Your 2016 Summer Opera Fix

The idyllic grounds at the Caramoor Center for the Arts

As the Met just closed its 2015/2016 season with a bang with the explosive Elektra, we’re gearing up to make the most of the extremely busy and varied summer opera scene in NYC (and surroundings). If there is still someone out there ranting that opera is a dying art form, we invite him/her to think again and go enjoy any or all of the below. We know we will!

Ines de Castro, inspiration for Malvina di Scozia

A handful of companies will unveil rarely performed works, which is a guarantee of exciting discoveries. The indie jewel-box Vertical Player Repertory led by Judith Barnes is producing a concert version of Giovanni Pacini’s Malvina di Scozia. A long lost opera that is rumored to be enchantingly beautiful but has not been performed in over 150 years. So, it will be like hearing a completely new opera from 1851, plus it’s based on a notorious Portuguese scandal involving the royally sanctioned murder of a prince’s lover. May 11 and 13, at the Christ and Saint Stephen’s Church 120 W 69th Street. 

Known for its “immersive” approach, Onsite Opera will stage a site-specific production of Marcos Portugal’s The Marriage of Figaro in the wonderfully eclectic venue 632 on Hudson in the West Village. Written for Carnival season of 1800 at the Teatro San Benedetto – just 13 years after Mozart’s Figaro, this will be a rare opportunity to hear Portugal’s vibrant music in a fado-inspired re-orchestration. This show is so hot that tickets seem to be sold out, but there is a waiting list, so there may be hope. June 14-17 at 632 on Hudson. 

 

The rooftop terrace at 632 on Hudson

Performances of baroque opera are sadly always a rarity, thank goodness for Jennifer Peterson’s Operamission that will bring us a concert version of Handel’s Rinaldo - Handel’s first London opera, based on Torquato Tasso’s epic chivalric poem La Gerusalemme Liberata. June 14-16 at the Merkin Concert Hall. 

Contemporary opera, too, is far from being commonly performed. The recently resuscitated NYC Opera will take care of that by staging Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez and the first Spanish-language opera ever commissioned by a major American opera company, will be performed here in an original production of Nashville Opera. June 22 – 26 at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater.

For productions of more familiar repertoire, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park always prolific and solid Regina Opera will stage Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. May 14-15, 21, 22 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy of Brooklyn.

If you’re in the mood for more Puccini, Chelsea Opera brings us a production of the one-act opera Suor Angelica, very aptly set in an Upper West Side church. June 16-17 at the Christ and Saint Stephen’s Church 120 W 69th Street. 

Moving to Verdi, Amore Opera will produce the classic heart-wrenching drama Rigoletto. This is one is particularly promising as it would seem that tenor Paolo Buffagni and soprano Sarah Moulton-Faux will play the Duke and Gilda, respectively. We discovered these two singers in these same roles a couple of years ago with Regina Opera and were literally blown away by their sheer intensity and bravura. May 20-29 at the Sheen Center. 

On a lighter note, the hip and trendy undisputed queen of indie opera companies LoftOpera will stage Rossini’s Comte d’Ory at the circus school The Muse in deep Bushwick. Yes, it’s a trek to get out there but, in classic LoftOpera fashion, singers and musicians will be top notch, the show will feel like the most cool and sexy event in the city, and there will be free beer. So, the schlep out there will be well worth it. June 2, 4,7,9, 11 at The Muse, 350 Moffat Street, Brooklyn. 

For another feel good comedy, the prolific Utopia Opera will stage Massenet’s Cendrillon (Cinderella).  This indie company defines itself as a “talented group of friends (and sometimes strangers) who join together to create spirited representations of operatic works for the masses. We provide entertainment you didn't even know you were missing.” Who would want to miss that? June 3-11 at Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College (East 69th St between Park/Lex). 

The Swing (Fragonard)

Summer opera in NYC brings also a couple of training programs for up and coming young singers and are particularly exciting as they display fresh and eager talent that is always a pleasure to discover. Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program this year will produce Puccini’s Boheme and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. July 7-10, at The Kaye Playhouse @ Hunter College, E. 68th st. between Lexington and Park Avenue. 

The excellent Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble led by fearless maestro Christopher Fecteau will produce a festival titled “Violetta and her sisters”, with performances of Verdi’s Traviata and Massenet’s Manon. Also, a program of  "Scenes from the demimonde", featuring excerpts from Puccini's La Rondine and Leoncavallo's La Boheme and "Chansons de Baudelaire",  featuring song settings of Baudelaire by Debussy, Duparc, Fauré, Vierne, d'Indy, Loeffler, Judith Zaimont and others.  August 13-28 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center 55 Lexington Ave. 

Last but not least, classic summer festivals! As always, we’ll look forward to driving up to Katonah for a picnic on Caramoor’s idyllic grounds and their bel canto program, this year showcasing Rossini’s  Aureliano in Palmira - July 16 at The Caramoor Center for the Arts. 

Nearby, Bard SummerScape will focus on verismo, with the rarely performed Iris by Pietro Mascagni. Debuted in Rome in 1898, ushering in a wave of fin-de-siècle exotic opera, Mascagni’s dreamlike score provides the backdrop for a tragic story of Iris, an innocent young girl tricked into abandoning her elderly blind father and lured to a brothel in Tokyo’s notorious red-light district. Pretty exciting stuff! In addition, this festival will present a series of events ranging from panel discussions, to recitals to movies, all somehow related to Puccini and the opera world after him.  July and August dates at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. 

 

A bit further upstate, Francesca Zambello’s Glimmerglass Opera Festival this year will produce Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra, Ward’s The Crucible, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Puccini’s La Boheme. Who does not want to get away from the city through a bucolic drive, chill by the lovely Ostego lake and enjoy excellent quality full productions in an opera house that looks like a barn? Various dates in July and August at the Alice Busch Opera Theater in Cooperstown. 

Ostego Lake

Back in the city, the classic Mostly Mozart Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer. Of particular interest, The Illuminated Heart (July 25-26), with British director and video artist Netia Jones stages an evening of Mozart’s most beloved opera arias and ensembles, featuring superstar singers like Peter Mattei (aka one of the most swoon-inducing lyric baritones out there), Matthew Polenzani, Christine Goerke, Ana Maria Martinez and Nadine Sierra. The festival will also feature staged concerts of Cosi’ Fan Tutte (August 15) and Idomeneo (August 18). Last but not least, Wolfie’s C-minor Mass and Requiem (August 19-20). 

Happy operatic summer to all!

- Lei & Lui

Pygmalion Redeemed

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Pygmalion (An acte de ballet)

On Site Opera

June 17, 2014

Madame Tussauds New York

Performers mixed with wax figurines at Madame Tussauds
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov

Lei: On Site Opera had several ambitious ideas for its new production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s acte de ballet Pygmalion, starting with setting it in two very different site-specific locations: the opening gala at Madame Tussauds’ wax museum, and other two performances at a mannequin factory in Chelsea. Pretty clever for an opera about a sculptor who falls in love with his creation, eh? If that was not enticing enough, On Site created a lot of buzz around its partnership with Figaro Systems, a developer of “libretto simultexting technology,” to allow folks with Google Glass to see the supertitles on their devices during the performance. Finally, the June 19 show was also to be streamed live online. While these are excellent things that certainly sex up opera in the 21st century, to me they are all secondary priorities, embellishments that can come only after all operatic basics are covered, that is, solid singing, convincing acting and strong stage direction.

Céphise meets La Statue for the first time.
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov 

Lui: On Site Opera’s take on Pygmalion was certainly unique in terms of their reinterpretation of the core not only of Rameau’s work, but also of the myth itself. Their production opens with an expositional dumbshow, played out during the overture, in which we are introduced to the sculptor Pygmalion, sung by “haute-contre” tenor Marc Molomot, and his flesh and blood human lover, Céphise, sung by soprano Emalie Savoy, whom we saw all dolled up like a blonde bombshell of a diva as Countess Ceprano in a recent Rigoletto at the Met (potentially some real talent here, though unfortunately in both cases she has very few lines of actual singing). While in the Ovidian version of the myth Pygmalion is an independent loner of an artist and an intransigent misogynist, Molomot plays Pygmalion as bumbling and insecure, self-doubting and self-deprecating, in short, a weak-willed modern male. He ends up seeking refuge in the safe haven of his own idealized realm of artistic creation not because he despises women for their unruly imperfections as in the more orthodox version of the myth, but rather because he is too shy to share his work with his human lover.

The artist at work.
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov

At one point during their overture pantomime, Céphise redounds on the floor for him so he can sketch her beautiful reclining body. When she reaches out to see how he represented her, he throws a childish fit that comes more from a lack of self-confidence than anything that resembles the active misogyny of Ovid’s Pygmalion. Even William Christie’s recent production with Les Arts Florissants highlights Pygmalion’s polarizing reaction to Céphise and her nagging, which is not the case here. On Site Opera’s Pygmalion is a stereotypically effete modern male who flounders in his relationship due to his lack of agency. He does not have enough backbone to react negatively to the demands that his flesh and blood lover makes of him. On Site Opera modernizes the myth not only by making Céphise’s favorite accessory an enormous Starbucks-style paper coffee cup, but also by metamorphosizing Pygmalion from individualistic heroic sculptor into the apotheosis of the insecure modern male.

The artist's insecurities come to the surface.
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov

From there, everything goes according to Amour’s plans. On cue, the statue comes to life. The sculptor falls in love with his creation. The chorus of Graces gives her some lessons in how to move like a human, and a pair of ballet dancers performs a choreography that tells the story of a courtship, a marriage and its consummation of writhing and intertwined bodies. Most of the rest of this production’s decisions faithfully follow the traditional story arc, that is, until they spring a surprise ending on us.

Amour carries our her plans.
Photo credit: Benjamin Norman / The New York Times

In Pygmalion’s big final aria, “L’amour triomphe,” On Site Opera’s take on the story suddenly veers away from any traditional version one might be familiar with, that is, the one where Pygmalion and his statue end up happily ever after, with Céphise disappearing from the picture entirely. Traditionally, this myth’s essence is about the fulfillment of idealized love and the power of art over flesh and blood reality, with the love goddess Aphrodite intervening to make that happen. In this production, Pygmalion sings the first pass of his final aria all the way through and he is still swept away by the emotions of the moment. He expresses his gratitude to Amour for breathing life into the empty object of his idealized creation. Though she does not seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, he is still jumping for joy over the miracle of the metamorphosis.

Règne, Amour, fais briller tes flammes,

Lance tes traits dans nos âmes.

Sur des coeurs soumis à tes lois

Épuise ton carquois.

Tu nous fais, dieu charmant, le plus heureux destin.

Je tiens de toi l’objet dont mon âme est ravie,

Et cet objet si cher respire, tient la vie

Des feux de ton flambeau divin.

Temporary fetishistic bliss.
Photo credit: Benjamin Norman / The New York Times

Then when it comes time for the second pass, to repeat the aria da capo, which by the way only includes the first few lines and thus skips the whole bit about loving an object in the last lines of the text that are only pronounced the first time through, he suddenly has a change of heart.

Règne, Amour, fais briller tes flammes,

Lance tes traits dans nos âmes.

Sur des coeurs soumis à tes lois

Épuise ton carquois.

Tu nous fais, dieu charmant, le plus heureux destin.

Lover is reunited with his beloved.
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov

In a moment of introspection (remember he is a softie), Pygmalion comes to realize at the last minute that Céphise is his one true love and that, much to Amour’s chagrin, he is not interested in loving his work of idealized art, but wants love in the flesh with a real human girl (Starbucks in tow) despite all the hardships and difficulties, imperfections and disappointments that might entail for the slightly insecure and thoroughly sensitive modern male. And so, the credits roll on a happy ending unlike any you’ve ever seen in the context of the myth. Pygmalion is redeemed and Amour turns out not to be as powerful a god as s/he is supposed to be.

Lei: All this is certainly an intriguing and original concept, however the final product did not come out as polished as it should have. There were some very unfortunate and distracting background noise episodes: the roar of the air conditioning (though the director Eric Einhorn tried to charmingly convince the public to think about it as “rain falling on a Venetian palace”), the clunky ice cream machine at the snack bar, and, worse of all, the chit chat of the elevator operators and their walkie talkies by the entrance that persisted through a good part of the show. Not to mention the thump of a poor patron falling on the floor when his chair collapsed underneath him during the performance. Some of these issues could and should have been controlled and avoided; others were just bad luck.

The New Vintage Baroque ensemble sounded nice under the guide of the always excellent conductor Jennifer Peterson, whom we had the pleasure of seeing in a couple of Operamission productions over the last year (Rodrigo and Agrippina). However, it’s hard to say for sure because the air conditioning was just too loud. I would have been perfectly happy to pay the price of sweating in the NYC June heat to hear undisturbed baroque music, especially for an opera as short as Pygmalion.

The sculptor and his sculpture.
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov

As for the singing, I must confess that this was my first time hearing a “haute-contre” tenor and my ear was probably not ready for it. I have always been oddly fascinated by high operatic male voices, particularly by the castrati operatic rock-star phenomenon. Not because I particularly enjoy the sound, but rather out of a desire to understand the evolution in what’s considered “hot male singing” through centuries (particularly because I have very clear ideas on which male voices make me swoon). So, when I heard Marc Molomot I was a bit taken aback as he did not sound like anything I’ve heard before. His voice went pretty high but somehow felt restrained, almost as if it were trapped in his throat. I tried to better understand the mysteries of the different categories of high male voices and found this helpful article that sums up the subject as follows:

Countertenor: Guys singing alto (“against and above the tenor”). The three possible types are:

(1) Falsettist: Guys singing alto in falsetto (head voice);

(2) Tenor altino or haute-contre: Guys singing alto in chest voice and only using falsetto in their extreme upper end;

(3) Castrato: Guys singing alto (or even soprano) in chest voice because they have no testosterone and sometimes no balls.

All very fascinating, but I don’t think I am ready to appreciate haute-contre tenor roles just yet, no matter where and how they are performed. This may have something to do with my Italian operatic preferences, the haute-contre being a baroque French phenomenon historically loathed by Italians, who favored castrati instead.

Eloise DeLuca and Jordan Isadore tell a story without words.
Photo credit: Pavel Antonov

The sopranos, Camille Zamora (La Statue), Emalie Savoy (Céphise ) and Justine Aronson (L’Amour) did a fine job singing-wise, but their acting came off as generally forced and not very convincing. The dancing number performed by Eloise DeLuca and Jordan Isadore was creative in mixing different dance styles to baroque music, but the dancers just did not have enough room to perform, at least in the Madame Tussauds space.

Lui: On the whole, I concur with the excessive attention to secondary fancy touches to the detriment of fully covering the basics of a solid opera performance, though I commend On Site Opera for their intentions. Such a radical re-reading of the myth provided some lively food for thought. I look forward to following this young company as they continue to lay the foundations for their future.

– Lui & Lei

Amour presides over the scene in vain.
Photo credit: Benjamin Norman / The New York Times

2012-2013 SEASON RECAP

- HIGHLIGHTS -

Photo Credit: Lucie Jansch

Einstein came to Brooklyn.  A year ago Satyagraha cast a meditative spell on me at the Met, this year I remained entranced by the utterly unique experience of watching that bar of light in Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach almost imperceptibly rise to the beat of Glass' signature droning score. If you’ve seen it, you know which bar of light I’m talking about. Brilliant the places it takes you. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced, in completely unexpected ways. Thank you BAM. (Lui)

Photo Credit: Met

Giulio Cesare went to Bollywood (and other places too).  The most delightful and entertaining show of the season.  Not only we got baroque opera, which is in itself too rare a pleasure at the Met, but David McVicar spiced up this Giulio Cesare with Bollywood dances that went beautifully with Handel’s score and he played with times and styles mixing up roman armor, British colonial helmets, flapper fringes and baroque wigs. This pastiche fully worked, making the opera timeless and revamping its core. Also, it was a real pleasure to see Natalie Dessay at the top of her form as a multi-faceted whirlwind of a Cleopatra. Encore, s’il vous plait! (Lei)

Photo Credit: Met

Rigoletto went to Vegas.  If Lucic is singing it, Rigoletto could be staged in a safari in Tanzania and still work. Nobody made me cry more copiously than him this season. His duets with Damrau were the quintessential heartbreaking expression of father-daughter love and in Cortigiani vil razza dannata he was deep, raging and moving at the same time. On top of the extraordinary singing, the bold Vegas setting was refreshing and actually worked in unexpected ways. The Met should take these risks (and get Lucic) more often. (Lei)

Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg

Mosè in the digital desert.  With their production of Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto, NYC Opera is responsible for the most visionary staging of the year that made so very much out of what deceptively seemed like so little. The animated computer generated projections and use of rotating platforms on the stage floor were responsible for many surprising effects that I found dynamic and extremely captivating. Director Michael Counts and his production team are pointing the way to something new. His is a vision rife with possibility for future productions in this mold. (Lui) 

Photo Credit: Richard Termine

Eliogabalo brought sexy back.  It didn’t get much hotter than Gotham Chamber Opera’s titillating production of Cavalli’s Eliogabalo at the Box. The whole thing exuded sex. Gyrating virtually nude female torsos greeted the audience as they arrived. The emperor worked the catwalk that was set up through the center of the nightclub like a glam rocker. But the steamy sensuality of the whole thing was just icing on the delicious cake of Cavalli’s baroque score. Particularly memorable amongst the singers were Christopher Ainslie’s Ziggy Stardust of an Eliogabalo and Emily Grace Righter’s Alessandro. (Lui)

Image Credit: Opera Mission

Rodrigo (finally) made it to a NYC Hotel.  Rodrigo was Handel's first opera written for performance in Italy in 1707 but premiered in the U.S. only in May 2013. Opera Mission brought this baroque jewel to American life in the intimate lobby of the Gershwin hotel, with a committed cast of singers and a wonderful period orchestra. Second’s act thumping bass “Siete assai superbe, o stelle” by the tormented king Rodrigo was a great surprise of pure baroque fiery power. I hope there are many other hidden eighteen-century operas out there and more companies like Opera Mission to dig them out for us. (Lei)

- LOWLIGHTS - 

Photo Credit: Met

Elisir lost its magic powers.  Gala openings should make a statement, either showcasing rarely performed pieces or revisiting old favorites in a new light. Elisir is my favorite Donizetti and I am still quite upset with the Met for having missed an opportunity to make it extraordinary at the underwhelming September 2012 season opening, that did not bring anything remotely new to the table and was certainly not gala material. Netrebko and Kwiecien were as usual quite good but not enough to save the production. Here’s to the Met redeeming itself with Eugene Onegin this next September 23rd. (Lei)

Image Credit: New York City Opera

Too much Powder [on] Her Face.  The NYC Opera had its hits and its misses this season. Their production of Adès’ Powder Her Face at BAM missed the mark. Jay Schreib and his team simply had too many ideas, too much going on, too many distractions packed into their staging rather than just let the varied and idiosyncratic music breathe. (Lui)

Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg 

La Perichole & Jim Carrey.  Turning an opera buffa into a stupid screwball comedy will always be a turn off for me. No matter how good everything else may be, I just cannot forgive NYC Opera having its singers act like they’re in the dumbest of Jim Carrey’s movies. (Lei)