Summer Bel Canto in New York State Dan Foley

Late sumner in 1he Nonheasle{ U.s. lromised dd deliver.d a bel canlo bonaM: rdel, hedd Donizetli ope6 (Le Cotuenienze Teanali and Matid d) Rahan)

Lake Ceorge Ope6's production of C@ve,ie,ze (given undet the titl. vtua la MMna) took us ro t\e idyllic iosn of Saralosa. fmous for its dineral spiings and venrabl. hoise reing taditio.. A haEl of the induslrialhis of the gilded age, the toM is suspended in 1ime. Moy doMtosn buildings dale to the 1 870s ad 80s, ed residential deas arc gaced by resplendenl 'painred ladieJ' victGio mansions cncrusted witl gingqbread od painted brilliant colos. Ycr sadly. I must Gpon $at this Coserpfte scarcely lived uD to lhe b.auliful, hisloric seldngl Thcrc $as a precious lihle beauly bd e,en less hislory in fiis travesry (lfteral dd fisuralile) ofa perrommce.

A sen$ oi forcboding durine rhe pre-perfomance lectuie. given by .onductor cudis 'I'ucker ca,ven,eEd ldpoons lhe operas and opera companies of Dorizeui s tine (lD facl, he shosed chdactenstic hunilitr in snding-up his osn rccent occasion-picce E1v,la) Nor *as Rossini spared, for Mann'Agala\ ria in the second acl is 6 anusingl, distorted ve.sion bolh poelically a.d mnsically - oflhe Willow{ong in Rosini's Okllr. The archdyp* repres€nled by the chmcteis are slill recogniable and anusing today. Bu1 neiiher Tucker nor the 6th* sknnPy Proerm noles Save lhe audien.e any lisloical conlexl in which 10 place the iokes, musical or orheNhe. instead, u,helhcr thmugh a lack of knowledge and prepararion, or lhrongh pure cynichm, we \ere lrealed like racalcirrmt children r*lously rea$ued for lwenly minutes that the opem is fumy dd hy (alter all, il features a dDg queenl) and given no moE the a bde sybopsis of the plot

A second rcd nag waved when Tucker revealed thai a nes scene had bee. expre$ly conceived ed composed by John Dousld and Nclson Sheehy for rhis produclion. I his sould depicr the auditions $at took place before the opera as Donizetti conceiled il begins Several of the Joung singcn would p fom *ell knosn eis (ibose indudod "voi che sapale" dd "Quando apila in $tasi") connected sith DoniaLlisLyle' ecitatives - drese too would ha'e lors of fumy jokes ir lhem, we were assued. Tucker never offered a convincins reason for why Donizelti\ effenesce linle score colldn'l sland on ils oM fee1, excepl lhat tle productlot team wdled to 'nake it longer'. sure enougn, lhe coutedeil recnaliles rcsenbled Dohi2etti s only sup{ficiall, - they s*e plodding od.lmsy by cohpdisor, and lhe scam belween the piosthelic audilion scene md the firsl notes ofDonizetli's aclualscore wd anylhing butcosndically salsrying

'the nexr nail in dre coflh was an anditorium acoustically ursuitable for opcra Thc conpany's PR slraleg, lor dealing with this fatal flaw $as to hale Tucker put an animat.d, losilive spin on then uique '\ky-pil" & elevatod plalfom snspended over 9

and behind rhe stage onro *hich the orchest a aas crmmed. The orchesha wd Der,nd dd aDore the singeE. wilh the conducloas back nr the audience (1he singea were able io see hih on lelevision soeens suspodcd on th€ Mlh ofthe auditonun). hnlthalcool md unique? well, no eally IE invened relatjonship berween vocalisls ed orch.sfta togeths wilh rhe shape ofdre audnoim mnslird to oeate a nuddy &oustic where the slngrs ofle, found rhemselves oversholned.

But acousrics cml be fineeied for all, or even mosl, oLha1made lhis lerfomdco such a hial to attend. The qualiry of the shging ranged Aon adequate to lery poor, and evely faux'p6 in the vocal compendium wd on display: poor breath support, nuddy arlicularion of color.tua pdsag*, abysnal Ilalian diclion, dd faulty inlonation. B6e bdirone Kenneth Mauice as ?rocolo md tenor Joh Tsoisoros fed belter thd theil peeBi and Jennif{ Rod{er d tb. Musico showed promise, with a plunny, atlraclive mezzo-solrano voice ihat made me qond{ whal she mighr be capable of in a pan ftal gave her more to do. Bul Elizabelh Andrews Robens was woetully overpaned as lhe prima do.na, @mpletely utrequal m the detueds ofthe la{ing cavatlm. Bamlngly, lhe nost niscdt rolo was the titule Ma@'Agata: Richa.d Eolnes's g.ainy, poorly- suppofied voice was imudible most oflhe lime Thal he was .as1 in lh. crucial l€ad role- the lynchpin of the enli.e opda - to lhe exclusion of the much nore capable Mattice. is nosl perplexing. Tlre mosr cheitable explmation is that he vas indisposed, bul no mouncement w6 made prior lo lhe performdce.

Only in tlre ensemble numbers, *h*e indilidual singes' defecls were Ie$ appden! did the sloriousness oflhis scintillaljng score meage lo shine Grcugh. TIh sas particuhly lrue in dre big oc(et at the begirnidg of Ac1 I, bu1 even then, thc relative balece of voies was wroDg, wilh the pri.cipal tenor od soprdo (shos lines de supposed to sod over fie ensemble while the olher voices provide munterloint) vinually imudible

To be fair 1o these yomg sinsers, lhe diector made thei! task doubly (ed u'ece$arily) dililcult not onl, thiough !oo. casting, but by denmding fiadtic, incesd! conpler, ed moslly poiltless slage etion. Tlis w6 slapsiick ofthe host !!lgd order: breast-g.opine tbr no reason at atl, dd a1l mauq of non{top, untumy hijinLs lhat disracled unnece$ ily fiom Donizttit clev* score bul couldnt parch up ihe olh.r gldiDg

TIe scenic md coslue design was by far the best lan ofrhe ptoduclion. The s€ls represent.d fte rear of a folded .lrcp{cene wih a few 6bles and chais for the fi6r !an. aDd a lrimitile platfom for the lefooace al Ranulo ed E6ilda. Moden-dtes co srum* o I vdguely I 9 5 0 \ styl e were used for the rehedsat. and intellional l, rid icul ous Rohan garb for nou,lo ed rr;/d.. ahe hjma Doma looked like ,me Clealei in a beautitul A'line, ubile Mamn'Asata spofied a deliious blue monstrosity ofa dre$ with a hugc led colfure ed a leopddskin coai.

The enti.e produclion wa sympionatic of many troubling trerds in presenl-day opera prcdu.1ion fte audience was cynically asmed ro be uable 10 sit slill for uy lyacal noments al all,loo dull to g6sp humor ofey subdety, and 1oo msophisticated aboul voices to realiz tbat the casl cel sing lhc music on ire !age. And the produclion tem unfo$mately had swallowed hook, line, dd sinke! lhe missuided and all too colmon notion thai the composer dd librettht ce't be irusted. h was theEfore with a collectile siEh of ieUef that N. Faved good-bye 10 Sdatoga, dd joumeyed soulh 1o Katonah for the cdanoor lestival, where the rcond pe ormce of rheir s€cond peformdce of lr'ol,a, cond&ted by Will Crulchteld, promhed nuch belter things, Cduoor hs become a nec.ssary paftofmy sumetr, and the wongs of fie LalG Ceorse experience w6 nore than righed i! lhh one caramooi is uique: set in a bucolic forest, a complex of Spanish vill6 dd outbuildings, fountains, lus! green licnic spaces, and sard.ns, the opera (or concen) ole aiiends is only a lan of a lars{ expelience. The opers are preceded by letms md concerls b, the young arthts engaged by the festival.

This tine, Andrew Porter gare d engaging leclue focusing on the singers of fie pasl (Gnsi in paniculd) who had sus the rcle oflhe haphs druidess, outlining the vocal challeng€s that mak€ the pan so feaFome - md so attractive to soproos. A fascinatine ed infolmlive rccitar of wagnerian husic followed, intended to illuslrale how Bellini's music had influened ihe youger conPoses'. cdamoor's Norma, Ancela Meade, has been oo ny ndd screen for some yeaB now. It's a loice that is difficult nol to like, but in the pdt I feded thai she was being set on path 10 vocal perdiiion by moageme and lgerts toicillg het inlo big drmaiic roles lor which she lacked lhe requisile vocal maluity. I ceiainly thoueht so when I heard her in E/,a,, ar the Me1, ad at lasr yet's Sehilanide at ctmoor. I thereforc appioached rlis ,Vorua wilh more than a smll dose of skepticism, dcspite the considdatle buz on the slreet thai she'd loocked rhe ball out oft\e p t.

A.d ind€ed, i1 seems somerbine magi.al had haplened betwee! last red aDd this. Foi o.ce in this age of vocal slars' oaufactuEd by slicl ?R rath{ the aclual lalenl and t4hnique, the reality h5s aclully supased the hype. Noi only could Meade sing the noles, but she was ullerly convincing The old leltativeness, the inabilily to clemly cut through a big esemble, ud a host of oth* problens she had befo.e seded to have vanished. In the e,nbryonic diva s !lac. was m ulte.ly new, fully-fomed on€ the sme remdkable inslruEnl, bur utilized Nith a new co.fidence dd conlrol. She owned rhe evening. Aniculation was flawles, even in the mosl difficull passages, lrjlls were cleanl piaaissimi semed to edelge ftom no{here yet smounded the hearer. Th*e was eEal dramatic powd in the chest voice, dd a soaring line thal cut thouerh even the big chorues like butter. She was rerl, captivating in the "Casla Di,a', fedsof,e in the Act 1 trio ed in rhe duel '1, mia man altn lu sei", hedlrending in the filale ultino. This sinser has definilely ann€d, dd I only wish I could see he. at We\foid in Mqcadote's 11

Tle evenirs would have been wonhu,hile elen if none of tle other pefomances *€re slardolt, bul everyone else acquitted themelves beautifuUy. Solrano Keri Alkema as Adalgisa mtched Meade's coloratua tecnnique ornment for omament He. voie was darkei than Meade's, a nice conlrBt in rheir ducts, and hc! dlamalic comitment was similarly complete. "Seonb6 e la sam Flva" idcluded ralhe! fatuous oinanenlation, which sNed not lo enhece th€ d4 bnt to obscure the melodic line.

Kudos.loo, are due to Elmauel di Villarosad Pollione wlD sang the role even rhough indjslosed. The voice was a bit ras, the vocal l,nc sonewhal altered 10 avoid some ol the hieler pa$ages. Bul the basic dmbE of the loice *as quic aftlctive, dd by n\e tine of the final scenes, he had wemed np. Diamatically he sas quile convincing, cspecially jn the rral. ,nMo, ah econplishDenl given the improbability of Pollione's lhe Oro,eso was Carmoor's stalsart bNs Daniel Mobbs. who seemed a bit worn ihe lal couple ottimes I leard him, but here had reluined lo his former sonoroB selt Hh pa icipation it the final ensembl€ wher he relenis ard asrees to car€ for Norma's children s as e specially moving.

Caranoofs nexl offerins, M4ru di,Crra, $6 almosr N good as then ivol,,, bul ( d js I 11 lrobabll be .oasted lor saying thn) Mz,a in my opinion a sbonser opera. Civen on JLly 24 (a brulalty ssehering elening), this lras ufoltumlel, a one dtue only perfomdce. v€ were ne ou. as the a'iouced Maria, l akesha Kizafl. ws indisposed due to dlergies &d would not be able to appe&. ln hei place, cover Jemifer Ro*ley had been called u! to sede !1very shofi notice. We'd head \4iss Rowley the week before in the pre-opera concerr of young ani$s. \\rhilc impressivc, Rouley's perfoarance there had.'l civen us a cl.ar idea how \rll she Nould fare singjng an er e opea (aDd a denddiig one ar 1ha1).

The pre{on@r fare sd cspecially dch. At 3, we enloyed a bdef panel discusion *ith Phllip co$dl od will crurchneld, in which rhe, discu$ed sone of the panicularly i erenirg featuEs ofM,/r d, noia,. At 4:15, we e.jored a conc€n ofthe ahernalive nusic from Maria shich wc wouldnl bc hearilB al lhe maiD performance, then a15pm a concen ofDonizetti's vocal music Nrillen qhile in Viema. This included sonss as well as a conplere perfomdce al the Miseterc in G minor Fioally, Gossett gale a chdacteisiically infomative md animated hcture al 7pn on $e opera ilsell siving slecial allenlion b jrs irfluencc on Verdi, shich is especially evidenl in ,4//o.

Ar lhe ftk of bein8 sidelrrcked, I $dlto lcknosledge an excepdonal ,oug tenor who parlicipaled in both the No/-a d Mdria di Rahan [email protected] concolrs. Bria, Landry is the real thire - a lenoi wi1,h a big, ed I mear HUGE voice, one with beauly, heti, an ltaljanale squillo, solid lechnique, n vellous dicdon, and rcal emolioral iNoh,emenl in the mat€rial h.'s singing. He blew us asay in all ihat he sang - shich included a duct fron D,s rrlkure in rhe pre Norna concen, and major solo parls in the Do n i2efti s ,il,serere his is decidedly trot the kind of uniuvolved, milquenrst singing thal hs become de riget at tuany &gional Amerim opera companies. I-andry s technical foudation is solid, so thh voice that souds bon lo sing hearily orchesliated. hefly tenor roles such as Wagne!, Puccini. and lale verdi, wd eqlally comfortable in bel cdto, for he showd no shaitr in tedlins onane ed la$ages at all. The audienft rewarded this sifted sinse/s hard work and dedicadon with vociferous aPPlause. Even *ilh the almos! mifomly high qualiry of the rest of lhe young arthls in the prosrd, Laod!, stood head md shoulders above tle rest He was ihe cover for d. Villdosa in n_orna, d had he aclually caued upon, il night have been an cven more rena*able perlomece thu it was. But I feel corfident in saring thal Landry's day will come.

As to the main event Mdia di Rohdn - as *ith rhe previou week\ ,V,/-4, se $ere traled to an clectric pefomance. The inirelid cov€r, Jemife! Rowley, croMcd herseif with ladels Her p€rfomane was sinply sturing, doubly so Siven tu limited reheaBal line she's rumored lo have had. She has a gleaming, bighr tone, m atll&tive vibraro (reminiscenr ol opera Rda\ edly diva Jeel hce)i ir's a voice with a 1or of color, ddk at the bolton, b.iBhl and gleaming ai the top. Her coloratua, while not allars pefectly aniculal.d (there wa a niher bluired dosnwdd run) ws quile cood, dd she has a very nice trill. Her draDalic ability {as absolutely slellar - she made the heroine s plighr conplelely belielable without ovoracling.

IIe rolo of chalais was sung by Luciano Bothelo, a young Brazilih lenor sho - 10 judsc by this performance - has a,ery brighl fulure ahead ofhim. The audience was as snillen as Msia lrom tle moment he stode onto the slage 10 deliver his fir$ aria. Botelho hd a bngtu, cldion lyric tenor voicer a bit on Ure smll side, bu1 agi,e and uder complete conrlol - I couldn't .€sis1 fel6izing his re{reatu8 some of lhe forCotten Rubi.i roles. His rabnique is simply tedfic, his approach lo singing restrained yel pssionate Tlis is a tenor wlo doesnl led ro belt elery not€ - dd Botlho ha theh up 10 a d_flal uosever, when he padnered with scot Bedden s enomous bailone, the voice wa cler and b ght enough 10 hold its osn.

Beardent Chevieus uas un.ve! vocally hui eery exciling. Il took hin sotue Lime to qdm up -his aria di sonila was delive.ed in a ralher uninvolved way, dd there were some raw. nther ho se notes Darticularly in the top of lhe voice. However. by lhe midpoini of the opela he had cohe inlo his ow, ed his delivery of 1he scene in which ChevEue lems of Marias betrayal Ms spine lingiine. Chovleur s los becde heanlending, hh mger ledble. The lad, s€aled next to ne (a complete slraneer. and 6 I later discovered, a oember of c&anoor's fiudEising comiteel) \!s c[nching my dn linouchout lhe last 20 minules olde opeBl lor both rhis od th€ lro/ua, conduclo! Will Crulchlield led exemplary performances. His rempi were beaulilirlly closen, he sas sensitne b dyndi.s, dd unafdid of sayoring the longer, more larguid melodic lines, bul was aho willinglo cBck the whiP in the luder-hidng pa$ages. He Sets b!1le! and betler {ith each pasing rear, il r€ns. The audcnce, choius and olchestra are to be comended for bnvns re soupy heal md hunidity - nosl andience nembeB s.re fming fiehselves in lime lo Oe musicl