Bel Canto Purissimo

YES, indeed.

Pure Beautiful Singing!
Nothing to distract from it. 
No cluttered stage and scenery.
No glaringly colored costumes. No 'busy, busy' hyper activity.

Instead you get a stage in grey on grey with grey.
A set of guillotine like triangles suspended in grey cloud shades in the first act.
Evocative of looming castles of grey granite, misty lands and stark forbidding lochs, perhaps? Add a few chairs.
And a refectory banquet table albeit covered in large white cloth, 
which becomes a major part of the scene in Act 3 and you have the settings!

Almost forgot, occasionally a 'wall' descends like a ponderous curtain, naturally in grey with grey, from the rafters. And on such 'walls' , thanks to well placed lightning (by Jane Cox),  shadows of the soloists are cast like dooming portends, borrowing from Balinese Shadow Puppet plays, perhaps? Direction by the Scot John Doyle.

Costumes are dark grey, highlighted in black, dark navy blue.
Customes and set by Liz Ashcroft.
Chorus women with Gibson Girl hairdos, in dresses seemingly from the 1900's marching slowly across and in between.The occasional baroque patterned vests for the principal male singers, as may have been worn in the 1700's with  Mozartean ponytails. In burnt orange to brown, highlighted by a dash of white. 
Lucia's dress in muted reds in the first act and her wedding gown and night gown in bright beiges with white. Not to forget the spatters of blood on the latter.

BUT THE singing!
AND THE singing!
A glorious feast for the ears-Ohrenschmaus par excellence.
A return to what opera used to be and, perhaps, be again?
Glorious singing by beautiful and expressive voices - I like, I like! 

Provided by Albina Shagimuratova(*) as Lucia, tossing off high notes with utter ease,
spinning out phrases so long we are beginning to think she has NO need to breathe.
What a duet with the flute during her mad scene! Shimmering notes taking flight, softly at times, forcefully at others, always with great beauty.
A spellbound audience sits mesmerized in utter silence.
One could have heard the proverbial pin drop...if there had been one!

Just a soupcon for your listening pleasure - Shagimuratova tosses off The Queen of Night's aria with consumate ease!
Let's hope she will soon be heard on CD/DVD .. her voice IS so good!


Dimitri Pittas as Edgardo delivers. And how he delivers!
His dramatic talent shines as he gives fresh meaning to the lover betrayed, with his brightly ringing and, yet,warm tenor. 
here a bit from his MET appearance as MacDuff!


Scott Hendrick's(*) Enrico, as the overbearing brother uses his baritone and histrionic talents to good avail.
And he casts a threatening shadow, too.. see above description ;-)!

 Here a sip for you: he is Silvio in Pagliacci (with Futral as Nedda)

(In an aside: the pairing of Hendricks and Shagimuratova is a repeat casting-they were, in a previous incarnation, the fool Rigoletto and his daughter Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto-when chairs also played a large role in the staging of the father/daughter scene).

Beau Gibson (*) (did that inspire the ladies' hairdo-:-)?), is a sneaky, sly-boots Normanno, the instigator of doom, a "Iago of Lammermoor"  (so to speak but this time a tenor, the Iago of Otello is a baritone) who prowled the stage endlessly, insinuating, observing, tattletaleing!

Bass Oren Gradus (*) lends his deep booming voice to Raimondo, the priest, who persuades Lucia to obey her brother, then, IMO, becomes turncoat and accuses Enrico as the cause of Lucia's madness and death.

The cameo role of Arturo, the rich suitor and projected savior of the Lammermoors,is sung with lyrical beauty by Tenor Nathaniel Peake, who also looks rather dishy in his attire, the brightest colors on stage.

Rachel Willis-Sorenson is a rather youthful Alisa. attendant to Lucia, but well cast with her sure sounding Mezzo.
Maestro Antonino Folgiani, after an inital slow paced start, conducted with fervor and verve. Singing right along the principals!

Now if you only are awed by overpowering stage sets and super active direction..
well, do sit back, close your eyes tightly, open your ears wide and let the beautiful sounds in.  Your soul will be stirred and transported. Just have an ambulance standing by as happened last night!  (Was someone so overcome by the emotions of the Bel Canto to have fainted ?)

The male chorus and supers carrying poles (not a spear in sight here)  in cutaway like suits, grey and black, moves to and fro, ebbing and surging, weaving and webbing.
All in a stately manner as befittting dour Scots copying a Greek Chorus of doom.
It IS a gloomy, tragic opera, thus the gloom and doom of set and costumes is only too fitting.
BTW all singers, except Pittas are HGOpera Studio artists, curent or alumni (*)

Dead Man Walking..add this

and walking, and walking!

I had the privilege to attend the final dress rehearsal of Heggie's opera based on the novel (also made into a movie) by Sister Prejean,and afterwards the dead man kept walking. In my mind and in my soul!

The subject is not merely sensational, it certainly causes emotions beyond the visceral.
The visceral does appear first

There is some nudity, violence and profanity.

Compared to what one sees on TV and elsewhere, it's relatively minor.

One feels, as did the parents of the youngsters slain by De Rocher, a thirst for 'biblical' revenge!

One feels Sister Helen Prejean is predisposed to champion the murderer.
Which seems an affront to the desolated parents.

But as the work progresses one comes to realize that belief in God's mercy has a valid presence.
That the death of the murderer does not replace the lives of two slain youngsters.
And it does force one to confront the controversial subject of  the death penalty.

As I have neither read the novel, nor seen the movie,

I came to this work innocent of any preconceived ideas.

What impressed me the most:

The truly spectacular 'tour de force' by Mezzo Joyce DiDonato as Sister Prejean. A role she fills with extraordinary beauty of expression, vocally and as an actor. She is on stage almost the whole time. She produces sounds that seem otherworldly...reaching heights I did note expect to

hear from a Mezzo.

.

Frederica von Stade, in one of her farewell appearances, sings De Rocher's Mother with a clarity of diction, that makes surtitles superfluous, in the photo she is pictured with Jake Heggie, the composer:

Phillip Cutlip, as De Rocher, manages rather well  portraying a crude, defiant man, unrepenting until the very end, when strapped down, he does express his sorrow for the parents.

Suzanne Mentzer, as mother of the slain girl, strikes just the right vocal balance singing with emotional impact.

The cast, comprised of a large children's chorus, extras and
many cameo roles filled adequately, does surprise one with its size. Somewhat unexpected.

(And therein lies a problem, for me at least.
An opera/movie can only make a bald and fixed statement.
It may lack the shadings and interpretations the reader can bring to the book.
Although a musical work can help that some.
The composer, through his choice of music can emphasize emotions, events and actions.
But it is, again, HIS choice).

But I digress, so back to the cast:

Measha Brueggergosman as Sister Rose displayed a pleasant sound, but was IMHO,
too often drowned out by the music and scarcely audible.
Now, this could be due to the fact, that some singers do not sing at full power in rehearsals.
Beau Gibson, as Father Grenville, disappointed me (see above note re rehearsal)
but others may find his voice pleasantly adequate.
Hector Vasquez sang the Warden with a suave and rich baritone sound.
Old and new Studio artists acquitted themselves well.
Michael Sumuel as the forgiving motor cycle cop,
and Jon Kolbet as one of the fathers.
Brittany Wheeler, Kiri Deonarine and Boris Dyakov blended well with the others.
Maestro Summers kept polishing and tweaking orchestral sounds after the intermission,
 in order to bring out the best of Heggies' music.

Ah yes, the music.
Strong, sometimes overpowering.
Full crescendo to suit the emotions on stage.
I think I heard a soupcon of Gershwin, a bit of Bernstein here and  there. 
There was some borrowing of gospel music, some of  American folk and pop tunes.
Some subtly hidden, some openly copied.

Sister Prejean's music was ethereal. Wavering, as her 'human' disgust of the murderer made her doubt that she could help him find solace and salvation. But also firmly expressive conveying 'her' conviction in a merciful God.
I admit feeling a bit inadequate to put into words what I experienced whilst listening and watching.
The subject is controversial for sure.

When looking at the instant comments I see several hmpfs..
While I appreciate that you have read this post...thank you!...
I would like to know what makes you, chers readers, say hmpf.
Do you dislike any subject but hockey?
Do you dislike my impressions?
I would like to know. Afterall, opera causes subjective reactions.
What I experience you may not and vice versa!
So grit your teeth and write in a real comment.