Bizet's Carmen at HGO

So, you say, you know CARMEN!

As I know CARMEN? I have seen and heard the Carmens of, among others, Agnes Baltsa (yes..that long ago-see clip ), sexy Julia Migenes (in the famous filmed version at Ronda with a young (and sexy, too) Domingo), leopard clad Denyce Graves,  more classical Beatrice Uriah Monzon, and others. The sole exception is Beyonces attempt as Carmen most recently.
As I much younger opera lover I really liked Carmen. And as I (I confess) like las Corridas a las cinco de las tardes, especially. There is something in los toros, that I also find in Operas and Hockey! The excitement, the music, the individual feats of action, the unrealistic drama.......sorry, I digress!
Aging, gracefully I hope, Carmen became just another popular opera whilst appreciating the rarer gems. And so I went to HGO's Dress rehearsal of CARMEN with pleasant anticipation because several in the cast were 'old' acquaintances, singers from past operas, and studio.
And guess, what...I was captivated again by this Carmen. Ana Maria Martinez simply IS Carmen. With flair, with grace, defiance, come-hither, and repulse. She dances really well, looks ravishing, acts impressively all the while singing sultrily or scathingly.  Using her astonishing voice superbly. One can readily believe all men are at her feet in adulation. Martinez is HOT!
Her Don Jose is Brandon Jovanovich and HE matches her in HOTness ;-) with a clear tenor, flexible and expressive; he, too acts very well.
Ryan McKinny is an energetic acrobatic Escamillo, his voice IMO is a bit too husky for the part. But he acquits himself with pundonor como una famosa espada ought. Natalya Romaniv's Micaela is played and sung quite prettily as it ought to be; she is, after all, goodness personified.
Of the other members in order of appearance:
Morales is Samuel Schultz, a newcomer, he does it well, in this somewhat easily overlooked, cameo, role.
Robert Gleadow returns as Zuniga and sounds suitably officerlike.
Uliana Alexyuk sings Frasquita sweetly with a clear sound,
Carolyn Sproule is Mercedes, who matches Uliana in sound.
As Dancaire, Reginald Smith, Jr., powerfully overshadows his comrade in arms, Remendado, sung by John McVeigh. I recall well McVeigh's somewhat distinct tenor from his time here, and in productions heard on the radio. Here he sounds lost beside the big voiced Smith.
What makes this production so exciting and DIFFERENT were the dancers.
On the, primarily, spare set (by David Rockwell)  and unusually lit brighter than I have seen (by Donald Holder),
the solo dancer, as el toro, was Rasta Thomas. AND HE WAS EXCELLENT!
The costumes (by Julie Weiss) for the dancers outshone the others with the exception of Martinez's which seemed painted on in a most pleasing (or should that be teasing way?)
The children's chorus (directed by Karen Reeves) sing and act prettily, and the HGO Chorus, as we have come to expect, sing well as usual under the direction of Chorus Master Richard Bado. 
Rob Ashford as Director and Choreographer essays several innovative ideas which makes this production better than many I have seen in the past.
HGO orchester is energetically, at times too (lol) energetically requiring the drinking of lots of water, conducted by, a very youthful, Rory Macdonald.
Looks like the whole cast and creative team is YOUNG.
And that, chers readers, gives me hope for the survival of opera into the future. Young singers, young creative teams..  and - hopefully - young audiences. All is not lost on planet Opera, methinks.

Maledizione.. strikes again

After numbers of RIGOLETTOs seen and heard, Verdi's musical power never fails to draw me in, wring me out and leave me wanting MORE. And so it was last night at HGO.
I am sure you all know the story by now.

Amoral Duke dishonors females. Revengeful jester plots to have him killed, which is foiled by another female who saves the Duke first, then by jester's daughter, still enamored despite all, who dies in his stead! That's it in a nutshell.
However, perhaps due to my encroaching age, and past life experiences (lol) I found a "new"? insight. Did Verdi mean this a morale?
The Bad shall not go unpunished? Sadly, it turns into "The Good shall be punished".
Or, women in love act irrationally?
Or, do curses really work? 
If so, I sure would really love to curse some drivers. Yes, those that cut in whilst texting, yapping, or even putting on make-up ON THE highways and byways! ;-) But I digress.

Back to the HGO production, which, if I recall, has been around a few times before, and seems a bit tired, to me, despite the big red splashy opening scene with Rigoletto.

Alexyuk, McKinny-Photocredit HGO

BTW,
HGO alum Ryan McKinny made his debut as the jester, and did it well with sonorous sound and gestures. He just looks a bit too young even make up did not age him sufficiently to cover his charmingly youthful face.
On the other hand, his daughter Gilda, sung with crystal clarity and meltingly haunting voice by Studio Member Uliana Alexyuk (Einspringer for the scheduled Gilda who left - for personal reasons) was stunning and so teenager. That singer is one to watch, and conquer other opera houses soon!
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I heard others as Gilda, the ones most securely anchored in my memory are: more recently,
Maureen O' Flynn (HGO) and, prior to that, Edita Gruberova...but Alexyuk comes very close!
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Now on to others in the cast.
Despite a pre-curtain announcement, that Stephen Costello felt ill, he sang the Duke seemingly without signs, perhaps not quite full out, but getting stronger as the night wore on.
Robert Pomakov's Monterone was a bit less imposing than previously heard Monterones;
Dimitri Belosselskiy (Debut at HGO) did not quite come up to expectations as Sparafucile...that cold, yet "honorable?" viciousness in the voice seemed lacking;
Carolyne Sproule as Maddalena (HGO Studio) decked in shawls like a Carmen (early ads for the coming 'Carmen'? tee hee) was adequately sultry with Rastafarian curls..
Other comprimario roles were also taken by current studio members.

Marullo=Reginald Smith

In this production, the naked woman (prudently (lol) holding a dress just in front) flashing across the stage in the first act (a well remembered 'rearview' ;-) from the previous show 2009) was omitted.
Thus, a sense of supposed deep depravity of this court was - well - NOT sensed.

Patrick Sommers coaxed grand Verdian sounds from the orchestra with his usual verve.

The Production was well done, but.....

Not sure what exactly was missing, something seemed to be - at least to me!

Still it's an entertaining musical event, which does allow one to go away whistling, humming

or - if so talented - singing catchy tunes, which after all is rather good!

The Passenger-a searing musical portrait of (in)humanity

This co-production of Bregenz, Warsaw, ENO, Madrid is currently being performed at HGO.  It is a new(ish) work, composed by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, libretto by Alexander Medvedev which David Pountney translated rather well into English. It is performed with surtitles.  But IMO they are rarely needed, since the enunciation of most singers is outstanding and 96% understandable. I was privileged to attend the final dress rehearsal, which went smoothly. Opening night is Saturday 1/18. I'll be out of town then so am publishing it this morning.

A brief description of its plot: Fifteen years after the end of the war, a German diplomatic couple (Walter and Liese) are on a liner for Brazil where he is to take up an embassy position. On the ship there, too, is a mysterious veiled woman. Liese seems to recognize her as one of the inmates in Auschwitz where Liese (aged 22) served as a camp guard.
Several acts are devoted to camp life.
Female prisoners from all over Europe are found there, each one reacting in her own way to the horrors around her. One apparently has gone mad, another teams up with a very young girl in lieu of her own daughter. Their nationalities are: Czech, Polish, Russian (a partisan), French and Tessalonikan. One is identified as Jewish, some others seem to be catholic, especially Bronka.
The heroine, Marta (that mysterious passenger), by chance, encounters her finance Tadeusz, who, we learn is involved in the camp underground and in touch with Katya, the Russian partisan.
The plot gets a bit thicker. Liese wants Marta to become her confidante vis-a-vis the other prisoners, and offers Marta and Tadeusz a chance to meet. Both are resolved not to give Liese any hold on them.
While these flashbacks to camp life take place, on an upper level we see Walter and Liese attempting to participate in ship's social life. Liese has told Walter now all about her camp life. And Walter, after an initial revulsion, has accepted it and excusing it now supports her.
But then the "Passenger" asks the band (on a 3.level) to play a waltz.
And Liese breaks down completely. It is the waltz the camp commandant has demanded Tadeusz play for him on the violin, which Tadeusz does not do, and so is sent to his death. As - it seemed - is Marta.
The opera ends with the 'modern' Marta's demand 'never forgive nor forget'!

Now the cast requires some very strong performances by 9 female voices.
And HGO found them, voices with convincing acting prowess.

Michelle Breedt -above - (HGO debut) sings Liese with a flexible Mezzo and seemingly personal conviction in the world she inhabits on stage.
Melody Moore is Marta with strong and confident delivery.
Victoria Livengood - quite excellent as the madwoman.
Yvette, the French youngster, is sung with a clear high soprano by Uliana Alexyuk (HGOStudio).
Vlasta is sung by another HGOStudio member, Carolyn Sproule.
Krystyna is performed by Natalya Romaniw (Studio member).
Bronka, the older woman adopting the youngster Yvette is sung with moving expression by Kathryn Day.
Agnieszka Rehlis (debut) sings a few lines as the Jewish girl (is she the one from Tessalonika?).

Kelly Kaduce - above - (debut) whom I have seen and heard in  Anna Karenina, Tan Dun's Tea and as Margaret Garner, sings Katya with complete confidence and beautiful phrasing.. her solo, unaccompanied for the most part by orchestra, of the Babushka song is truly stunning!
Cheryl Parish (also seen in Show Boat at HGO) is the senior overseer who has just a few lines as well.
All other characters, in camp, and on ship, as well as in the, all MALE onlookers in modern dress (why they are there is still, IMO, a mystery, they do not really do much for the plot - perhaps they are to be us, the audience, but why only males?), are taken by chorus members with no solo lines, some are even silent.
As you can see, the females are dominant in this work.

Joseph Kaiser - above as Ravenal in HGO's Show Boat - Walter, is convincing and uses his suave voice well. 
Morgan Smith - debut (of Starbuck fame -Moby Dick seen by me in Dallas) sings Tadeusz with feeling. His orchestra double actually plays the violin.
James Maddalena has 2 cameo roles with a few lines, mostly just spoken.
Robert Pomakov as the first guard, and
Peixin Chen and Kevin Ray (both Studiomembers) as 2. and 3. guard acquit themselves quite honorably.
I am not sure who plays the Commandant, whose brief appearance in scene 5/act 2 is the cause for Tadeusz' death.

 I have searched for some videos.. and found this of another composition by Weinberg

Now to my personal impressions. Not being a musician, I cannot write about the difficulties which lie in the score. I have been told that some seems almost impossible. And yet the orchestra and the singers do it real justice.
It is above all a great theatrical drama with hugely excellent singing.
Maestro Summers knows the score and guides the team well.
Music: mostly accessible, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes very lyrical. IMO, it paints musical pictures of the horrors, but of beauty as well.
Staging and set are impressive, sadly I fear, people in balcony and high Grand Tier seats will not see the third level (orchestra) and maybe even part of the second level. The set is built very tall! Lighting is appropriate to action and scenery. A bit of stumbling around the camp ground makes the prisoners' exhaustion even more plausible.

Was I moved? Yes, to some extent I was, mostly due to the truly superb acting singers.

But having studied this period in history, and read as much as is available in English and German, I was somewhat disappointed. Or maybe, like so many of us, I have become desensitized to violence and horrors by what is thrown at us daily on television and the web. Perhaps.

Did I think the piece biased?  Not really.  The composer, IMO, tried his best to tell the story as seen from the standpoint of a younger Liese, whose experiences must be taken in context of the times.
Befehl ist Befehl - order is order!
And yet, nothing is ever just pure black and white.
But still, it should be seen as grave warning to humanity.  If it works in these days of increasing insensitivity to suffering, of spontaneous killings may they be government sanctioned, or acts by crazed (?) individuals, I simply do not know. And who really can?
Maybe...at least I hope it will open some eyes and hearts!

And here some comments, overheard on the way out:
"High drama but not really an opera".
"Would have liked it better as a ballet."
"How P.C. is that, before HGO is doing Wagner."
"I am surprised that it did not affect me as much."

Well, best you see it yourself. 
I can guarantee the singing and acting is fantastic.

Winners everywhere

While the Aeros recorded their first at home win over the Texas Stars WITH Hackett in goal (more on that below), I was delighted to find out that three of IMO best singers won the Concert Of Arias (Eleanor McCollum Competition) last night.

A truly impressive line up of 9 finalists sang their hearts out in front of a full house and 3 judges (Tenor Griffey, Maestro Summers and HGO Managing Director Leech).
The slate included singers from as far away as Russia, South Wales, Canada and China.

Prize ($ 10,000) plus Audience choice award went to the 22 years old soprano

Andrea Carroll,
HGOs Assoc. Music Drirector Eric Melear was the accompanying pianist for all!

2. prize to Welch born Natalya Romaniw  (24) and

3. prize to Bass Chen Peixin (30) from Beijing.
Carroll sang with purity and an extraordinary expressive voice from Mascagni and Massenet.. proving her familiarity with Italian and French works.
Romaniw sang from Mozart and Gounod with flexible strength and a depth that showed off her big voiced soprano.
Chen, a huge bass, with room to spare, and great stage presence wowed most by his choice of Verdi and even more so Rossini, showcasing his grasp of comedy.

After hearing all 9, my Nr. 1 too,  was Carroll, but followed by Chen as Nr. 2.
Carolyne Sproule (23), a mezzo with, to me at least, interesting vocal shading in her Strauss, and a very impressive presentation of an aria from Julius Caesar by Handel, would have been my Nr. 3.
And Romaniw I had definitely pegged as the audience choice.
I got three right, just not in the final order, lol.

Now to the three goals last night: Wellman - a single handed goal in the 2., Genoway (Fontaine ,Wellman) on a power play, and Broda (Fontaine) in the 3 on the empty net!
Sure looks like a very lucky night for the Aeros.
And yet, a sad ending to this has to be reported: Wellman was traded by the Wild to the New York Rangers! 
They also re-assigned Rau to Houston.
And re-signed C.J.Stretch to the a PTO. Poor guy having to pack and unpack his satchel in such a short period!
Now they'll play in Houston Saturday Lake Erie, AND Sunday..at HIGH NOON Milwaukee-not to conflict with the Super Bowl Parties awaiting football fans LOL.