Новая мировая звезда из казани
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СодержаниеBy Lawrence A. Johnson Palm Beach Opera’s production of Verdi’s Performance at the end of the world |
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ссылка скрытаBy Lawrence A. Johnson ссылка скрыта What a bleak, pitiless landscape Rigoletto inhabits. Even by the standards of Verdi’s cold-eyed Realpolitik, the Mantua court is godless and unforgiving, a milieu where rape is sport, murder diversion, and the innocent must be sheltered behind high walls, for venturing outside means a horrible death. Palm Beach Opera opened its 46th season Friday night with Verdi’s dark, dramatic masterpiece. As is custom with the company, Rigoletto will run through Monday afternoon at the Kravis Center with two casts alternating in four performances. The past two weeks of rehearsals for the West Palm Beach production seemed as accursed as the title hunchbacked jester. The original first-cast Rigoletto, Alberto Mastromarino, came down with laryngitis. Then his replacement, the Cuban-American Nelson Martinez, also became ill with laryngitis and had to withdraw. Finally, the superb baritone Todd Thomas was booked as No. 3 hunchback. Thomas will sing the second-cast dates Saturday and Monday while the original second-cast Rigoletto, Chen-Ye Yuan performed Friday night and will do so again Sunday. If the rigged Rigolettos weren’t enough, a construction scaffolding accident Friday at the Kravis Center meant that audience members had to wind their way through a circuitous route from the parking lot around the building exterior to enter the hall. Sii maledetto! Even with the Byzantine game of musical hunchbacks, Palm Beach Opera managed to serve up a fiery, at times, riveting Rigoletto with moments of sensational vocalism that made up for casting inconsistencies, under the uber-intense conducting of artistic director Bruno Aprea. Chen-Ye Yuan has the big voice and stage experience for the role of the embittered jester whose only tender spot is for his innocent daughter, Gilda. Yuan has sung the role widely and proved a worthy, dramatically effective Rigoletto, vehement in his anger following Gilda’s abduction. While the Chinese singer possesses an imposing voice, his baritone sounds a bit weathered with a raw, guttural undertone apparent at times, particularly in the Cortigiani. Still Yuan sang sensitively and was at his best in the final scene, contributing to an admirable ensemble performance. Friday evening’s high points came courtesy of Albina Shagimuratova as Gilda. The Russian soprano has a pure tone and impressive technical arsenal. She overdid the breathless ingénue a bit in Caro nome, which could have been more elegantly delivered, but it was hard to fault her graceful cadenzas and precisely placed top notes. Shagimuratova sang with cumulative assurance and greater expressive depth as the evening progressed. Gilda’s narration to her father of her humiliation at the hands of the Duke was heart-breaking and Shagimuratova was remarkable in Act 3, with subtle dynamic marking and a staggeringly beautiful diminuendo. Her rendering of Gilda’s final moments was so moving and luminous, one could barely take a breath. Albina Shagimuratova surely seems poised for a major operatic career. James Valenti is a regular presence at both South Florida companies, and was heard to much better advantage as the caddish Duke than last season’s Rodolfo in Florida Grand Opera’s La Boheme. The handsome American tenor needs to work on his nastiness, as Valenti seems like far too nice a guy for the morally vacuous Duke who treats women like disposable tissue. Vocally Valenti sang well, his vibrant lyric tenor well suited to the role with a hearty Le donne e mobile, tight top note apart, and fine dramatic involvement throughout the evening Grigory Soloviov proved a worthy Sparafucile, not quite having the black, subterranean bass for the role but chillingly believable as the assassin. Otherwise, there was rather uneven singing from the supporting cast. Jennifer Hines made a sexy if throaty-voiced Maddalena, David Young was a light-in-the-vocal-loafers Monterone with an unimposing curse, and Ceci Grasso Dadisman a barely audible Page. Allen Charles Klein’s well traveled Cincinnati Opera set is functional and evocative, its air of gloomy disrepair reflecting the amoral milieu within, enhanced by Donald Edmund Thomas’s dark chiaroscuro lighting, which was austerely beautiful. Bernard Uzan’s direction was fluid and unobtrusive, apart from the usual oddities, like Rigoletto making himself a rhythmic mattress for the Duke’s sexual dalliance with the Countess Ceprano. The men of the chorus sang superbly under Greg Ritchey’s direction, with nimble ensemble work in the abduction scene and just the right unearthly offstage wind effects during the climactic storm. As with all regional companies, there are still not enough string desks in the Palm Beach Opera pit, but the superb musicians of this experienced orchestra provided polished and responsive playing at their usual high level. Bruno Aprea continues to be a catalyst who elevates any production he conducts to a higher level. The Italian maestro conducts every bar as if his life depends upon it, most palpable Friday night in the hair-trigger intensity and laser-like concentration of his musical direction in the final scene. Palm Beach Opera’s production of Verdi’s Rigoletto runs through Monday at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Chen-Ye Yuan, James Valenti, and Albina Shagimuratova will perform 2 p.m. Sunday and Todd Thomas, Eric Margiore, and Hanan Alattar sing the leading roles 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Monday. Call 561-833-7888 or go to ссылка скрыта. Posted in ссылка скрыта Performance at the end of the world ссылка скрыта2 Opera, music, theater, and art in Los Angeles and beyond Magic to do January 12, 2009
With so much Wagner coming up this season for ссылка скрыта, the company wisely decided to start off the year with a little Mozart for warm and fuzzy contrast. This weekend saw the opening of another revival of the company's 1993 Peter Hall production of ссылка скрыта under the baton of music director James Conlon. In the span of two weeks, the company is doing 9 performances with two different casts with an unusual number of big names and important rising talent across both groups. On Sunday I caught this week's second team, which featured Joseph Kaiser as Tamino, Erin Wall as Pamina, Morris Robinson as Sarastro, Markus Werba as Papageno, and Albina Shagimuratova as Queen of the Night. (The other team includes both Matthew Polenzani and perhaps one of the most beloved Papagenos, Nathan Gunn.) And, in perhaps the most unusual bit of "luxury casting," I've seen in awhile, L.A. Opera has hired Matthias Goerne to sing the part of the speaker. Now I know that L.A. weather has to be better than Germany's as a rule in January, but how the company managed to corral one of the world's premiere Lieder vocalists into appearing for approximately 5 minutes in a role that could just as easily be cut from an opera with more than its share of big hits is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, he's fantastic but I keep feeling there is some gag to this I haven't figured out yet. All this being said, it's remarkable how well this production comes off despite its age. It is a little worn around the edges and not all of the technical issues were resolved on Sunday, but it is still very effective, not to mention fun, colorful, and a little magical. It's not going to change anybody's mind about anything, but in the hands of a very capable cast, this is one revival that really comes alive. Conlon and the orchestra sounded good if rather large and modern for Mozart, but never dull. The cast was quite solid and, despite some ill-fitting costumes, succeeded without any major catastrophes. Joseph Kaiser is a major talent and has played some spectacular supporting roles last year both as Narraboth in Salome at the Metropolitan Opera and Yonas in Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater in ссылка скрыта. As a heavily made-up and brightly costumed Tamino he was noble and charming. Opposite him was Erin Wall whose bright and pretty tone worked well. Albina Shagimuratova handled the coloratura passages of the Queen of the Night with accuracy and strength without any strain or need to have the orchestra slow down, and Markus Werba's Papageno was comic and broad enough to be seen and heard throughout the hall. So, while it may not be new or groundbreaking, Peter Hall's production still has plenty of juice left to impress an audience, and this family-friendly take on Mozart's opera will hopefully be a success for the company this year. Here's the good news, both casts appear to be quite strong, so no matter when you go, you're not likely to go wrong. Labels: ссылка скрыта
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