“Capriccio” at the Met

“Indian Summer” is the term used by music historians to describe the reflowering of Richard Strauss’s creative powers toward the end of his life, after the catastrophe of World War II.  This  reflowering, which occurred after a period of jaded stagnation, was Strauss’s response to the destruction of German culture during the Nazi period.  One of the loveliest of the works of Strauss’s “Indian Summer” is the opera Capriccio, a work he and his librettist, Clemens Krauss, termed “A Conversation Piece for Music”.  Strauss died seven years after the premiere of Capriccio in Munich in 1942.
The term “Conversation Piece for Music” is certainly apt.  Much of the first part of the work, performed without intermission, is given to extended passages of complex, sung “conversation”, consisting of witty debate on the subject: which is more important, text or music?  Only the poet Olivier’s sonnet, “Kein Andres…” (created in the conceit of the opera by the composer Flamand) is set by Strauss to linear, memorable music, .  Both poet and composer vie for the love of the Countess Madeleine, sung with luminous beauty and acted with simple grace by Strauss-veteran Renee Fleming, who is, as was Kiri Te Kanawa in her day, a wonder in this repertory.
Olivier’s and Flamand’s courting of the Countess is set by Strauss as a metaphor for the tug of war between music and text.  In the concluding scene, the Countess cannot decide between these two elements, but concludes that only a perfect wedding of music and text can satisfy, and she sings her glorious final scene, based on the musical material of the Sonnet, as a hymn to the mystery and artistic power of this synthesis.
During the opening prelude, an intimate string quartet (played beautifully by the Met first desk string players) is heard.  The Met curtain was illuminated in a soft golden light, with house slights dimmed, but still lit at a low level,and the chandeliers were not completely raised to the ceiling, but remained at “half-mast”, at half light, creating a atmosphere of burnished gold which set the stage for the sensitive rendition of the Opera to follow.
There were no weak links in the cast.  Joseph Kaiser’s Flamand had plenty of carrying power, with a fine top, and the tall tenor cut a fine figure.  The poet Olivier was sung by Russell Braun.  Peter Rose’s portrayal of the pompous theater director, La Roche, was aptly blustery in the finest buffo style.  The part of the actress Clairon was sung by English mezzo Sarah Connolly.  This reviewer has long admired the work of this fine singer, and she did not disappoint, with her dramatic flair, rich vocal color and tall and striking visual presence.
The many secondary roles, including the comic roles of the Italian Singers (admirably sung with perfect timing by tenor Barry Banks and soprano Makarina), and a luxury cast of Servants, including Met veteran Christopher Schaldenbrand, added to the extremely high quality of the evening.   The character roles of the Major-Domo (Michael Devlin) and the prompter (Bernard Fitch) were wonderful facets in the finely jewelled clockwork that is Capriccio.
Andrew Davis led the Met orchestra in a warm and balanced account of the score, with the only possible criticism being a too fast tempo for the opening prelude. The soaring, evanescent music of the concluding scene seemed to transfigure the audience, and one exited the theater into a beautiful Spring night, with the Lincoln Center fountain dancing in the soft air.  This reviewer walked home amid blossoming ornamental pear trees, and felt as if he had drunk the finest champagne in the world.

This post is also available in: Italian

“Das Rheingold” at the Met

Director Robert Lepage gave an extensive interview in New York City last fall about his conception of the Ring.  He spent considerable
time in Iceland, and said that no one who lived in the Iceland hinterlands for any length of time could ever doubt the existence of gnomes, giants or mythic Gods.  Hearing him speak, it is impossible to doubt his seriousness and integrity.
Unfortunately, the production’s stage machinery (designed by Carl Fillion), consisting of gigantic, undulating  planks, which morphed into visually paradoxical, Max Escher-like planes, and onto which were projected complex, computer-generated effects and lighting, seemed to overwhelm the evening.  Only Wagner’s gigantic score seemed unsubjugated to this restless behemoth of a set.  Particularly distracting were the all-too-visible cables from which the soloists were suspended as they moved in hazardous sideward and slanted trajectories across the cantilevered components of the set.
The audience applauded and tittered in delight at the cavorting Rhine-mermaids and their taunting of Alberich, and certainly Wagner would have approved of this.  The dragon/dinosaur into which Mime transforms himself with the aid of the Tarnhelm was also very effective.
Of the cast, Eric Owens’ tremendous Alberich dominated the show, even though he seemed to tire during his final curse.  It is a rare evening when Alberich is a more powerful dramatic and vocal presence that Wotan.  The admirable Bryan Terfel’s rendition of the God lacked the heft and thrust required of the dramatic bass-baritone voice type for which this role was conceived.
Stephanie Blythe, a singer in a class unto herself, poured out tremendous waves of sound, yet failed to capture the hectoring character of Fricka, as she agonizes about the fate of  her sister Freia (sung with steely power by soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer), who is held as a downpayment by the giants Fafner and Fasolt for their building of Valhalla.  Ms. Blythe seemed to fashion her vocal expression according to the surface contours of Fricka’s vocal line, and not to the underlying text.  Beautifully, in fact, overwhelmingly well sung, her rendition seemed lacking in dramatic comprehension of the character.
On the other hand, Bayreuth veterans Gerhard Siegel (Mime) and Hans-Peter Koenig (Fafner) inhabited their roles in such a fashion that one never thought of vocalism.  They performed their roles with a perfect unison of text, powerful vocalism and dramatic intent.  Patricia Bardon’s dark-hued, threatening rendition of Erda’s “Weiche Wotan” was for this reviewer the highlight of the evening.
Another Bayreuth veteran, Arnold Bezuyen, captured the essence of Loge, part scheming diplomat, part crooked lawyer, although one was often distracted and concerned for him as he slid down and then scaled backwards the steeply angled set.  Tethered by a cable, his freedom to gesture and act with his body was severely inhibited.  Possessed of a solid character tenor voice, he seemed somewhat underpowered in the large Met auditorium.
Having heard many performances of the Ring conducted by James Levine, it is difficult for this reviewer to make a fair assessment of Fabio Luisi’s reading.  Luisi drew from the Met orchestra an almost chamber music-like, transparent performance that served the singers well, but one missed the elusive combination of weight, grandeur and forward momentum that Levine achieved in this music.  The brass section was uncharacteristically fraught with mishaps.
No doubt the composer would have been delighted to have had at his disposal the modern machinery used in the Lepage Ring, machinery which would have freed him from the two-dimensionality of the set design and lighting available to him at the time.  One wonders, however, if he would not have employed these resources in such a way that the protagonists of his music-dramas were not relegated to the visual and dramatic background.  One awaits eagerly the upcoming Walküre for a further assessment of the new Met Ring.

This post is also available in: Italian

Puccini’s Love Letter to the Golden West

On last December 10 evening a lot of wonderful people came together to bring this most special world of melody and intense melodrama to life in a performance of Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of its World Premiere at the historic Metropolitan Opera House. 100 years ago, Arturo Toscanini conducted. Emmy Destinn and Caruso were “Minnie” and her heart’s desire, “Dick Johnson” and Gatti-Cazzaza was at the helm of the “yellow brick house on 39th street”, the OLD Met. Everyone was there! Puccini himself was in the audience!

In this historic photo, there they are; the four incredible geniuses. It sort of looks like they were posed yes, but for me it seems in that exact moment of capture, they were caught slightly off guard. The giveaway is what looks like a furtive glance from Gatti-Cazzaza to Puccini. He was balancing some pretty powerful types there, can you imagine? We have Gatti-Cazzaza and then David Balasco, the playwright from whose story Puccini culled his libretto. Breathtaking to see, next to him, is the conductor Arturo Toscanini showing his primary interest being absolutely his good friend, the composer as he fixes his gaze on a languid, slightly mischievous Puccini. What a “Full House” that beats any other hand Minnie might hold hidden!!! I want to hug them all.
As the world of opera tries to turn its back on so much that is wonderful and traditional about itself, this revival is a refreshing action of continuity. Fast forward 100 years. A new house on 65th street. People Pavilions and curved sloping Public Parks dot the landscape and steps themselves (!) welcome you in at least twenty different languages. Plasma screens selling tickets, records and memories are everywhere with color manifesti in the front of the house forecasting the next “good-looking singer” coming to sing for you. The E ride at Disney for classical lovers. Opera at a theater near you, in glowing HD quality. Progress. For some. We are told, “Time marches on!”
The seasons unfold year after year and it seems they like to cast German voices in service of most of the heroines of it’s Italian masterpieces, and true to form, they have given this tremendous honor to my good friend and fabulous Wagnerian and Strauss specialist Debbie Voigt and to my illustrious colleague and great buddy, the Italian powerhouse tenor, Marcello Giordani to be the Puccini Golden Couple. Lucio Gallo, a former bass turned baritone from Italy is the menacing Jack Rance and long time Met Stalwart Dwayne Croft is the Sonora…..
Maestro Nicola Luisotti is the guiding Italian leader of this mighty orchestra and the production is a beautiful, AUTHENTIC, exactly what the composer might have wanted, a postcard of the Wild, Wild West. It is a creation of the director Giancarlo Del Monaco, the son of a great “Dick Johnson”, one of the very best ever to sing the role, Mario Del Monaco.
That night I sent them all my heartfelt best wishes for a warm reception and a rewarding visit with this most magnificent canvas that Puccini drew for us capturing a time of anxious exploration and sacrifice and pioneers living on the edge as best they could far from their families. A wild, unstructured free-for-all free falling time, where survival was often illusive and lonely.
In Minnie’s beautiful heart and vision of her “guys” she grew up with, the men see in her their hopes and dreams personified- as they chip away at the mountains searching for their gold, she chips away at the walls they created for themselves with her little acts of home and faith; educating as best she could and inspiring with passages from a Bible read every day. She is their constant, their unwavering loyal center.
Mr. Tomassini wrote a review for the performance of Emily Pulley’s Minnie in 2004 and was touched as she sang the lines that spoke about the lack of education and that Minnie felt “less than” because of it. He is touched again by the same motif this time round with his favorite Miss Voigt as the Minnie. Puccini built this into the music, the words, and the “feeling”. It is a lasting tribute to Puccini that he can transform two very different Minnie’s at just the same point. In this point I can agree with him, it is a very illuminating part of the score and who she is. Made me think of other such “rilievi”…..
It isn’t only there that I am touched and want to cry as for me there are two other moments even more magical. Johnson has to leave but is struck by her total lack of guile, he too feels she doesn’t know how special she is. “Don’t you know, that you are a very good and pure person and that you have the face of an angel!” Immediately Minnie is shown her path….. one she never even saw coming.
Like water to a parched ground, the sound of that special someone’s voice saying you are indeed pretty and saying you “have the face of an angel!”…. How her heart must have skipped a beat when he said that, with all the gorgeous “atmosphere” created by Puccini….. she can’t even believe it….. it is like something out of her romance novels that she is always reading. “What did he say?” she says incredulous and sighing. The men must have all told her she was lovely. Of course, they gave her bows and lovely things of tribute. But she had never felt what she felt for anyone until she met “Mister Johnson” with all his “book learning” and travel…. she felt she would never get the chance to impress him really as she was a just “una povera fanciulla” with barely “30 dollars of education”.
Instead he lifts her from this dreaded “death” of an existence without love and with those few simple, powerful words her “life” begins. I love that. The second place is at the end, where the real gold she protected for her “miners” was the everyday life she made golden by her faith and her trust and her loyalty. “No one has sinned so much that there isn’t some road open to them for redemption.” That makes me sob. Viva Puccini!!!!! Viva Minnie and her gorgeous message of love and redemption!

This post is also available in: Italian