Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Sometimes its hard for those of us who love opera to the point of obsession to remember that its an art form like any other. And one of the things opera shares with other art forms is that it is an expansive and diverse practice that encompasses more things than it may be possible for one person to love, admire, or find challenging. You and I both may love films and know a great deal about them. But that doesn’t mean we love the same films, and we may not go to the movies for the same reason or even to see the same things. People who love opera tend to think of the art form as a much smaller world with shared interests in the same rarities and love of many similar works as other opera lovers. They love to read about new productions of Verdi and Wagner operas and talk about specific challenging roles. They assume that all opera lovers share their interests despite disagreements about this singer or that production. But when it comes right down to it they, and that’s a they I would include myself in, are often wrong. Opera is as big an art form as any other and peoples’ interests in it are varied and they come to it with wildly different expectations and desires as they would painting or sculpture or anything else.

This is where the quandary of Puccini’s La Bohème comes into the picture. People who see a lot of opera, and people who write about opera, often dread it. They dread it even if they like it, because it is so familiar and omnipresent in the opera world. No matter how good the cast is, or how good the direction is, its familiarity often makes it a challenge to see the show and finding anything exciting or new about it. Negative La Bohème reviews by opera critics are easy to come by, especially for productions that have seen multiple revivals over the years. And yet, the show is a favorite for opera company’s because first and foremost it sells tickets. People want to see this opera and it fulfills many of the desires that certain opera goers have about what they want from the art form. It doesn’t matter what critics write, the tickets sell anyway just like a summer action movie that does incredible business despite a consensus of negative critical reaction. La Bohème, regardless of a production’s overall quality, represents what a lot of people want from opera.

In Los Angeles Opera’s current run of Puccini’s classic, these audiences are getting what they want. The second performance on Saturday was sold out, as are many of the shows in the run. The audience members around me that afternoon couldn’t have been more thrilled by the show. People wept openly as Mimi died at the end. Granted my reaction to the show was not anywhere near so strong, but I can’t deny that the show makes people happy, even through their tears, and that my feelings about it don’t matter a hill of beans to them. LAO’s production is in its sixth revival of a 1993 show directed by film legend Herbert Ross who was responsible for such movies as The Turning Point, California Suite, and The Goodbye Girl. He died many years ago, the current director to bring his staging to life is Gregory A. Fortner. The show looks surprisingly well kept for its operatic age, the cinematic scope of Ross' original can still pack a punch at times.

The typical way one goes about sprucing up an older production is to hire a fresh young cast. LAO has done that many times before with Ross’ show over the years and does so this time as well. The Rodolfo and Mimi are real-life husband and wife and Richard Tucker Award winners Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez. They look the part of young lovers and give strong worthwhile performances. Costello’s career continues to expand with progressively bigger assignments and his athletic tone is attractive and certain. Perez has had her share of attention as well and though I was less taken with her on Saturday, she was well matched with her husband and has definite stage presence.

But vocally I was most impressed with LAO Domingo-Thornton Young Artist and recent Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner Janai Brugger who is singing Musetta in the first three performances of the run. The energy skyrocketed when she walked on stage and she gave one of those performances where you think, yes, I remember there are in fact all of those notes in this part. Her technique was beautiful and her sense of comic timing superb. She promises to be a thrilling artist to watch and I hope LAO can find more for her to sing in their regular productions very soon. Artur Rucinski sang Marcello with strength and personality as well. In the pit, Houston Grand Opera music director Patrick Summers was making his company debut. He led an energetic performance overall, though he did indulge some of the vocalists a bit more than was necessary dragging out some passages to the verge of tedium.

But these details probably only matter so much to many in the audience who came to relive a tragic love story set in the most romanticized version of Paris. And for those who wanted to fall in love or have their hearts broken, even if vicariously through the players on stage, it was a successful evening. And if you share their interests, I imagine you will to. La Bohème runs downtown for four more performances through June 2.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

On Saturday, the forces of Los Angeles Opera decided to make the most of it. It was the opening of the current season’s fifth production Albert Herring, the second chamber-size opera from Benjamin Britten the company has staged in as many years. Herring is quintessential Britten – a male outsider is further persecuted by a stifling, moralizing community. But unlike Billy Budd or Peter Grimes, Albert Herring is played for laughs. Herring is the virginal son of a greengrocers widow in a rural English village who is unknowingly chosen by the town’s busy-body elders as the “May King,” a young man held up to others as a paragon of moral virtue. Herring is shy and bewildered by the everyday passions of those around him. He plays along without much to say until his friends Sid and Nancy spike his lemonade turning the tables on the upstanding citizens of Loxford and awakening a new world in Albert. The story shares a lot with Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore right down to the Tristan und Isolde references with Britten directly lampooning Wagner’s famous love theme. Of course, Herring, unlike Nemorino, is avoidant of women and his awakening has more to do with throwing off his mother’s apron strings than finding romantic love.

Britten’s opera is a small one written for a chamber-size orchestra and an ensemble vocal cast with few showy solo parts. L.A. Opera does well by Britten’s score and gives the show a huge, luxurious production across the board. James Conlon and his players dug into the score at times like it was Wagner. The production is a very cute, colorful affair, directed by the affable Paul Curran, which originated with the Santa Fe Opera in 2010. It achieves the first goal of comedy by producing real laughs in the audience. Curran gets involved and well-timed performances from many in the cast including Ronnia Nicole Miller as Florence Pike and Liam Bonner and Daniela Mack as Albert’s friends Sid and Nancy. And I’d be remiss in not mentioning some of the others in the cast like Janis Kelly who portrays a rather understated Lady Billows. (The role will be taken over for two performances by Christine Brewer later in the run.) Billow’s chorus of town worthies were all quite accomplished including Richard Bernstein, Jonathan Michie, Robert McPherson, and Stacey Tappan.

But perhaps the most substantial thing in this evening of light comedy is a wonderful performance from tenor Alek Shrader in the title role. Albert is somewhat of a placeholder through much of the opera, stammering and uncomfortably standing around until his intoxication. But a lengthy Act III soliloquy gives him plenty to say and covers the range of an emotional transformation that Shrader manages expertly. He excels at both the physical comedy and sounds youthful and warm above the orchestra in a sizable house. His portrayal immediately opens Albert up as a likable young man to the audience and makes the weightier parts of the score believable.

Of course, too much attention can be a bad thing and the show can sometimes feel a bit overblown. The music and drama tended to flag in the final act without a certain succinctness. Just a bit to much grandeur weighs the proceeding down and the lovely set looked tiny on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage surrounded by an awful lot of dark space around its sliver of British springtime sky. But this Albert Herring retains its humor and good heart for the most part and still manages to charm.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

As I was just saying, while Los Angeles Opera is offering far less ambitious programming for the near future, so far the decline in their fortunes has not led to a decline in the overall quality of the productions. And if you don’t believe me, you should check out the first-rate Simon Boccanegra the company opened on Saturday night. This is musically, and more importantly dramatically, compelling Verdi with more than just a pulse, but a raging earnest heartbeat that can be heard and felt at great distances. The marketing for the show, understandably, show’s off one of the company’s biggest assets, General Director Placido Domingo who stars here in the title role. The world’s most famous tenor has moved into singing baritone roles in these late stages of his career, and Boccanegra is a part he’s sung just about everywhere resulting in, count ‘em, three separate DVDs that are all currently available. And his presence certainly filled seats on opening night in L.A. But while the focus on Domingo is warranted, it risks overlooking a wonderful ensemble cast that makes this show more than just a star vehicle.

First there’s Ana Maria Martinez who sounded vocally richer and more assured last night than I remember her previously. She apparently has developed into a bit of a Verdi soprano recently if this performance is any indication. She floats some lovely pianissimos and has a much firmer grasp on the more girlish, innocent aspects of Amelia’s character than most sopranos do. On the bad guy side, Paolo Gavanelli gave one of his always remarkable performances as Paolo Albiani, infusing a character that can take a back seat in some stagings with real pathos. He was well matched with the show’s other heavy, Fiesco, who was sung by L.A. favorite Vitalij Kowaljow. In an evening whose vocal music has been brightened by Domingo’s tenor presence, Kowajow and Gavanelli kept a sense of balance. And then there was the pleasant surprise of Stefano Secco. After some pinched and strained singing as Faust in San Francisco in 2010, he managed to deliver a far more comfortable and varied turn here as Amelia’s lover Gabriele Adorno. Verdi seems better suited for his voice, and much like his Don Carlo, the role of Adorno allowed him to flex some muscle without leaving him overexposed.

Everyone gets their moment to shine in this cast, but the person who holds it all together is James Conlon who again led the orchestra in a propulsive, lusty performance. The players sounded bright and polished closely following the overall timbre of the vocal casting. There was no down time in the show, which seemed to fly by despite its many scene changes. And then there is Domingo himself. As I’ve said before about his performance of this role, what is lost in the darker shadings of Boccanegra’s vocal part are more than made up for by the tenor’s unquestionable acting abilities. He commands the stage and connects immediately with everyone—cast and audience. No one ever looks aloof or disconnected here, and Domingo fully realizes the tragedy Verdi laid out in Boccanegra’s eventual downfall.

If I had any qualm with the evening, it was with Elijah Moshinsky’s rather uninspired staging. He does manage to expertly flesh out the relationships between the characters this time around, but the physical aspects of the staging can be tedious. The production, which was originally staged at the Royal Opera House and was seen in San Francisco as recently as 2008, consists of a single hall bordered on one side by rows of columns, which are open to the sea and sky. And while it places the action in Genoa’s seaside milieu, there is little other change from scene to scene other than a backdrop or two or a table here and there. It’s attractive and functional, but ultimately forgettable. I think it worked a bit better this time around than during my last exposure to it in San Francisco, and this may be largely due to the chemistry between Domingo and the rest of the onstage players. There also seemed to be some difficulty with the lighting on Saturday as some of the scenes were so dark it was hard to clearly distinguish what was going on from a distance. But production aside, this is a winner of an evening with musical and dramatic qualities that outpace any quibbles. And best of all, it bodes well for the highlight of LAO’s upcoming season, which opens in September with most of the same artistic players coming together on a similar project, Verdi’s I due Foscari with Domingo as baritone, James Conlon on the podium, and a promising supporting cast.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

Remember the “Recovered Voices” project? It was the initiative spearheaded by Los Angeles Opera and music director James Conlon to present some of the music composed by artists adversely affected by Germany’s Third Reich and largely neglected in the history of 20th-century music. L.A. Opera kicked off the series with a concert in 2007 followed by full productions of Zemlinsy’s Der Zwerg, Braunfel’s Die Vögel, and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten over the next few seasons. Unfortunately the state of the economy and the company’s budget have precluded any more fully stage productions along these lines since 2010. But neither the spirit nor the music itself has been forgotten, as evidenced by James Conlon’s appearance last weekend conducting members of The Colburn School Orchestra and L.A. Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artists in a double bill of one act opera’s by two of those same composers featured in the “Recovered Voices” series.

The concert took place in Colburn’s Zipper Hall and while this may not have allowed for the largest space for these semi-staged productions, it was ideal considering the musical resources. The vocalists easily projected in the space over the chamber-sized orchestra without strain showing off their best attributes and allowing for some pointed and memorable performances. First on the bill was Ernst Krenek’s The Secret Kingdom. Krenek’s career covered a lot of 20th-century musical ground including the jazz-influenced 1926 opera Jonny spielt auf. The Secret Kingdom is more clearly situated in the dying days of late Romanticism with nods to the Second Viennese School. It also owes a lot at least thematically to Wagner. The story, which starts with narration from the court’s jester, tells of an unpopular king among his subjects and even his queen. The queen enlists her three ladies-in-waiting to cajole and seduce the king's jester into giving up the crown he is holding for the king in a clever reverse of the opening of Das Rheingold. She in turn attempts to use the crown to seduce a rebel leader with the promise of power and her affection but to no avail. The royals all escape the rebels and enter the forest where the queen turns into a tree. After the king contemplates suicide, the queen’s voice comforts him and the Jester returns the crown bringing the show to an end.

This sort of fairy tale material lends itself to any number of sociopolitical interpretations in its historical context. Director Gulu Monteiro and designer Swinda Reichelt, who contributed to both stagings, used the space and resources at hand to evoke German expressionism without overplaying either the political allusions or fantastic aspects of the story. Domingo-Thornton alumnus Daniel Armstrong sang the role of the jester and sunk his teeth into the playfulness of the part interacting with the audience. Baritone Museop Kim was the heartbroken king and he produced a warm even sound in his scenes with guest artist Stacey Tappan who was both commanding and lovely as a queen. Tappan has had a number of notable roles in California recently including singing roles in San Francisco’s recent Ring cycle such as Siegfried’s Woodbird. Her tree evoked Strauss’ Daphne for obvious reasons and her performance made me look forward to hearing her in bigger roles. The three Ladies in Waiting were Valentina Fleer, Renée Rapier and Tracy Cox who all performed with voices lovely enough to evoke the unavoidable allusions to Rheinmaidens.

The second half of the program was a reprisal of Viktor Ullmann’s The Emperor of Atlantis, a piece written in Theresienstadt and a favorite of Conlon’s. He performed it in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Temple in 2004 with members of the LA. Philharmonic, and this staging rivaled the quality of that previous one. This war time allegory about death taking a holiday and refusing to end anyone’s life despite the king’s request he do so as part of an ongoing war campaign is dark, sardonic material. The sweet and brightly voiced Ben Bliss played Harlequin, the character who represents life and debates Death’s decision to renounce his usual duties. Bass Erik Anstine made for an ironic and rather comical death figure. Renée Rapier returned as the drummer-girl in her Weil-inspired stage presence. But perhaps most engaging was the lovely lyric duet performed by Alexey Sayapin and Janai Brugger who performed as a soldier and Bubikopf, combatants who become lovers in the absence of death. Perhaps most satisfying, though, was the robust and sizable performance given by the Colburn players, which sounded much bigger than their number might suggest on the stage. This is music with lots of rapid stylistic changes and can move between tense and gently lyrical with little notice. It made for a lovely afternoon and a promising showcase for some of the company's youngest talents.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

Los Angeles Opera had a big day today with two announcements that may stir up some feelings good and bad in several different quarters. First off, the company paid off half the $14 million principal on a loan the company took out in 2009 from Bank of America that was guaranteed and supported by the County of Los Angeles. (This early partial repayment will lower the overall cost of the loan to the company in the long run.) This development, discussed at a County Board of Supervisors Meeting, also included a proclamation honoring the contributions of Placido Domingo to the company and city and a round of “Happy Birthday” sung by those in attendance. Good for him and good for Los Angeles Opera. As supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is quoted as saying, the loan "was the right thing to do." Well, he’s almost right. Actually the right thing to do would have been for the county (and perhaps less-attractively Bank of America) to just give Los Angeles Opera the money. The regressive concept of arts funding in the U.S. has somehow led people to believe that loaning a major cultural institution money with interest is somehow radical philanthropy. In a year when the City of Los Angeles was willing to back hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds to secure a new football stadium downtown, the notion that anyone would find a loan the size and kind of LAO’s is simply ludicrous.

And then there was this. The company also announced today that it’s recruiting social media savvy folks for what it’s calling “tweet seats” for the February 8 final dress rehearsal of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, which will star Mr. Domingo under the baton of James Conlon. The idea is that participants will tweet about the rehearsal as it happens and this notion will likely fire up all those parties that worry such an event spells the end of life and culture as we know it on earth. I continue to fail to see how such an initiative is so threatening to some people. Standards for acceptable audience behavior have changed widely over the last few hundred years and I imagine they will again at some point. In the meantime, I sincerely doubt there is a huge number of people dying to pay upwards of $100 to $200 a seat to witness an opera or other event for the first time now that they think they can tweet or text during it. Whether or not something like “tweet seats” at a dress rehearsal or anything else brings about increased interest or access to opera or other arts, I couldn’t say. If so, then great. But I feel certain that the expressed anxiety over social media as a sign of cultural degradation (or more dramatically the loss of humanity) is decidedly misplaced. Opera and classical music have survived indoor plumbing, the steam engine, television, and atomic energy. Opera and its audiences will make it through this as well.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

When Ian Judge’s production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette first appeared at Los Angeles Opera in the winter of 2005, I saw it five times. It was a very special occasion and one of the high-water marks in the company’s history to date. There were several reasons, but primary among those was the starring duo of Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon, who were just reaching a pinnacle in their period of recurrent collaborations on the operatic stage. Times are different now, of course, and LAO’s revival of this particular production might seem to tempt fate by asking for the miraculous to happen twice. And incredibly, the show comes closer than you might expect to that level of success by again relying on two stars in the title roles who appear to be on the verge of very big careers – soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Vittorio Grigolo. I’m not going to compare either of them to their predecessors because I think it’s a pointless exercise. What I will say is that they deliver two very exciting performances that alongside Judge’s tight, visually interesting production ensure that no one in the audience will be going home disappointed.

Machaidze is well known in Los Angles having performed in bel canto roles here on two prior occasions. Juliette is a different, and much more lyrical assignment for her, although it is also her breakout role, having stepped into it at the Salzburg festival in 2008. (Ironically for a pregnant Netrebko opposite Villazon.) She manages fine detail with ease and has adequate power. There’s a darker hue to her voice overall, and despite a few sharp moments, she was very convincing and pleasing to listen to. Then there is her Romeo, Vittorio Grigolo. Grigolo is only making his third U.S. appearance in Los Angeles this month and he’s had a massive wave of excitement preceding him based on numerous European performances and his track record as a cross-over recording star. He’s got formidable chops, and his Romeo was strong, athletic, and full of character. His voice has that Italianate fragility common in some of the greatest tenors of the last half century, and it’s a sound that immediately sends your mind racing to all of the other roles you would be eager to hear him perform. He’s a young man and his acting can still tend toward too overstated, but he’s simply gorgeous. And I mean more than “opera hot.” He can and does spend nearly all of the Act IV love duet shirtless and has apparently been hitting the gym like some Twilight extra wannabe. (You can get a sample of what I'm talking about at 1:27 above)

Judge gives Grigolo quite a bit of physical stuff to do on his three-story erector-set inspired stage design. He climbs ladders, and barrels through gates. The costumes are mid-19th century, but Judge is able to insert just the right amount of glamor to make the whole thing pop. It may not necessarily be lush, but it is undoubtedly sexy and romantic looking. Best of all, the scene changes are all managed quickly with no down curtain time which keeps the pacing fleet. There are a number of excellent performers in the supporting cast. Ronnita Nicole Miller sings the part of Juliette's nurse, and Renée Rapier makes the most of Stephano's aria in Act III. LA Opera general director Placido Domingo is in the pit for these performances, and he gave his usual generous and measured approach in full support of the vocal artists. On the down side that means that things can get a bit muddy and featureless along the way. But it's not enough to overwhelm the many positives of the performance, and an opportunity to see these two stars working together on a local stage should not be passed by. The show runs through November 26.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

The other hot young star who will be kicking of Los Angeles Opera’s revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette starting today is Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze. Unlike her current costar Vittorio Grigolo, Machaidze is well known to Los Angeles Opera audiences where she has had two incredibly popular appearances in the last two seasons including Adina in L’Elisir d'Amore and Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia. Machaidze, who is still under 30, is well known for bel canto roles such as these and will also star in The Metropolitan Opera’s revival of La Fille du Regiment in December. But in Los Angeles, she will return to the role that made her a star, Juliet. Machaidze made a very big splash in 2008 when she stepped in for a pregnant Anna Netrebko in the part in Salzburg opposite Rolando Villazon. The performance that was captured on DVD and since then she’s performed the role at La Scala among other world class venues. She’s recently released her first recording with Sony, Romantic Arias, earlier this year. So before you head out to hear her sing today, take a minute to check out what transpired with her turn at the Out West Arts 10 Questions.

1. What role would you most like to perform, but haven’t yet?
   

   
   Manon



2. What role would you never perform, even if you could?
   

   
   Carmen



3. You’re returning to Los Angeles Opera as Juliette, a role that you’ve sung to great acclaim in Salzburg, Milan, and elsewhere. What’s the biggest challenge in portraying Gounod’s (and Shakespeare’s) great heroine?
   

   
   I love so much the role of Juliette and I love the story of Romeo and Juliet. It is so interesting to play and sing this girl who is so full of love, happiness and tragedy. It gives me great satisfaction.

4. You’re especially well known for bel canto roles here in Los Angeles including recent spectacular turns as Adina and Fiorilla in Il turco in Italia and in December you’ll return to The Metropolitan Opera as Marie in Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment. What’s the best thing about singing these touchstone bel canto roles?
   

   
   I'm so happy that the bel canto is exactly my repertoire. I feel very comfortable in these parts and I hope to sing them for long, long time. It’s absolutely wonderful music, but you need to study a lot to have a very strong, good technique. You need a good voice, good and easy coloratura, high notes, low notes, piani, forti and musicality.



5. What do you like best about singing for audiences in the United States?
   

   
   I really love American audiences. They are absolutely fantastic and give me a great, positive energy. It’s always a big pleasure for me to sing for them. I always try to give all my heart and all my best in every performance, and it makes me so happy to feel that they see this and give me back a big, big love.



6. Which opera or role inspired you to become a performer on the operatic stage?
   

   
   I really don't remember one specific part. I just always knew that I wanted to be an opera singer.



7. You’re iPod is destroyed by a temperamental tenor. What music on it will you miss most?
   

   
   “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie





8. You’ve worked with many of the greatest conductors and vocalists in the opera world. Is there someone you haven’t worked with yet you’d like to?
   

   
   Yes, of course, but there are so many more than just one, and I hope to work with them all someday.



9. What's your current obsession?
   

   
   I have one dream that I wish will come true.



10. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
    

    
    Juliette!

Labels: 10 Questions, LA Opera 11/12

Los Angeles Opera’s new production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, which opened on Sunday, shares a lot with the production of Eugene Onegin. Both feature strong ensemble casts led by LAO music director James Conlon. Both were presented in imported British productions, this Cosi having originated at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2006 from Nicholas Hytner. And both have water features as part of the set design. But whatever similarities or differences may predominate in the two shows, one thing is certain – this Cosi fan tutte is vocal dynamite. Most vocalists with an active operatic career undertake Mozart at one point, but few excel at it on a world stage. That LA Opera has assembled six performers as good as those in this cast is a feat in itself.

There are two international superstars in the cast who deliver all the promised goods. Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak is taking on the role of Fiordiligi for the first time in Los Angeles. She is known for her Mozart roles, and her turn here is a stunner. Her voice is bright and lovely, and her performance of “Per pietà, ben mio, perdona” is powerfully felt. She’s a superb actor as well, which makes her an excellent match for her betrothed Guglielmo, sung here by Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. The Italian baritone is known in part for his swarthy good looks. When his character goes into full seduction mode in Mozart’s comedy, you can feel the heat. That his voice barrels through the tricky acoustics of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is breathtaking at times. He’s ferociously fun to watch. The rest of the cast is equally good. Ruxandra Donose returns to L.A. as Dorabella with a rich, warm tone. Samir Pirgu, so memorable in Woody Allen’s version of Gianni Schicchi a few ears ago proves an agile and admirable Ferrando. Bass Lorenzo Regazzo is never blustery as Don Alfanso and could give either of the supposedly younger lovers a run in the looks department. Meanwhile, Roxana Constantinescu sang Despina, Don Alfanso’s partner in crime in his bet that the two young women won’t remain faithful to their soldier fiancées once they are out of sight. She was mischievous and ceded no ground against the remarkable vocalism on display in the show.

Conlon took relaxed paces throughout, but his biggest achievement was wrangling the multiple 4, 5, or 6 person ensembles Mozart wrote into the score. Cosi contains some of Mozart’s most intricate vocal writing and it can get away from the best of ensembles easily. But not here, everyone was together and on point the whole afternoon and the orchestra delivered a world class Mozart performance.

So with great singing, superb musicianship, and first-class comedic acting chops from the cast, what’s not to love? Well maybe Nicholas Hytner’s bland staging, which was directed here by Ashley Dean. Hytner is one of the world’s most respected directors, and his leadership of Britain’s National Theater is justly well-regarded. But his opera stagings, like the Metropolitan Opera’s recent Don Carlo, tend toward vacant architectural designs. Hytner’s vision places all of his theatrical eggs in the basket of his casts’ skills. Here that works just fine, but it isn’t always the case. The set, a single sparse 18th-century room that opens upstage into a patio area is almost devoid of color. A movable wall of shutters is pushed aside to reveal the patio area which has a small inexplicable pool and looks more like the travertine walls of the Getty Museum that anything associated with the casts’ period costumes. Cosi fan tutte is a comedy about mismatched lovers and productions can easily amp this war between the sexes in a number of spirited, broad ways. And while there are many laughs in the new L.A. Opera staging, Hytner’s vision is decidedly less than comic and looking for something deeper.

By the time one gets around to the large red tent stretched above the lovers as all is revealed in the finale, it wasn’t clear to me that those secret depths had been found. They are there to be sure, and this cast of artistic miners dig deep even if Hytner only lets them get so far. But it was really no matter. This Cosi fan tutte is at its best when it’s singing its heart out. It often does and that is reason enough to go. The show continues through October 8.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

Oksana Dyka as Tatiana in LA Opera's Eugene Onegin. Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

Even though it's the 4th largest company in the U.S., Los Angeles Opera is far younger than other comparable organizations. In its 25 seasons, the company has yet to get around to mounting Eugene Onegin so the opening of the 2011/2012 season of Saturday seemed like the perfect night to correct that oversight. And they did with a big, colorful elaborate production under the baton of music director James Conlon. The bejeweled gala crowd crossed the white floor covering into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for this most Russian of operas in the midst of a bright Southern California sun. And this time around, the opera performance itself justified all the excitement before hand on this most glamorous of nights. For a company with very little experience with Russian-language operas, this Eugene Onegin is a successful, solid evening of entertainment.

Oksana Dyka and Dalibor Jenis in LA Opera's Eugene Onegin. Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

The first thing that went right for the show was the casting. With the exception of Slovakian baritone Dalibor Jenis, the principal roles were sung by native Russian or Ukranian speakers. And while these are names that many in the audience might not be familiar with, they may be very soon. L.A. Opera has a knack for casting known European singers just before they become international superstars. Remember that Manon and Romeo et Juliette with Netrebko and Villazon? Or Marina Poplavskaya's Violetta? The process is still unfolding for Nino Machaidze. The next name you may want to add to that list is Oksana Dyka. The Ukrainian soprano sings Tatiana in her first North American performance of any role. And she soars as the young woman whose impetuous disclosure of romantic feelings is roughly rebuked by the cold aristocratic Onegin. Her voice is agile and strong if not always quite as warm as I might have liked, but this is no doubt a major arrival for her in the U.S. Keeping Onegin relevant in this opera especially against such a performance takes a special baritone who can project a sort of aristocratic cruelty and still command attention. Dalibor Jenis, the Slovakian baritone who made his house debut in this role is almost there. He is dashing and brooding enough to explain why Tatiana would be attracted to him in the first place. Jenis projects well in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. But some of Onegin's aristocratic overtones seemed to take a backseat in his performance to the dark-brooding masculinity that serves Jenis so well in many of his Verdi roles. Ekaterina Semenchuk returned to L.A. to sing Olga which she did admirably well. Lensky was performed by tenor Vsevolod Grivnov who certainly had the technical skills to carry the part off with ease even if Lensky's big second act aria failed to connect emotionally as much as it could with the audience. Of course, having the luxury of hearing him and many others in the cast sing in their native tongues made a huge difference.

I should mention that the orchestra sounded particularly good this opening night with more polish and finesse than usual. Music director James Conlon was on the podium and he chose particularly quick tempi for much of the evening. It was also the orchestra's first official performance under its newly appointed concertmaster Roberto Cani, who takes over for the well-loved retiring Stuart Canin after nearly a decade in that position. I should also mention local favorite, bass James Creswell, who has sung many roles for the company over the years and almost steals this whole show with his powerful version of Prince Gremin's aria in Act III. And speaking of local favorites, how about the great Ronnita Nicole Miller who turns in another wonderful performance here as Filipievna.

Vsevolod Grivnov as Lensky in LA Opera's Eugene Onegin. Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011

The production itself isn't always as successful as the evening was musically. It was originally designed by Steven Pimlott for the Royal Opera House in 2006 and had a rather mixed reception then. From the outset things are unquestionably situated in the early 19th century as the curtain rises to reveal a scrim covered in a reproduction of Hippolyte Flandrin's Nude Youth Sitting by the Sea acquired by Napoleon III and now residing in the Louvre. It evokes Onegin's beauty and isolation and each act is paired with such a related painted image. The sets themselves are no less colorful and border on the psychedelic at moments. The costumes are roughly in period but do contain their fair share of neon greens and hot pinks. The sky changes color over the course of the day from yellow, to green, to red, orange and black, but rarely ever is there a hint of blue.

The main feature of the set is a river that runs completely across the stage dividing upstage from downstage with a couple of footbridges connecting the two. This can be somewhat difficult to see from the orchestra and the whole show may be better appreciated from the Founder's Circle or above. Downstage is a wooden floor and proscenium with doors suggesting the floor of a house or other interiors. Upstage in the distance are steep green rolling hills that appeared difficult to scale by some in the chorus. All of this does provide for some lovely emotional and pastoral moments with Tatiana playing in the water or the women villagers relaxing by the riverside. The river “freezes” over in Acts II and III which provides an excuse for some inexplicable outdoor ice skating during the Act III ball scene.

But this is one water feature that may cause more trouble than its worth. As lovely as it is in Act I, it forces the indoor scene into contortions to fit the remaining downstage area at times. Tatiana’s room in Act I and the study in the finale, are wheeled out on their own platforms as if floating on the river just behind the downstage area. Perhaps the biggest drawback to the space, though, is the highly cramped quarters that are left for the cotillion scene in Act II where chorus members and dancers are packed together tightly enough to restrict movement. Given that the lighting in this scene is unnecessarily dark the feeling is more speakeasy than ballroom. But director Francesca Gilpin does a good job of doing everything possible to work around these limitations and the physical and emotional interactions between the characters are well thought out. The audience reacted heartily at the end of the show, particularly towards Dyka and for the orchestra. So L.A. Opera's first Eugene Onegin turns out to be a very successful one, and, if you go, you won't be disappointed. The show has five more performances through October 9.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

Aleksandra Kurzak. Photo: Andrzej Swietlik/Decca 2011

There's another big star who knows her way around the Mozart repertory and who will be seen starting this week in Los Angeles. Her name is Aleksandra Kurzak, and if you don't already know her name, you soon won't forget it. She’s sung Donna Anna and Susanna just about everywhere and I was particularly taken by her turn in Don Giovanni in Salzburg in 2010. At Los Angeles Opera on Sunday she’ll make her role debut and company premiere as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte alongside Ildebrando D’Arcangelo and an all-around excellent cast under conductor James Conlon. (Spoiler Alert: She was nothing short of amazing at Wednesday night’s final dress rehearsal so don’t say nobody warned you well in advance.) Kurzak’s career has taken off on the major international opera stages in recent years and her schedule is packed with several high-profile assignments. After Los Angeles, she’ll move on to New York where she’ll be singing Gretel for the Metropolitan Opera over the holidays. But she’s taking on many of the cornerstone Italian soprano roles as well and to trumpet this development, her first recital recording for Decca, Gioia! was just released on Tuesday. The disc features arias from Puccini, Verdi, and Donizetti alongside her well-known Mozart roles. With all that’s going on for her, Out West Arts was extremely lucky to get some time with her for another back-to-back session of 10 Questions.

1. What role would you most like to perform, but haven’t yet?
   

   
   There are a lot of roles I would love to sing, but unfortunately the ones I would most like to portray such as Tosca or Butterfly are not for my type of voice. Of course you never know how your voice will develop and how it will be in the future, but for now they remain just on the wish-list.



2. What role would you never perform, even if you could?
   

   
   I've never thought about it actually. But most probably it would be contemporary music.



3. You’ll soon be making your Los Angeles Opera debut in a new role for you, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. Given that you are particularly well known for your Mozart roles, what is the best thing about singing his music?
   

   
   Mozart is very difficult to sing. It's a kind of test for a singer. You can hear everything. You can learn a lot. It is a pure technique. If you can sing Mozart, if you know how to do it, you will never get lost. You will have no problems with different styles, from the technical point of view. Not even one note can be missed. You can't hide yourself behind a orchestra, or by using some romantic portamenti. The music has to sound very simple and because of this, it's so beautiful.




4. You’ve got a new recital recording out from Decca this month featuring a wide variety of Italian and Mozart arias. What was the inspiration for the selections on Gioia!?
   

   
   These are arias I am performing right now. At the beginning there was an idea to concentrate on one composer, but we soon decided that maybe I should show a little bit more. Different styles, composers, different colours. A kind of calling card.



5. What do you like best about singing for audiences in the United States?
   

   
   The audience is just wonderful. Very warm and enthusiastic. The people come to the theater to enjoy the show, to have a great time and it can be felt and it helps us as the artists so much, because we can really feel it on the stage.



6. Which music made you want to sing opera?
   

   
   Opera itself :-) My mother is an opera singer and my teacher, my father used to play french horn in the orchestra in the Opera House in Wroclaw, my native city in Poland. So I basically grew up in the opera house and there was no other choice.



7. What qualities do you like in an opera stage director?
   

   
   I like when they know something about music and understand singing. I like a fresh outlook. I like a modern style of acting. I want to see good theater but with respect for the music. I like the collaboration. I think that all of us, not only directors are responsible for the new production. It has to be a teamwork.




Aleksandra Kurzak (L) and Ruxandra Donose (R) in LA Opera's Cosi fan tutte. Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011



8. You’ve worked with many of the major conductors and vocalists in the opera world over the length of your career. Is there someone you haven’t worked with yet you’d like to?
   

   
   My biggest dream has always been to work with Maestro Domingo.



9. What's your current obsession?
   

   
   Maybe it's not an obsession yet, but I do like bags and shoes :-)



10. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
    

    
    I would say my dream role Tosca. She is a singer who lives for love and music. This is very beautiful, to live your life surrounded by persons you love and do what you love.

Labels: 10 Questions, LA Opera 11/12

Ildebrando D'Arcangelo. Photo: Uwe Arens/DG 2011

This weekend brings the opening of the Los Angeles Opera season and the other half of the company’s 1-2 punch to kick things off this year is Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. The show promises to be particularly exciting for the inclusion of a number of world-class Mozart specialists. Certainly the most devastatingly handsome of these is the international Italian star, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo who’ll make his company debut in the role of Guglielmo. His Mozart roles have been preserved in a number of recordings including my personal favorite, his appearance as Figaro in the 2006 Claus Guth production of Le Nozze di Figaro captured at the Salzburg Festival alongside Anna Netrebko, Dorothea Röschmann, Christine Schäfer, and Bo Skovhus. (Check out a sample of D'Arcangelo's performance below.) But if you’re looking for more evidence of the composer most near and dear to D’Arcangelo’s heart be sure to check out his latest Deutsche Grammophon recital recording of Mozart arias that appears in stores and online in the U.S. today. The major arias from all the DaPonte operas are here as well as a few concert arias. They are beautifully sung with D'Arcangelo's rich warm tone. It’s a testament to how he got where he is in the opera world and comes highly recommended. Needless to say, Out West Arts was smitten with the chance to pose 10 Questions to the charming bass-baritone who kindly agreed to take a break from his rehearsal schedule to do so.

1. What role would you most like to perform, but haven't yet?
   

   
   Méphistophélès in Faust, which I'll sing in 2015. I've done Boito's Mefistofele. I'm really in love with this kind of music, even though I'm a good guy. The more I think about the afterlife, it's a mystery that attracts me more.



2. What role would you never perform, even if you could?
   

   
   No Wagner now, but maybe in ten years. Wotan is a dream. I'm really slow in deciding what to sing.



3. You'll soon be making your Los Angeles Opera debut as the young lover Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte. As a bass-baritone, is it more fun being bad or being funny on the opera stage and why?
   

   
   I really love both, and that's the beautiful thing about this job. You can really fly along with the music and really get into the clothes of the character you play. The satisfaction is not in the applause, it's in how you interpret the role.









4. You're best known as an interpreter of Mozart and have a new Deutsche Grammophon recording of his music that is just out in the U.S. What's the best thing about singing Mozart?
   

   
   Oh, it's my life! It's so attuale [relevant]. Something like Così fan tutte could really happen. Mozart is so simple and perfect. I think that he came from another world.



5. What's the best thing about singing something other than Mozart?
   

   
   Mozart is my first choice, but some music directors forget that you have the capacity to do other things. They'll see a singer as only a Wagnerian, or a Donizettiano or a Mozartean. I like to do everything: Verdi, Mozart, Rossini....



6. Which music made you want to sing opera?
   

   
   My father was a musician. He wanted to name me Radames, but my mother said no. When I was a teenager, I was singing in a chorus and the director brought in the mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli to help us with our singing. She told me that I had a beautiful voice and she started to teach me. My first opera was Don Giovanni, when I was 16. The finale was completely amazing.



7. A remarkable number of your performances over the years have been preserved on both audio and video. Is there a particular recording you are glad was saved for posterity?
   

   
   I'm very happy with the Deutsche Grammophon album of Handel arias. The agility and the range of these arias work really well for me.




Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Saimir Pirgu in LA Opera's Cosi fan tutte. Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2011



8. You've worked with most of the major conductors and vocalists in the opera world over the length of your career. Is there someone you haven't worked with yet you'd like to?
   

   
   It was Carlos Kleiber. Now it's Christian Thielemann.



9. What's your current obsession?
   

   
   Movies. It's like a dream to be here in Los Angeles, the patria. I went to Universal Studios, and it's unbelievable how everything looks completely different from what you see on TV.



10. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
    

    
    Don Giovanni. Let's leave the reason as a mystery. Giovanni would never reveal his secrets.

Labels: 10 Questions, LA Opera 11/12

Jonas Kaufmann Photo: Uli Webber

The much-anticipated debut of tenor Jonas Kaufmann to the Western U.S. occurred last night in a recital at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the invitation of L.A. Opera. It was the third and final recital this season by some of the most admired and most attractive male vocalists working today including René Pape and Dimitri Hvorostovsky. But the Kaufmann appearance was special both because it was his first appearance in the area and because his career is currently one of the hottest in all opera. And it was truly spectacular. If the measure of a vocalist is his or her ability to communicate with the audience with little more than the sound of one’s voice, Kaufmann gave one of the most exciting performances I’ve seen in quite awhile. The program was entirely in German with the first half devoted to Schumann including his Dichterliebe and the second to songs from Richard Strauss. Schumann’s Dichterliebe has featured prominently in many recitals here lately including René Pape’s. But Kaufmann made the works sound surprisingly new with a real musical unity and overarching line of development in the cycle. Kaufmann’s voice has a natural baritonal coloring (reminiscent of another very famous tenor well known to L.A. audiences) and the power and clarity in his lower range in quite impressive.

The Strauss works were equally remarkable including a setting of five poems by Felix Dahn. Again Kaufmann displayed a real sense of communicating emotion with the sound of his voice without having to over rely on his physical gestures. His upper register is quite interesting. Certainly less assured, the upper voice was not completely effortless and could be somewhat breathy in the more pianissimo passages. And yet, this was in no way unpleasant to the ear and actually lent a certain fragility and vulnerability to the singing that fit perfectly to the works. By the time he go to Strauss’ “Ich liebe dich” op. 37, no. 2, many in the audience, including myself, was on the verge of something I’d have to call swooning. It was a remarkable evening made even more impressive with the well integrated and equally sensitive accompaniment of pianist Helmut Deutsch.

The enthusiastic reception at the end of the concert was one of the biggest I’ve seen for a recital in L.A. Kaufmann returned to the stage again and again giving five encores, which while not an unheard of number, certainly a notable one in this day and age. These included many familiar choices such as Strauss’ "Breit' über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar," "Nichts," and "Zueignung." Lehar’s familiar "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" could have melted stone in this room and Schumann’s "Mondnacht" provided a superb coda to the evening. (Interestingly this song was the first time I'd seen a pianist, in this case Deutsch, play music from an iPad instead of good old-fashioned sheet music.) Based on this recital, I’d say Kaufmann’s reputation as the tenor of the moment is well deserved and hopefully L.A. Opera will find some way to coax him back out to these shores very, very soon.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12

Alek Shrader and the cast of Albert Herring from Santa Fe Opera in 2010 Photo: Ken Howard/Santa Fe Opera 2010

After a week of teasers on Facebook, the Los Angeles Opera will announce its 2011/2012 season line-up tomorrow. It’s a very good, and relatively well-balanced season overall and should definitely be attractive to both regular subscribers and new patrons alike. (At least I know that I’m excited about it and think you should be too.) Still coping with ongoing economic realities, the company will again offer six productions, three in the Fall of 2011 and the rest in the Winter/Spring of 2012. Best of all, the company has avoided the pitfall of the last decade by offering up mostly operas that are either new to the company or haven’t been seen in the last five years.

The season opens on Sep 17 with the company premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, starring a predominantly Eastern European/Russian cast including Dalibor Jenis in the title role and Oksana Dyka as Tatiana. James Conlon will conduct these performances as well as those of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, which will be playing in repertory at the same time. Cosi will welcome the local debuts of Aleksandra Kurzak and the über-hawt Ildebrando d’Arcangelo among others. November will bring a revival of Ian Judges’s production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, last seen here in 2005 with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon. And while those days are not coming back, this revival will come about as close as you can get with the Juliette of Nino Machaidze (who has sung the role to great acclaim in Salzburg and elsewhere) and the Romeo of one of opera’s other hottest male commodities Vittorio Grigolo. The company’s artistic director Placido Domingo will conduct.

James Conlon will return in the Spring to conduct two more productions. First will be Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra featuring Placido Domingo doing his much-lauded tenor turn in the title role. The cast also includes Ana Maria Martinez, Vitalij Kowaljow (as Fiesco), and Paolo Gavanelli (as Paolo Albiani). Opposite this Boccanegra will be Benjamin Britten’s comedy Albert Herring in the very well-received Paul Curran production from the 2010 Santa Fe Opera Festival. As there, the ensemble cast will center on the handsome rising star, Alek Shrader in his company debut. The season will close out with a revival of Puccini’s La Boheme, opening on May 12 under the baton of Patrick Summers. And while this is certainly a familiar quantity to LA Opera regulars, the casting of young soon-to-be-superstars Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez may not be. This real life couple has won accolades around the country in both Dallas and San Diego, and their appearances here is a smart move for the company.

Labels: LA Opera 11/12