A Patriotic Donizetti and the Siege of Aleppo

Donizetti’s L’assedio di Calais (American Primiere)

Glimmerglass Opera Festival

Cooperstown, NY

July 22, 2017

A Neo-Realist take for our time on a bel canto classic
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lei: Director Francesca Zambello’s production of Donizetti’s L’assedio di Calais should be a case study on how to modernize an opera, respect the original, and make it relevant to contemporary audiences. The very simple decision of moving the action from the siege of Calais in 1346-1347 to the 2017 siege of Aleppo brought the point home of just how universal a story this is.

The sets reminiscent of the contemporary horrors of all-too-familiar refugee crises
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lui: The rotating sets designed by James Noone were mostly comprised of bombed out concrete buildings with bent rebar poking out all over, an image that is (sadly) immediately recognizable from headline news in Syria (though they could easily represent any other war zone in recent memory, from Gaza to Baghdad). Along with Jessica John’s attention to detail in the tatters and rags that adorned one side of the fight and modern military garb on the other was sufficient for instantly increasing the emotional charge and relevance of the piece.

Lei: There was no need to translate the libretto into English, change the plot, or take any other Regie poetic license. The directorial choice to modernize the sets and costumes gave this nineteenth-century work a contemporary and universal depth that packed a more immediate punch than if its characters donned medieval armor and carried swords. War is war and the tragedy of defending’s ones home under siege by a despotic force remains the same fact of life whether in 1340s France or in 2017 Syria.

Confronting great adversity is a story for all times
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lui: L’assedio di Calais is one of those underappreciated gems that fell into oblivion for a number of at times inexplicable reasons but deserves to be brought back to life. Not only is the score bursting with wonderful musical moments, but more importantly the plot and the exploration of its various dramatic tensions are uniquely compelling.

The town of Calais in the north of France is under siege by an invading English army. The young French hero, Aurelio, is first glimpsed furtively pilfering supplies from across enemy lines to feed his starved people. His father Eustachio, the mayor of the besieged city, and his wife Eleonora open the opera on pins and needles, eagerly awaiting news of their son and husband, who has skipped town, temporarily.

Aurelio reunites with his father after a scout mission
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Structurally, the action of the plot revolves around a series of foreboding situations in which danger and devastation for the folks under siege is somehow closely averted. These dramatic catalysts are accompanied by corresponding waves of emotions that run the gamut from despair and sorrow to the sudden return of hope and joy, only to repeat the cycle again.

The initial preoccupations of father and wife over the fate of our young hero which resolves in his sudden soothing return is the first event in the series. The cycle repeats itself with Aurelio’s dream of his son’s abduction and again with the infiltration of a mole sent by the invading army into the besieged town.

All rejoice for the safety of the young
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

The drama then heightens with the arrival of a message from the English King Edoardo. The city will be freed on the condition that six of its finest citizens consent to sacrificing and publicly humiliating themselves. The young hero, his illustrious father and four other brave men all enlist to die to save their city and loved ones. After many tribulations, and a regina ex machina who intervenes to save the day, a lesson in compassion is taught to one and all. The siege is lifted and everyone rejoices together (except maybe King Edoardo who is forced by his wife to play the enlightened monarch).

Lei: Assedio feels like a very unusual departure for Donizetti. It is rife with patriotic themes in ways that his other operas are not. The plot revolves around the tribulations of a family broken by war and of the larger tragedy of a population fighting for survival against an invading power. In a way, this opera feels like a bridge to Verdi, with its big choruses that advance the plot and its focus on patria oppressa patriotic themes.

Also, unlike most Donizetti dramatic operas, there is no prima donna per se to trigger the high drama. However, the absence of a more traditional tragedy of amorous triangles or unrequited love or doomed couples does not mean that the opera is less moving or emotionally compelling. Quite the contrary, Assedio evokes a range of emotions by means of its ensemble cast and in a way it felt truer than his other work (particularly considering Zambello’s provocative production).

Eustachio weighs his convictions at rock bottom
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lui: The emotions explored in this opera were incredibly complex and rich and the excellent Glimmerglass cast was up to the task. Baritone Adrian Timpau, as Eustachio, embodied both his public role as the leader of men responsible for the welfare the town’s citizens, but also the very private one as father worrying over the life of his heroic son and consoling his daughter-in-law and grandson. Timpau displayed excellent Italian and a well-rounded, agile instrument that managed, together with his effective acting, to poignantly express the ample spectrum of emotions of his character.

Timpau’s portrayal of Eustachio was veined by a tragic desperation that was utterly moving, in particular when he faces the moral dilemma of whether to sacrifice his life to save his people from suffering further. This terrific singer appeared as a member of the Glimmerglass Young Artist Program, but his skill and artistic maturity seemed those of a far more established artist and in fact, his young age notwithstanding, he was a very convincing town elder, father and leader figure. I suspect that we’ll be hearing from him again very soon.

Aurelio and his wife and son
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Mezzo Aleks Romano in the pants role of the young hero Aurelio, together with soprano Leah Crocetto as his wife, vividly represented the love of a couple whose burgeoning family is threatened by war in their many husband-wife duets, gripped by joy and by fear but united in their concern for the future of their son (here played by a heart-wrenching little boy who at one point is seen kicking his half deflated soccer ball amidst the ruins from the bombarding).

Publicly, the Aurelio character also embodies an impetuous brave young man who is driven by principle and eager to fight the oppressor. Vocally, this role has perhaps the most show-stopping flashy coloratura-filled arias to sing and Romano embodied them with a seemingly effortless conviction and passion. Crocetto was an equally impressive singer with a big, luscious voice and easy high notes that carried duets and ensembles alike.

Lei: But perhaps one of the most powerful recurring themes of the evening is that of the love of country and the fierce spirit of resistance required to fight against an unjust invading power. This was most vividly expressed by an impressive chorus, and perhaps most memorably in the fierce Act I finale Come tigri di strage anelanti that was delivered with an electrifying force reminiscent of the Guerra, guerra chorus in Norma.

Sarà di guerra unanime
grido: la patria, il re.
(con tutto l'impeto d’una estrema disperazione)
Come tigri di strage anelanti
piomberem sul nemico spietato,
negli sguardi, nel volto spiranti
ira estrema, furor disperato...
Scorreranno torrenti di sangue,
tutto il campo una tomba sarà.

Let it be a unanimous war cry:

Our homeland, our king.

(with all the impetus of an extreme desperation)

Like tigers hungry for slaughter

We will assail the merciless enemy

In our gait, in our dying faces

Extreme ire, desperate fury…

Streams of blood will flow

The whole battlefield will be a tomb.

The men gird themselves for the good of the community
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lui: Patriotic feelings were also in full display in the moving Act II finale, with a unique all male sextet of Calais patriots ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to save their loved ones. This moment was particularly moving as all six singers were delivering the same lines in solemn prayer-like fashion, effectively conveying martyrdom.

Patria oppressa, hear my cry!
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lei: The emotional charge of this opera, surely enhanced by the modern day framing, was so powerful that I found myself on the verge of tears pretty much from the opening chorus, silently sobbing at many junctions throughout the opera, and really weeping inconsolably in the Act III finale. By curtain call, I was an emotional wreck, yes, but also exhilarated by such a cathartic and universal piece of art.

Lui: In our three years of Glimmerglass experience this was the most satisfying performance of all – an electrifying discovery with a top-notch cast, a thought-provoking production, all in all perfectly executed. This production made a very compelling case for bringing Assedio back into opera houses regular rotations, particularly with Zambello’s modern take through the Syrian conflict lenses.

The six self-chosen for sacrifice
Photo credit: Karli Cadel

Lei: One can only wish that all modern productions were as successful as this one. The trick was to find the right analogue in which to set an otherwise universal story. The Syrian crisis fits the bill, not least of all because it so powerfully evokes a slew of emotions that struggle to find the proper cathartic release in the context of current political discourse as well as in the mainstream media.

Lui: This is what the arts are for. They provide a forum for exploring collective sentiments that have a hard time finding a venue in other areas of life but that we are desperate to confront together as a culture. Seated collectively in a dark theater, alone together with our thoughts and our solipsistic emotions, mulling over what it means to be human now and always in the company of each other – this is the perfect occasion for an intense and draining exercise in human empathy. It is a beautiful thing what Zambello achieved here in large part thanks to Donizetti and his librettist. A forgotten opera found its relevance again and for this we all can be grateful.

– Lei & Lui

Rodin's take on the burghers of selfsame crisis in Calais

The venue for our collective exercise in human empathy
Photo credit: Glimmerglass

Opera Gangsters in Bushwick

Puccini’s Tosca

LoftOpera

Bushwick, Brooklyn

March 10, 2015

Cannot miss O P E R A in Bushwick
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

In usual LoftOpera fashion, we got off a subway stop in deep Brooklyn and walked our way through a far west of abandoned warehouses, decrepit storefronts and shady dealings in parked cars. We knew we were close when we saw yellow cabs (definitely Manhattanites) dropping off patrons in front of an unassuming and unmarked entrance. There were groups of people gathering around and buzzing... about a five letter sign that read “O P E R A” in bright lights, under a clutter of graffiti. We were definitely there. Charming and bubbly LoftOpera General Manager Brianna Maury welcomed every single patron at the door with a smile, a one-page program and a paper clip – to trade for a free drink at the bar.

Castel Sant'Angelo
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

The space was a huge white-walled raw loft, a converted former Chinatown bus workshop. A scaffolding structure holding a huge winged statue (Castel Sant’Angelo anyone?) lead the way to the rectangular “stage,” framed by two corner walls and facing rows of benches on the other two sides. We got there 30 minutes before start time and it was almost impossible to find a seat, as the over 100 mostly under-30 crowd had already firmly settled in, swilling their beers and chatting idly. Not to worry, though, one can always plop down on the floor, front row, where all the juicy action is anyway – you may even get hit by a squirt of Scarpia’s blood.

There was an electric party vibe and a sense of anticipation in the air. And then, the lights dimmed, silence fell and the 33-member roaring orchestra lead by Dean Buck erupted into the sweeping, action-packed overture of Puccini’s Tosca. LoftOpera may be unassuming and relaxed but their craft is dead serious and top quality. The Tosca cast had impeccable Italian and was strong across the board, both vocally and acting-wise; the direction was contemporary yet faithful to the story and the libretto.

 

The loving couple
Photo credit: Charles Kessler

Tenor Dane Suarez as Cavaradossi displayed a handsome, full voice. His is a warm and robust tenore spinto. Suarez’s Recondita armonia in Act I was beautiful, soaring, and moving. He brought down the house (and moved me to tears) with E lucevan le stelle in Act III, rendering the magic of the pure earth-shaking lyricism of a man deeply in love about to die. Soprano Carolina Castells was the heroine of the dark drama. Her interpretation of Tosca was intensely fierce. The Santuzza-like fits of jealousy she threw amidst the love duets that punctuate Act I were charming, but she really knocked it out of the park in Act II. Fearlessly stripping down to her skivvies, she offers herself to the corrupt Scarpia only to then deliver a most gut-wrenching Vissi d’arte (as she convincingly stabs the villain with his own steak knife). Her soprano is earthy and powerful and her acting talents superb. Baritone Kevin Wetzel as the villain Scarpia was appropriately snarly, rendering his character with a threatening viscerality that I think it’s still haunting some of the public in the first rows.

 

Things get Tarantino-esque
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

Bass Joseph Beutel delivered the fugitive Angelotti with a deep sense of urgency that left me wanting to hear more from him, though he exits the scene early in the action. Baritone Stefanos Koroneos was a convincing Sacristan, displaying the right comic touch without mugging or overdoing it. Tenor Jordan Pitts as Scarpia’s sidekick Spoletta had charismatic stage presence and a handsome confident voice. Finally, the 14-member chorus did an amazing job with the Te Deum at the end of Act I, and Eric Schuett was an enchanting shepherd. While playing with toy soldiers in the opening of Act III, the boy soprano delivered the lyrical lullaby Io de’ sospiri with an ethereal otherworldliness.  

 

Yes, the action is that close to the public
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

The sets were simple, really two white walls, and a handful of props: a Mary Magdalene mural and lots of votive candles for Act I, a long sleek white dining table in Act II (doubling as the platform for the attempted rape and subsequent murder), a vintage school desk in Act III. Overall, Raymond Zilberberg’s direction took us to a place somewhere between the neorealism of Rossellini (Tosca reminded me of Anna Magnani in Roma Città Aperta, particularly in the finale) and Tarantino’s splatter-noir (replete with blood, guns and gangsters).

Cavaradossi right before the torture
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

There were nice touches, some more intentional than others. Cavaradosssi swiped through Floria Tosca’s pictures on his iPhone while singing Recondita armonia, a real water faucet was used by both Angelotti and Tosca to wash out blood from their hands. And last but not least, the rumble of trucks or motorcycles passing outside the venue during Act III did not bother, rather, it heightened the intensity of the last scenes of the opera in a way that I can only describe as cinematic.  

A Tosca with a touch of neo-realism
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

LoftOpera treated Tosca as if it was the hottest new thing on the indie scene, never performed before, or, at least, never in front of an audience like this. In fact, the show’s program, instead of the usual detailed account of the whole plot, presents just a broad summary of the setting and the action, without any spoilers. It actually worked: the public may not have known or cared about the nuances of the arias but the sense of discovery was palpable, as they followed the action of the plot like their life depended on it. They giggled at Tosca’s jealous fits, cheered enthusiastically when she sunk her knife into evil Scarpia’s chest, gasped at the tragic finale. And this is what opera is all about. The most emotionally gripping, gut-stirring story-telling through music. LoftOpera gets over a hundred people to a raw warehouse space in the middle of Bushwick and they all sit in rapt religious silence through a three act Puccini opera (well, there’s the occasional beer bottle tipping but that’s part of the local soundscape). Their events are cool, sexy and unassuming to the extreme. Opera is old and stuffy? Throw some free beers at it, let people sit on the floor and have the gorgeous music do the rest. All you need are a few walls, great performers and smart direction.

As we walked out singing raucously Cavaradossi’s climactic aria, E lucevan le stelle (dolci baci e languide carezeeeee…. Muoio disperatoooooo…..non ho amato mai tanto la vitaaaaaa!!!!), behind us other happy patrons were also humming bits and pieces of the Puccini score and talking enthusiastically about the show. Because, yes, opera is grand, emotionally infectious and timeless. In the right setting, today’s generations still get it, love it and will come back for more. Next up in LoftOpera’s 2016 season are Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (June), Mozart’s Così fan tutte (September) and Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny (December). There’s a lot to look forward to!

- Lei & Lui

Logo design: Doug Smith at Penmanships

Orchestra led by Dean Buck
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco 

Scarpia's dining table
Photo credit: Allegri con Fuoco

The Fascist, the Singer and her Lover

Puccini's Tosca at the Met

November 2, 2013

Photo credit: The Metropolitan Opera

Lei: This is the tale of Tosca, a fiery brunette (complexion becomes an important plot point), who also just happens to be an opera singer, and her lover Cavaradossi, a tormented painter. Together they suffer the hardships of an oppressive regime, represented by Scarpia, an evil (and perverted) secret police chief. The painter is working on a portrait of Mary Magdalene that depicts a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty and causes Tosca to throw a jealous fit, demanding proof of his fidelity – though it seems like her jealousy is part of the couple’s dynamic since they are otherwise profusely lovey-dovey. Politically, Cavaradossi is opposed to the regime in power and helps a fugitive friend in his escape from prison. Enter the evil police chief who suspects the painter and lusts creepily after the singer. From here on, the action only heats up, and violently so. By the beginning of Act Two, the police have captured the painter who refuses to betray his fugitive friend.

The Fascist Scarpia and his three "Graces"
Photo credit: Mary Altaffer

Lui: Though the opera is originally set in Rome 1800, the police chief's study in Act Two of this production is taken directly out of Bernardo Bertolucci's World War II-era thriller, Il Conformista, and so this Tosca is given a decidedly camicia nera, fascism-in-Italy spin. While prostitutes lounge about in various states of undress, the evil chief of police, dressed in fascist black overcoat and vest, paces to-and-fro meditating on how to act on the latest object of his desire. Scarpia is a perverse sexual predator. He ends up fitting the fascist stereotype even in this regard.

Photo credit: Marty Sohl / The Metropolitan Opera

Lei: Scarpia then has the singer come over while his henchmen torture her lover in the next room so she can hear his excruciating cries of pain. Tosca cannot stand it and divulges the escapee's whereabouts. As a result, the painter is condemned to a public hanging for his anti-regime activities. The perverted police chief proposes a deal to the devastated singer: if she lets him use her body for a "quickie" (literally, he says “a te chieggio un istante”), he’ll save the painter by arranging a mock shooting in lieu of a hanging. The singer reluctantly agrees but also very fortuitously finds a knife lying around and, when the evil police chief is about to rape her, she stabs him to death.

Patricia Racette was a fine Tosca with good acting presence, however her singing left me lukewarm, no shivers whatsoever. George Gagnizde’s Scarpia was also acceptable but lacked the cruelty required by the role, both vocally and acting-wise. I think Dmitri Hvorostovsky would make a magnificent Scarpia – now that would be a believable villain (although based on a 2007 interview it sounded like Dmitri was not willing to tackle it quite yet).

Photo credit: The Metropolitan Opera

Lui: Act Three opens beautifully with a subdued orchestral prelude. All of a sudden the melancholic voice of a shepherd boy pierces the scene sending tingles through the house. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of Puccini's orchestral atmospherics. Cavaradossi maintains the "cold dawn" mood of the opening as we find out that he going to give his ring – his last worldly possession – to the guard in exchange for the promise that his last letter will reach his beloved Tosca. The whole scene remains introspective when he breaks into "E lucevan le stelle." He is destitute. He has been imprisoned, mistreated, tortured. He is a bruised-up, bloody mess, and he is about to be executed. In thinking of his true love, he remembers their one big liaison in the park after dark. This is the pain of a man who has been beaten down, who is left with nothing, wanting only to relive one of life's fleeting joys: the unexpected spiritual exaltation of physical intimacy with another person. 

Photo credit: The Metropolitan Opera

This aria is without a doubt the climax of the whole opera, I would argue, its raison d'être. And it is not necessarily an aria in the strict traditional sense. There is no refrain, no repetition, no songy progression. It is pure poetry – a beautifully sustained single crescendo of raw emotion that departs from the sensory experience of beauty, as it is impressed on the memory, and that soars on eagle's wings to the heartfelt recognition that life never got any better than that moment, though its upward flight is stunted by the realization that now all he has to look forward to is his time to die: "Muoio disperato." It is melancholic, bittersweet, and I tingle still at just the thought of hearing it sung live in its narrative context. And this is where Roberto Alagna really stole the show. He took the emotions exactly where they needed to go. It was some of the best singing I've heard from a tenor at the Met in recent memory. It is moments like these that justify my love of the medium. It's everything that matters in life boiled down to three minutes of poetry and feeling expressed through music.

Lei: I am generally not a Roberto Alagna fan. While technically capable and powerful, I usually find his tone not deep or warm enough and at times even fake, as though he does not really mean what he's singing. Nevertheless, in his Act Three embodiment of Cavaradossi’s “E lucevan le stelle” he proved me wrong, showcasing the raw desperate emotion of a man about to die, remembering and longing for the woman he loves. I cried copiously.

Tosca then runs to the imprisoned painter to explain the deal she cut for him, all while providing some theatrical advice on how to feign death when fake-shot. Unfortunately, the singer should have known better than to trust the word of an evil (and perverted) police chief, since the execution turns out to be a very real one, with the painter actually being shot to death by firing squad. The singer cannot believe how utterly evil and untrustworthy the police chief was and, when trapped by his henchmen, she jumps to her death.

Photo credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

I am not a Puccini person. I generally find his operas too cheesy and unnecessarily sappy, with plots that are not complex enough to make the drama of the music really credible. I mean, it’s too bad that Cio-Cio-San is cheated by that colonialist pig Pinkerton and that Mimi dies of tuberculosis, but tragedies like these are simply not intricate enough for my operatic taste. I like works with over-the-top multiple layers of dynamic dramatic tension. Maybe verismo is just not for me. Tosca, however, is a possible exception to my Puccini aversion, and it may be because (at least in Acts Two and Three) it is action packed with several extreme situations that justify the dramatic outbursts of the score.

Lui: After finally seeing Tosca for the first time, I now see clearly the link between Italian neo-realism and Puccini's brand of operatic verismo. I have long been aware of the fact that there is very little raw "realism" to the plotlines of so-called "neo-realist" Italian cinema. Although shot on a shoestring with non-professional actors, the films of Roberto Rossellini and company, nevertheless, have more in common with melodrama.  And this production at the Met emphasized many of these parallels. Seeing that Puccini wrote these harrowing scenes of brute institutional force, political violence and torture in the year 1900, this production demonstrates how he beat Rossellini and the neo-realists of the post-war period to the punch by nearly half a century. The torture and subsequent execution scene are the obvious forerunners to the climax of Roma città aperta and are no less grueling.

Scarpia's Study, Act II
Photo credit: Ken Howard / The Metropolitan Opera

Lei: I saw this Luc Bondy production at the 2011 season opening performance and back then I found it unconventionally interesting, however today I think I may have been blinded by the gala excitement as, after seeing it again, I felt it was really hit and miss. While Tosca does not necessarily have to be a Zeffirellian baroque extravaganza, it does need to give the audience something to engage with. And I think this production takes a “period-minimalist” route that does not always work and is generally so dimly lit that I had to squint through my opera glasses to figure out the sets. While I get the concept that the action takes place in obscure tyrannical times, a little more light would have been good, both for the staging and the eyes of the audience. The first act is all set in the transept of a dark no-frills brick church that it’s just bland, and also historically at odds with the Caravaggio-style painting Cavaradossi is working on. Also, the “Te Deum” scene at the end of the first act just did not work. It is supposed to be a moment of contrast between choral religious fervor and Scarpia’s devilish attitudes, however, in this production the worshipers and the clergy were walking along the transept, behind Scarpia, almost following him, while in a more credible rendition (at least by Roman Catholic standards), the chorus should proceed along the nave of the church, towards the altar, with Scarpia left in the back, scheming his wrongdoings.

The Te Deum scene in Franco Zeffirelli's Tosca at the Met in 1999
Photo credit: Ruby Washington / The New York Times

The Te Deum scene in Luc Bondy's Tosca in 2013
Photo credit: Andrea Mohin / The New York Times

The second act worked better and had some interesting off-libretto variations, such as the three prostitutes entertaining Scarpia while he explains his preference of brutal lust over romantic love (“Ha più forte / sapore la conquista violenta / che il mellifluo consenso”). The torture scene with the bloodstained door letting in a cone of light and Cavaradossi’s laments was also very effective.  

The sets of Act Three were just weird and felt almost incomplete, with an L-shaped fortress structure occupying less than a third of the stage, and the remainder of the space just empty green-black darkness with some streaks of white. If such parking-lot looking space was supposed to be the river Tiber, it was just not represented very vividly.

Photo credit: The Metropolitan Opera 

One thing that worked extremely well in Act Three, however, was the very last scene, where Tosca runs up the stairs escaping Scarpia’s henchmen and jumps off the ledge into the dark. This production shows Tosca’s full body actually leaning out of the tower at an angle that looked extremely credible, with the lights going to black while she’s almost mid-air, cinematographically freezing the sight of Tosca in her extreme suicidal gesture.

Lui: After a slow start in Act One, it was a chilling finale to an emotionally-intense last two acts.

Photo credit: The Metropolitan Opera