shostakovich's nose

When I first saw that Opera Boston would be putting on a production of The Nose, my immediate thought was "Well, I must see that. After all, how many opportunities come along to see The Nose?" When the Metropolitan Opera announced that they too would be staging The Nose next season, I was relieved that I would get the chance to see it in Boston and not have to feel the pressure to travel down to New York to see it. After all, there are at least a dozen can't possibly miss productions being put on by the Met next season (inevitably, half of which I will miss) and any opportunity to get my fix locally saves me time and money and no small amount of psychological well-being (for example, my compensation for not getting to see Renee and Stephanie in the Rusalka which had its season premiere tonight in New York, is seeing it later this month at the Boston Lyric).

Minor miscalculation. My immediate thought upon leaving the opera house last Tuesday after seeing The Nose was "I simply must see it at the Met next year. After all, how many opportunities come along to see The Nose?" Especially in two different productions within a year's time.

It was an absolutely delightful evening at the opera. The slight criticism of Opera Boston that I had the first time I attended one of their productions (Der Freischütz earlier this season)--the cheapness of the sets and the slightly campy/vulgar acting--absolutely works for The Nose. The music was interesting. Let me just say right off the bat that I am not a fan of new music: by new music I don't mean modern music, but music I haven't heard before. I generally enjoy an opera after I get to know the music first. Even such gorgeously lyrical operas like Madama Butterfly and Le nozze di Figaro sounded ugly to me the first time I heard them. The first time I ever attended a Lucia, I generally had a miserable experience (I also wasn't feeling good that day), but now I will go to every Lucia I have the opportunity to go to because I love it so much now. The same goes for nearly every favorite of mine: Eugene Onegin, Salome, the list goes on.

I did not have this problem with The Nose. The music just worked for me from the beginning. I don't think that I will be jamming down the freeway with this music blaring through my car stereo any time soon or even ever. It's just too non-tonal and non-lyrical I think to be enjoyed in that way, but as a part of the complete theatrical experience, it is brilliant and witty (I'm pretty sure I heard fart noises coming from the orchestra pit!).

One snag: no more than ten minutes into the opera, the music suddenly stopped and a voice came from the orchestra pit (it took me half a second to realise this was not part of the opera, it was in English). "We apologize for stopping the opera, folks, but all the lights just went out in the orchestra pit!" The only character on-stage at this time was the Barber (Vladimir Matorin) who kind of hammed it up a bit to the delight of the audience, and no more than two minutes later, the opera resumed.

A note on the players: Stephen Salters starred as Kovalyov and was quite effective. But I think that the audience favorites, in addition to Matorin, were Frank Kelley who played the Police Inspector brilliantly and with great humor, and Yeghishe Manucharyan as Ivan the Lackey, also very funny. Some of the loudest applause (and the only one to also get some loud whoops from a certain section of the Mezzanine) was Sol Kim Bentley who played the pretzel seller with enough sexiness to win over some lusty fans (especially from a certain section of the Mezzanine). A nice touch near the end of ACT III in which a "prominant citizen" or "celebrity" (that seems to be how they translated it) appears on stage and turns out to be none other than the young Shostakovich himself.

All in all, a successful evening. I very much now want to know how the Met will approach this work. I doubt if they will be this campy, but it would be interesting to see how another production team interprets it.

for those of you in boston this week...

The touring company--Teatro Lirico D'Europa--will be at the Cutler Majestic Theatre (home of Opera Boston) this weekend. They will be presenting the venerable double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci March 6-8.

As mentioned a few posts ago, New England Chamber Opera has Ralph Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea in Cambridge. Admission is free.

Coming up on Wednesday, March 11, Opera Boston Underground will be at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge with Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins. No advance ticket sales, just a $10 cover at the door.

opera boston 2009-2010

The Opera Boston 2009-2010 season was announced a week or so ago, and it is exciting. From the letter by Chairman of the Board Winnie Gray in the program I received last night:

Next season, we take our mission to a whole new level with our first commission, the world premiere of Madame White Snake by Zhou Long and Cerise Lim Jacobs. This dramatic and epic work, with two choruses, Chinese instruments, and a world-class cast and artistic team, led by the acclaimed director Robert Woodruff, will be a fitting introduction of this classic Chinese fable to western audiences.

A world premiere for this relatively small company: a very nice coup for them! I can't wait. It would be my first premiere.

The excitement continues when we welcome two of the world's greatest opera singers who will make their Boston staged-opera debuts with us next season: Ewa Podleś in the title role of Rossini's Tancredi and Stephanie Blythe in the title role of Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein.

One of the productions I really really really wanted to attend this year was Orfeo ed Euridice at the Met. Sadly, I couldn't make it happen. By all accounts, Stephanie Blythe was amazing and it will be nice to have the chance of seeing her in Boston (as well as in Il Trittico at the Met next season).

I also missed the vaunted return of Ewa Podleś to the Met in La Gioconda at the start of the season, and this will be a rare and wonderful opportunity to hear her.

The BLO must be so envious...

on the horizon

Next up, Opera Boston and Shostakovich's The Nose on Tuesday, March 3.

On March 7, the plan was to see The Daughter of the Regiment, but Connecticut Opera made the disturbing news last month that they were canceling the final two productions of their season. This is a troubling trend these days. Let's hope that these local companies can ultimately weather the storm.

However, this opens up the New England Chamber Opera's production, also on March 7 (and March 8) of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea. And guess what? Admission is FREE!!!

March 25 will find me back in Boston, this time for the Boston Lyric Opera and Rusalka.

And finally, I make my way back to the Met on April 1 for the Diana Damrau premiere of Rigoletto

eight months

Having moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Pawtucket, Rhode Island eight months ago, I find myself no longer on a deserted island when it comes to opera offerings. To be fair, Arizona Opera was (and is) a fine company. However, with (at most) five productions a year to contemplate, my options were limited considerably. Financially speaking, I couldn't jet off to LA or San Francisco or Seattle as often as I would have liked (in reality: zero times).

I feel positively spoiled and overwhelmed to be on the East Coast now for the first time in my life. The operatic riches for a bumpkin like me are a bit embarrassing (Incidentally, I am maintaining a public Google Calendar of opera events in New England and as far south as New York. You may access the calendar here. Please let me know if you have any additions, corrections, or comments regarding these entries.).

I have missed more performances that I would have died to go to here in my last 8 months than I could have ever hoped to attend in 15 years in Arizona. However, I did manage to get out a little bit.

Eugene Onegin (August 2, 2008 in concert at Tanglewood; Renee Fleming)

What a beautiful idyllic Berkshire summer evening. I am now sorry that I bought a seat in the Shed. After intermission, I went outside and spent the rest of the performance on the lawn. Note: will bring lawn chairs next time and hope for another evening like this without rain. James Levine and Ramon Vargas called in sick for this gig, but I did get to see Renee who was lovely and in great voice.

Salome (September 23, 2008 The Metropolitan Opera; Karita Mattila)

This was my very first trip to the Met, and I was not disappointed. There seem to be many differing opinions about this performance, which was the season's opening night for Salome. For me, KM nailed the part: I measure this very scientifically by the degree in which the hair on the back of my neck stands up during Ach, ich habe deine Mund geküsst. Nearly matches the rating of my Cheryl Studer recording (Sorry fans, but Nilsson doesn't quite do it for me).

Seated Orchestra Rear.

Lucia di Lammermoor (October 5, 2008 Salt Marsh Opera; Diana McVey)

Basically, the opera house is a small converted church in Westerly, RI, not the greatest acoustics for opera. The stage is about the size of a largish dinner table and the set could have been stolen from a local high school's production of Hamlet. That being said, the singers were marvelous, particularly the young local soprano Diana McVey in the title role.

There are two classes of seating in the "church". The classy seats are in the nave area with unobstructed views of the stage. I was in the cheap seats on the side in what I guess you would call the transept or aisle, which means that as the singers moved about the stage, I had to dodge my head left or right to see around the columns which obstructed my view. The good part was that by the first intermission, everyone in my section and in back of me had moved to empty nave seats and so I could shift around freely and even stand up without bothering anyone. I even managed to film the sextet for posterity.

The orchestra, by the way, was above and behind the stage. At the back of the church hung a large video monitor which displayed the conductor, presumably for the benefit of the singers on stage, but I also found it interesting to watch from time to time.

Der Freischutz (October 21, 2008 Opera Boston)

Boston being much closer to me than New York, I hope to not miss any productions of the Boston Lyric Opera and the more daring Opera Boston. The Cutler Majestic Theatre (home of Opera Boston) is a grand old lady. I do have to say, however, that the balcony seating is ridiculously cramped. Luckily, being in the first row, I was able to hang my legs over the railing and nobody objected. I don't know how many opportunities I will have to see Der Freischutz over my lifetime, so I was very grateful to see this (adequate) production.

I remember the singing as wonderful, but not having made any notes I cannot recall any standouts. The staging and acting, however, I would describe as eccentric at best descending down to silly (and even borderline pornographic at one point).

Les contes d'Hoffmann (November 18, 2008 Boston Lyric Opera)

Practically next door to the Cutler Majestic, the Shubert Theatre is its rather plain sister. The Shubert, however, is the Cutler's equal in its assault on your legs and knees in the balcony section. Being in the second row this time, we just had to grit it out.

This production was absolutely spectacular in almost every way. In marked contrast to the Opera Boston production notes above, the BLO really outdid itself with this staging of Hoffmann. The sets were gorgeous and quirky; the acting was brilliant and funny; the singing was top drawer throughout.

Lucia di Lammermoor (January 26, 2009 The Metropolitan Opera; Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón)

My triumphant return to the Met was also the occasion of the (not so triumphant) returns of La Trebka and Mr. Villazon. Much has already been written of this performance, to which I can add little. Colin Lee was a promising Arturo with his clear ringing (and in-tune) voice. That the only role I am writing about in a production of Lucia is the Arturo let us leave speak for itself.

One thing about the audience, and I don’t care how bad the performance was or how late the start time: the steady flow of people exiting the theater after the Mad scene is just plain rudeness. This turned into a cattle drive after the last scene, BEFORE the curtain call. Being in Standing Room for this one and next to the exit, I guess I noticed this more than most.

If I were not quite so poor, I would be out every night....