Opera Review: The Viceroy's New Groove

The New York City Opera presents La Périchole.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Pineapple express: Marie Lenormand in the title role of La Périchole.
Photo by Carol Rosegg © 2013 New York City Opera.

The New York City Opera wrapped up its spring season this week with Jacques Offenbach’s 1868 opéra bouffe La Périchole.  The show marks the return of director Christopher Alden, whose surreal sensibility has become one of the company's hallmarks under general manager George Steel. The opera in question is a rarity: , originally set in the “exotic” city of Lima, Peru and reimagined here as a modern screwball sex comedy with visual tropes from the Marx Brothers comedies and Monty Python's Flying Circus.

City Opera: Vagabonds No More

The New York City Opera announces its 2012-2013 season.

"He'll flip ya. Flip ya fo' real."
At today's presser, General Manager George Steel
demonstrates his kung fu approach to opera management.
Photo by the author.

by Paul Pelkonen
After a bizarre 2011 that saw the New York City Opera leave its long-time home at Lincoln Center, next year sees the opera company settling down.

Well, sort of. 

At today's press conference, the company announced its 2012-13 season: four new productions built entirely in-house. Board Chairman Chuck Wall announced deals with Brooklyn Academy of Music, City Center, agreeing to split the bulk of its performances between those two venues for the next three years. They will perform two operas in each venue, keeping to the model of just four shows in each run.

Following Mr. Wall's announcement, George Steel took the podium to present the next season, which will take place in the late winter/early spring of 2013.

Next season consists of four new productions of venerable operas by known composers. It should be noted that these are not "partner" or "import" shows, but productions that will be entirely created by New York City Opera personnel. In the maverick style that has characterized Mr. Steel's administration, the operas are all works that exist, at best, on the outer fringe of the standard repertory.

Powder Her Face (Feb. 15-23 at Brooklyn Academy of Music)

The season opens at BAM in February, with Thomas Ádes' first opera Powder Her Face, in a new production by director Jay Schelb, who has had nice things written about him in Time Out New York. Powder is a merry scandal-driven drama focusing on British bad girl Margaret Campbell, whom the press dubbed "The Dirty Duchess" (not to be confused with La Cieca.)

Analysis: Mr. Ádes' work is currently in vogue, with the rival Metropolitan Opera staging the New York premiere of The Tempest next season. Powder was first staged in New York at BAM's Majestic Theater in 1997.

The Turn of the Screw (Feb. 24-March 2 at BAM)
Despite its title, this is not a re-telling of last year's City Opera labor negotiations with the orchestra and chorus, but an adaptation of Henry James' short novel of a governor, two very weird children and two ghosts. The wrenching story of innocent children corrupted by not-so-innocent forces, Screw will be directed by Sam Buntrock.

Analysis: This is an interesting choice, particularly considering the company's last foray into the supernatural: a disastrous 2011 production of Stephen Schwarz' Séance on a Wet Afternoon. It should be noted that while City Opera last Turned the Screw in 1996 with an Emmy-nominated production by Mark Lamos, this is an all-new staging.

Mosè en Egitto (April 14-20 at City Center.)

The company moves (back) to City Center in April. Since Passover is early next year, observant opera lovers will be able to enjoy Rossini's Mosè en Egitto, a three-act re-creation of the events depicted in the Book of Exodus. Michael Counts, whose imaginative direction was the best thing about 2011's production of Monodramas returns to lead the opera company to the land of manna and matzoh.

Analysis: City Opera reaches deep into the Rossini catalogue for this Biblical drama from 1818. This is an Italian opera, and (almost) completely different from Moïse et Pharaon, the composer's later recycling of the same libretto for the Paris stage in 1827. Presenting Rossini that requires visual flair and spectacle is a welcome risk for this company. Mr. Steel, we're ready for our close-up.

La Périchole (April 21-27 at City Center.)

The season ends with La Périchole, a Jacques Offenbach rarity mounted by house favorite director Christopher Alden. This opera-bouffe is a comic romp about class warfare in Peru, making it the second opera (that I can think of) to be set in that exotic land.

Analysis: This is an odd choice, considering that New Yorkers are eagerly anticipating Mr. Alden's Nozze di Figaro (now slated for 2014) which would complete his Da Ponte trilogy and probably allow City Opera to make a mint by running it in repertory with Cosí fan tutte and Don Giovanni. George Steel has tried his hand at odd French repertory before (the 2010 revival of L'Etoile comes to mind) with mixed results, but Mr. Alden is critically acclaimed.

Watch the opening scene of Powder Her Face.

Opera Review: The Roman, the Witches, and the Wardrobe

Gotham Chamber Opera celebrates 10 years with Il Sogno del Scipione.
by Paul Pelkonen

Three on a mattress: Christine Biller (with shoe) Marie-Éve Munger and Michele Angelini

in Il Sogno del Scipione. Photo by Erin Baiano © 2012 Gotham Chamber Opera.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Il Sogno del Scipione ("Scipio's Dream") was written in 1772, when the composer was just 16 years old. Although the works of Mozart's adolescence have enjoyed some popularity in recent years, this allegorical opera seria has faced a long, hard rehabilitation. In 1913, musicologist Edward Dent labeled it as "formal and uninspired."

Happily, Wednesday night's premiere of the Gotham Chamber Opera's new production of Scipione (mounted by director Christopher Alden to commemorate the company's 10th anniversary) found much dramatic gold in this work. Scipione takes place almost entirely in the subconscious of its title character (sung by Michele Angelini). This is not the Roman general whose battlefield skill defeated Hannibal and won the Second Punic War--but his nephew and heir. What's really at stake though, is the conflict between goddesses: Constanza (Constancy, sung by Marie-Ève Munger) and Fortuna, (Fortune) played by Susannah Biller.

Mr. Alden places all three singers in bed together at the start of the one-act piece, an idea which recalls the opening of Der Rosenkavalier. The action is confined to one room, with no exits save the window. There is luxuriant shag carpeting, a wardrobe, and globe lighting that descends to indicate the heavenly spheres. Moving the work to New York (or possibly an IKEA® showroom) Mr. Alden explained (in a program note) that he chose a dramatic sensibility derived from the 1997 Robert Downey film Two Girls and a Guy.

Mr. Angelini is the major vocal discovery here, a flexable lyric tenor with an agile portamento and a pleasing, rounded low end. His sky-scraping final aria "Di che si l'arbitra'" was a heroic, compelling vocal workout, all the more so since the singer dressed himself, complete with tying a tie in a full Windsor knot without dropping a note. He was helped by the crisp leadership of Neal Goren in the Lynch Theater's small orchestra pit.

The two female leads were less pleasing. Mozart wrote considerably challenging arias for his two goddesses, but the singers added shrieks and stretched for difficult notes high above the stave. The personifications of Constancy and Fortune serves as harbingers of the Queen of the Night, who arrived some 20 years later. However, the young composer did not have the economy of thought that pervades Zauberflöte, and their long string of da capo arias proved exhausting.

Of the two goddesses, Ms. Biller excelled at chewing the scenery while rotating through a seemingly endless supply of costumes, from cowgirl to dominatrix to acid-green Coco Chanel. "A chi serena io giro" has a plethora of virtuoso passages. This leggy singer managed to make these over-written repeats more fun by moving around and acting as she switched outfits and moods. Constancy is naturally more restrained dramatically. Ms. Munger brought an even higher level of virtuosity to her part, tossing off arias like "Biancheggia il mar lo scoglio" and drawing her rival's wrath.

Far better was soprano Rachel Willis Sørensen in the small but crucial role of Licenza. This character is an Epilogue, addressing Mozart's patron and expressing good will towards the audience. Ms. Sørensen had an appealing stage presence, a plush, potent tone and her own acrobatics above the stave that never ventured into shrillness. A winner of the Metropolitan Opera's 2010 National Council Auditions, she is a singer on the way up.

The rest of the cast exists mostly in small parts. Of these, Scipio's uncle Publio (Arthur Espirito) and father Emilio (Chad A. Johnson) delivered impressive arias with their share of physical effort. Mr. Espirito did the entire performance on crutches with one leg tied back to indicate an amputation. Mr. Johnson arrived onstage in a wheelchair, emerging from a near catatonic state to sing with a pleasing tenor.

Opera Review: Goodbye to Romance

New York City Opera mounts Così fan tutte.

by Paul Pelkonen

A row to nowhere: the cast of the City Opera's Così fan tutte.
L.-R.: Jennifer Holloway, Philip Cutlip, Sara Jakubiak, Allan Clayton.
Photo by Carol Rosegg © 2012 New York City Opera.

When George Steel assumed command of New York City Opera in 2010, he opened his tenure with a Christopher Alden production of Don Giovanni. Now, Mr. Steel and Mr. Alden have given us the second of three operas written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. Così fan tutte (The title loosely translates as "That's what all the girls do.") is a dramma giocoso, a dark comedy of infidelity and forbidden love. The spare production was mounted in a theater ideal for chamber opera, the 600-seat Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Rather than the usual clowning and drawing-room sets, Mr. Alden presented this opera as a stark, often disturbing exploration of men's attitudes towards women. Set in what appears to be an outdoor park (illuminated at times by ugly sodium lights), this staging is strange from the start, presenting the bet between Don Alfonso (Rod Gilfry) and the soldiers Gugliemo and Ferrando as a Faustian game that ultimately destroys all players. 

This staging of Don Alfonso's "school for lovers" slowly stripped the lovers of ethics, morals and dignity. They lose everything, including their clothes (and possibly, their sanity) as the revalations crash down in the final scene. The final image: all six characters flopped on a bench, self-medicating with one bottle of champagne, indicates that in this game, there are no winners.

In this production, Don Alonso is a Mephistophelean figure, suave and seductive as he leads the two pairs of lovers on a path toward ruined relationships. Mr. Gilfry, whose long experience in Mozart includes recordings of all three "Da Ponte operas (with John Eliot Gardiner) made his City Opera debut with these shows. His preence here is something of a coup for the troubled company.

Marie Lenormand took on the challenging, ungrateful part of Despina, bringing new dimensions to the sister's maid, the opera's trickster role. Ms. Lenormand executed some impressive vocal filigree and some stunning costume changes, including the beginning of Act II where she tricked out in a suit and bowler hat. Wielding a riding crop, she made Mr. Gilfry prance in a bear costume--on loan from a production of The Bartered Bride?

Sara Jakubiak took on the difficult role of Fiordiligi with a strong, penetrating soprano that was agile enough to handle the treacherous leaps written into the part. She was at her most moving in the work's opera seria passages, particularly "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona," . In this Act II aria, Ms. Jakubiak capturing the pathos of a woman torn between her fiancée and her new "Albanian" boyfriend.

Jennifer Holloway provided contrast as Dorabella. She accented the intellectual side of the character in the first act. Dorabella is the first of the two sisters to admit to falling in love with her new beau Ms. Holloway made the most of her Act II duet with Gugliemo, letting her pliant instrument dive gracefully into the long, seductive vocal lines. 

Allan Clayton (Ferrando) and Philip Cutlip (Gugliemo) did their best not to make their characters interchangeable, despite the fact that pulling that very switch lies at the heart of this opera's plot. Mr. Clayton was a potent presence in his Act II "betrayal" scene. Mr. Cutlip was warm, seductive and very funny in the early acts, but went foetal in the final scene as the truth came out.

Mr. Alden's vision was helped by the compelling conducting of Christian Curnyn. Leading a scaled-down orchestra that was tightly packed in to the theater's pit, Mr. Curnyn favored swift, driving tempos that never gave the music room to breathe. The singers kept up. The orchestra showed itself to be in good form on Thursday night, although certain notes in the brass left something to be desired.

City Opera Preview: Cosí fan tutte

The City Opera moves back to Manhattan with a new take on Mozart's classic.
by Paul Pelkonen

"Who did it at the end? They all did?"
--Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly on M*A*S*H.

A kiss before they leave Brooklyn.
Promotional image for Cosí fan tutte © 2012 New York City Opera.

With this new production of Mozart's Cosí fan tutte directed by wunderkind Christopher Alden the New York City Opera hopes to duplicate the success of their 2009 Don Giovanni. This is the second of a projected trilogy of Mozart's operas, all directed by Mr. Alden. Le Nozze di Figaro is planned for a future season.

Cosí (the title is based on a line from The Marriage of Figaro)  is an intimate opera, the story of two callow suitors who decide to disguise themselves and switch fiancées in order to win a bet. That makes it admirably suited to George Steel's newly mobile New York City Opera, who have gambled their future by leaving Lincoln Center and taking their shows to various venues located around New York City.

This is the company's first production at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, located in the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The Lynch Theater is about two blocks from the company's former home at the (former) New York State Theater. It can seat 605 opera-goers.

This cast features three singers new to the City Opera. in soprano Jennifer Holloway, who makes her company debut as Dorabella. Tenor Allan Clayton joins the company as Ferrando. Sara Jakubiak is Fiordiligi. Veteran Mozart baritone Rodney Gilfry takes the role of Don Alfonso. Christian Curnyn conducts.


Cosí opens March 18 and will run for four performances only.


Recording Recommendations:

Of the three Da Ponte operas, Cosí was the last to enter the standard repertory. There are many recordings of the opera, but just as many are out of print. Here are two good ones.

English Baroque Soloists cond. John Eliot Gardiner (DG Archiv, 1993)
Fiordiligi:  Amanda Roocroft
Dorabella: Rosa Mannion
Despina: Eiran James
Gugliemo: Rodney Gilfry
Ferrando: Rainer Trost
Don Alfonso: Carlos Feller
This is part of John Eliot Gardiner's classic cycle of Mozart operas on period instruments, with a young Rodney Gilfry taking the role of Gugliemo. Crystalline sound and an appendix with all the alternate numbers included.

Chamber Orchestra of Europe cond. Sir Georg Solti (Decca, 1996)
Fiordiligi: Renée Fleming
Dorabella: Anne Sofie von Otter
Despina: Adelina Scarabelli
Gugliemo: Olaf Bär
Ferrando: Frank Lopardo
Don Alfonso: Michele Pertusi
An all-star effort from Decca. This was Solti's second recording of the opera, made with an all-star cast of hopeful young singers including one Renée Fleming. Sparkling acoustic and for Fleming fans.

Opera Review: The Death Trip

Don Giovanni at New York City Opera.

Stefania Dovhan and her father's bloodstain in Don Giovanni.
Photo by Carol Rosegg © 2009 New York City Opera.

Don Giovanni, a bold, dramatic interpretation that re-imagines Mozart's dramma giocoso as a meditation on life and death which takes place entirely in one room, possibly during the funeral service for the Commendatore.

By putting all the actors onstage during the overture, the director forces the audience to "play detective" and figure out who everybody is as the drama develops. But there was no missing the excellent assembly of voices present on the stage of the David I. Koch Theater on Friday night.

Daniel Okulitch and Jason Hardy have pleasing baritone voices, and they both carry off the sexual, physical nature of this staging. In fact, the two singers brought an erotic charge to the interactions of the Don and his servant Leporello. The jealous tension between them was played as if the Don's dalliances with thousands of women was merely him "stepping out" on a primary relationship--with his servant.


Stefania Dovhan was just one of the fine young voices who had to fend off the Don. Her Donna Anna is less the frigid avenging angel and more of a three-dimensional woman who knows that she is stuck with Don Ottavio (the pleasing tenor Gregory Turay) but clearly, really wants the man who murdered her father to finish carrying her off. Keri Alkema was a compelling Donna Elvira, playing up the character's religious mania. And Joélle Harvey sang a stunning Zerlina. The most sexual woman in the entire opera, she adroitly balanced her relations with the Don with attempting to appease her jealous, raging husband Masetto (Kelly Markgraf.)

The staging of this opera breaks with convention and tradition. There is no statue. Rather, the Commendatore (bass Brian Kontes) is brought onstage in his coffin, complete with mourners, wreaths and a big neon crucifix. Leporello literally invites the corpse to dinner in the funeral home. The Don dines, carouses, and even fornicates on the dead man's grave. Finally, when the hour of vengeance comes, the good Commendatore rises out of his coffin, takes the Don by his hand, and throws him into the grave.

That's right. There's no statue in this Don Giovanni.

The Commendatore, triumphant over his murderer, remains standing on the stage--like a statue. Meanwhile, Donna Elvira writhes in a religious vision, and Leporello suddenly "gets religion", holding up a prayer book in hopes that he won't be dragged down too. There is no fire, no angels and demons, just the terror of the grave. It's a bold solution to one of the trickiest finales in all of opera.