Master of Italian Opera

Joan of Arc
an opera by Guiseppe Verdi

Presented by Chicago Opera Theater

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the first production ever in Chicago of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Joan of Arc (1845).   It was presented by Chicago Opera Theater which has a reputation for producing operas that are unique or rarely performed.  This was his seventh opera and, while he already had success with Nabucco in 1842 and Ernani the previous year Joan was not well-received by the critics and Verdi would not see another of his operas at La Scala for thirty-six years.  It is not clear why this opera is not performed more often, but the director, David Schweizer, suggested that it may be because its' libretto is not historical but is rather like a "fantasia" based loosely on the historical Joan of Arc and her relationship with the French King.  Putting aside any difficulties with the libretto the music is still Verdi.  It is early Verdi but the lyrical melodies and marvelous choruses for which he is famous are still present, at least in nascent form.  The opera is presented in three acts with a prologue.  The director's approach to the story was modern, but true to the spirit of the composer.  The music in the first half of the opera was somewhat derivative with overtones of Rossini, but the last half of the opera was filled with bold choruses and beautiful arias that left the audience, including myself, cheering  bravo by the finale.  
It seems appropriate to share this commentary today as it is the anniversary of Verdi's birth in Le Roncole, Lombardy in 1813.  He was Italy's greatest opera composer for the last half of the nineteenth century and was rivalled only by Germany's Richard Wagner on the world stage.  My personal favorites  include Rigoletto (Venice, 1851), Il trovatore (Rome, 1853), and La traviata (Venice 1853), which were produced in a period of prolific composition by Verdi.   He also spent some years outside Italy producing his operas: in Paris, for his French grand operas, Les vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian vespers, 1854-55) and Don Carlos (1866-67), and in Russia on two trips for the premiere of La forza del destino (The force of destiny, 1861). In 1871 Aida, one of his most popular operas, was given a simultaneous premiere in Milan and in Egypt, whose ruler had commissioned it.
In 1874 after the death of Rossini, Verdi organized a composite setting of the Requiem Mass in his honor, but it was never performed. Instead, Verdi expanded his contribution (a setting of the Libera Me text) into a complete Requiem in honor of a writer and Risorgimento icon, Alessandro Manzoni. He toured with the work, in 1875, to Paris, London, and Vienna. To this day, it remains a pillar of the choral and orchestral repertory and a specialty of Ricardo Muti, the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which is streaming on-line a live performance of the Requiem this evening.
Finally with his talented librettist Arrigo Boito, Verdi completed his two last operas, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893). His long composing career came to a close with the collection of religious works titled Quattro pezzi sacri (Four sacred pieces).  He had an amazing ability to create music that mirrors the emotions of the characters in his operas whether they be anticipation or love, anger or jealousy.  Celebration is another and it is often presented by his famous choruses as in Aida.  This is what endears his music to me personally and I look forward to the next production of a Verdi opera so that I may experience his musical genius once more. 

Eerie and Erotic Opera

The Fall of the House of Usher

by Philip Glass

A production of Chicago Opera Theater

Directed by Ken Cazan

Andreas Mitisek, Conductor

I still remember the vibrant and meaningful production of Monteverdi’s 1607 “Orfeo,” back in 2000.  Brian Dickie set the Chicago Opera Theater in a  new direction when he combined a  British Mozart specialist in the orchestra pit with a new-to-the-genre downtown New York theater director handling the interpretation.
Sunday afternoon I attended an equally memorable production led by new General Director  Andreas Mitisek.  He proffered a rare treat, the Chicago premiere of Philip Glass’ 1987 take on the Edgar Allan Poe tale, “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Mitisek himself led the 13-member chamber ensemble of local musicians; Ken Cazan, who had also worked with Dickie, created an appropriately sensual and dark interpretation of the strange story on the stage.
The aspect of the production that impressed me the most was the almost lyrical score by Philip Glass.  His music matched the mood moment to moment and rivalled larger works like the earlier Monteverdi or Verdi (who we will see in a production of his "Joan of Arc" in September).  Glass's music provided the drama with strong singing design and focus.
But the rest of the production was excellent also. The music of Glass with its looping, minimal and intentionally repetitive sounds it conjures up can be difficult for some opera-goers. But this 80-minute chamber piece is a tightly focused explication of the Poe story of a young man who finds himself compelled to answer a cry for help by a wealthy, brilliant and disturbed childhood friend who is the last of his line.
Poe’s story never makes clear why the man does so, coming close to sacrificing his life, and librettist Arthur Yorinks leaves the question open. Cazan answers it, in your face but reasonably: The visitor William and the heir Roderick Usher have a sexual and emotional attraction. The possibly imaginary Madeline Usher, whether Roderick’s twin or hallucination, expresses the drug-added artist’s very mixed and complex longings.
Chicago Opera Theater once again found more than capable young lead singers, all new to Chicago Opera. Baritone Lee Gregory conveys William’s own combination of innocence and desire with a compelling voice and stage presence. Ryan MacPherson grabs Roderick’s multifaceted personality and has a tenor both strong and seductive enough to ride the score’s high passage work. Soprano Suzan Hanson, who created the role of Madeline a quarter century ago, makes her sounds and movements eerily ghostly in her wordless part -- a role that was both frightening and compelling.
Tenor Jonathan Mack as the dour Dr. Feelgood and bass-baritone Nick Shelton as the Usher family servant round out the cast. The eight silent goth young men who both move Alan E. Muraoka’s imaginatively designed modular set pieces around and menace William were both contemporary yet appropriate for the story.  The movable set provided an illusion of great space inside the House of Usher while David Martin Jacques’ lighting and Jacqueline Saint Anne’s costumes moved easily across time and from fantasy and reality and back.
Greeting the audience Mitisek, in crutches and a plastic splint (a recent slip on the ice by the California arrival), he once again engaged in his delightful shtick of reading a letter from the composer.   More importantly his conducting brought out the subtleties in Glass’ music, including his use of guitar (Steve Roberts), Poe’s choice for Roderick’s own instrument. He’s off to a personal, provocative start and Chicago Opera Theater is vibrantly better than ever.

Medea in Opera

A Medea Trilogy

by Chicago Opera Theater

On Sunday past I attended a wonderful production of George Frideric Handel's early (1713) opera Teseo (Theseus) produced by Chicago Opera Theater and directed by James Darrah.  Teseo was one of Handel's early successes as he began his career as the most popular composer in England during the eighteenth century.
Last year Chicago Opera Theater presented the Chicago premiere production of Médée by Marc-Antoine Charpentiere.  The opera was the middle part of a three-year chronological trilogy of works based on the ancient Greek story of Medea. The began the previous year when COT experienced a huge success with Cavallli’s 1649 Venetian Giasone (Jason).  Paring the work by an hour (basically by cutting the prologue required of operas by French king Louis XIV and the lighter divertissements and related ballet sequences), British conductor Christian Curnyn and American director James Darrah focused on the dramatic story of the vengeful sorceress whose feckless hero-husband abandons her despite his need for her skills and ruthlessness.

The final entry in the trilogy of operas, Teseo, was perhaps the best of all as it presented drama while leaving the bloodshed of the story off stage.  While Handel named the opera after the titular hero it could as easily have been titled "Medea redux" as she dominates more than half of the action even as her persona tragically spirals downward.  Only in the final act do we see her evil magic overcome by the power of compassion and love from Teseo who has been rediscovered to be the son of King Egeo.  The primary plot is propelled by Medea’s (Renée Tatum) desire for Teseo (Cecelia Hall), her jealousy for the love Teseo shares with Agilea (Manuela Bisceglie), and her manipulation of the king Egeo (Gerald Thompson) to attempt to get her way—i.e. marriage with Teseo and disposal of Agilea. Supporting characters include Clizia (Deanna Breiwick) and her lover Arcano (David Trudgen). Those interested in a full synopsis may find it available through the Handel House.
The musical accompaniment for Teseo was excellently performed by the Baroque Band conducted by Michael Beattie.   Cecelia Hall’s portrayal of Teseo was the highlight of the opera. She had clearly digested the emotions of her character, made them her own, and offered them to us with tender honesty. Whenever she appeared on stage, she seemed to draw out the best in the other actors. As the character of Teseo appears more frequently in the later portions of the opera, consequently the action on stage actually strengthened as the night progressed. Additionally, the vocal pairing of Hall and Manuela Bisceglie was simply, beautifully, heaven. Their triumphant love duet “Cara, caro, ti dono in pegno il cor” lifted the evening for a few glorious moments to divine heights.
Baroque Europe must have been fascinated by the story of Medea for these were not alone among musical presentations.  Other operas and cantatas featuring her in various versions of the myth were created in Italy, France, and Germany.  Even after 1713 she continued to be of interested in the German melodrama by George Benda (1773) and the French opera by Cherubini in 1797.  More recently she was the subject for composers such as Darius Milhaud and Samuel Barber. Medea's magic was surely present on Sunday afternoon as Handel's Teseo continued to please a twenty-first century audience.

Illustrations:

W. Russell Flint,1910, Medea, Theseus and Aegeus (Top)
Warwick Goble, Medea (British illustrator, 1862-1943) (Bottom right)

Frauenliebe und Leben

Poetry from Frauenliebe und Leben, the song cycle by Robert Schumann *

Since I saw him

Since I saw him 

I believe myself to be blind, 

where I but cast my gaze, 

I see him alone. 

as in waking dreams 

his image floats before me, 

dipped from deepest darkness, 

brighter in ascent. 

All else dark and colorless 

everywhere around me, 

for the games of my sisters 

I no longer yearn, 

I would rather weep, 

silently in my little chamber, 

since I saw him, 

I believe myself to be blind.

*Frauenliebe und -leben (A Woman's Love and Life) is a cycle of poems by Adelbert von Chamisso, written in 1840. They describe the course of a woman's love for her man, from her point of view, from first meeting through marriage to his death, and after. Selections were set to music as a song-cycle by masters of German Lied, namely Carl Loewe, Franz Paul Lachner and Robert Schumann. I attended a performance of the setting by Schumann (his opus 42) sung by Jennifer Johnson Cano yesterday at the Chicago Opera Theater.

Owen Wingrave


Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) is noted as a composer of operas. He was the first major composer to be born in England for three centuries who was first and foremost an opera composer.
The premiere of Peter Grimes at Sadler's Wells Theatre on June 7, 1945 is generally considered a watershed in the history of British music. He would go on to write fourteen more operas including Paul Bunyan which had preceded Peter Grimes by four years. A majority of these operas have continued in the regular repetoire of opera companies throughout the world. I have been fortunate to have been able to attend productions of several of his operas including Grimes and Billy Budd at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; and, The Rape of Lucretia, The Turn of the Screw, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Death in Venice and, this past week, Owen Wingrave, all in productions by Chicago Opera Theater.

The production of Owen Wingrave that recently ended at Chicago Opera Theater was beautiful with a dreamlike setting, wonderful voices, and with Steuart Bedford, who worked on the premiere with Benjamin Britten, as the conductor. The opera was originally produced in 1971 on BBC television and is based on a short story by Henry James. The plot is simple, portraying a young man who is born into a military family but who chooses to reject the military career because he is a pacifist. While the music is some of Britten's best in his inimitable late atonal style the drama leaves something to be desired as there is little development and the members of Owen's family come across as merely shrill caricatures of a military family. It made me wonder why Owen did not shuck it all and leave for the hills; his complex reasons for staying are not made clear and the ending, with Owen's sudden declaration of independence and a seemingly tacked-on family ghost story, does not satisfy. Fortunately I have fond memories of previous successful Chicago Opera Theater Britten productions, particularly Death in Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream, on which to base hope of more great Britten opera in the future.

Shakespearean Opera

Beatrice and Benedict

by Hector Berlioz

Late in his life Hector Berlioz decided to create an opera based on Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado about Nothing. Berlioz had adored Shakespeare ever since attending a performance of Hamlet in 1821 (he encountered his wife to be at the same time). So it was that, after a long career that included Shakespearean influenced works like his Romeo et Juliette, Berlioz began a to write what would become a delightful two act opera to end his career. Yesterday I attended a excellent performance of the opera by The Chicago Opera Theater. Particularly effective was the singing of the leads, Joseph Kaiser and Sandra Piques Eddy. The lovely arias, duets and trios reminded me that Berlioz was one of the greatest composer of French "melodies". The chorus was excellent and the only disappointment was the introduction of Shakespeare's own text in English for the spoken dialog. This was not due to any shortcoming of the text itself, but rather the inability of the actors to project the words effectively, making for some difficulty in following the wonderful verbal wordplay. That aside, it was a wonderful afternoon of opera with Berlioz and Shakespeare the best of guides.

Duke Bluebeard's Castle

In 1911 Bela Bartok composed the opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle with a libretto by Bela Balazs. Yesterday I attended a brilliant performance of this gem from the early twentieth century as produced by the Chicago Opera Theater. With musical connections to both Debussy and Strauss, Bartok is beginning with this opera to develop his own musical identity. The brilliant orchestration had sounds thick with the resonance of brass, yet seemed almost lyrical and light at times - always foreboding as befits the story. Certainly the opera demonstrates Freudian roots as Bluebeard's new bride, Judith, insists that that he bare the secrets of his soul locked behind seven doors within the depths of his castle. As the opera unfolds the music soars. This performance was enhanced by the lofty talents of Samuel Ramey as the Duke and an excellent orchestral accompaniment under the baton of Alexander Platt. I was spellbound to the end.

The Return of Ulysses

Yesterday afternoon I attended a performance of Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (1640) by Claudio Monteverdi. This Chicago Opera Theater production was an excellent conclusion to their multi-year presentation of Monteverdi's three complete operas from the early seventeenth century. They had previously presented his Orfeo (1607) and L'incoronazione di Poppea (1642). The current production of Ulysses benefited both from outstanding performances by a large singing ensemble and orchestra. The production set was efficient, yet elegant in an unobtrusive way. Overall this opera has survived the decades because it can still provide musical joy for opergoers like those of us who shared yesterday's beautiful performance.