Verdi’s La Traviata at U of AZ’s Opera Theater Ends on a High Note

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When the U of A’s Opera Theater announced it would mount Verdi’s La Traviata* as its 2012 fall production, Stage Director Charles Roe and Music Director Thomas Cockrell must have realized that they were taking on their biggest artistic challenge since their first collaboration of Little Women in 2006. It came as no surprise that it took four performances of the opera from November 15 to 18 to reach the artistic success that the entire company desired.

But what turned out to be the biggest asset in the Opera Theater’s production of Verdi’s most intimate opera was the casting of Yunnie Park and Christy McClarty as the composer’s tragic heroine, Violetta. It was a pleasure to hear these two sopranos who, previously, brought great passion and vocal strengths to Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Menotti’s The Consul, add another great role to their repertoire. Although it took a second performance from each soprano to reach the artistic level I’m sure both singers strove for, it was well worth the wait.

Park’s Violetta was filled with gleaming legato, traveling through the role’s dynamics, from forte to pianissimo with vocal ease. At the first performance, Park couldn’t quite line up her character’s body language with her vocals, but by the second outing, her movements and vocals were truly in sync allowing her to deliver a beautiful Violetta. McClarty’s first Violetta also found her molding the role’s vocal and dramatic requirements to fit the natural soulful warmth her voice projected throughout her second performance which accented the sadness apparent in Violetta’s character.

Both Park and McClarty’s vocal arsenals are such that they can easily project the dynamics of mezza voce and piano whenever Verdi calls for them, and these vocals are a must for Violetta. And if you are a closeted lover of high notes, both sopranos hit beautifully placed and dramatic high C’s at the end of the Sempre Libra, Violetta’s rationale for her courtesan lifestyle which ends Act One.

Both Humberto Borboa Beltran and Guillermo Lopez Gutierrez as Alfredo, Violetta’s impassioned, youthful lover, had to pass through the learning curve of a first performance to reach the role’s vocal demands in their second one. Beltran displayed a vibrant, youthful voice capable of forte and mezza forte dynamics. Gutierrez fostered a firm vocal interpretation, but at times strayed from the pitch. Both tenors gave good renditions of Alfredo’s second act aria, De’miei bollenti spirti if not with the cheerful nonchalance the aria required. They are, however, welcomed additions to the Opera Theater with secure futures ahead of them.

For the first time, considering all his artistic successes with the Opera Theater, Seth Kershisnik met up with a role that did not suit his personality. He could not act out the required paternal demands of the role of Germont that Verdi composed for him. As Alfredo’s father, who confronts the insecure Violetta in their great second act duet, he moved aimlessly through the role. More’s the pity because, vocally, Kershisnik moved smoothly up and down the scale, showing how easily he could handle the wide vocal range Verdi composed for his Germont.

Charles Hamilton’s Germont was on firmer ground dramatically. With McClarty, the baritone was able to keep both his concern and distance on an even keel. Vocally, he was able to handle Verdi’s vocal demands showing just a dash of strain at the very top of his voice. And he had an easier time coping with Roe’s over-emphasis on the caring side of Germont’s character. There were too many pats on the head and warm embraces with Violetta. These indulgent gestures are not in Germont’s vocabulary, and it lessened the dramatic effect Verdi intended for the one embrace Violetta and Germont have at the end of their Act Two duet.

The chorus in La Traviata is also a major player. Verdi composed three choral sections that comment directly on the opera’s story. In Act One, the opening party scene has the chorus joining Violetta and Alfredo in the very famous Brindisi, probably the most well-known drinking song in the opera canon. The chorus also ends the act with a rousing farewell to Violetta at her home.  And in Act Three, at Flora’s house party, its music is so skillfully intertwined with Alfredo’s vitriolic denunciation of the heroine and Germont’s admonition to his son for daring to insult a woman in public, it shows how much Verdi truly loved his heroine.

Under Bruce Chamberlain’s direction, the chorus created flashes of musical splendor. I have never heard the exit music from Act One sung with such vocal polish and attention to Verdi’s choral details. No doubt, Chamberlain will be on hand for future productions, another feather in Roe and Cockrell’s artistic cap. In addition, Chamberlain’s choral work brought a real life force to Roe’s “stand and sing” direction for the chorus.

Again, Sally Day was successful in mounting a set which Roe wanted for the opera’s original 1850 time period.  She represented it by using five tall panels that doubled for doorways and windows, strategically placing them to look like the interior of Violetta and Flora’s Parisian homes and Violetta’s country house in Act Two. There was, however, a minor distraction with doors not closing on cue.

The costumes, especially for the women, that Christopher Allen and his shop crew presented were colorful and in line with the hooped skirts popular in the mid-19th Century. They not only complimented the shades of green and gray in Day’s sets, but Allen added some deep reds and blues to fill out the overall color scheme of the production. The women in the chorus wore the correct wigs for the period; however, those for Park and McClarty did not blend harmoniously with Allen’s beautiful white and mauve costumes he designed for the protagonists.

Conductor Thomas Cockrell kept the Arizona Symphony Orchestra moving at a brisk pace, revealing how Verdi wanted Violetta’s life story to unfold in a dramatic, but swift fashion. But in the Act One and Act Three preludes, where Verdi  musically languishes over Violetta’s plight, Cockrell had the orchestra tread slowly through all the haunting measures, letting the strings take the lead in expressing Violetta’s sorrow. Their diminuendi and carefully-timed pauses were very touching.

Ace Edewards, who joined the conducting staff this year, led the Sunday afternoon performance. He closely paralleled Cockrell’s pacing, demonstrating just how well the Symphony Orchestra can follow the lead of more than one conductor. This production shows how much time and effort Roe and Cockrell are putting into raising the vocal and musical standards with every new operatic adventure.

November 15,16,17 & 18, 2012      Crowder Hall         The  University of Arizona

* The Story of the Opera    Paris c.1850   The consumptive Violetta has won the love of Alfredo. He declares himself to her, but she is reluctant to enter into any serious attachment. Violetta and Alfredo have been living together in the country for three months. While Alfredo is away, his father Giorgio Germont calls. He appeals to Violetta to break off this scandalous relationship since it is endangering the forthcoming marriage of his daughter. Because of her love for Alfredo, she agrees. As Violetta leaves, Alfredo is handed a letter from her declaring they must part. He notices an invitation to a party from Violetta’s friend Flora and is sure he will find her there. Violetta has gone to the party with her former protector, Baron Douphol. Alfredo arrives and Violetta pleads with him to leave before the Baron challenges him to a duel. Her unfaithfulness angers Alfredo, and he flings at her money he has won at cards as repayment for what she has spent on him. Germont arrives and reprimands his son for his conduct.

Several weeks later, and Violetta is seriously ill. In a letter to her, Germont admits that he revealed her sacrifice to his son. Alfredo enters and begs forgiveness; he promises that they will spend the rest of their lives together in happiness. He then realizes how ill Violetta is.  She finds strength momentarily and rises to her feet, but falls dead.

Summary from:          The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera          John Warrack andEvan West         Third Edition 1996

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Rare Pirates at Barcelona’s Liceu

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January 10, 2013
From Seen and Heard International By: José Mª. Irurzun; Picture courtesy Barcelona’s Liceu © Antoni Bofill

Germany Bellini, Il Pirata: Soloists, Liceu Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Antonino Fogliani (conductor), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona 7.1.2013 (JMI)

Il Pirata is not an opera that is found in the repertory of many houses. Like Bellini’s first two operas Adelson e Salvini and Bianca e Fernando, it contains excellent music but remains in obscurity. It might be that the huge difficulties involved in the score for both tenor and soprano put many leading singers off. Only Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé, and Franco Corelli, among the greats, dared to deal with their respective terrifying roles.
And it was indeed Montserrat Caballé who was last to sing Imogene at Barcelon’s Liceu—forty years ago. In Spain, the last attempt to revive Il Pirata took place in Bilbao in 1993 with very poor results. Outside of Spain the last serious attempts at revival took place in Ancona (2007) with Mariella Devia and José Bros, and in Marseille (2009) with Angeles Blancas as Imogene. Michael Milenski wrote about this last performance in Seen and Heard (review here).
These performances of Il Pirata in Barcelona have been a real delight for belcanto lovers, who have had the opportunity to enjoy hearing excellent singers. Hopefully that means Barcelona won’t need to wait another 40 years to see this opera again.
Conductor Antonino Fogliani made his debut in Liceu’s pit, and his interpretation brought out the true beauty of the score while supporting the true stars of this work, the singers. The orchestra was excellent, although sadly the chorus did not reach their usual high standard.
Although the opera title is Il Pirata, the protagonist is Imogene. You need a soprano with a strong middle register and very easy at the top, with an outstanding singing technique, agility, and strength to boot. Few sopranos meet those demands, but it would be nice to hear those that do in the rôle: apart from Mariella Devia maybe Diana Damrau, Anna Netrebko, and Sondra Radvanovsky. Not likely to happen, but allow an opera lover his dreams.
The Italian Mariella Devia is a miracle of nature: her voice defies expectations you might have of a singer about to turn 65. Her timbre still offers remarkable freshness, her technique is outstanding, and her top register—much demanded in this demanding opera—has not the slightest weakness or insecurity. She is an exceptional soprano, although her vocal adequacy for Imogene is debatable, since her middle range is not so strong and her low notes are not consistently produced. Being an absolutely outstanding light-lyric soprano is not exactly what Imogene requires. One of Ms Devia’s biggest shortcomings has always been her coldness, which is not very desirable in a romantic heroine, and this has not changed. In short, hers was an interpretation that demanded admiration, but failed to warm the heart.

If it is difficult to find a perfect Imogene, it’s no easier a task to hunt down a Gualtiero. This romantic (even heroic) character needs to manage stratospheric notes. The presence of Gregory Kunde at Liceu raised considerable expectations. The career of this excellent tenor, now 59, has been unusual, only truly coming to prominence at a time when most performers are already thinking of retirement. Happily, his Gualtiero was excellent. His voice has gained in weight in recent years, and although his timbre has not the beauty usually associated with Mediterranean voices, his technique is outstanding, his diction impeccable, and his high register infallible. I had the impression that he wasn’t always at his full vocal power, but nothing that could mar this excellent performance.
Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov had already sung the character of Ernesto in Ancona, and was therefore familiar with the score, which is always useful in a concert version. He gave a good performance, with appropriate phrasing, but with his usual lack of projection at the top. The secondary characters were very well served. First and foremost the Argentine bass-baritone Fernando Radó as Goffredo, showing an excellent singing line, together with a wide and well-modulated voice.

Cast
Imogene: Mariella Devia
Gualtiero: Gregory Kunde
Ernesto: Vladimir Stoyanov
Goffredo: Fernando Radó
Adele: Elena Copons
Itulbo: Vicenç Esteve Madrid

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A Teatro Real Macbeth That Nobody Understands

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December 18, 2012
From Seen and Heard International
By: José Mª. Irurzun

Spain G. Verdi, Macbeth: Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus, Teodor Currentzis (conductor), Madrid Teatro Real, 5.12.2012 (JMI)

These performances of Macbeth proved once again that Gerard Mortier has become the central figure in Madrid opera. Apparently Mr Mortier courted some level of controversy during the press conference before the premiere by saying that this production was for intelligent people – thus causing some negative reactions among those present after there was a general difficulty in understanding the ideas behind it. That the production was received with a storm of boos only adds to the impression that this Macbeth possibly failed to get its point across! Without going into the discussion, I will say that what one should be able to expect from an intelligent artistic director is a cast well suited to the needs of Macbeth, which is was not the case here.
Dmitri Tcherniakov begins his notes to the program with this sentence: This Verdi opera has caused me much concern. For a long time I did not understand anything. I think many of us left the theatre saying exactly the same thing.
I don’t mind the opera being set in modern times. Nor does it matter that the director uses Google Earth to pinpoint the location of the action. Even the fact that he offers only 2 stages, a neighborhood yard and the living room of the Macbeths, does not worry me unduly. It does not bother me either that Lady Macbeth performs several simple magic tricks during her toast. What does matter, however, is that this is Tcherniakov’s Macbeth and not that of Shakespeare, who was, incidentally, so greatly admired by Verdi.
The witches are the inhabitants of the village, but they sometimes sing and laugh (annoyingly in many cases) on stage and at other times they sing off stage, with a sound that sounds as if it were amplified. And what’s the point of presenting the chorus of assassins (Trema Banco) with Banco himself in their ranks? Birnam forest does not move, nor even exist, except in the libretto. So since Mr. Tcherniakov not only directs, but also creates sets and costumes, why doesn’t he just write his own libretto as well?
As a stage director however Dmitri Tcherniakov proves to be excellent, working well with both with individuals and with the chorus.
Leading the musical direction was Teodor Currentzis, whose reading I found both uneven and superficial. Uneven, because during the first part of the opera his conducting appeared at times to be out of control, which produced considerable lack of coordination between stage and pit. It was superficial, because he often used huge amounts of orchestral volume, and ended with so much noise that it almost brought down the structure of the house – although this seemed to wake up the audience. No doubt that he is a promising and most energetic conductor, as he proved at some other moments, where he was truly moving, but he should moderate his impulses.
The Orchestra offered their usual high quality.
It came as a surprise when – whether due to Currentzis or Tcherniakov – Macbeth’s final aria from the 1847 Florence version, which is hardly justified unless there is an exceptional baritone on stage. Sadly, this was not the case.
Greek baritone Dimitri Tiliakos was a more convincing Macbeth as an actor than as a singer. He is not the Verdi baritone required by the character, as he is short of colour and amplitude. All this creates a monotonous interpretation, although he pays attention to nuances. The famous aria Pietà, rispetto, amore deserved the applause that lasted exactly seven seconds.
Violeta Urmana was again Lady Macbeth and she was as disappointing as last year in Bilbao in the same role. To me Violeta Urmana is not a soprano, although at one time she had the notes. The problem is that today her voice has lost much of its top register, and she often resorts to shouting. If you ask me if she hit the high D flat at the sleepwalking scene, I will answer: No, thank God! The aria Vieni t’affretta deserved six seconds of applause, while La luce langue got just one second more, with a silent reaction to her sleepwalking scene. Mrs. Urmana should recognize her limitations and remove this character from her repertoire, along with some others, such as Leonora in La Forza del Destino.
Stefano Secco was too light for Macduff, falling below his performance in Bilbao last year. He sang La Paterna mano with gusto, but his vocal volume is reduced and his voice is not what the character requires. He got the longest applause from the audience after the aria, at just 10 seconds.
Dmitry Ulyanov was the best suited among the quartet. His Banco offered a big voice, not too elegant or noble. His big aria went by unnoticed.
In the supporting roles Alfredo Nigro (Mrs. Urmana’s husband) was a poor Malcolm, Yuri Kissin was serviceable as the Physician, while Marifé Nogales was the best among them as Lady Macbeth’s servant
Teatro Real was almost fully sold out. The audience gave a tepid reception to the artists, where the only timid cheers were for Teodor Currentzis, who seemed determined to show the public that Violeta Urmana deserved a true success.

Co-production Opera Novosibirsk and Opera National Paris.
Direction: Dmitri Tcherniakov
Sets and costumes: Dmitri Tcherniakov
Lighting: Gleb Filshtinsky
Cast:
Macbeth: Dimitris Tiliakos
Lady Macbeth: Violeta Urmana
Macduff: Stefano Secco
Banco: Dmitry Ulyanov
Malcolm: Alfredo Nigro
L. Macbeth’s Dame: Marifé Nogales
Medecin: Yuri Kissin

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