The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Madison Opera gives completely satisfying and nearly perfect performances of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci.” Here are four reviews
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
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: What piece of classical music best embodies Hillary Clinton?
11 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Today The Ear has a simple question:
What piece of classical music best embodies Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president of the United States?
Maybe an aria — by either a villain or a hero — from an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini or Richard Wagner?
Maybe an instrumental piece?
Maybe a song?
Yesterday, the same question was posed for Donald Trump.
Here is a link if you want to read that post:
Think about it.
Listen to some choices.
And let us know what you think with a COMMENT and a YouTube link to a performance.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: aria, Arts, Baroque, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, concerto, Democrat, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, Early music, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, hero, Hillary Clinton, instrument, Jacob Stockinger, lieder, Madison, Music, nominee, opera, Orchestra, Piano, President, Puccini, Sonata, song, symphony, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, villain, Wagner, YouTube
Classical music: What piece of classical music best embodies Donald Trump?
15 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Today The Ear has a simple question:
What piece of classical music best embodies Donald Trump (below), the Republican nominee for president of the United States?
Maybe an aria — by either a villain or a hero — from an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini or Richard Wagner?
Maybe an instrumental piece?
Maybe a song?
Think about it.
Listen to some choices.
And let us know what you think with a COMMENT and a link to a YouTube performance.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tomorrow it is Hillary Clinton‘s turn.
Tags: aria, Arts, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Donald Trump, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, hero, Hillary Clinton, instrument, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, nominee, President, Puccini, Republican, Republican Party, Richard Wagner, song, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, villain, vocal, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: In Dvorak’s “Rusalka,” the Madison Opera demonstrated how beautiful music and convincing stagecraft can overcome a weak story
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event
By Jacob Stockinger
The Opera Guy for this blog – Larry Wells – took in last weekend’s production by the Madison Opera of “Rusalka” and filed the following review. Performance photos are by James Gill.
By Larry Wells
I thoroughly enjoyed attending the Sunday afternoon performance of Antonin Dvorak’s opera “Rusalka” presented by Madison Opera in Overture Hall. Until then I had only heard recordings of this lushly orchestrated work.
The opera is a fairy tale involving a rather dithering water sprite (below right) who does not follow her father’s wise advice not to pursue a mortal prince (below left) and to stick to her own kind. She ignores his advice, and this leads to her eventual unhappiness and to the death of her prince.
That she also becomes mute when in the presence of the prince adds to everyone’s woes, and it seems a peculiar device to have the lead soprano not be able to sing for most of the second act of the opera.
Her inability to communicate naturally leads to the prince’s frustration, and my companion suggested that she could simply have used paper and pencil to communicate. But since she had been brought up in a river, perhaps she never learned to read and write.
Nevertheless, common sense did not seem to inhabit either Rusalka or her prince. As my companion also pointed out, love isn’t always logical.
In any event, the production and the music made up for the libretto’s shortcomings.
The set featured beautiful projections, from the Minnesota Opera, of forest, water and woodlands during the first and third acts.
The second act took place at the prince’s palace. It appeared to be an International Style palace in the manner of architect Mies van de Rohe, which must have also been disconcerting for Rusalka. Nonetheless, the set was very striking and beautifully lit.
Tenor John Lindsey (below top) portrayed the prince and William Meinert (below bottom left, with Emily Birsan) was Rusalka’s father, a water goblin. Both sang well, although Lindsey had the distracting habit of casting his chin and eyes downward as he sang.
But the stage belonged to the women.
Emily Birsan (below) as Rusalka was a study in subtle shadings of her expressive soprano voice (below, singing the famous aria “Song to the Moon”). She is a powerful singer and convincing actress who was engaging to watch and to hear.
Lindsay Ammann (below) as the sorceress Jezibaba was powerful in voice and in her command of the stage. Her third act aria was sensational, and her calling Rusalka a “empty little water bubble” was so apt it made the audience titter.
The villainous Foreign Princess portrayed by Karin Wolverton (below, standing over John Lindsey) seemed to be the only sensible character in the opera. She likewise commanded the stage and displayed a powerful voice with passionate commitment to her role.
Three water sprites – portrayed by Kirsten Larson, Saira Frank and Emily Secor (below, in order from left) – provided Rhine maiden-like commentary and gorgeous vocalizations despite having to wander around the stage at times seeming to be fascinated by twigs.
A shout-out goes to tenor Benjamin Liupaogo (below), still a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, who only sang a couple of lines but sang them very beautifully. He is someone to watch!
The Madison Symphony Orchestra was conducted by John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson). The strings and winds sounded particularly good that day, and DeMain brought out all of the interesting Bohemian folky gestures Dvorak included in the score. I found Dvorak’s orchestral score engaging throughout the performance. (You can hear the opening Overture in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Altogether it was charming afternoon of beautiful music, excellent singing and fetching staging of a strange tale.
Madison Opera has announced its upcoming season offerings, which are Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” (Nov. 1 and 3), Gregory Spears’ “Fellow Travelers” (here Feb. 7 and 9, it has already hit Chicago and Minneapolis and is slated for Tucson next season as well), and Jacques Offenbach’s comic “Orpheus in the Underworld” (April 17 and 19).
It seems a very interesting season, and subscription tickets will go on sale in early May. For more information, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AntoninDvorak, #BenjaminLiupaogo, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #ChicagoIllinois, #CommonSense, #Czechcomposer, #EmilyBirsan, #EmilySecor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FairyTale, #FellowTraveler, #FolkMusic, #GiuseppeVerdi, #International Style, #JacquesOffenbach, #JamesGill, #JohnDeMain, #JohnLIndsey, #JosephMcCarthy, #KarinWolverton, #KirstenLarson, #LarryWells, #LaTraviata, #LindsayAmmann, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiesvandeRohe, #MinneapolisMinnesota, #MinnesotaOpera, #OperaAria, #OperaGuy, #OperaLibretto, #OperaMusic, #OperaOverture, #OrpheusintheUnderworld, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #ReadandWrite, #RhineMaiden, #RhineRiver, #RichardWagner, #RingCycle, #SairaFrank, #SongtotheMoon, #SopranoSinger, #StrangeTale, #StringSection, #Sundayafternoon, #TucsonArizona, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WaterGoblin, #WaterSprite, #WindSection, #YouTubevideo, act, actress, advice, afternoon, Antonín Dvořák, architect, aria, Arts, audience, beautiful, beautifully, below, Benjamin Liupaogo, blog, Bohemian, character, Chicago, chin, choral music, Classical music, command, commentary, commitment, common sense, communicate, Compact Disc, composer, conductor, convincing, death, device, distract, drama, Emily Birsan, Emily Secor, engaging, enjoy, everyone, excellent, expressive, eyes, Facebook, fairy tale, fascinate, father, Fellow, fellow traveler, fetching, Folk music, folksy, foreign, forest, forward, frustration, Giuseppe Verdi, goblin, gorgeous, habit, hear, ignore, image, interesting, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, James Gill, Jezibaba, John DeMain, John Lindsey, Joseph McCarthy, Karin Wolverton, kind, Kirsten Larson, La Traviata, Larry Wells, learn, LGBT, LGBTQ, libretto, lighting, like, Lindsay Ammann, lines, link, lit, logical, Love, lush, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, maiden, matinee, May, Mead Witter School of Music, Mies van de Rohe, Minneapolis, Minnesota Opera, mortal, Music, mute, offering, opera, Opera Guy, Orchestra, orchestrated, Orpheus, Orpheus in the Underworld, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Hall, palace, passionate, peculiar, performer, plot, powerful, presence, prince, princess, production, projection, read, recording, Rhine, Ring cycle, river, role, Rusalka, Saira Frank, sale, sang, score, Season, sensible, set, shading, share, shortcoming, shout-out, sing, singer, someone, Song to the Moon, soprano, sorceress, sprite, stage, stagecraft, staging, story, strange, striking, string, study, subscription, subtle, Sunday, tag, tale, tenor, theater, theatre, Tucson, twigs, underworld, unhappiness, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, upcoming, villain, Viola, Violin, vocal music, vocalization, voice, Wagner, wander, watch, water, weak, winds, Wisconsin, wise, woe, women, woodland, work, write, YouTube