Der Rosenkavalier

  Der Rosenkavalier, the late romantic, neo-classical, adapted story, Mozart influenced, dramma giocoso, age defying, gender bending love story about class struggle, is the second opera from two of the most influential artists of the early 20^th century, Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. After the success of Elektra, based on the von Hofmannsthal’s 1903 play, the composer and librettist continued their partnership with this comic opera, loosely based on the stories of Les amours du chevalier de Faublas and Moliere’s Monsieur de Pourceaugnauc, which quickly became a part of the standard operatic repertoire still true today. The story follows the complicated love triangle of the beautiful 32 year old Marschallin, her 17 year old lover Octavian, and the ingenue Sophie, who will soon capture his heart. Matters are made even more complex by the overbearing intentions of the Marschallin’s aristocratic cousin, Baron Ochs who is to marry Sophie who he has never met. The 3 act opera is separated in to beautiful vignettes that not only capture a slice of life, but allow the characters to reveal their inner souls, with the exception of the vacuous Baron Ochs. The Lyric Opera’s production looked spectacular, but more important by far was that, with little exception, it sounded spectacular.

  Despite the title reference to Octavian, the real singing star of the opera is Illinois-born soprano and Ryan Center alumna, Amanda Majeski. Ms. Majeski who played the role of the Countess in this season’s opening production of Le Nozze di Figaro as well as Marta in last season’s production of The Passenger sang with beauty and musical sensitivity in this the taxing part of the Marschallin. Ms. Majeski’s voice sounded both lyrical and confident as she easily maneuvered her way through the first Act of Strauss’s intricate vocal lines. Ms. Majeski could easily be heard over the thicker sounds of the orchestra, yet had no problem floating softly in to her upper register when needed. Her singing revealed the multiple facets and depth to the character and she seemed physically at ease on stage. Ms. Majeski’s voice has a presence that evokes an aristocratic demeanor with a sound like steel thread surrounded by warmth that’s easily spun in a legato line through a tight vibrato.  

  Singing the trouser role of the 17 year old Octavian is French Mezzo-soprano, Sophie Koch. I hear her the last time she was at the Lyric a few seasons ago singing the role of Charlotte in Werther. I remembered being taken by the innate beauty of her voice, but not impressed with the overall quality of her singing, which were exactly my thoughts of her performance in this production. Ms. Koch is a fine actress and at ease on stage, but her portrayal of a young man lost some of its believability due to her overly stereotyped male mannerisms which bordered on caricature and she had little to no romantic chemistry with Ms. Landshamer’s Sophie (I know that this sentence may be a bit confusing). Ms. Koch is vocally quite expressive, but personally I could not get over her wide vibrato which at times verged on a wobble. It was a stark contrast to the consistency of Ms. Majeski’s sound. Ms. Koch tended to sing passing notes in straight tone which broke up the line and sounded cut off from the rest of her voice. As a result, she at times lost her projection and would occasionally get swallowed up by the orchestra, especially in ensemble numbers.  

  Making his Lyric Opera debut in the role of the barbarous Baron Ochs was British bass, Matthew Rose. Mr. Rose’s sound in the first act was a bit tight and was more on the side of Sprechstimme than sung which may be understandable given the long recit-like passages that Baron Ochs has upon his first entrance. His voice did not project very well in the lower register due to the quick phrases of the recitative, but sounded a great deal better in the second act and hit a vocal peak in the thirds act in which Baron Ochs was featured above the other characters. Once warmed up, Mr. Rose has a rich and full bass voice with a ringing upper register. He does have a tendency to bark and sing straight tone at times that verges on pop singing style. His characterization of the smarmy aristocratic Ochs was spot on and made you cheer for his downfall.

  Making her American debut in the role of Sophie was German soprano was Christina Landshamer. Ms. Landshamer’s light lyric soprano voice fit perfectly for the role of Sophie. She was vibrant in her characterization of the ingénue promised to Baron Ochs for an aristocratic title and sang with energy. Although Ms. Landshamer’s voice was on the smaller side for an opera house of this capacity, her voice projected nicely and could be heard without a problem unless competing with large ensembles and thick orchestral textures. Her voice is not gorgeous in itself, but Ms. Landshamer sang with a nicely legato line and musical sensitivity that brought out the beauty of the part.

  Singing the role of Sophie’s rich father, Faninal, was German baritone Martin Gantner who was last heard at the Lyric Opera in the 2006 production of Die Fledermaus. Mr. Gantner’s voice is interesting and hard to describe. He’s a baritone, but one that lacks roundness and depth to the sound. His voice is very pointed with ‘cut’, but comes across as small in the Civic Opera house.

  The comprimario roles were executed wonderfully. Rene Barbera sang the small role of an Italian singer beautifully, his high notes ringing to the back with no problem. Rodell Rosel and Megan Marino were outstanding as Valzacchi and Annina, the mercenary gossip seeking duo for hire. Ms. Marino has a well-rounded mezzo-soprano voice and sang with confidence and ease.

  Edward Gardner was another welcomed conductor who was engaged from the outset and consistently made eye contact with the singers. The orchestra rarely over powered the singers and when it did, it was mostly due to the smaller size of the individual’s voice. The orchestra wasn’t perfect on this night. Many of the musical phrases in the overture were muddy sounding and lacking crisp articulation, but Maestro Gardner helped give the production energy and commitment that is lacking at times with Sir Andrew Davis.

  The direction of Martina Weber was nicely staged, although the breakfast scene with the numerous callers and drunken free-for-all in act 2 were a bit unrestrained at times, but humorous none the less. The set and costume design by Thierry Bosquet were beautiful and historically accurate, quite different from the Moulin Rouge inspired designs for the comparably set Marriage of Figaro earlier in the season.

  This was one of the more enjoyable productions of the past 2 seasons in every facet. Wonderfully consistent singing, believable characterization, aesthetically appealing sets and historically correct costumes all hinged on the multi-layered story of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the beautiful music of Richard Strauss. I thoroughly enjoyed the Lyric’s production of Der Rosenkavalier and hope that opera goers don’t miss it.

Nabucco

  In Charles Osborne’s biography of Giuseppe Verdi, he writes of the German composer Otto Nicolai’s diary entry which reads,

  “Verdi is the Italian opera composer of today. He has set the libretto which I rejected, and made his fortune with it. But his operas are absolutely dreadful, and utterly degrading to Italy.”

  This sentiment could be attributed to a whole host of reasons on the part of the German composer. Jealousy, resentment, xenophobia, or perhaps his own aesthetic preferences when it came to operatic composition, but to say that Verdi’s operas to this point were degrading to Italy is a ridiculous statement in itself. The most obvious rebuttal to Otto Nicolai’s opinion is voiced by the rousing success that Nabucco (known as ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ for the first two years since its premiere) generated within its initial eight performances. In addition to Gaetano Donizetti’s exclamation of,

 “Oh, that Nabucco. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!”, after the premiere, it was the people of Italy who identified with the oppressed Jews of the opera during the famous chorus, Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate (Fly, thought, on golden wings,) and made Verdi the unofficial composer of the Risorgimento movement that would help catapult Italy in to the European revolutions of 1848. The Lyric Opera of Chicago performance of Nabucco did great justice to this seminal work that originally established Verdi as the torch bearer of Italian opera for the rest of the 19^th century.

Singing the role of Nabucco, the Babylonian king, was renowned Serbian baritone Zeljko Lucic. Mr. Lucic is known for his interpretation of the biggest operatic roles in the Italian dramatic baritone repertoire, especially that of Giuseppe Verdi and has sung at the largest opera houses in the world. Having never heard Mr. Lucic live, I was quite excited for this performance at the Lyric Opera. From his first singing moments on stage it was clear that Mr. Lucic was not in peak form. He seemed to be lacking in energy, not only in his singing, but his stage presence as well. Mr. Lucic slowly lumbered about and looked like a king without a sense of urgency and his posture a bit slumped over when he sang. His voice was missing vitality normally heard on live recordings of his past performances and his pitch suffered at times as a result.

  Making up for Mr. Lucic was the wonderful performance given by Russian soprano, Tatiana Serjan singing the role of the jealous daughter of Nabucco, Abigaille. Ms. Serjan made her Chicago debut singing the role of Lady Macbeth under Maestro Riccardo Muti with the Chicago Symphony orchestra, returning the next season for the Verdi requiem. She made her Lyric opera debut as Tosca during the 2014-15 season. Ms. Serjan has a full and round lyric soprano voice whose depth is nicely balanced by a steely edge that rips through the air with a quick vibrato. Ms. Serjan sings with flexibility that gives a beautiful shape to her connected vocal lines and can go from a piercing forte down to a floating piano throughout her evenly balanced voice. There were times when her voice lost a bit of its glimmer when sitting in the passaggio, but that was heavily outweighed by her energy, commitment, and emotional connection to the role.

  Singing the role of Fenena, Nabucco’s daughter who has fallen in love with Ismaele, is American mezzo-soprano and Ryan Center alumni, Elizabeth DeShong. Ms. DeShong has a round clear voice with a beautifully warm tone that moves with ease. Although a mezzo-soprano, the timbre of her voice was in many ways similar to that of Ms. Serjan and at times got lost in larger ensembles. Her voice blended nicely with that of Mr. Skorokhdov, who sang the part of Ismaele, Fenena’s Romeoesque love interest.

  In the part of Zaccaria, the high priest of the Jews was sung by Russian Bass, Dmitry Belosselskiy. Mr. Belosselskiy has a rich dark tone that can easily be heard over the large orchestra and seems to be inches away from the audience’s ears. His lower range sounded a bit weak throughout the performance and one had to strain his lowest notes even when the orchestra was playing piano. Mr. Belosselskiy has a strong upper range and his high notes have a distinctive cut and ring to them.

  Singing the role of Ismaele, nephew to the King of Jerusalem and love interest of Fenena, in his Lyric Opera debut was Russian tenor, Sergei Skorokhodov. Mr. Skorokhodov was one of the highlights of an impressive production. He sang with a nice legato line that was even throughout his entire range and an upper range that had a bright ring to it without sacrificing depth. His voice’s timbre is a perfect fit for Bel Canto opera as well as more lyrical tenor parts like Verdi’s Ismaele.

  The role of the Babylonian High priest was sung by American bass, Stefan Szkafarowsky. He seemed a little out of place next to the other soloists as his voice was a little thinner in color and depth.  His vibrato was, at times, a bit wide and his projection was not as strong as his colleagues.

  The conducting for this production was done by Milan-born Carlo Rizzi. Maestro Rizzi had a lot of energy on the podium and appeared to be in constant communication with the singers. This was evident, not only in how well the orchestra and the singers were in synch with each other, but in Mr. Rizzi’s dynamic sensitivity. The orchestra did not blatantly overwhelm the singers, which has been a consistent complaint of mine with regard to the conducting of Sir Andrew Davis over the past three seasons.

The Lyric Opera chorus was in superb form, singing with clarity and depth. One of the obvious highlights of any production of Nabucco is the chorus, VA pensiero (Fly, thought on golden wings) and the Chorus executed this piece with great skill. They sang long phrases in beautiful legato lines with dynamic sensitivity and thrilling portamenti.

  The set and costumes were rather straightforward and lacking extravagance or flair which was fine given the seriousness of the storyline. The Babylonians were all clad in rich crimson while the Jews were dressed in black and later on gray. The scrim that began each Act was covered in Hebrew writing which also covered parts of the Jewish temple. The sets were plain, but highlighted by blue lighting and gold pieces such as the Jewish ark that houses the Talmud and a trio of horses signifying Nabucco’s royalty upon his first entrance.

  The most disappointing aspect of this well sung performance was the direction and staging by Matthew Ozawa in his Lyric directing debut. The performers came across as stiff and lifeless at times given the lack of realistic blocking. They had little interaction with each other which often contradicted the emotion and or intent that was being communicated. Anger was farcical and love was cardboard. The singers were directed to move at awkward times or were staged too far from one another. I am a fan of stand and sing opera, especially in an opera such as Nabucco, but the direction in this production was bordering on ridiculous. I would have attended a puppet opera if I wanted wooden direction.

  I would still recommend this production of Nabucco due to the incredible singing by nearly the entire cast, especially the chorus, despite a few of the subpar aspects. Verdi performed as the composer intended is something that shouldn’t be missed.