“Werther” is a fascinating opera, quite different in many ways from usual 19th century operatic fare, in which arresting melodies are employed to portray passionate love.   Arresting melodies abound in this opera as well, but this opera deals with obsession, rather than romance in its conventional sense.

The two principals kiss once early in the opera, and Charlotte kisses Werther again when he lays dying, but all other manifestations of their love are mental, rather than physical.

Like Ghermann in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades”, Werther is obsessed by an all-consuming delusion, and, just as with Ghermann, the delusion not only leads his self-destruction, but negatively impacts the lives of those around him.

[Below: Francesco Meli as Werther; resized image, based on a Scott Suchman photograph, courtesy of the Washington National Opera.]

The Impetus for the Production Design

The original production dates from the time when many opera companies were beginning the process of redoing productions to reduce the time required to change sets from one scene to another. Veteran opera goers may recall that  Bizet’s “Carmen” and Puccini’s “La Boheme” would sometimes have three intermissions, because of the complexity of changing sets.

A production designer who could conceptualize how to minimize the time changing from the first to the second acts of such operas and then from the third act to the fourth, could end up creating a stream of savings through reducing an opera company’s labor costs. Since there were no opera company patrons objecting to the shorter evenings at the opera that resulted from eliminating the no longer needed extra intermissions, a trend was set into motion.

The creator of these sets for Opera Australia was Michael Yeargan, who is one of the most inventive and resourceful of the new wave of set designers intent on reducing the time between scenes. An obvious way to accomplish this is to invent a way to move from one scene to another without a pause.

Thus, turntable sets, one of the principal ways to quickly move between scenes, became a valuable commodity. Yeargan’s production of “Werther”, for its final two scenes (described below), employs one of the cleverest uses of a turntable.

The Production’s Time and Place

The imperative to create new sets, besides dooming some of the wonderful productions from the past that did not meet the quick-change criterion, required the creation of new productions. Many of these were time- and place-shifted, for various reasons, as are these “Werther” sets.

Sometimes the time- and place-shifts help illuminate universal truths that the opera plumbs. Sometimes they obfuscate, rather than clarify, what is being shown. Sometimes they don’t matter much at all.

Both Massenet’s opera “Werther” and Goethe’s novella on which it is based take place in a small German town, some distance from Frankfurt. This production’s time shift places “Werther”  in the American Roaring 1920s, in a place like the Hamptons or, perhaps, Newport, Rhode Island.

On balance, there is some dissonance in the sociological history of the two places. Goethe, in his youth, saw a woman executed for adultery (inspiring Goethe’s literary imprisonment of his Faust’s Marguerite character for just such a transgression). It seems plausible that the time- and place-shifted Charlotte, living in the upper class Yankee enclaves along the Atlantic coastline during the Gatsby era, might have been encouraged just to have an affair with Werther.

[Below: Werther (Francesco Meli, left) declares that he is in love with Charlotte (Sonia Ganassi, right) who, against her better judgment, is ambiguous in her response; edited image, based on a Scott Suchman photograph, courtesy of the Washington National Opera.]

Of course, any sexual encouragement of an obsessed, mentally unbalanced male likely would have had the same consequences whatever the time or place, so, to that degree, the arguments against the shift need not prevail. For the story it adds nothing, but detracts not too much.

Charlotte and Werther

Stage Director Chris Alexander (and Massenet’s music) make very clear that Charlotte is, not just empathetic, but physically attracted to Werther and conflicted by her spousal obligations. She, neglecting to mention that she is engaged to be married to Albert, hold hands with Werther underneath a full moon.

Throughout the opera, when she encounters Werther, she equivocates in her responses to him. She appears incapable of articulating that “No means no!” She reads and saves his letters even if she does not respond to them. She banishes him, but gives him a date certain when he can return to her. She cannot even disguise her feelings for Werther to her husband.

[Below: Charlotte (Sonia Ganassi, left) does little to allay the fears and jealousy of her husband Albert (Andrew Foster-Williams, right) that she loves another man; edited image, based on a Scott Suchman photograph, courtesy of the Washington National Opera.]

Massenet’s Musical Score

Cast in these terms, one could imagine time-shifting “Werther” into a 1940s Hollywood film noir. Massenet’s music for this opera has a coloration that seems to foreshadow the musical scores of so many Hollywood sound tracks of movies made 20 or 30 years after Massenet’s death.

The music accompanying sudden appearances, surprise, terror and anguish in “Werther” would easily translate into movie scores, evoking the sentiments for the film audiences that Massenet intended for his opera audiences.

For example, the descending modal chords that accompany Werther’s sudden appearance in Charlotte’s home on Christmas Day, heard also in the prelude at the beginning of the opera, would instantly alert a movie audience that something sinister, even evil, is about to occur.

Massenet, to me, seems to write music in three different styles, each for a deliberate theatrical purpose. There is the everyday music that everyone, excepting Werther, Charlotte and Albert sing, that dominates the first half of the opera, and includes Christmas carols, the church organ music, Sophie’s cheerfulness, and the songs of children at play and of men carousing.

The music that Werther sings is dreamy and intensely melodic. We seem to in his head, with its delusion of a reciprocal love affair with Charlotte. On the other hand, Charlotte’s music is often writhing, reflecting her intense agony and inner conflicts.

These musical elements signal to the stage director as to what the composer expects to happen on stage at each musical cue. Inventive production designers, like Michael Yeargan and stage directors, like Chris Alexander, will use all of these cues and add their own elements to the inherent theatricality of the piece.

Werther’s Suicide

In any production of “Werther” interest should build toward the events of the third and fourth acts.  So it is with this “Werther”.

[Below: Sophie (Emily Albrink, left) assures Charlotte (Sonia Ganassi, right) that all will work out, as the table is set for Christmas dinner; edited image, based on a Scott Suchman photograph, courtesy of the Washington National Opera.]

Meli’s Werther has reappeared suddenly, as Ganassi’s Charlotte prepares for Christmas dinner. Meli sings Werther’s great aria Pourquoi me reveiller (garnering the expected ovations at aria’s end).

Meli’s Werther eyes Albert’s pistols, is rebuffed by Charlotte, then sends a note to Albert asking that he be able to borrow the pistols to embark on a long journey. Albert directs Charlotte to bring the pistols over to their butler, whom he instructs to take them to Werther.

The Yeargan production’s coup de theatre occurs in the transitions between the third and fourth acts. Charlotte obviously wishes to leave the house to prevent Werther from taking his life, but one by one the Christmas dinner guests arrive, each one making her escape impossible. She is forced to sit at the table.

Then, in a dramatic flair, Ganassi’s Charlotte knocks over her chair and runs out the door as Foster-Williams’ frustrated Albert himself loses his composure.

At that point, the set begins to break up and the turntable moves during the dramatic orchestral interlude between the acts.

We are in Werther’s room and he lies bloodsoaked and dying, although with enough breath in him for one of the longest and most melodramatic death scenes in all of French opera. Meli and Ganassi proved to be triumphant pair in this luxuriously scored final act.

The supporting cast was a worthy one with particularly notable Albert sung by British baritone Andrew Foster-Williams and a sprightly Sophie by Emily Albrink. Julien Robbins sang the Bailiff, Kenneth Kellogg was Johann and Tim Augustin was Schmidt.

Conductor Eduard Villaume, as always, showed his rapport with the French repertory. Director Chris Alexander and Lighting Designer Mark McCullough deserve special commendation for many touches, such as placing Werther’s face in shadows at his third act appearance. The Washington National Opera Children’s Chorus charmed the audience.

I strongly recommend the Washington National Opera mounting of this production, for the uniformly excellent singing, particularly of the principals Meli, Ganassi, Foster-Williams and Albrink.

The production is one of those great productions that I believe should be designated a “world treasure”, presenting the most popular of Italian operas as a cinematic experience, as finely crafted as the best of class Hollywood romantic films. Some of my observations about Ross’ masterpiece (whose revival was directed by Gregory A. Fortner),  are recorded following the review of the vocal performances.

Depicting the young and poor in Paris

Hollywood films are noted for enlisting attractive actors capable of projecting emotions to the films’ audiences, whereas one expects those who cast operas to concentrate on finding artists capable of singing the demanding (and unmiked) vocal music of which opera performance is comprised.

However, one of the joys of contemporary operatic performance is that the number of singers worldwide with the capability to perform opera well has never been greater, so operatic casting directors have a better opportunity than any other time in the history of opera to consider, besides the technical brilliance of the singing, the artists’ believability in their roles.

The L. A. Opera cast, dominated by not-yet and just-turned thirtysomethings, produced an enchantingly sung, engagingly acted performance.

The young lovers central to the opera’s plot, Ailyn Perez, the Mimi, and Stephen Costello, the Rodolfo, are emerging as one of the world’s favorite operatic married couples, and believably exuded all of the range of emotions – sexual attraction, instantaneous love, jealousy, and, for Rodolfo, grief at realizing that a partner is seriously ill – that Puccini has built into this most enduring of operatic love stories.

The evening was the occasion for a felicitous Los Angeles Opera debut for Conductor Patrick Summers (available in a month clear of his Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera conducting obligations).

The “Boheme” performance was a compelling one, which would surely be memorable either as a “first opera” experience for newcomers to the art form, or to those (like myself) who have seen many of the greatest Mimis, Rodolfos, Musettas, Marcellos and Collines of recent decades.

[Below: The poet Rodolfo (Stephen Costello, left) has had an unexpected visit from his neighbor, Mimi (Ailyn Perez, right); edited image, based on a copyrighted Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

Ailyn Perez’ Mimi

I previously had seen Perez excel in Gounod’s lyric soprano roles that mix coloratura brilliance with dramatic passion [see my review at Santa Fe Opera Gets Gounod At Last: Hymel, Perez Soar in Spectacular New Production of “Faust” – July 1, 2011.] Puccini’s heroines typically require a heavier vocal weight (and, often therefore, a diminished coloratura capability), than Gounod’s, but Mimi is a role that has been associated with both great lyric and spinto sopranos.

My first Mimi – when I was a college sophomore – was Victoria de los Angeles, whose repertory at a comparable stage of her career was similar to that of Perez’.  In fact, Perez, superficially, and in some poses, more than superficially, resembles the great Catalan lyric soprano in her prime. Like de los Angeles, Perez brings to Mimi a vulnerability, an expressiveness that makes Perez’ performance of Mimi’s calling card aria Mi chiamano Mimi such a work of art.

Perez’ dramatic and vocal gifts were evident in the incredibly beautiful third act duet with Marcello (Polish baritone Artur Rucinski in his American debut), during which Perez gets to display her power voice, soon to be followed by  her ardent makeup duet with Costello’s Rodolfo.

The final act, in which Perez portrays Mimi on her deathbed, was a triumph of dramatic intensity, in which the artist must convincingly project Mimi’s dying breaths throughout the large Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

(Technically, it was not Perez’ Los Angeles Opera debut, since she participated in the company’s world premiere performances of Holdridge’s “Concierto para Mendez”, but for most opera-going Angelenos, this will be their introduction to the gifted soprano.)

For my interviews with the artist, see Rising Stars – An Interview with Ailyn Perez, part 1 and Rising Stars – An Interview with Ailyn Perez, part 2.

[Below: Mimi (Ailyn Perez, front left) tries on a bonnet that Rodolfo (Stephen Costello, front center) has bought for her; edited image, based on a copyrighted Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

Stephen Costello’s Rodolfo

In an age that abounds in great lyric tenors, I regard Costello as in the highest rank of the vocal type. He is unexcelled in the Donizetti roles (see my reviews of his Devereux and Percy at The Donizetti Revival, Second Stage: Papian, Costello in Lawless’ Dallas “Devereux” – January 23, 2009 and Donizetti Revival, Second Stage: Beautifully Sung “Anna Bolena” Completes Dallas Opera’s Tudor Trilogy – November 14, 2010). He adds yet another Donizetti lover to his repertory, Tonio in “La Fille du Regiment”, in San Diego in January 2013.

Costello is also brilliant as the ardent lover in each of Gounod’s two great operas that he performs so convincingly with his real-life partner, Perez (see Costello, Perez in Passionately Romantic “Romeo et Juliette” – San Diego Opera, March 13, 2010 and Costello, Perez, Grimsley and Mulligan Brilliant in Spectacularly Staged “Faust” – San Diego Opera, April 23, 2011.)

Rodolfo is a role that straddles the lyric and spinto tenor repertories. In my opinion, Costello is such an exemplar for the lyric French and lyric Italian roles that Rodolfo should be only an occasional assignment in a special situation, like his debut with this company.

But Costello’s skill in playing the passionate youth of Gounod and Donizetti brings to his Rodolfo a believability, particularly in Herbert Ross’ ebullient production, that made the evening so rewarding. As the occasion of a Los Angeles Opera debut, a few miles from the center of the Hollywood film industry, it was a savvy role choice.

For my interview with the artist, see Rising Stars: An Interview with Stephen Costello, Part 1 and Rising Stars: An Interview with Stephen Costello, Part 2.

 Janai Brugger’s Musetta

Fresh off of winning the 2012 Metropolitan National Council Auditions, Janai Brugger fulfilled both the vocal and comedic requirements of her assignment as the second act’s scene-stealer, Musetta. In this production, Musetta gets multiple opportunities to be the center of attention, arriving on a vehicular contraption, singing sometimes at her table with the mega-rich, exploited sugar daddy Alcindoro, sometimes at the Bohemian’s table, and at another time appearing on a second story balcony.

Her great show-stopper, “Musetta’s Waltz” was performed most amusingly, the production channeling Hello, Dolly! as a cadre of five waiters run from place to place in an attempt to keep up with the diva’s shenanigans.

[Below: Musetta (Janai Brugger, standing on table); edited image, based on a copyrighted Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

Other Cast Members

With special commendations for Artur Rucinski’s singing of Marcello’s third act duet with Perez’ Mimi, and by Robert Pomakov’s affecting farewell to his old coat, to be sold to pay for Mimi’s medicine, the remaining cast did a great job, of both singing and comic byplay. (One sometimes forgets just how much of “La Boheme” is designed as comedy. I suspect that there are actually as many, and perhaps more, richly comedic parts of “Boheme” than of Puccini’s only official effort at a comic opera, “Gianni Schicchi”.)

[Below: the Bohemians, Colline (Robert Pomakov, far left), Rodolfo (Stephen Costello, second from left), Schaunard (Museop Kim, standing) and Marcello (Artur Rucinski, right) are at play on their rooftop porch; edited image, based on a copyrighted Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

Museop Kim was Schaunard. Philip Cokorinos, as is almost always done, sang both the parts of the Landord, Benoit, and Alcindoro. Ben Bliss was Parpignol.

The Staging

The special touches in the staging “Boheme” are very frequent and invariably illuminating. The first and fourth acts display a cutaway of the garret in which the four Bohemians live and in which Mimi dies. But the garret is only a small part of that set, which also encompasses a large rooftop area below the garret, to whom a set of stairs leads. When Schaunard first appears, he is with street urchins who bring firewood.

One can emerge from an unseen staircase that leads to the rooftop level, as Mimi does in the first act, or take shortcuts over a wall to what presumably is an outside staircase, as the Bohemians do on their way to the Cafe Momus. Mimi’s staircase is on the same level as the apartment of the landlord Benoit and  his wife (who steps out to scold Benoit after his humiliating attempt at rent collection upstairs.)

Mimi and Rodolfo descend the stairs from the garret for their duet O soave fanciulla in which the set partially turns to reveal a large full moon.

The scene of the neighborhood of the Cafe Momus is spectacular. It’s not just the cafe, it is an intersection, a crossroads of a vibrant city, with two story buildings at stage left and right separated by the busy streets frequented by clowns and buskers, Parpignol’s kids and the marching band.

In the third act, one sees not only the guardhouse, but the second story apartment in which Musetta and Marcello have their furious – normally offsstage – fight in full view of the audience. In the final act, the Bohemians do their playing and dancing, not in their cluttered garret, but in the rooftop patio area. Here the women residents of the building’s apartments, who use the clothesline stretched across the area’s back walls, stop by to join in the dancing.

At times, pieces of action take place in fromt of a scrim. This permits Rodolfo and Marcello near the beginning of the final act to sing to each other, while evoking the image of their respective loves, Mimi and Musetta. As each is named in the duet, a vision of that woman appears through the scrim.

[Below: Schaunard (Museop Kim, left) and Marcello (Artur Rucinski, second from left) watch as Musetta (Janai Brugger, center) and Rodolfo (Stephen Costello, second from right) comfort the dying Mimi (Ailyn Perez, right); edited image, based on a copyrighted Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

The Los Angeles Opera production, cast and crew have delivered a truly great performance of “La Boheme”. I recommend it unreservedly.

It was retrofitted in the 1990s to meet California’s stringent earthquake standards, with ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov inaugurating the latest “new era” in the landmark’s history. Presently a 680 seat theater (in olden days it had a balcony), it was the home to Opera Santa Barbara, until that company moved to the much larger (1500 seats) and newly restored Granada Theater for most of its operas.

Thus, the Opera Santa Barbara has access to two theaters. Its next season will play exclusively in the Granada, whose seating capacity is greater than such theaters as, say, Glimmerglass Festival’s Alice Busch Theater (900 seats), Strasbourg, France’s Opera National du Rhin (1143 seats) and Zurich Staatsoper (1200 seats).

Performing the opera in the Lobero, the smaller theater, means, of course, that fewer tickets can be sold, but the house appeared full and an unused ticket for a seat near me that had been turned in a few minutes prior was re-sold at the box office without any trouble.

[Below: the interior of Santa Barbara's Lobero Theater viewed from its stage; edited image of a photograph from the Lobero Theater website.]

Notes on the Production’s Creative Team

I had reported on Jose Maria Condemi’s conceptualization of the French version of Gluck’s opera two months ago at the Seattle Opera [See my review at  William Burden Triumphs in Gluck’s “Orphee et Eurydice” – Seattle Opera, February 29, 2012.]

The difference in size and scope of productions performed in Seattle and Santa Barbara are considerable, yet both are approached similarly. The elements of both productions were devised three years ago for  the West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, California, which although operating in an even smaller 460 seat theater, is noted for its ambitious tackling of works designed for much larger houses.

As in the other theaters in which versions of this production have shown, the costumes were deliberately “timeless”, rather than attempting to recreate a historical period.

A trio of artists had conceptualized the 2009 Palo Alto production. Two of the three are Argentine born, the stage director (and Opera Santa Barbara artistic director) Jose Maria Condemi and  the conductor (and West Bay Opera general director) Jose Luis Moscovich. The third was the Greek born choreographer Yannis Adoniou. Condemi, Muscovich, and Adoniou were respectively stage director, conductor and choreographer at the Lobero.

If the classical era of Gluck and Mozart is remembered as a era when a person of talent could excel in very distinct fields of endeavor, Moscovich, the conductor, has a classicist’s drive for expertise in widely different areas. Not only is he the administrator of the West Bay Opera Company and that company’s principal conductor, he is a Grammy nominee, and he also sits as Executive Director of the Transportation Authority for the City and County of San Francisco.

The Musical and Dramatic Performance

“Orphee et Eurydice”, the augmented French version of Gluck’s “Orfeo”, redesigned for Marie Antoinette’s Paris, has much to offer a 21st century audience, particularly the abundance of melody. It also is a practical offering for budget-challenged opera companies.

Opera Santa Barbara was able to  mount the production, which requires only three principal singers, with a 30 piece orchestra, a 19 member chorus and six dancers, and modest but serviceable sets, without the production feeling minimalist.

[Below: Orphee (Layna Chianakas, far left) grieves at the funeral for his wife Eurydice (Marnie Breckenridge, carried by mourners at right); edited image of a photograph, courtesy of Opera Santa Barbara.]

Unlike Seattle, whose opera company has a special relationship with the extraordinary tenor William Burden, the opera’s title role in Santa Barbara was sung by a mezzo-soprano, Greek-American Layna Chianakas.

Gluck’s glorious music, so important to the development of the classical opera style of his younger contemporary, Mozart, will sound just as beautiful if sung by a fine mezzo voice, as by a high tenor. Chianakas, who has sung the title role of Bizet’s “Carmen” at Opera Santa Barbara, was dramatically and visually effective in the male role of Orphee. Dressed in a dark costume, sporting a short pony tail, she effectively projected the persona of the grieving widower.

Eurydice was nicely sung and acted by Marnie Breckenridge. A former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer, both she and her Orphee, Chianakas, are associated with the West Bay Opera. Angela Cadelago sang the role of L’Amour. That character, as in both the Palo Alto and Seattle versions, has bee-like wings and rides a bicycle with a magical lyre in its basket.

[ Below: Orphee (in dark clothes at left pillar, holding lyre) uses magical powers to subdue the forces of Hades; edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of Opera Santa Barbara.]

The costuming of the choristers representing the forces of Hades are cleverly constructed, each chorister encased in a tubular costume in which they writhe about.

Subduing the terrors of Hades gains Orphee entrance to the Elysian Fields where the choristers, with serene, eternally blissful smiles, have made Eurydice feel so welcome that she has second thoughts as to whether she really wants to be returned to Earth.

[Below: Eurydice (Marnie Breckenridge, center, in white); edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of the Opera Santa Barbara.]

The second death of Eurydice (Orphee, though he was forbidden to do so, has looked back at her) appears to make the journey into the underworld a futile act, but, at this point, the gods decide they’ve played with the couple enough.

[Below: Orphee (Layna Chianakas, above) is in despair at the apparent death of Eurydice (Marnie Breckenridge, below); edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of the Opera Santa Barbara).]

The Deus Ex Machina

With chorus and dancers present, the god Amour steps off of a machine, the bicycle (permitting me to repeat some word-play for my second “Orphee” review this year), and cancels both of Eurydice’s deaths, reuniting husband and wife, providing the happy ending so expected  of 18th century operas.

[Below: L'Amour (Angela Cadelago, left front center, in pink) brings Eurydice (Marnie Breckenridge, right, in white) back to life, to the relief of Orphee (Layna Chianakas, front left in dark clothes); edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of the Opera Santa Barbara .]

Condemi, still in his first year of the artistic directorship at Opera Santa Barbara, has taken on the role of educator in opera appreciation. He and choreographer Adonoiu invited the audience to join him afterwards, as Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins does after every performance in Seattle, to discuss the opera they have just seen.

Condemi works the crowd, as well, in the ways that  I have noted that Francesca Zambello does at her Glimmerglass Festival. The subscribers and donors, of course, get even more attention, the latter having a pleasant buffet meal and libations in a large tent set up next to the Lobero.

Next year, Opera Santa Barbara will offer larger scale operatic works in the Granada Theater, twice the Lobero’s size. But the historic Lobero was a very nice setting for Condemi’s presentation of Gluck’s wonderful score in its felicitous French version.

Werther (Massenet), Washington National Opera, May 12, 14, 17, 19, 22, 25 and 27(m), 2012.

Italian tenor Francesco Meli and Italian mezzo-soprano Sonia Ganassi make their Washington National Opera debuts respectively as Werther and Charlotte, the character whose contented life Werther’s presence disrupts. American soprano Emily Albrink is Sophie and British bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams is Albert. Julien Robbins, Kenneth Kellogg and  Tim Augustin round out the cast.

[Below: the Michael Yeargan sets for the Opera Australia production of "Werther"; edited image of a production photograph for Opera Australia.]

Michael Yeargan’s sets, created for a 1989 Elijah Moshinsky production for Opera Australia, were purchased by Opera de Montreal.  The original production moved the opera into an upper class Yankee community close in time to the Gatsby Era. Barila recreated the costumes for the Montreal revival. Chris Alexander is WNO’s stage director, Emmanuel Villaume its conductor.

The Pearlfishers – Les Pecheurs de Perles (Bizet), Santa Fe Opera, June 30, July 6, 11, 31, August 10, 13, 22 and 25, 2012.

The Sri Lankan lovers Leila (Nicole Cabell) and Nadir (Eric Cutler) are saved through the selflessness of (and some high stakes skullduggery by) Zurga (Christopher Magiera) who loves them both. Bizet’s youthful romp in exotic Orientalism was originally to have been set in Acapulco rather than Ceylon, but the Mexicans’ military victory over the French on May 5, 1863 (Cinco de Mayo) caused the opera’s composer and producers to rethink what they would be offering to the Parisian public.

[Below: Zurga (here, Nathan Gunn, center) sets fire to the village to effect the escape of Leila (Nicole Cabell, left) and Nadir (Eric Cutler, right);image based on a Dan Rest photograph, courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.]

This has become one of the hit operas of the 21st century, after comparative neglect in the 19th and 20th – the great duet between Nadir and Zurga only one of its many charms. Wayne Tigges sings Nourabad. Lee Blakeley is the Director, Jean-Marc Puissant the Scenic Designer, with costumes by Brigitte Reiffenstuel. Conductor Emmanuel Villaume continues his performances of French operas in American houses.

Werther (Massenet), Lyric Opera of Chicago, November 11, 14, 17, 20, 23 and 26, 2012.

I have read accounts suggesting how to make Werther appear less pyschotic than the character that first Goethe, then Massenet and his librettists created for our pleasure. But I believe the real enjoyment of this opera can come from plumbing this opera’s psychological depths. I’ve seen no one do that better than Mexican director Francisco Negrin, whose production premiered in San Francisco in September 2010.

In Chicago the cast will be led by American tenor Matthew Polenzani’s Werther, with French mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch as Charlotte. Craig Verm is Albert and Kiri Deonarine is Sophie.

[Below: Werther (here, Ramon Vargas, seated), obsessed with the image of Charlotte (here, pictures of Alice Coote); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]

Negrin’s conceptualization is masterful. He make abundantly clear that the character of Werther, who regales us with much of the most beautiful French operatic music ever written for tenor, is in no way a mentally balanced person. But Negrin adds another element – the surreal world of Charlotte’s dream fantasies – and gives some thought to the characters of Albert and Sophie as well.

This is one of my very favorite productions! For my review, see: “Werther” Re-invented, Yet Again – Francisco Negrin’s New Production at San Francisco Opera, September 15, 2010.]

Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saens), San Diego Opera, February 16, 19, 22 and 24(m), 2013.

In 2007, San Diego secured the imminently exotic Nicolas Joel production of Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila”, owned by the San Francisco Opera. It was such overwhelming hit that they the San Diego Opera has arranged for its return, six years later, with Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Nadia Krasteva as the seductress Dalila, who appears to subjugate the Hebrew leader Samson (played, as in 2007, by Texan Clifton Forbis), but totally misjudges the heavenly forces that take his side.

[Below: Samson (here, Clifton Forbis, center) is chained to load-bearing pillars in the Temple of Dagon as the High Priest (Greer Grimsley, standing near left pillar) and Dalila (Denyce Graves, standing at right pillar) look on; edited image, based on a  Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

Tomas Tomasson will be the High Priest of Dagon, Gregory Reinhart the Old Hebrew. Karen Keltner will conduct. The revival will be staged by Leslie Koenig.

For my performance reviews of this production in San Diego and San Francisco, see: Seductive Denyce Graves Enthralls San Diego in “Samson et Dalila” – February 23, 2007 and Exotic Immersion: “Samson” in S. F. – September 11, 2007.

The opera company’s next offering was Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda”  an opera from three decades earlier, itself based on Schiller’s play “Mary Stuart”, about interpersonal conflicts between two queens, both of England’s Tudor dynasty, during the 16th century European efforts  to re-establish Roman Catholicism in England.

Schiller’s plays highlight these emotional interrelationships of royal personages. whose personal lives are impacted by historical movements that try to impose uniformity of religious thought on the populations over whom they reign.

The thematic similarities between the two opera productions permitted Houston audiences to witness two important 19th century operatic works, both of which are in the process of critical re-evaluation. A further parallel between the two productions is that the artists singing the title role in each of each opera (Brandon Jovanovich, the Don Carlos, and Joyce DiDonato, the Mary Stuart) chose the Houston Grand Opera for important role debuts.

Opera is not a particularly efficient medium for presenting historical events, but opera – 19th century opera, especially – can be very effective in portraying such human emotions as love, hate, jealousy and despair. Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” (or “Mary Stuart” as Houston Grand Opera calls it, deferring to the title of Schiller’s play) is just such a vehicle for translating emotion into dramatic rhythms and arresting melodies.

Joyce DiDonato’s Maria Stuarda

It is significant that mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato’s role debut in Donizetti’s quasi-historical opera about Mary, Queen of Scots (“Maria Stuarda”), took place at the Houston Grand Opera, a company closely associated with her career.

DiDonato’s commitment to the opera’s “soprano” role of Maria Stuarda comes several years after she had successfully performed the “mezzo” role of Elisabetta (Queen Elizabeth I) in Geneva.  She demonstrated that the key to both roles, rather than the role’s range, is the ability of the artist to handle each role’s abundance of coloratura expressiveness intermixed with highly dramatic moments.

(Confirming the potential interchangeability of the two lead roles, DiDonato is scheduled to perform the “soprano” role at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera with soprano Elza van den Heever in the “mezzo” role.)

[Below: Maria Stuarda (Joyce DiDonato, center, in red dress) offers a prayer for her soul in which her companions join; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

DiDonato’s Houston Mary Stuart had none of the feel of a “star turn”, where a diva appears more or less as herself to display her technical abilities, but, instead, as a fully realized portrait of the conflicted historical figure.

The confrontation between the queens that is the dramatic highpoint of this opera did not, in fact, actually happen, but the sentiments that Schiller and Donizetti revealed in each character vividly represented the worldviews of each of the historical persons and of large segments of English society that were the partisans of one over the other.

Donizetti’s Mary (like Schiller’s and their historical counterpart) was convinced of the rightness of her claim to the English throne, the reasonableness of her demands (she conceded Elizabeth’s occupation of the English throne, if Elizabeth would name her to be the successor), and the injustice of being imprisoned by Elizabeth for two decades. Recently condemned by the English courts to death, Mary sought an audience (that in play and opera is arranged by Leicester and Talbot) with Elizabeth to plead for clemency.

Elizabeth, unconvinced of Mary’s sincerity, or the political wisdom of granting her a pardon, is hesitant to overturn the English court’s verdict. That enrages Mary, who insults the English sovereign, thereby confirming Mary’s imminent execution. Mary’s insult (vil bastarda) is the climax of a riveting scene, which is reinforced by the highly dramatic rhythmic structure of Donizetti’s melodic line.

[Below: Overcome with anger, Mary Stuart (Joyce DiDonato, left center, in blue) denounces Queen Elizabeth (Katie van Kooten, right) as illegitimate, while Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury (Robert Gleadow, left, in background) is horrified; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

The scenes before and after the theatrically gripping confrontation provide DiDonato’s Mary with the opportunity for introspection. Donizetti’s melodic structure, which DiDonato sings with beautiful phrasing and timbre, is utilized by DiDonato to convey convincingly the full emotions of the doomed Queen of Scots.

Katie Van Kooten’s Elisabetta

Queen Elizabeth was played by Katie Van Kooten, whom I had seen previously at Houston Grand Opera in key roles in Benjamin Britten operas [see Incandescent Houston “Midsummer Night’s Dream” – January 25, 2009 and Anthony Dean Griffey’s Imposing Peter Grimes – Houston Grand Opera, November 12, 2010.] Her portrait of Elizabeth as an emotional, mercurial and yet, grounded, sovereign was effective, and she seemed always comfortable with the role’s vocal challenges.

[Below: Katie Van Kooten as Elisabetta; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

Eric Cutler’s Leicester

The historical Leicester was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth who was chosen by Queen Elizabeth to be her candidate to become the husband of Queen Mary and was made an earl as part of Elizabeth’s scheme (that, of course, did not come to pass).

The Leicester was sung by Eric Cutler, who is one of the leading Donizetti tenors of our era. Once again, he made a strong impression, with his bright-sounding voice and towering physical presence.

In the opera he is clearly empathetic to both queens and engages himself in trying to effect a reconciliation between them and Mary’s pardon. The historical Leicester, after Mary’s death, was returned to Elizabeth’s favor by fighting for England against the Spanish Armada two years’ later and in time died a natural death.

(Cutler was ill when the production photographs were taken. However, he appears in photographs of Leicester’s costume for the Stephen Lawless production in Toronto on which I reported previously. See The Donizetti Revival, Second Stage: Stephen Lawless’ “Maria Stuarda” in Toronto – May 4, 2010.)

Robert Gleadow’s Talbot and Oren Gradus’ Cecil

If Leicester represents the historical movement promoting reconciliation between the queens, the characters of Talbot and Cecil represent opposing segments of English society. Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury, represents those who appear outwardly loyal to Queen Elizabeth and the Anglican church, but who in secret are practicing Roman Catholics, and desire Mary’s pardon and eventual succession to the throne. Robert Gleadow, his lyrical bass-baritone nicely balancing the high voices and Gradus’ basso lines, was a solid Talbot.

[Below: Robert Gleadow is Giorgio Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury; edited image, based on a Keith Penner photograph.]

Cecil, the historical Lord Burleigh, is principally concerned with the weakness of England, in danger through being confronted by a powerful coalition of European powers against it. He is anxious that Mary, who, while alive, provides the opportunity for those powers to force Mary onto the English throne, be executed. Oren Gradus, as Cecil, projected the image of a Machiavellian figure, ready to do whatever needs to be done to protect the powers of the state.

[Below: Cecil (Oren Gradus, right) implores Elisabetta (Katie Van Kooten, left) not to delay the execution of a disruptive force to the kingdom; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

The production, whose stage director was Kevin Newbury and whose sets were by Neil Patel, was created by the Minnesota Opera Scenic Studios and are owned by the Minnesota Opera. It was serviceable and interesting. The costumes by Jessica Jahn had the aura of Elizabethan authenticity. The conducting by Patrick Summers was invariably appropriate to the task.

The Donizetti Revival

I have spoken about what I regard as a 21st century “second stage” of the Donizetti Revival, first associated with such mid-20th century divas as Maria Callas, Leyla Gencer, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe and Beverly Sills. In this second stage, no longer are the Donizetti operas written in the 1830s and early 1840s regarded simply as “star turns” but are beginning to be taken seriously as dramatically valid, musically sophisticated operas.

I believe we are still early in this multi-decade re-evaluation of Donizetti operas. The Houston production, starring DiDonato, advances this re-evaluation, as will her scheduled Met performances in future months.

For my reviews of other Joyce DiDonato performances, see: Festival Casting for Lyric Opera’s “Nozze di Figaro” – Chicago, March 9, 2010, and also,

Florez and DiDonato Dominate Los Angeles Opera’s “Barbiere di Siviglia” – December 6, 2009, and also,

S. F. Opera – A Center for “Rosenkavalier” Excellence: June 24, 2007.

At the end of  2011, I posted a “Quests and Anticipations” feature - Donizetti and Early Verdi in the American West, January-June, 2012 - highlighting productions in Seattle, San Diego, Houston and San Francisco. As of the date of the current posting, the first performances of the runs of the latter two operas have not yet occurred, so those should be given consideration in addition to the group below.

Nabucco (Verdi), Washington National Opera, April 28, May 2, 5, 10, 13(m), 15, 18 and 21, 2012.

American Director Thaddeus Strassberger creates a new production of the opera that was Verdi’s first great success, that will debut at the Kennedy Center and then  later in the year will open the Minnesota Opera’s 2012-2013 season. Later it will be seen in at the Philadelphia Opera Company.

[Below: the poster design for the Washington National Opera production of "Nabucco".]

The lead role of King Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco) at Washington National Opera is assumed by Italian baritone Franco Vassallo, with one performance (May 15) assigned to South Korean baritone Leo An.The Hungarian soprano Csilla Boross is the Abigaille. American tenor Sean Pannikar is Ismaele and French mezzo Geraldine Chauvet the Fenena. Turkish Basso Burak Bilgili is the Zaccaria. Washington National Opera’s musical director, Philippe Auguin will conduct.

Placido Domingo continues to explore the baritone repertory, taking on the role of Francesco Fiesco, Doge of Venice, in Verdi’s musical treatment of Lord Byron’s plsy about the lethal politics of 16th century Venice. A new production, like the Washington National Opera “Nabucco”, is the work of Thaddeus Strassberger.

[Below: the portrait of Venetian Doge Francesco Foscari in the Meseo Correr, Venice; resized image, based on Lorenzo Bastiani's portrait.]

Francesco’s son Jacopo will be performed by Francesco Meli in his Los Angeles Opera debut. The estimable Marina Poplavyskaya is the Lucrezia, and Ievgyn Orlov is the Pietro. James Conlon will conduct.

Anna Bolena (Donizetti), Washington National Opera, September 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, October 3 and 6, 2012.

Stephen Lawless’ Dallas Opera production of Donizetti’s first great success is the vehicle for Illinois soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.

[Below: Percy (Stephen Costello, left) in a gesture that will cost both of them their lives, offers support to Anna Bolena (Hasmik Papian, right); edited image, based on a Karen Almond photograph, courtesy of the Dallas Opera.]

Italian mezzo-soprano Sonia Ganassi plays Anna’s successor as Henry VIII’s queen, Giovanna Seymour. Tenor Shalva Mukeria (from the Republic of Georgia) is the Percy and Oren Gradus the Enrico VIII. Antonello Allemandi conducts.

[For my review of the Stephen Lawless' production at the Dallas Opera, see:Donizetti Revival, Second Stage: Beautifully Sung “Anna Bolena” Completes Dallas Opera’s Tudor Trilogy – November 14, 2010.]

La Fille du Regiment (Donizetti), San Diego Opera, January 26, 29, February 1 and 3(m), 2013.

Emilio Sagi’s ebullient production moves the plot forward to 20th century France during World War Two, with Marie’s regiment comprised of Francophile American soldiers. Donizetti’s patriotic French numbers never seemed so relevant. L’ubica Vargicova takes on the title role with Stephen Costello in his role debut as Tonio.

[Marie (here, Laura Claycomb, top center left) salutes the men of the 21st regiment as the Marquise (Ewa Podles, top center right) look on; edited image, based on an Andrew Cloud photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

Donato diStefano is Sergeant Sulpice, Ewa Podles is the Marquise, the French aristocrat who is to become an American army wife. The romp also provides a opportunity for a cameo appearance by the soprano Carol Vaness. Yves Abel is the conductor.

[For my review of the Emilio Sagi production at the Houston Grand Opera, see: Claycomb, Podles, Banks Shine in Houston “Fille du Regiment” – November 3, 2007.]

The San Diego Opera has mounted  a British-American collaboration – the famous John Conklin-John Copley production of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”, owned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, premiering there in 1989.

San Diego’s cast of principal singers is of international caliber. I’ve reviewed performances of the Russian Don Basilio (Alexander Vinogradov) in Paris; of the American Almaviva (John Osborn) in San Francisco; and of the American Figaro (Lucas Meachem) in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Santa Fe. Two Spanish artists performed the roles of Rosina (Silvia Tro Santafe) and Doctor Bartolo (Carlos Chausson). Both are prominent artists in Europe (although many of Chausson’s early operatic experiences occurred at the San Diego Opera in the late 1970s and early 1980s).

[Below: A band of musicians is hired to serenade under a balcony in John Conklin's setting of "Barbiere di Siviglia"; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

Lucas Meachem’s Figaro

The title role was sung by North Carolina baritone Lucas Meachem in his San Diego Opera debut. I’ve been impressed by his voice and savvy acting for several years (as an Adler Fellow in San Francisco Opera’s Young Artists program he was singing lead roles – including Fra Melitone in Verdi’s “Forza del Destino” [See Zurich and San Francisco: A Tale of Two “Forzas”] -as early as 2005).

The Chicago Lyric production showcases Figaro’s aria Largo al Factotum, surely the most popular aria in all comic opera and perhaps the most familiar excerpt from opera for a large section the wider public. Figaro’s household and barber shop, in this production, is contained in a box set, that is pushed onstage whenever a scene is to take place there. The presence of box sets for Figaro’s aria, and, in the second act for the aria of the maid Berta (sung by Suzanna Guzman), gives special prominence to two Rossini comic interludes, neither of which advances the madcap plot but each of which gives us some insight into each character’s place in the imaginary Seville social scene.

Figaro’s aria begins with him in his loft-level bed. All during the aria he is doffing his bedclothes, and, when down to his undershorts, he begins to don his streetclothes amusingly, sliding down a pole to the first floor to complete the process all in time to the merry music.

Although I respected Meachem’s Figaro in Emilio Sagi production seen in Los Angeles [See Korchak, Coburn and Meachem Illuminate Alternate “Barber of Seville” Cast – Los Angeles Opera, December 5, 2009], I found the Lyric Opera production with the antics accompanying the aria to be especially suited to his comic gifts.

There was no question that the San Diego Opera audience’s first impression of Meachem (the aria being brilliantly sung as well as performed) was love at first sight, with long and vociferous applause at aria’s end and a standing ovation at opera’s end.

[Below: Figaro (Lucas Meachem) who had begun dressing in his upstairs loft, dons his shirt on the street level; edited image, based  on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

John Osborn’s Almaviva

The Almaviva was the Iowa-born tenor John Osborn. He was engaging and effective. He demonstrated his coloratura tenor skill near the opera’s end with the demanding showpiece, Cessa di piu resistere, rarely performed in the 20th century, but in the 21st apparently as much an obligation for a star leggiero tenor as quadruple jumps now are for an ice-skating champion.

I had seen him as Almaviva six years ago in San Francisco, in a lamentable production associated with a previous San Francisco Opera administration [see Deconstructing S.F. Opera’s Super-sized “Barber” – November 12, 2006.] (There the hired serenaders grabbed the count and turned him upside down to shake the gold from his pockets. Even in the comic neverland of Rossini’s Spain, no Count would have suffered such an affront to his dignity.)

But in this revival of an production conceived by the always classy John Copley, staged by Herbert Kellner who, in the past, has been an assistant stage director for Copley; Osborn is permitted to create a vivid and likeable portrait of Rosina’s ardent suitor. As a nobleman disguised as an impoverished student, he cuts a romantic image. Then, disguised as a music teacher, he creates physical comedy routines to add yet another hysterical dimension to Rossini’s already very funny situation.

Below: Having staged a midnight serenade, the Count Almaviva (John Osborn) is besieged by serenaders demanding payment for their time; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

Having heard Osborn’s Almaviva when he was in his early 30s and now again later in that age decade that so many tenor voices grow in size and weight, I would suspect that Almaviva and other leggiero tenor roles will cycle out of his performance repertory. His voice has the weight to take on more of the great lyric tenor roles.Those able to get to San Diego to hear Osborn in this role should do so.

Silvia Tro Santafe’s Rosina

Tro Santafe’s San Diego Opera debut as Rosina introduced to California another superb Spanish mezzo-soprano voice. She was vocally secure, brilliant in her showstopper Una voce poco fa, an attractive and stylish actress and comedienne.

[Below: Rosina (Silvia Tro Santafe) reflects on how dangerous it would be for her guardian or any other man to underestimate her skills at getting her way; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

Alezander Vinogradov’s Don Basilio, Carlo Chausson’s Don Bartolo and Suzanna Guzman’s Berta

I had last seen Vinogradov seven years ago in Paris, where I had been impressed by his Colline in Puccini’s “La Boheme” [See Opera National de Paris: Tres Magnifique La Boheme at the Bastille October 21, 2005.] 

Just turning thirty when I last saw him, now, almost seven years later, Vinogradov displayed a sonorous basso voice, that is clearly ready for taking on the great Wagnerian and Verdian basso roles. Yet I hope to see him, while still a thirty-something, singing Mozart’s youthful basso roles (such as the title role in the “other” Figaro opera.)

[Below: Don Basilio (Alexander Vinogradov) explains how important it is to use slander against one's rivals; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

The butt of all “Barber” jokes is Don Bartolo, who, beneath the bluster, is a potentially likable character. Although the production was created in 1988, its revival for the San Francisco Opera took place in 1992, coinciding with the bicentennial observances of Rossini’s birth. The production incorporates a scrim with portraits of Rossini, and, as an in-joke, a large bust of Rossini’s elderly rival Paisiello, whose 1782 setting for “Barber”, Rossini’s work displaced.

In fact, it was Paisiello’s success in creating an opera of the first part of the French political satirist Beaumarchais’ trilogy, that led Mozart to create an opera out of the trilogy’s second part, “The Marriage of Figaro”. But, according to legend, perhaps with some factual basis, Paisiello’s admirers (partisans of an older group of Neapolitan opera composers), and likely Paisello himself, were detractors of the idea of the youthful Rossini composing a new opera on the same theme. Their emnity assured Rossini a first night fiasco, although one soon followed by the opera’s immortal success.

Thus, Bartolo the fuddy-duddy  - who, of course, in his own mind is upholding societal (perhaps old Neapolitan comic opera) standards – is shown as an admirer of Paisiello, who represents the old methods of composing comic opera and is, thus, the anti-Rossini.

[Below: Dr Bartolo (Carlos Chausson) during his ward's music lesson, pays homage to the bust of Paisiello; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chausson was a familiar presence at the San Diego Opera. I saw him in both lead and comprimario roles in such productions as Verdi’s “Giovanna d’Arco”, Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges” and a star-studded production of Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann” in which the Voice of Antonia’s Mother was the occasion for the San Diego Opera debut of the invaluable Suzanna Guzman, who has established a large repertory of San Diego Opera roles over three decades.

[Below: The maid Berta (Suzanna Guzman) prepares for bed; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

In this performance, Guzman was reunited with Chausson, she singing the role of Berta, his maid. That role has a solo aria, and this production provides it with its own box set pushed onstage (representing Berta’s bedroom) where she amusingly, as counterbalance to Figaro’s first act shedding of bedclothes for streetclothes, does the opposite, although much more discreetly undressing than Meachem’s Figaro.

Antonello Allemandi was an indulgent conductor, although this was fine in a production in which both vocal performance and comic routine needs a collaborator to give voice and comedy breathing space, rather than a metronome in the pit.

John Conklin’s set designs are from a period when he seemed to like incongruous things hanging from the sky. Thus (and, I heard members of the audience around me wondering about it) red chairs hang from the ceiling in the otherwise conservative Dr Bartolo’s living room.

I am not persuaded that either this production nor Mozart’s “Idomeneo” from the same creative team in the same era was enhanced by these curiosities. (Conklin’s sets for Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” for Seattle Opera, which were lustily booed when revived for San Francisco, took the conceit to its extreme.) Yet, in this “Barber” the airborne chairs caused no diminution in the pleasure of the performance.

[Below: Rosina (Silvia Tro Santafe, left) consents to become the wife of the person who reveals himself to be the Count Almaviva (John Osborn, center) as Figaro (Lucas Meachem, right) looks on; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

What would be a treat for any first time opera goer, this famous production of “Barber” presented in San Diego with its youthful cast of important international stars, is also a “must see” for any opera aficionado. I recommend it unreservedly.

For my reviews of other recemt Lucas Meachem performances, see: Meachem, Vinco, Lead Cast of Imaginatively Staged “Don Giovanni” – San Francisco Opera, October 23, 2011, and also,

Britten’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in Chicago: Enchanting, Luminous, Hilarious – Lyric Opera, November 17, 2010, and also,

Copley Directs, Luisotti Conducts, Sparkling “Nozze” Ensemble – San Francisco Opera, October 3, 2010, and also,

Lyric Opera Revives Inventive Corsaro-Perdziola “Faust”: Chicago November 3, 2009, and also,

The Man Who Loved Women: Lucas Meachem’s Empathetic Don Giovanni – Santa Fe, July 31, 2009.

For my interview with Meachem, see:  Rising Stars: An Interview with Lucas Meachem, Part I and  Rising Stars: An Interview with Lucas Meachem, Part II.

Thus, substantive cuts to Verdi’s completed work were made before its first performance. Opera company managements, mindful of the popularity of shorter operas – one of the points on which many 19th and 21st century opera company managements would likely agree – were quick to embrace the composer’s final five-act French version in the abridged form of its 1867 premiere.

Verdi felt compelled to revise the opera several more times, and in 1884 authorized a new four act version in Italian. Then, for a period of several decades, it existed as a seldom performed operatic “rarity”, re-entering the standard repertory in its four act form in the mid-20th century.

A New Production at Welsh National Opera

Houston Grand Opera’s former General Manager Anthony Freud, now at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, was at the Welsh National Opera (Cardiff, Wales) when this production was created. Conceptualized by John Caird, with sets by Johan Engels and costumes by Carl Friedrich Oberle, it originally debuted in 2005.

The new production, rather than being based on either the 1867 French five-act premiere production or the 1884 four-act Italian revision, restored the cuts Verdi was forced to make before the opera’s opening night performance.

The Houston management, now led by HGO Managing Director Perryn Leech, who had been technical assistant to Freud in Cardiff,  bet that the version that was too long for Paris in 1866 would be found acceptable by Houston audiences.

[Below: Don Carlos (Brandon Jovanovich) approaches a campfire that warms the Fontainebleau foresters and their families; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

The production’s opening night proved the HGO management to be right. The great mass of the Houston audience stayed throughout the four hours, and demonstrated appreciative applause throughout and enthusiastic ovations at opera’s end. Patrick Summers conducted the Houston Grand Opera orchestra impressively.

Improving the Story Line of “Don Carlos”

The “new” material, previously unknown to most Verdi aficionados, proved revelatory, strengthening character motivations, especially of Elisabeth, Philippe and Carlos, clarifying plot points, and proving that all of the music struck out before the Paris premiere was of the same level of quality as the music that “made the cut”.

Even the “wood-chopping” music, evoking the sound of swinging axes that begins the 1867 version of the opera with which we are familiar, has a context. A long and, I think, effective scene begins the opera, in which the Fontainebleau foresters and their families bewail their poverty and hunger.

They are watched by Don Carlos, the Spanish heir to the throne, who has traveled to France to get a glimpse of his betrothed in a marriage of state negotiated by the emissaries of France and Spain.

[Below: A group of foresters and their families, observed by Don Carlos (Brandon Jovanovich, top right center)  congregate in the Fontainbleau woods and warm themselves at a campfire; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

The character whose stock rises the most in the full version is Elisabeth de Valois, who accompanied by her page and lady-in-waiting, comes across the down and out forester families and shows compassion and charity, even giving the furs off her back to shivering children and elders.

The chorus finds a reason to abandon the fire’s warmth and exit the stage, and opens the opportunity for Don Carlos (telling Elisabeth that he is an emissary of the prince, rather than the prince himself) to stir the embers and warm and charm the French princess.

Such a scene of outdoor domesticity involving  two sheltered royal offpring is affecting, and makes wholly believable Carlos’ instantaneous attraction to her, and Elisabeth’s reciprocal expression of love when Carlos’ supposed emissary proves to be the same person portrayed in the locket he states contains Don Carlos’ image.

Carlos, who has fallen in love with the woman whom royal affairs of state had chosen for him, is devastated and angry when he learns that his bride-elect has suddenly become his stepmother-elect. Elisabeth’s sense of duty and rapport with the foresters’ families pleading for peace between France and Spain causes her to consent to King Philippe’s formal offer of marriage. The enraged Carlos, whose relations with his father were obviously strained before this time, is now inimical and rebellious towards the King.

Brandon Jovanovich’s Don Carlos

Brandon Jovanovich, whose Don Jose in Bizet’s “Carmen” demonstrated his effective delivery of the French dramatic tenor sound [see my review at Krasteva, Jovanovich Sizzle in Chicago “Carmen” – Lyric Opera, March 15, 2011] was a striking Carlos, displaying a brilliant top and a seductive middle voice that showed both lyricism and power.

Already excelling in the spinto Italian roles [see my reviews of his Pinkerton (see The Remaking of San Francisco Opera Part III “Madama Butterfly” – December 8, 2007 and Kaduce’s Incandescent Cio Cio San, Jovanovich’s Injudicious Pinkerton, Emblazon Blakeley’s “Butterfly” – Santa Fe Opera, July 16, 2010) and his Luigi (see Gavanelli, Racette, Jovanovich In Rousing “Tabarro” at San Francisco Opera – September 15, 2009) ] and the jugendlicher Wagnerian roles [see my reviews of his Siegmund (Power Singing, Powerful Imagery in Zambello’s “Walkuere” – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2011) and Froh (“Rheingold” Evolves in First Full Zambello “Ring” – San Francisco Opera, June 14, 2011)], with matinee idol looks and effective acting skills, the Montana-born American tenor has the ingredients for operatic super-star status.

The object of Carlos’ affections, Elisabeth, was sung by Tamara Wilson, an alumna of the Houston Studio Artists. She has taken on the core dramatic soprano roles of the Verdi canon, notably at Houston Grand Opera, which might be regarded as her home company [see, for example, Vargas, Podles Brilliant in Puzzle Box “Ballo”: Houston – November 2, 2007.]

[Below: Elisabeth of Valois (Tamara Wilson, under crown at left) accepts her fate to become Queen of Spain as her page Thibault (Lauren Snouffer, right, with hands behind back) looks on; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

Images of the Counter-Reformation

The opera is one of two productions mounted this April at Houston Grand Opera – the other being Donizetti’s “Mary Stuart (Maria Stuarda”) – by Italian composers loosely based on plays by Friedrich Schiller, which are loosely based on dramatic events during the 16th century Catholic Counter-Reformation.

I do not expect to come across anyone in the 21st century who would argue that the Spanish Inquisition was not deplorable, nor that the Catholic forces could ultimately have prevailed in the United Kingdom. But “Don Carlos” and “Mary Stuart” are neither documentaries nor biographies.

In the Caird/Engels production, oppression of dissent in both Spain and Flanders is represented by crosses, some towering above the stage and some hand-held. That these crosses have nothing to do with a redemptive Christian message is chillingly displayed in this production’s treatment of the auto-da-fe. (The burning heretics were welcomed into heaven, by a Celestial Voice, sung by Brittany Wheeler.)

A traditionalist might demur at Oberle’s costuming scheme, which embraces a 21st century fashion of mixing costume styles from various periods, so that a 16th century Dominican monk might stand next to persons in contemporary dress who would attract no stares at Houston’s upscale shopping malls. And, like so many contemporary operatic productions, Phillip II’s soldiers carry assault rifles (although this one eschews mixing AK-47s with crossbows as one sometimes sees on the operatic stage these days).

But I will offer a mild defense of the costuming, which, for me, assured that the conceptualization of the staging dealt with the pyschological impact that each of the principal characters have on each other. ”Don Carlos” especially is about personal passions, both lofty (e.g.,  for the personal freedom and national self-determination of oppressed persons) and more obviously emotional (e.g., love, jealousy, the mutual anger of father and son).

Christine Goerke’s Eboli

Vanity, jealousy, treachery and self-delusion are all traits of the Princess Eboli, sung by Christine Goerke, one the several plum lead roles in “Don Carlos”.

Goerke is one of the truly superb contemporary dramatic mezzo-sopranos (whose repertory encompasses roles usually associated with either the mezzo or the soprano range). [See my reviews of her Ortrud [Summers Leads Sumptiously Sung “Lohengrin”: Houston Grand Opera, November 13, 2009], her Ariadne [Goerke, Claycomb, Graham in Stylishly Accessible “Ariadne auf Naxos” – Houston Grand Opera, April 29, 2011] and her Rosalinde [“Die Fledermaus” in S. F. – September 16, 2006].

Her wide range and vocal flexibility permitted her to perform both of Eboli’s arias (the Veil Song and O don fatal) admirably, whereas many a mezzo-soprano has been known to be less effective on the one than the other.

[Below: Christine Goerke is the Princess Eboli; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

Andrea Silvestrelli’s Philippe and Samuel Ramey’s Inquisitor

Perhaps the most famous scene in “Don Carlos” is the chilling scene between two bassos, King Philippe (sung by Andrea Silvestrelli, a veteran of the Welsh National Opera production) and the Grand Inquisitor (Samuel Ramey).

Silvestrelli portrayal of Philippe, guided by a substantial increase in the “content of his character” that the restoration of cuts provides, was of an insecure, disturbed monarch – even more deeply troubled by his interactions with and suspicions about his wife and his son than either of the usually performed versions. So the encounter between Philippe and the Inquisitor, in which he asks the priest’s absolution should he have to order his own son’s death (Why not? God, himself, did it, is the Inquistor’s chilling response.)

Ramey’s voice, who, as he enters his 70s, is not the instrument that so regaled us during the decades of his prime, proved to be an extraordinary presence. His first phrases were uttered with the excessively wide vibrato that usually signals vocal decline, but within a few moments one detected the power and dramatic punch of the Ramey voice. It was a searing portrait, an extraordinary addition to this important cast, which I will remember alongside the great Ramey performances I attended during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

[Below: Philippe (Andrea Silvestrelli, left) asks absolution, should he have to execute his son, from the Grand Inquisitor (Samuel Ramey, right); edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

Scott Hendricks’ Rodrigue

It has been several years since I last reviewed a performance in which Scott Hendricks starred [see Cura, Futral Shine in New San Diego Opera “Pagliacci” – March 22, 2008.] Although he is not particularly associated with the French repertory, it was a pleasure to hear his lyric baritone engaged in performing one of the mid-19th century French roles for which his voice seems particularly suited. (Valentin in Gounod’s “Faust” was written seven years before “Don Carlos” and Mercutio in Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” had its first performances in the same year as Verdi’s Parisian opera.)

Hendricks, like Silvestrelli, is a veteran of the original Welsh National Opera production. His Rodrigue, like Carlos, Elisabeth, Eboli and Philippe, has much rich material – both vocal and dramatic – in the restored sections.

[Below: Rodrigue (Scott Hendricks, left) visits the cell in which Don Carlos (Brandon Jovanovich, right) is imprisoned; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

I confess to liking several of the eccentricities of the staging that Caird and company have created. At the end of the Fontainebleau scene, we discover that the “campfire” at which Don Carlos wooed Elisabeth is made up of a large number of crosses, one of which each chorister picks up on his or her way to the next scene. The women who attend on Princess Eboli all are twirling distinctive broad-beamed parasols. Eboli’s page Thibault (Lauren Snouffer) is dressed like a slightly older Cherubino, and engages in flirtations with Eboli and Elisabeth’s (mute) lady-in-waiting, Countess Aremberg.

[Below: Don Carlos (Brandon Jovanovich) meets his ultimate fate; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

Not only do I recommend this performance unreservedly for the Verdi aficionado, I recommend that any lover of Verdi’s operas consider traveling a great distance to be able to hear the opera as originally written, particularly with Jovanovich singing the title role.

See also: Rising Stars: An Interview with Brandon Jovanovich.

In the case of Verdi, I have argued on these pages and elsewhere that we divide his body of works into (1) those written before “Rigoletto” and (2) “Rigoletto” and his subsequent operas. The first category I like to consider together with the innovations that his older colleague and mentor Gaetano Donizetti made to Italian (and French) opera. For me the Donizetti-Early Verdi linkage is a powerful concept.

But separating Donizetti from the two Italian composers of bel canto operas with which he is most closely associated – Gioacchino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini – is both unorthodox and revelatory. Each of these composers were themselves innovators, and the Verdi bicentennial poses an opportunity to consider their accomplishments as well.

Over the next year it is possible to see several of the major Rossini comedies with Houston Grand Opera performing “L’Italiana in Algeri” and the Seattle and Los Angeles Operas performing “La Cenerentola”. Even Rossini’s lesser known comedy “Le Comte Ory” will be performed at the Met.

The serious Rossini operas and those of Bellini are less often performed in the United States, but each of these categories will be represented in major productions this season.

Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) San Diego Opera, April 21, 24, 27 and 29, 2012.

Over the next year, performances of Rossini’s less often performed comic operas will be mounted at one or more American opera companies. However, if one wishes to see the usually ubiquitous “Barber of Seville”  performed over the rest of the year by one of the larger American opera companies in a full-scale production, one must go to the San Diego. It is the San Diego Opera that has brought together a team of international artists to perform this perenially most popular of all comic operas.

[Below: Spanish soprano Silvia Tro Santafe is Rosina; edited image, based on a production photograph from www.silviatrosantafe.com.]

A Rossini specialist, Spanish mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafe, makes her San Diego Opera debut as Rosina, the most famous coloratura role in comic opera. Tro Santafe’s fellow Spaniard, Carlos Chausson, the Don Bartolo, returns to the San Diego Opera, the site of his professional debut (Masetto in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”) 35 years ago.

The Russian basso Alexander Vinogradov is the Don Basilio, with Americans Lucas Meachem (San Diego Opera) in the title role (Figaro) and John Osborn as Almaviva. The Italian Conductor Antonello Allemandi is at the podium; American Herbert Kellner is the stage director.

[For my performance review, see: Meachem, Osborn, Tro Santafe Lead a Joyous “Barber” at San Diego Opera – April 21, 2012.]

Maometto (Rossini), Santa Fe Opera, July 14, 18, 27, August 2, 7 and 16, 2012 

For the Summer 2012 Santa Fe Opera Festival, a new production by the imaginative concept director David Alden will be mounted, with scenic design and costumes by Jon Morrell.

[Below: Basso Luca Pisaroni is Maometto; resized image of a promotional photograph, from SanFranciscoSentinel.com.]

Santa Fe Opera’s music director, Frederic Chaslin, will conduct. In the title role, basso Luca Pisaroni stars, with Leah Crocetto the Anna, Patricia Barden the Calbo and Bruce Sledge the Paolo.

The Capulets and the Montagues – I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Bellini), San Francisco Opera, September 29, October 3, 11, 14(m), 16 and 19, 2012.

The San Francisco Opera imports the Vincent Broussard production of “I Capuleti”, which premiered in 2011 in Munich as a co-production with the San Francisco company.

[Below: a scene from the Vincent Broussard production of "I Capuleti" in Munich; edited image, based on a Wilfred Hoesl photograph for the Bavarian State Opera.]

 Joyce di Donato will be Romeo with Nicole Cabell the Giulietta. Saimir Pirgu is Tybaldo and Eric Owens is Capellio. The costumes are by the Parisian fashion designer Christian LaCroix. Riccardo Frizza will conduct.

[For my extended comments on Bellini's work in the context of a performance review, see: Beautiful Singing in Bellini’s “Capuleti”: Pittsburgh Opera – May 3, 2008.]

L’Italiana in Algeri (Rossini), Houston Grand Opera, October 26, 28(m), November 3, 7, 9 and 11(m), 2012.

The Barcelona-based Spanish team of Joan Font (production design) and Joan Guillien (sets and costumes) created whimsical sets and costumes for Rossini’s first great hit comedy for the Teatro Real in Madrid, in a co-production with the Houston Grand Opera and the opera companies of Bordeaux, France and Florence, Italy.

[Below: Joan Guillien's sets for a scene from "L'Italiana"; edited image of a Javier del Real photograph for Teatro Real, Madrid.]

The Italiana herself will be performed by Spanish mezzo Daniela Barcellona, joined by an American cast of Lawrence Brownlee (Lindoro), Patrick Carfizzi and Daniel Belcher (Taddeo).

 * * *

Each of the four productions listed above should be of more than routine interest. I plan to report on as many of them as I am able to schedule.

I have argued for categorizing the operas  that Verdi wrote in the two decades bracketed by 1851 and 1871 separately from his earlier works.Verdi’s pre-1851 canon of works are wonderful, and share some important and felicitous similarities with the great but prematurely deceased Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti.

I have already testified on behalf of the American performances of some of these operas (see Donizetti and Early Verdi in the American West, January-June, 2012). Shortly, I will update the Donizetti-Early Verdi lists (which already herald the upcoming “Attila” in June at San Francisco Opera) with new suggestions.

But the great Verdian operas in the period between his “Rigoletto” and his “Aida” are among the greatest treasures of the operatic repertory. I have already reported on Placido Domingo’s arresting portrait in the title role of “Simon Boccanegra” (see Legend Making at Los Angeles Opera – Placido Domingo, James Conlon Lead Star-Studded “Simon Boccanegra”, February 11, 2012) and on Chicago’s esteemed NIcolas Joel production of “Aida” (see An Admirable “Aida”: Hui He, Berti, Smirnova, Kelsey Are Impressive – Lyric Opera of Chicago, March 15, 2012.)

Although it is not intended as an exhaustive list of opportunities that North Americans will have to attend live performances of the major “Middle Verdi” works, I have listed suggestions in New York, Texas, Ohio and California. Each of these performances are offering casts, stage directors and/or conductors that have received my praise in my previous reviews on this website.

It is my intention to try to get to and to review one or more of each of the “Middle Verdi” operas productions listed below.

Don Carlos (Verdi), Houston Grand Opera, April 13, 15(m), 19, 22(m) and 28.

Houston Grand Opera imports the Welsh National Opera’s 2005 production, which presented the French version of Verdi’s masterpiece, in as complete a version as one could possibly expect. The production, directed by John Caird in what was his first ever operatic production, has sets by Johan Engels.

[Below: A scene from the 2005 performances at the Welsh National Opera; resized image of Bill Cooper photograph for the Welsh National Opera.]

Conducted by Patrick Summers, the opera stars Brandon Jovanovich in the title role with Tamara Wilson as Elisabeth and Christine Goerke as Princess Eboli. Two veterans of the 2005 new production at Welsh National Opera,  Andrea Silvestrelli (King Philip) and Scott Hendricks (Rodrigue) are repeating their roles.

[For my performance review, see:  Brandon Jovanovich Triumphant in Historic “Don Carlos” Production – Houston Grand Opera, April 13, 2012.]

Aida (Verdi), Glimmerglass Festival, July 7, 13, 15(m), 23(m), 27, August 4, 9, 11(m), 14(m), 17 and 25.

Glimmerglass Festival Director Francesca Zambello will personally direct a new production of “Aida” in which she focuses on the intimate relationships of the four principals. The Aida will be Michelle Johnson, who was a 2011 prizewinner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals. Her father Amonasro will be Eric Owens, Glimmerglass’ 2012 artist in residence.

[Below: Michelle Johnson is to be the Aida; resized image, based on a photograph from the Academy of Vocal Artists, Philadelphia]

Two former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows, Noah Stewart and Davenas Karenas, are respectively the Radames and Amneris. Nader Abbassi is the conductor. The sets are by Lee Savage, the costumes by Bibhu Mohapatra.

La Traviata (Verdi), Cincinnati Opera, July 26 and 28, 2012.

Three favorites of this website, soprano Ailyn Perez (Violetta), tenor Stephen Costello (Alfredo) and stage director Jose Maria Condemi are teamed in Cincinnati in a performance conducted by Carlo Montanaro, whose “Attila” at Seattle Opera I praised earlier this year.

[Below: Alfredo (Stephen Costello, left) reveals his love to Violetta (Ailyn Perez, right); edited image, based on a Neil Gillespie photograph for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.]

The sets are by the famed Desmond Heeley, whose three Tony awards and Bronze Award from the United Kingdom’s Stratford-upon-Avon Festival are measures of his artistic accomplishments.

Rigoletto (Verdi) September 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16(m), 18, 19, 21, 23(m), 25 and 30(m).

Although Verdi wrote worthy operas and had spectacular hits prior to this blockbuster, his reputation was sealed and his status in the history of opera transformed by “Rigoletto”. San Francisco Opera has chosen it for its season opener. In a departure from San Francisco Opera tradition, the opera is double-cast, each with formidable protagonists.

Zeljko Lucic and Marco Vratogna alternate in the title role. Coloratura sopranos Aleksandra Kurzak and Albina Shagimuratova share the role of Gilda, Francesco De Muro and David Lomeli the role of the Duca di Mantua. Kendall Gladen and Andrea Silvestrelli are respectively Maddalena and Sparafucile in all performances.

The brilliant conductor Nicola Luisotti is responsible for all of the performances except for the final two, when his colleague Giuseppe Finzi takes the podium.

[Below: Michael Yeargan's sets for San Francisco Opera's production of "Rigoletto"; resized image of a San Francisco Opera photograph.]

Once again, Michael Yeargan’s 1997 production is on display.

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