At Washington Classical Review

Charles T. Downey, Washington Concert Opera marks 30 years with a bel canto feast (Washington Classical Review, September 19)

---, Critic’s Choice for 2016-17 season (Washington Classical Review, September 13)

WCO Revives 'La Favorite'

La Favorite, Washington Concert Opera, 2016
Washington Concert Opera has devoted this season to lesser-heard bel canto operas. After last fall's performance of Rossini's Semiramide, the company presented Donizetti's grand opera La Favorite on Friday evening at Lisner Auditorium, a first in the review history of Ionarts. Although it is known now in Italian versions, Donizetti premiered the work in Paris in 1840, to a French libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz. Donizetti was forced to change his subject because Léon Pillet, then director of the Académie Royale de Musique, demanded that the new opera have a role for his mistress, mezzo-soprano Rosine Stoltz, who just a few years earlier had married and had a child with the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels. In a nice touch, Donizetti gave Stoltz the title role of La Favorite, Léonor de Guzman, the mistress (favorite) of the King of Castile, Alfonso XI, who ends up dying, abandoned by both her lovers.

The libretto mixes the historical events of Guzman's life with the plot of Les amans malheureux, ou le Comte de Comminge by François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud, about a nobleman living as a monk in a Trappist monastery, who falls in love with a woman who visits the monastery. Léonor visits a monastery where Fernand falls in love with her, over the opposition of the powerful abbot, who is the father of Alfonse's queen in the opera. The king, learning of the liaison with his favorite, orders that she be married to Fernand, but the conniving of his court reveals Léonor's sordid past, only after the wedding has taken place. The end of the real Léonor was less tragic, for after Alfonso XI's death, her oldest son with him succeeded his father to the throne.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, The lighter side of ‘La favorite’ (Washington Post, March 6) Philip Kennicott, Mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey returns to Washington Concert Opera (PhilipKennicott.com, March 6)

Mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, last heard with WCO in 2014, brought a rich, affecting tone to the title role. The bottom of her voice has developed nicely, and she had an especially gorgeous musicality in the role's slow, soft moments, such as the duet with Alphonse ("Ainsi donc on raconte") in Act II and her famous Act III air ("O mon Fernand"). Chilean baritone Javier Arrey had a smooth, powerful tone over his entire range as Alphonse, capitalizing on the promise he showed as a Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera three years ago. Only in a few spots, when he tries to compress his sound in softer passages did the intonation sag just slightly flat.

Tenor Randall Bills, seen in a mostly silent role in Santa Fe Opera's Wozzeck in 2011, had a slightly unpleasant grain in his voice but knew how to phrase a line. His top notes registered but were not quite sure, especially the high C in the Act IV cavatine "Ange si pur." John Relyea had just the right sort of bluster for Balthazar, the imperious Superior of the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, while soprano Joélle Harvey was a sweet Inès, a little unstable in tone because of a fluttery vibrato but able to open up with clarity at the top, as in the cadenza that soared to high B-flat in the Act I aria "Rayons dorés." Conductor Antony Walker had to right a small issue in the violins at one point, but he held together a solid performance from his orchestra and chorus, with particularly lovely contributions from harp and horns.

Next season is the 30th anniversary of Washington Concert Opera, an event the company will mark with a concert on September 18, followed by performances of Massenet's Hérodiade (November 30) and Beethoven's Léonore (March 5, 2017).

Rossini's 'Semiramide' in Concert

Rossini, Semiramide (complete), A. Penda, M. Pizzolato, Virtuosi Brunensis, A. Fogliani (Naxos, 2013) (released on October 23, 2015) Paraty 135205 | 68'02"

Semiramis probably never existed. "Empress over many tongues," as Dante called her, she was Queen of Babylon, often associated with the story of the Tower of Babel. Dante condemned her to the Circle of the Lustful in Inferno because of her many sexual escapades, even supposedly with her own son. Upset by society's disapproval of her proclivities, Semiramis took advantage of her position as ruler, having succeeded her husband on the throne, and simply changed the laws of the state to make what she did legal. "She was so given to the vice of lechery," Dante wrote in Inferno, Canto V, in the translation by Prof. Robert Hollander, "she made lust licit in her law / to take away the blame she had incurred."

Semiramide, Rossini's last Italian opera before moving to Paris, rarely sees the stage today, long after its premiere at La Fenice in 1823. It is a perfect option for Washington Concert Opera, which regularly brings top-notch performances of operas you will likely never hear anywhere else in Washington. The score has some gorgeous music, but the libretto, by Gaetano Rossi after a play by Voltaire, is a dud. Spanning three and a half hours when it is complete, the opera requires some cuts, but this performance excised only about fifteen minutes of music. Without some magnificent sets and costumes to distract the eye, it made for a long but mostly enjoyable evening in the theater.

Australian soprano Jessica Pratt was outstanding in the title role, with broad power at the top to carry over the full textures, a shimmering high pianissimo, and excellent agility in the melismatic passages. She was regal in vocal presence, the only reservation being a low range that did not really carry. Sadly, she was not matched well with mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, who has always impressed in Baroque opera recordings but not so much in 19th-century opera when a large hall has to be filled with sound. Genaux brilliantly handled the fioriture as Arsace, whom Semiramide wishes to take as her lover before discovering he is her long-lost son, but the voice just did not have enough heft, requiring conductor Antony Walker to rein in his orchestra whenever she sang.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, Stars dimmer than expected in the concert Rossini opera ‘Semiramide’ (Washington Post, November 24) David Rohde, ‘Semiramide’ with Washington Concert Opera at Lisner Auditorium (D.C. Metro Theater Arts, November 23)

Tenor Taylor Stayton made a fine Idreno, the man who wants to marry Azema, the woman Arsace loves, with a heroic squillo that was just nasal enough to have clarion force. Bass-baritone Wayne Tigges had plenty of braying sound as Assur, the man who helped Semiramide poison her husband, but often seemed to hit only every other note when his part went into florid runs. Evan Hughes made a blustery Oroe, the Babylonian high priest, and in the supporting cast, Wei Wu and Natalie Conte had pleasing turns as the ghost of Semiramide's husband and Azema, respectively.

The orchestra and chorus both sounded under-rehearsed and maybe under-staffed, in the case of the chorus, where a seemingly smaller number of singers were not as sure as they could have been. The four horns, which feature in the final scene of Act I, when Semiramide announces that she will marry Arsace, and in the overture, were on the money, but the string sound was often ragged. Too many early entrances (timpani, trumpet) and flubbed notes contributed to the sense of general confusion, in spite of Walker's best attempts to wade through all that music at the podium.

Hopefully, things will be in better shape for the second performance of Washington Concert Opera, featuring Donizetti's La Favorite, starring Ionarts favorite Kate Lindsey (March 4, 2016).

Reviving Strauss's 'Guntram'

(L to R) Zachary Nelson, Robert Dean Smith, Maestro Antony Walker, Marjorie Owens, Tom Fox, and cast
in Guntram, Washington Concert Opera (photo by Don Lassell)
Wagner's last opera was Richard Strauss's Guntram, or so the joke goes. Its story, about a wandering minstrel-knight who falls in love with another man's wife, only to deny himself her love because of his guilt at killing her husband, has strong echoes of Meistersinger here, Parsifal there. Derivative or not, the composer's first performed opera was a flop, both in 1894 when it was first premiered and after Strauss revised it in 1940. The libretto, written by Strauss in imitation of Wagner, is a bit of a dud -- although more compact than Wagner's more unwieldy examples -- but the music is generally quite glorious, especially in the revised version performed by Washington Concert Opera on Sunday evening at Lisner Auditorium. It was the first time the work came under review in the history of Ionarts, a welcome addition to the celebration of the Strauss anniversary, for which the National Symphony Orchestra and other groups focused on the same old, often-done works.

Another reason why Guntram is so little performed is that the title role is a killer, and the risk for a heroic tenor in learning it is far greater than with a more established work by Strauss or Wagner, where the payoff in future performances is more certain. Robert Dean Smith, an American singer we have reviewed mostly in Europe, gave it his all. His reliably powerful instrument, giving out only on a few strained high notes over two hours of mostly impassioned shouting, still had considerable suavity and suppleness in Guntram's Act II song scene. One of the best young Strauss voices I have heard in recent years -- soprano Marjorie Owens, heard at Wolf Trap's Ariadne in 2008 -- surpassed Smith as Freihild, the role created by Pauline de Ahna, the soprano who would become Strauss's wife. While Owens had plenty of zip to launch herself over the large orchestra, the voice is a precision instrument, silky but full-bodied, particularly exultant in the awakening scene toward the end of the second act.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, Washington Concert Opera exhumes Strauss rarity — once (Washington Post, March 3)

Freihild's evil husband, Duke Robert, is not that much of a role, sung capably by Annapolis-born baritone Zachary Nelson. The villain duties fall more to Freihild's father, the Old Duke, voiced with snarling outrage by baritone Tom Fox, while bass Wei Wu, a regular in the Washington National Opera young artist program, had a robust turn as Guntram's fellow-knight, Friedhold. The supporting cast was generally strong, with a stand-out performance from the youthful, bright-toned tenor of James Flora as the Duke's Fool.

Antony Walker, who is also mid-run as conductor of Washington National Opera's production of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, brought out this perfumed score's beauties. His hardy orchestra could have benefited from another rehearsal or two, to be sure, but they did justice to Strauss's youthful excesses -- double harps and double timpani, the latter with plenty of rumble in the battle scene -- if not yet approaching the wonders of the later orchestrations. The strings, in particular, felt underpowered -- numbers-wise, 10/8/7/6/4 -- and at moments of great strain, like the conclusion of the first act, the sound squealed at the edge of ugliness. The male chorus, with a number of regulars from the WNO chorus, was stalwart in their limited appearances, most beautifully in the off-stage monastic Requiem Mass sung for the murdered Duke Robert.

Washington Concert Opera's 2015-2016 season is devoted to the bel canto era, with performances of Rossini's Semiramide (November 22, 2015) and Donizetti's La Favorite (March 4, 2016).

Capulets and Montagues at WCO

Kate Lindsey (Romeo), Nicole Cabell (Giulietta), Antony Walker (conductor), I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Washington Concert Opera (photo by Don Lassell)

Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an ideal opera for concert performance, a work that features gorgeous singing but is not all that stage-worthy. In fact, I have heard it live only in concert form, most recently on Sunday evening at the Washington Concert Opera's season opener, presented at Lisner Auditorium. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based not on Shakespeare's play but on the earlier Italian tales that were Shakespeare's sources. The Montecchi and Cappelletti were not families but political factions, from Verona and Cremona, respectively (as mentioned by Dante in the sixth canto of Purgatorio), and Romani's libretto aligns the two families instead with the Guelfs and Ghibellines. Tebaldo here is not Juliet's cousin but the man chosen to marry her, and Lorenzo is not a well-meaning friar but Juliet's doctor. Romeo offers a peace settlement between the two factions if Juliet's father will instead allow Romeo to wed his daughter, a truce that the proud Capellio rejects. For his cruel obstinacy he bears most of the tragic weight of the opera's conclusion.

The cast was led by mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, whom we followed through her years apprenticing at Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, and Santa Fe Opera. All of the promise that seemed so remarkable in her then has come to fruition, and her Romeo showed an admirable increase in the strength of her low range, tested considerably by this score, with no weakening of her pretty top, lovely pianissimo tone (making for a gorgeous, anguished tomb scene, for example), or graceful agility in scales and figures. Soprano Nicole Cabell, who stepped in as a last-minute substitute for Giulietta, continued to rise in my estimation as a musician, with a warm tone that amply filled the hall. The other standout was tenor David Portillo, who also came to our ears first at Wolf Trap Opera and here made a confident, powerful Tebaldo with a beautiful messa di voce.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, Lindsey, Portillo shine in Washington Concert Opera’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” (Washington Post, September 30)

Bass Jeffrey Beruan, whom we also heard in the role of Capellio at Caramoor two years ago, had a big, rumbling sound, effective if sometimes a little woolly as far as being able to discern the center of the pitch. Bass Liam Moran, featured by WCO previously and by Wolf Trap Opera, was mostly effective as Lorenzo, forming the last part of the fine quintet that ends the first act. Music director Antony Walker gave the score his usual careful attention, with only a few ensemble problems in the otherwise unremarkable overture and a harp whose strings had gone slightly flat by the time the instrument was played in the first act for Giulietta's first scene. The male chorus had a virile and well-organized sound, and the four horns made some beautiful contributions that made one regret that only two of their names were printed in the program.

'Il Corsaro' Actually Not So Bad

(L to R) Sebastian Catana, Tamara Wilson, Maestro Antony Walker, Michael Fabiano, Nicole Cabell, Eduardo Castro,
Il Corsaro, 2014, Washington Concert Opera (photo by Don Lassell)

G. Verdi, Il Corsaro, M. Caballé, J. Carreras, J. Norman, New Philharmonia Orchestra, L. Gardelli (Decca, 2009)

One often assumes, with the obscure operas that are the bread and butter of Washington Concert Opera, that the works themselves are generally not worth rediscovering. Sometimes, though, it is not only the fine roster of singers, which artistic director Antony Walker always manages to assemble, that makes this company's performances so memorable. Such was the case with Verdi's little-known opera Il Corsaro, heard at Lisner Auditorium on Sunday evening, which has not only some beautiful individual numbers but signs of the master dramatist Verdi would later become.

This should not be surprising, since the libretto -- by Francesco Maria Piave, one of Verdi's favorite, if easily cowed, collaborators -- takes its story from a tale in verse by Lord Byron, The Corsair, who provided so many arch-Romantic stories for operas and tone poems. It follows Corrado, who leads a group of pirates based on an island in the Aegean against the Turks -- a revolutionary cause near and dear to Lord Byron's heart. Corrado is in love with Medora, who begs him not to leave on this mission, because she has a premonition that she will die before his return. When Corrado and his men attack the Turkish city, the pirate confronts the local pasha, Seid, and is ultimately helped to escape by the pasha's favorite, Gulnara, whom Corrado saved from the fire set by the corsairs. Corrado returns to his island with Gulnara, only to find that his beloved Medora has poisoned herself after hearing the news that Corrado was facing a brutal execution at the hands of the Turks. Although Gulnara has expressed her love for Corrado, the pirate cannot face life without Medora and hurls himself from a cliff.

Other Articles: Anne Midgette, Tenor Michael Fabiano leads Washington Concert Opera’s ‘Il Corsaro’ (Washington Post, March 11) Gary Tischler, Antony Walker of Washington Concert Opera: ‘It’s All About the Music’ (Georgetowner, February 27)

The title role requires that rarest breed, a dramatic tenor, and Michael Fabiano (first heard in Santa Fe last summer) fit the bill quite beautifully: a room-filling, Byronic-hero kind of sound, unbound confidence as he sang without a score, a sweet legato in the slow pieces, and more strength than finesse in the faster arias. Soprano Tamara Wilson, whom we have admired in staged operas at Wolf Trap and at Washington National Opera, exceeded expectations as Gulnara, the female lead with all the juicy bits -- an amply proportioned, buttery voice with striking breath control (heard in a moving messa di voce, for example), note-perfect intonation, and laser-like accuracy in the fioriture. The same intensity was heard from baritone Sebastian Catana, as the rage-filled pasha -- in some ways a study for the character of Otello much later in Verdi's career -- announced in his opening slow aria with the three trombones, a powerful voice that was skillfully deployed.

Soprano Nicole Cabell made a much more favorable impression here than when I first heard her. It is not a large voice, so she was easily upstaged by the orchestra and the other leads (as in the duet with Fabiano in Act I and the trio at the end of Act III), but in the sensitive role of Medora she had an affecting touch, especially in her Act I aria with the harp and the equally lovely lament in Act III. At the podium Walker was, as always, a sure hand, effective because he demands excitement from his players, plus rubato and shape, even in the silliest oom-pah-pah accompaniments. A couple early entrances -- one in the men's chorus during the attack scene, and one from a trombone (I think) in the introduction to Act III -- were the only defects one might mention.

Rare Performance of 'I masnadieri' from WCO

Charles T. Downey, Washington Concert Opera offers Verdi rarity ‘I masnadieri’ in time for composer’s birthday (Washington Post, September 24, 2013)

Verdi, I masnadieri, M. Caballé, C. Bergonzi, New Philharmonia Orchesra, L. Gardelli

It need not take the 200th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth to appreciate his importance in the history of opera, but it is a good excuse. Washington Concert Opera has dedicated its 2013-14 season to the Italian composer, beginning with a performance of the lesser-known “I masnadieri” on Sunday night at Lisner Auditorium. (Another Verdi rarity, “Il corsaro,” will follow in March.) [Continue reading]

Verdi, I masnadieri
Washington Concert Opera
Lisner Auditorium

Additional thoughts:
Soprano Lisette Oropesa has a pretty voice, with some fiery notes at the very top (taxed just a bit when she was challenged by the ensemble in tutti scenes), although minor intonation issues, caused partially by an intense vibrato that creeps in at points and perhaps a slight lack of breath support, brought the performance down a notch. Her physical beauty, however, will endear her to opera directors looking for high-definition closeups, and her face is highly expressive: in the "hate duet" with Francesco in Act II, she shot a large repertoire of angry glances in his direction, perfectly camera-ready.

Tenor Russell Thomas sang with an impressive squillo throughout a long evening, flagging just a bit in the last half-hour of the opera. The strain got to Scott Hendricks, who looked like he would burst a vein by the time of Francesco's Sogno (Hell nightmare) in Act IV. Although the choral numbers are risible, there are several rather gorgeous arias and ensembles: Amalia's Act II cavatina ("Tu del mio Carlo al sena"), with its harp and woodwind introduction; the slow part of Amalia's duet with Carlo in Act III, with its tender cadenza for both singers (and the optional E-flat at the final cadence of the fast section for Amalia, which Oropesa took); and Francesco's melodramatic hell aria in Act IV.

Washington Concert Opera's 'Maria Stuarda'

Donizetti, Maria Stuarda, B. Sills, E. Farrell, London Philharmonic Orchestra, A. Ceccato Donizetti, Maria Stuarda, J. Sutherland, H. Tourangeau, L. Pavarotti, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, R. Bonynge

Donizetti's Maria Stuarda features perhaps the best cat fight in operatic history. In what is arguably the opera's high point, at the end of the second act, Queen Elizabeth I of England reluctantly hears the plea for freedom from Mary Stuart, the younger cousin she has imprisoned. The two rivals inevitably quarrel, with increasing vitriol, until Mary flings the ignoble lineage of Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, in her cousin's face with the epithet "vil bastarda." Elizabeth, outraged, vows that now Mary's imprisonment will end only with her execution.

Washington Concert Opera closed out their season, and what has been quite a run for bel canto opera around here, with a performance of this opera on Sunday night at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium. Music director Antony Walker used Donizetti's original version of the score, with dueling sopranos as the rival queens, not the revision with Mary's role transposed down for mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran. Walker, who has distinguished WCO by almost always securing some of the best singers heard in Washington, outdid himself with his two lead women, pitting a spiteful, acid-tongued Brenda Harris, who was so outstanding in WCO's Attila last season, against a sunny, high-flying, more lyrical Georgia Jarman. Harris opened with surprising sweetness in her first cavatina, saving up the snarl for the later scenes (with razor-like precision in the showpiece Quella vita a me funesta), while Jarman had some impressive pyrotechnics but most impressed with a velvety spin of tone in Mary's many slow arias.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, WCO offers stunning soprano showdown: You should have been there (Washington Post, April 9) Emily Cary, Brenda Harris: Queen for a day (Washington Examiner, April 6)

We have been listening to Internet streams of performances by American tenor Michael Spyres, and we somehow had a feeling it would be Walker's casting that brought Spyres's first live performance in the area to our ears. His voice is a breezy, light instrument with some ring when he needed it but not yet an absolute control, but with miles of potential. He also seemed the least familiar with the score, misjudging a couple of entrances. (A pity that the coincidence of this performance with some all-campus GWU student party meant that a dull roar from the surrounding streets was heard almost constantly inside the auditorium.) The ensemble, joined together for that memorable sextet at the end of the second act, was rounded out by baritone Troy Cook's Cecil, with some roar at the top; as Talbot, baritone Patrick Carfizzi, not always quite on pitch because he seemed to be trying to make a larger sound than he really needed (also the winner of the prize for chewing the non-existent scenery); and a third fine soprano we hope to hear again soon, Alexandra Loutsion, as Mary's lady-in-waiting. The WCO orchestra sounded slightly rougher in places than we remember from recent years, although from my place I could admire the single percussionist (other than the timpanist) who spent most of the night playing the cymbal (crashing one cymbal against another on a stand) and the bass drum simultaneously. The chorus, used sparingly and not particularly brilliantly by Donizetti, made a secure and full-throated sound.

It's all Verdi all the time for Washington Concert Opera next season, with performances of I Masnadieri (September 22, 2013) and Il Corsaro (March 9, 2014).

Washington Concert Opera: 'La Sonnambula'

René Barbera and Eglise Gutiérrez, La Sonnambula, Washington Concert Opera, 2012 (photo courtesy of Washington Concert Opera)

The Teatro Carcano had quite an 1830-1831 season in Milan. Founded in 1801, the management had dreams of rivaling La Scala as an opera theater. As noted in my preview of the past weekend's highlights here in Washington, the theater premiered both Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Bellini's La Sonnambula in the space of a few months, in December 1830 and March 1831. (A theater in Milan still bears that name, but it now hosts other kinds of performances.) As chance would have it, both operas were performed in Washington this past weekend: the Donizetti by Washington National Opera and the Bellini on Sunday afternoon by Washington Concert Opera at Lisner Auditorium.

Sadly, it was not a good afternoon for Eglise Gutiérrez in the title role, with many of the same issues noted of her performance this past July at Caramoor. There were intonation problems and a swallowed, perilous hold on the high pianissimo notes, although the outdoor acoustic at Caramoor made that sound worse than at Lisner. More disturbingly, the top of Gutiérrez's voice was giving out by the end of the first cabaletta and she struggled with it throughout the performance. The audible torment of the role was doubly sad because, as noted in my preview, it was not created for a voice that went quite that high. The rest of the lead cast was more successful, starting with the lovely sound, heroic high notes, and musical suavity of tenor René Barbera as Elvino -- a nasal, frontally placed voice but one that was beautiful and solid all around.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, WCO’s ‘La Sonnambula’ is live and wide awake (Washington Post, September 18)

Equally good were the smooth baritone of Ben Wager's Rodolfo, with a present and round sound at both ends of the compass, and the pouty, spiteful Lisa of Maureen McKay, a silver-toned voice that darted and sparkled. Supporting parts were capably filled by Madeleine Gray as a maternal Teresa, Matthew Osifchin as long-suffering Alessio, and Rolando Sanz as the Notary. As usual, much of the credit goes to Antony Walker at the podium, who infused the score -- and it has plenty of corny duds in there -- with delight for its beauties and tolerance of its shortcomings. The orchestra was a little messy in the strings here and there, and there were a few wrong notes and false entrances, but Walker, with a relatively small amount of rehearsal, kept singers, orchestra, and the effective chorus all on the same page. Milan was clearly the place to be for bel canto opera that year. Back at La Scala in December 1831, Bellini and Romani teamed up again for Norma, with Giuditta Pasta once more in the title role: it will be mounted by Washington National Opera next March. Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, which will be the second opera from Washington Concert Opera, in April, was premiered at La Scala just four years later, in 1835.

Michelle DeYoung's Seductive 'Dalila'

On Saturday, it was Washington National Opera taking up an opera performed by Washington Concert Opera, Massenet's Werther. On Sunday, the reverse happened, with Washington Concert Opera taking up an opera that has not exactly been rare around these parts, Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns, last seen in a 2005 production at WNO, itself a rehash of the company's 1998 staging. The opera is a good choice for WCO, since the composer described it as a "dramatic oratorio," a series of often static tableaux, which makes it a little tedious in a full staging. It is not exactly a rarity, however, especially in Washington in the last decade or so, which squanders one of the advantages of concert performance of opera.

With another chance to hear mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung -- after a volcanic Judith in the National Symphony Orchestra's performance of Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle -- that shortcoming was easy to overlook. This was DeYoung's debut as Dalila, and she brought a luscious, seductive tone to the role, purring her way through the Act I aria "Printemps qui commence," and producing a soaring tone covering the full compass from high G down to low B♭ in the big cadenza moment of "Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse." The richness of sound made the slow pieces like "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" delightfully round, buttery, sultry, and the high B♭ near the end of the second act ("Lâche!) was like a lightning bolt. DeYoung was well matched by the High Priest of bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, last heard as the best part of a Santa Fe Salome in 2006. Grimsley sang with a rousing snarl, the tone slightly nasal but with an intense edge, making his duets with Dalila the most exciting moments of the evening. Tenor Frank Porretta, stepping in for an indisposed Brandon Jovanovich, sang honorably if without much to recommend the performance beyond having made it through it. As in his undistinguished appearances in recent productions at Washington National Opera -- Un Ballo in Maschera in 2010, Tosca last fall -- Porretta started off fairly strong, struggled audibly through the second act, and revived a bit, at least on the big notes like the final high B♭, of the third. The intonation was not always good, and a shouted kind of vocal production produced took quite a toll on his voice.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, Opera review: ‘Samson et Dalila,’ by the Washington Concert Opera (Washington Post, May 15)

In the supporting cast, bass Liam Moran was strongest as the Old Hebrew, a broad sound with a slightly overactive vibrato. Conductor Antony Walker, ever resourceful, added to his repertoire of ancillary functions on the podium: after a well-publicized performance-saving stunt in which he sang one of the roles to cover an ailing singer in Aida while still conducting, he served in the first act as prompter, whispering the starts of lines to one of his singers, Kenneth Kellogg. The orchestra he assembled -- often with different personnel for the company's different performances (only two per season) -- did not sound quite as solid and well rehearsed as they have in the past. The violins had too many lapses of ensemble unity, and the oboe was troubled by rough attacks much of the night. That being said, it was impressive that Walker had at his disposal almost the full complement of instruments called for in the score: two cornets as well as two trumpets, two harps, albeit with just one tuba to cover the two ophicleide parts. The exotic parts of the score -- the many harem numbers shimmying with metallic percussion and augmented seconds, or that annoyingly long passage for glockenspiel in the third act -- lumbered and zipped with an impressive clatter. The chorus sang valiantly on the often tiresome choral numbers, complete with lots of dutiful counterpoint and vaguely liturgical modal flavors. They contributed a thrilling noise to the loudest moments.

The two operas on the next season of Washington Concert Opera will be Bellini's La Sonnambula (September 16, 2012) and Donizetti's Maria Stuarda (April 7, 2013), at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium.

Thrilling 'Attila' from WCO

See my review of Washington Concert Opera's performance of Verdi's Attila:

Excellent “Attila” at Lisner Auditorium (The Washingtonian, September 12):

Verdi, Attila, S. Ramey, C. Studer, N. Shicoff, La Scala, R. Muti

As previewed last week, Washington Concert Opera kicked off the opera season on Friday night with an outstanding concert performance of Verdi’s Attila. Like most early Verdi operas, the work has its dramatic and musical longueurs, but Attila already shows the composer’s finely honed sense of dramatic tension, with two particularly memorable entrances, for Attila and then for Odabella, in the first act. Even at this point in his career, Verdi was also striving to make Italian opera conventions, like always having a slow-paced aria (cavatina) followed by a fast-paced one (cabaletta), fit more convincingly into his opera’s dramatic structure. Certainly, when sung as well as it was in this performance, Attila can be an excellent night at the opera.

Bass-baritone John Relyea had the necessary snarl and vocal brawn for the title role, menacing but also showing greater range and variety in the dream scene, for example. Top billing, however, goes to soprano Brenda Harris, who gave a gutsy, sharp-edged, virtuosic rendition of Odabella, one of Verdi’s more demanding roles. The composer wrote for a dramatic soprano with sizzling voltage on the top, brute strength, and agility in fast passages, all of which Harris had in spades as well as a regal stage presence. She also had the other side of the package, giving Odabella’s gloomy slow aria in Act I a tender quality, with intense control over a silky pianissimo tone and overall excellent intonation. This is a voice to be reckoned with, although her recent and upcoming stage appearances, somewhat surprisingly, are mostly with smaller American companies. [Continue reading]

SEE ALSO:
Anne Midgette, Washington Concert Opera scores with Verdi’s ‘Attila’ (Washington Post, September 12)

Emily Cary, Relyea adds Attila to his list of operatic villains (Washington Examiner, September 8)

Washington Concert Opera: 'Attila'

See my preview of tonight's performance by Washington Concert Opera:

Washington Concert Opera to Perform “Attila” (The Washingtonian, September 8):

Verdi, Attila, S. Ramey, C. Studer, N. Shicoff, La Scala, R. Muti (re-released on February 9, 2010) EMI 3 09106 2 | 115'51"

The fall opera season gets underway this Friday with the first performance of the season from the Washington Concert Opera, an unstaged performance of Verdi’s Attila. Premiered in 1846, this is an early Verdi opera, and it has the dramatic weaknesses (and melodic strengths) of such. The libretto is a bit of a hash, with different parts completed by two poets, Francesco Piave and Temistocle Solera—neither of whose work the composer really approved. It tells the story of Attila the Hun’s advance into Italy, in which he took Aquileia but was unable to take Rome. The way the story is usually told, Rome was saved thanks to intervention from Pope Leo the Great, but the details of the famous meeting of invader and pope are likely apocryphal. Verdi’s libretto pushes the character of Pope Leo into the background, as the daughter of the ruler of ruined Aquileia, Odabella, becomes the main opponent of Attila. In the libretto, based on a play by Friedrich Werner, she even foils other plots to kill Attila and takes her revenge by killing him with a sword. [Continue reading]

SEE ALSO:
Raphael's depiction of the meeting of Attila and Leo the Great in the Vatican

What to Hear Next Season: At the Opera

See my preview of the 2011-2012 opera season at Washingtonian.com:

Washington National Opera’s Future An Uncertain One (Washingtonian, June 17):

The Plácido Domingo era at Washington National Opera officially ended this month. The company heads into uncertain territory, having just saved itself from bankruptcy and possible dissolution by finessing a desperate merger with the Kennedy Center earlier this year.

Who will be leading the company into the future? Rather than strong central leadership, WNO announced that it has appointed one of the company’s favorite opera directors, Francesca Zambello, to be its artistic advisor.

At the same time, current Chief Operating Officer Michael L. Mael has been bumped up to the position of executive director. If this sounds like a terrible idea, that’s because it is one. Zambello has many of the same negatives as Domingo­—her work as a director takes her all over the world, for example—but none of the glamour. If she does indeed push the idea of an opera company mounting musicals, it might finally finish the job on WNO’s subscriber base, after years of rising ticket prices.

The rosiest news for WNO is the appointment of Philippe Auguin as music director. Every score that Auguin has touched so far in Washington he has enriched with a perceptive knowledge, able to coax cohesive, multi-colored performances from the Opera House Orchestra. Along with the dynamic work of Christoph Eschenbach in the concert hall next door, Auguin’s tenure makes being a classical-music listener in Washington most exciting right now. Make a note of the three operas that Auguin will conduct next season at WNO. [Continue reading]

Filianoti's Fervent Werther

In many ways Goethe’s epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther is the quintessential proto-Romantic tale. A sensitive, poetic young man falls in love, but the woman he idealizes is already promised by her parents to another man. Unable to conceive of loving another, Werther takes her father’s pistols and kills himself, a literary suicide that sparked off a wave of real-life copycat suicides around Europe, as men who took to dressing like Goethe’s character and writing their own effusive poetry also followed him into death. The only operatic adaptation of the work that has really endured on its own is Werther by Jules Massenet, produced in both German and French versions in 1892. It succeeds or fails on the basis of its title role tenor, and Washington Concert Opera’s performance on Sunday night was a spectacular success mostly because of the astounding voice of Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti.

Washingtonians have waited a long time for the chance to hear Filianoti sing. As his career was gaining momentum, he was scheduled to make his debut with Washington National Opera in Lucrezia Borgia in 2008, but he backed out. He was replaced at the eleventh hour for a planned engagement at La Scala, and since then Filianoti has been struggling vocally, as anyone who follows reviews of his performances can observe. (Last year, Filianoti told James Jorden in the New York Post that he had been treated for thyroid cancer in 2006 and that the operation had damaged his voice.) So Filianoti finally made his local debut with Washington Concert Opera instead, in the role for which he has gained great acclaim, and with the exception of one slightly dicey high note at the end of the second act (“Appelle-moi!”), Filianoti sounded heroic, right on pitch, and in control of a lovely tone at all dynamics and in all tessituras. He had the most comprehensible French diction of a rather varied cast in that regard, and his legato spin (in his opening prayer, for example) was just as effective as his more actively articulated moments. The only minor flaw was a slight raggedness at the release of some long high notes.

Massenet was most inspired by the soprano voice, and some of his greatest music was written for the American soprano Sibyl Sanderson, who became his muse. Nowhere is that clearer than in Werther, where the role of Charlotte, created for a mezzo-soprano, is not only not the equal of Werther but even somewhat eclipsed by the smaller role of Sophie, Charlotte’s younger sister, whose flighty, vivacious nature is represented in some flights of vocal fancy. Jennifer Larmore brought considerable dignity to Charlotte, deploying her full, resonant lower register to powerful effect. The vibrato has become noticeably broad and over-active, and some of the high notes edged toward stridency, but arias like “Va! laisse couler mes larmes,” with its bluesy solo for saxophone (Massenet wrote for the instrument throughout the score, but it was played only selectively by first bassoonist Eric Dircksen, who put down his bassoon to take up the sax), and the letter-reading scene at the start of Act III had palpable dramatic power. As Sophie, Joélle Harvey had a fluttery, soubrette kind of voice that was very pretty and bubbly, giving her a coquettish turn in the laughter aria ("Ah! Le rire est beni!"), for example.

Timothy Mix headed up the supporting cast with a puissant baritone for Albert, Charlotte’s husband. Tenor Patrick Toomey and bass-baritone Eugene Galvin were funny as the pair of drinking buddies, Schmidt and Johann, after one mistaken early entrance by Galvin in the first scene. Bass Matthew Lau was fusty and fussy as the Bailiff, Charlotte’s father, with a slightly unpleasant nasality in the sound. A sextet of child singers was appropriately cute as the Bailiff’s burgeoning family, giving the Christmas carols they sing an authentic off-key quality.

Other Articles: Joe Banno, Giuseppe Filianoti sings beautifully in Washington Concert Opera’s “Werther” (Washington Post, May 24) Anne Midgette, Promising tenors, hitting a low note (Washington Post, May 21) Emily Cary, Fairfax native Timothy Mix returns to Washington in "Werther" (Washington Examiner, May 16)

Artistic Director Antony Walker, fresh off his Metropolitan Opera debut in Orfeo ed Euridice, led his orchestra with a sure hand. He has that most important quality for a conductor, a sure sense of ensemble movement and the vocabulary of gestures to keep all of his forces aligned. In particular, he always takes care not to allow the instruments to swamp the singers, while also providing them enough supportive sound at the loudest points. Winds and brass were the most solid sections, with fine contributions from the horns, in particular, while the violins were the least unified and reliable, on very high attacks and in fast running passages. Cello and violin solos, like those at Werther’s moody entrance, were lovely, and the two percussionists added considerable oomph to the big climaxes, most notably with a thunder machine in the storm scene. It is unfortunate than nothing can be done about having to use a pretty awful synthesizer to cover the organ part in the chapel scene.

If you missed Werther this time around, you have only to wait until next spring for Washington National Opera’s production of it (May 12 to 27, 2012), sadly not with Giuseppe Filianoti. Washington Concert Opera’s two performances next season will be devoted to Verdi’s Attila (September 9, with John Relyea, Brenda Harris, and Jason Stearns) and Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila (May 13, 2012, with Brandon Jovanovich, Michelle DeYoung, and Greer Grimsley).

Washington Concert Opera's "Tosca in Paris"

Scotto / Domingo / Levine ($13.99) Tebaldi / Del Monaco / Capuana ($33.98) Olivera / Corelli / Rossi ($11.58)

Washington Concert Opera is at its best when it performs works that have little chance of seeing a staged production: such was the case with its performance of Cilèa's Adriana Lecouvreur, on Saturday night at Lisner Auditorium. Francesco Cilèa (1866-1950) is a composer on the margins of Italian Romantic opera. His operas are often classed with the trend of verismo, but little about their plots -- convoluted and melodramatic, it's true, but hardly ripped from the headlines or even emotionally raw -- fits with that identification. Adriana, the most familiar, suffers from a spectacularly bad libretto, an Italian adaptation, by Arturo Colautti, of a French play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé.

The title character is based on a historical person, a celebrated actress at the Comédie-Française, but the multiple confusions that follow -- her lover is actually a Polish count, and he is simultaneously involved with the wife of a patron of the theater, who is herself mistaken for a rival actress at the theater, who never actually appears in the opera -- are all invented, as is Adriana's death by poisoned violets. It may be the only case of an opera in which the characters themselves are just as confused as the audience about who is who on stage. The opera has yet to see a staging at Washington National Opera, but it received a rare production last year at the Metropolitan Opera, with Plácido Domingo again as Maurizio, the role of his Met debut back in 1968. The opera has beautiful music, better for listening to without too much worrying about the silly plot, as in any of the recordings listed on the left.

As usual, the savvy conductor Antony Walker assembled a first-rate cast. Dramatic soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams, who was the best part of a doomed Tosca last year (appropriately enough, as Adriana was premiered two years after Puccini's opera about another tempestuous actress), gave a booming, gut-wrenching, emotionally overflowing performance in the title role. It had just about everything one could wish for, including a regal stage presence and dramatic recitation of the spoken lines: a rare exception was made to have a fainting couch brought on to the stage just for Williams to have a place to breathe her last. The puissant mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop was a perfect foil for Williams as the spiteful Principessa di Bouillon, and tenor James Valenti made an elegant, smooth-toned, and occasionally ringing Maurizio (a demanding role created, let us not forget, by none other than Enrico Caruso).

Other Reviews: Joe Banno, Washington Concert Opera's 'Adriana Lecouvreur' at Lisner Auditorium (Washington Post, October 26)

First among the supporting cast was the polished Michonnet of baritone Donnie Ray Albert, powerful and nuanced, if not always rhythmically in step. The rest were all up to snuff, especially a fey rendition of the Abate di Chazeuil by tenor Timothy Oliver, and the brash, laughing actresses Jouvenot and Dangeville portrayed by soprano Erin Sanzero and mezzo Cynthia Hanna, respectively. The pick-up orchestra, perhaps a little light on strings, especially violins, for the score, had a rough start and some ensemble issues throughout the evening, but Walker's attentive conducting kept things from becoming too ragged. The chorus has little to do until the divertissement scene, where a ballet on the Judgment of Paris is presented, but sounded strong and on its game, especially in the lead-up to Adriana's Phèdre scene. In the dance music and in the extended orchestral introduction to Act IV, the orchestra sounded at its best.

You will have to wait until late spring for the second -- and only other -- performance by Washington Concert Opera this season: Massenet's Werther (May 22, 6 pm), with Giuseppe Filianoti and Jennifer Larmore, at Lisner Auditorium.

Washington Concert Opera: Bianca e Falliero

Bianca e Falliero: DVD CD

When the lights went out in the first few moments of Washington Concert Opera's performance at Lisner Auditorium on Sunday night, one assumed that it was another chance for music director Antony Walker to come to the rescue. The man who recently sang the role of Radames from the podium while simultaneously conducting the last act of Aida, however, simply had to wait for the lights to come back on. As Walker and WCO have done so many times in the past, their latest performance brings to light a neglected opera, Rossini's Bianca e Falliero. In 1819, when this opera was premiered at La Scala, it was the fourth one that Rossini had completed that year. Yes, Bianca sounds like most other Rossini operas and, at about three hours of solid music, could benefit from some judicious cutting. At the same time, it is worth the rediscovery, especially a few memorable numbers.

Vivica Genaux has one of those voices, with an inimitable timbre and a ferocious technique (with unforgettable mandibular manipulations). She has been extraordinary on disc (in Vivaldi operas and recital), while on stage, in Baltimore Opera's L'Assedio di Corinto, her dynamic presence outweighs the compressed volume of her voice. In spite of being "stricken with spring allergies," which may have caused a slight uncertainty at the upper and lower extremities of her range, this was an incisive, marble-solid Falliero (in her red jacket and black ponytail, she also struck a wasp-waisted figure). Genaux was paired in the opera's exquisite duets with the well-scaled light soprano of Anna Christy, familiar to Washington audiences from her appearances at Wolf Trap in 2000 and 2001. Christy may not have that large, steely tone that a Rossini soprano occasionally needs, she was vocally and physically a sweet soprano heroine with some killer high notes when she needed them.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, WCO's 'Bianca' Is Something To Sing About (Washington Post, April 15) T. L. Ponick, WCO renders 'Bianca' with brilliance (Washington Times, April 15)

No baritone probably wants to replace Teddy Tahu Rhodes, but Daniel Mobbs stepped in robustly as Capellio, Bianca's suitor who ends up saving his rival's life (as the sole dissenting member of the Consiglio dei Tre that judges Falliero). The third lead of the opera is Bianca's domineering father, Contareno, sung here by tenor Charles Workman, with valiant but occasionally forced tone. He was at his best in the extraordinary Act II quartet, embedded as a video from another performance below. Walker conducted with verve and a twinkle in his eye as he drove his forces forward, to which the chorus and orchestra responded effectively, with particularly fine brass swells and flute solo by Sara Stern in the prison scene.

Washington Concert Opera will expand its next season from two to three performances: Donizetti's Maria Padilla (November 9), a recital with Stephanie Blythe and Nathalie Paulin (May 3), and Mercadante's Il Giuramento (May 31).


Rossini, Bianca e Falliero, quartet from Act II,
Rossini Opera Festival in 2005 (see also the finale)

Washington Concert Opera: I Puritani

I Puritani: Sutherland/ Pavarotti Callas/di Stefano

Washington Concert Opera presented the first half of their new season on Sunday night at an admirably full Lisner Auditorium. Rather than a more typical rarity, it was one of the gems of the bel canto repertoire, Vincenzo Bellini's late opera I Puritani, or as Anna Netrebko memorably put it, "crap." Don't get me wrong -- no one should ever mistake I Puritani for a dramatic masterpiece, but it does have some of the best, most polished, and most demanding music to come from Bellini's pen before his life was cut short. It is an odd choice for WCO, since productions of this opera are hardly rare: last season at the Met, this past summer at Opera Theater of St. Louis, Baltimore Opera in 2004, and even Washington National Opera in 2000.

All of those stagings are not due to the allure of the absurd libretto by Carlo Pepoli, derived from Sir Walter Scott's 1816 novel Old Mortality. Seeing it staged does little to make the love story of a mentally unstable Puritan girl and a Stuart-royalist cavalier any more plausible, although on a musical basis alone the mad scenes are impossible to distinguish from any other scene in the opera. (By the same token, there is little separating the witches of Macbeth musically from the chorus of puritans.) No, what has brought listeners back to this opera ever since its premiere, in 1835 at the Théâtre Italien in Paris, is the demanding roles of Elvira and especially Arturo. Once again, conductor Antony Walker, the leader of Australia's adventurous Pinchgut Opera and since 2006 also the music director of Pittsburgh Opera, brought together a cast of powerful and beautiful voices for an extraordinary evening of music.

The outstanding cast not only sang all of Bellini's outrageous high notes and impossibly difficult fioriture, they did so with panache and elegance. Soprano Sarah Coburn was a slender, blonde vision in an amber gown, with a gorgeous coloratura technique, floating pure and piercing high notes over full textures. Her thrilling performance of Qui la voce and the other demanding arias of this role is a reminder of how bel canto arias, especially the cabalette, should be delivered. Unlike Anna Netrebko's visually pleasing but musically sloppy performance at the Met last season, Coburn had the technique to make every note in each run heard clearly, not just a smear of five or six per octave. True, Coburn's Italian vowels crept toward American pronunciation, and her tone could become a little warbly and precious at times, but overall this was a stunning performance.

Other Reviews: Tom Huizenga, Chamber Opera's 'I Puritani': An Unadulterated Pleasure (Washington Post, September 25) Tim Smith, Opera's memorable 'I Puritani' (Baltimore Sun, September 25) Washington Concert Opera: Rossini, Otello (May 1, 2007) Handel, Orlando (November 11, 2006) Rossini, Tancredi (April 6, 2006) Puccini, Il Tabarro / Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana (November 1, 2005) Verdi, Luisa Miller (June 9, 2005) Massenet, Esclarmonde (April 9, 2005)

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee (reviewed at Ionarts recently in recital and in a previous outing with WCO) continues to pile up awards for his extraordinary voice and gave an equally impressive rendition of Arturo. The role has an extremely difficult beginning, entering the stage with challenging music, and ends the evening with a duet featuring one of the highest notes ever written for a tenor. Only a small côterie of the best singers are able even to hit that high F (the one written on the top line of the treble clef staff), let alone make it sound relatively good, and Brownlee is firmly in that group. Arturo sings it more or less at the moment when the Puritans are about to execute him, so if the voice sounds a little panicky, that just adds to the drama of the moment. Most tenors usually sound like they are going to die (listen to the clip embedded below -- even Pavarotti goes into a beautiful falsetto, although many tenors remain in a mixed to full voice). Some know-it-all knucklehead in the audience had to yell "Bravo!" and start clapping before the orchestra had even stopped playing. In the future, we will know that you understand that note was high, sir, only if you start applauding immediately after it is sung.

Brownlee's voice was consistently suave and accurate, forming an exceptionally fine mixture with Coburn and the other voices in the great quartet A te, o cara. The two leads were beautifully supported by the exceptional bass of David Pittsinger (Sir Giorgio), all velvety smoothness, and the blustery, stentorian baritone of Stephen Powell as Sir Riccardo. What a nice surprise to hear mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór, who has impressed Ionarts before in recital and as a young artist with Washington National Opera. Her coffee-dark voice and elegant stage presence were an embarrassment of riches in the small role of Enrichetta. The orchestra put together by Walker had some fine moments, especially from the horn and trombone sections in Suoni la tromba, and gave an excellent stormy introduction to Act III. The chorus, however, sounded underpowered on the male side and under-rehearsed in general, missing an entrance or two. Another blemish was that the hideous electronic organ was back, stray notes and all, for the hymn scene at the opening of Act I.

While you will have to wait until April 13, 2008, for the next performance of Washington Concert Opera, it is another Rossini rarity, Bianca e Falliero, with Vivica Genaux, Anna Christy, and Teddy Tahu Rhodes. Until then, you will have to content yourself with hearing Antony Walker at the helm of Choral Arts Society for an Evening of Russian Music with powerhouse soprano Alessandra Marc (October 28, 7:30 pm) and Lawrence Brownlee's recital at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (March 1, 8 pm).

Rossini's Otello, Washington Concert Opera

We welcome this review from Ionarts guest contributor Sonya Harway.

Elizabeth Futral, soprano

For the conclusion of their 2006-2007 season, the Washington Concert Opera performed Rossini's Otello on Sunday night at GW’s Lisner Auditorium. This opera, now usually eclipsed by Verdi's version, is not often performed, and although the WCO does not stage their works, it was compelling to hear such talented singers performing these roles. Bruce Ford, a Rossini veteran, sang a confident Otello, commanding attention and praise from the packed house even when engaged in vocal battle with three other solo tenors. Kenneth Tarver (Rodrigo) really showed his stuff in the Act I duet with Tanner Knight (Iago). Tarver’s high lyric voice was so flexible and clear that one almost wanted Desdemona to reconsider Rodrigo’s proposal. One was so taken with the men that we nearly forgot about the women, Elizabeth Futral (Desdemona) and Claudia Huckle (Emilia), who only appeared on stage about 30 minutes after the opera had begun.

Available at Amazon: Rossini, Otello, Bruce Ford, Elizabeth Futral, Philharmonia Orchestra, David Parry (2000)

Other Reviews: Tim Page, A Story That Improves With the WCO's Otelloing (Washington Post, May 1) Slightly revised 'Otello' (Washington Times, May 1)

While the music itself is not terribly exciting until the third act, there was plenty of beautiful singing, such as Desdemona's coloratura solo at the end of Act II. The most compelling music is in Act III, where Rossini composed some of his most exquisite material. While I personally favor Verdi’s “Willow Song,” Rossini’s version is infused with a beautiful harp solo, played expertly in this production by Marian Rian Hays. And of course, Futral does not disappoint; even without scenery and staging, we were captivated by her impressive range and haunting emotional delivery.

Bravo to the orchestra, who even when they venture from the pit, are often overshadowed by the singers. I got a fright and then a smile out of seeing a dramatic hand gesture come close to knocking the bow out of concertmistress Eva Cappelletti’s hand. Antony Walker deserves praise for not only directing, but also as Artistic Director for choosing this important and infrequently performed work.

Although Berio di Salsi’s libretto disappointed many contemporary scholars, the opera itself was lauded and held in high regard until Verdi’s even more popular version bumped Rossini’s from the repertory 71 years later. There are some good recordings available, such as the Carreras-Stade recording, but based on the standing ovation on Sunday night, my first pick would be the Ford-Futral CD.

The Washington Concert Opera's 2007-2008 season will again feature two operas: Bellini's I Puritani (September 23, 2007) and another Rossini rarety, Bianca e Falliero (April 13, 2008), starring Vivica Genaux.

Orlando Delights

The Washington Concert Opera is on the list of every serious opera-lover in the region for increasingly great performances of works they won’t otherwise hear in or near Washington. Music Director Antony Walker (who just signed up to be the MD for the Pittsburg Opera, thankfully without giving up his WCO post) and his staff have a great hand (aided by considerable budget-wizardry) for picking a cast that contains stars of tomorrow, often assembled around one well known quantity of a singer and exceptional vocal talent. Last Sunday night affirmed all positive prejudices when the company performed Handel’s Orlando at the Lisner Auditorium.

Antony Walker is a great champion of baroque opera and it is a delight that Washington finally reaps the benefits of his labor and love. With a period instrument orchestra (yes, they played in tune, Mr. Zukerman) and countertenors, this was not just a starry night for opera fans but any baroque lover, as well.

Since there are still voices that vigorously deny the appeal, much less advantages of Period Performances, it seems right to quote Maestro Walker on the reasoning for his choice of a “HIP” band:

Why should we perform Orlando on period instruments? Handel wrote this music with the intimate knowledge of the expressive and virtuosic capabilities of the instruments of his time. These instruments have changed much since the middle 1700's. The delicate, plaintive qualities of the oboes and bassoons, the beautifully unrefined sound of the horns, the sweet and plangent strings on gut: all this is hard to replicate on the more robust modern instruments. For me it is not a matter of an academic pursuit but a restoration of a vibrant palette of color and incredible expressive potential. Handel lives anew through these instruments and the freshness of approach that their players bring.

Orlando - Handel Orlando Furioso - Vivaldi Orlando finto Pazzo - Vivaldi Roland - Lully Orlando - Porpora Orlando Palladino - Haydn

Perhaps it is Walker’s passion for the genre, or perhaps his connections with performers that he managed to lure countertenors Bejun Mehta and David Walker, bass David Pittsinger, and sopranos Sarah Jane McMahon, and Nathalie Paulin to D.C. (An economically small cast of five soloists and with no need for a chorus does have its advantages: quality, not quantity.)

In front of the delicate and faultless orchestra (Theorbos, natural horns, 18th century oboes, etc.), the soloists delighted the enthusiastic audience with singing any opera house would have been keen to present. Bejuhn Mehta has morphed into a natural countertenor (if that’s not an oxymoron) and if he’s not the most masculine sounding one, he isn’t one of the (annoying and all too frequently encountered) namby-pamby kind, either. Clean and with a smallish, narrow tone (all very appropriate for the opera and his role), he pleased throughout and added on top of that with just the right kind of subtle acting that enlivens a concert-performance of an Opera. David Walker has a similar talent for acting with just a wink of an eye, a glance, or a small pause. A man of small gestures: the most welcome of acting talents on the opera stage since most singers are sadly lacking it. His voices was less natural that of a countertenor: Upon every entry one expected a light, high baritone to emit – and I was surprised by his pitch just about every time he gave a sample of his great talent.

Other Reviews: Stephen Brookes, 'Orlando': WCO Trims The Fat (Washington Post, November 8) T. L. Ponick, Handel's countertenors (Washington Times, November 8)

Mr. Pittsinger as magician (and permanent Deus ex machina) Zoroastro proved a round, expressive, and pleasing bass who held his own in that silly role and if any criticism could be made at all, it’s that his voice is not one of particularly notable character. Nathalie Paulin was a delight to hear and watch: Her expressive and flawless soprano served the role of Angelica, Queen of Cathay, perfectly. It was Ms. McMahon’s only fault to sing next to this illustrious cast: Her Dorinda-shepherdess came across as a slight bit younger, less seasoned, lighter. A little studied. But then, that would be an exact description of the character she played – which was perfect for the role, whether the sound was intentionally so produced or whether it is her natural instrument as it sounds at the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a successful career.

The plot, meanwhile, is as fantastical, if not downright harebrained, as it gets (not the only way in which this Opera strangely reminds of some of the more obscure Rossini operas). It is roughly based on the story of Orlando furioso, 46 cantos written by Ludovico Ariosto between 1516 and 1532. The material has also been set to music by Vivaldi - Orlando Furioso and Orlando, finto pazzo, Alessandro Scarlatti - L'Orlando, Lully - Roland (my favorite setting - currently not distributed in the U.S. but hopefully Naxos Distributions will bring it back soon, Porpora - Orlando, and Haydn - Orlando Paladino).

WCO’s next production will be Rossini's Otello with Bruce Ford and Elizabeth Futral on Sunday, April 29th, 2007.