Opera Review: The Farce of Destiny

Two Rare Rossini Operas at Juilliard.

Nobody move or the bear gets it:
Leo Radosaljevic as Tobia in
La cambiale di  matromonio.
Photo by Nan Melville for the Juilliard School.

Giaochino Rossini was one of the most astonishingly prolific opera composers of the 19th century, firing off 39 operas before retiring at the age of 39. The Juilliard Opera program is currently presenting two his early gems: La cambiale di matromonio ("The Marriage Contract") and La Scala de Seta ("The Silken Ladder").

When Rossini started writing comic operas, he started with the farsa. These are forgotten works: one-act comedies with a small cast, no chorus, and a lighter-than-air plot, anchored by romantic misunderstanding. But these early efforts show promise of the comic genius to come, containing musical harbingers of L'Italiana in Algeri and Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

The two works were played in the Meredith Willson Theater,built in the "new wing" of Juilliard that overlooks Broadway. Director David Paul opted for a simple unit set in this black-box space, that could be adjusted to portray different rooms. The music was provided by Daniel Fung and Brent Funderbunk, who played both piano and harpsichord. Vlad Iftinca conducted cut versions of each opera.

A Juilliard performance always affords the chance to hear tomorrow's stars. In La cambiale the finest singing was from Chinese soprano Ying Fang, as Fanny. She is a tiny spitfire coloratura with a good voice and some stunning top notes. She was well matched with tenor Cullen Gandy, who took the role of Edoardo with bel canto style.

Fine comic baritones are the life-blood of Rossini's opera buffa. Leo Radosavljevic played Tobia Mill with fine buffo style. This is a prototype for the over-protective guardians that became a Rossini plot staple. John Brancy was even better as Slook, the would-be suitor for Fanny. Mr. Brancy made the most of his comic opportunities as this "ugly American", going from flag-waving bombast to comic fear and belligerence. Their duel scene at the end of the opera pitted Tobia (in Napoleonic military regalia) against Slook (with a necktie around his head and wielding a tomahawk.) It was a moment of comic insanity that looked forward to the Act I finale from The Barber of Seville.

La Scala di Seta does not have as strong a libretto as the first opera, but a game cast made the most of this meager comedy. It is what Americans think of as a "French farce", complete with lovers hiding behind room dividers and racing up and down the titular silken ladder that grants access to the leading lady's boudoir. The cast made the most of their opportunities for physical comedy, although the quick changes and concealments eventually grew tiresome.

JeongCheol Cha was the best singer here as Germano, a doddering, interfering butler with a tendency to fall asleep at the worst possible times. The young lovers, Kyle Biefield and Lara Secord-Haid were engaging enough. Mention must also be made of baritone Takaoki Onishi. By playing the rival Blansac as God's gift to women, he found and exploited some real comic opportunities. 

La cambiale di matriomonio and La scala di seta will be performed on Feb. 9. Tickets are free, but limited.

On the Road to Redemption: Strauss' Friedenstag

Richard Strauss and bass Hans Hotter, who
sang the premiere of Friedenstag.

Of the fifteen operas in Richard Strauss' catalogue, some of them have enjoyed incredible popularity on the stage. His twelfth Friedenstag ("Day of Peace") is not one of these. Despite that, this is a powerful one-act drama, with a muscular score that pushes the orchestral envelope.

Like his other one-act operas, the score of Friedenstag is not always easy listening. Strauss captures the atmosphere of war and fear with dark, menacing tonalities, heavy brass chords, and a thundering chorus. The dramatic contrast between the baritone lead and his wife is offset by the tenor role, a Piedmontese messenger whose vocal lines are a ray of light in this gloomy opera.

At the finale, the whole work moves into C Major and an uplfting choral finish, in a conscious tribute to Beethoven's Fidelio.. Considering the modest price of a one-disc recording and the power of this work's message in times of war, this is an opera that Strauss lovers should consider listening to.

Unfortunately, history has not been kind to Friedenstag. It belongs to that list of operas that Strauss wrote during the early years of the Nazi regime. It also marks the untimely end of his collaboration with Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig. In 1935, Zweig's credit was stripped from the opening night program of Der Schweigsame Frau by Nazi censors. Strauss objected to this act of censorship and wanted to continue working with Zweig on Friedenstag, but the political situation at the time made it impossible. So, starting with Friedenstag, Strauss worked with the writer Josef Gregor. The team wrote three operas together. The other two are Daphne and Die Liebe der Danae. All three are rarely performed.

Friedenstag was conceived as a strong anti-war statement in the midst of a nation preparing for war. Although the opera specifically urges peace in the face of the madness of war, this positive message has been interpreted as yet another version of the Nazis' so-called "pacifist" policies (by which means they annexed Austria and the Sudetenland.) Even though the intentions of Strauss and Gregor were sincere, the "peace" message of the opera was seen as ironic and underhanded, and the opera's reputation suffered. The fact that Hitler attended the 1938 premiere in Munich did not help.

In the last fifteen years, this opera has been recorded three times. The first, on Koch Classics, featuring soprano Alessandra Marc, was unavailable for review. The second, released in 2002 on EMI, features the Bayerische Rundfunks Orchester and the excellent conducting of Wolfgang Sawallisch. The cast features the sometimes piercing soprano of Sabine Hass. Other standouts on this recording are the excellent Kommandants: a military face-off between baritone Bernd Weikl and bass Kurt Moll.

The second set, on Deutsche Grammophon, features the Dresden Staatskapelle under the baton of Giuseppe Sinopoli in one of his last recordings. Even better, this set features Deborah Voigt in the key role of Maria. She is simply incandescent in her two arias, singing Strauss' extended vocal lines with a powerful, dramatic thrust tempered by gorgeous tone. Johan Botha, currently singing Otello at the Met, makes a fine contribution as the Piedmoneses messenger. Both recordings feature excellent, modern orchestral sound, but the edge goes to the Sinopoli.