The desert song
You Parterrestrials know all about Santa Fe Opera’s amazing mountain setting and open-sided theater affording breathtaking sunsets, weather-related drama and–when the back stage wall is opened–starry backdrops, but it was my first visit, so indulge me a little. The seashore setting of Bizet’s Pearl Fishers featured genuine skies with threatening clouds and a golden sunset. Desert breezes blew through the theater as King Roger experienced his first orgy. And real stars pinpointed a deep blue sky for “E lucevan le stelle.” Sigh.
There was some disappointing singing, especially from three sopranos who blew break-out opportunities by presenting works-in-progress. (Hint – they were not in the Polish or the French opera.) The orchestra, drawn from here and there, served four different conductors with generally excellent results, although the sound from the vast pit can be both unblended and overpowering and the shape of the set seriously affects vocal projection. But the chorus! Under the direction of Susanne Sheston, the apprentice artists (joined by the Santa Fe Desert Choral for King Roger) delivered bold, sophisticated and vocally stunning performances.
The repertoire, from standard to obscure:
Stephen Barlow, who had conceived a fascinating film noir take on Carmen for Opera Theater of Saint Louis earlier in the summer, tackled Tosca for Santa Fe and left the performers, as he had in St Louis, abandoned. After the pleasure of conception comes the tedium of development, as any pregnant lady knows, but Barlow never gets out of bed. He couldn’t make his Tosca-has-the-hots-for-Scarpia notion work, in spite of an embrace and near kiss in Act One, along with some humping and a tumble on the floor in Act Two.
There’s more to directing than implementing a bunch of wacky ideas, and making the diva stab the police chief with her hairpin because a waiter, making a bizarre stage cross, picked up the knife she had dropped was a staging I actually had to check with the press office to confirm. Yes, it was a hairpin to the jugular. Who knew Tosca watched E.R.?
Yannis Thavoris’s period setting presented a spider’s view looking up into the cupola of Sant’Andrea della Valle, but required the entire cast—including the experienced Dale Travis, who stuffed the Sacristan with too many fussy bits—to walk on top of Cavaradossi’s painting.
Tenor Brian Jagde, Arabella’s Count Elemer, was a last-minute replacement as Cavaradossi, and we’ll see what Patricia Racette’s Tosca does to him in San Francisco in November. I enjoyed Jagde’s youthful physicality, and the playful exchanges of Act One (except for whacking Tosca with his paintbrush extender).
He’s got a beautiful golden sound, and managed “Recondita armonia” even with Frédéric Chaslin’s stodgy pacing, and kept a firm dynamic lid on “E lucevan le stelle.” Raymond Aceto sings Sparafucile, Banco, Ramfis, Timur and—you get it, he’s a bass. He gave a credible performance as Scarpia, but there was neither danger nor glamour in his dry, uniformly loud singing.
The most uneven performance came from Amanda Echalaz, who was making her U.S. debut and will be heard as Butterfly at the Met. Echalaz was a dramatically sure Tosca with an attractively dark voice, but needs more suppleness and better control of the top along with a lot more temperament. “Vissi d’arte” failed to impress even in its still, oratorio-style delivery, though other moments, especially “O dolci mani” along with the rest of the rooftop Act Three, packed plenty of vocal punch.
Arabella, last given in Santa Fe in 1997, continues a tradition of Richard Strauss operas introduced by the company’s founder, John Crosby. Tim Albery’s direction and Tobias Hoheisel’s design placed the action of Strauss and Hoffmanthal’s final work in pre-World War I Vienna, with attractive Erté-inspired costumes and smart furs making up for drab grey functional sets.
In the title role, Erin Wall also gave a hit-and-miss performance. She has the necessary velvety voice, spacious top notes, and graceful phrasing, and she saved enough for a beautifully poised and restrained stairway descent into the romantic final scene. But she captured Arabella’s pensive nature at the expense of gracious sociability, and I found her opaque demeanor charmless (perhaps it was my mistake to re-watch Lisa Della Casa’s lovely, luminous, expressive 1960 performance from Monaco Munich).
Mark Delavan, in exotic fur-lined coat, played the rich outsider Mandryka as a clumsy country bumpkin with the best intentions, an unexpected soul-mate to the restless proto-feminist Arabella. It’s a tricky role dramatically, because Arabella is pretty much the only person who finds Mandryka and all his talk about blood and hunting and bears attractive. With his capacious top notes and alert diction, Delavan handled the score’s endless chatter with ease, and declaimed “Mein sind die Wälder” (the description of his lands) with pride and “Ich habe eine Frau gehabt” (his backstory) with quiet intensity.
Albery placed Arabella and Mandryka side-by-side on a ballroom banquette for the intimate second act duet, and the singers complied with gentle, pianissimo tones, foreshadowing their luscious final duet “Und du wirst mein Gebieter sein.”
Heidi Stober’s Zdenka, the sister forced to dress as a man to save the family’s expenses, looked adorable in a schoolboy suit with wire-rim glasses, and her singing blossomed and shimmered most attractively. Stober met Zach Borichevsky’s eager, neurotic Matteo (his ringing voice marred by some squally high notes) with steady resolve and a perfectly poised, flawless performance.
Kiri Deonarine, in a bright red coat with riding whip, had an easy time with Fiakermilli’s riotous coloratura and high Ds. Sir Andrew Davis led capably and swiftly, though I missed the whooping French horns during the third act prelude. Maybe Matteo’s romp with “Arabella” was just a night of cuddling.
Bizet’s Pearl Fishers earned top prize for its excellent singing in a good-looking production that made dramatic sense (why is all that so hard to come by?). Last given at the Met in 1916, with Caruso and De Luca, here’s a work that needs more exposure. It’s got opulence and mystery and perfumey music with beautiful tunes (not just the famous duet), plus an action-packed plot featuring a love triangle involving a virgin priestess. And who doesn’t love shell necklaces and turbans?
Jean-Marc Puissant placed a picture frame in a wood-paneled drawing room around the exotic Ceylon temple setting, suggesting the work’s essentially European point-of-view. Lee Blakeley’s thoughtful staging set various community rituals against the love story, and he used the entire space with imagination and flair (torches and rainstorms and pageants, oh my!).
Brigitte Reiffenstuel’s costumes featured plenty of sweating, naked torsos (fishing is hard work, and Santa Fe has a reputation to uphold) and sun-bleached, layered folk garments. OK, so not all of the score is genial, but everything meshed attractively in this production (enhanced by Rick Fisher’s magical lighting) and moved swiftly to the fiery conclusion.
Emmanuel Villaume’s alert, expressive conducting drew stunning colors from the orchestra, and the languid atmosphere of the first act was especially mesmerizing. As Zurga, recently elected leader of the pearl fishing community, Christopher Magiera took a long time to warm up, and the duet “Au fond du temple saint” found him sounding tight and throaty. Magiera’s singing is elegant and smooth, though, and eventually the voice opened up considerably. Eric Cutler was superb as the outsider Nadir, Zurga’s rival in love.
From his first entrance (a visual homage to Indiana Jones), Cutler’s muscular tenor rang out handsomely and he was able to scale back for the introspective barcarole “Je crois entendre encore,” with full control of voix mixte and delicate diminuendos. Cutler’s was the finest male performance of the Santa Fe season.
And I’d give the female prize to Nicole Cabell. As Leila, the soprano looked sensational in various Eastern-styled garments and had the perfect voice: dusky and expressive, with pure, lovely top notes and plenty of variety in phrasing and color, with enough power to soar over the orchestra in several ensembles. Cabell’s physical poise and grace is another asset. The high priest Nourabad has plenty to do without the reward of a real aria, but bass Wayne Tigges has an imposing voice, and he’s worth keeping an eye on.
Photos: Ken Howard
“Bizet’s Pearl Fishers earned top prize for its excellent singing in a good-looking production that made dramatic sense (why is all that so hard to come by?)”
That’s the question, for sure.
Thanks for the reviews!
I’m surprise anyone could make strong dramatic sense of the Pearl Fishers. Delicious music, but terminally limp dramaturgy.
They did this in Pittsburgh last season -- was a yawner. The big duet and Nadir’s aria come early on -- after that just filler music. The company tried their best with good costumes and dancing, but nothing could successfully distract you from the fact that the music was banal. That is why it isn’t done more. In my opinion anyway.
Lee B. Ahmo, thank you for the report—in it, you’d mentioned the Barlow CARMEN at OTSL earlier this summer: can you also share specifics regarding that production (especially the performances of the Carmen, the José, and the translation)? Thanks in advance!
I thought the “film noir” look was very enticing, but Barlow didn’t get much out of the individual singers. Kendall Gladen really struggled with her middle voice and had no bottom notes at all, Adam Diegel sang OK but carefully. And there was no chemistry between them. The translation included cute Spanish words and tried to be hip, but it was all about the concept. No execution.
I remember a 1969 Nozze when it rained so hard at such a slant, the orchestra slowly evacuated the pit. The performance halted as Helen Vanni and Judith Blegen slowly walked offstage and the lone violinist who, up to this moment, had been on bended knee, reading his part laying on the seat of a chair.
not a word about the brilliant performance of “Maometto Secondo”?
nothing about Kwiecien’s probably-definitive Krol Roger?
Erin Wall was really excellent as Arabella, if not in the historic class of Lisa Della Casa, who is not likely to be singing the role at the age of 93. . .
I missed the Tosca, but Magiera as Zurga was the most disappointing performance I heard in Santa Fe; can it be that difficult to find the right lyric baritone?
can it be that difficult to find the right lyric baritone?
I would strongly recommend the young and talented Alexandre Duhamel, who already has Zurga in his rep.
I see he’s doing a concert performance in Paris in February.
A very well cast concert performance too, though I’d have preferred Yoncheva to Machaidze.
I’ve heard Magiera on multiple occasions over the past few years, and have to disagree with your statement. He is a fine young lyric baritone who has been apparently indisposed much of the summer in Santa Fe -- cancelled the Susan Graham gala. He was a wonderful Valentin last year in Faust. Perhaps you saw an unfortunate performance but he is quite talented for quite a young man.
Wonderful review and completely in line with everything I saw at Santa Fe. I do feel that if I ever do see Pearlfishers again, I want it to be a wacky, way out Regie because it seems such a hodge podge of music, excepting its two greatest hits, of course. I also thought Nicole Cabelle absolutely beautiful on stage, and you are so right about the shape of the set affecting the sound. I am so glad that Maometto II had a closed set otherwise I am not sure we could have done justice to the score. That goes for Arabella as well.
I believe the Della Casa 1960 video performance is from Munich, not Monaco..which certainly doesn’t make it any less than one of the great performances of the opera.
You may be right. The entire perf is on YouTube! (But says Monaco.)
It’s Munich. Note that the posting is in Italian, and “Monaco” is Italian for Munich.
Yes, in Italian, “Monaco” means Munich, and if you’re talking about Monaco, you say “Monaco di Monte Carlo.”
while Italians will often specify “Monaco di Baviera”
Princess of Monaco——-
Thanks for letting me know about this. I watched it and it is beyond superb. Della Casa truly is radiant, Rothenberger is adorable, DFD sings a beautiful Mandryka and the whole thing is lovingly staged and acted. This opera always makes me cry. I haven’t shed a tear over BOHEME in decades, but a decently performed ARABELLA never fails to move me.
Danpatter: Della Casa was divine as Arabella, the Marschallin, Donna Elvira and the Countess. “Radiant” is the correct word. My Mandryka was George London--not exactly chopped liver. Hilde Güden was also in the cast.
I’ve liked her records for years, but seeing her in this video really convinced me just how great she was. Few singers today can really soar like that. For anyone who wants to watch this wonderful ARABELLA, here is the link. You are in for a treat.
So you see why I said it might have been a mistake to watch this video right before going out to NM? It’s perfect. Such beauty, grace, and radiance, yes! And so romantic -- these two oddly matched soulmates. And how about the lusty act 3 prelude?
danpatter—-many, many thanks for having posted this Arabella! Did not know it was available in this format. What a delight!
I watched part of the Arabella and will watch the complete opera today. Thank you. OMG, how moving. Della Casa was even more beautiful in person, and I immediately fell in love with her.
Others who sang Arabella like Kiri or Rennay simply cannot match that kind of singing and acting (where does one end and where does the other begin: singing and acting are one). She IS Arabella. The first time I saw that kind of extraordinary performance was Callas’ Norma in 1956. Incredible!
Clita, Camille, et al., you’re very welcome indeed. This performance was a revelation. As you say, we seldom see such a complete identification. Della Casa is indeed Arabella to the life. I’ve seen Te Kanawa do it a couple of times, and she was superb, but never quite this good.
Speaking of Strauss sopranos: dearest Luvtennis, not a great lover of Schwanewilms, wrote something to the effect that AS produces a kind of false innigkeig and artistry based on here technical shortcomings. That may be true, but (smart) artists have always used their imperfections to their advantage. Look at Modl, another that Luv does not like, as I remember.
I am not sure this is the case with AS, and the her singing artistry does not appear “false” to my ears. I’d rather listen to AS than a singer like Rennaay, who has all the vocal equipment and technique, but comes off as artificial and smarmy too much of the time (in both acting and singing).
oops: Innigkeit
Danke tantissimo!
Just listened to Act I of Arabella. Della Casa was so wonderful, I am totally verklempt.
I’m listening now. Talk about casting from strength!
Bizet’s Pearl Fishers earned top prize for its excellent singing
I assume it sounded much better live:
And here, just for the delight of it, is Sonya Yoncheva as Leïla:
Merci à vous, Œdipe; and since one of these gentlemen within has been named in other comments, here he is, performing the same duet:
Indeed. MUCH better, though Mr. Cutler’s voice is considerably more audible than Mr. Magiera’s. Here is Ms. Cabell and Mr. Cutler:
Here is the same duet -complete- recorded in June 2012 at the Opéra Comique, with Dmitry Korchak and Sonya Yoncheva. Yoncheva is in a different league from Korchak, but at least both sing in French (the Santa Fe bits on utube sound more like Esperanto).
Yoncheva is also in a different league from Cabell in terms of French intonation and musicality.
Oedipe: what do you conmsider the gold standard in this music? I have the Leibowitz recording with Jean Borthayre and Mattiwilda Dobbs. Dobbs sings a few odd vowels, but since she has to portray a Brahma princess, that does not bother me much. Love Borthayre!
Dunno, Buster. I tend to have preferences, rather than gold standards.
I am a fan of both Vanzo and Bacquier, so I like the 1959 Pêcheurs de Perles with Bacquier, Vanzo and Janine Micheau. You could call it a gold standard of “la grande école du chant français”. And it does sound very thrilling indeed:
I am also a big fan of Gedda in the French rep, so I like the Dervaux -- Opéra Comique 1988 version with Gedda, Ernest Blanc and Janine Micheau.
In recent years, Annick Massis has been a remarkable Leïla. I am not a fan of hers, but I admit she is excellent in this role. Among the young generation, in addition to Yoncheva, I think that Nathalie Manfrino is a very good Leïla. Here is a very idiomatic (and sensuous) rendition of the Leïla/Nadir duet with “La Manfrin” and Alagna:
But you never seem to come across (most of) these and other young(er) francophone singers in America. As if having francophone singers sing main parts in French opera were somehow taboo… or at least irrelevant.
Thanks for the tips Oedipe, much appreciated! I’ll let you know how Annick Massis does next month -- she will sing it for Michel Plasson, with Charles Castronovo, Jean-François Lapointe, and Nicholas Testé. Looking forward to that a lot.
Buster, Dank U for posting that wonderful old recording. I have heard Mme. Dobbs infrequently and the baritone I did not know of at all.
oedipe, Madame Manfrino était très charmante!
Madame Manfrino is also married to Roberto’s brother, I believe.
Yes, Monty. Though I am sure she would rather be appreciated for her own talent.
Indeed, Camille. Nathalie is a very very charming 32 year old woman, even more so in person than on video.
The Tribune review photo of Jagde makes him look like Zach Galifianakis . . .