bruno who would certainly be a finalist in any how low can you go competition.  His rendition of “Some Enchanted Evening” with that low bass voice was clearly an audience favorite.

The women were excellent; don’t misunderstand me.  Mezzo soprano Sarah Larsen, who played the nurse in The Rape of Lucretia has a voice of considerable color and warmth, well suited to her aria “Can’t help lovin’ dat man.”  Amy Owens who played the maid in The Rape of Lucretia sang a spirited "Zerbinetta’s Aria" by Strauss, which requires some difficult vocal gymnastics.  Summer Hassan who will sing Musetta in WTO’s upcoming performance of La Boheme sang a lovely version of Charpentier’s “Depuis le Jour,” one of my favorite arias.  Kerriann Otano who played the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia sang Kurt Weill’s “The Saga of Jenny,” a good fit for her; I can certainly envision her singing that on Broadway in a revival of The Lady in the Dark.  The final two singers might have been my favorites of the sopranos.  Mane Galoyan has a lovely voice I’d like to hear more of, and Clarissa Lyons who sang an aria from Cosi Fan Tutte made me believe she would be excellent in that role and likely to play it sometime in the future in a major opera house.

In a fine finish to an afternoon of the WTO strutting its stuff, the concert was closed out with an encore performed by seven of the FYAs singing a selection from Richard Wagner’s Ring with WTO Artist in Residence, Alan Held.  Mr. Held played Wotan in the recent Washington National Opera’s production of the complete Ring. One was tempted to say, "Wow!".

Having now heard these young performers, I can follow their careers and look forward to hearing them again when they return to the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in upcoming WTO productions.  Let’s hope WTO does Aria Jukebox again next year. For this year: three cheers for the gals and the guys, but the guys earn a star!  And a big hoo rah for WTO!

Note to Readers

I have made a few tweaks to OperaGene.com in the last few days: 1) switched the homepage to the blog posts page, so that people who access operagene.com land on the blog page; 2) changed the font for the main text sections; and 3) changed the logo.  These changes are intended to make the site more appealing, user friendly, and helpful to the opera fan.  If you have suggestions on how to improve the website either in appearance or information or features provided, I would love to hear from you.

British Musicians and Singers Gather in Trafalgar Square Following BREXIT Vote to Play “Ode to Joy”

I was puzzled to read that a sizable group of individual British musicians and singers had gathered Thursday night in Trafalgar Square in London to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” in response to the historic British vote to leave the European Union.  This story was first reported on June 26 in the website Slippedisc.com and was described as a spontaneous response to the vote; you can view a video of the affair on the Slipped Disc website.  It’s quite moving and my first thought was to wonder why the musicians and singers were happy that BREXIT passed, especially because I had read prior to the vote that British musicians were largely in favor of remaining.  Like many of my first reactions, the thought that this event was expressing approval of BREXIT’s passage was impulsive and uninformed. 

“Ode to Joy,” is of course the familiar, final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.  It is a surprising piece in that it involves choral music in a classical music symphony.  The words for the piece are taken slightly-modified from a poem by the German poet Frederich Schiller.  So, the musicians and singers were playing a piece of European music.  Most telling is that “Ode to Joy” is also the Anthem of the European Union.  One phrase in the poem translated from German and copied from the Wikipedia entry for “Ode to Joy” helps explain the sentiment:

Joy, beautiful spark of divinity,

Daughter from Elysium,

We enter, drunk with fire,

Heavenly, thy sanctuary!

Your magics join again

What custom strictly divided;

All people become brothers,

Where your gentle wing abides.

It speaks to the brotherhood of man.  The musicians were playing the EU Anthem as a show of solidarity with their musician brothers in the EU. 

Philip Barrett on mixcloud.com offered a report that mixes music and comments from the participants: https://www.mixcloud.com/philip-barrett/an-ode-to-joy-solidarity-with-europe/.  It is clear that this was a case of musicians and singers expressing their brotherhood with other musicians and singers.  In fact, British musicians/singers are worried about how this will affect funds available to hold concerts, to construct new music halls, and to easily cross borders in Europe as well as whether British musicians/singers will be able to work in the EU nations and EU musicians/singers able to work in Britain.

We will see what unfolds, but I was touched by this outpouring of emotion and display of brotherhood.

Met Opera HD in Cinema Encore Broadcasts Over the Summer

here’s the deal,

I am a little late reporting on this item, but on the theory that late is better than never, here goes.  Metropolitan Opera announced encore performances of four of its HD in Cinema series this summer:  http://www.metopera.org/Season/In-Cinemas/.  I covered the Met In Cinema Series in my blog post titled Affordable Opera, Part I.  The summer showings are not live; you will be watching a high quality recording – hence the use of the term ‘encore’.

detour to Philadelphia,

One surprise I received in doing some research on live opera being performed this summer in the mid-Atlantic region was an article in Philly.com (Philadelphia Inquirer’s website) by critic Peter Dobrin, titled “Classical Music In and Around Philly This Summer.”  For opera, he only listed the four Met HD in Cinema encore broadcasts.  I find it difficult to believe there is no live opera in Philadelphia this summer.  However, David Patrick Stearn, the Inquirer’s other classical music critic had a piece on Philly.com titled “Summer Preview: Classical Music Within a Day’s Drive,“ and there was no mention of live opera in Philadelphia this summer.  Too bad he only looked north of Philadelphia for his article; he is also associated with classical music station, WQXR in NYC, so maybe Philadelphia to New York is his area of focus. Regardless, I encourage Philadelphians to also venture south and west for some live opera this summer, and all of us to try live opera in different cities.  Opera fans in the DC area have Wolf Trap Opera and in Pittsburgh there is SummerFest 2016 (see Elizabeth Bloom’s recent article, “Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s SummerFest Will Happen In Usual Places”).

back to the Met HD in Cinema Series,

To my chagrin, I must report that Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca was broadcast this past Wednesday and the cast with Patricia Racette and Robert Alagna looked terrific.  Ms. Racette starred in a Washington National Opera production of Tosca a few years ago and she was superb.  I have seen the final three encores in HD format and can recommend them all.  Tosca will be followed on June 29 by L’Elisir D’Amore (The Elixir of Love) by Gaetano Donizetti.  This is a fine production with power diva Anna Nebtrebko as Adina and Met Opera favorite Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino.  I think of this comedy as a slice of chiffon pie, something to be greatly enjoyed, though not too often.  I think Anna’s acting here is not commensurate with her singing but her singing is outstanding. 

Anna Netrebko as Adina and Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore.  Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of Metropolitan Opera.

Next in the lineup is La Boheme by Puccini on July 13.  La Boheme is the most performed opera, and rightly so.  The story Is loaded with charm and pathos and the music is some of Puccini’s most beautiful.  This performance features a fine cast headed by Kristine Opolais as Mimi and Vittoria Grigolo as Rodolfo.  I tend to favor the sopranos but I must admit that Mr. Grigolo has a gorgeous voice.  In my opinion, it doesn’t have the gravitas of Pavaroti’s voice, but is more like a trumpet played beautifully.  I was anxious to hear Ms. Opolais because she has appeared in a number of recent Met productions and to very strong reviews.  Her performance in this opera was as a last minute fill-in for Anita Hartwig who came down with the flu.  Ms. Opolais starred in Madama Butterfly one night at the Met and the next morning was called upon to step in that night to play Mimi.  Wow!  I am so impressed she could do that.  She sang beautifully but was more effective at portraying a sickly woman than one enraptured by love.  If seeing this version of Boheme might prevent you from attending the Wolf Trap Opera production on August 5, by all means, put off seeing the HD version. 

Kristine Opolais as Mimi and Vittorio Grigolo as Rodolfo in La Boheme.  Photo by Marty Sohl; courtesy of Metropolitan Opera.

The final encore broadcast of the summer is the Mozart classic Cosi Fan Tutte, a comedy with a sexual edge, an edge I gather that Mr. Mozart liked to travel.  This production is especially fun because of a great cast.  It would be hard to pick a better current day one than Isabel Leonard, Daniel de Niese, Susanna Phillips, Rodion Pogossov, and Matthew Polenzani.  I will only comment on Susanna Philips: her star is rising, her smile is morning sunshine, and her voice is pure honey.  You can also catch her in Boheme above playing Musetta; her version of the aria Quando me'n vo is a show stopper. 

Matthew Polenzani as Ferrando, Susanna Phillips as Fiordiligi, Isabel Leonard as Dorabella, and Rodion Pogossov as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte.  Photo by Marty Sohl; courtesy of Metropolitan Opera.

however, consider this,

Ticket prices for these encore broadcasts are somewhat reduced compared to operas broadcast live. Nonetheless, you will still drop about $12-20 to see one, depending on the opera and theater.  That’s not bad given the price of movies these days, and you see it on a really big screen with great sound in a cloistered environment.  Plus, there is plenty of ticket availability compared to the live broadcasts.  There is another option to see these, however, if the timing or the setting doesn’t work for you.  You can rent any of these four operas by signing up for Met Opera on Demand.  You can sign up for the monthly or yearly plan, but you can also rent the operas individually for $4.99 each for a 48-hour period.  So, you can have your opera and cake (and eat it too).  Check out the Met Opera on Demand website for information on devices that can stream and play the videos.  http://www.metopera.org/Season/On-Demand/ 

And speaking of live opera this summer,

I noticed in the Washington Post Weekend Section these listings:

Beetovern’s Fidelio – June 25-26, Atlas Performing Arts Center (atlas arts.org), 202-399-7993

Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium – June 25, Bel Cantanti Opera (belcantanti.com), tickets online or at door

And speaking of live opera for the Fall season,

Ok, I was not speaking of that, but it is worth noting that single ticket sales for the Met's 2016-2017 season start on Sunday, June 26.  If you can get to the Met this year, do it!

Elegy Written On An Opera Guide

Name the composer of these operas: La Finta Semplice; Mitridate; Lucio Silla; and La Clemenza Di Tito.  If you are seriously into opera, or even music broadly, you might know or guess the answer.  I’d wager the typical opera fan will be baffled, except that the language the names are in may help you rule out a few composers.  While waiting on an appointment recently, I began perusing The New Penguin Opera Guide edited by Amanda Holden, 2001.  At 1168 pages, the Guide is an encyclopedia of opera composers with a fairly complete listing and discussion of their operatic works.  Amazon’s description of the Guide says, “Over 100 distinguished contributors have written on more than 800 composers and examined 1500 operas in detail.”

The New Penguin Opera Guide, edited by Amanda Holden, 2001.  Photo by Author.

Think about that for a moment.  Eight hundred composers – how many can you name?  The Guide begins with the listing of Antonio Maria Abbatini and ends with Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg.  Ever hear of those composers?  Fifteen hundred operas – how many have you seen?  I’m guessing you have not seen the four Mozart operas listed above.  And I’m not picking on Mozart.  How many of these Verdi operas have you seen – Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio; Jerusalem; or Aroldo?  And so it goes, not all of the great composers’ works were hits.

Somehow perusing the Guide made me remember one of my favorite poems, Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, which ponders how many of the parishioners lay in their graves with unrealized potential.  The Penguin Guide is in part a graveyard of forgotten composers who nevertheless had distinguished themselves while alive; yet, despite their ability and efforts, never achieved wide spread or lasting recognition.  Likely each one put their heart and soul into their work, but perhaps their operas just weren’t that good or maybe the composers gave up too quickly or maybe for some reason audiences overlooked them.  If one looks at the history of opera, many famous operas of famous composers were failures when first presented; sometimes fan appreciation grew with time and sometimes revisions made the works more accepted.  In many cases, lives and composing careers were cut short by untimely deaths due to accidents or disease. In Mozart’s case, the first three operas above were written early in his career.  Suppose his life had been cut even shorter – no Figaro, no Giovanni, no Cosi, and no Magic Flute.  What might some of these unknown composers have achieved with more time to develop their craft and operas? 

I also wonder if society settled on the hundred or so operas that get repeatedly performed too quickly.  Music professionals and audiences have winnowed the list over time, but if we started over and had a competition would some new ones emerge as favorites?  I’d guess not many, but I’d bet there would be some.  Some conductors/directors would find a way to stage them or singers would find a way to interpret their roles such that audiences would be won over and they would emerge from obscurity, or maybe we’d find that we had just overlooked a gem.  Operas are expensive experiments.  You don’t get that many times upon the stage to work it out or grow an audience.  And we must admit that we can only sustain interest in so many operas, with more than 1500 accumulated over time, and new ones coming along every year. 

Let me end this elegy by acknowledging not only the composers but all the librettists, singers, conductors, stage directors, managers, staff, critics, and financial benefactors that were necessary to establish and maintain this four-hundred-year enterprise. The genius, talent, dedication, and hard work that enabled the writing of Penguin Guide’s 1168 pages is a staggering testament to human creativity, ability, and teamwork.  It continues to the present day and will soon be playing at an opera house near you.  The reward is not only in the legacy which can be capricious, but is primarily in the moment when the music, the performers, and audience share the creative experience and musical connection that brings us together as human beings, those alive and those who went before us.

Back to Lucretia, the Barns, and Wolf Trap Opera

first, a little railing,

Here is the follow up to my initial discussion of Friday night’s performance of The Rape of Lucretia by Wolf Trap Opera at the Barns.  I am not the only one who found this production to have a powerful impact.  Washington Post critics, Philip Kennicott and Anne Midgette  posted a discussion of the performance on June 12 saying as much.  I noticed their article on June 14, and I was disappointed to see that after two days online there were no comments for a performance that is truly worth discussing.  I enjoy reading the comments to reviews as well as the reviews themselves.  I left a comment and as of the posting of this blog piece it remains the only comment.  I wonder what it means that the Washington area is blessed with two world-class classical music critics and they only attract one comment on an excellent local production.  I am also dismayed that such a fine production is not a complete sellout given the population of the DC area.  It is summer and there are many things vying for our attention, but I am concerned that the presentation of opera of this caliber by enthusiastic and talented young performers does not fill a small theater in a metropolitan locale. I think of attendance at music, drama, and arts events not only as entertainment but to be continuing education in citizenry.  I have been thinking about Lucretia since Friday, six days ago.  It has raised my awareness and made me think about our nature as a society of humans.  Right now I am pondering the meaning of a question that Collatinus asked his wife as he tried to comfort her and tell her the rape was not her fault.  He says, "I forgive you."  Huh?  For what?  If anyone is swayed, there is still one more performance of Lucretia on Saturday night.

J'Nai Bridges as Lucretia, Brenton Ryan as Male Chorus, Will Liverman as Tarquinius, and Kerriann Otano as Female Chorus.  Photo by Scott Suchman and courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

J'Nai Bridges as Lucretia, Christian Zaremba as Collatinus, Shea Owens as Junius, Sarah Larsen as Bianca, Amy Owens as Lucia, Brenton Ryan as Male Chorus, and Kerriann Otano as Female Chorus.  Photo by Scott Suchman and courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

more about Lucretia,

No question that The Rape of Lucretia performed by Wolf Trap Opera is in sum an elegant and emotionally powerful and intellectually engaging production.  But let me add a few minor criticisms as a fan.  For example, why are stage directors today replacing Roman soldiers with WWII GI’s to update settings?  The story of Lucretia is just as powerful in its original setting I would think and having three GI’s named Collatinus, Junius, and Tarquinius sitting around drinking Jack Black and yet talking about the merits of wine seems a little unusual.  And some aspects still have me wondering – the presence of an unnamed and unexplained child and the male chorus donning the clerical collar to bring Christianity into the the scene some 500 years before it appeared on the scene.  I got the feeling that perhaps Lucretia might have been a sacrificial lamb to ensnare the audience in Christianity; I’m just not sure if the libretto was pro or con.  And why was the female chorus dressed like the young woman you hope your daughter will not hang out with, even if she does have a good heart.  These are mostly small matters that passed by quickly in the viewing, but linger on reflection.

J'Nai Bridges as Lucretia (holding River Rogers as Child).  Photo by Scott Suchman and courtesy of Wolf Trap Opera.

I loved the young voices.  Sometimes they sounded like not completely tamed broncos showing their spirit, but they managed to add color to an opera that could become blandly didactic.  I also like the use of the male and female choruses to place the action in a larger context forward and backward in time.  I thought Brenton Ryan who played the male chorus was particularly effective maintaining drama throughout the evening. Perhaps he had the most engaging lines; Kerriann Otano as the female chorus also sang well.  Sarah Larsen and Amy Owens, who played nurse/maids for Lucretia had strong voices, with considerable color, enough to maintain the balance among the eight players.  The same can be said for Christian Zaremba and Shea Owens who played Collatinus and Junius.  Will Liverman who played Tarquinius, the rapist, was threatening and yet in a simple, beautiful aria as he looked upon the sleeping Lucretia displayed a rather beautiful voice; he is worth hearing more of I think.  J’Nai Bridges had one of the strongest voices; I would like to hear her with more opportunity to show it off.  I think there should be a website somewhere where every opera singer has to post one song every year so we can follow their development.  I think the energy of the young singers helped to glue this performance into the unified whole that it was. 

The opera was written for twelve soloist musicians.  There was relatively little playing together to produce an orchestral sound.  I am not a musician, but I was surprised at how well the individual instruments supported the players and the story.  Kudos to the conductor and musicians.

All of the singers in Lucretia are Young Filene Artists.  I found it interesting to peruse their brief bio sketches in the outstanding WTO program guide.  You can also find info on the artists on the WTO website.  I was impressed that most are pursuing advanced degrees in music, are affiliated with other opera house training programs, and have several opera performances already under their belts.  These folks are worth following.  WTO has a strong record of its graduates going on to successful opera careers.

comments on the Barns,

I have mixed feelings about the Barns as an opera venue.  It is cozy and does have charm. The theater is not large with maybe 20-30 rows of about 20 seats across each on the floor level and a small balcony.  One advantage is you are close to the action on stage almost regardless where you sit and the acoustics seem fine to me. One disadvantage of the seating is that it is not tiered.  If you have a tall person in front of you, you will spend time moving side to side to see the performers on stage.  The Barns does have a rustic barn look.  It may conflict somewhat with the more formal nature of opera, but if it encourages more casual dress, I’m for it.  The restaurant serves light fare and drinks.  Ask the price of the glass of wine you are considering.  We found out after we had ordered that two glasses of pinot grigio were $26.  On the other hand, parking is plentiful and free.  Getting out after a performance is fairly quick since the theater is small.

The pre performance talks are held in a lecture room in a building next door to the theater one hour before the show and there is usually plenty of seating for all who attend.  I most definitely recommend these!  They will enrich your experience.

comments on Wolf Trap Opera,

I think Wolf Trap Opera is a treasure.  It’s director, performers and staff, and productions reek of quality and a commitment to excellence and to its community.  Young singers around the country compete to be part of this program and the development opportunity it provides them, and the program is designed to take full advantage of their individual talents to provide an optimal cultural and entertainment package for local patrons.  WTO is a pretty safe bet for investing your entertainment dollar.  Check out the recital performances as well as the operas themselves.

Opera in Barcelona

the setting,

My wife arranged the travel for our recent family vacation to Spain so that the best was saved for last, a visit to Barcelona.  At least that was the theory, though in fact each place we visited - Lisbon, Tangier, Seville, Granada, and Madrid - had attractions and charms their own that made them not to be missed.  Still, Barcelona with its art and architecture, its food and charm, and laid back lifestyle in a sea side setting on the Mediterranean certainly qualifies as a highlight.  My wife enriched the experience even more by arranging tickets for us to attend the opera there. 

One of the first things we learned was that Barcelona is in Catalonia, an autonomous, though not independent region of Spain.  It occupies the northeast corner of Spain and is similar in shape to South Carolina, though less than half its size in square miles, but having more than twice its population, largely concentrated in Barcelona.  The region has its own language, Catalan, in addition to Spanish, and there is currently a push by many in the province and in the Catalan parliament to secede from Spain due to a feeling that Catalans pay more in taxes than they receive in services from the central government.  Not surprisingly, the central Spanish government in Madrid is opposing the breakaway.  A new referendum appears likely in the coming months and Catalans seem to be struggling with this decision and how it might affect them. 

One practical result for the opera goer in Barcelona is that, while the operas are performed in their native language, the supertitles above the stage are in Catalan, while the subtitles appearing on the backs of seats can be selected in Catalan, Spanish, or English.  The name of the opera house itself is listed in Catalan as Gran Teatre del Liceu or in Spanish as Gran Teatro del Liceo ; the switching of ending e and o is a main distinguishing feature of the two languages.  The opera house was built in the mid nineteenth century, but was decimated by a fire in 1994.  It was renovated into the beautiful building and interior it is today, situated on La Rambla, a central street in old Barcelona and a favorite shopping stroll for locals and tourists alike.

In my travels in Europe in the last 10-15 years I have developed the impression that opera is more basic or central to cultural life there.  The opera house seems to be a natural part of the landscape for a town of any size.  My impression of the audience in Barcelona was that they were younger on average than I most often see in the US and somewhat less formal, though there were still lots of coats and ties and evening gowns in the audience.  During the intermission, the hallways were lined with attendees eating baguette sandwiches of Iberian ham and cheese with their beverage of choice, quite often Cava.  The theater was close to full seating, and the audience responded enthusiastically to the performance.  There are two choices for taxis after the performance.  Hail one on the same side of La Rambla as the theater and have the taxi take you on a long ride to get back to your hotel, or try in vain for the next half hour or so to get an empty taxi on the opposite side of the street headed in the direction of the hotels.  Your choice. (Photos by author; immediately below is a gallery you can scroll by clicking)

the opera,

One surprise for us was that, even though American opera star Joyce DiDonato was billed as the star performer, in fact, the lead roles were rotated among the performances by two sets of singers.  The disappointment was that we did not get to see Ms. DiDonato; I failed to follow my own admonition to readers to check carefully the performers listed for the day you wish to attend, though in fairness to myself, I had assumed that a star of Ms. DiDonato’s fame would not be rotated.  The upside was that we got to hear an outstanding mezzo soprano, Silvia Tro Santafe, instead; she sang beautifully and her acting was spot on.  Perhaps in Europe her fame is equal to Ms. DiDonato’s?

The opera we attended was Vicenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  This is his and librettist Felice Romani’s version of Romeo and Juliet. It seems to have been a bit of a star-crossed opera.  The deadline for the commission was short.  Romani modified a libretto intended for another opera and Bellini used much music he had composed for a failed opera for this one, though the appropriated text and music were greatly re-worked.  Yet, the opera seems to be less often performed than I think justified by the beautiful music; perhaps it suffers from competition with Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet.  They did not use Shakespeare’s play as its basis but used original sources, so that the enmity in this version is not just between families, but between two political parties, the Guelphs and the Ghiberllines.  Politics in those days was to the death.  I will not comment on the direction our own are headed.

Some of the details are different, but the basics of the story remain the same.  A boy and a girl from opposing groups fall in love, and a sympathetic figure intervenes with a potion that causes a death like sleep and a plan for them to escape together; confusion intervenes and leads to both the boy and girl offing themselves to always be with the other.  There was one little wrinkle in this Romeo and Juliet that caused me difficulty.  Romeo was played by a mezzo soprano.  Here is what the program stated, “This is one of Bellini’s earlier operas and it has more in common with Rossini-style bel canto than romantic opera, the genre in which he excelled.  Thus a mezzo soprano is given the role of Romeo and the opera comprises an uninterrupted succession of recitative and arias that is still in the bel canto tradition.”  Okay, who am I to argue with their dramaturg.  I am confused, however, in calling this an early Bellini opera and with the implication that tenors don’t sing bel canto.  Nonetheless, this is the way the opera is typically presented and so called "pants" roles are not all that uncommon in opera.  I tried to accept Ms. Santafe’s Romeo as a guy.  I really did. However, for me she did not sound like a guy and she did not look like a guy, though I grant her acting movements portrayed masculinity quite effectively.  As the evening wore on, her love for Guiietta became convincing and the question of gender identity faded into the background.

Overall, I thought the singers were quite good.  Giulietta was portrayed by soprano Ekaterina Siurina, who has a pretty voice and sang well, though sometimes she seemed strained to hit the more powerful notes and her pleasure at having successfully navigated some of the more difficult passages was palpable.  The guys were adequate but, as a fan, none stood out to me.  The orchestra played well, but the sound seemed a little thin.  I would like to hear the Met orchestra give the score a try.

My feelings about the set and staging ranged from this is clever and creative in an artsy way to this is has moved into absurdity.  The set was minimalist and reasonably effective for some scenes, baffling for others such as having everyone walking up and down what seemed to be high school gym bleacher seats while face offs took place.  Most unnerving was a scene where Giulietta, to exhibit how distraught she was I suppose, climbed up upon a lavatory attached only to a wall; she then stood up and appeared for several minutes to be trying to scale the wall as she moved around on the lavatory and sang her aria.  Great aria, but one slip and we could have been dealing with a real tragedy.

Despite my critical comments, this evening spent at the Liceu/Liceu was great fun.  I only wish I could have gone back the next night to see whether Joyce DiDonato could have made me believe she was a guy.

Wolf Trap Opera’s The Rape of Lucretia

Wolf Trap Opera’s performance of The Rape of Lucretia Friday night at the Barns was what art aspires to be, thought provoking by forcing us to confront ourselves.  In that regard, it achieved a goal or at least a prediction set forth by Kim Witman, WTO’s director, in her pre-performance talk.  By weaving together elements of personal tragedy with sexual violence, war, politics, lust for power, evil, and religion, the story draws us in or perhaps more accurately forces us in.  I felt like I found myself locked in a roller coaster headed for the dark tunnel where the crash would occur and I could not get out.  Evil was headed my way and it could not be avoided.  The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach was my connection to my fellow humans in the audience, the world, and mankind from the beginning of our time.  Are we left to avoid, hide, only to be trapped by evil and plead for God’s protection and deliverance from its destruction, when love cannot save us?  And when the worst has happened and our dignity has been torn from us, can we go on?  How?  Why?

The impact of Benjamin Britten and Ronald Duncan’s opera is such that commenting on the elements of the production somehow seem irrelevant, unimportant.  And perhaps that fact is praise enough for the performers, musicians, and staff who were responsible for this elegant production, where the telling of the story, the singing, the music, and the delivery worked in unison.  Maybe I will comment more, another time, when I have sufficiently recovered.

Pittsburgh's SummerFest 2016: Opera to the People

Pittsburgh Opera’s 2015-2016 season wound down recently with their last production, Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress; the libretto was written by W. H. Auden and the sets, now the property of Pittsburgh Opera, were designed by artist David Hockney.  It appears to have been a big hit; see Robert Croan’s review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for background on the opera and critical comments on the performance.  Only my attendance at the Washington National Opera’s American Ring kept me from attending Rake.  I hope it is repeated before too many years pass.

I reported on Pittsburgh Opera’s upcoming season in my blog post of April 5, which will include a world premiere of the opera, The Summer King by Daniel Sonenberg.  But the 2016-2017 season does not kick off until October.  What will keep the Pittsburgh opera fires stoked until then?

It turns out that not only will the fires be stoked, but the dishes being served are seasoned and offered in venues to make them more accessible to the community.  I sent an email to Elizabeth Bloom, classical music critic for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, telling her that in the Washington area we have Wolf Trap Opera to make our summers more fun and asking her what folks in Pittsburgh do.  She was kind enough to send the follow information:

"Opera Theater of Pittsburgh is a small company started by Mildred Miller Posvar, a former Met singer, almost four decades ago.  It prides itself on making opera accessible to everyone - via operas sung only in English, new work about contemporary issues, performances in bars and so on.  The productions are staged only over the summer, hence the (somewhat) recently added name "SummerFest"."

Take a look at their website, otsummerfest.org, and the ambitious and entertaining program for SummerFest 2016 here.  OT describes its program thusly:

SummerFest logo, courtesy of SummerFest

“SummerFest 2016 is five weeks of operas and musicals sung in English, a children's opera, vocal recitals, and more! The season begins June 22nd with performances of Carmen the Gypsy in unique and intimate venues in Oakland, West End, and Sewickley, and then continues in the newly-renovated Falk Auditorium on the campus of Winchester Thurston School in Shadyside from July 7–24.”

Sounds appealing, doesn’t it, reaching out to the community?  One of the first offerings is a touring production of Carmen the Gypsy, a new adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, scaled back and more intimate, but from the looks of the attached photo from SummerFest, retaining all the passion. 

Carmen the Gypsy photo by Patti Brahim.  Kara Cornell as Carmen and James Flora as Don Jose.  Photo courtesy of SummerFest.

Parents take note - one of the offerings is a children’s opera, Little Red Riding Hood.  Handel’s

Little Red Riding Hood; Valerie Hosler as Red Riding Hood and Jesse Davis as the Wolf/Huntsman.  Photo by Mark Ambramowitz.  Photo courtesy of SummerFest.

Julius Caesar is another of the offerings, a relatively rare chance to see a baroque opera. Also being produced is A Silent Woman by Richard Strauss; this is a comic opera, but has a dramatic back story involving Hitler and the Nazi's that deserves delving further into at some point.  This is the third opera of Strauss performed at Summerfest over the last three years and a fourth is planned for next year.  

These performances have been added to the sidebar on the right.  SummerFest also offers a number of concerts around town, some free.  They also produce an annual voice competition in the fall.  Note that a number of venues around Pittsburgh are used in an attempt to bring opera to the community.  Please check with the SummerFest website to confirm dates and venues and to purchase tickets; you can also call the box office at 412-326-9687 for assistance.  Ticket prices range from $25 to $75 with discounts available for subscription purchases.

Summer is a great time to take a vacation in Pittsburgh, and if you are thinking of going to try some new restaurants, visit the museums, enjoy the scenery, and take in the Pittsburgh Pirates, also take a look at the fresh opera offerings from SummerFest.

Addendum:  Also a reminder for fans in the Washington DC area - Wolf Trap Opera kicks off its summer season on Friday with the first of four performances of The Rape of Lucretia at the Barns - see link in the sidebar.

Spain: Two Transcendent Experiences

My family and I just returned from a two-and-a-half-week vacation traveling in Portugal, Morocco, and Spain, hence the break between OperaGene blog posts.  We learned a lot of history, experienced different cultures, ate some great food, viewed some world-class art, and heard some thrilling music.  Two experiences achieved the “transcendent” level for me.  My use of the word transcendent means that the sum of the elements contributing to the experience provided a deeply satisfying, uplifting experience greater than the sum of the parts.  For me, these experiences are very personal and spiritual in nature.  We attended a traditional Flamenco Dance demonstration, which was excellent, but for me was not transcendent.  Sometimes opera rises to this level for me, but it was not opera this time, though we attended the opera in Barcelona.

The first case occurred on our visit to the Basilica of Sagrada Familia, a temple in Barcelona begun over a hundred years ago and due to be finished in about ten years.  The outside of the temple is an immense Gothic structure built largely under the direction of the great Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi; the target date for completion is 2016, the centenary year of Gaudi's death.  The outside is striking in terms of both art and architecture.  It was, however, when we stepped inside that its true magnificence was revealed: the design of the ceiling, the interplay of the light coming through the stained glass windows of different colors, and the numerous columns rising up, up, up to heaven, branching along the way upward like trees supporting a canopy.  For me, it was stunning, as though I had wandered into a spiritual forest.

Front of the Basilica Sagrada Familia.  Photo courtesy of Debra Rogers.

View inside of the Basilica.  Photo courtesy of Ethan Rogers

The second experience involved singing and came on a visit to Montserrat, a multi-peak mountain, about 30 miles outside Barcelona.  The highest peak is about 4000 feet, but the rock formations surrounding the religious structures built into the mountain side provide a dramatic backdrop.  Beyond hiking the terrain, the highlight of Montserrat is the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat.  Through much of its history, a legend of the miraculous appearance of a black Madonna has sustained religious and tourist interest.  The abbey supports a boys’ choir of 50 boys ages 8-14 who live at the abbey during the week and spend weekends with their parents.  They are known internationally as the L'Escolania Choir.  They perform two songs in the chapel for visitors at one pm each day, except Saturday,  Performances are packed.  I love choirs and was very much looking forward to hearing this one.  As they began the first selection, I was enchanted by the beauty of their voices, but about thirty seconds into the performance, the different voices merged to produce a sound of such purity and power, I felt myself enveloped and bathed in spiritual beauty.  Thrilling is not too strong a word.

View from the visitor's center on Montserrat looking towards Barcelona.  Author's photo.

Approaching the Chapel.  Author's photo.

Partial photo of the choir.  An oft visited replica of the Black Madonna is center overhead.  Photo courtesy of Debra Rogers.

View coming out of the Chapel.  Photo courtesy of Debra Rogers.

I will report in a future post on our visit to the Teatro Del Liceo in Barcelona to see Bellini’s i Capuleti e i Montecchi.  It was excellent if not transcendent and English subtitles were an option.

Opera Live: Praise for the Local Options, More of Them Than You Might Think

I am late in life in becoming an opera fan, but am a lifelong baseball fan.  The Brooklyn Dodgers were my first love.  After the Washington Nationals started in 2005, they quickly weaned me away, though not completely, from the Baltimore Orioles.  One thing about baseball that is different from opera is its extraordinary organization.  Kids play Little League, Pony League, High School, and College.  The cream of the crop moves on to minor league ball and the very best are drawn up by the Major Leagues.  There is a movement from local to regional to national in the level of play in this process.  Today, spurred by so much availability electronically, we tend to focus on the top level of play in all performance activities.  However, the truth is that I like watching baseball in all of its venues. 

One of my goals for myself and for OperaGene is to learn more about opportunities to hear opera live on the local level.  Let’s get away from the electrons on a screen for an evening.  As baseball is a performance activity, opera is a performance activity.  Watching local performers display and grow their talent, seeing new talent being developed and seasoned performers show their ability and polish is entertaining and sometimes as thrilling as the major leagues.  Seeing a walk off home run is pretty exciting at any level; so is hearing developing singers nail an aria.  When I left junior college to matriculate at Berry College in northern Georgia, at that time Berry required all students to attend church on Sunday.  I was not a member of a church, but I didn’t mind; it was a good school that I could work my way through.  The next year the church requirement was removed, but I kept going because I was in love with the choir, still one of my fondest musical experiences.  They weren’t the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but they kept me coming back week after week.

Local options can be a little harder to find for opera because, I think, it lacks the organization of sports.  I am collecting information on local opera organizations and performances around the mid-Atlantic and will be bringing information to you about some of these in future posts as we go along.  And the prices are much, much more affordable.  There are a couple I recently became aware of that I want to bring to your attention in this post.

May 21, Vienna Choral Society and Carmina Burana

Pointed out to me by John Schreffler, President of the Westbriar Civic Association, as an entry in wbcrier.com, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff is a scenic cantata to be performed by the Vienna Choral Society of Vienna, Virginia on Saturday, May 21.  Google defines cantata as “a medium-length narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra.”  The VCS describes it this way: “Carmina Burana, however, is an entire world unto itself. It’s not an opera, a mass, or a requiem, but it has movements and a sequence. It is not a play or a musical, but it has a plot. Well, sort of…plus, we helped it along a little bit for this production.  Carmina is a work about extremes—of the ups and downs of life, fortune and fate, desire and despair.  The rises and falls are big, but you will recognize your human selves in them. The musicians (and by extension you, their audience) are literally scaling the full expanse of musical and human experience in one evening. It’s like the singer’s version of “shop ‘til you drop.” It’s the soap opera of the classical world.”

It is being performed at the Vienna Baptist Church and tickets go quickly; prices are quite reasonable, ranging from $25 to free with a paying patron for young students.

Wolf Trap Opera Recitals/Concerts  

Perhaps less well known, in addition to the full opera performances offered by Wolf Trap Opera, concerts/recitals performed by Wolf Trap artists are also scheduled.  Here is a list for the summer; details and tickets can be found through this link.

May 20 - Overtures – an evening of classical song

May 28,29 – From Lute Song to the Beatles – songs from the British Isles

June 17 – Improper Opera – an opera will be created by suggestions from the audience

June 19 – Studio Spotlight – opera scenes of Rossini, Donezetti, Bizet, and Verdi

June 26 – Aria Jukebox – audience has a vote in arias to be sung

June 30, Jul 28 – Vocal Colors – visual arts and music at the Phillips Collection

Venues and ticket prices vary, ranging from $20-65.

In Conclusion

So how does one go from Wagner’s Ring at the Kennedy Center to Carmina Burana at the Vienna Baptist Church.  Easy, how do you go from eating coquilles St. Jacques at L’Auberge Chez Francois to having a pizza or pot roast or coquilles St. Jacques at your favorite local restaurant?  Would you want to give up either?  Both are good; that’s why ‘eat where the locals eat’ is a good rule of thumb. And occasionally the local option is tastier and more satisfying, and the price is right – my Ring tickets for four operas cost over $800 .

Round Four, the Ring’s Final Round: Like Brunnhilde, Now We Know All

Simply put, the final episode of Wagner’s the Ring cycle, Twilight of the Gods is painful, even though we knew it was coming.  Disappointment follows disappointment.  The strands of fate unravel; our heroine is betrayed; and, our hero is drugged and led to his destruction.  Each hope for reversing the inevitable apocalypse is thwarted by man’s and woman’s selfish disregard for the greater good, even as they are manipulated by more evil men. As the known order goes up in flames, Brunnhilde’s redemptive self-immolation returns the Ring (and thereby the Rhinegold) to the care of the Rhinemaidens, and we are left with hope as a new Ash Tree is planted… but has mankind changed?  Noah had the same problem after the flood, did he not…do we not?  And disturbingly, for the community of the Ring and our own world, Alberich, the evil one, survives.  The message of the Ring has been sent to each of us.  At the end, Brunnhilde understands and says that she knows all.  Like her, we now know all, but will the knowledge rule our actions?

The salve, even the intoxicant, for the sadness of the last installment was again provided by the magnificent play of the orchestra led by Phillipe Auguin.  I’m wondering when my brain will stop replaying the leitmotifs.  If there were a best acting award for operas, this orchestra would be nominated.  Other especially bright spots for me included getting to hear Jamie Barton sing for the first time.  She played both one of the Norns to begin the opera and Waltraute, a Valkyrie sister, who pleads with Brunnhilde to return the Ring.  She is a rising star who has a clear, bright, strong voice that I hope to hear again in person.  Catherine Foster proved again to be a formidable Brunnhilde, even playing injured.  Daniel Brenna, who was a mild disappointment to me in Siegfried, rose to star status in his chance meeting with the Rhinemaidens and in his death scene, singing with power and emotion.  New players, Eric Halfvarson (Hagen), Ryan Mckinny (Gunther), and Melissa Citro (Gutrune) all had appropriate voices and sang well.  There was some amusing cleverness in staging.  The Norns are connecting computer of fate cables instead of weaving the thread of fate.  The opening of the dream sequence where Alberich visits Hagen begins with a see-through screen between the actors and the audience upon which images are shown. Hagen picks up a remote control and when he clicks it, the image on the screen changes; it becomes obvious that he and Gutrune are watching tv, and we are watching them.  For the most part the use of images on the stage-encompassing screen worked well.

And of course, there were some aspects that didn’t work for me.  Going for comic relief in such a serious drama can seem out of place.  Such was the case for me of Gutrune being played as a valley girl.  And some inconsistencies may have been caused by Catherine Foster’s injury; she hobbles off one corner of the stage out of sight some distance from where Siegfried was dropped out of sight and we imagine she must have had to circle back to jump on the fire, but small matter.  All of my complaints are tiny compared to the overall outstanding production we were given.

There were a few extras worth noting: two alpenhorns were played in the Great Hall fifteen minutes before the opera began; I saw these impressive ten-foot long horns played once before, on a vacation in Zermatt, Switzerland.  Right after the opera, there was a 30 min discussion period with Cranna and Zambello along with singers Barton, Hawkins, Foster, Brenna, and Citro. It is noteworthy that Foster had on a foot to knee orthopedic protective boot and admitted she had needed to take painkillers earlier in the day.  Zambello reported that this version of the Ring will be given again by the San Francisco Opera in June 2018.  Let me know if you hear of ticket sales before I do. 

Anne Midgette's review in the Washington Post provides a good overview of and mainly laudatory comments for this last installment, and of the overall DC American Ring.  I think it is somewhat restrained perhaps for the same reason my comments are; after so much greatness, it starts to be expected.  Let's hope WNO can build on this outstanding success.

I will give Cranna, the San Francisco Opera dramaturg, the final word.  He retold a joke that goes like this: there are three types of psychoses -  paranoia, schizophrenia, and opera.  Wagner’s Ring has caused more than its share of the latter; there were even a number of audience members wearing the traditional Viking helmet.