Murder, Divine Grace and Farce

Puccini’s Il Trittico

Met Opera

November 30, 2018

The gang's all here: Puccini's Il Trittico at the Met
Photo credit: Ken Howard

Apparently, Puccini intended the three one act operas of Il Trittico to always be performed together. But they rarely are. For starters, it’s expensive to have three completely different sets and casts in one evening. Also, the evening can get pretty long with massive set changes. Finally, the three works are not equally strong so often one (or even two) are dropped. Case in point, I had seen Suor Angelica together with Gianni Schicchi before but never Tabarro. So I was glad to experience the whole package the way Puccini intended it. And at the Met, which is the house where Il Trittico premiered on December 14, 1918.

It all begins in a very dark place of the soul.
Photo credit: Ken Howard

The evening started literally and figuratively in a very dark place with Il Tabarro a tale of passion, betrayal and murder. We are on the quais of the Seine and the nocturnal action revolves around the barge of Michele and his wife Giorgetta who employ a number of laborers for the loading and unloading of goods. Among them there is the dashing Luigi, who had an affair with Giorgetta. Everybody is pretty miserable and dreams of better lives. Michele remembers happier times with his wife and, upon discovering her betrayal, kills her lover and surprises her with the dead body. 

Villain without a cause. The murderous Michele in Il Tabarro.
Photo credit: Ken Howard

While the ingredients for great drama are there, this cast unfortunately did not deliver. There was zero chemistry between soprano Amber Wagner as Giorgetta and tenor Marcelo Alvarez as her lover Luigi (even if they both singers sounded very good) and most importantly baritone George Gagnidze as the murderous Michele was just not a strong enough villain. Since he’s the propeller for the super dramatic finale, his lack of oomph both vocal and acting-wise made the whole thing fall a bit flat. I’d be interested in seeing this again with a more convincing cast. 

Opolais moves as Suor Angelica.
Photo credit: Ken Howard 

Next up, with Suor Angelica the sets of church-gardens-cloisters were bright and airy, perfectly suited for a cheerful tableau of a day in some jolly nuns’ lives, with their innocent chatters and problems (such as longing to pet some lambs). When the focus shifts to Suor Angelica, though, the register swiftly moves to the mysterious first and heavily dramatic later. See, the thing is that Suor Angelica comes from a super-rich noble family who forced her to take the veil to distance her from the shame of bearing a child out of wedlock. She has been without news from her family for seven years, and when her super evil aunt (the Principessa, played by the always excellent Stephanie Blythe) shows up, things do not bode well. 

In the title character, soprano Kristine Opolais dominated the show with a visceral performance delivering a study in motherly love, pain and loss. I have recently become a mother and this opera, thanks to Opolais’ performance, spoke to me like never before. When the protagonist discovers – 2 years after the fact – that her son died, my heart sank. And when her pain starts pouring out in the aria Senza mamma, bimbo / tu sei morto, I cried. In the hands of Opolais, the potentially sappy plot turned into an emotionally raw piece, showing that with the right leading lady, this is a very powerful mini opera. Yes, the finale with the rapid fire succession of suicide—prayer for redemption—ascension to heaven with little angel boy welcoming his mother are a tad much, but the pain that came before then was real and universal. 

The farcical family tries to piece it all together
Photo credit: Ken Howard

Last but certainly not least, Gianni Schicchi is definitely the best of the three. This choral piece is so much fun that makes you wish Puccini spent more time popping out comic operas. Death is also front and center (as in the other two operas of Il Trittico), however here it is treated in farcical tones. Buoso Donati just died, leaving all his riches to the monks, probably to spite his greedy relatives. Enter trickster Gianni Schicchi to the rescue, who impersonates Buoso and modifies the will, only to leave the most treasured possessions (including a mule and the windmills of Signa) to... Buoso’s beloved friend Gianni Schicchi! The plot is fast paced, the comic timing terrific and the music just works. 

The cast was terrific all around, with everybody displaying excellent Italian, absolutely necessary to savor the juicy libretto. In the title role, legend Placido Domingo was quite impressive, displaying great acting chops, fluid movement and lyrically soave singing. While he came across more like a baritonal tenor than a real baritone, it mattered little since he conveyed Schicchi’s character with savoir faire and an almost youthful energy, clearly having a lot of fun with it. In a way, it’s a perfect fit for him at this stage in his career. Tenor Atalla Ayan and soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan delivered with ardor their lovebirds arias. The sets were the most elaborate and complex of the three one act operas, almost as to finish the evening with a bang and an optimistic feel good vibe, with a terrace overlooking the Florence skyline, a couple in love and a legendary singer asking for the public’s understanding as he turns off the stage lights. 

– Lei

Domingo elevates the hopes of all around
Photo credit: Ken Howard

A Truly American (Italian) Opera

Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West

New York City Opera

Rose Theater

September 6, 2017

Nobody move! Minnie takes charge
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

Where has La Fanciulla del West been all my life? It was such an exciting and surprising discovery that I think it might be my favorite Puccini opera to date, especially in terms of plot. Whereas he can often be too cloyingly melodramatic, too saccharine for my taste in some of his more canonical verismo standards, La Fanciulla, once it gets going, tells the compelling story of an empowered woman risking life and limb to realize her dream of true love and marital bliss. I say “once it gets going” because like La Bohème, the first act of this proto-spaghetti western of an opera feels on first listen a bit bogged down by exposition.

The Polka Bar is the heart of the community of miners
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

Yet the first act is deceptively tight despite seeming relatively sprawling. The libretto covers a lot of ground. Structurally it sets up for everything that is to come. The men are are lonely. They swill their whiskey straight and are intolerant of anyone who drinks it any other way. But they are also suckers for mail from home and softies when it comes to a nurturing lesson from Scripture – though they are also given to stacking the deck against the dealer at the gambling table. All of the later plot points are all established in this early series of tableaux that follow one right after the other.

The men busy themselves with drink, cards, Bible lessons
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

A lot of this flow depends on the tempos coming out of the pit. James Meena conducted a well-paced rendition of the score. The multifaceted series of set pieces in the first act hurled right along. Everything clicked in terms of narrative rhythm.

The content-rich first act then gives way to the fast-paced, action-packed second and third acts. There are even hints of Tosca in the story: brutal law enforcement officer lusts after the leading lady who is also a prominent figure in her community, here she is the proprietor of the local watering hole, and has to compete for her attentions against an outlaw, sans the execution and suicide.

Minnie is beset by men from the beginning
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

New York City Opera’s multi-partner collaboration presents a simple, no frills, unfussy production. The staging did its job without distracting from culminating plot points, like the big scene where Minnie robs the sheriff of his prize by cheating at cards. The dramatic turn of events in that climactic moment was almost cinematic in terms of its creation of suspense. If the world of the miners and the Polka bar they haunt came to life only in part thanks to Ivan Stefanutti’s minimal but effective set designs, then the music coming out of the pit did more than pick up the slack.

Minnie scams the evil sheriff at poker
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

In addition to buoying the suspenseful dramatic twists and turns in the plot, the score also heightens some very emotionally moving moments, particularly the tenor’s redemption aria in the second act and Minnie’s plea for a reprieve for her beloved outlaw in the third.

But there were awkward moments as well. The opera is, after all, sung in Italian and it’s full of expressions that perhaps Puccini thought would convey an American flair (Ugh!, Hallo!, whisky, Urrah!) that end up sounding like a spaghetti western badly translated back into Italian. Nevertheless, a dynamic and charismatic all-male chorus did justice to their caricatures, all things considered.

Johnson says his prayers before execution
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

Jonathan Burton leant his manly and moving tenore spinto skills to the role of the outlaw in disguise, known variously as Johnson or Ramerrez. His Act II climactic mini-aria in which his proclamation of love for Minnie and his promise to change his lifestyle in accordance with that commitment was underwritten by Burton’s heartfelt vocal surge in emotion and conviction. When he kicked into the full-throated cry of a tenor emoting he bore it all, both heart and soul, so that there was no doubt as to the sincerity of his sentiments, despite his other duplicitous behavior.

Soprano Kristin Sampson played the barkeep, Minnie, as a real go-getter but with a soft side, not unlike the all-too-similar character played by Joan Crawford in Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar. She sang with an almost Wagnerian might and forcefulness. But she was also tender in the maternal moments she shares with her regular customers in their miner community, an all around dynamic character, played with tact by Sampson.

Tough as nails, Minnie longs for one thing only: true love
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

Minnie is a modern heroine for a brave new world. Such a compelling strong no-nonsense leading lady! Nothing like those wimpy suicidal creatures who usually inhabit the operatic stage, she is an enterprising, independent, strong yet gracious woman who is equally at ease when teaching Bible lessons in humane behavior to a bunch of illiterate miners, as she is fiercely defending their hard-earned gold, dolling up for her date and cheating at poker to save the man she loves – not to mention shootin’ ’em up, left and right. Poom! Poom! Nobody messes with Minnie!

True love in the making
Photo credit: Sarah Shatz

La Fanciulla del West is a tale of compassion and second chances – even a bandit can have a change of heart if he meets the right girl. And they can live happily ever after walking together into the sunset of the great American West. While conceived by an Italian, this opera embodies the quintessential American traits of optimism, happy endings and fierce individuality. When it’s all said and done, so unlike Puccini’s other verismo fare. Cheesy, maybe – but refreshing, moving and uplifting too. Again, so very American.

– Lei & Lui

Love is worth the gamble!

Two-Faced Puccini

Puccini’s Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi

Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance

The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

July 7, 2017

Gianni Schicchi is Puccini at his deftest and best
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

The Martina Arroyo Foundation this year brought us a pair of one-act operas from Puccini’s Trittico. Rather than opt for the more common pairing of Il Tabarro (the first in the trilogy) and Gianni Schicchi (the last of the three), the program included Suor Angelica, which is the one that is most frequently cut – a tradition dating back to its earliest revivals a century ago.

Angelica and her evil aunt
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

It turns out that this tradition is not without reason, since we found Suor Angelica to be a real snore. It is the story of a mother whose extreme reaction to the news of the death of her child leads to suicide and finally the suggestion of religious redemption.

At its best it delivered a couple of moments of extreme beauty in which Puccini is at his most saccharine finest. At its worst it had a lot of pretty much useless fluff about nuns’ mundane activities in a convent courtyard. Not to mention the complete absence of a male voice to ground the whole work and mix things up a bit.

Soprano Michelle Johnson in the title role was competent but not outstanding. Too often it seemed like she was working too hard just to hit the notes. Too often she was simply drowned out by the orchestra. One of the few moments of real dramatic tension occurs during Angelica’s showdown with evil aunt, here depicted as a Goth princess by the uncompromising and stern Leah Marie de Gruyl.

Suor Angelica searches for her salvation
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

How soon the dead are forgotten! The reading of the will
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

When it came to Gianni Schicchi, however, we discovered a whole other side of the composer. Who knew Puccini could be so funny?

Despite famous arias like the immortal O mio babbino caro, this opera is essentially an ensemble piece. Based on a episode hinted at briefly in Dante’s Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XXX), Puccini’s fleshing out of the story comes across as something straight out of Boccaccio’s Decameron.

It's dog eat dog once the august patriarch has passed away
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

Buoso Donati, of a noteworthy Florentine line, lies on his deathbed when the curtain rises. As long as the details of his last will and testament remains suspended, his nearest and dearest are short on grief and long on greed. A good deal of hand wringing ensues until they strike on a solution. Everybody wants the same piece of their ancestor’s pie: something to do with a prime plot of land and prized mule. In a move that is more Boccaccescan levity than Dantean solemnity, the outcome is laugh out-loud hilarious.

There were several stand-out performances in what was truly a group effort. And virtually every singer on stage had excellent Italian (essential to convey the hilarious lines of the libretto) and perfect comic timing. Steven Mo Hanan as Simone Donati, the next in line for the role of patriarch in the Donati clan, set the comic tone of the piece with his slightly clueless take on the character that never went completely over the top.

Anna Adrian Whiteway as Lauretta sang a naively ingenuous O mio babbino caro that virtually came out of nowhere. Amidst the rest of the comic mugging and other humorous shenanigans of the story, all of a sudden this incredibly recognizable and heartbreakingly beautiful tune catches you off guard.

Rinuccio has an idea and an agenda of his own
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

Spencer Hamlin sang the role of Rinuccio, her beloved. He was youthfully boyish and bright in his affection for Lauretta as well as in his guileless introduction of the otherwise unwanted intervention of newcomer Gianni Schicchi, notorious trickster, into the family crisis.

And then there was the eponymous hero of the opera. Joshua DeVane leant his Gianni Schicchi a provincial air of an up-and-comer. The indictment of the nouveau riche in this respect falls right in line with both Boccaccio and Dante’s value system. The ways in which he is able to pull the wool over the eyes of everybody involved, from the notaio to Buoso’s heirs, when done right, as it was tonight, is a hysterical piece of comic theater. DeVane and company did it justice. Neither of us could suppress our laughter.

With Gianni Schicchi as their only hope!
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

The comic timing is embedded in the score and fast paced story. Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi is funnier than anything I have ever experienced in the operatic canon. I haven’t had this much fun at the opera in a very long time, if ever. Just hope next time we see this gem of a Puccini it will be paired with Il Tabarro instead!

– Lui & Lei

 

All gather round to hear the moral of the tale
Photo credit: Jen Joyce Davis

Raw Passion from Life to Art

Romance, Trysts and Intrigue:

The Secret Love Lives of the Great Composers

The University Club

January 24, 2017

A recital/lecture by soprano Sarah Moulton Faux and pianist Michael Fennelly

Il perfido Giacomo Puccini

Who knew that the inspiration for Liu in Turandot came from Puccini’s virtuous and self-sacrificing maid who committed suicide when his wife accused her of having an affair with her husband? The accusations were unfounded but the composer at the time was actually having one of his many affairs with that maid’s cousin, a vivacious young woman who would provide the inspiration for Minnie in La fanciulla del West.

Richard and Cosima Wagner, looking respectable

Or who knew that Wagner had been involved in a prolonged affair with the great pianist and composer Liszt’s daughter, Cosima, who was married at the time to Hans von Bulow, a pianist and the conductor of the premieres of both Tristan and Die Meistersinger. She bore Wagner three children (all named after Wagnerian characters) before von Bulow granted her a divorce. Cosima was now free to marry Wagner at which point he became Liszt’s son-in-law.

Sarah Moulton Faux

Mustering a hybrid recital meets lecture, an underutilized format that has wonderful potential, soprano Sarah Moulton Faux and pianist Michael Fennelly regaled us with a rich and stimulating evening.

Reading from a witty script, our host and soprano for the evening Moulton Faux served up a feast of these juicy morsels of gossip and many more like it from the annals of music history. Her exegesis was punctuated by a series of musical illustrations that brought her tabloid worthy stories to life.

The repertoire was incredibly diverse. Songs, arias and lieder from some of the greatest composers ranged from the high romantic period to the early twenty-first century, including an under appreciated woman composer from the American South.

Pianist Michael Fennelly

About halfway through the program, pianist Michael Fennelly dropped a bomb on the whole evening. In a profusion of wild Dionysian energy he played from memory Liszt’s piano transcription of the overture to Wagner’s chthonic opera Tannhäuser. The piano was like putty in his hands all evening long, but especially in this piece he manage to coax out of it sounds and moods and feelings that were utterly gripping. It was definitely one of the highlights of the evening. During the whole extended piece I was overcome with the thought, “We do not live in Dionysian times.” None of the recent Met productions of Wagner have come any where near tapping into the moments of unbridled passion that pepper the great composer’s work. Fennelly came the closest I have yet to hear in a live performance in our time. It was awesome.

Sarah Moulton Faux shined in the opening number, La canzone di Doretta from Puccini’s La Rondine. She brought the warm glow of personal emotional connection to Schumann’s Widmung from one of his song cycles. She very charmingly recounted in an aside that it was one of the songs that she had performed at her wedding. She also sounded great in Arthur Sullivan’s Arabian Love Song, another discovery and a real highlight.

Robert and Clara Schumann

And in the climax, the last piece of the night, Je veux vivre from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette we witness the singer in full form, completely loose by now and warmed up. Her rendition was joyful and carefree.

Each of her selections were framed by a little backstory, her own personal research into the tabloid gossip from the lives of each of these great composers. The premise of the evening asks the question: how did each of these visionary artists manage to conjure such raw emotions, such wild passions, such reckless abandon in their works? The answer is that they lived it.

With one notable exception. It is said that the American composer Lola Williams carried a lifelong love affair with her favorite poet, William Shakespeare. Though the 300 some odd years separating them meant that it would forever remain unconsummated. However, this unfortunate fact only seems to have heightened the power of her music.

– Lui & Lei