The Elixir of Love

Alek Shrader as Albert Herring Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2012

On Saturday, the forces of Los Angeles Opera decided to make the most of it. It was the opening of the current season’s fifth production Albert Herring, the second chamber-size opera from Benjamin Britten the company has staged in as many years. Herring is quintessential Britten – a male outsider is further persecuted by a stifling, moralizing community. But unlike Billy Budd or Peter Grimes, Albert Herring is played for laughs. Herring is the virginal son of a greengrocers widow in a rural English village who is unknowingly chosen by the town’s busy-body elders as the “May King,” a young man held up to others as a paragon of moral virtue. Herring is shy and bewildered by the everyday passions of those around him. He plays along without much to say until his friends Sid and Nancy spike his lemonade turning the tables on the upstanding citizens of Loxford and awakening a new world in Albert. The story shares a lot with Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore right down to the Tristan und Isolde references with Britten directly lampooning Wagner’s famous love theme. Of course, Herring, unlike Nemorino, is avoidant of women and his awakening has more to do with throwing off his mother’s apron strings than finding romantic love.

Britten’s opera is a small one written for a chamber-size orchestra and an ensemble vocal cast with few showy solo parts. L.A. Opera does well by Britten’s score and gives the show a huge, luxurious production across the board. James Conlon and his players dug into the score at times like it was Wagner. The production is a very cute, colorful affair, directed by the affable Paul Curran, which originated with the Santa Fe Opera in 2010. It achieves the first goal of comedy by producing real laughs in the audience. Curran gets involved and well-timed performances from many in the cast including Ronnia Nicole Miller as Florence Pike and Liam Bonner and Daniela Mack as Albert’s friends Sid and Nancy. And I’d be remiss in not mentioning some of the others in the cast like Janis Kelly who portrays a rather understated Lady Billows. (The role will be taken over for two performances by Christine Brewer later in the run.) Billow’s chorus of town worthies were all quite accomplished including Richard Bernstein, Jonathan Michie, Robert McPherson, and Stacey Tappan.

L-R: Richard Bernstein, Alek Shrader, Janis Kelly, Jonathan Michie, Robert McPherson, Ronnita Nicole Miller, and Stacey Tappan Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2012

But perhaps the most substantial thing in this evening of light comedy is a wonderful performance from tenor Alek Shrader in the title role. Albert is somewhat of a placeholder through much of the opera, stammering and uncomfortably standing around until his intoxication. But a lengthy Act III soliloquy gives him plenty to say and covers the range of an emotional transformation that Shrader manages expertly. He excels at both the physical comedy and sounds youthful and warm above the orchestra in a sizable house. His portrayal immediately opens Albert up as a likable young man to the audience and makes the weightier parts of the score believable.

Of course, too much attention can be a bad thing and the show can sometimes feel a bit overblown. The music and drama tended to flag in the final act without a certain succinctness. Just a bit to much grandeur weighs the proceeding down and the lovely set looked tiny on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage surrounded by an awful lot of dark space around its sliver of British springtime sky. But this Albert Herring retains its humor and good heart for the most part and still manages to charm.

Seascape

Placido Domingo stands in resistance in Simon Boccanegra Photo: Robert Millard/LAO 2012

As I was just saying, while Los Angeles Opera is offering far less ambitious programming for the near future, so far the decline in their fortunes has not led to a decline in the overall quality of the productions. And if you don’t believe me, you should check out the first-rate Simon Boccanegra the company opened on Saturday night. This is musically, and more importantly dramatically, compelling Verdi with more than just a pulse, but a raging earnest heartbeat that can be heard and felt at great distances. The marketing for the show, understandably, show’s off one of the company’s biggest assets, General Director Placido Domingo who stars here in the title role. The world’s most famous tenor has moved into singing baritone roles in these late stages of his career, and Boccanegra is a part he’s sung just about everywhere resulting in, count ‘em, three separate DVDs that are all currently available. And his presence certainly filled seats on opening night in L.A. But while the focus on Domingo is warranted, it risks overlooking a wonderful ensemble cast that makes this show more than just a star vehicle.

First there’s Ana Maria Martinez who sounded vocally richer and more assured last night than I remember her previously. She apparently has developed into a bit of a Verdi soprano recently if this performance is any indication. She floats some lovely pianissimos and has a much firmer grasp on the more girlish, innocent aspects of Amelia’s character than most sopranos do. On the bad guy side, Paolo Gavanelli gave one of his always remarkable performances as Paolo Albiani, infusing a character that can take a back seat in some stagings with real pathos. He was well matched with the show’s other heavy, Fiesco, who was sung by L.A. favorite Vitalij Kowaljow. In an evening whose vocal music has been brightened by Domingo’s tenor presence, Kowajow and Gavanelli kept a sense of balance. And then there was the pleasant surprise of Stefano Secco. After some pinched and strained singing as Faust in San Francisco in 2010, he managed to deliver a far more comfortable and varied turn here as Amelia’s lover Gabriele Adorno. Verdi seems better suited for his voice, and much like his Don Carlo, the role of Adorno allowed him to flex some muscle without leaving him overexposed.

Everyone gets their moment to shine in this cast, but the person who holds it all together is James Conlon who again led the orchestra in a propulsive, lusty performance. The players sounded bright and polished closely following the overall timbre of the vocal casting. There was no down time in the show, which seemed to fly by despite its many scene changes. And then there is Domingo himself. As I’ve said before about his performance of this role, what is lost in the darker shadings of Boccanegra’s vocal part are more than made up for by the tenor’s unquestionable acting abilities. He commands the stage and connects immediately with everyone—cast and audience. No one ever looks aloof or disconnected here, and Domingo fully realizes the tragedy Verdi laid out in Boccanegra’s eventual downfall.

If I had any qualm with the evening, it was with Elijah Moshinsky’s rather uninspired staging. He does manage to expertly flesh out the relationships between the characters this time around, but the physical aspects of the staging can be tedious. The production, which was originally staged at the Royal Opera House and was seen in San Francisco as recently as 2008, consists of a single hall bordered on one side by rows of columns, which are open to the sea and sky. And while it places the action in Genoa’s seaside milieu, there is little other change from scene to scene other than a backdrop or two or a table here and there. It’s attractive and functional, but ultimately forgettable. I think it worked a bit better this time around than during my last exposure to it in San Francisco, and this may be largely due to the chemistry between Domingo and the rest of the onstage players. There also seemed to be some difficulty with the lighting on Saturday as some of the scenes were so dark it was hard to clearly distinguish what was going on from a distance. But production aside, this is a winner of an evening with musical and dramatic qualities that outpace any quibbles. And best of all, it bodes well for the highlight of LAO’s upcoming season, which opens in September with most of the same artistic players coming together on a similar project, Verdi’s I due Foscari with Domingo as baritone, James Conlon on the podium, and a promising supporting cast.

I Hear Voices

The cast of The Emperor of Atlantis with James Conlon and The Colburn School Orchestra Photo:mine

Remember the “Recovered Voices” project? It was the initiative spearheaded by Los Angeles Opera and music director James Conlon to present some of the music composed by artists adversely affected by Germany’s Third Reich and largely neglected in the history of 20th-century music. L.A. Opera kicked off the series with a concert in 2007 followed by full productions of Zemlinsy’s Der Zwerg, Braunfel’s Die Vögel, and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten over the next few seasons. Unfortunately the state of the economy and the company’s budget have precluded any more fully stage productions along these lines since 2010. But neither the spirit nor the music itself has been forgotten, as evidenced by James Conlon’s appearance last weekend conducting members of The Colburn School Orchestra and L.A. Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artists in a double bill of one act opera’s by two of those same composers featured in the “Recovered Voices” series.

The concert took place in Colburn’s Zipper Hall and while this may not have allowed for the largest space for these semi-staged productions, it was ideal considering the musical resources. The vocalists easily projected in the space over the chamber-sized orchestra without strain showing off their best attributes and allowing for some pointed and memorable performances. First on the bill was Ernst Krenek’s The Secret Kingdom. Krenek’s career covered a lot of 20th-century musical ground including the jazz-influenced 1926 opera Jonny spielt auf. The Secret Kingdom is more clearly situated in the dying days of late Romanticism with nods to the Second Viennese School. It also owes a lot at least thematically to Wagner. The story, which starts with narration from the court’s jester, tells of an unpopular king among his subjects and even his queen. The queen enlists her three ladies-in-waiting to cajole and seduce the king's jester into giving up the crown he is holding for the king in a clever reverse of the opening of Das Rheingold. She in turn attempts to use the crown to seduce a rebel leader with the promise of power and her affection but to no avail. The royals all escape the rebels and enter the forest where the queen turns into a tree. After the king contemplates suicide, the queen’s voice comforts him and the Jester returns the crown bringing the show to an end.

This sort of fairy tale material lends itself to any number of sociopolitical interpretations in its historical context. Director Gulu Monteiro and designer Swinda Reichelt, who contributed to both stagings, used the space and resources at hand to evoke German expressionism without overplaying either the political allusions or fantastic aspects of the story. Domingo-Thornton alumnus Daniel Armstrong sang the role of the jester and sunk his teeth into the playfulness of the part interacting with the audience. Baritone Museop Kim was the heartbroken king and he produced a warm even sound in his scenes with guest artist Stacey Tappan who was both commanding and lovely as a queen. Tappan has had a number of notable roles in California recently including singing roles in San Francisco’s recent Ring cycle such as Siegfried’s Woodbird. Her tree evoked Strauss’ Daphne for obvious reasons and her performance made me look forward to hearing her in bigger roles. The three Ladies in Waiting were Valentina Fleer, Renée Rapier and Tracy Cox who all performed with voices lovely enough to evoke the unavoidable allusions to Rheinmaidens.

The second half of the program was a reprisal of Viktor Ullmann’s The Emperor of Atlantis, a piece written in Theresienstadt and a favorite of Conlon’s. He performed it in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Temple in 2004 with members of the LA. Philharmonic, and this staging rivaled the quality of that previous one. This war time allegory about death taking a holiday and refusing to end anyone’s life despite the king’s request he do so as part of an ongoing war campaign is dark, sardonic material. The sweet and brightly voiced Ben Bliss played Harlequin, the character who represents life and debates Death’s decision to renounce his usual duties. Bass Erik Anstine made for an ironic and rather comical death figure. Renée Rapier returned as the drummer-girl in her Weil-inspired stage presence. But perhaps most engaging was the lovely lyric duet performed by Alexey Sayapin and Janai Brugger who performed as a soldier and Bubikopf, combatants who become lovers in the absence of death. Perhaps most satisfying, though, was the robust and sizable performance given by the Colburn players, which sounded much bigger than their number might suggest on the stage. This is music with lots of rapid stylistic changes and can move between tense and gently lyrical with little notice. It made for a lovely afternoon and a promising showcase for some of the company's youngest talents.

Some Things You Should Know

Domingo as Simon Boccanegra Photo: Catherine Ashmore/ROH

Los Angeles Opera had a big day today with two announcements that may stir up some feelings good and bad in several different quarters. First off, the company paid off half the $14 million principal on a loan the company took out in 2009 from Bank of America that was guaranteed and supported by the County of Los Angeles. (This early partial repayment will lower the overall cost of the loan to the company in the long run.) This development, discussed at a County Board of Supervisors Meeting, also included a proclamation honoring the contributions of Placido Domingo to the company and city and a round of “Happy Birthday” sung by those in attendance. Good for him and good for Los Angeles Opera. As supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is quoted as saying, the loan "was the right thing to do." Well, he’s almost right. Actually the right thing to do would have been for the county (and perhaps less-attractively Bank of America) to just give Los Angeles Opera the money. The regressive concept of arts funding in the U.S. has somehow led people to believe that loaning a major cultural institution money with interest is somehow radical philanthropy. In a year when the City of Los Angeles was willing to back hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds to secure a new football stadium downtown, the notion that anyone would find a loan the size and kind of LAO’s is simply ludicrous.

And then there was this. The company also announced today that it’s recruiting social media savvy folks for what it’s calling “tweet seats” for the February 8 final dress rehearsal of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, which will star Mr. Domingo under the baton of James Conlon. The idea is that participants will tweet about the rehearsal as it happens and this notion will likely fire up all those parties that worry such an event spells the end of life and culture as we know it on earth. I continue to fail to see how such an initiative is so threatening to some people. Standards for acceptable audience behavior have changed widely over the last few hundred years and I imagine they will again at some point. In the meantime, I sincerely doubt there is a huge number of people dying to pay upwards of $100 to $200 a seat to witness an opera or other event for the first time now that they think they can tweet or text during it. Whether or not something like “tweet seats” at a dress rehearsal or anything else brings about increased interest or access to opera or other arts, I couldn’t say. If so, then great. But I feel certain that the expressed anxiety over social media as a sign of cultural degradation (or more dramatically the loss of humanity) is decidedly misplaced. Opera and classical music have survived indoor plumbing, the steam engine, television, and atomic energy. Opera and its audiences will make it through this as well.