Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Anne Schwanewilms, Mariusz Kwiecien, Kyle Ketelsen, Danielle de Niese, and Joyce DiDonato
Photo: Dan Rest/LOC 2010

Talk about a mixed blessing. Lyric Opera of Chicago’s final production for the season is a revival of Le Nozze di Figaro. It couldn’t be cast any better with a group of singers as pleasing to hear as they were to watch on stage. But there are some significant obstacles to the show’s total success. The good news is that some of these will likely resolve well before the end of the run. But back to that cast – Mariusz Kwiecien, Danielle de Niese, Kyle Ketelsen, Anne Schwanewilms, Andrea Sivestrelli, and Joyce DiDonato. DiDonato’s Cherubino is worth the entire evening in and of itself. Kwiecien is also exciting throughout in one of his best roles as Count Almaviva. De Niese's Susanna is bright and plucky if a little croony at times. If there is any unwelcome guest amongst the cast, it’s a virus. In particular, the one that continues to afflict the superior Schwanewilms who is cast as the beleaguered countess. As on opening night, she was announced as ill but sang anyway and was clearly frustrated by her difficulty, particularly at the end of Dove sono. It was admirable that she came off as well as she did all considering and she got the warmest ovation of anyone the whole evening at the end of her troubled aria. Ticket holders later in the run are in for a real treat when she is more fully recovered.

But there were problems of the non-viral variety as well, particularly in the form of the pacing from conductor Sir Andrew Davis. This may have been a beautifully sung Figaro, but it’s the slowest one I’ve attended in recent memory. Yes, comedy can be slow, but Figaro is not a work that benefits from it. There are many sweet knowing smiles over the course of this four hours, but few actual laughs. I kept longing for the thing to develop some real energy and drive as virtually every note was lovingly cradled by the orchestra and cast to the point of distraction. The production from Sir Peter Hall is as predictable as it is forgettable with one too many dark rooms and earth-toned costumes. The evening is neither bright nor vibrant, but with singing this good overall, it has major compensations. The production runs through March 27.

Labels: Lyric Opera Chicago 09/10

John Relyea and Paul Groves
Photo: Dan Rest/LOC 2010

I’m in a happily sunny Chicago this weekend for the final productions of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 09/10 season. On Friday (at the company’s invitation) I saw the new Stephen Langridge production of Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust. The work has been here, there, and everywhere lately including a major new production at the Metropolitan Opera last season from director Robert LePage. Despite this, LOC's jumps in with another quite modern update to Berlioz’ almost-opera that despite some noticeable similarities, couldn't be more different in tone and effect.

Langridge’s Faust staging utilizes a fair amount of modern technology and projected video much like LePage's recent staging. But despite the common love of technology, Langridge elects to update the action of the piece to the later-half of the 20th century in an unnamed Eastern European town. Faust is a computer scientist who feels alienated from the world of soldiers and the beautiful blond young women they love. In fact the dancers and chorus are all attired in one of a small number of identical and dowdy costumes corresponding to various types of persons in the village(e.g., the old woman, the middle-aged woman, etc). Only Marguerite stands out with her long black hair and brown dress. The set is minimal and overshadowed by a series of rafters that raise and lower in a variety of patterns and colored lighting effects. It’s stark at times, but the video projections and colorful props add for a distinct and often striking visual sense. Langridge also uses a series of Faust and Marguerite doppelgangers at times to reenact elements from the story not explicitly spelled out by Berlioz in the musical action such as the arrest of Marguerite and the poisoning of her mother. I thought this worked well and helped connect the narrative elements of the work. Langridge doesn't waste time with pretty dance numbers that exist solely for their own sake but keeps things moving with the decline and fall of the lovers.

Musically it was a bit of an off night, but by no means a shabby one. This is a world-class cast by any measure, but many of the cast have sounded better. Susan Graham, the evening’s Marguerite, was announced to have had a cold before the start of the show, but outside of being a little underpowered, it was hardly what you’d notice. Paul Groves sang Faust, which is one of his signature roles. He's not quite got the handle on the high notes in the score that he was able to do about a decade ago, but his familiarity with the character and experience pays off in other ways. He's a very believable actor and his Faust is truly tragic. John Relyea makes an excellent Méphistophélès as he has done elsewhere and was appropriately menacing in his shiny purple suit throughout. Sir Andrew Davis led the orchestra with an appreciably light hand.

Not everything works as well as it could. When Faust looks out at the soldiers preparing for war in Scene 3, Langridge presents a modern day red beret militia practicing rifle maneuvers. And while this may be a modern day equivalent, Faust's lack of emotional reaction takes on a different meaning. Instead of the audience marking how Faust lacks any passion for glory, it seems more reasonable that he might regret the loss of young life in the folly of war. Given that in a modern context the viewer is more likely to identify with Faust's reaction than reject it, some of the meaning is lost. Still, on balance, the production works on many levels and gets the bigger picture across. It's far more effective in the second half when we see the decisions made by the lovers unravel under the machinations of the devil. There are three more performances between now and march 17 for those of you in the Chicago area.

Labels: Lyric Opera Chicago 09/10

Boaz Daniel, Sondra Radvanovsky, and Salvatore Licitra in Ernani
Photo: Dan Rest/LOC 2009

I couldn’t resist hanging out in Chicago for one more day to catch Lyric Opera’s production of Ernani, which concluded its run on Monday. My main interest in this was Sondra Radvanovsky’s Elvira, whom I saw a couple of years ago at the Metropolitan Opera and had lost none of her luster since that prior outing. She’s still dynamite and undoubtedly one of the leading Verdi sopranos around today. Sadly she ended up having to pretty much carry the show on her own and while she may be a wonderful artist, Ernani is too much of a burden for any one artist to carry on his or her shoulders.

You see, there is the matter of the tenor, bass, and baritone. And not only do they have to sing well, they’ve got to deal with Piave’s crazy libretto. The tenor Ernani, in this case Salvatore Licitra, promises to kill himself on the command of his enemy, Silva, in recognition for having saved Ernani's life from the king's wrath. Licitra still sounds vocally unstable to me. He hits the notes more often than not but it would help if he had some mutual understanding of tempo with the conductor or the rest of the cast. Meanwhile, the bass Silva, sung here by Giacomo Prestia, is the kind of guy who so blindly enforces rules that he ends up promising even to protect his enemy, Ernani, when he arrives disguised as an unknown pilgrim at Silva's estate. Just come on in and make yourself at home, no questions asked. Prestia was competent if not entirely exciting here. Finally there is the baritone king himself, who alternately condemns everyone to death and then pardons them all on a couple of different occasions usually for political reasons he keeps forgetting about. Sadly, this was the most problematic performance, which came from Boaz Daniel, whose King Carlo was all over the place vocally and otherwise.

Probably the biggest disappointment, though, was the new production Lyric Opera had put together under the direction of Jose Maria Condemi. Blandly period without being richly detailed, the show was little more than a series of empty rooms with highly decorated walls and floors. In fact there was so little distinction between those walls and floors you couldn't be blamed for mistaking them as more or less the same room again and again. There was lots of standing, lots of delivering and then they called it a day. It’s bad news when you start thinking "Where's the Grand Inquisitor when you need him?" It was a somewhat underpopulated audience given that it was the Monday before Thanksgiving. However, I did sit across the aisle from San Francisco Opera’s General manager David Gockley. And while I have no idea what business brought him to San Francisco, I certainly hope Monday’s performance didn’t give him any ideas. If he was scouting productions or singers, let’s hope he saw what I did, or San Francisco is in for some more rough opera days ahead.

Labels: Lyric Opera Chicago 09/10

Karita Mattila and cast in Katya Kabanova
Photo: Dan Rest/LOC 2009

After a quick 36 hours in New York it was onward to Chicago for the other half of my Janacek opera weekend. The Lyric Opera of Chicago opened up a production of Katya Kabanova, which I saw on Sunday (at their invitation). And while it may not be a first for the company, cast members, or this particular production like the Met’s From the House of the Dead, it’s pretty fantastic on its own terms. The primary reason for this is the phenomenal Karita Mattila who appears in the title role. Mattila has become the most significant performer of Janacek’s operas since Elisabeth Söderström, and seeing her should be a high priority. Given Söderström's recent passing, it makes this performance even more poignant considering that it's pretty clear that due to her work with Mackerras on a number of seminal recordings, Janacek's operas have pretty much arrived at the international repertory by now. Mattila is well suited to the frustrated Katya, trapped in a claustrophobic family home and pushed beyond the brink in the wake of her affair with the young and handsome Boris. Mattila is a performer who never leaves a question in anyone’s mind about the level of her immersion in a role. The clarity and intensity of her voice throughout this opera is just one example of what great singing is all about.

To make matters even better, Mattila is paired with the young and alluring Brandon Jovanovich. As Boris, he cuts a physically and vocally exciting figure of the young man Katya has fallen in love with. The rest of the cast is convincing. Judith Forst plays the evil step-mother Kabanicha. It’s a tough role that easily becomes cartoonish, which she was not entirely successful at avoiding here. Of course, Jonathan Miller’s rather plain-jane 1991 production imported from the Metropolitan Opera doesn’t leave the cast many places to turn on the large , empty stage. Why they dry-docked an opera soaking in the waters of the Volga with little more than a slit at the rear of the stage in Act III is somewhat bewildering. Katya Kabanova contains frequent musical and spoken allusions to the power of the river but Miller's staging would have worked equally well as Oklahoma!. On the plus side, Miller's approach does invite you to see Kabanicha, who constantly berates Katya for her shortcomings as a wife, and the younger Varvara, who encourages Katya's affair with Boris, as two sides of Katya's own personality. It's not some metaphorical overlay, but the troika of these women are tightly bound in this most straight-forward of approaches.

The orchestra was led by Markus Stenz, the music director of the Cologne Opera, and no stranger to Janacek. It was a richly textured and lively performance from the orchestra. So even if you're not going to be in New York over the next couple of weeks, there is a great Janacek opera to be seen right here in Chicago, so don't let it pass you by. Katya Kabanova runs through December 12th.

Labels: Lyric Opera Chicago 09/10

Rene Pape, Piotr Beczala, and Ana Maria Martinez
Photo: Dan Rest/LOC 2009

I love visiting Chicago. Among its many attributes is the most beautiful opera house in America. (Santa Fe may compete but they had unfair help from mother nature.) So I never turn down an opportunity to check out what the Lyric Opera has to offer and popped out to see how the season has started off here in the Midwest when press tickets came my way. In short, it’s a split decision. The good news is the revival of Gounod's Faust, which has one of those strong world-class casts Chicago seems to put together with ease. Not that other houses don’t, it just that in Chicago the vocalists are appreciated by an audience not determined to cut them down because they aren’t already dead, a favorite spectator sport for many in New York. In Chicago's excellent revival you have Piotr Beczala who for better or worse is rapidly filling the hot young tenor shoes left open by the absence of Rolando Villazon for months on end. He’s not the actor you’d hope at times, but Beczala can sing with great passion and strength and I grow more fond of him with each outing. His Faust is touching and believable across the board. Which makes him a great foil for the best Mephistopheles going, Rene Pape, how returns to Chicago in a commanding and menacing performance. Pape did seem a little off balance after dropping the violin he was supposed to pretend to play in Act II but regained his composure and carried on without further flubs. And if these two don’t provide enough male hotness for you, how about Lucas Meachem as Valentin. The trio between the three men in Act IV is pretty much opera heaven.

Marguerite was sung by Ana Maria Martinez who really deserves some of the attention Patricia Racette regularly receives. She is vocally engaging and could easily take over the Renee Fleming territory in a few years. She’s fun to watch and I was thrilled to see her here again. Sir Andrew Davis led an appropriately light, but driven, performance from the excellent Lyric Opera orchestra. The production directed by Frank Corsaro is a bit on the staid and sorry side. It’s been around the country and was seen here in Chicago six years ago. But it does have its charms and it is effective in maintaining some actual magic and darkness in the piece. There are many clever bits around Mephistopheles' appearances and “miracles” that give the opera the feel that the whole thing is a dream he’s orchestrated with the other characters serving only as players in the big game. The inverting crucifix in Act IV is actually pretty creepy. The starry night he conjures in Marguerite’s garden is romantic and with the two singers charged with filling it, it’s a show very much worth seeing.

James Morris and an uncertain Deborah Voigt
Photo: Dan Rest/LOC 2009

The same cannot be said, however, for the rather worn out Zeffirelli Tosca that opened the season and is finishing up a string of fall performances before a hiatus that will last until January, when it will return with a different cast including Violeta Urmana and Marco Berti. The production is static, dull and badly in need of something to bring it to life. Unfortunately, this cast, though filled with celebrities, is not the one to do it. Deborah Voigt finally stopped avoiding me and showed up to a performance of something she was scheduled to appear in that I had a ticket for. But this is not her strong suit and I thought she could be rather shrill at times, although she did have the benefit of easily being heard above the orchestra. She can act, though, and her murder of Scarpia was probably the highlight of the evening. James Morris sang Scarpia and was stiff as a board. More regal than menacing, his worst was a lecherous kiss on Tosca’s bare shoulder. My favorite was Vladimir Galouzine’s Cavaradossi. He does not have an Italian sound, but he was in it to win it even with a not-so-convincing wig.

But probably the worst things about the evening were the moments the production descends into self-parody. The Sacristan’s nearly slapstick mop and bucket routine in Act I is not only unfunny, but makes the rest of the show look dated. It’s ironic that with all the bitching and moaning over the new Luc Bondy Tosca at the Met this fall, that Chicago opens up their season with the same opera with a star-filled cast in a traditional production by the same director whose old production was displaced in New York, yet nobody seems to say a word about it. It makes you wonder who got the better bargain: the Met with a production that audiences and critics dislike and everyone is talking about; or Chicago with the alternative that apparently makes some people happy yet met with comparably little buzz or excitement. So wat'cha want? In any event, go see the Faust. You probably need to see more French opera anyway.

Labels: Lyric Opera Chicago 09/10