Romeo and Juliet

 

 

  As is the case with many classic works, the story of Romeo and Juliet is an age old tale passed down from generation to generation over the course of the last six hundred years. Although William Shakespeare is the artist most closely associated with the work, the tale of the young star-crossed lovers as we know it can be traced back to a narrative poem written around 1562 by English poet, Arthur Brooke, but even his work was based on a story by Italian writer, Matteo Bandello. Shakespeare stuck closely to the storyline of Brooke’s Romeus and Juliet with the exception of the death scene in which Juliet wakes up moments before Romeo succumbs to the poison he has consumed. This is one of the many alterations that librettists, Jules Barbier & Michel Carre, used for the Gounod’s operatic adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, which premiered at the Theatre Lyrique, Paris in April of 1867. Gounod’s Romeo et Juliet, which has been described as “a love duet with occasional interruptions”, is his second most popular opera next to the extremely popular Faust.

  Singing the role of the young love struck Romeo was internationally renowned tenor, Joseph Calleja. It is important to note that this being the 4^th time hearing Mr. Calleja live, I am not the biggest fan of his voice. That is not to say that I dislike it, but there are aspects of the innate sound of his singing that doesn’t appeal to me. With that being said, there are many aspects of his singing that is quite wonderful as was apparent during this performance. Mr. Calleja consistently sang with a connected line and was at times quite sensitive with regard to musical dynamics. The softer sounds he makes are perhaps the most appealing aspect of his singing. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win me over in his portrayal of Romeo. Mr. Calleja consistently cuts off the ending notes of a phrase making it sound clipped and hurried. His voice tended to go flat at times and was strained in the highest part of his register to the point where his voice was inaudible. Matters weren’t helped by Mr. Calleja’s less than stellar characterization of Romeo. His stage presence was unbelievable at best which progressed to the ridiculous as he swaggered around like a stereotypical 1950’s businessman coming home from a hard day at work. Even with a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief, Mr. Calleja hardly embodied youthful amour or innocent exuberance. To no fault of his own the stage directions (which I will tackle later on) that he was given didn’t allow for much emotional development which Mr. Calleja made worse by turning away from Ms. Phillips’ Juliet at the times when loving eye contact was necessary to heighten the sense of tension and desire.

  My feelings of the latter half of the titular characters are only slightly better than the former. Singing the role of Juliet is American Soprano and Ryan Center alumna, Susanna Phillips. Ms. Phillips has a naturally beautiful voice that has little problem being heard over the orchestra. She sings with a great deal of enthusiasm and energy which was evident by her almost inexhaustible ability to run around the stage without being hampered in her singing. Her voice is nicely rounded, but a bit more colorful than what I personally prefer for this role. By that I mean that Ms. Phillips seems to lack a frontal component or ring to her voice that gives the sound a youthful aspect, which may be the innate sound of her voice or something more on the technical side. Ms. Phillips didn’t sing with the same type of sensitivity with respect to dynamics as Mr. Calleja did and the top of her range became strident at times with the highest notes coming across as a literal scream. Ms. Phillips’ characterization wasn’t anywhere near the ridiculous nature of Mr. Calleja’s as she consistently sang to her partner in even when he was looking away. Needless to say that was absolutely no chemistry between Romeo and Juliet which makes one wonder about casting decisions at the Lyric.

  Singing the role of Friar Laurence was American bass-baritone and another Ryan Center alumna, Christian Van Horn. Mr. Van Horn sang with a wonderfully round tone, depth of sound, musical sensitivity, and a legato line. As in the past, he let his singing bring out the character as his acting was refreshingly subtle. I look forward to hearing more of Mr. Van Horn’s singing and predict that within the next 5 years he will take off the baritone suffix to his vocal description as his voice continues to darken.

  Singing the role of Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, was American bass-baritone Philip Horst. The role of Lord Capulet is a bit one-dimensional in scope, but Mr. Horst avoided ‘spicing’ up his portrayal and let his incredibly resonant voice do the talking. His first act aria was sung in a rather straightforward manner with little musical dynamics as was most of his singing.

American baritone Joshua Hopkins sang the role of Mercutio with spirit and energy. The baritone’s taxing aria, Mab, la reine des mensonges, was sung with musicality and energetic personality. Mr. Hopkins lyric baritone could easily be heard and his voice balanced throughout his entire range. The aria, which is set early in the opera, gives little opportunity for the singer to rest and breath as the vocal line is concentrated throughout the entire piece, which seemed to be of no difficulty for Mr. Hopkins.

Singing the pants role of Stephano, in her Lyric Opera debut, was French mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa. The comprimario role has little to do for the first half of the opera, but he becomes the catalyst for the bloody duel between Mercutio and Tybalt. Ms. Crebassa has a beautiful and bright tone with a well-balanced color and depth that fits perfectly for these types of mezzo roles. Her singing was light and agile and projected well given the size of the orchestra. Her acting leaned on the seemingly butch side which came across as a bit kitsch unnecessary.

  The remaining supporting roles were sung mostly by Ryan Center members or alumna with the exceptions of Deborah Nansteel in the role of Gertrude and Jason Slayden as Tybalt. A voice that has repeatedly stood out to my ears has been that of Ryan Center member, Baritone Anthony Clark Evans whose voice, although not incredibly big, is round, dark, and nicely balanced throughout his entire range. Mr. Evans sings in a nicely connected legato line and seems at ease on the stage.

  The orchestra was led by Maestro Emmanuel Villaume who appeared to be not only in control of the orchestra, but consistently in contact with the singers which was evident in the balance in volume between the stage and pit. The Lyric Opera Chorus under the direction of Michael Black sounded wonderful which should come as no surprise.

The dark 15^th century sets of Michael Yeargan and period appropriate costume designs of Catherine Zuber were again down stated and tastefully down as compared with this year’s season opener of Le Nozze di Figaro. Unfortunately the positive aspects of this production were not able to outweigh the direction Bartlett Sher in his Lyric Opera debut. The blocking and stage directions were at best manic which continuously progressed to the ridiculous. Whether it was a directorial decision or a stylistic choice by Mr. Calleja, Romeo was consistently singing to the audience, with Juliet at his back rather than looking at her in tender moments. This practice was confusing and annoying to say the least. Mr. Sher had the opposing Montagues and Capulets chasing each other off and on stage like it was the Benny Hill Show. I expected to hear the carnival horn sounds to be played at any moment whenever the band of dueling marauders appeared on stage. Mr. Sher also had Susanna Phillips’ Juliet constantly flitting around the stage as if she were the prima ballerina in the Nutcracker. The constant physical activity was a major distraction from, not only the singing, but the true purpose of the story. It became nearly hysterical in the 3^rd act when Mr. Calleja’s Romeo, after having killed Tybalt, storms in to Juliet’s bedroom with the angry bravado of Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western and throws his jacket to the ground. Given that Rome has just killed his sworn enemy, would it be smart of him to waltz in to the bedroom of that same family’s home without care of being found out? The directorial vision of Mr. Sher seemed to highlight operatic stereotypes in a negative way rather than diminish their impact with the final scene being the perfect example.

  Gounod, having changed the way that Romeo and Juliet perish, did no favors for operatic deaths, but Mr. Sher made it worse. He has Romeo walking around almost carefree after having drunk a vial of poison, singing sweet nothings to Juliet who has just awoke from her death like sleep. After ten minutes of looking to their future, Romeo suddenly drops to the ground, unable to stand due to the effects of the poison. He still manages to prop himself up and crawl around, even supporting Juliet’s weight in his arms. When the two characters finally croak, Juliet, who has just stabbed herself, not only shows no signs of a bloody wound, but dies within minutes. This whole farce could have been staged in such a way that dramatic irony and subtext would have spoken volumes while saving the audience from the ridiculous direction of Mr. Sher.

  Needless to say, the last production of the season, like the first, was more than a little disappointing in large part due to the unrestrained and unfocused vision of directors making their Lyric Opera debuts. Perhaps it would’ve done them some good to stick to the core of what makes opera great rather than ‘trying’ to direct.

La Traviata

 
 Soon after it's disastrous premiere in 1853, La Traviata became one of the most widely performed operas in the standard repertoire and with Verdi's 200th Birthday this year it is the #1 performed opera in the world for the 2013-2014 season. Beyond the obvious appeal of Verdi's melodies, Alexandre Dumas' story of heartbreak, and the classic tale of redemption, is the integral theme of women's role in society. The Lyric Opera of Chicago had the chance to say something that is both culturally pertinent and dramatically artistic with their latest production of La Traviata running through December 20th. Unfortunately that did not come to fruition as I hoped given the many skips and squeaky wheels that kept the performance from achieving that end.

  La Traviata is the story of a beautiful courtesan named Violetta Valery who, the audience will soon learn, is dying of consumption. She is a kept woman of the wealthy Baron Douphol and enjoys her role as high society party goer which helps draw her attention away from the sad inevitably that she will be confronted with in the near future. Violetta is introduced to a young admirer named Alfredo Germont who has pined for her from afar. He quickly declares his love and is met with frivolous laughter on the part of Violetta. He continues to shower her with affection to which she soon becomes infected by. As dawn approaches he and the other party hoppers leave and Violetta faces off against her own fears of love, life, and death.
  Time passes and we see Violetta in love with Alfredo and with life looking to the future. Love is quickly interrupted by Alfredo's father who pleads with the sickly courtesan to leave his son for the sake of their family honor. She finally gives in to Germont Pere and accepts her plight of the fallen woman unable to attain happiness. Alfredo thinks her unfaithful and seeks revenge at a party Violetta is to attend along with her former lover, Baron Douphol. Alfredo lucky in cards yet unlucky in love, humiliates her and in his embarrassment flees the party. The final act takes us back to Violetta's room where she lays in wait for either Alfredo or death, which ever is to arrive first. Alfredo makes it in time accompanied by his guilt stricken father with barely enough time to refresh their mutual love before she succumbs.


  The part of Violetta Valery was beautifully sung by the radiant Latvian lyric soprano, Marina Rebeka in her Lyric Opera debut. She sang with a great range of dynamics without breaking the melodic line, ever so important to Verdi's music. Ms. Rebeka easily projected in to the large civic opera house and sounded in wonderful voice as she easily danced her way through the vocal acrobatics of the psychologically conflicted recitative and aria,  "Ah, fors'è lui - Sempre libera". Her stage movement was fluid and uninhibited during the more vocally challenging parts of the role, yet at times stale and stiff in the more dramatic acting moments act 2.
Ms. Rebeka was still vocally fresh sounding at the beginning of act 3, but did show signs of fatigue near the end, which I can not blame her for given the difficulty of Violetta and the endurance required to sing it.

  Alfredo Germont was sung buy international tenor, Joseph Calleja who was last heard at the Lyric in the role of Rodolfo. There are two things I should admit with respect to my thoughts on Mr. Calleja. I had heard him in La Boheme last season opposite Anna Netrebko and I was not impressed. During that performance he sounded tired which became more evident with each one of his entrances to the point where his vibrato was wide and his tone shallow and brittle. His performance of Alfredo was much better than that of his Rodolfo. My second admission is that I am not an ardent fan of his voice. Many critics describe it as a throwback to the golden era of opera with his tight squillo vibrato and bright tone, but there seems to be an ever present edge that robs it of its depth. Mr. Calleja sounded a bit tight at the beginning of the performance, but slowly warmed up as the night went on. Unfortunately it wasn't until the last act that he sounded his best. To be fair, he sang with sensitivity and dynamic variation and was in good voice from top to bottom, but consistently clipped off the ends of musical phrases which gave the impression that he was anticipating the breath too quickly. His acting was stiff, a theme shared by most all of the players. Mr. Calleja consistently dashed off stage during his exits as if the character had pressing matters in town that required his immediate attention, or taxi carriages were in short supply in Paris during the mid 19th century.

  The part of Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont, was sung by baritone and Ryan Center alumni, Quinn Kelsey, whose performance I thoroughly enjoyed in last season's Simon Boccanegra. Mr. Kelsey has become an internationally renowned Verdi baritone with his beautifully rounded and dusky tone. Mr. Kelsey's voice is nicely connected with an easy sounding upper register which has no problem projecting in to the house, yet maintains its sweetness. Still, I was disappointed by how Mr. Kelsey chose to sing much of his showcasing moments, such as the famous act 2 aria, "Di Provenza il Mar, il suol", with a Verdian sprech stimme making him sound choppy and disconnected. Although this stylistic choice may give the audience an aural appearance of an older man, it robs the singer of color and depth of sound which, in my humble opinion is needed in a part like Germont. Mr. Kelsey's dramatic interpretation was quite one sided and brutish, as if Alfredo's father was not an educated Parisian, but a disciple of Russian Tsar, Peter the Great. Given the consistency of placid acting evident in the absence of sensitivity towards a humiliated and dying woman, one has to question if this shortcoming is the responsibility of the performers or an absence of proper stage blocking and overall vision.

  The comprimario roles were mostly sung  by Ryan Center young artists with mixed results. Young baritone, Nicholas Pallesen sang the role of Baron Douphol. Mr. Pallesen has a lovely, bright tone that I look forward to hearing more of, although I prefer a darker sounding voice for this role given the fact that the Baron is middle aged. Mezzo soprano, Julie Ann Miller stood out in the role of Violetta's maid, Annina. She sang with a connected line and lovely tone that blended well with that of Marina Rebka.

  Conducting the Lyric orchestra was international Maestro, Massimo Zanetti, considered to be a Verdi specialist. The Lyric Opera Orchestra sounded beautiful as always, but much like the performance of Parsifal that I heard last month, I didn't feel that Maestro Zanetti brought more out of the orchestra than was already there with respect to interpretation. Early on during the act 1 party scene, the orchestra and chorus were unmistakably off from each other which was quite surprising at this level of production. I would have expected something like this from early performances of a long running Broadway production that was still gaining traction, but not from a top tiered opera house ensemble and well respected conductor.

Making her Lyric Opera directing debut in the production was New York based associate artistic director at Theater for a New Audience, Arin Arbus. Her previous directorial experience in opera was with the HGO in their production of The Rape of Lucretia. I thoroughly enjoyed the sets by Riccardo Hernandez and costumes by Cait O'Connor (especially that of the over sized puppets), but was disappointed by the unrealized dramatic potential. As mentioned in the beginning of this review, although La Traviata is timeless, the story of women's plight in the 21st century in the hands of the right director can add an energy and life that so many operatic productions are desperate to acquire. This production missed those opportunities as evident in the party scene of act 2 where Ms. Arbus missed blocking opportunities to convey the strangling effect of being a courtesan had on Violetta and having to withhold her true feelings for Alfredo. Operatic audiences have always been asked to extend quite a bit of leeway with respect to suspension of disbelief, but the unrealistic staging and lack of sensitivity towards the action became ridiculous. Characters squabbled with one another as Violetta lay unconscious or dying which made them appear unsympathetic and cruel, rather than repentant and guilt stricken as Verdi intended.

Even with these obvious blemishes, I enjoyed Lyric Opera's production of La Traviata because of the higher than normal caliber of singing and the obvious star of the show being the birthday boy, Giuseppe Verdi. I did not shed any tears in the moments that I should have, so might I suggest that audience members take advantage of the 2 intermissions and indulge in an extra libation or two before the last act.