Opera Review: Heads Will Roll

Il Trovatore stuns the Lyric Opera.
by Jessie Tannenbaum with edits by Paul J. Pelkonen

Jamie Barton as Azucena in a scene from Il Trovatore.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg for Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Although I aspire to superconductive powers of teleportation, I cannot be everywhere at once. So when my good friend Jessie told me she'd be in Chicago for Il Trovatore I asked her to share some of her views on the performance. (Aside from being a fine international attorney, Ms. Tannenbaum is also a choral singer of some experience. Also, being the gracious friend that she is, she agreed.)

The Wagnerian Alternative

Where to see music drama in 2013-14.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Johan Engels' design for Act II of the new Parsifal in Chicago.
Stage model by Johan Engels © 2013 Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The 2013-14 opera season marks the first time since the 1918-19 season that the Metropolitan Opera is not performing Wagner.

With productions of all ten major Wagner operas in the company's repertory, Wagner is a staple (not to mention a box office draw) at the Met. However, due to some schedule changes and the health issuesof newly returned company music director James Levine, this year's slate does not include any of the ten major "canon" operas. It does feature a strong, entertaining mix of Russian opera and works by Richard Strauss and Vincenzo Bellini. But Wagnerians may be scratching their winged helmets, anxious for their fix of Germanic music drama.

The Met's choice to replace planned revivals of Tannhäuser and Parsifal in the 2013 schedule (with Dvorak's Rusalka and Berg's Wozzeck, respectively) leaves Wagnerphiles up the Hudson River without a proverbial swan boat. Happily, a look at the schedules of other American opera companies reveals that there are other Wagner performances of interest coming this season, and we  decided to put together this little survival guide to shepherd you through the 2013-14 season.

Voted off the Island

Amber Wagner Replaces Deborah Voigt in Chicago Ariadne.

Amber Wagner as Elsa in this summer's production of Lohengrin at Savonlinna.
Photo © 2011 Savonlinna Festival

Casting changes from Chicago, where soprano Amber Wagner will step in for Deborah Voigt in the Lyric Opera's company revival of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.

Ms. Voigt, who is currently appearing at the Glimmerglass Festival in a production of Annie Get Your Gun, announced today that she will be forsaking the role of Ariadne for heavier, dramatic roles. Ms. Voigt made her reputation as a Strauss specialist in the last two decades, and Ariadne has long been one of her signature parts.


Ms. Wagner is an American soprano. Her current repertory is similar to that of Ms. Voigt's a decade ago: Elsa in Lohengrin, Sieglinde in Die Walküre and a forthcoming appearance in Verdi's Nabucco at the Met this fall. She recently appeared as Elsa in the acclaimed Lyric staging of Lohengrin opposite tenor Johan Botha.

The news was reported this morning on Parterre Box. As the report quoted: Ms. Voigt “is focusing increasingly on dramatic soprano roles and has made the decision to remove the role of Ariadne from her repertoire for the time being.”

As a singer moves from light, to middle, to heavy repertory, the voice changes, and the vocal chords thicken. Unfortunately, the process is irreversable. With Ms. Voigt adding Salome, Brunnhilde and Puccini's La Fanciulla del West to her repertory, we may have heard the last of her Ariadne.

Even Cowgirls Get the Accolades

Pistol-packin' Deborah is prepared to sing Minnie.

The San Francisco Opera has released preview footage of Deborah Voigt as Minnie in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West.

Written for a premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, La Fanciulla adapts a David Belasco play set in the Old West, transporting the characters into an Italian opera. If this sounds like a bizarre Star Trek episode, you're not far off.

Although certain lines in the libretto ("Wisky per tutti!") don't translate well, this story makes for a marvelous Italian opera. It's so good that Andrew Lloyd Webber ripped whole chunks out of the score to write The Phantom of the Opera. Guess he found the music to be "really useful."



Minnie is a barmaid in a mining camp who acts as a maternal figure to the rough-hewn minors. She falls in love with the bandit Ramirrez in his "civilian" identity of Dick Johnson. When Johnson/Ramirrez is wounded by the sherrif Jack Rance, Minnie must decide whether or not to save him from the gallows. The title role is one of the most difficult female leads in the Italian repertory, made more difficult by the fact that while Minnie is on stage for almost all of the action, she does not get her own aria.

Ms. Voigt has made this role a specialty in recent years. It lies right in her vocal range, requiring a powerful, flexible soprano instrument that can manage the lyric outpourings and still have steel underneath for the heroic scenes in the last act.



La Fanciulla is due for a New York revival at the Met next season, with performances starting December 6. The revival stars Deborah Voigt and tenor Marcello Giordani. Ms. Voigt has also been engaged to sing upcoming performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Lyric Opera of Chicago Announces 2010-2011 Season

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has a slate of eight operas planned for next season. Under the baton of Music Director Sir Andrew Davis, the company will present a wide variety of works, from baroque Handel to romantic Verdi and Wagner. Here's a quick look at their planned season:

Packing heat: Deborah Voigt in La Fanciulla del WestMacbeth
Barbara Gaines directs this production of Verdi's adaptation of the Scottish play. Thomas Hampson plays the ambitious Thane who kills his way to the throne and then pays for it afterwards.


Carmen
Kate Aldrich, who has impressed at the Metropolitan Opera this season, brings her interpretation of Bizet's famous Gypsy to Chicago. Younghoon Lee sings Don José in the fall cast. Carmen returns in the spring, starring Nadia Krasteva and Brandon Jovanovich in the leading roles.

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Benjamin Britten's adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy stars David Daniels. The countertenor will soar to new heights as Oberon, King of the Faeries and master of the woodland realm. British bass Peter Rose is a bully Bottom.

Un Ballo in Maschera
Renata Scotto takes the director's chair in this production imported from the San Francisco Opera. Frank Lopardo, Sondra Radvanovsky and Mark Delevan form the love triangle at the core of Verdi's most romantic drama.

The Mikado
Wotan himself: James Morris puts down his spear and picks up a snicker-snee in this production of Gilbert and Sullivan's wittiest operetta.

La Fanciulla del West
Deborah Voigt sings what William Berger called "the most difficult role in Puccini". Minnie is a hard-riding whiskey-drinking girl of the Golden West, but she's an angel at heart. Want proof? The character is onstage for three hours but never gets an aria.

Lohengrin
Johann Botha catches a swan-drawn boat across Lake Michigan to sing the titular role in Wagner's famous drama. But sssh…you don't know what his name is, do you? Oh wait, it's on the marquee.

Hercules
David Daniels closes out the season in this presentation of Handel's heroic drama. Peter Sellers directs.

For more information about the Lyric Opera, visit their official website at LyricOpera.Org