2 Things @ Once

Chicago Opera Theater's Take on Mother's Day is a Winner

Chicago Opera Theater finishes their excellent 2010 season off with a fantastic production of Three Decembers, starring none-other-than Frederica von Stade. If you're like me, and have missed von Stade since she left the opera circuit, it's a real treat to catch the mezzo-soprano in her final performances before officially retiring. Her voice has long been one of my favorites and she's still got it.

Three Decembers is about the relationship of two grown children, Bea and Charlie, to their mother Madeline, a famous actress whom they believe loved the theater more than her family. This one-act opera, by Jake Hegge  based on a play by Terrence McNally, is only ninety minutes long, set in three different years, over three different decades. The music is quite accessible, not always true with modern operas. Some of the songs are particularly lovely, especially the duet between Bea and Charlie as they try to conjure up memories of their long-dead father, and "The Moon's Lullaby," sung by Madeline. "Shoes Duet" was another highlight, where Bea and Charlie sing about their mother's obsession with buying shoes as a cure-all for life's troubles.

All three performers were very strong in voice and acting chops. Individually, each has a moment to shine and they were magic together when singing the trios. The simple story was given spare yet effective staging, with darkness and spotlight illustrating the emotional void between mother and children as well as the theater stage, where Madeline is most comfortable. The small orchestra, dramatically lit, appears directly on stage.

Whether you're looking for the perfect introduction to Chicago Opera Theater (one of Chicago's cultural gems), or you're a fan of the always amazing Frederica von Stade, or you're simply interested in a winning night of theater, I couldn't recommend Three Decembers any higher. But don't delay, there are only three performances remaining.

The Met Meets the Lake

Here's my homage to Fitzcarraldo by Werner Herzog (highly recommended if you haven't seen it) which I shot a few weeks ago after a warm up melted most of the ice and snow off Lake Michigan.

Sunday Smatterings

NaBloPoMo, Day 15

I just woke up from a two-hour nap. Napping on a weekend afternoon is something I never do unless I'm sick.

I'm sick.

Battling a head cold. Sleep is good. So is Thai hot and sour soup--I call it the "healing soup"--another dose of which I'll take for tonight's dinner. I'll also whip up a fresh batch of Srirracha ginger butter, my magic bullet cure all.

The head cold didn't stop me from attending and enjoying the opera last night, Verdi's rarely produced early work Ernani. Absolutely ridiculous story but the singing was great, the music pleasant, and the costumes gorgeous. And thankfully it was under three hours long.

Today I met friends for brunch at The Publican. I enjoyed my first meal at Publican this past summer when Mike came to town. (Hi Mike!) It was tasty then and didn't disappoint on the second go-around. This time I managed to snap a few pictures before we devoured the lot.

I had the red wine poached eggs with grilled sourdough and bearnaise, lamb pastrami, and a flavorful mix of greens. It was very good and boy, could you taste the red wine.

We ordered a side of their signature maple-cured bacon, thick, salty, fatty and absolutely yum! This is a place known for it's homemade sausages and meats as well as an amazing array of beer and wine. As tempting as it was to order up a breakfast beer, we decided instead to have our holiday dinner at Publican and before you can say "iPhone calendar," we'd set a date in December.

I drink more tea when I'm sick. Lately I've been into the Douglas Fir Tea from Juniper Ridge. It smells just like a forest of fir trees and tastes delicious.

Finally, all this week I've been enjoying a beautiful fall flower arrangement that JD and her family gave me to celebrate my 2 year anniversary nannying the wee one! Two years! The proverbial time flies and all that. It's an anniversary I'm very happy and proud to celebrate. I'm still so thankful for every day I get to spend with this amazing little person.

Two Operas in Five Days, Second One is the Charm

By luck of the schedule, I had two Lyric operas this week, Puccini's Tosca last Tuesday and Gounod's Faust last night. That's about six-and-a-half hours of opera, my limit for any given week. I enjoyed them both, despite having seen each of these productions before, but I much preferred Faust.

I think I may have seen the final performance of this run of Tosca (there are six performances in January with different leads) which might explain why some of the singing seemed overpowered by the orchestra. James Morris (Scarpia) is always a commanding presence on stage and fun to watch. Deborah Voigt has a lovely voice but she's not a performer whom I really connect with. Her acting seemed a bit stilted, especially anytime she had to move more than three steps in any direction on stage.

This is the nearly 50-year-old Zeffirelli production and in my humble opinion, a prime example of enough is enough when it comes to Lyric trotting out the old tried-and-true audience favorites. Give us something new to look at! I realize you should be careful what you wish for but when it's an opera so often in the rotation, they should really reward long-time subscribers, not punish them with the same old thing.

Faust is also a production I've seen before, but only once and the performances here were so good I didn't mind. I'd forgotten how much I liked this opera. The music is beautiful, the staging effective and though the three leads carry much of the story, there's enough going on (including the use of a large chorus) to keep it from ever getting dull.

Piotr Beczala (Faust), René Pape (Mephistopheles), and Ana María Martínez (Marguerite) played well off one another, excellent singers and actors all, especially Martinez who convincingly portrayed the gamut of Marguerite, from innocent love-struck young girl to a woman fallen from grace and out of her mind. This opera has something for everyone (a little dancing, a little comedy, swordplay, the devil, beautiful music, exhilarating choral segments, romance, beautiful sets, and a riveting story that moves along so you hardly notice the three-and-a-half hour running time.

A Shostakovich Opera In My Future!

Catching up on my blog reading, I came across some good news from Chicago Opera Theater--the audience choice has been announced and the winner is Shostakovich's 1959 opera Moscow Cheryomuschki! The bad news is we have to wait until 2011 to see it. Sigh.

This past spring, during their most recent season, COT had a very clever fundraising effort going on that allowed audience members to choose the third production in their 2011 season. Choices were Capriccio (Strauss), The Magic Flute (Mozart) and the Shostakovich; one dollar, one vote.

My first reaction was, "God no, not The Magic Flute again!" I was ready to stuff the voting box with dollar bills just to avoid another production of Flute, one of my least favorite operas of all time. When I saw that Shostakovich was one of the alternatives, I happily placed multiple votes over the course of my three visits to COT this year. (I've already seen Capriccio at Lyric, and Strauss, well, I can take it or leave it.)

Had I ever heard of Moscow Cheryomuschki before? Nope, but attending multiple performances of CSO's Shostakovich Festival back in '99 made me a Shostakovich fan and I knew that an opera by the composer would be a must see.

Operapalooza

Speaking of music marathons, I'll be spending a fair portion of my weekend at the Harris Theater this weekend, enjoying not one but two productions by Chicago Opera Theater. Rescheduling from vacation landed me with back-to-back Mozart (La Clemenza di Tito) and Bizet (La Tragedie de Carmen). I've never seen the Mozart work before. Carmen I've seen a couple of times, but no matter, it's sure to be great. COT productions are as much about the theatricality as they're about the music. Their tagline isn't "opera less ordinary" for nothing.

BTW, COT scored big for their 2010 season. When the renewal notice came in the mail a few weeks ago, I was thrilled to see that Frederica von Stade (one of my all time favorite performers) will be starring in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers. Now that she's no longer a regular on the opera circuit, it will be a real treat to see her next May.

Sold Out?! Duh. What Was I Thinking?

I've really wanted to attend one of the Metropolitan Opera HD live broadcasts so when I recently learned that the critically acclaimed production of Bellini's La Sonnambula was on the schedule I was thrilled. Natalie Dessay is one of my very favorite performers and I was curious to see Mary Zimmerman's staging.

Unfortunately (and because I'm an idiot), my excitement didn't translate into action. It didn't occur to me until now that it might be a good idea to buy tickets in advance. You know, like you would for a LIVE performance of a ONE DAY ONLY production. Checking the Fandango website I see it's sold out. Probably has been for weeks. Duh. Duh. And double duh.

Well, now I know better for next time. And I just gained three hours back on Saturday. Bother.

Tragic Love Suitable for a Valentine’s Day Weekend

By coincidence, my weekend was choc-full of unrequited love, betrayal, passionate revenge, and romantic tragedy. Happy Valentine’s Day!

It began with my reading (nearly in one sitting) of Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton’s classic tale of snow-bound, star-crossed tragic love. Otherwise known as happy times in New England. Or, let’s go sledding! (Review to come.)

Saturday I attended the opening night performance of Lyric Opera’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Known in opera circles as “Cav/Pag,” these two one-act Italian operas were the perfect anecdote to a sappy Valentine’s Day. No sailing off into the sunset happy endings here. Betrayal, adultery, despair, madness, and a few rounds of deadly knife play. True love.

The staging is the same that I’d seen a number of years ago, but still well worth seeing again. Guang Yang, as Santuzza in Cav was wonderful and the music was beautiful. Set in 19th-century Calabria, the sets and costumes were wonderful, with kids and chorus members aplenty, giving the audience much to see and hear.

This production of Pag is given an effective post-war Italian update. The action centers around a group of traveling players, complete with stilt-walkers, clowns and jugglers so there’s lots of fun stage business going on. Mark Delavan was good in his double bill as Alfio in the first and Tonio in the second opera, and Vladimir Galouzine as Canio had the audience with his famous aria, containing perhaps the most well known two lines in opera history. (It comes at about the two minute mark in this clip.) It was funny to note as well, when so many death scenes in opera go on and on and on, the deaths that conclude each of these one-acts come right at the end, barely before the final curtain hits the floor. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

To round out my Valentine weekend, I started reading Birchwood, a remarkable Gothic Irish novella by John Banville. Riveting prose and about as romantic as Mr. Rochester’s first marriage.

Not Your Father's Don Giovanni

I came out of the opening night performance of Chicago Opera Theater's brutal new production of Don Giovanni feeling like I'd been pummeled. I didn't know whether I wanted to take a shower or have a stiff drink. Or both.

My friend Karen said it best when she described the feeling as if we'd just gotten off a long ride on a skanky late night el. Imagine Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut meets Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover and you have an idea of this relentless interpretation of Mozart's opera.

Lothario Don Giovanni is portrayed as a serial date rapist who presides over a dark S&M club where masked guests cavort. Donna Elvira, one of the many women Don Giovanni has seduced and abandoned (this production tallies the number at 1,003) is a dominatrix who still loves the man, knowing how horrible he is. The young couple of Zerlina and Masetto, (inexplicably choosing a sex club to host their pre-wedding party) are like Janet and Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (or Tom Cruise in EWS); innocent fish out of water until they get sucked into the depravity.

Singing and acting by the featured cast is excellent across the board. Iain Paterson is a commanding presence in the title role and Matt Boehler was excellent as DG's right-hand man Leporello. Unfortunately, I'd have trouble recommending this version of Don Giovanni to anyone other than hardcore (no pun intended) Mozart fans who don't mind a lurid interpretation of the classic.

Let me be clear here. Don Giovanni is not a nice guy and many the contemporary production soft-peddles the brutal, aggressive behavior of a guy who makes sport of violating women. But when it comes to simulated sex and violence on stage, a little can go a long way.

In my opinion, the grim, unrelenting production values overshadowed the music and so it didn't work for me. And yet, I'm glad I saw it. You'll never get me to criticize COT for trying. I'm a season ticket subscriber for the very fact that their productions can be counted on to push the envelope, not just for what they choose to present but how they do it. Creative staging, sets and lighting, not to mention high quality singing and acting, is what I've come to expect from COT.

COT recently announced this production will mark an exciting Chicago first. On May 9th, Don Giovanni will be simulcast on a big screen in Millennium Park. As I sat in the audience last night, I kept thinking how the heck are they going to present this racy material in such a public venue.

A Memorable Moment

Last month I saw a performance of John Adam's Doctor Atomic at Lyric Opera and I delayed in writing about it and then forgot to post the damn thing! So, while there's no chance of seeing this in Chicago (performances concluded last month) I did still want to record the experience--

This isn’t my favorite type of music and I won’t be adding a recording of the opera to my iPod, but I’m always glad to see a new opera, especially when it takes on a topic like the testing of the first atomic weapon at Los Alamos. The music was quite beautiful; my problem is when the voices come in and sound as if they’re singing a different melody altogether than the orchestra. The staging (by celebrated director Peter Sellars) was creative and engaging, culminating in an amazing bit of theater using soundscapes, music, dance and slow-motion performance to evoke the momentous first bomb blast. When the last sound died away, there was a full minute of absolute, chilling silence before the applause--it was one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever experienced in live performance.