Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Mark Morris Group in Handel's L'Allegro.... Photo: Robert Millard 2011

It’s an 80s dance flashback weekend in Los Angeles where two different institutions are presenting seminal works of the later 20th Century for reconsideration. UCLA Live will present the touring revival of Lucinda Child’s 1979 Dance, a collaboration with Phillip Glass and artist Sol LeWitt, starting on Saturday. (Yes, I know this is technically one year before the 80s, but it's close enough in spirit to count, so get over it.) But before that gets underway, Dance at the Music Center and Los Angeles Opera hosted the opening of another touring work from 1988 on Thursday, Mark Morris’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato set to the music of Handel’s well known oratorio. The evening long work has been seen all over the world, and in Southern California on a few prior occasions, so its appearance here is not unique. However, the show is remarkable both for how well it still works visually, and for how apparent its influence has become. Watching L’Allegro over two decades after its premiere, it seems overly familiar until you realize that everything in it that was so radically different at the time has now become commonplace for any number of contemporary choreographers and dance companies. The movement has a clarity and geometry that makes it approachable while not representing a literal interpretation of the text.

The various sections of the work, divided into two acts, reflect the wide variety of human emotional experience Handel attempted to capture in this expanded setting of poems from John Milton. There is whimsy and heartbreak and the dancers leap and fly about in mirror image groups at times evoking any number of characters and situations from hieroglyphics to a couple out for a walk with their dogs in the park. The work is immense with a large cast of dancers and one fascinating set of images after the next. The men and women of the ensemble appear in pastel garb amidst a minimal but colorful empty box of a set that is supposed to recall paintings by William Blake, but just as easily brings to mind Mark Rothko. It can be deliriously silly and deadly serious at turns. Best of all, Morris’ preference for live music has led this performance to be joined by the Los Angeles Opera orchestra under Grant Gershon. They sounded strong in a contemporary fashion for Baroque music and were joined by four excellent soloists: Barry Banks, Sarah Coburn, Hei-Kyung Hong, and John Relyea. All were spot on, but I must admit being particularly taken with Hong’s bright and easy soprano. She may not be at the top of the big international opera star heap, but she certainly has the voice for it. Banks and Relyea both had ample energy and easily projected from the pit without clashing with any of the action on stage. There is no projection of the text, however, which is a good thing for the visual aesthetic overall, but may leave the viewer wanting a little bit if you're not familiar with some of the content in advance.

It is fair to say that Morris’ L’Allegro does have edges that make it seem like it’s from another time. The pastel costumes when seen alongside Sarah Coburn’s single-shouldered white draped dress distinctly recalled Xanadu. And though it can be decidedly cheeky with its sly gay subtexts, it can feel surprisingly genteel in its approach at other times. But there is ample beauty here, and the performance is a keen reminder of Morris' legacy on the dance world. It's a welcome return from Morris' company, and he was met with a very enthusiastic reception at the final curtain. The show repeats through Sunday, May 9, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Labels: Dance, LA Opera 10/11

William Burden and Patricia Racette in The Turn of the Screw Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

It has been a particularly strong season for Los Angeles Opera overall. Following a bold and satisfying Ring cycle last summer, the company has managed to weather the economic storms of the last season with particularly satisfying productions almost always with excellent musical values. And in keeping with this recent trend, the final production of the 2010/2011 season, Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, opened gloriously on Saturday after a 20 year absence. Based on a Henry James novella, The Turn of the Screw is a seriously creepy, dark and twisted story. Not that this fact distinguishes it from any other opera, but the story makes plenty of very disturbing implications that raise far more questions for characters and audience than are answered over its course. An unnamed Governess arrives at her new employer’s country estate. She is welcomed by the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, as well as her new wards Flora and Miles and given strict instructions that above all else she should not contact or bother their guardian in any circumstances. Soon however, it becomes clear that the estate is haunted by a former servant, Peter Quint, and his once lover and the former Governess, Miss Jessel. The new Governess becomes convinced that the children are aware of these ghosts and worse yet, the ghosts are trying to seduce the children away from the Governess’ care. Much of the unfolding action is implied and references to the supernatural aspects of the story can be vague and open-ended. Britten wrote a masterful chamber orchestra sized score for the work that is one of the most evocative in 20th-century opera.

Patricia Racette in The Turn of the Screw Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

As with L.A. Opera’s hugely successful run of Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, the company again imported perhaps one of the most attractive and interesting European productions of The Turn of the Screw it could find, Jonathan Kent’s 2006 staging for Glyndebourne opera which will be revived there this coming summer. Kent’s fascinating staging, which was directed here by associate Fracesca Gilpin, manages to reflect both the creepiness and the supernatural aspects of the story in a very powerful and condensed way. The huge white room of the set is dominated by a giant rotating wall of window panes that effectively divides the space perpetually into inside and outside. The windows also act at times as the surface of a lake as it casts reflections around the walls of the set. Concentric rotating rings on the stage floor whisk set elements on and off stage and giant gnarly disembodied tree branches lower into view. As the opera proceeds the originally strict division between the inside and outside world begins to break down in subtle ways as the ghosts begin to cross barriers and further inhabit the living world of the other characters.

William Burden (behind) and Michael Kepler Meo in The Turn of the Screw Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

Perhaps Kent’s boldest move is to update the action to post-WWII, late 50s Britain from the novella’s late Victorian original. Not that updating an opera's setting is new, but Kent's decision to do so has some interesting implications in this case. While it removes some of the work's late-Victorian and outright Gothic sheen, it heightens some of the more disturbing contemporary undercurrents of the story. The specters of insanity and pedophilia haunt this story at every turn. Kent’s setting makes them palpable to the audience now that the action unfolds immediately prior to the notorious Moors murders committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley that would rock the UK in the early 1960s. In a way, Kent’s version of the Governess represents a whole nation on the brink of losing its children in part to a process of post-war cultural and moral decay. It’s a deft idea that works brilliantly.

Patricia Racette in The Turn of the Screw Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

Of course all of this would be for naught, if it weren’t for a top-rate cast and musical performance under L.A. Opera’s heroic James Conlon. The star of the show is Patricia Racette making her role debut as the Governess. Racette has a varied career in a wide repertory including many Verdi and Puccini roles. And as much as I’ve admired her Butterfly, I think her Britten work as both Ellen Orford and here may be among my favorite roles for her. She sounded lovely in conjunction both with Ann Murray’s Mrs. Grose and Tamara Wilson’s Miss Jessel. The bright, light tenor William Burden was finally making his L.A. Opera debut as the predatory Peter Quint and Ashley Emerson sang the role of Flora. But perhaps the performance that was most striking to me was that of 12 year-old Michael Kepler Meo as Miles. This young vocalist has quite a career going having sung Miles in several places over the last two years. He’ll also appear in Stephen Schwartz’ Séance on a Wet Afternoon at New York City Opera later this spring. He vocally stands tall against much more experienced singers here and dominates the scenes he is in with his certainty and comfort in the part. If I had any quibble with the performance it would probably be one of scale. This is undoubtedly a chamber opera and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is notorious for swallowing sound. From where I sat, things sounded great, but I wonder if farther back in the house if the sound got lost. In any event, I highly recommend you see The Turn of the Screw while it’s here in L.A. with such a great cast; and if you’re worried about the acoustics, this would be a great time to splurge and sit close. The show runs through March 30.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Sketch of Loge by Achim Freyer for the LA Opera production of Wagner's Ring Cycle

Zerbinetta over at Likely Impossibilities reports that the Achim Freyer production of Wanger’s Ring Cycle produced successfully and single-handedly by L.A. Opera is scheduled to see the light of day again at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest starting with Das Rheingold in the 2011/2012 season.

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of this production and wrote about it extensively. Here's hoping it gets filmed this time around. And better yet, here's hoping that the political situation in Hungary remains palatable enough that I can find some way to get there and see this masterpiece again when it comes around in full.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Simone Alberghini, Maxim Mironov, Nino Machaidze, and Paolo Gavanelli in Il Turco in Italia Photo: Armin Bardel/LAO 2011

This is why I love opera. Or more accurately, it’s performances and evenings like the one now on offer at Los Angeles Opera that make me obsessed with this most over-sized of all art forms. The company opened a run of Rossini’s infrequently performed Il Turco in Italia on Saturday night in a supremely funny and always superb production with L.A. Opera music director James Conlon conducting. How do I love thee? Let’s start with the overdue American premiere of a production from one of Europe’s most important and in-demand directors, Christof Loy. For this revival, Axel Weidauer filled in for Loy in the director's chair, but the show still has that unmistakable look. Loy's aggressively modern stagings often use contemporary street clothes and he’s managed to get Edita Gruberova to rip off at least two different wigs in two different shows. And this vision of Il Turco holds true to that form. This is an imaginary Italy of the recent past where all of the stage craft behind the scenes is readily on display. The male chorus members come dressed as stage hands at times and watch with bemusement as the characters spill out their emotions in song. It’s a show constantly in motion with walls and supernumeraries that slowly creep across the stage at times when there are more static vocal fireworks taking place elsewhere. And while all the action takes place in a single giant room, the inventive use of a huge variety of props keeps the stage exciting to the eye at all times. Granted there will be some complaints that this or that particular item doesn’t make sense at this or that moment. But that is foolishness. This production is as visually witty as the activity in the libretto and it raises the opera’s whole enterprise to another level.

The story concerns a flirtatious wife, Donna Fiorilla, who becomes enamored with a visiting Turk, Selim. This infuriates both her husband, Don Geronio, and her current lover, Narciso. The Turk also has a former lover, Zaida, who was forced to leave him in Turkey and is now living among the Romani in the very same Italian town he has arrived in. All of this is packaged within the meta-narrative of the poet Prosdocimo who is trying to break through his writers block by observing the local Romani to get new ideas. Soon he is both observing and writing the action of the opera as it unfolds with the characters interacting directly with him. Yes, it sounds slight, but Loy is expert at providing just the right amount of heft to these proceedings to make them funny without getting overly frothy.

And then there is that cast. Where to begin? Nino Macaidze stars as Donna Fiorilla and manages to stake her claim to these bel canto roles. She’s as good looking and certainly as strong and instinctive an actor as Anna Netrebko, with a more agile voice. She is excellent in this throughout. Paolo Gavanelli plays her cuckolded husband, Don Geronio, with a booming sound, superior comic timing, and a lot of physical comedy. Sir Thomas Allen returns to L.A. Opera as the poet, Prosdocimo, Il Turco’s quasi-narrator. His comic chops were proven beyond a doubt in the company’s 2008 Gianni Schicci, and he does not disappoint here. Then there is Kate Lindsey as Zaida whose voice I fall in love with more and more with each performance since her superb Nicklausse in New York last season. Simone Alberghini and Maxim Mironov round out the men in the cast with detailed and interesting performances. Mironov sings the tenor part, Narciso with the kind of light voice and agility one associates with Juan Diego Florez. His is a name to remember. This is one of those times where there are no weak links, and the comic heat generated by this cast can be overwhelming.

Did I mention how strong the orchestra sounded? James Conlon has done so much to raise the playing level of the L.A. Opera orchestra and this was one of the best performances I’ve heard them give. The work never lagged. The brass sounded assured throughout particularly in their most exposed moments. It's a wonderful evening and there are 6 more performance through March 13. Don't miss this.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Dmitri
Hvorostovsky
Photo: Pasha Antonov

Los Angeles Opera continued its winter recital series featuring the hottest male vocalists in all opera on Thursday night with an appearance by Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. René Pape opened the three part series in January (Jonas Kaufmann will close it on March 15) and while both men are formidable talents, the differences in the two evenings were significant. Pape sang an all-German program with some reserve in a tuxedo that called for a little tailoring. Hvorostovsky arrived on stage, his well-conditioned white locks flowing behind him, looking every bit the dandy with form-fitting tuxedo pants and huntsman-style tailcoat complete with black-sequined satin lapels. He looked like a smooth operator, taking his preferred stance with his right leg slightly forward as if about to take off running. Periodically he had a knowing smirk on his face between numbers. He exudes a masculinity that is a definite part of his charm to his big and vocal fan base who responded in kind Thursday. Hvorostovsky was quickly greeted with flowers even before the end of the first half of the show.

But despite all of the glamor moments, there was still the fact of his incredible voice. Hvorostovsky may be pretty, but he’s no fake. The world’s foremost Eugene Onegin and the Verdi baritone of choice, his recital was a wonder of technique. He’s got breath for days and his beautiful phrasing of just about everything bordered on the miraculous. And in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which is known for chewing up baritones with abandon, he dominated the space the whole show. Hvorostovsky was joined by accompanist Ivari Ilja in a program that focused on a number of Russian works, which he is repeating around the country including an evening at Carnegie Hall on February 21. First in the program were four songs from Fauré, including “Après un reve.” And although the tone here was lovely, Hvorostovsky’s French doesn’t compare to his Italian much less his native tongue. But there was plenty of that on offer as well and five songs from Sergei Taneyev soon followed. These are not your everyday recital works and while they seemed a little lean to me musically, Hvorostovsky infused them with plenty of spirit.

Hvorostovsky’s remarkable vocal technique is well matched with a real flair for storytelling in his delivery. A prime example of this came after the intermission, when he performed two of Franz Liszt’s Three Sonnets by Petrarca. The second of these, Pace non trovo, was the highlight of the show with Hvorostovsky slowly and deliberately building the song to a powerful and dramatic conclusion. Tchaikovsky’s Six Romances closed the main part of the evening with another showcase of the baritone’s native tongue. All of this was lovely and well paced despite the frequent enthusiastic interruption of song sets by the audience. And then in another twist, Hvorostovsky elected not to sing "Some Enchanted Evening" for an encore, breaking a practice that seems omnipresent these days for some baritones. Instead he stuck to what he does best and gave three encores, including Rachmaninoff's V moltshari notchi taihor, Passione, a song by Valente-Tagliaferri, and a folk song which Hvorostovsky performed a cappella. And regardless of whether or not one appreciates his personal style, Hvorostovsky left no question that he's king of the baritone hill.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Rene Pape Photo: Lenny's Studio

Well, if the bass in question is René Pape, the answer is yes, very much. He’s one of the world’s leading basses in a rather broad repertoire of roles and he was in town on Saturday for a recital hosted by Los Angeles Opera. (You should check out his web site complete with downloadable wallpapers and ring tones.) It was the first of three recitals the company will host this season featuring some of the hottest dawgs in all opera including Dimitri Hvorostovsky on Feb 10 and the L.A. debut of the tenor of the moment Jonas Kaufmann on Mar 15. But Saturday started out on the lower end of the vocal range with an all-German program performed by Pape alongside his accompanist, Brian Zeger. And, while I heard some grouching about this serious offering from others, I for one was excited about it, considering that to date, virtually all of my exposure to Pape has been in roles outside of his native German tongue, including Philip II, Gounod’s Méphistophélès, and most recently Boris Godunov. So, an evening of Schubert, Schumann, and Hugo Wolf sounded to me like just what the doctor ordered – a serious, if familiar, German Lied recital.

It went quite well. The fact of the matter is that Pape has an amazing voice. It’s a clean and warm sound and the sheer beauty of it was inescapable even in the program’s less winning moments. Things did start out a little rocky with selections from Schubert’s Schwanengesang. Pape dove into the material in an assertive business-like fashion that almost missed the musicality of the songs. He seemed uncoordinated with Zeger and overly brusque. But, as he entered into Hugo Wolf’s Michelangelo Lieder, things began to chill out a little bit and gel, despite the continued insistence by some audience members to fill every silent gap between songs with unnecessary and distracting applause. The first half concluded with seven more Schubert songs that were very pleasing to the ear.

After the intermission was Schumann’s familiar Dichterliebe, which finally got the attention and respect it deserved from a more attentive audience. Pape was often superb here, managing ample heartbreak and drama. Although Pape is a competent actor, he can be overly rigid at times as well. He struggled more with the ironic comical moments of some of these songs, missing the wry smiles that lie in their texts. But, despite his lack of a personable demeanor, it’s impossible to deny the beauty of his voice. He closed the evening with two encores, Strauss, and in perhaps one of the only somewhat sly jokes, “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific. The song has become a requisite for virtually all bass-baritone vocalists everywhere in recent years, and Pape’s reliance on printed lyrics for the first time during the evening seemed to be its own wry comment on the omnipresence of the tune, though it was sung with skill all the while.Overall, it was a lovely visit and while Pape has yet to grace us in L.A. with a performance of a complete role, it was still a treat to hear him in recital.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

As you may have noticed, I’ve been out of commission a lot over the last two weeks for reasons I am certain that you really do not want to hear about. The worst of these tribulations, however, has resulted in my eighty-sixing my New York sojourn this December, so I will not have the originally promised coverage of a number of items including the Met Opera’s revival of Pelléas et Mélisande under the guidance of Simon Rattle. So instead, over the next few weeks I’m going to highlight some of the best and worst of 2010 leading up to the Out West Arts top ten music and theater events of the year. To kick things off, I’d like to highlight two of the more notable DVD releases of this past year, both from Los Angeles Opera. The company has had a huge year artistically, although admittedly not without its controversies. One of the more notable fruits of their recent labors are a pair of DVD’s produced as part of music director James Conlon’s “Recovered Voices” series. Conlon has helmed several productions of operas from composers adversely affected by Germany’s Third Reic,h and two of these shows have made it to video for those of you who may have missed them.


First is a 2008 double bill featuring Viktor Ullmann’s brief comedy Der zerbrochene Krug and Alexander Zemlinsky’s far more substantial Der Zwerg. The latter features outstanding performances from Rodrick Dixon and Mary Dunleavy in a striking and quite affecting production inspired by Diego Velazquez’ Las Meninas. Conlon’s advocacy for Zemlinsky’s score is evident, and this is an excellent addition to the available recordings of the composer’s work. The other “Recovered Voices” project now out on DVD is a 2009 production of Walter Braunfels’ Die Vögel. Another operatic rarity, Braunfels’ fable proves to be musically substantial under Conlon’s attention, and the performance features a rising-star in Brandon Jovanovich. Like Der Zwerg, the production is directed by Darko Tresnjak, but this time around he is markedly less successful. Hampered by the steeply raked set for the concurrently running production of Achim Freyer’s vision of Wagner’s Ring cycle, Tresnjak creates a rather cloying, kitschy world for his mythological characters. Still, this is beautifully played and such a rarity is worth owning even if not in an ideal staging.

Labels: Best Of, LA Opera 10/11

Sarah Coburn and George Gagnidze in Rigoletto Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

Saturday brought a change of pace to Los Angeles Opera. It was the opening performance of the company’s new to L.A. production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, which marks the first Italian opera the company has mounted in nearly a year, since Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. (Mozart’s Italian-language Le Nozze di Figaro did appear earlier this fall, but is arguably more of a German/Austrian opera than an Italianate one.) What’s more, the company has been on a tear artistically for well over two years with one artistically substantial production after the next. (And I would include among those the current overly-maligned production of Wagner's Lohengrin, which is far, far better than you may have read elsewhere.) However, even a perfect batting record is not a guarantee of success on every outing, and this current Rigoletto, despite some very worthwhile elements, is decidedly earth-bound. That's not to say bad, just exceedingly ordinary.

George Gagnidze in Rigoletto Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

Let’s start with the good news, shall we? James Conlon is in the pit with a spirited and very dramatic take on the score with the increasingly excellent L.A. Opera orchestra. He’s given us some wonderful Verdi during his time in L.A. including a still-talked-about Don Carlo and a La Traviata that lives on DVD. He’s joined by a cast with some strong voices. Foremost among these is George Gagnidze in the title role. Gagnidze is one of the world’s foremost Rigoletto’s at this time and has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in this role as well as many other stages. His expertise in the part shows, and his performance has weight and a significant edge to it. He's a fine and very watchable actor. He meshes well with American Sarah Coburn who sang Gilda. Coburn is a company favorite, and while I could have wished for a little more warmth and a little less vibrato along the way from her, it was a strong performance.


Unfortunately, none of this was enough to raise the proceedings much above average. The Duke in this run is Gianluca Terranova, who has the requisite swagger, tended to bark a little in his delivery at times and his Act II duet with Gilda seemed a little one sided. The somewhat prosaic staging from director Mark Lamos with sets by Michael Yeargen is admittedly not a favorite of mine. It is borrowed from San Francisco, where it was last seen in 2006. Time has not changed much about its cartoonish, brightly colored look which is supposed to evoke the Italian surrealist paintings of Giorgio di Chirico (1888-1978). More often than not though, I’m reminded of the sets for the 1953 MGM film version of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate. From the moment the curtain rises you expect folks to break out into “From This Moment On.” It’s not a completely static show, but its visually dull and the geometric shapes and candy colors can cut against the more tragic elements of this most depraved of operas. However, this is a Rigoletto not without its charms, and it does provide a reason to look at some of those Ann Miller classics on You Tube.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Mark Lamos Photo: Westport Co Playhouse

Thanksgiving weekend in Los Angeles isn’t downtime for the performing arts, and that is especially true over at Los Angeles Opera who will follow up a very worthwhile Lohengrin with an imported production of Verdi’s Rigoletto staring George Gagnidze and Sarah Coburn. The show will also mark the local debut of one of the best known American theater and opera directors, Mark Lamos. A multiple Tony nominee and winner for his regional work at the Hartford Stage in the 80s, Lamos is a frequent collaborator at nearly all of the country's leading opera companies. He’s also an actor and may be recognizable to many as one of the stars in 1990’s Longtime Companion. Here in Los Angeles he’ll be guiding audiences through the depravity that imbues Verdi’s masterpiece at every turn. But before things get too serious in Mantua, he was nice enough to take a turn at 10 Questions for you and Out West Arts. Which went something like this:

1. What opera would you most like to direct, but haven’t yet?

Oh there's a list. Lear by Aribert Reimann, King Priam by Tippett, The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky, La Rondine by Puccini, and anything by Handel.

2. What opera would you never want to direct, even if you had the opportunity to?

Parsifal

3. What’s the best thing about working with singing-actors as opposed to the non-operatic variety?

They come to the first rehearsal knowing all the music and consequently a lot of the motivations behind the characters and their objectives, etc. Actors pride themselves on beginning the process as a sort of 'blank page', carrying their scripts around for weeks-- waiting for actors' memories can be intense and debilitating. Rehearsals with singers are completely revivifying in contrast-- and quick. Of course, when they show no instinct for acting, there are deeper frustrations. Opera is theater, after all.

4. Your debut assignment at L.A. Opera will be Verdi’s Rigoletto. What exactly is his problem?

Well, he's physically deformed; he hates himself; the one woman on earth who was kind to him has left him a widower, and he is insanely attempting-- like a father in a Molière farce-- to keep his teenage daughter pure by locking her up. He is essentially a dysfunctional obsessive, enjoying his corrupting work with his scary, sexually obsessed boss. Because of his flaws, however, we identify with him. This is one reason we go to the theater. The 'other' becomes the 'self'.

5. Which music made you want to direct opera?

An aunt and uncle gave me the Risë Stevens/Fritz Reiner recording of Carmen one Christmas when I was little. I had studied violin for years, but Carmen -- and Bizet!-- had her way with me. Then came, in quick succession: Don Giovanni, Boris Godunov. I picked them out in record stores because of their covers and played them until they were memorized!

6. You’ve long been associated with American opera companies such as Glimmerglass, Santa Fe, and New York City Opera as well as new works from American composers. Which American composer have you not worked with yet that you would most like to?

John Corigliano. I think he should make an opera of Rocco and His Brothers. His Red Violin Concerto is a particular favorite of mine.

7. And while we’re on the topic of past successes...What, no Wagner?

After Chereau? You must be kidding. No production has so far topped his "Ring" in my opinion. Brilliantly conceived. I enjoy listening to the "Ring", and possess numerous recordings of it. And i would certainly jump at the chance to conceive and direct it if offered-- but I have to confess that so far in my lifetime I have not been able to sit through live productions of Lohengrin (Vienna), Parsifal and Götterdämmerung (Met). However Tristan und Isolde (Met)-- I managed, and happily, despite the fat woman playing the title part. In this day and age of surtitles, I want to scream and flee when Wagner's carefully crafted libretto cannot be acted out in front of us because the singers are too fat or too lazy or too worried about their music. Wagner's operas are "singing dramas", and should be held to the highest standards. Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen could ACT.

8. Your iPod is destroyed by a vengeful mezzo. Which lost tracks would you miss most?

I don't have an ipod because I only listen to music if I can give it my undivided attention. Music is not the soundtrack of quotidian existence. I listen to music at home without distraction from great big speakers-- or live, which is a real passion of mine, especially concert-going. But, that said-- the "lost tracks" I would miss most? Ligeti chamber music, Britten solo piano music, the recordings of Nathan Milstein, Eileen Farrell, Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, Krystian Zimerman, Olga Kern, and the Tebaldi-Del Monaco-Bruscantini Forza. Worst of all would be the loss of an Arena di Verona concert-- 2 disks-- starring Freni and Pavarotti. Or Tony Bennett and Bill Evans' rendition of 'When in Rome'.

9. What's your current obsession?

"Current", such an interesting word. Though we've never met, obviously you know me well. OK: Positano. My husband of 31 years and I just got back from a magical stay there. We dream of living there someday-- or spending as much time there as possible. Though Berlusconi and the pope are awful, and though we love Obama, we are increasingly exhausted by American politics and culture wars and the U.S. obsession with religion and the insane and destructive media.

10. With which opera character do you have the most in common?

Werther

Labels: 10 Questions, LA Opera 10/11

Act I finale of Lohengrin Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

Wagner’s Lohengrin rode back into town on his swan this weekend at Los Angeles Opera in a largely successful and very attractive, unexpectedly new production. Unexpected in the sense that the show was originally announced as a revival of the company’s 2001 production, but on further contemplation, the company and director Lydia Steier elected to completely “repurpose” the materials from that last production to create something brand spanking new. And after seeing the premiere on Saturday, I can attest that no one would mistake this Lohengrin for the old one. In fact no one would mistake it for any of the other Wagner operas the company has mounted in recent years. L.A. Opera and music director James Conlon have invested a lot of time and money in staging most of Wagner’s operas over the last decade and has succeeded beautifully on nearly every occasion with a series of colorful, abstract, and sometimes symbolic productions from the Robert Wilson Parsifal, to Ian Judge’s rotating Tannhäuser, and, of course, the recently completed Achim Freyer Ring Cycle.

The Act III finale of Lohengrin Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

In contrast, the company’s second go at Lohengrin is as naturalistic as they come. But that is not to say that Ms. Steier doesn’t take any liberties with elements of the staging and story, but the visual sense of the show is accessible in a way that audience members who may have been alienated before are more comfortable with. Or at least one might assume this, given the polite reception she received on stage at the end of the show. In my opinion she deserved a far more enthusiastic response for this intelligent and very good looking production. The action is updated to the tail end of WWI on the border of France and Germany. The Saxon troops arrive in Brabant, whose population has been largely displaced into the three remaining walls of a bombed out cathedral, which dominate the stage and rotates throughout the opera to create different spaces. A field hospital has been set up among the ruins, and injured civilians are tended to by nurses. As the curtain rises, the entire cast and chorus is on stage frozen in position as a living tableau. Slowly the lights begin to rise as a light snow begins to fall that continues more or less throughout the entire rest of the opera. Soon, a small tent at the rear of the set lights up and shadowy figures are revealed: a surgeon, later revealed to be Telramund, is amputating the leg of a soldier who unfortunately does not survive the procedure.

Dolora Zajick as Ortrud Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

This detail in the opening minutes is critical, because much of the evening hangs on it. The Saxons arrive and when the accused Elsa prays for the arrival of her knight/savior no swan appears. Instead the projected images of war torn countryside on the giant backdrops are replaced by rippling water as seen from below while surfacing. The dead soldier from the overture comes back to life and exits the tent with a steel plated leg replacing his amputated one. The conceit is clever in that it emphasizes one of the most difficult aspects of this opera to pull off - that Lohengrin is seen as a miraculous and magical being by Elsa and the people of Brabant. He is connected to the Divine which is crucial in understanding him in opposition to Telramund, Ortrud, and everyone else in the opera. Steier takes this set up one step further by emphasizing the human qualities, both good and bad, of the rest of the characters. Telramund, one of the bad guys, is repeatedly put in positions where he is doing good both as a surgeon and later by tending to an abused soldier. Meanwhile the Saxons, whom Lohengrin and the citizens of Brabant intend to go into battle with, exhibit some not so nice behavior including assaulting the local men and women, injured or not. Steier is muddying the waters about who is good and who is evil unifying all of the characters in a more humanistic way and highlighting the contrast with a divine and healing Lohengrin.

Solie Isokoski and Ben Heppner Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

The sets, though crowded at times, are lovely and the rotating cathedral ruins keep things visually interesting particularly after a rather static first act. There's a cinematic quality to the war torn European countryside tableau and the video backdrops are really quite amazing. But all the visual wonders of the world can't completely make up for any musical deficiencies and luckily in terms of Conlon and the orchestra, those are nearly non-existent. The orchestra's playing has grown exponentially after its many months in the throws of the Ring and their Wagner has never sounded better. Conlon who took athletic and brisk pacing throughout the Ring seems to have taken a more reflective and luxurious pacing here, but it never drags. This is unquestionably some of Wagner's most beautiful music and the players of the orchestra and the chorus under director Grant Gershon have done admirably by it. The men in the chorus deserve particular mention considering how much time they spend on stage in this opera. They have a lot of stage business to do in this and their vocal performances came off quite well despite it.

James Johnson and Kristinn Sigmundsson with chorus Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

As for the principal stars of the productions, the success rate was a little more variable. Let me start by saying how impressive James Johnson's Telramund and Kristinn Sigmundsson's King Heinrich are. Both have made prior appearances here and their important contributions to the evening shouldn't be overlooked. Solie Isokoski sang the role of Elsa with a beautiful bright tone throughout. Her voice was warm and the sound rounded, smooth, and easily heard, which fit well with the character, though at times I might have wished for more of a piercing quality. Probably one of the most anticipated debuts of the evening was Dolora Zajick's Ortrud, her first turn at this role or any Wagner role. (That is if you don't count her handful of performances as a Valkyrie during her time as an Adler fellow in San Francisco in the 80s as a commenter points out.) Zajick is the world's leading Verdi mezzo and her Amneris, Azucena, and Eboli fill houses around the world. As would be expected her voice is big and powerful and never harsh. However, for me it lacked a certain Germanic quality with the consonants gone missing. Her acting was certainly good, though, and I imagine with more time in this area of the opera rep she'll be formidable in this role as well. Of course, the biggest name associated with the production is Ben Heppner in the title role, which initially brought him to international fame. He's been singing the role for two decades now and it would be unreasonable to expect his performance now to be equivalent to that of even a decade a go. He had a difficult evening even compared to the final dress rehearsal performance I'd heard earlier in the week. There are still large portions of his performance that are brilliant with a heroic ease that is unparalleled. But on Saturday, there were also plenty of moments dominated by snap, crackle, and pop.

On balance thought, this is undoubtedly a very successful and satisfying Lohengrin and as likely good of one as you might see on any world-class opera stage these days. It comes recommended and runs through December 12.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

The above image is one that Los Angeles Opera has recently released in promotion for their much anticipated and star-studded production of Wagner’s Lohengrin that will be opening on November 20. Conducted by music director James Conlon, the show will feature Ben Heppner in the title role in his company debut, Soile Isokoski as Elsa and Dolora Zajick in her role debut as Ortrud. On closer inspection of the L.A. Opera web-site, I noticed something else interesting about this upcoming run. Lohengrin has gone from a revival of the previous 2001 production directed by Maximillian Schell as announced previously to an “all new” production. Inquiring minds want to know, so I posed the question about the source of this transformation to Christopher Koelsch, the company’s COO and Senior Vice President.

Interestingly enough, this Lohengrin is new in a way similar to the way in which the prior production was new. In 2001, the company acquired a production that had previously graced the Mariinsky Theater. Upon arrival, Schell and his creative team decided it wasn’t exactly what they wanted, so the sets were “repurposed” in the service of an essentially new production. It opened at the most difficult of times in the days following the attacks of September 11, which resulted in the cancellation of the opening night. Now nearly a decade later, artistically, history is repeating itself. Upon review of what the creative team had to work with, director Lydia Steier and colleagues have decided that the 2001 version isn’t exactly what they had in mind and are starting over largely from scratch. Some of the sets have again been repurposed, and Dirk Hofacker who was responsible for the 2001 scenic design elements is again on board this year. However, the production is otherwise entirely new with new costumes, lighting, and the all important stage business. Steier is a rapidly rising young American who has worked under Achim Freyer during L.A. Opera’s recent Ring cycle and has had a number of her own important new stagings throughout Europe. I’m told this new Lohengrin will have a look more firmly rooted in the WWI era of the early 20th Century and will not be a show you’ve seen here before or elsewhere.

So you may want to check it out. It’s also worth noting that the company continues to run daily ticket specials, offering up available seats in different sections of the house for different individual performances of all operas this season—at significant discounts. You can follow them online or on Twitter if you’re looking for something in particular that you haven’t yet got tickets for. And this Lohengrin might be just the ticket.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Bo Skovhus, Philip Cokorinos, Daniel Okulitch, Marlis Petersen, Martina Serafin Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

Everyone who loves opera has a handful of pieces they never seem to get tired of. I’m not necessarily talking about favorites, though they can be. I’m talking about operas that you can sit through over and over again regardless of the circumstances and are perfectly willing to plop down money to see them again. Mozart has written a number of those for me, and Le Nozze di Figaro always seems to be a musical marvel. Now that doesn’t mean that every time I see a performance of the opera that it’s a good one. It just means I seem to have a high tolerance even for the bad ones. So I will admit that I was not dreading Los Angeles Opera’s third presentation of Ian Judge’s staging of Le Nozze di Figaro this season. (It was previously here in 2004 and 2006.) What was surprising is not only how well it holds up, but how good of a show overall this revival is. I like Judge’s colorful, humorous and period non-specific staging. The sets are often dark making room for some interesting lighting effects including the use of flashlights by the cast in Act IV, a shimmering imitation gold-leaf wall in Act II, and of course the still surprising fireworks finale. (There are fire codes in L.A., right?) In fact having seen Figaro in most U.S. houses, I feel I can say with some authority that Judge’s staging is easily the freshest this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The other thing I love about this opera is that since virtually all professional vocalists of any stripe sing one of the five major roles, the casts always have a sort of random dinner party feel. How did these five end up in the same room? You begin to wonder. The current L.A. cast is no different. The title role goes to Daniel Okulitch who is as attractive as he was in the ill-fated premiere of Howard Shore’s The Fly in 2008. The good news is that since that time his star has been on the rise with a number of well-received roles and his Figaro was a nice reminder of what a good vocalist he is, too. His Susanna, for at least the first three performances in her L.A. debut, is another increasingly hot commodity, Marlis Petersen who got to pinch hit for Nathalie Dessay in this year’s big premiere of Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera before turning around to perform her signature Lulu there only weeks later. Her Susanna is bright and subtle without being bogged down with too much spunk which is a hazard in this part. Count Almaviva brought another local debut from another hunk of operatic eye candy, Bo Skovhus, whose vocal charms in this role have been well documented on the DVD of Claus Guth’s Salzburg production of Nozze. He was comic and very well controlled, also without being too blustery.

Matina Serafin sang a vocally upsized Countess Almaviva and while I was a bit unnerved that she went at this like it was Wagner at first, she grew on me. Renata Pokupić’s Cherubino and Ronnita Nicole Miller’s Marcellina were also highlights. Of course, L.A. Opera’s Le Nozze di Figaro has more often than not been a bigger and more modern sounding one than you might run across elsewhere. This was especially true under the baton of Placido Domingo, the company’s director who is also starring in the concurrently running Il Postino. Domingo’s work as a conductor rightly or wrongly has a reputation of being much kinder to singers than it is at times to audiences. He did give the singers a wide berth when it came to tempi and things did feel a little slow to start. However, the pace improved over time and his Mozart leadership was more than reasonable with the hometown crowd giving him lots of love all the same. So what’s not to like? Le Nozze di Figaro runs through October 17.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Placido Domingo and Cristina Gallardo-Domas in Il Postino Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

Three months after completing a landmark, controversial production of Wagner’s Ring cycle, Los Angeles Opera opened its 25th Anniversary season Thursday with another ambitious project, the world premiere of Daniel Catán's Il Postino. Without missing a beat, L.A. Opera has jumped right back into the fray by presenting a new opera, the company's sixth, despite having decidedly mixed results with prior premieres. (Remember Drattell’s Nicholas and Alexandra in 2003 or Shore’s The Fly in 2008?) The good news is that Il Postino is about as far away from any previous disasters as one could hope to get. This is an excellent show with beautiful, accessible music and a strong well-paced narrative. And while it may not be musically groundbreaking, it's hugely successful and entertaining. If you're wondering what a modern opera that is widely popular with contemporary audiences would look like, Il Postino is it.


Catán, who wrote both the music and Spanish-language libretto, has put together a highly faithful adaptation of Michael Radford's 1994 film of the same title and the 1985 novel that in turn inspired him, which you can read more about here. The opera maintains most of the film's narrative structure including frequent scene changes. The biggest additions are substantially increased parts for Pablo Neruda, played by Placido Domingo, and his wife Mathilde, sung here by Cristina Gallardo-Domas. Fleshed out (and sometimes fleshy) love duets between this couple provides a parallel with the developing passion between Neruda's tongue-tied postman Mario, sung by Charles Castronovo, and a local waitress Beatrice, performed by Amanda Squitieri. Catán manages a deft and major substitution in this adaptation as well. Radford's film is slight and often precious. It's held together by little more than Neruda's poetry and the striking visual images of a romanticized Italian seaside village. Without the benefit of those visual images on stage, Catán must rely more directly on Neruda's poetry, which he does with supreme success. Not only are his musical settings of the poems beautiful, he and the design team of director Ron Daniels, scenic designer Riccardo Hernandez and lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, all manage to create a visual space that emphasizes the romance and excitement of language. When Neruda or Mario sing of poetry, their words appear larger than life behind them in a variety of animated ways. L.A. Opera invested in a large amount of the latest video technology for their recent Ring cycle, and it is used here to great effect, going beyond simply projecting visual backdrops.

Vladimir Chernov, Charles Castronovo and Amanda Squitieri Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

The music itself is neo-romantic in style with a familiar operatic structure including distinct arias and duets. There are some love orchestral passages including Mario's Act III recording adventure of the island's sounds. However while the style is comfortably familiar, it is substantial music that demonstrates Catán's clear talent in writing for the voice. It’s often challenging music to sing and there are some indications that Catán may have made some minor changes to the score to better complement the cast's vocal strengths. There are several beautiful love duets between the two couples and some dramatic arias as well. Perhaps most unusually, the work ends with a short duet for the two tenor roles, Mario and Neruda. Catán uses the music as much more than backdrop. He uses the music to tell the story directly and move events forward. The music Mario sings initially in the opera is disjointed and somewhat jarring and monotone reflecting his character’s inability to voice his inner emotions. However, as he learns about poetry through his friend Neruda, he gains a more lyrical voice. This is also reflected in the love duets between Mario and Beatrice that change over the course of the story from a decidedly one sided affair to a real barn burner towards the end of Act II. There is also an effort to include various ethnic and folk music elements including accordion accompaniment in the wedding reception scene in Act II as well as an a cappella flamenco vocal solo performed by Gabriel Lautaro Osuna in the role of Mario's Father.

Grant Gershon conducted a sizable L.A. Opera orchestra on this evening and worked with a cast that rose to the occasion of the excellent material they had been provided with. At the center of this piece is Placido Domingo. The fact that Domingo can sing the hell out of this role, which he did, isn’t a surprise. Neruda is a huge part with several arias and at least three major duets to boot and Domingo met the acting challenges in the role as readily as the vocal ones. Il Postino is certainly a landmark performance from Charles Castronovo as well. The entire opera centers around the connection the audience feels with Mario, and Castronovo excelled in this. His voice was warm and generally strong throughout and held up very well in his two duets with Domingo. The women were no less impressive. Squitieri's Beatrice and Gallado-Domas Mathilde both managed secure navigation of high notes throughout with Squitieri in particular receiving a huge ovation at the curtain call. She did have to take somewhat of a second seat to the response given to Catán, however, who received a hero's welcome when entering the stage. He should probably get used to it since, I imagine, he'll be hearing plenty more of it from other audiences as charmed by Il Postino as this one was. The show is running through October 16 downtown.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11

Charles Castronovo and Vladimir Chernov in Il Postino Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2010

Los Angeles Opera will open its 25th-anniversary season tomorrow night with the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino. On Tuesday, however, a significant crowd of donors, students, and others got a sneak preview at the final dress rehearsal. I was there, but will hold any opinions about the piece and its performance until I’ve seen the final product later this week. However, Tuesday’s rehearsal has revealed enough about the opera that it bears some description as a preview of coming attractions.

The opera is based on the 1994 Michael Radford film Il Postino. Radford’s movie in turn was based on an earlier 1985 novel and film, Ariente Paciencia by Antonio Skármeta. There are a number of significant alterations Radford made for his famous film, although both works generally concern the story of an inarticulate postman, Mario played in Catán's work by tenor Charles Castronovo. Mario is aided by famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in his romantic aspirations towards a woman in the man’s village, Beatrice, sung by Amanda Squitieri. Skámeta sets his novel in the early 1970s close to the time of Neruda’s death and the overthrow of Allende’s socialist government by the soon-to-be dictator Pinochet. Radford moves the action of the story to a much earlier time, 1952, when Neruda was living in exile in Europe due to his political beliefs and activities. And while there is some reference to Neruda’s socialist and communist leanings in the latter film, Radford has emphasized the romantic elements of the plot.

Catán, who also wrote the libretto, sticks extremely close to Radford’s version of the story in his version of Il Postino with the setting in 1950s Italy. He keeps almost the entire narrative structure of the film and has only made slight changes by giving a bit more for Neruda, played by Placido Domingo, and his wife Mathilde to sing. There are still some allusions to the political elements of the story, but this is first and foremost a romance and rarely does it stray from that course. The opera, which will be seen in both Paris and Vienna in the coming months after its debut in L.A., is accessible, with lyrical often very beautiful music in a neo-romantic fashion. The music communicates emotional and narrative material in its own right. There is serious and challenging vocal writing throughout the piece including a number of memorable love duets and distinct arias. The great majority of the vocal music is written for one of four characters, Pablo Neruda, his wife Mathilde, Mario, and his love interest, Beatrice.

Grant Gershon is conducting a sizable orchestra for the production, which is directed by Ron Daniels with lighting from Jennifer Tipton. Much use is made of all the video and lighting equipment L.A. Opera purchased for its recent ring cycle, and several scenes rely on video animation for scenery. Several of Neruda's poems that appear in the libretto come to life visually as well with words burning onto the scrim behind the vocalists as they perform. All of this happens above a bright blue tile-patterned floor that adds a great deal of color and light to the show in addition to its obvious reference to the sea which surrounds this island and its events.

The music and content can be downright steamy at times and Mathilde, played by Christina Gallardo-Domas, appeared topless in the first romantic scene with Neruda or at least it appeared so from where I was sitting, although admittedly she was turned with her back to the audience. Before the rehearsal, it was announced that Domingo had a slight cold and had elected to walk through the rehearsal without singing in order to conserve his voice for the upcoming opening night. In the rehearsal, his role was instead sung from the side by his cover. Here’s hoping he feels better soon, because this is a significant part with some real fireworks in it for him.The rehearsal audience had a very warm response for Domingo, even when he wasn't singing, and seemed pretty excited by the whole thing. The biggest ovation was saved for Catán. If the rehearsal is any indication, it looks like opening night is on track to be a big success. Stay tuned for more.

Labels: LA Opera 10/11