The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Stephen Hough explains why the piano concerto by Dvorak is not heard more often — even as he is about to record it. Hear it here. Plus, you can hear via live streaming the Pro Arte Quartet play works by Mozart, Beethoven and Benoit Mernier at the Chazen Museum starting at 12:30 p.m.
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ALERT: It is the first Sunday of the month. That means the Chazen Museum of Art will broadcast its own version of “Sunday Afternoon Live from the Chazen” — abandoned by Wisconsin Public Radio after 36 years — via live streaming as well as FREE and public attendance.
Today’s concert features chamber music starting at 12:30 p.m. with a link directly from the Chazen website. The artists are the UW-Madison’s popular Pro Arte Quartet performing the String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4, by Ludwig van Beethoven; the String Quartet in A Major, K. 414, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and the String Quartet No. 3 by Belgian composer Benoit Mernier, which the Pro Arte (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) is about to record.
Here is a link to the Chazen for streaming the concert:
http://www.chazen.wisc.edu/visit/events-calendar/event/sal-5-3-15/
By Jacob Stockinger
British pianist, composer, painter, blogger and polymath Stephen Hough is one of the outstanding concert pianists on the scene today. He has performed several times in Madison, with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and at the Wisconsin Union Theater, giving master classes at the UW-Madison School of Music.
Known for both his outstanding technique and his deep musicality, Hough (below) has won numerous of awards and Hyperion will soon release three new CDs that each feature his own compositions as well as other standard repertoire.
So The Ear was pleased to read what Hough recently had to say about the neglected Piano Concerto by Antonin Dvorak (below top) whose Violin Concerto and Cello Concerto have fared much better, to say nothing of his symphonies and chamber music.
After all, the work’s last great champion was the Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter (below bottom), whose recorded performance you can hear in a YouTube video at the bottom.
Wouldn’t it be fun to hear the Dvorak Piano Concerto performed live by some soloist – maybe Hough himself– and the Madison Symphony Orchestra in a future season? What a chance to resurrect the neglected past and to explore an unknown work by a very well known and beloved composer.
I tend to trust Hough’s judgment, although he is especially close to the work these days as he prepares to record it. After all, he has played and often recorded most of the standard piano concertos and quite a few of the more rarely heard Romantic concertos.
Here are his remarks:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/100076512/probably-my-favourite-piano-concerto/
And here is the famous performance by Sviatoslav Richter:
Tags: Arts, Barber of Seville, Belgium, Benoit Mernier, blog, Cello, Chamber music, Chazen Museum of Art, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, Dvorak, Figaro, Gioachino Rossini, Hyperion records, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, John W. Barker, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, opera, Orchestra, Piano concerto, Pro Arte Quartet, Romantic, Rossini, Stephen Hough, String quartet, Sviatoslav Richter, symphony, The Barber of Seville, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Will Liverman, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Madison Opera brings singing, acting and sets together to stage a memorably fun production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” You can hear the last performance this afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Loyal readers of this blog know very well the name of Mikko Rankin Utevsky. The young violist, singer and conductor is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin School of Music, where he studies with Pro Arte Quartet violist Sally Chisholm and plays in the UW Symphony Orchestra.
Utevsky, who has won awards and impressive reviews for his work in music education since his days at Madison’s East High School, is the founder and conductor of the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO), which will perform its fourth season this summer. He has been named the new Music Director of a local community orchestra, The Studio Orchestra. The ensemble has an out-of-date website here (www.disso.org).
You can check out his many honors and projects by typing his name into the search engine on this blog site.
Utevsky offered The Ear a review of this weekend’s two performances of Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” by the Madison Opera in Overture Hall at the Overture Center.
The Ear immediately took him up on the offer. After all, he is a fine and perceptive writer who, you may recall, blogged for this post when he was on tour three summers ago with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) tour to Vienna, Prague and Budapest.
Here is the review, with performance photo by James Gill, by Mikko Utevsky (below):
By Mikko Rankin Utevsky
Madison Opera’s production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” this Friday evening was delightful, entertaining, and well-sung throughout. The cast — mostly young — excelled in both their comic acting and singing, making for a performance that the company can be proud of.
As Count Almaviva (below top right and below bottom disguised as Don Basilio at the keyboard), John Irvin’s lush and youthful tenor shone throughout the evening, growing if anything more secure as the night went on. Emily Fons played a girlish and coy Rosina (below left) with impressive vocal flexibility and pure high notes.
Alan Dunbar was delightful as the imperious Doctor Bartolo; his aria “Un dottor della mia sorte” was both solidly sung and absolutely hilarious.
Soprano Chelsea Morris, a Madison Opera Studio Artist, made her company debut as the maid Berta. Her clear and focused tone rang effortlessly atop the ensemble writing, and her lone aria was morbidly funny.
Thomas Forde made for a hysterical Don Basilio from beginning to end, while Bryan Royston did the unbelievable — he stood out in a silent role as the servant Ambrogio with deft physical comedy throughout the night.
The star of the evening was the young baritone Will Liverman (below) in the title role of the barber Figaro. His voice has power and beauty throughout its impressive compass, including a ringing upper register to rival a tenor’s. Coupled with comic sensitivity and delightful physicality, Liverman must certainly be a singer to watch, and it is our fortune to hear him here. (You can hear his famous “Largo al factotum” aria sung by Thomas Hampson in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Perhaps above all, director Doug Scholz-Carlson should be commended for an absolutely hilarious staging that managed to balance the schticky and slapstick with some truly clever opera in-jokes.
The fourth wall is occasionally shattered to tremendous effect, and every singer is in full command of their comic timing and physicality.
This staging does not put Rossini on a pedestal — it acknowledges that this music is, above all, riotously funny stuff, and it makes full use of the modern stage’s arsenal of gags and tricks to remind the audience of this fact. Judging by the response in the hall, most in attendance agreed.
John DeMain led members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in a clean and capable pit ensemble, with pacing and ensemble mostly tight (though the first act Finale lacked momentum — difficult to bring to so much static music). Scott Gendel provided imaginative accompaniment from the harpsichord, including a few clever musical jokes.
A lovely and versatile set — created by Peter Dean Beck for Opera Carolina — provided an evocative setting, with lighting by Marcus Dilliard including a very nice storm.
You can see it for yourself this afternoon at 2:30 in Overture Hall — and you should, if only to hear Will Liverman before the big houses snap him up for good. It is a thoroughly entertaining way to pass a Sunday afternoon.
Tags: Arts, blog, Budapest, chamber orchestra, choral music, Classical music, conduct, Figaro, Gioachino Rossini, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Madison, Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, opera, Opera Carolina, Orchestra, Overture Center, Pierre Beaumarchais, Prague, Rossini, sing, soprano, tenor, The Barber of Seville, The Barber of Seville (play), University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vienna, Viola, vocal music, Will Liverman, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, WYSO, YouTube
Classical music: Baritone Will Liverman talks about the fun of playing Figaro in the Madison Opera’s production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” this weekend.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this post made the error of calling Will LIVERMAN by the wrong name of Livermore. I apologize for the inaccuracy.
By Jacob Stockinger
For the first time in 12 years and the first time in Overture Hall, the Madison Opera will present “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini (below) at 8 p.m. on this Friday, April 24, and at 2:30 p.m. on this Sunday, April 26, in Overture Hall.
The opera will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Tickets are $18-$125. Student and group discounts are available. For tickets and more information, call the Overture Center box office at 201 State St., Madison, at (608) 258-4141 or go to www.madisonopera.org
One of the earliest romantic comedies, “The Barber of Seville” tells how Figaro, the title character, helps Count Almaviva and Rosina outwit the latter’s guardian, bringing about a wedding in the final scene.
Multiple disguises, love notes passed in secret, and even a music lesson are used to bring the young couple together. Since its first performance in 1816, Barber has been an international hit, with Figaro’s aria “Largo al factotum” becoming perhaps the most famous opera aria of all time.
“The Barber of Seville” was one of the first operas I fell in love with,” says Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill), general director of the Madison Opera. “Rossini’s musical brilliance is unique, and the way the music literally sparkles is one of its most enduring characteristics. It’s a genuine pleasure to share one of the all-time great operas with our community.”
This will be the first time John DeMain, the artistic director of the Madison Opera and music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, has conducted “The Barber of Seville” in Madison, and he considers it a perfect conclusion to the company’s 10th anniversary in Overture Hall.
“The effervescent strains of Rossini’s scintillating score should be especially vibrant in the glorious acoustics of Overture Hall,” says DeMain (below in a photo by Prasad). “It will be like drinking musical champagne.”
A dynamic young cast brings this witty comedy to life. Emily Fons, a Wisconsin native who debuted with Madison Opera at Opera in the Park 2012, returns for her first main stage role with the company. These will be her first performances of Rosina, a role she sings later this summer at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and next season at Pittsburgh Opera.
Making his debut opposite Fons is tenor John Irvin, a recent graduate of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago — which is now headed by former UW-Madison School of Music professor and professional soprano Julia Faulkner. Irwin also sang Count Almaviva for Lyric Opera’s family performance.
Another recent Ryan Opera Center graduate, baritone Will Liverman, makes his Madison Opera debut as the illustrious barber Figaro, a role he has previously sung at the Utah Opera and in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s family performance.
Two Madison Opera favorites return in key roles. Alan Dunbar, whose most recent appearances were in “Dead Man Walking” (below, third from right) and the Overture 10th Anniversary Celebration, sings Rosina’s guardian, Dr. Bartolo. Thomas Forde, who sang Judge Turpin in Madison Opera’s recent “Sweeney Todd,” sings Don Basilio, the music teacher and purveyor of gossip.
Madison Opera Studio Artist soprano Chelsea Morris (below) sings her first principal role as Berta, and baritone Trevor Martin makes his debut as Fiorello. Directing this traditional staging is Doug Scholz-Carlson, who directed “The Tender Land” and “The Turn of the Screw” for Madison Opera.
“I am thrilled with this cast,” says Smith. “Rossini requires a lot of vocal teamwork, and it’s exciting to produce the opera with singers who are perfectly matched to their roles and to each other.”
Will Liverman (below) recently agreed to a Q&A with The Ear:
Can you briefly introduce yourself to readers?
My name is Will Liverman, and I hail from beautiful Virginia Beach, Virginia. I graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois for my undergraduate degree and finished with a Master’s degree at the Juilliard School. I recently completed the Ryan Opera Center program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Have you sung the role of Figaro before? How have you changed or developed it? If the role is new to you, what do you find most appealing and most challenging about it?
I have only sung this role twice before. The more that I sit with this role, the more that I think it’s imperative to show that Figaro is a man with a good heart. There’s more to Figaro than just wanting money from the Count Almaviva and only looking after himself. I think he really enjoys helping people and he takes pride in that.
Is it fun to play Figaro?
Figaro is a TON of fun. First of all, comedy is my favorite thing to do onstage and The Barber of Seville is the essence of an opera comedy. It’s fun because there are so many different comedic bits to play in each scene. The music is exciting to sing, and it’s a satisfying show to perform.
What do you think explains the popularity and longevity of Rossini’s opera ever since it was first performed in 1816 in Rome? Why should the public today go see and hear it?
Each production has the potential to be something completely different in terms of how it’s staged and who’s singing in the cast. That can be said about other operas as well but The Barber of Seville is essentially a showcase for singers and you get to laugh out of your chair while you’re at it! In addition to Barber being one of the most well-known operas to the general public, it has endless amounts of comedic moments that a director can use.
In your interpretation, what aspects of Figaro’s character do you emphasize and why?
Figaro is three steps ahead of everyone in this piece and in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. It’s important that comes through in every way, because being a cunning man with a plan is simply what he does and how he is able to help everyone.
What would you like to say about the famous showstopping “Largo al factotum” aria in terms of singing it and its universal appeal? (NOTE: You can hear it sung by Dmitri Hvorostovsky with Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony in a popular YouTube video at the bottom.)
There isn’t much to be said about it. The aria speaks for itself, and it’s the most famous aria tune out there. My job is to not mess it up and at the same time make it my own!
What else would you like to say about your role, about the opera or about this production?
This production is going to be fantastic! I say that because when you’re able to laugh a lot in rehearsal at how funny the staging is -– and you’re one of the folks performing –- you know the audience is going to enjoy it even more. At least, I hope they do!
Tags: Arts, baritone, Chicago, choral music, Civic Opera House (Chicago), Classical music, comedy, Count, Dead Man Walking, Gioachino Rossini, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Largo al factotum, Le nozzi di Figaro, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marriage of Figaro, Mozart, Music, New York, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, Overture Center, Romantic, soprano, Sweeney Todd, tenor, The Barber of Seville, The Tender Land, Turn of the Screw, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, YouTube
Classical music: Is American tenor Bryan Hymel the new King of the High C’s after the late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the very active Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez?
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By Jacob Stockinger
For tenors, High C’s are the brass ring on the carousel of opera.
The late great Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the very busy Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez both earned fame and fortune with their singing of the astonishing nine high C’s in Gaetano Donizetti’s bel canto opera “La Fille du Regiment.”
In fact, Florez repeated the same nine high C’s as an encore and it brought down the house.
But it seems there may be another King of the High C’s in the making.
He is a native of New Orleans (isn’t that fitting?) and he is America tenor Bryan Hymel (below, in a photo by Dario Acosta for Warner Classics), who was recently featured on the terrific blog “Deceptive Cadence” for NPR (National Public Radio).
You will surely be hearing more about him. The 35-year-old Hymel has already made his debut at the famed Metropolitan Opera, where he has sung in “Les Troyens” by Hector Berlioz — a role he also sang at the Royal Opera House in London. And he will open the Met’s 2018 season in “Samson and Delilah” by Camille Saint-Saens.
Here is a link to that story by Tom Huizenga. It is complete with sound samples from Hymel’s debut album “Héroïque” — in particular the difficult aria “Asile héréditaire” from the opera “William Tell” by Giachino Rossini — and the CD features a total of 19 high C’s. That led Huizenga to proclaim: “This is why we listen to opera!”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2015/02/25/388783314/bryan-hymels-hefty-high-cs
The Amazon.com reader reviews of the new all-French album (below, with an audiovisual clip of the behind-the-scenes recording process) not only praise Hymel for his high C’s – and C-sharps and even D’s — but single out the quality of his singing.
You can hear that strong, pitch-accurate and seemingly effortless quality in one of The Ear’s favorite tenor arias: “Nessun dorma” from “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, which Hymel signs with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in a YouTube video at the bottom.
Tags: Arts, bel canto, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Donizetti, France, French opera, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Gioachino Rossini, High C's, Jacob Stockinger, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Juan Diego Florez, La fille du régiment, London, Luciano Pavarotti, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, Music, Nessun Dorma, New Orleans, New York City, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Pavarotti, Royal Opera House, Samson and Delilah, tenor, Turandot, United States, Warner Classics, William Tell, YouTube
Classical music: The opera world starts 2015 with a loss. Promising American tenor Carlo Scibelli is dead at 50.
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ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium (below) of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features sopranos Susan Day and Rebekah Demaree with clarinetist Corey Mackey and pianist Sharon Jensen in music by Barbara Harbach, Lori Laitmen, Libby Larsen, Gioachino Rossini and Franz Schubert.
By Jacob Stockinger
The New Year is still young, but already the list of losses has begun.
Here is a link to the list of classical musicians, performers and composers, that we lost in 2014:
The promising American tenor Carlo Scibello, who was born in California but lived in New York City, has died at the age of 50, a few days after his birthday. He died in New York City on Jan. 9 of complications from pancreatitis.
It is enough to make The Ear ask: Is there a curse on promising tenors, the most high-profile male singers?
Remember the “new Pavarotti” –- Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra (below)? He died in a motor scooter accident in Sicily in 2011.
Then the promising Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon – another candidate to be the “new Pavarotti” saw his meteoric career interrupted when he had surgery for throat problems, especially a congenital cyst on a vocal chord. He seems on the mend now, but it is hard on a career to lose momentum and then try to recapture it. The opera world is a very competitive one.
And now the tenor Carlo Scibelli is dead at the age of 50 – an age that is younger than it sounds given how long it takes for the human voice to mature and for a world-class operatic career to develop. He had a big voice, as you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Of course, some other tenors, including the promising Stephen Costello (below, in a photo by Dario Acosta) who has performed at the Madison Opera as well as the Metropolitan Opera, seems to be doing fine. He just keeps getting bigger and bigger gigs with more and more visibility and critical acclaim.
Here is a link, with a good sound sample, to the news report about Carlo Scibelli by famed British critic Norman Lebrecht (below), who has the reputation of being cranky and sometimes mean but who is unquestionably well-connected, often gets major scoops and writes a well-known blog called “Slipped Disc”:
http://slippedisc.com/2015/01/tragic-death-of-international-tenor-aged-50/
Tags: 2014, 2015, America, American, Arts, Barbra Harbach, California, Carlo Scibelli, clarinet, curse, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Britain, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Libby Larsen, Lori Laitman, Luciano Pavarotti, Madison Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Mexico, motor bike, motor scooter, New Year, New York City, Norman Lebrecht, opera, pancreatitis, Piano, Rolando Villazon, Salavtore Licitra, Schubert, Sicily, Slipped Disc, soprano, Stephen Costello, tenor, United States, vocal music, YouTube
Classical music: Vicki Powell talks about why she took to the viola rather than the violin. She returns to Madison to solo next Wednesday night with the Middleton Community Orchestra. Plus, cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s SOLD-OUT recital Saturday night at the Wisconsin Union Theater will be WEBCAST LIVE and FOR FREE.
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REMINDER: This Saturday night, superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma (below right) will make his seventh appearance at the Wisconsin Union Theater at 8 p.m. in Shannon Hall. His recital features works by Igor Stravinsky, Johannes Brahms, Olivier Messiaen, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Astor Piazzolla and others with piano accompanist Kathryn Stott (below left). The event is SOLD OUT to the general public, although some student tickets may remain. For more information, here is a link:
http://www.uniontheater.wisc.edu/season14-15/yoyoma-kathynstott.html
BUT: If you didn’t get a ticket to the sold-out Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott concert Saturday night, October 18, in Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater, don’t fret. The concert will be webcast if you go to the page above at 8 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear loves the sound of the viola, with its mellow mediating between the higher violin and the lower cello.
And he will have the chance to hear it in some unusual repertoire this coming Wednesday night, Oct. 22, when the Madison-born violist Vicki Powell (below top) returns to solo with the Middleton Community Orchestra (below bottom, in a photo by William Ballhorn) under conductor Steve Kurr.
The MCO opens its fifth season at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Middleton Performing Arts Center, 2100 Bristol Street, that is attached to Middleton High School. Tickets are $10 general admission; students get in for FREE. Advance tickets can be bought at the Willy Street Coop West.
The program includes the Overture to “William Tell” (which contains the brass fanfare theme to TV show “The Lone Ranger”) by Gioachino Rossini; the Fantasy for Viola and Orchestra by Johann Nepomuk Hummel; the Romance for Viola and Orchestra by Max Bruch; and the Symphony No. 8 by Antonin Dvorak.
For more information about the amateur but very accomplished ensemble, including how to join it and support it and find out what the coming season will bring, call (608) 212-8690 or visit: http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
Violist Vicki Powell (below) recently gave an email interview to The Ear:
Could you briefly introduce yourself to readers and tell us a bit about yourself, including when you started music lessons, your early preparation and your life in Madison as well as your personal interests (hobbies, etc.) and professional career plans?
Greetings from New York City, the city that never sleeps and that is certainly never lacking in cultural events. I am a native Wisconsinite, raised in Madison, but for the past eight years I have been living on the East Coast.
After earning my Bachelor’s of Music at the Curtis Institute, where I studied with Roberto Diaz and Misha Amory, I moved to New York City to pursue my Master’s at the Juilliard School, and have lived in the city ever since.
My life consists of a potpourri of musical activities, from performing with the Jupiter Chamber Players, to playing with the New York Philharmonic, to collaborating with ballet companies alongside my new music group Ensemble39. I’ve traveled across the globe and collaborated with many incredible musicians, but my most fond memories are from my time back home, the formative years of my musical being.
I began taking violin lessons with Maria Rosa Germain at the age of four after hearing my brother, Derek, play the violin. I have such a vivid memory of the moment when I decided that I wanted to play the violin: It was dusk, and I was curled up on the green shag carpet of our basement floor, the last bits of daylight leaking in through the windows above. Derek was practicing the Waltz by Johannes Brahms from Suzuki, Book Two a few feet away.
I was exhausted after an afternoon of monkeying around on the jungle gym, and the waltz was the most soothing lullaby to my ears, transporting me to that surreal state of half sleep where time seems to stand still. I felt so peaceful, so warm, so content, the effects combining to make the moment so magical that the only logical thing to me upon waking was that I would some day be able to recapture that sensation and make music as beautiful.
My main violin studies were with Eugene Purdue (below, in a photo by Thomas C. Stringfellow), of the famed “Buddy” Conservatory of Music, with whom I studied for nine years. Mr. Purdue also introduced me to the wonderful world of chamber music, taking on the role of devoted coach to my string quartet, the Élève Arte (wannabes of the Pro Arte String Quartet).
The challenge to my string quartet was that there were three of us violinists, and no violist to speak of, so we took it upon ourselves to switch around our roles in order for us each to have a turn at playing the viola. As the years rolled on, it became clear to us that in order to compete at competitions, it was not practical for us to be lugging so many instruments onstage (there exists some comical video footage of this phenomenon).
At this point, I decided that my role in life was not that of diva (ahem, First Violin). Although I find the role of Second Violin extremely vital to the ensemble, challenging, thrilling and full of guts, I was drawn to the uniquely dark tone of the Viola.
To me the viola (below) represented the real meat and soul of the string quartet, and the tone of the viola was the perfect vehicle for expressing all of the rage, pain and suffering that I felt (Bela Bartok’s works were the perfect outlet for those emotions).
Most violists also play the violin. What attracted you to the viola? What would you like the public to know about the viola, which seems less well-known and more mysterious than, say, the violin or the cello?
Having now overcome my teenage angst, I still adore the viola and its role in music -– to be entrusted with the core of harmony, the real color within every texture, gives me such a sense of quiet power with which I can subtly control the direction of a phrase and the shape of an entire work.
Mr. Purdue once shared a piece of wisdom relating to his wife, Sally Chisholm (below), who teaches at the UW-Madison School of Music and performs with the Pro Arte Quartet. She was my first formal viola teacher and the person responsible for expanding my creative horizon beyond the physical realm of music-making.
Those words of wisdom were: “People feel at ease when playing with Sally, and they easily credit themselves for sounding so magnificent. However, it is Sally who, through her playing, acts as such a strong guiding force that the flow of musical intention is undeniable.” That is a powerful statement that has stayed with me to this day, and which I strive to achieve every single day.
Was there an Aha! Moment – an individual piece or composer or performance or recording, when you knew you wanted to pursue music as a career and be a violist?
I can’t imagine pursuing a life in anything unrelated to music and the arts, but it was not always that way.
As a teenager, I refused even to dream of becoming a musician –- I’m a very realistic person, and the idea of fighting my way through a world that is so competitive and which is not quite so financially lucrative was not one that appealed to my sensibilities. During my early high school years, I focused my attentions on math and the sciences, preparing myself for a life as a dentist or pathologist.
Then my “Aha!” moment came with my 16th birthday when I gave my debut as a solo violist on the nationally syndicated radio show From the Top on NPR (National Public Radio). It was the first time I had ever played for an audience to which I had no connection — the show was taped in Dallas, Texas — and I suppose the whirlwind story behind my debut as a violist sans string quartet helped to convince me that a life in music would never be boring.
I had such a blast meeting new people, and the thrill that came with being onstage was unforgettable that from that point forward I was hooked.
How do you think classical music can attract more young people?
We so often hear that classical music is dying, a sentiment with which I strongly disagree. Times have changed, and the world has turned to an era of short attention spans and an addiction to social media. I myself am victim to a few of these [shortcomings], but because of them, I am also aware of the enormous amount of interest in the classical world.
I believe that in order to attract more young (and old) fans of classical music, we must be conscious of providing inviting points of entry.
I am very fortunate to be privy to several hip events around New York City that target young people looking to be cultured and have a great time doing so. A few examples are: Groupmuse, Wine by the Glass, NYC House Concerts, the Le Poisson Rouge (below) nightclub. They all introduce music in a social setting where it’s cool to explore, and where you don’t feel constrained by rules of concert-watching etiquette.
What can you tell us about Hummel’s Fantasy for Viola and Orchestra?
Hummel (below) was a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn, both of whom played the role of mentor for their younger counterpart. Hummel is most well-known for his fantasies, which are said to be “the peak and keystone of virtuosic performance.” The Fantasy for Viola and Orchestra takes on different operatic themes, three of which appear in the version that I will be performing with the Middleton Community Orchestra. (You can hear the Hummel Fantasy for Viola and Orchestra performed in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
What can you tell us about the Bruch Romance for Viola and Orchestra
The Romance by Max Bruch (below top) holds a very special place in my heart. It was the very last work I performed — with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) — before departing Madison to begin my studies at the Curtis Institute of Music eight years ago! The lush, tonal soundscape will draw in any sucker for Romantic music.
Is there something else you would like to say or add?
I’m very much looking forward to performing at home again, with people that are like family to me. Mindy Taranto, cofounder of the Middleton Community Orchestra, has been such a great friend and supporter to me throughout the years, and I am thrilled to finally have the opportunity to collaborate with her and the orchestra.
Tags: Arts, Beethoven, Brahms, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, Classical music, Curtis, Curtis Institute of Music, Dallas, Dvorak, From The Top, Gioachino Rossini, Haydn, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Hummel, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Johannes Brahms, Juilliard School, Kathryn Stott, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Max Bruch, Messiaen, Metropolitan Opera, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, Mozart, Music, National Public Radio, New York City, New York Philharmonic, NPR, Overture, Piazzolla, Pro Arte Quartet, Rossini, Saturday, Stravinsky, Suzuki Method, symphony, Texas, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Waltz, Wednesday, William Tell, William Tell Overture, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Classical music: The Ear goes to the 13th annual Opera in the Park and finds it might well have been the best one yet. Tell The Ear and the Madison Opera what you think. Plus, find out what happened on Day 5 of WYSO’s tour to Argentina.
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ALERT: Catch up on the 10-day tour to Argentina by the Youth Orchestra (below) of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras. Here is a link to Day 5:
By Jacob Stockinger
The final number and encore repetition of the program’s finale pretty much summed it up: It was a grand night for singing.
And indeed it was.
For listening too.
To The Ear, it seemed like after 13 of them, this one was the best Opera in the Park yet.
I know, I know: That is the very same cliche that the head honchos use to close the Olympic Games.
But I mean it. And I haven’t said it before.
Many things might have made it so good, so memorable.
The crowd was very big, maybe setting a record of between 14,000 and 15,000. And it was well behaved and attentive.
Maybe it was the program, which was typical, and given out in a free brochure.
There were excerpts from the three operas that the Madison Opera will stage this coming season at the Overture Center: “Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beethoven; “Sweeney Todd” by Stephen Sondheim; and “The Barber of Seville: by Giachino Rossini. Plus, there were the popular tunes from Broadway shows like “A Little Night Music” by Sondheim, “Kiss Me, Kate” by Cole Porter and “State Fair” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. And let’s not forget the National Anthem to start things off.
It could have been the well-rehearsed Madison Opera Chorus and the confident players of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, all under the baton of John DeMain, but they are usual participants, givens if you will.
It might have been the ever-improved sound system, despite a few glitches.
It could have been the high and even quality of the solo singers. But DeMain and Madison Opera’s gracious general director Kathryn Smith have an outstanding record for picking promising young talent to put on the stage, talent that has ties to the Metropolitan Opera and some other prestigious opera companies.
So when I weigh all the components, what I am left with is an intangible.
That is: What really made this year’s Opera in the Park so terrific was the chemistry between all the elements.
It was pretty much summed up in the famed “Toreador Song,” a sure-fire hit from the popular opera “Carmen” by George Bizet.
Hunky and flirty bad-boy baritone “toreador” Kelly Markgraf (below right) came out on stage and strutted as he saucily stripped off his summer white dinner jacket and tossed it aside to his competing female admirers.
Then soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine, a very successful graduate of the University of Madison-Wisconsin School of Music, and Canadian mezzo-soprano Wallis “Legs” Giunta, who was making her Madison debut, fought over the dinner jacket while he sang and the audience roared and applauded as it brandished those fabulous — and I mean fabulous – luminescent day-glo light sticks.
Even John DeMain, who conducted the audience in the sing-along finale and encore (below), and the various players and other singers seemed as amused as the audience.
It was big fun.
The weather cooperated, no drops of rain coming until it was over and I was safely in my car.
But The Ear is left with some other things he liked:
I liked the seeing the opera “stars” arrive in a stretch limo (below top) in the park. It was way cool. But so were the carts (below bottom) provided to help those whose mobility was impaired.
I liked the table where you could buy vintage T-shirts going back a decade. And these collectibles were good deals. But they also made me think of Ann Stanke, the founder and longtime general director of the Madison Opera who started Opera in the Park and died in May of 2011. She would have been so happy with such a successful fulfillment of her dream.
I liked the ice cream stand by The Chocolate Shoppe –- the butter pecan was nutty and terrific — and kind of wish they would also had one pizza stand from, say, Glass Nickel. But maybe that gets too complex.
I liked that Madison Mayor Paul Soglin addressed the personal and social benefits to students who participate in the arts, and, citing a new report by the Overture Foundation, pledged to restored a city subsidy of $1.75 million dollars to the Overture Center — the home of the Madison Opera and the Madison Symphony Orchestra — in his next budget.
I liked the tenor Sean Pannikar, who possessed that effortless and smooth Italian tenor tone and great high notes — all put to wonderful use in the aria “Che gelida manina” from Giacomo Puccini’s “La Boheme” and Franz Lehar’s schmaltzy and swoon-inducing “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.” He was making his debut, and I want to see him return to Madison. Soon.
I really liked the big-voiced mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta, who has high notes and volume to spare. She also made her debut and proved to be another must-return talent, the sooner the better. (You can hear her voice and a profile of her life and career in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
And I am not alone. The audience also seemed to like them both.
Baritone Kelly Markgraf lived up to the standards he set as Mozart’s Don Juan when he sang with the Madison Opera. His bad is s-o-o-o-o good. And Jamie-Rose Guarrine (below) proved a delight to hear, familiar as she is to local audiences. She had pitch, tone and expressive range — and showed it all in a difficult and brief but beautiful aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
All four soloists sounded even and great, whether they sang solo, in duets, trios or quartets.
It all offered more proof for The Ear that great opera comes down not to acting or sets or costumes, but to the music and the singing.
And it was a grand night for singing.
Others agreed.
Here is a review by Lindsay Christians for The Wisconsin State Journal and 77 Square:
You really should have been there.
But if you weren’t, well, maybe next year you will be.
Still, a lot of you did go this year.
So tell The Ear -– and the Madison Opera – what you thought of Opera in the Park 2014.
Tags: Arts, baritone, Beethoven, Canada, Classical music, Cole Porter, George Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Little Night Music, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, Mezzo-soprano, Music, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, Overture Center, Rodgers and Hammerstein, soprano, Stephen Sondheim, tenor, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, YouTube
Classical music: Music critics of The New York Times name their favorite recordings — historical and current — of Richard Wagner to celebrate this year’s bicentennial of the famous opera composer’s birth. What are your favorite Wagner works and recordings?
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By Jacob Stockinger
This year is the bicentennial of the birth of composer Richard Wagner.
Just about everything about Richard Wagner (below) is epic and titanic, dramatic and revolutionary.
Little wonder, then, that he is known especially for “The Ring of the Nibelung,” that 16–hour, four-opera mythological cycle that challenges the most resourceful singers, actors, stage directors, orchestras, conductors and opera companies. It took many complications and until the 1960s for conductor Sir Georg Solti to make the first complete recording of “The Ring” for Decca — and it still holds up to the best complete recordings since then.
Stop and think and consider this: In the time it usually takes to hear “The Ring” you could listen to all the symphonies and concertos of Beethoven, or all his string quartets and most of his piano trios.
True, some of Wagner’s vocal music is quite stirring and enthralling.
But only some of it — at least to my ears.
I share some of the sentiments of his detractors, who included some pretty good artists and discriminating musicians.
Take the composer Gioachino Rossini, who quipped “Wagner’s music has great moments but dull quarter hours.”
The American writer and humorist Mark Twain observed that “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.”
The comedian and filmmaker Woody Allen remarked: “Every time I listen Wagner, I get the urge to invade Poland.”
If you like those, here is a link to some more quips about Wagner, including some by French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire and French composer Claude Debussy:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Richard_Wagner
I am probably a dissenter, but I think Wagner generally wrote better for instruments than he did for the voice. At least I generally find his orchestral music tighter and more enjoyable to listen to.
Indeed, I would like to hear the Madison Symphony Orchestra or the University of Wisconsin-Madison Symphony Orchestra do one of the various versions of “The Ring Without Words,” perhaps the orchestral anthology of highlights from “The Ring” and other operas that famed conductor George Szell (below) arranged and conducted with the Cleveland Orchestra (in a YouTube video at the bottom).
I love the overtures and preludes, and I don’t think they get programmed often enough these days. Same for the charming “Siegfried Idyll.”
I remember an old vinyl LP recording with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. How I loved, and found endlessly thrilling the Overture to “Tannhauser,” the “Prelude and Liebestod” to “Tristan und Isolde,” the Overture to “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg,” preludes from “Lohengrin,” and the magically static and haunting Prelude to “Parsifal.” They are terrific curtain-raisers.
So I was happy to see orchestral recordings by Herbert von Karajan and Otto Klemperer included on the list in The New York Times.
I also love “best moment” anthologies so it is also good to see choices like the new recording by the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann – a great choice since Kaufmann (below) seems a perfect Wagner singer who has a huge but subtle voice, stamina and the handsome good looks for the parts.
Anyway, here is a link to the Wagner discography in The New York Times:
What is your favorite Wagner recording? What piece and what performer?
And do you favor his vocal or instrumental music?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Charles Baudelaire, Claude Debussy, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Eugene Ormandy, Georg Solti, Gioachino Rossini, Herbert von Karajan, Jacob Stockinger, Jonas Kaufmann, Lohengrin, Mark Twain, New York Times, Otto Klemperer, Parsifal, Richard Wagner, Siegfried Idyll, Tannhauser, Tristan und Isolde, Wagner, Woody Allen, YouTube
Classical music: Candid Concert Opera of Chicago pares down the stage business but delivers the musical goods in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro.”
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show every other Sunday morning on WORT 88.9 FM. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
The Candid Concert Opera group has pursued this season a kind of Beaumarchais festival. In December, their program was devoted to a concert rendition of Rossini‘s “The Barber of Seville,” based on the first of the “Figaro” plays by Beaumarchais. And now, last Friday and Saturday, it has completed the set with Mozart‘s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
Codrut Birsan’s plucky little organization has matured steadily, in its goal of presenting free concert performances of opera with young singers, offered at Oakwood Village West and Capital Lakes Center. These venues bring opera to residents of these retirement institutions, but they are also open to the general public.
From the size of the audience I joined at Capital Lakes on Saturday, it was clear that the Madison public in general is catching on to these activities and filling out their audience quite considerably.
Following established CCO practice, the musical numbers were given context by a narrator, who summarized the recitatives and covered some sutures. There were cuts: the entire character of Barberina disappeared, along with the chorus; the Act III finale, with its march and dancing, was dropped, along with the standard omission of the Act IV arias for Marcellina and Basilio. Otherwise, all of the concerted numbers were presented.
From his base in Chicago, Birsan (below) is able to draw upon an extensive pool of rising young singers active in that area. They are no amateurs or raw beginners, but already of professional quality.
The women set the highest standards. Quite impressive was Leila Bowie, a seasoned singer with a soprano voice both beautiful and powerful. Chelsea Morris was a notch lower in power, but her lovely and sweet voice fitted the character of Susanna admirably. Lindsay Metzger’s mezzo voice is smallish, but she invested the “trouser” role of Cherubino with perky charm. Mezzo Robin Bradley, deprived of some of her music, still conveyed nicely the character transition from shrew to loving mother.
The key role of Figaro was meant for a bass: Samuel Thompson lacks that lower-range strength, but his handsome baritone was nevertheless put to smooth and appealing use. With a more firmly bass-like voice, baritone DaRell Haynes aptly set the Count’s frustrations and deviousness within a firm façade of his aristocratic rank. Bass Neil A. Edwards as Bartolo was given rather little music, but made the most of what he had.
In the tenor roles of Basilio and Curzio, and in the bass-baritone part of Antonio, Ryan Douglas Wells and Eric Mason created vivid little character vignettes out of their brief roles.
Beyond their merits as individual singers, this team built a lot of its success on real engagement with their own and each others’ characters.
There was some limited action, while facial expressions and body language contributed a lot. This was a “concert” rendition with a genuine theatrical feeling.
Birsan has slowly been building up his “accompanying” forces. This time he could field a balanced band of eight string players, with a piano taking the wind parts. At times the piano did overpower the strings in volume, but generally the combination had a legitimate Mozartean feel to it.
I fear that Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” has become so popular and so frequently performed that it risks slipping into warhorse status. Nowadays, I face attending a performance of it with, if not dread, at least jaded expectations.
But it was not long into the evening when Mozart’s magic caught me up in a spell. This was due to the quality of the singing, but also the unique situation of the CCO at this stage of its development. Without a full orchestra intervening, and with the singers unusually close to the audience, they allowed me to experience the vocal writing with new appreciation. And not only the gorgeous, ravishing arias, but those miraculous ensembles, melting in their beauty and humanity. (Mozart, below, said that the Act III sextet, at bottom, was the best music he ever wrote, and I think he was right.)
I don’t know when and if I shall hear (or hear of) any of these singers again. I hope so, and I warmly wish them well in their careers. For now, I want to salute them for giving me an evening of deeply rich satisfaction.
Take note, Madison: CCO is not “opera for dummies” or opera on the cheap. It has become a provider of quality opera offerings with their own individual merits. This group’s performances should be watched for and savored.
Classical music Q&A: Stage director Garnett Bruce talks about updating Rossini’s opera “Cinderella” to Hollywood in the 1930s Depression for the Madison Opera.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, the Madison Opera will close its current season with its first-ever production of Rossini’s “Cinderella” (La Cenerentola), which has been set in Depression-era 1930’s Hollywood.
“Cinderella” will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Tickers run $18-$116.
For more information, call (608) 258-4141 or visit:
http://www.madisonopera.org/performances/cinderella/
Bel canto magic meets a beloved fairy tale as the beautiful maid Angelina quests for true love and the talented film director Ramiro sets out to find his next leading lady.
The production (below in a photo by Cory Weaver for Austin Lyric Opera) features glittering sets and costumes and a cast of unforgettable characters.
Madison Opera’s artistic director John DeMain (below, in a photo by James Gill) conducts the Madison Opera Chorus and Madison Symphony Orchestra. Stage director Garnett Bruce returns to direct the lavish production, an original interpretation that incorporates showgirls, soundstage, and Busby Berkeley production numbers.
Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, who appeared at Opera in the Park 2011, sings Angelina, the ill-treated Cinderella who dreams of happiness. Tenor Gregory Schmidt, last on the Madison Opera stage as the ghostly Peter Quint in Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw,” sings Don Ramiro, the weary film director at Palace Pictures Studios whose hunt for a starlet awakens his heart. Baritone Steven Condy sings Don Magnifico, the washed-up vaudevillian searching for a ticket back to stardom with his two scheming daughters. Daniel Belcher makes his Madison Opera debut as Dandini, Ramiro’s driver, who changes places with him to great comic effect. Alan Dunbar also makes his Madison Opera debut in the role of Alidoro, the clever studio head at Palace Pictures.
They are joined by Jamie Van Eyck and Amy Mahoney as the two amusingly wicked stepsisters, Tisbe and Clorinda.
“Cinderella is one of Rossini’s most delightful operas,” says Madison Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith. “It’s both very funny and very genuine— we laugh at the comedy, while strongly rooting for everyone to live happily ever after. The music is full of vocal fireworks that are thrilling to hear and we have a stunning cast that makes it all sound easy.”
Stage director Garnett Bruce (below) recently agreed to talk to The Ear about his updating of the production:
Are you generally a fan of re-setting or updating operas? Why or why not? How do you think opera fans will react to what you have done?
I believe in good story telling. Sometimes, the original period is NOT helpful (think of BALLO set in Boston, or TRAVIATA in the Baroque era) — and while this is not the case with CINDERELLA, we wanted to find a new way into the central ideas of the piece, while still honoring the text and music and structure from Rossini.
When a director has made mince-meat out of a piece, rehashing ideas and reusing music for his/her own points of view, I often wonder if that energy would be better spent writing a NEW piece rather than tinkering with someone who can no longer collaborate! And, if the update distracts (a Planet of the Apes RIGOLETTO or Spaceship BOHEME) then we have not only failed the composer but also the audience.
I hope that our choice of 1933 Hollywood will invoke happy memories of those B&W movies for our audience, and give them a handle into Rossini’s deeper emotional music once the flash and dazzle of the patter sequences has died down. Somehow, corsets and fans and petticoats and white wigs feel a bit formal for the fun I feel when I hear this score. But what might have been avant-garde in 1817 is merely a passing antique in 2012. I want the story to be invigorating.
How and why did you come up with idea of using Hollywood in the 1930s as a setting for Rossini’s “Cinderella”? Do the text and the music support that updating?
In our examination of Hollywood, I needed to balance the poverty aspect of Magnifico’s life and also find a logic for the beggar disguise that Alidoro is wearing in the first scene of the opera. Then, realizing that IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (below, with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert) was filmed in 1933 (winning an Oscar in 1934), the studios were starting to move away from the dazzle of sound and extravaganza to human dramas.
Rossini is doing the same thing — and the humanity that Angelina sings in this score is as touching as anything from Mozart or Handel. I would say 95% of the text works. We have to accept “Principe” a lot, and the “codice” of birth records gets a bit sticky — but if we got stuck on THAT, we’d miss the point of the fun, the fluidity and the point of the story: The Triumph of Goodness.
In the Act I finale, Dandini as the “false Prince” is setting up his big event — and instead of “Andiamo a tavola” meaning the banquet, we make it refer to nightclub tables in the movie set. No big deal.
Does Rossini’s own life – early retirement at 37 as a rich star composer, years of decadence and self-indulgence in Paris – play any part in making the revised setting a natural match or choice?
In 1817, Rossini (below) must have had a joie de vivre, but was only a fledgling success — many projects and commissions, but still unknown outside Italy. BARBIERE would propel him to worldwide acclaim, but by 1817, that hadn’t quite happened. So he was working VERY fast to be clever, to be charming, to be innovative – and retain his humanity.
By 1820-21 when the production was revived (with a better aria for Alidoro written by Rossini himself instead of an assistant), he was well on his way to being the toast of Europe. But he didn’t tinker with CENERENTOLA or BARBER too much — confident in his early choices.
So, we took a confident approach to our visuals — and bringing B&W movies to color, we opted for bold statements to make the contrast between the dilapidated, soon-to-be-forgotton vaudeville world of Magnifico and the slick silver screen of Palace Pictures (helping us at least reference “Palazzo” throughout the score !).
Is the Hollywood setting also apropos because the “fairy tale” story of so many movie stars and people who start out ordinary and then get discovered and make big in Hollywood is itself a kind of Cinderella tale? How is the Depression-era relevant and does it have anything to do with the recent Great Recession?
I certainly think movie magic and being “discovered” and made a star is as great a parallel as one might find between the fairy tale and our American history. Every culture has taken a spin at the legend, and our hopes and dreams really DO pull us up and out of depression, fiscal and otherwise.
If the audience can engage and identify with the characters, then theater works a whole lot better! We’ve certainly put a few layers on top of Rossini, but I suspect he’d be cracking jokes right along with the rest of us.
Anyone watching today who’s had to tighten their belt the past few years will understand how desperate folks might go be “make it big” and win the lottery – to show off their talent – to be rewarded for being themselves.
Our initial collaborators in Kansas City are still talking about the fun we had doing this production — and finding references even now. The props mistress, for example, keeps her eye out for the right lamp, the right coffeepot, etc.
It’s been eight years since we started this concept, and every outing makes it fresh because every cast brings their experience to bear. Here in Madison, Daniela Mack and Danny Belcher have dance background; Steve Condy (below) is a veteran comedian who knows the Marx Bros./Abbott & Costello routines by heart, among many many others; Greg Schmidt has a vast knowledge of bel canto rep and spot on Italian — those high C’s are thrilling and in context ! Our Alidoro is actually conversant in philosophy.
So I hope this framework allows the music to come back off the page — and with our short rehearsal period, nearly as fast as Rossini wrote them down! We have a dedicated chorus and crew of extras filling out the story with multiple characters and costumes and 17 scene shifts, some subtle, some grand, but all leading us to the joyous conclusion of “Non piu mesa” (at bottom, sung by Cecilia Bartoli).
There’s an entire box that travels with me for this production of photos and reference materials and we’re constantly pouring over them to find ideas, solutions and examples. What do you do with your hands? How can I stand? What makes me look glamorous? And then, this year, seeing not only HUGO, but also THE ARTIST, we had big-screen examples of stories from this era, too. When I saw how some of the dancing moments play out in THE ARTIST, I could only smile at the coincidence.
What else would you like to say about this production in specific or about Madison, its audiences and your previous experience with the Madison Opera in general?
I’m honored by the care and intelligence Madison Opera, its general director Kathryn Smith and our conductor John DeMain have lavished on this concept! They all believe in it, too, and have gone out of their way to support, defend, engage and tempt everyone to join in the fun. That’s so rewarding as a director, to see the energy we created in rehearsal not only leap across the pit and charm the audience, but to leap exponentially into the ether and the media and capture everyone’s attention.
I feel certain Rossini would have loved that. This music is the motor and the very foundation of our ideas – and if we can hear it from a fresh point of view, it comes to life.
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