Opera Santa Barbara:

Puccini’s La Bohème

Opera Santa Barbara’s 2011-2012 season, opened with a well-crafted production of Puccini’s La Bohème on November 11th at the restored Granda Theatre. Premiering in Italy in 1896, the opera was first conducted by a youthful Arturo Toscanini. This is one of the most popular operas worldwide and tells a tale of bohemians (artists, writers, musicians) who struggle in the bygone days of 19th Century French life; this is the opera that provided the basis for the popular Broadway musical Rent.

The staging by well-regarded opera director Brad Dalton was impressive, integrating the tricky balance between boisterous joie de vivre and romantic loss. The opera was presented with overtones of darkness, and brought to life the shadowy world of poverty-surrounded artists. The interpretation suggested a tragic gothic dream on the part of the bohemian comrades, Rodolfo and Marcello, and their respective muses, Mimi and Musetta, who represented the dualities of salvation and heartbreak. The costumes, although traditional, were sumptuous, illustrating the tattered fabrics associated with bohemian life. The atmospheric sets captured the winterized landscape of a bygone Paris, and one could almost feel the presence of Van Gogh walking the streets and the world of lit cafes and dark alleyways.

Baritone Malcolm MacKenzie fully embodied the free-spirited nature of the painter Marcello with a rich vocal interpretation. Dramatic soprano Rebecca Davis, outstanding in last season’s production of La Traviata, delighted again as Mimi, providing a delicate performance of vocal power, even in the moments of soft-tone pianissimo. By turns mesmerizing and poignant, the deathbed scene duet from Mimì and Rodolfo, Sono andati? (“Have they gone?”) was superbly sung in the final act by both Ms. Davis and tenor Christopher Bengochea as Rodolfo. Standouts in supporting roles included Jesse Merlin as the vain landlord Benoît, and Gabriel Vamvulescu as the sensitive philosopher Colline. The singing from the chorus (including the Santa Barbara Children’s Chorus), in the original Italian, was finely wrought throughout the four acts.

Dean Williamson conducted the live orchestra with flair and winning crescendos, although at times overwhelming some of the singing. The embedded orchestral music has a brilliant texture so indicative of Puccini’s masterworks and the string section deftly handled the short musical drifts weaving throughout the acts.

For more information call 898-3890 or visit www.OperaSB.org.

Caption: Puccini’s La Bohème with Malcolm MacKenzie & Jan Cornelius
Photo by Kevin Steele.

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LA Opera:

Gonoud’s Roméo et Juliette

LA Opera presented a revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, their third opera of the 25th Anniversary Season on November 6th at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This production was first presented in 2005 (sets, costumes, direction), with reigning diva Anna Netrebko as Juliette, one of the company’s signature productions. The story based on the familiar play by Shakespeare, attempts to blend romantic French opera with the iconic storyline of love and death. The libretto is less than compelling, by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. However, Gounod’s score has a magical complex quality, blending styles integrating the frivolous and lighthearted moments.

Featured in the leading roles, the revival brought back the young soprano from Georgia, Nino Machaidze, so enchanting in last season’s Il turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy) by Rossini. High style reverberated in the coloratura aria “Je veux vivre” (the famous “Juliet’s Waltz) from Act I; it was as if Ms. Machaidze was releasing butterflies during this famed aria. Her Act II balcony scene was thrilling, indicating a formidably sizzling heroine. Roméo, as sung by the rising superstar Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo, was not only acrobatic and limber, but vocally conveyed the impetuous bravado of the character. This portrayal was imbued with the moves Douglas Fairbanks might have made, had he been an opera singer.

The story is familiar, but the set, designed by John Gunter, echoed shades of the musical West Side Story and also suggested the ironwork of the Eiffel Tower. This, along with the costume, squarely set the dramatic action within mid-century Parisian France (although the original story takes place in Verona) the era in which Gonoud penned this work.

The audience sees the interior structure of the architecture, leaving the imagination to fill in the facades, a kind of dramatic exoskeleton. The characters and chorus scampered throughout the three upper levels, which revolved imaginatively to create different spaces for the drama onstage.

In supporting roles, Vitalij Kowaljow, the superlative Ukrainian bass, appears as Frère Laurent, gliding through the bass notes with authority. The chorus was especially excellent providing the tragic notes of the townsfolk. Another standout was Rene Rapier as Romeo’s pageboy Stephano. The director Ian Judge brought out the eroticism and breakaway violence of the narrative throughout the performance, pushing the boundaries of the style of romantic French opera.

Famed tenor Plácido Domingo led the orchestra, having previously conducted the 2005 debut production. Mr. Domingo knows how to make romantic music flow, whether he is the maestro or the star, and the strings especially succeeded to provide the lyrical sounds that ebbed and flowed throughout, constantly laced with the excruciating tragedy at hand.

Additional performances run through Saturday, November 26th, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. For tickets and programs for the 25th Anniversary LA Opera season, call (213) 972-8001 or visit www.laopera.com.

Caption: Vittorio Grigolo (Romeo) and Nino Machaidze (Juliette) in Gonoud’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo by Robert Millard for LA Opera.

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The Russians Return:

Eugene Onegin at LA Opera

On September 17th, LA Opera launched their inaugural performance for the 25th Anniversary Season at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, an established and favorite Russian work, paying homage to the Russian repertoire. Onegin is based on a popular verse novel by Alexander Pushkin, an early precursor to the social realism literary style, that celebrated life in rural Russia of the early 19th century.

The tale examines a love never fulfilled by the main characters, with missed opportunities for romantic realization leading to a tragic duel. The main character Onegin is mired in his ability to give or accept love, which was touched on by baritone Dalibor Jenis playing the title role. Ukrainian soprano Oksana Dyka sang the role of Tatiana Larina, and her performance heightened the evening, elevating the character’s isolation and sadness. Her portrayal was deeply felt and nuanced. Russian tenor Vsevolod Grivnov portrayed the jealous Lemsky with painful bravado and his soaring aria describing his self-inflicted ruination in the second scene of Act II was richly poignant.

Conductor James Conlon continues to explore new ground with the LA Opera musicians, delivering the score with an arched precision and nailing the fleeting tempi throughout. The multiplexed crescendo of sound was masterful, with the wind instruments providing a jewel-like sound within this symphonic treasure box.

The sets, as designed by Anthony McDonald, employed symbolic realism with a minimalist touch. Paintings and colors were projected onto the cyclorama scrim at the back forming a mysterious visual atmosphere, and casting suggestive light on the interactions between the characters. McDonald also incorporated a shallow pond within the depths of the stage, which the characters used to kick water up into the air. The same pond later turned into a deep forest river-bank and then transformed into a wintry ice skating rink, complete with torch bearing, fur-wrapped ice skaters. The dueling scene at the end of Act II within the forest setting was memorably staged, and the suggestive lighting by designer Peter Mumford combined for dramatically magical moments. An empty boat sat at center stage, darkly lit and foreshadowing tragic events to come as the sonic echo from the orchestral emanated from below.

In the supporting roles, Ronnita Nicole Miller, earlier this season so marvelous in SF Opera’s The Ring Cycle (singing Erda), was warmly compelling as the nanny-in-residence, recalling the Nurse character from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Other standouts included Keith Jameson, offering a day-glow interpretation of the French singer Triquet in the early party scene, and bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos, exacting as Zaretsky, the “second” to Lemsky in the following forest-duel scene. The chorus sang well as an ensemble, filling the stage with a variety of Russian characters within a multitude of settings.

This solid performance of Onegin ushered in a new and exciting post-Ring season for LA Opera as this splendid work by Tchaikovsky welcomed audiences back for the twenty-fifth season at the Music Center.

For information on the 25th Anniversary LA Opera season, contact the LA Opera Box Office, at (213) 972-8001 or visit www.laopera.com.

Caption: Soprano Oksana Dyka as Tatiana in black trimmed with red.
Photo by Robert Millard for LA Opera.

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San Francisco Opera’s

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Many years in the making, San Franscisco Opera's important production of Der Ring des Nibelungen originated at the Washington National Opera, but was cancelled due to funding. Some years later it was developed for San Francisco Opera, with a creative team and an army of accomplished opera singers and musicians who have developed a Ring cycle that is accessible on a human scale. Much less otherworldly than LA Opera’s glittering cosmic version last summer, this production focused on the more intimate aspects between the characters. Comprised of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung, these performances ran over 14 hours, spread out over a week’s time for sell-out audiences, comprised of enthusiastic stateside and international patrons.

The dramatic emphasis was placed in an American landscape, and the thematic arc touched on a natural paradise of the past transformed by greed into a setting of environmental ruination. At the beginning of the cycle Jan Hartley’s film projections on the backdrop scrim revealed pristine waves and waterfalls, and by the end, the superlative set designs and lighting designs, from Michael Yeargan and Mark McCullough respectively, along with the film projections, indicated gloomy surroundings bereft of trees, landscapes despoiled by power lines, decayed and empty warehouses, and roiling dark clouds of contamination. In an ambitious attempt to make the story pertinent, at the end of the four operas, the trio of Rhinemaidens encounters their polluted river, absent of the all-important gold, stolen (stolen and made into the corruptive “ring”). Their musical interlude at the mid-point in Götterdämmerung lamented a dried-up riverbed littered with plastic bottles and burned-out vehicles. The settings specifically illustrated the environmental issues at some cost to the universal themes from Wagner’s masterwork.

Influences from the world of film were abundantly seen, both in the visual elements and in the character’s interplay, with hints from Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz, pre-war aviator films such as Wings, German Expressionistic films, and even contemporary horror films. Other sets and images were from more local sources, including skyscrapers, panoramas of pre-WWII San Francisco, historic battlements and even photos (used with permission from the associated families) of American servicemen and women, all casualties from recent military conflicts. Inter-racial casting also helped to contemporize Wagner’s timeless drama achieving a Ring production that was both thoughtful and provocative.

The casting and acting prowess from much of the cast was engaging, and credit must be given to the theatrical experience of director Francesca Zambello, the first female director to handle a Ring cycle produced in this country. The female characters dominated this production, with the magnificent Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, delivering a superbly energetic performance as the immortal warrior Brünnhilde. This “hero” is cast out of Vallhalla and thrown into a degraded mortal world fraught with unstoppable greed, revenge, betrayal and, by the end, redemption. Throughout three of the operas, Stemme’s portrayal was unlike any Brünnhilde seen before, and she triumphed with a courageous yearning, and a vibrantly vocal interpretation.

Other strong female performances included the delicately heart-breaking Anja Kampe as Sieglinde in Die Walküre, the powerful Mezzo-soprano Ronnita Miller as the earth goddess Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, the trio of Rhinemaidens and of course, the Valkyries in Die Walküre, parachuting into the rocky battlement sets and performing the climactic Ride of the Valkyries (one of the cast members included Maya Lahyani, wonderful this past season in Opera Santa Barbara’s production of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti). Other rich female performances included Stacy Tappan as the Forest Bird in Siegfried, imaginatively handled and vocally bright, and Melissa Citro touchingly playing the unfortunate Gutrune in Götterdämmerung, the last of the four operas.

Other standout performances included Stefan Margita as a sinister Loge (God of Fire) in Das Rheingold, Brandon Jovanovich as Siegmund in Die Walküre, David Cangelosi as Mime with his hilarious dancing and vocal antics paired with the wonderful tenor Jay Hunter Morris in the title role of Siegfried, and the ever-deep Italian bass Andrea Silvestrelli as the malevolently frightening Hagen in Götterdämmerung.

Under Maestro Donald Runnicle’s baton, orchestral passages such as the storm music from the opening of Die Walküre, the famous Forging Song (Nothung! Nothung!) along with Forest Murmurs from Siegfried, and the conclusion of Gotterdammerung, were deftly handled (either magical or emotionally overwhelming). The instruments were a little uneven in parts, either too halting or loud enough to overwhelm the vocals, but overall, the players were triumphant over the four adventurous evenings of the Ring.

The San Francisco Opera has another exciting season ahead for 2011-2012. For more information, visit www.sfopera.com.

Caption: Jay Hunter Morris and Nina Stemme in Siegfried Act-III.
Photo by Cory Weaver.

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Opera Duet:

La Serva Padrona and Trouble in

Tahiti at Opera Santa Barbara

Intriguing performances of Giovanni Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona (The Servant Mistress) paired with Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti were given by Opera Santa Barbara at the historic Lobero Theatre on April 8th and 10th, 2011. An adventurous double-bill, this unlikely program of short operatic works comprised the final productions of the current opera season.

La Serva Padrona, was written in 1733 and premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1733, opened the evening’s program. Director Lawrence Edelson conceptually set the action in a vague 1950s mis-en-scene, and stylized the story of a careless playboy trapped within an artificial world of larger than life set constructions, complete with pink wallpaper, nudie figure cutouts, and leopard print chairs. The setting brought to mind a place where Hugh Hefner might encounter characters from the comic strip Blondie. Baritone Ao Li, a superb singer/actor played the demanding bachelor, Umberto. With delightful comic timing Mr. Li captured the utter haplessness of a man whose intent on avoiding marriage is crushed by a determined maid. Delightfully sung by the enchanting soprano Susannah Biller, as the scheming housemaid Serpina, this comic intermezzo was rounded out by the silently silly and doddering butler Vespone (Daniel Montenegro). This was a rambunctious staging of a classic opera buffa.

Trouble in Tahiti followed and is a complex one-act opera with vernacular jazz roots. Composed in early 1952 by the young Leonard Bernstein, the work critiques suburban lifestyles and portrays the facade of American domestic life. Mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani, a singer originally from Israel, played the heroine Dinah. Compelling dramatic moments were apparent in her exquisite performance of the title song Trouble in Tahiti. Full of tempo twists and surprises, as only Bernstein could imagine, Ms. Lahyani’s full-throttled approach embraced the swift changes of the rhythms and the quixotic hopes of the character’s marriage. Ryan Kuster, as Sam, the overtly self-assured husband, completely convinced as a self-absorbed man who personifies greed, sexism, and winning-at-all-costs. A trio singing radio-type jingles made up the chorus and included Sara Gartland, Ao Li, and Daniel Montenegro, all vocally spot-on and provided the necessary counterpoint for the dramatic framework. The direction from Mr. Edelson was handled with exceptional sensitivity.

The emerging talent developed by the prestigious Adler Program at San Francisco Opera delivered the adept performances. Other successful collaborators from the production team included Mark Morash, the conductor, along with the talented musicians of the orchestra; Martin T. Lopez and Josh Epstein for the imaginative costumes and lighting, respectively; and Heather Sterling, for the expressive wigs and makeup.

As the final applause from enthusiastic audiences winds down for the 2010-2011 season, performing arts patrons can recall many fine moments at Opera Santa Barbara. One can look forward with anticipation to the treasures being developed for the next year to come of operatic delights.

To learn more about programs and special events from Opera Santa Barbara, see them on the web at www.OperaSB.org or call (805) 898-3890 for more information.

Caption: Lawrence Edelson, Stage Direction and Choreography; Susannah Biller, Soprano; Duncan Mellichamp, President, Board of Directors; Maya Lahyani, Mezzo-Soprano; and Ao Li, Baritone.
Photo by Priscilla at SantaBarbaraSeen.com

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A Night At The Opera:

Jonas Kaufmann Recital with

Helmut Deutsch, Piano

FRIDAY, April 8, 2011 | by Robert F. Adams

Jonas Kaufmann, a vocal superstar from Munich, Germany, arrived at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to perform a highly anticipated debut recital for LA Opera audiences on March 11, 2011. Kaufmann currently enjoys remarkable success with roles in La Scala’s Lohengrin, La Traviata at the Met, and has recorded three solo CDs. In April and May, he is set to play the lead role Siegmund in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Wagner’s Die Walkure in New York City. Kaufmann’s recital on this evening at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was a special event not to be missed.

Kaufmann began with of songs by Schumann including selections from the Kerner songs (Wandering Song, First Green, and Silent Tears) his Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love), selections heard earlier in the season by Rene Pape. Faltering at first, yet regaining the upper hand on a few notes, Kaufmann seemed to absorb the music, with the help of veteran German accompanist Helmut Deutsch. There was a quality of thoughtful immersion in the first act performance and the singer’s fantastical pianissimo was present, a kind of softness, almost beyond hearing. Kaufmann’s stage presence was solid, and his mannerisms were ultra economical, bearing the mark of an adept actor/performer. The soft romantic quality exuded throughout this portion of the program provided a glimpse of great roles yet to be performed on worldwide opera stages.

After the intermission, Kaufmann returned with a more powerful Strauss-laden second act, singing Schlichte Weisen (Simple Melodies: Five Poems) by Felix Dahn. Helmut Deutsch on piano, played some exquisitely beautiful passages from this work on the wide stage, set with a shining piano and a sumptuous bouquet of flowers. Kaufmann’s tall, charismatic figure was at stage center perfectly still and riveting. In this second half Kaufmann’s singing was softly elegant, displaying his splendid vocal pianissimo. The low tones and extraordinary diction reached the highest balcony. Kaufmann’s youthful qualities captured resonances of innocence and he embodied the quieter passages of the work, embracing the soft dynamic qualities of the tone poems with multi-hued range. The notes heard fused darkness and sadness within the framework of Strauss’ wistfully romantic songs.

An outstanding audience favorite, the singer returned for five encores as well as six standing ovations. Encores included Breit’ über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar, Nichts, and Zueignun all by Richard Strauss, Lehar’s rousing and popular Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (The Land of Smiles) and Mondnacht by Schumann, which amply concluded the exciting evening of song. After the concert, Valery Ryvkin, conductor of Opera Santa Barbara stated that the recital was “thoroughly wonderful” in summarizing Kaufmann’s success in bringing a deeply felt performance to L.A. Opera.

Caption: Tenor Jonas Kaufman with pianist Helmut Deutsch.

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