Opera Cleveland: La Voix Humaine & Pagliacci

A double-billing of La Voix Humaine (By Francis Poulenc, Libretto by Jean Cocteau) and Pagliacci (By Ruggero Leoncavallo) brought tonight's audience to PlayhouseSquare's State Theater for one of the last performances in Opera Cleveland's abbreviated season -- and one of the last in their current incarnation as Opera Cleveland.

To the outside observer, the writing has been on the wall in varying shades of darkness since before the season began. Opening the season with Lucia di Lammermoor -- I think my best opera-going experience to date (thanks in no small part to the semi-open rehearsal) both enthusiasm (audience and production) and and production quality were high. The intervening production of The Pearl Fishers was flat for enthusiasm but the production quality was still high. Tonight's operas, I hate to say, were flat for both.

Now most of the "production quality" issues that caught my eye (none caught my ear, thankfully) were minor in and of themselves but combined I got the sense of a struggle to get the show up--and surely no budgets were broken in the construction of the sets.

La Voix Humaine was agonizing. Consisting solely of the suicidal woman's side of a telephone conversation with a former lover, fighting through a party line, disconnected calls, and nosy neighbors. The concept is intriguing but the execution felt eternal; I didn't particularly care for the lone singer's voice. As much as I wanted to feel a sense of drama -- the woman was, after all, suicidal and speaking with a long-time lover on the eve of his wedding to another woman -- it could have been a reading of the daily news for all I could tell. The music, though well performed, was so punctuated--coming in short, seemingly unrelated bursts--that it didn't really add anything.

In Pagliacci, I realized (decided?) that even if Opera Cleveland emerges following the restructuring [and I sincerely hope it does], I will not be in that audience. As much as I want to like opera*, I realized that it's just not for me--and I can't justify the ticket prices for something that's I'm at best apathetic about. The opera opens with two mimes and beautiful music; I truly thought that I was going to enjoy it. Again, this struck me as emotionally flat, and all of the women's voices drove me crazy -- and I don't mean that in a good way. Thought the action on stage was unfufilling the music was beautiful and on more than one occasion dissuaded me from making a mid-opera exit; my favorite parts were all instrumental including a passage at the end that is instantly recognizable.

Lincoln

Opera Cleveland: Bizet's The Pearl Fishers

Before this evening's opera, I attended a Happy Hour at the House of Blues Cleveland's Foundation Room -- while relatively short--at just over a true clock hour--it was another interesting event with good conversation. The host for the event mentioned walking, and leaving HOB I realized that I would have both felt more comfortable about drinking (limiting myself to one glass of white) and saved $5 on parking at East 4th if I had parked in Playhouse Square's garage and walked to/from the HOB... anyway...

After relocating my car I downed a cupcake in the State Theatre's lobby (Cursing fate: The one time I was really craving a pretzel for 'dinner' they were not to be found) and entered for Opera Cleveland's presentation of Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.

I've said before that Opera is an art form that challenges me. Tonight I must admit defeat in response to its challenge. The music was beautifully played, the libretto beautifully sung, and the set was a a fantastic blend of minimal but eye catching physical props with tastefully (not over) done multimedia. The show received one of the more enthusiastic applauses I can recall from an operatic performance.

But it wasn't for me. Perhaps the length -- the program lists the running time as 2:30 including two 2o-minute intermissions: If that was accurate and allowing for the customary 5-minute hold, the 3rd act would have been approximately 10 minutes. It was not. Perhaps the foreign language: Again, the placement of the surtitles in relation to the set makes it impossible to follow both action and plot at the same time-- even reading the synopsis, I'm not entirely sure what I saw, heard, and listened to so beautifully.

But whatever it was I found myself entirely unmoved: Though I stayed through the curtain call, I felt no compulsion to linger.

In the vein of "history is taught in a vacuum" seeing the premiere date -- September 30, 1863 -- perhaps in conjunction with the trivia note in the program that John Wilkes Booth's appeared in a Cleveland venue just prior to the assassination of my namesake was in Cleveland -- fell in the middle of the American Civil War. Not that that's of iny significance, it's just an interesting point to ponder.

Lincoln

Opera Cleveland: Lucia di Lammermoor

The short version: There's very little not to like about Opera Cleveland's production of Lucia di Lammermoor (And if you've never heard Opera before this is a good way to wet your toes -- last chance is Sunday afternoon at 2, use "OPERAGO" for a nice little discount, too).

The longer version: Opera has its share of stereotypes: Interminably long productions, a patron base with one foot in the grave, the fat lady with horns singing on a barren stage--heck, even the phrase "it ain't* over 'til the fat lady sings". Opera Cleveland's production of Lucia doesn't fit any of these.

The generally young cast belts it out with a level of theatricality that makes it more and more difficult to differentiate between opera and musical theater; there's not a 'fat lady' in the cast, the set had a stunning visual interest, and it was probably the youngest** audience I've ever seen at an opera.

A preshow "cocktails and conversation" with Artistic Director Dean Williamson drew an interesting attendance -- including at least one pair of first time operagoers. Based on his discussion of the evolution of opera away from "park and bark" I took the opportunity to ask where he would draw the line between musical theater and opera, Mr. Williamson answered that he didn't think that you could draw that line any more, and I'm inclined to agree.

The set, re-purposed from another company's production of a different show, carried visual interest on its own but were extended through both front and rear video projection. Shakespeare's Fallstaff said that "The better part of valor is discretion" and Opera Cleveland's discretion as far as utilizing technology requires credit. The creative team remained innovative while steering well clear of overuse and the other usual pitfalls of projection; the rear projection, carefully used, and certainly not overused, particularly was of stunning quality and there were a few moments where I didn't think that I was watching projected scenery.

The story, pulled into a 1930s mob context by stage director Tomer Zvulun, was moved effectively by the cast. Nili Riemer as Lucia was a particular standout including singing on her back and a beautiful duet with flute, but the remainder of the cast didn't trail far behind. The Opera Cleveland Orchestra, likewise, didn't leave anything to be desired. Perhaps, most telling is that the three act two intermission two hour and forty minute performance seemed to fly by, and I not once had the urge to check the time. Truly, the only complaint I had was so minor as to qualify as a nitpick: The spotlight operators seemed really rough.

Over the past week I've heard countless times from countless members of the company that they though this may be the best production Opera Cleveland has put on. I'm inclined to agree.

Lincoln
*-This, prayerfully, will be the only time you see the psuedoword "ain't" typed by these fingers.
** - By highly unscientific visual poll, consisting mostly of the questions "Do most of them have hair?" and "Is that hair a color other than gray?".

Opera Cleveland: Opera Sampler - Lucia Di Lammermoor

I'm a sucker for anything that gives a glimpse into the creative process--or offers free food, so when Opera Cleveland's "Opera Sampler" invitation arrived in my inbox it didn't take more than a few seconds to sign up.

The agenda for the evening, hosted by Opera Cleveland Marketing Director Paul Jarrett was simple yet effective: Talk, listen, tour, eat. And if you read no further, I have to say that the rehearsal I heard of Lucia's Act I this evening was one of the more compelling pieces of opera I've heard. You have one weekend -- Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday next week to catch the performance: With a early dress rehearsal that was this well played and sung I'm eagerly looking forward to hearing the full opera next Saturday... When evaluating that sentiment, consider that I've had very mixed feelings about opera.

The evening began with an introduction by Artistic Director and conductor Dean Williamson: Each time I've had the pleasure of hearing him speak on an opera, the piece gains an amazing clarity and it is clear that he understands the material. I found the set conception -- recycled pieces from another opera company's set, combined with both front an rear video production intriguing, as well as the "slightly modernizing" aspect of pushing the setting into the 1930s mobster era to add realatability. Generally interesting were Mr. Williamson's comments on the acoustics of Playhouse Square's State Theatre; and his casual yet confident demeanor really helps to take the "stuffy" edge off Opera.

That segued into an early dress rehearsal of Act I which was beautifully sung, and beautifully played. I took the invitation to move around to heart using the opportunity to both see and hear the opera from literally every corner of the theater: Aside from the loge I lucked into for Solome, I've never really found a seat that I loved for opera--the floor-level side boxes are lousy, and the front few rows of the orchestra (my normal preference for anything but opera) leave a bit to be desired if you're trying to watch the action and read the surtitles at the same time. Based on my informal survey, I think those may be only really bad seats. Sure, the loges are supreme, but the first few rows of the balcony (where my subscription seats are this year) are good offering a full view of the stage, good view of the surtitles, and an amazingly clear and well balanced auditory experience. Even at the back row of the upper balcony or orchestra, it sounds great and the surtitles are legible, though you may wish to take opera glasses if facial expressions are important.

Things wrapped up with a quick backstage tour including a brief appearance by Opera Cleveland's technical director -- who I could have smothered with questions if time allowed -- before winding up across the street at Bricco with free pizza and no-so-free drinks (Ok, seriously, the martini that goes by the name "Apple" is probably the among the best drinks I've had in years) with very casual socializing -- including bumping into two people I recognized from other cultural events). I even met Carl the Opera Chicken, a photo may be (crosses fingers) surfacing soon can be found below.

Did you know that a chicken has been hidden in every Opera Cleveland production?

It was a great event and I hope it will be offered again; certainly a good way to dip your feet into the opera experience.

Lincoln

Opera Cleveland: Don Giovanni

One of the funniest things I've seen all year; great music, too.

I don't really get opera sung in Italian -- opera in English is no problem, but I tend to suffer from a case of Sensory Overload with Italian opera. There are so many facets happening simultaneously -- the singing, the music, the surtitles, the scenery and blocking, etc. It's an art form that I'm not really sure how one is supposed to appreciate.

Usually my mind dwells on one of those aspects just long enough that I forget to keep an eye on the super titles and by the time I start paying attention again I am destined to remain lost as to what, exactly, is going on. This was true with last night's performance of Don Giovanni -- but there were enough one-liners that didn't require extensive context that I remained amused. How could you not like Leporello?

I can't say what my specific thoughts were on Mozart going in to this performance, but I have to say that they changed coming out--not so much for the quality or style of music, but I he no longer seems as stiff -- between the self-referential comment about hearing The Marriage of Figaro too often and lines "I will comfort her tears / (Along with 1800 of her peers)" -- makes the 1700s seem so much less oppressive.

I do wish that Opera Cleveland would fly in the board that the surtitles are projected in another 10 feet or so... the distance between the singers and the surtitles is such that it's nearly impossible to keep both in your field of view at the same time, which I think would help in terms of following the story.