Il Trovatore

 



 

 

 

  The story behind Verdi's opera, Il Trovatore, is in many ways similar in nature to that of the story itself. Both are filled with drama, intensity, struggle, uncertainty, and death. After composing Rigoletto, Verdi who had been considering King Lear as his next project, came across the Spanish drama called, El Trovador, Gutierrez. It is possible that Verdi learned of the work, that had yet to be produced on an Italian stage, from a singer returning from Spain. How ironic... 

 

  Verdi and his librettist, Salvadore Cammarano, exchanged extensive correspondence over the subject of Il Trovatore, which Cammarano may not have taken a liking to. Composition of the opera stalled as Cammarano became ill and Verdi had to wait for his recovery. In July of 1852, Cammarano died and Verdi was forced to find a librettist to assist him. The period of composition of Il Trovatore was wrought with frustration, sadness, loss, and ultimately perseverance for Verdi. Artistic censors, gossip over his personal life, the loss of his mother, and now the death of his colleague and friend undoubtedly inspired him to the intense characters of Il Trovatore to life.

 

Korean tenor, Yonghoon Lee sang the daunting role of Manrico, the troubadour. Lee's voice is impressive to say the least. He possesses a voice that is, as they say, lined up from top to bottom. It is bright, yet has a burnished color to it which makes the upper part of his voice thrilling. Lee had no problem being heard over Verdi's orchestra which at times can be challenging as in the Act 3 aria, Di quella pira which segues in to a large chorus. Mr. Lee never sounded tired or labored. His Italian pronunciation was a bit tight sounding, but it didn't effect the sound itself. Mr. Lee sang not only a beautiful line, but with musical variation and dramatic intensity. His performance was one of the best from a tenor that I have heard at the Lyric Opera in the past 3 years, Jonas Kaufmann's duo recital last March being the other.

 

 

 

  However excited I was by Mr. Lee's performance, I was completely won over by that of American Soprano, Amber Wagner. Ms. Wagner's singing of Leonora, a noble woman in love with Manrico, is the epitome not only of what this role should sound like, but what dramatic operatic singing should like altogether. Ms. Wagner always sang in a beautifully connected line without having to resort to straight tone. Her voice was seamless, flexible and bright, yet still grounded at all times. Her voice carried through the hall whether she sang forte or piano. It was thrilling to hear what her voice is capable of under the demands of Leonora's opening scene. Ms. Wagner sang the cavatina, Tacea la notte placida with melancholy restraint which made the contrasting cabaletta, Di tale amor, all the more exciting with its fast moving phrases and trills which she executed with ease. There was a brief point in Act 4 where Ms. Wagner's voice sounded a bit tired, but hardly noticeable as it didn't effect her range, musicality, or dramatic interpretation.

 

 

  Singing the role of the gypsy Azucena was American Mezzo-soprano, Stephanie Blythe. Like Mr. Lee and Miss. Wagner, Ms. Blythe sang with emotional intensity and was wonderful as the vengeful and tormented Azucena. Ms. Blythe has a beautiful voice that is rich and full of depth. She seemed to have trouble negotiating the vast range of the music and sang flat when the music sat in the cracks of the passaggio.

 

 

  In the role of Count di Luna, Manrico's rival, was Ryan Center alumni, Quinn Kelsey. Mr. Kelsey has quickly made a name for himself as a Verdi baritone, having sung the role of Giorgio Germont in last season's Lyric production of La Traviata as well as Paolo in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra in 2012. Mr. Kelsey, as always, sang with raw energy and dramatic intensity. He has a beautiful voice that is sweet and lyrical as well as round and dark. I have to admit that each time that I have heard Mr. Kelsey, this being the third, that I feel disappointed. When he sings in a connected legato line, his voice is quite beautiful and captivating, yet Mr. Kelsey routinely sang with straight tone which came across at times as  a pop-sound. An additional result of this stylistically incorrect interpretation was that his voice lost the color and projection needed for the role. I had a similar complaint of his interpretation of Germont last season. He consistently broke up the vocal line and barked out the notes which took away from the music as well as made the characterization one-sided as he's done each time I have heard him at the Lyric. I'm curious if this has yet to be addressed or isn't viewed as important by today's standards of singing.

 

 

  Singing the role of Ferrando, Di Luna's main officer was Lyric veteran, Andrea Silvestrelli who sang the role of the Commendatore in this season's Lyric production of Don Giovanni. Mr. Silvestrelli appears to be running on vocal fumes and in my opinion, has been for some time. Each time I have heard him sing live, it has been successively lazy and lacking in energy. In this production upon hearing the first sung lines by Ferrando, I had the impression that Mr. Silvestrelli had just been woken up a few minutes before the curtain was to rise. He lumbered around the stage and was vocally uninspiring. Because Mr. Silvestrelli has access to such a large instrument he has no trouble being heard, but his voice no longer has the beauty it had in the early 2000's. It's gruff and unfocused much like his performance on this night.  

 

 

  The comprimario roles of Inez, Leonora's confidante and Ruiz, Manrico's assistant were sung by Ryan Center members, J'nai Bridges and Jonathan Johnson who sang well with the few moments they had, but juxtaposed with the heavy hitters in the main roles, their voices fell in to the proverbial background.

 

  The Lyric Opera Chorus sounded beautiful, lush, and articulate. My only criticism which is nitpicking on my part, would've been to bring out the Bass voices in the lower echoing passages. Their voices tended to be lost in piano sections.

 

 

  Looking back on past reviews I have been more critical than complimentary when it comes the conducting at Lyric,  specifically with respect to the balance between the orchestra and the singers. I was ecstatic with the conducting and sensitivity by conductor, Asher Fisch. At no time did I worry about hearing the singers or whether or not the orchestra would drown them out in a wall of sound. Maestro Fisch restrained them when needed which not only allowed for us to hear the singers, but supported the dramatic and musical devices employed by Verdi. Hopefully Maestro Fisch will be more of a main stay at the Lyric if this is his normal practice.

 

 

  Compared with past reviews, I haven't commented too much on the acting and stage direction of this production because there wasn't a great deal of action to take note of. In an opera such as Il Trovatore, we're there to hear great singing, beautiful orchestration, and let the drama and story wash over us. There isn't much need for great acting other than a commitment on the part of the singers to what it is they're conveying to the audience which, with a few exceptions was done in an exceptional way. With that being said, the direction by Sir David McVicar and revival director, Leah Hausman was direct and without superfluous flair.

 

  The set design by Charles Edward was beautifully dark and simple with a rotating center piece which efficiently brought us to the center of action without breaking the dramatic action, which is what Verdi called for. The costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel was updated from the original 15th century to early 19th century Napoleon-era military garb for Di Luna's force and peasant dress for the opposing side.

 

 

  Il Trovatore was by far and away, Lyric's best production this season from a musical and dramatic standpoint. They didn't try to mess around with kitsch or hyper-sexuality and let the wonderful singers speak for this great work. 

More like this please... 

Basta! Per carità!

  This blog was originally intended to review operatic productions at the Chicago Lyric Opera, more specifically the singing within operatic productions. As I listened to more and more opera singers that came through the Civic Opera house, I was increasingly alarmed at the lackluster casting decisions. Tenors who could not be heard above F#, consistently warbly vibrato, straight-tone pop sounds, young singers not ready for a large hall, and veterans way past their prime. I am, as I have always been, confused as to why these casting decisions have become the norm.

  I have gone back and forth on whether I should add a more pointed facet to this blog or maintain the form of being purely a critical Op Ed. Today was what I consider to be the final straw, although having nothing to do with the Lyric Opera, directly.

  I was having my morning coffee and reading the Arts & Leisure section of the New York Times (all the News that's fit to print) and saw an advertisement for the Metropolitan Opera's latest production for Rossini's, The Barber of Seville, starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and Christopher Maltman (in the role of Figaro). This struck me as odd, although I have never had the chance to hear Mr. Maltman in a live setting, whenever I've listened to his recordings there is an obvious lack of technique in his singing which, I can only assume, is glossed over by the average audience member due to the innate beauty of his voice.  I went on to YouTube and searched for him singing the aria, Largo al factotum and came across this clip below which was posted a few days back by the Metropolitan Opera House.

 

 

  I was, to say the least, pissed off. This performance, albeit during a dress rehearsal (with an audience), was amateur. You can easily find graduate students who can sing that aria far better than the clip above which makes the fact that the MET found this to be acceptable, all the worse. Below is a clip a clip of Thomas Hampson singing the same aria from 1986. Yes, he's on 31 and much younger than Mr. Maltman above (and Mr. Hampson has a couple of squeaks here as well), but these performances, side by side, are night and day.

 

 

 

 

 

Soon after working myself through the 7 stages of grief upon listening to the dress rehearsal clip, I read a tweet from the Teatro alla Scala (clip provided with link is Leo Nucci from 2013-14 season) that Placido Domingo would be performing the title role of Simon Boccanegra.

 

This is completely unacceptable!

 

  Yes, Mr. Domingo can sing the part and has done so many times for over 5 years, but anyone who is an opera enthusiast will tell you that being able to sing the part is not the only reason to do so. Even though Mr. Domingo has declared himself a Verdi baritone, has released a CD of Verdi Baritone arias, and performs at some of the leading opera houses around the world, does not mean that he is a Verdi baritone. It doesn't make him a baritone for that matter given that he still has the color and timbre of a tenor. Verdi, like most operatic composers, had specific vocal colors in mind when composing for the different voices. If Verdi had wanted a tenor to sing in the baritone range, he would've done so.

 

Below is a clip of Domingo singing  "Plebe! patrizi!", from Simon Boccanegra with a clip of the Verdi baritone, Piero Cappuccilli singing the same aria to illustrate my point.  

 

 

The color of the voice is that of a tenor.

 

 

 

  Once again, as in the case of Maltman and Hampson, albeit for different reasons, the contrast is night and day. The voice of Cappuccilli carries a weight and dramatic intensity that is not heard in that of Domingo's voice, not because he can't sing or isn't artistic. It is just not the type and classification of voice that Verdi had intended.

 

  Then why is Mr. Domingo still going on with his baritone experiment? Only he can answer that, but I can tell you for sure that it is doing irreparable damage to the operatic world and tradition. I can only hope that more music critics start pointing out these inequities despite possible retribution from the institutionalized bulwark of major opera houses, like the Met and La Scala.  

 

  As an addendum which I feel is related to this concern is a 5 minute section on Verdi tuning with some clips featuring Verdi baritone, Piero Cappuccilli talking about the colors of the voice and its importance.

 

Click on this link or view below.

 







Capriccio

  Capriccio, an operatic discussion on opera in an opera, delves in to the never ending debate of what is most important. Words or music. This chamber opera by Richard Strauss, premiered in 1942, was originally set in a mid 18th century French salon made legend by the likes of Mme Geoffrin. It has been updated in this production to a large drawing room of Countess Madeleine and her brother in the mid 1920's. The Countess is entertaining a small group of people which includes two hopeful suitors for her hand in marriage, Flamand a composer and Olivier a poet. The love triangle serves as a metaphor over the battle of importance in opera, highlighted by references to Gluck and his operas which serve as a springboard. Gluck was constantly striving to find an artistic balance between music and words. The composer wrote in a preface to the published form of the opera Alceste,

  "When I undertook to write the music for Alceste, I resolved to divest it entirely of all those abuses....which have so long disfigured Italian Opera....I have striven to restrict music to its true office of serving poetry by means of expression, and by following the situations of the story, without interrupting the action or stifling it with useless superfluity of comments."

  This is the heart of the tongue in cheek debate of Strauss' characters with the underlying dramatic question of which suitor the Countess will choose.

  The part of Countess Madeleine was sung by world-renowned soprano, Renée Fleming, a role like so many that is identified with her. I was fortunate enough to have heard Ms. Fleming sing the role of the Countess in Mozart's, Le Nozze di Figaro in the late 90's at the Lyric Opera and was blown away, not only by the volume and beauty of her voice, but perhaps more so by the control. That control was seldom heard in the same way during this performance of Capriccio.  It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to say that I believe Ms. Fleming is at the ending point of her long and illustrious career. This performance was the third time that I have been able to hear Ms. Fleming in a live setting. As I mentioned, the first being in the late 90's and the second, this past March again at the Lyric Opera in a special recital alongside the great German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann. Ms. Fleming still sounded wonderful at that recital, but I could tell that time had taken its toll on her voice, as it does with everyone at some point. From the start, her singing in Capriccio seemed to be slightly uneasy. Given the time of year I thought that weather and possible illness could be a reason for this, but as the night went on it was clear that Miss Fleming's singing was more of a permanent adjustment rather than one related to a temporary setback. Her voice was consistently wobbly and lacking warmth when sitting in the passaggio and Ms. Fleming sang with much more straight tone and scoop than she has in the past. She seemed timid about sustaining notes in the higher part of her range and would quickly portamento down to the next note in the line when possible, although the true beauty and artistry of her voice came through in many places in the final scene in which the Countess contemplates her choice between words and music. Ms. Fleming sang with line in a shimmering piano easily moving throughout her range without having to maneuver the large intervals with straight-tone. It should come as no surprise that she looked beautiful as ever despite having a teal green dress with muffs that looked like it was more for the Dowager of Downton Abbey, rather than Renée Fleming.

  American tenor, William Burden sang the role of Flamand the composer, one of the two suitors vying for the Countess' hand in marriage. Mr. Burden has a sweet bright tone that sounded easily produced and well-connected. There were many times throughout the opera when it was difficult to hear Mr. Burden or make out his diction, which I don't necessarily fault him or any of the other artists for given talkative nature of the opera and the fact that the Civic Opera House is in my opinion, too big a venue for this piece. Mr. Burden's acting was confident and subtle. He was believable as the character he portrayed and one of the better tenors that the Lyric has engaged in recent years.

  The other half of this dueling duo, Olivier the poet, was sung by Norwegian baritone, Audun Iversen. Mr. Iversen has a deeply rich tone that has dramatic qualities with a rolling vibrato that maintains the lyrical aspects of his voice. Mr. Iversen's voice sounded easily produced, much like Mr. Burden's, and succeeded in giving the listener the impression of dialogue in the word heavy exchanges. Unlike his tenor counterpart, Mr. Iversen's acting was not the highlight of his evening. His ever frantic and redundant gestures meant to portray Olivier as an uptight worry wart only distracted from the quick change of sung dialogue. I think it would've been prudent for Mr. Iversen to employ the "less is more" school of acting, especially given the 4 screens that the Lyric Opera had up in order to give the audience a cinematic perspective via closely framed shots.

  The role of La Roche the theater director, was sung by British bass, Peter Rose. Mr. Rose, like Ms. Fleming, is known for his interpretations of Strauss characters, especially this one. Mr. Rose had been sick earlier in the run which did have a slight lingering effect on his performance, but one could tell that even at less than 100%, he was at home in this role both vocally and dramatically. Mr. Rose, a bass, has a more lyrical quality to his voice than what one would expect. He seems to be a true example of a
basso-cantante. Mr. Rose combined nuance and dynamic variation in both his singing and acting without overdoing either. He did have some difficulty with the top of his voice during La Roche's long aria, but once again, I can only assume without having heard him before that this was due to the residual effects of his throat infection.

  The role of Clarion the actress was sung by internationally renowned mezzo-soprano, Anne Sofie Von Otter. I read in the Lyric program notes that Ms. Von Otter had not sung at the Lyric since the 1989-90 season and after hearing this performance, I think it should have stayed that way. Ms. Von Otter did not sound to be in good voice. I can't say for certain that this is a result of years spent singing in various styles which may have had a detrimental effect on her operatic technique, but her voice was consistently disconnected and at times warbly. I enjoyed her easy acting and the few moments in which she recited a monologue in spoken voice. I wonder if the Lyric Opera couldn't have found a singer with a stronger technique who could have given more to this role which seems to be a recurring question each time I visit the Civic Opera House.

  The role of the Count was sung by Danish baritone and Chicago favorite, Bo Skovhus. Despite my criticisms of aspects of his performances, including this one, I happily admit that he makes me smile as a result giving the impression that he whole-heartedly enjoys being on stage. His acting was over the top and contrived much like my criticism of his performance in last season's Die Fledermaus, but still it was hard to stay angry because of the positive energy he exudes. Mr. Skovus' voice hasn't changed as far as color and tone go, but it's not as vibrant as it once was and he tends to sound a bit nasal when in the upper part of his range. To be fair, perhaps this part doesn't really give Mr. Skovus a chance to show what his voice is able to do at this point in his career.

  The comprimario parts of the Italian singers were performed by soprano, Emily Birsan and tenor, Juan Jose De Leon. The couple's voices blended well together and they were a nice injection of humor when needed. The men from "downstairs", consisting of current and past members of the Ryan Center young artist program, helped to add comedy and an additional perspective to the opera in an opera concept. A highlight being the brief exchange between the American tenor, Keith Jameson as Monsieur Taupe and American bass-baritone, David Govertsen in the role of Majordomo.

  Strauss rightfully included a moment for a pair of ballet dancers to be introduced and perform at the small gathering which was apropos for the time period of the mid 18th century in which the composer had originally set the piece in. Not only was the respite of dance enjoyable, but it added to the already complex debate on music, art, and poetry. The parts were split between the pair of Jennifer Goodman and Randy Herrera and Jeffrey B. Hover Jr. and Abigail Simon.

  The orchestra was once again led by international conductor, Sir Andrew Davis. Although the orchestra sounded as professional and top notch as they normally do, I was quite disappointed by the lack of dynamic variety and color which, in my opinion, is the direct responsibility of the conductor, especially one that is closely associated with the piece almost as much as Renée Fleming. This opera is already a challenge to singers given the talkative nature of the long recitative sections in addition to being performed in a large hall like the Civic House, so it was with great disappointment, but hardly surprising that Sir Davis did not restrain the volume of the orchestra as to not cover the singers. One would have thought that Sir Andrew Davis would've taken the clue given by the character, La Roche when he sings,

"The fundamental defect in every opera is the deafening noise of the orchestra.  Its roaring and raging swallows the voices. The singers are simply forced into yelling."

  Alas, he did not.

  Peter McClintock was the director for this revival, originally by John Cox which has been produced in opera houses the world over. The time period, originally set in mid 18th century French salon, was updated to an early 20th century drawing room. The set, by designer Mauro Pagano was quite beautiful and warm which was wonderfully supported by the interior décor and costumes by Robert Perdziola.

  Capriccio is a wonderful concept of a piece that for me personally was an hour too long, which is not all that different from the complaints made about opera by the average novice audience member. This opera is would be best produced in a much smaller theater so that the audience can take in the nuances which the composer dictated. When an opera house like the Lyric has to have four screens in simulcast of the production being performed on stage, which was quite a distraction, that may be a sign that the venue is too big for a character piece like this one.

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni is the legendary tale of Don Juan, a story told by many with its earliest written form attributed to Tirso de Molina, published in 1630. It has been taken on by some of the pillars of literature such as Moliere and Byron to name a few. Don Giovanni was commissioned for Prague as a result of Mozart's overwhelming popularity and was the second of three operas that the composer teamed up with librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte. Each one of the three Italian operas focused on the relationships between the classes, the sexes, and society as a whole. On the surface, the story of Don Giovanni appears to be that of a infamous Lothario who finally gets his comeuppance, when in fact, it is much deeper and more complex than that.

  The Lyric Opera's opening production of its 60th season attempted to pose these questions, confront those issues, and shake the foundation of this classic work, for better or for worse. Set in 1920's Spain, this modern production was intent on challenging preconceived notions of how Don Giovanni should be staged and ruffle the feathers of anyone who dared effrontery. Challenge accepted.

Polish baritone, Mariusz Kwiecien in one of his signature roles, sang the part of the libidinous Don Giovanni. Mr. Kwiecien has a dark and smoky lyric baritone that had no problem being heard in the cavernous space of the Civic Opera House. He sounded in healthy voice and threw himself in to the role, vocally and dramatically. It would be disingenuous of me to say that I didn't have some concerns about the casting of Mr. Kwiecien. I had only heard him sing on recording, whether it be clips from Youtube or HD telecasts from the MET. When listening to those various recordings, Mr. Kwiecien sounds a bit tenuous when it comes to singing in the passaggio, especially in sustained phrases. Upon hearing him in the role of Don Giovanni Tuesday night, my thoughts on his singing were both that of pleasant surprise and confirmation. He had more than enough stamina for the role and didn't have to oversing, although he had more than enough ability to sing forte and maintain his vocal quality. It was in the more lyric numbers where Mr. Kwiecien's underbelly was shown. In the duet, "La ci darem la mano", his voice was wobbly and lost its rich color. There were times when it sounded as though he may break. The same could be said for his Act 2 aria, "Deh vieni alla finestra". His vibrato was slower than normal and wider in the first section of the aria, which returned to normal near the end when Mr. Kwiecien sang forte with more support.
  His acting was in line with the dramatic them set by the director and my only criticism would be his actions in Don Giovanni's final scene. In this production, the Don is shot in the right shoulder, yet he continues to use it unimpaired to eat, drink, and even climb an obstacle course, if you will. I thought this a bit ridiculous to say the least, but one could argue that Mr. Kwiecien had no choice given the stage direction.

  As I have stated in previous blogs on Lyric Opera productions, if the title of the opera was based on the best singing, then it would most definitely be called Donna Anna. Latvian soprano, Marina Rebeka, heard last season as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, was once again the vocal star. Not only did she sing with a beautiful line, control, dynamics, and dramatic sensitivity, as she did in the Traviata production, but she had more of the dramatic color needed for the role of Donna Anna without sounding artificial. Her singing was fluid and agile, evident in the opening trio, "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai!" and subsequent duet between Donna Anna and Don Ottavio, "Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!". Ms. Rebeka could go from singing a beautiful listless piano, then turn on a dime to deliver a pain stricken forte with the appropriate color which was all the acting that Donna Anna requires. Much like Mr. Kwiecien, Ms. Rebeka didn't show any major signs of fatigue in her final aria, "Non mi dir", in which she sounded fluid and agile.

  Upon finding my seat for the production, I decided not to read through program. I knew that Mr. Kwiecien, Ms. Rebeka, to name a few, were singing in the production, but given the fact that I admittedly had some preconceived notions, just sat back and did not remind myself of the other big names. I had totally forgotten that Ana Maria Martinez was singing the role of Donna Elvira and it wasn't until intermission that I saw her name in the program. This reminded me of how beautiful her voice was, as I didn't recognize her upon her entrance given the fact that she was dressed as a saucy red-haired Amelia Earhart. Ms. Martinez sang in Othello and Rusalka last season, both parts portraying earnest women in love, a stark contrast to Donna Elvira, a scorned woman with no where to turn.  Even though Ms. Martinez has wonderful voice and sings beautifully, she did have obvious trouble with the fioritura in the Act 1 quartet, "Non ti fidar, o misera" and similar fast moving passages. What I took umbrage with in regard to the performance of Ms. Martinez was her histrionic reactions and indulgent movements when interpreting strong emotion. At one point, I half-expected Donna Elvira and Don Giovanni to begin wrestling at the side of the stage during the aforementioned quartet. The character of Donna Elvira is emotionally brittle and forlorn, but not in a state of constant tremors.

  The part of Don Giovanni's conflicted assistant, Leporello, was sung by American bass-baritone, Kyle Ketelsen. Mr. Ketelsen sang the role of Don Basilio in last year's production of The Barber of Seville at the Lyric Opera, in which I thought him miscast, not because of his singing or performance, but rather the fact that his voice is more baritone than bass and as such did not carry the heft for the role. His voice and demeanor is perfectly suited for that of Leporello. He not only stood out vocally among the male cast members, but in acting as well. He was relaxed and confident in his characterization and like Ms. Rebeka, used his voice to impart the interpretation rather than his limbs. Mr. Ketelsen didn't let the demanding stage direction to get in the way of his singing which put me at ease after hearing Leporello's opening aria, "Notte e giorno faticar", sung rather than barked.

  The part of Don Ottavio, Donna Anna's fiance, was sung by Italian tenor, Antonio Poli. I had heard Mr. Poli last season in the Lyric's production of Othello in the role of Cassio. In the blog review for that production I had noted that Mr. Poli sang beautifully and was glad to see that he may call Chicago a second performance home given his connection to Maestro Riccardo Muti. I was disappointed by his singing in the role of Don Ottavio. Last season his voice sounded fresh and bright with what seemed to be an easy production. On Tuesday night Mr. Poli's voice sounded tired and tight. His vibrato was wide and the upper part of his range was a bit strident and pushed. I hope that this was only an off night and he bounces back to the fresh sounding lyric tenor that he is.

  Canadian soprano and Ryan Center alumna, Andriana Chuchman made her role debut as Zerlina. Ms. Chuchman has a bright lyrical sound that typifies the naïve and inexperienced Zerlina. She consistently sang with a line which brought out the bright color of her voice. At times her singing could be a bit disconnected, but she was required to be rolling around and moving quite a bit in this production.

  Zerlina's fiancé, Masetto was sung by American bass-baritone, Michael Sumuel. I really enjoyed Mr. Sumuel's singing and paranoid performance. He has a rich sound with a tight vibrato that carried through the hall in a beautiful line. Mr. Sumuel brought out the emotion and fury of Masetto without coming off his voice. His bass-baritone sounds more lyrical at this point in his career which may very well darken as time goes on.

  The role of Il Commendatore was sung by well known Italian bass, Andrea Silvestrelli. At his best, Mr. Silvestrelli has a cavernous voice that sounds as if it could carry on for ever and reach the depths of a bottomless pit, but he didn't seem to be at his best. His vibrato was a bit wide at times and overall his voice sounds gravelly. It can still carry all the way to the back of the hall even when competing with a full orchestra playing forte, but the consistent beauty no longer seems to be there.

  Sir Andrew Davis conducted the orchestra which sounded top notch as usual. I was happy not to complain about the orchestra covering up the singers which seemed to be a recurring theme last season, but most all of the voices were big enough to carry over the smaller sized orchestra of late 18th century opera compared to that of the later 19th century. I thoroughly enjoyed the opening overture which the orchestra played in a crisp and clean manner. Sir Andrew Davis took the final scene with Don Giovanni a bit fast for my taste, but I didn't complain under the circumstances of this production.

  The set design by Walt Spangler set in 1920's Spain was simple, yet classically elegant with depth and character. The stucco and marble architecture provided a wonderful background for the colors of each scene that pervaded the story. The clean design helped to support the rich and at times beautifully decadent costumes designed by Ana Kuzmanic. They ranged from period 1920's signature clothing, to classic formal wear, down to traditional Spanish dresses with untraditional design which made those characters stand out in a crowd.

  Multiple award winner and Artistic Director of Chicago's Goodman Theater, Robert Falls is at the helm of stage direction for Don Giovanni. In the director notes of the program, Mr. Falls explains the reasoning behind setting Don Giovanni in 1920's Spain.

"...I wanted to introduce a 20th century sensibility and psychology to the piece...I should emphasize that the result is not a documentary about the 1920's, but rather a highly theatricalized world that uses the 1920's as a point of reference."

Mr. Falls also explains in those opera notes that when taking on a production of Don Giovanni, a director has to try and answer dozens of questions posed by the open-ended and mysterious work, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Suffice it to say, there are layers upon layers of themes and questions that are ultimately posed to the audience to ponder, especially in light of Giovanni's descent in to hell. One of the constant struggles for the Opera world is to keep timeless works, such as Don Giovanni, fresh and relevant. A popular attempt at that by Opera companies and Directors alike have been updating the setting to modern time periods. I applaud Mr. Falls' strong artistic vision which does, in my humble opinion, steer off the beaten track of the classic productions of Don Giovanni, with regard to inner compass of Don Giovanni himself.

  Mr. Falls makes the Don out to be a perpetually drunk, drug sniffing, sex addicted, sociopathic, misogynistic, serial-rapist, control freak who may very well be willing to crash a plane he's flying if given the chance to bang a passenger. This angle, however courageous and unwavering, did not work for me, not because I am unwilling to break out of the mold of the classic setting of this work (or any other opera for that matter), but I felt Mr. Falls betrayed the underlying message and/or question of the piece by focusing on the spectacle of his vision. As Mr. Falls relates in one of the Lyric Opera's interviews that can be located on its You Tube channel, Don Giovanni is not a "nice guy". Mr Falls goes on to explain in that interview that Don Giovanni can be viewed as an "anti-hero" who you root for even though he does evil things at times.  I agree with that explanation, but I would say that that was not achieved in this production of Don Giovanni. At no time was I rooting for the main character, nor did I believe that the women of this work, save for Donna Elvira, would either get involved with him or have any desire to stay given the fact that he was constantly abusing and demeaning most all of the women according to Mr. Falls' artistic direction. His consistent manhandling and mocking of his conquests not only made the character flat and one-sided, but also made the female characters, big and small, out to be willing punching bags for him.

  After a while the Don's behavior became monotonous and mean. The "highly theatricalized" direction that Mr. Falls took was disjointed and resembled a collage of pictures cut from various magazines and glued together unwilling to hide the seams. I got the impression that Mr. Falls' vision of Don Giovanni was based on Tony Montana from the movie Scarface transported back to the roaring 20's alongside obviously modern movie references such as an interpolated orgy scene taken from Stanley Kubrick's, Eyes Wide Shut, complete with masks and ménage-a-trois. The sensationalistic behavior, whether it be snorting cocaine off women's breast, street side oral sex, or a half-naked woman chained to the wall with visible bruises received at the hands of the Don,  are just a few of the examples of how this production's focus was on shock and spectacle rather than story and singing.

The saving grace of this production, which was most definitely a close one, is the singing and musical drama of Mozart and Da Ponte. For the inexperienced opera goer or novice, I would say to go if given the chance, but for the opera enthusiast, I think this is a prime example of how Opera is being dumbed down to a visual medium rather than the aural amazement that it can be. From the orchestral reference to the aria, "Non piu andrai" being piped through speakers made to sound like a radio to the Commendatore's voice being artificially amplified for spooky effect, these small steps are unfortunately breaking away the cornerstone of what Opera is in order to attract younger audiences unaware of this dismantling.



 

The Barber of Seville

 

 

 

 

    As is the case with so many dramas, the histrionic storyline on stage can sometimes be overshadowed by the melodramatic happenings outside. So is was with Rossini's, "The Barber of Seville". As noted in the Lyric Opera program notes, Rossini faced an angry set of sycophants at the premiere. The Italian claque were in attendance to not only show their unpleasant reaction to Rossini's opera, but to voice their support for the composer, Giovanni Paisiello who had originally set Beaumarchais' story to music. The first "Barber of Seville" had its premier in 1782 and was considered a mainstay on the operatic stage up to that time. After the disastrous 1816 premiere, like most comic operas, Rossini won out in the end and his version of "The Barber of Seville" is the true main stay nearly 200 years later. This opera holds special memories for me, most of all being that this was the first production that I heard at the Lyric Opera of Chicago back in 1994, with Rockwell Blake as Count Almaviva.

 

  The title may be The Barber of Seville, but judging by the individual performances of this production, I would have to change that to "Rosina's Revenge". American Mezzo-Soprano, Isabel Leonard made her Lyric Opera debut with a vocal splash as the servile, yet spirited Rosina. Her dark round tone was sung in a beautifully connected line that bloomed, like her characterization, as her voice eased through every part of its range. Ms. Leonard used her impeccable technique to bring out the subtle nuances of Rosina's personality in the aria, "Una voce poca fa", which conveys the true character beneath her outward obedience and charm. Ms. Leonard's voice has a dark polish in the lower range which is a wonderful contrast to the light airy colors that she can employ throughout the middle and upper parts of her voice with ease in Rossini's florid sections. That is not to say that those areas of her voice are light or small. Ms. Leonard had no problem being heard, as evident in the Act II finale when Ms. Leonard is one of two female singers onstage next to 5 male soloists and all male chorus. Both female parts had no trouble carrying past the overwhelming sound of orchestra and men. In addition to the beautiful singing and interpretation, Ms. Leonard's acting was one of the few highlights in an otherwise frenetic staging. The only flaw was near the end of the opera when her vibrato sounded a bit wide, which was understandable given how much singing is required for the role of Rosina.

 

  The part of Count Almaviva was sung by the young American Tenor, Alek Shrader, who was prominently featured in the operatic documentary, The Audition. Mr. Shrader has quickly made a name for himself as a Rossini/Mozart specialist on the international circuit. He has a sweet and agile voice that has little to no problem executing the long passages of fioritura in every area of his vocal range. That's not to say that his singing was perfect with regard to stylistic choices. Mr. Shrader crooned throughout his first aria, "Ecco ridente..." and employed straight tone, especially when moving in to his higher register. This stripped some of the color from the voice and broke up the Bel Canto line, but because of the innate beauty in his tone, most audiences will accept this method without question. Another bit of collateral damage was Mr. Shrader's projection. His voice was difficult to hear at times even when the orchestral dynamics were piano. Mr. Shrader's singing, however naturally beautiful, was inconsistent and veering dangerously close to a pop-like sound. When Mr. Shrader sang with support and core, his voice projected more easily and suddenly had more depth. With regard to his stage presence, he was quite confident in the characterization of Almaviva, but moved too much around the stage. Even when he just stood and sang, there were too many hand gestures and I'm quite sure that he did an Elvis pose at one point.  

 

  Figaro himself was sung by well known American Baritone, Nathan Gunn who is experienced not only in opera, but classic American Musical theater as well. Mr. Gunn has a warm and well rounded tone that is hard not to like, which is basically what I was thinking whenever he sang.

"I want to like him."

It was apparent from his opening cavatina, the ever popular "Largo al Factotum", that the role of Figaro was not necessarily going to be a walk in the park for him. Although Mr. Gunn's voice was a bit bigger than Mr. Shrader's, he had difficulty maintaining his quality of tone throughout the high tessitura of Figaro's opening aria. Mr. Gunn's vibrato was consistently wobbly and uneven throughout the entire opera. It was difficult to pick out his voice in larger ensemble numbers, especially against an orchestral forte. Despite his round and velvety tone, I wonder if Mr. Gunn hasn't inadvertently neglected his operatic technique in pursuit of theatrical interpretations.

 

  In our new title, "Rosina's Revenge", the later would be in reference to the "other" star of this production, word renowned Italian Baritone, Alessandro Corbelli who sang the part of the scheming Dr. Bartolo. I would say that he was the only one of the men to consistently sing with a line. He didn't bark his way through the role, as we have come to expect with it being a slapstick comedy part. I also have to say that it was such a breath of fresh air to hear Signor Corbelli use glottal fry to in order to keep his voice grounded through the fast moving parts that sat in a higher place of his range. This is fast becoming a dying art, which from a technical perspective is a necessity for one who wishes to have a long lasting career in opera. Just ask Mr. Corbelli, who has been singing since the early 70's. In addition to his fine singing, Mr. Corbelli nailed the uptight, highly strung, and effusive nature that is Bartolo.

 

  American Bass-Baritone, Kyle Ketelsen sang the role of Don Basilio. Without any intention of disparaging Mr. Ketelsen's performance, I felt that he was totally miscast in this role. He has a rich dark tone that carried throughout the hall, but it is not the color that is needed for the role. His timbre was far too similar to that of Mr. Corbelli rather than that of a true bass which brings out the texture that Rossini's score calls for. There were times that I felt that Mr. Ketelsen was trying to artificially darken his voice during Basilio's grand aria, "La Calumnia". The casting of a Bass-baritone rather than a Bass was not to my liking which is once again, nothing to do with Mr. Ketelsen.

 

The comprimario roles were filled out with three singers from the Lyric's Ryan Center young artist program. American Baritone, Will Liverman sang the beginning role of Fiorello, which he sang with rich tone and a connected line. Baritone, John Irvin sang well as the Sergeant, but the surprising stand out of the three, in my opinion, was Soprano, Tracy Cantin in the role of Berta. She has a big bright sound that easily carried along side Ms. Leonard in the male heavy Act II finale. The only criticism I had of Ms. Cantin's singing was that during her aria, it sounded as if she was trying to brighten the tone which took away some of the beautiful depth of sound that he voice is capable of.

 

  Leading the orchestra was Italian conductor, Michele Mariotti, making his Lyric Opera debut. Maestro Mariotti did a wonderful job of adhering to the range of dynamics of the score, although I felt that he took many of the tempi too fast, especially those of the consonant heavy "patter" numbers. There were a few moments that I thought Mr. Corbelli was going to pass out due to lack of oxygen. If the tempi had been a tad slower, the singers would not only have a chance for a full breath, but we could hear the pitches more clearly rather than escaping air of endless consonants.

 

  Making his Lyric Opera directorial debut is Rob Ashford, who recently directed "The Sound of Music" which appeared live on TV. Ashford's stage directions seemed overdone with bits of minutia that either missed or caused distraction both visually and aurally. At the start of the opera, the village orchestra players shuffle around the stage which took away from the music. Ashford had Count Almaviva moving around in apparent romantic sturm und drang as he sang his opening aria, at some points with his back to the audience and downstage, which made it challenging for the audience to hear the music clearly. As I stated before, Alek Shrader who sang the role of Almaviva was in constant motion even when standing still. I think this emphasis on the visual in an aural medium is no aberration, but a disconcerting philosophy that stage directors are allowed to pursue with little restraint or balance. I felt that the overall stage direction was a distraction from what I came to hear.

 

 

Both the orchestra and chorus (overwhelmingly male) sounded wonderful with a special nod to the string players who executed the tempi and ever changing dynamic levels with precision.  

 

 

  The set design was by Scott Pask, also making his Lyric Opera debut. I thought it was beautifully elegant, employing a clean looking 18th century Spanish style hacienda villa decorated with a real fountain in the midst of an open courtyard. My only criticsm was the abnormally long amount of time the set change took in between the first 2 scenes, although it was executed in an artistic manner.

 

Die Fledermaus

 

 

  First off, let me apologize for my partially unexcused absence from posting my blog. I planned on composing my review of the Chicago Lyric Opera production of Die Fledermaus right after Christmas, but I became lazy as a result of the polar vortex that froze my mind and fed my procrastination. I will endeavor not to disappoint the throngs of readers that encompass my fan base.
With that, I attended the opening night production of Die Fledermaus and had listened to a few different productions of it in order to reacquaint myself with the goings on. I was especially fond of the 1990 Covent Garden production with Nancy Gustafson in the role of Rosalinde.

  The operetta, Die Fledermaus, composed by Johann Strauss II, had its premiere in the spring of 1874 at the Theater an der Wien. Although the plot of Die Fledermaus is a bit convoluted, it surrounds the personal intrigues of a handful of individuals looking to have a good time at a Russian aristocrat's costume ball, consisting of a husband with a 7 year itch, his devoted wife, their scheming maid, a friend with a grudge, the local prison governor, the wife's ex-lover, a bored Russian Prince, a drunken jailer, and load of party guests, all arranged for the sole purpose of exacting revenge. Gabriel von Eisenstein has been ordered to jail for 8 days as a result of being held in contempt of court over  a misdemeanor and his friend, Dr. Falke, sees an opportunity to get back at him for a prank that Eisenstein had pulled a few years earlier. Falke enlists the aid of Prince Orlovsky, who demands amusement, to strike at Eisenstein before his jail sentence. Adele, the Eisenstein's maid. is invited through her sister to the costume ball and claims that she needs leave to visit her dying aunt in order to attend the party. As one could imagine, the well spun lies of the attending party guests become interwoven and in spite of the plot holes that resemble I-94 after a long winter, the seemingly lost cause of all is resolved at the night's end, where it should have started. The Jail. In addition to the light hearted fun of Die Fledermaus, the operetta has a flexibility in the specific aspects of the action that help to keep the work fresh and new, which is vital for any production to remain in the standard repertoire.

  The part of Gabriel von Eisenstein was sung by internationally renowned lyric baritone, Bo Skovhus. From his first entrance to the final curtain, Mr. Skovhus looked and sounded as if he was having a great time. No stranger to operetta, Mr. Skovhus' voice was ideally suited for the high tessitura of Eisenstein, a part that is sometimes sung by a tenor. He had little trouble singing in the upper part of his register and was one of the few singers who could be heard with little exception. Mr. Skovhus has a unique sounding lyric baritone voice that is tenorial in color with a slight silvery edge to it. He was full of energy and seemed to take delight in the giddy nature of the production. A critique of his performance would be that it was a bit one sided in that he was constantly shuffling around like a Heidelberg university student with his mates in a bierstube.

  The part of Rosalinde in her American opera debut was German soprano, Juliane Banse. Ms.Banse's round and dusky soprano projected in to the large space of the Civic Opera House, but sounded strained and held in the top of her range which, in addition to being unpleasant, stripped the color from the sound. Ms. Banse's rich and rounded voice was nicely suited for her aria, "Klange der Heimat", in which her character is disguised as a Hungarian Countess. Her acting was a bit stiff, but in her defense, Die Fledermaus is not a character study or a psychological drama. There's not much to develop for the singers and are relegated to playing archetypes ornamented with shtick.

  Also making her American debut in the part of the Eisenstein's house maid, Adele was sung by Austrian soprano, Daniela Fally. Ms. Fally has had plenty of experience in this role, evident not only in how natural she was in mugging for the audience, but how comfortable she was singing while moving around the stage. It was as if the role was written for her with the obvious highlight being that of "Adele's laughing song" in the 2nd act, which was a triumph. My overall disappointment with her, was not in any way her performance, but the size of her voice in so large a theater. It was hard to pick out while singing with the ensemble or having to project over the entire orchestra. Like her acting, I missed the color and dynamics of her voice because, once again, the Civic Opera House is so large and forces singers like Ms. Fally to abandon their musicality just to be heard.

  The part of the foil, Dr. Falke was sung by Austrian Baritone, Adrian Eröd making his Lyric Opera debut. I was quite disappointed by his performance, both in singing and acting. I found the innate sound of his voice to be bland and he didn't sing with much musicality. He seemed to be of little energy throughout the production, especially in the 2nd act canon, " Brüderlein und Schwesterlein", which features the part of Dr. Falke. The staging of it did not help, as Mr. Eröd stood center stage with Adele's sister at his side. Each time he asked her for a kiss, I felt as though I had been given a glass of flat champagne.

  The daunting part of Alfred, the tenor who longs to romance his ex-lover, Rosalinde, was sung by Michael Spyres, who sounded as if he had no trouble jumping from interpolated high note to high note. Again, the character of Alfred does not require much acting skill, but Mr. Spyres was quite funny and didn't pile it on too much. Listening to him got me to thinking why those in charge of casting did not have him sing the role of the Duke in Rigoletto last season, instead of the tenor who cracked 2 times in his first aria alone.

  Frank, the prison governor was sung by British baritone, Andrew Shore who was well suited for the part of the jovial middle aged man, searching for a little extra fun. Mr. Shore had no problem being heard and while many singers in this role tend to bark their way through the piece, he sang with line when it was called for and switched to a Rossinian patter in the faster sprech-stimme parts. Mr Shore was the best at inhabiting the rotund character of Frank and much like his singing, employing varying dynamics and colors without overdoing it.

  The trouser part of Prince Orlofsky was sung by Mezzo Soprano, Emily Fons. After hearing a recording of this role being sung by a countertenor, I much more prefer it to be sung by a mezzo soprano, especially one with the dark color and warmth of Ms. Fons. She was faithful to the staid character of Prince Orlofsky which helped to create a nice counterbalance to the energetic Eisenstein. Ms. Fons' voice was perfect in the aria, "Chacun a son gout".

  The remaining comprmario roles were sung admirably, given the little content that had been written for them. Ryan Center alumni, tenor David Cangelosi, sang the Basilio like role of Dr. Blind nicely. My one wish which has yet to be fulfilled is to hear Soprano and current Ryan Center member, Julie Anne Miller sing a substantial role and unfortunately, her only singing was in ensemble moments.

  The orchestra and chorus sounded wonderful and although it was difficult to hear some of the main singers, I don't think that there was much that conductor, Ward Stare could have done given the type of production this was. The sets were very nice for the setting as well as the choice of having dancers during the 2nd Act party scene rather than the common option of having A-list guest singers come in to sing arias and duets. If I had my druthers, it would have been to switch the dialogue from German to English. I know that most all of the main singers are native German speakers, but the recurring problem throughout the performance was that the punch lines were projected for the audience to read before the performers spoke them which took away from the action on stage. For that reason, I think it would be better to have the dialogue spoken in the language of the audience who is listening.
All in all, the performance was quite enjoyable and a nice change of tune from the heavy productions that had come before this season.