The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Madison Opera gives completely satisfying and nearly perfect performances of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci.” Here are four reviews
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By Jacob Stockinger
Larry Wells – who is The Opera Guy for The Well-Tempered Ear blog – went to the recent production of the Madison Opera and filed this review, with performance photos by James Gill:
By Larry Wells
I attended performances of Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” presented by the Madison Opera at Overture Hall last Sunday afternoon.
Each of the operas is an hour and a quarter long. At least for “Cavalleria” (below), the time flew by while I was captivated by the good singing, excellent playing and charming staging. The opera is tightly constructed and the production flowed effortlessly to its dramatic conclusion.
The feckless mama’s boy Turridu was ably portrayed by tenor Scott Piper (below top) who sang beautifully throughout. His nemesis, Alfio, was sung by baritone Michael Mayes (below bottom). Mayes has an excellent voice and terrific musicianship, but he tended to overact.
The star of the show was soprano Michelle Johnson (below) as Santuzza. Her big aria “Voi lo sapete” and her duets with Piper were rapturously dramatic. Her supple and nuanced performance had me uncharacteristically leaping to my feet and shouting “Brava!” as she took her curtain call. Hers is a voice I hope to hear again soon.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra shone throughout the performance, ably led by guest conductor Joseph Mechavich (below). I cannot recall hearing before such subtle control of its orchestral voices, and the ensemble glimmered in the well-known intermezzo. (You can hear that famous and beautiful Intermezzo, used in the film “The Godfather” and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The set and costumes, the bravura singing by the chorus, and the lighting were all above expectations. It was a completely satisfying experience.
“Pagliacci” is a more troublesome work for me. It has moments of lyrical genius but also what to me seems like filler – the chorus going on too long about getting to vespers, for example.
Mayes (below) portrayed the villainous Tonio in this opera. Although his prologue was beautifully sung, his creepy overacting was a bit too much. For example, when Nedda spat at him in contempt, he wiped the spittle from his face and then licked his hand. His final utterance “La commedia e finita” was overly dramatic and lacking irony.
Piper sang the clown Canio (below), and by the time he got to the showpiece aria “Vesti la giubba” I was nervous that he would not be able to hit all the high notes. He did hit the notes, but it will take a couple more years for this role to fit his voice comfortably.
Nedda was portrayed by sensational Talise Trevigne (below bottom). Her big aria “Stridono lassù” was sung beautifully, and the orchestra shimmered in its accompaniment. Her duet with her lover Silvio, ably sung by baritone Benjamin Taylor (below top), was another highlight of the production.
Once again, the orchestral interlude was beautifully played.
Altogether, this was almost a perfect afternoon at Madison Opera. There appeared to be a gratifyingly large number of younger people attending, which I took as a good sign for the future. (Below is the tragic final scene of “Pagliacci” with Robert Goodrich, Michael Mayes and Scott Piper.)
I look forward to the next production: Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” on Feb. 8 and 10. I saw it recently at Des Moines Metropolitan Opera, so I am interested to see how it will compare.
When all is said and done, I enjoyed “Pagliacci” but feel it is inferior to “Cavalleria.” Although both operas are frequently performed together, I have attended other pairings for “Cavalleria” including one with Puccini’s comic short opera “Gianni Schicchi.” That combination worked well. I wonder: Do readers have other suggestions for pairings?
Editor’s note: Everyone has an opinion. How did you and other critics find the Madison Opera productions? Leave your opinion in the COMMENTS section. And here are links to some other reviews:
Here is the review John W. Barker wrote for Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/music/satisfying-double-bill/
Here is the review, with a historical bent, that Greg Hettmansberger wrote for his blog “What Greg Says”: https://whatgregsays.wordpress.com/2018/11/06/madison-opera-goes-old-school/
And here is what Lindsay Christians wrote for The Capital Times newspaper: https://madison.com/ct/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/theatre/love-revenge-passion-violence-open-the-season-at-madison-opera/article_1c27e195-cc2f-5826-9502-00544b88fae6.html
Tags: #ALittleNightMusic, #BenjaminTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #CapTimes, #CavalleriaRusticana, #ChoralMusic, #CircusClown, #ComicOpera, #CurtainCall, #DesMoines, #DesMoinesMetropolitanOpera, #FacebookPost, #FilmMusic, #FilmSoundtrack, #FinalScene, #GiacomoPuccini, #GianniSchicchi, #GregHettmansberger, #GuestConductor, #GustavoDudamel, #HighNotes, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JamesGill, #JohnW.Barker, #JosephMechavich, #LarryWells, #LindsayChristians, #LyricalMusic, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #Mama'sBoy, #Mamma'sBoy, #MichaelMayes, #MIchelleJohnson, #MovieMusic, #MovieSoundtrack, #MusicReview, #OperaAria, #OperaMusic, #PietroMascagni, #RobertGoodrich, #RuggeroLeoncavallo, #ScottPiper, #StephenSondheim, #TaliseTrevigne, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheGodfather, #TheOperaGuy, #TheVespers, #TheWell-TemperedEar, #WhatGregSays, A Little Night Music, aria, Arts, baritone, Benjamin Taylor, blog, bravura, Cap Times, captivated, Cavalleria Rusticana, charming, choral music, chorus, Classical music, clown, comfort, comfortably, comic, comic opera, composer, conclusion, conductor, contempt, costumes, coupling, creepy, critic, curtain call, Des Moines, Des Moines Metropolitan Opera, drama, dramatic, duet, effortless, experience, face, Facebook, feckless, film, final scene, genius, Giacomo Puccini, Gianni Schicchi, Greg Hettmansberger, guest conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, hand, high notes, highlight, History, intermezzo, irony, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, James Gill, John W. Barker, Joseph Mechavich, lack, Larry Wells, licked, lighting, Lindsay Christians, lover, lyrical, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mama's boy, Michael Mayes, Michelle Johnson, movie, Music, music review, musicianship, nemesis, nervous, Newspaper, nuanced, opera, Orchestra, overact, Overture Center, Pagliacci, pairing, Pietro Mascagni, playing, portrayed, production, prologue, Pucchini, rapture, reader, review, Robert Goodrich, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Scott Piper, sensational, set, show, Singing, soprano, soundtrack, spittle, staging, star, Stephen Sondheim, supple, Talise Trevigne, The Capital Times, The Godfather, The Opera Guy, The Well-Tempered Ear, tight, time, tragedy, Tragic, troublesome, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, utterance, vespers, villain, vocal music, voice, What Greg Says, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: University Opera’s “Turn of the Screw” is a completely satisfying production of a complex modern masterpiece by Benjamin Britten
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Opera Guy filed this review, with photos by Michael R. Anderson, for The Ear:
By Larry Wells
I attended the opening performance of Benjamin Britten’s 1954 chamber opera “The Turn of the Screw” that was presented by University Opera and directed by David Ronis.
It was a completely satisfying theatrical experience of a complexly organized musical work.
The libretto is based on Henry James’ serial novella of the same name. Whereas the James work is an ambiguous, psychological tale, Britten’s opera is an eerie ghost story laden with suggestions of psychosexual mischief.
Musically the opera is based on a 12-tone theme with each of its scenes preceded by a variation of the theme. There are further structural complexities in this highly organized work, but the music is very accessible and was admirably performed by 13 musicians ably led by conductor Kyle Knox. Particular praise goes to the percussionist Garrett Mendlow.
The beautiful, minimalistic set and stunning lighting enhanced the creepiness of the tale.
As for the singing, the cast tackled the complex vocal lines with aplomb, and there were several exceptional performances.
Particular praise goes to Anna Polum for her outstanding portrayal of the ghostly Miss Jessell. She sang beautifully and acted convincingly. (Below, from left, are Katie Anderson as the Governess and Anna Polum as Miss Jessell.)
Dress Rehearsal for “Turn of the Screw”
Likewise Emily Vandenberg as Flora was realistic in the role of a young girl. I have seen performances of this opera that were brought down by unconvincing portrayals of this difficult child role, but Vandenberg acted naturally and sang beautifully.
The other child role, Miles, was capably performed by Simon Johnson, a middle school student. Cayla Rosché adeptly performed Mrs. Grose, the enigmatic housekeeper. (Below are Amitabha Shatdal as Miles, Cayla Rosché as Mrs. Grose and Elisheva Pront as Flora.)
Dress Rehearsal for “Turn of the Screw”
The two major roles are The Governess and the spectral Peter Quint. Erin Bryan was convincing as the increasingly confused and hysteric governess, and she played off Rosché’s Mrs. Grose to great effect. At one point I was thinking that these were two extremely flighty women. (Below, from left, are Cayla Rosché as Mrs. Grose; Elisheva Pront as Flora; Katie Anderson as the Governess; and Amitabha Shatdal as Miles.)
Dress Rehearsal for “Turn of the Screw”
Alec Brown (below) as Quint had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of singers like Peter Pears who made Quint an evil, threatening, nasty fellow. Brown’s Quint came off as slightly laid back, and his perfectly fine tenor voice was just not a Britten voice in the style of Pears, Philip Langridge or Ian Bostridge.
Dress Rehearsal for “Turn of the Screw”
I had a couple of minor problems with the evening. First, I did not understand why the doors to Music Hall didn’t open until 7:20 for a 7:30 performance, which then actually started at 7:45. And, I was disappointed that the piano, which is a major contributor to the music’s sonority, was swapped for an electronic keyboard.
Yet I left feeling once again that Britten was a true musical genius of the 20th century and that I was eager to go to the 3 p.m. performance this afternoon to experience it all over again.
“The Turn of the Screw” will also be performed one last time on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
For more information about the opera, including how to buy tickets — admission is $25 with $20 for seniors and $10 for students, go to:
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