Oberon's Grove

Singers: Gilda Cruz-Romo

In the Autumn of 1969 I decided to move to New York City; I withdrew all my savings from the bank and reserved a room at the Empire Hotel at a monthly rate. The plan, as I sold it to my parents, was that I would find a job and then an apartment. In actuality, all I really wanted to do was go to the opera every night. And that is exactly what I did, forgetting about job-hunting til my cash gave out and I returned home after a few weeks.

Unfortunately for me, that was the year of the Met orchestra's strike. But I was not to be deterred: I went to every single performance of the New York City Opera's Autumn season. Standing room cost next-to-nothing and I already had some favorite singers there - people like Beverly Sills, Maralin Niska, Patricia Brooks, Enrico di Giuseppe, Dominic Cossa and Norman Treigle. Treigle was in fact the focus of that Autumn season since NYCO was mounting a production of Boito's MEFISTOFELE for him. Carol Neblett was singing the dual role of Margherita and Helen of Troy; but for the final performance of the run a debut was announced: a Mexican soprano named Gilda Cruz-Romo.

One never knows what to expect from a debut, and that was especially true back then when there was no Internet buzz, YouTube or Facebook that might have provided an inkling or an outright sample of a new singer's work. In the weeks prior to her debut, I'd actually seen Gilda and her husband Bob Romo several times around Lincoln Center and at the Footlights Cafe; I'd even said hello to her and as a young, unknown singer she seemed genuinely thrilled to be recognized. But what - I kept wondering - does she sound like?

Her performance was something of a revelation: it was a big, warm lyric voice bordering on spinto. Her tone had an unusual freshness and clarity, with a pliant technique and shining upper register, and the kind of vocal candor that one finds in a new singer who just sings without relying on artifice. The audience took to her at once - the fans sensing that here was an Italianate voice that had real potential in the Verdi & Puccini repertoire. After the great aria "L'altra notte", Cruz-Romo was warmly applauded but it was in the Helen of Troy scene that she capped her success: in the great concertato "Amore mistero!" the voice sailed out over the ensemble with a gleaming quality and as the line soared up to its climatic top-B the sound seemed to blossom - and Cruz-Romo swept onwards to triumph.

The next afternoon at Footlights a small gathering of fans met and we played over and over again our house tapes of the performance; we must have listened to that ensemble about twenty times. People at neighboring tables were drawn to the sound of her voice. In those days, New York City Opera was a real Company: if you made a successful debut you were invited back and became part of the family and were cast in as much repertoire in your fach as was available. Obviously Julius Rudel knew a special voice when he heard it, so Gilda - as we were by now all calling her - sang there for the next 2 or 3 years until the Met snatched her away.

And so I saw her in more performances of MEFISTOFELE, as a glowing-voiced Butterfly and a golden-toned Mimi (especially moving) and - in one of her first ventures into the heaviest rep - Amelia in BALLO IN MASCHERA. Of her City Opera performances, my very favorite was her Tosca in 1971:

"...Gilda surpassed my highest expectations as Tosca. Rarely has this role had such a balanced combination of: a beautiful face, fine stage presence, sincere acting, fine diction and GORGEOUS spinto singing. In the first act, many phrases of great beauty. She looked lovely, young and excited. In Act II she sang superbly, her high Cs large and luminous. The dramatic utterances were all convincingly delivered. As she neared the end of her marvelously phrased "Vissi d'arte" tears welled up in her: one sob at the end, straight from the heart, was a perfect effect. She carried off the murder and the acting demands of the closing of Act II with excellent control. Maintaining her high level in Act III, Gilda ended the opera on a stentorian top-B and took a death-defying leap of ten feet! She was given a tumultuous ovation eminently deserved. Backstage she was literally mobbed - as big a crowd as I've seen at NYCO. After edging my way through the throng we hugged and she kissed me so many times. It took a few moments before either of us could speak..."

When things calmed down and we got to discuss the performance, she told me how petrified she was of taking that final jump. The production was designed so that Tosca's suicidal leap was visible to the audience as she fell about a dozen feet before a parapet blocked her landing-mattresses from view. She had not had a stage rehearsal and she said she got to the edge of the platform and realized in a split second how exposed her descent would be; she crossed herself and took the plunge.

It was inevitable that a voice like Gilda's would be both wanted and needed at the Met. In 1970 she entered the Met National Auditions and was a finalist, singing "La mamma morta" from ANDREA CHENIER. On May 8, 1970 she debuted with the Company on tour in Atlanta singing that same opera. In December of the same year she debuted at the Met proper as Butterfly, beginning a career there that stretched into the mid-1980s and encompassed over 160 performances.

I saw her at the Met for the first time as Nedda in PAGLIACCCI opposite the frighteningly intense Canio of James McCracken. Gilda sang so beautifully, especially in the sensuous duet with Silvio (Dominic Cossa): "...great crescendos from tiny pianissimos..." It was after this performance that she and I were photographed together backstage. (OK, no comments about my tie...or my hair! Remember this was the 70s).

 

Then came a hiatus: I moved to Houston for a while and only kept tabs on her via the broadcasts. But after a while I was lured back to the Northwest and we had a beautiful reunion at a matinee of AIDA where she sang opposite Franco Corelli:

"...Gilda was in complete command of this arduous role every step of the way...there were phrases upon phrases of golden Verdi singing: her deeply-felt prayer at the end of 'Ritorna vincitor' and the miraculously spun high pianissimi in 'O patria mia' and even more incredibly on 'Fuggiam, fuggiam...' as she lured Corelli into her escape plan. She was able to healthily dominate the big ensembles and then turn around a float effortlessly in the tender 'O terra addio...'  Really top-class Verdi singing!"

Gilda also sang in a revival of MANON LESCAUT and sounded lovely despite being cast opposite a very mediocre tenor. Her 'In quelle trine morbide' was poignantly phrased, mirroring Manon's longing for the simple, true love of her Chevalier des Grieux. (Photo: Bill Hendrickson).

Then several things happened which kept me from seeing her onstage at the Met; I moved to Hartford with TJ and for a couple years we were basically broke. Trips to New York were infrequent and most of the time ballet trumped opera.  Then too, Gilda's international career was in full bloom; it seemed she sang everywhere and sang the most taxing repertoire - I think I once read that she ended up singing Aida five-hundred times! It seemed like whenever I was at the Met, she was somewhere else. Thus it was a special pleasure when she came to Hartford and sang Desdemona in OTELLO, one of her most attractive roles. In 1979 she sang Desdemona on a Met telecast opposite Placido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes and they merited a Hirschfeld tribute:

In 1987 I saw Gilda onstage for the final time, as Cherubini's Medea at Bridgeport, Connecticut. The declamatory style of many of the character's utterances didn't suit her so well - she was always a melodic singer - but the voice was still powerful and expressive.

I met her again a few years ago when she was honored by the Puccini Foundation. I handed her the photo of the two of us and it took her only a half-second to realize who I was...I have changed MUCH MORE than she has!  We keep in touch now; she lives in San Antonio and I was tickled to read recently that she keeps up her deep-sea fishing and is also active in a local Texas group which matches senior citizens with canine companions:

 

It's been a long time since that day in Footlights soon after her NY debut that I pestered her with a million questions and she was unbelievably kind and patient. Once I wrote to her after she'd sung the title role in ANNA BOLENA in Dallas expressing my dismay that I couldn't have been there; a few days later I was astounded to open the mailbox and find she had sent me a tape of the performance. That's the generosity of spirit that Gilda always shows. So now with love and gratitude I've tried to put my admiration for her into words.

Gilda Cruz-Romo - L'ora O Tirsi - MANON LESCAUT - Met dress rehearsal 1973
 

Backstage at the Kirov

Now that the ballet season at Lincoln Center has ended, we've been watching some videos from the Library of the Performing Arts. Unfortunately I have found that many of the DVDs in their collection turn out to be badly scratched; it's a shame that people who are sophisticated enough to want to to watch SLEEPING BEAUTY or GISELLE are not correspondingly considerate enough to take good care of the library's property. I've actually been having better luck with VHS tapes, since they are not in plastic sleeves and thus you can check their condition before signing them out. The library has quite a substantial VHS dance collection.

The 1982 film BACKSTAGE AT THE KIROV starts out as a run-of-the-mill (though interesting) documentary but soon the story starts to revolve around two Odettes: the established prima ballerina Galina Mezentseva and the (then) rising young Altynai Asylmuratova. Performance footage is interspersed with specially recorded passages where the camera actually takes us into the midst of the Kirov's corps. This produces an especially vivid effect in such moments as the Cygnets where we follow the four girls around the stage. Later, when Asylmuratova and her husband Konstantin Zaklinsky are performing a segment of the adagio, the camera magically circles around them, catching the attendant Swans in their long rows as a swirling backdrop.

Wei and I both thought Mezentseva was an exceptional Odette. Against the sustained slowness of the tempo set for the adagio, Mezentseva's dancing - her fluent upper body, long arms and elegant legs - has a timeless, suspended quality. Asylmuratova's youthful candor - she says she'd rather have slept in than attend class - is sweet; she is a beautiful girl and we can already see emerging the ballerina who was to be such an impressive Nikiya in the filmed version of the Royal Ballet's 1991 BAYADERE.

BACKSTAGE AT THE KIROV also shows some very young students in class, and the hard-working corps of Kirov swans, some of whom come in for sharp reprimands from the ballet masters. It's an intriguing view of SWAN LAKE from the inside: I ended up watching it four times in a week.

Battleworks @ The Joyce

Tuesday July 29, 2008 - Rob and I met up with Tonya at the Joyce for a performance by Battleworks, the Company of former David Parsons dancer Robert Battle. (Above, dancers Kanji Segawa and Tyler Gilstrap in a Tom Caravaglia photo). The last time I saw Robert Battle he was standing on the stage of the Bushnell in Hartford being showered by a flurry of money at the end of the Parsons piece THE ALMIGHTY.

As with Parsons Dance and Takehiro Ueyama's TAKE Dance, one can trace Battle's style back to Paul Taylor as the 'grandfather' of these three Companies; yet each group has its distinctive flavor. One thing  all three choreographers have in common is a keen sense of the energy of the music they use, and a knack for setting pieces one might not immediately think of as 'danceable'.

The Battleworks roster boasts some beautiful, powerful dance personalities such as Erika Pujic (above in a Tom Caravaglia photo). Her solo in the final movement of OVERTURE had a profound, weighted quality. She was an audience favorite and deserved every bit of the acclaim: a striking presence.

Kanji Segawa (photographed by Tom Caravaglia) also had an extended solo passage in OVERTURE which displayed his physical virtuosity as well as the lyrical quality of his dancing.

In the opening REEL TIME with it's percussive score featuring gongs and chimes, Samuel Roberts (photo) reveled in the athletic, relentless movement that marks Battle's approach to rhythmic passages. Roberts' astounding back flips and his reckless hurtling thru space and onto the floor was as risky as it was exciting. (In fact throughout the evening, Battle frequently sends his dancers crashing to the floor with complete abandon.)

Later, Samuel showed the fluidity and expressiveness of his body (laced with a vein of vulnerability) as he danced to Nina Simone throbbingly passionate vocalism in IN/SIDE. In the solo ELLA, another vocal phenomenon, Ella Fitzgerald, was featured in a non-stop grand "scat-aria" in which she sailed up and down her incredible range and tossed in snatches pop songs and even a Christmas carol while dancer Marlena Wolfe provided a visual interpretation with boundless energy and quirky humor. (Photos of Simone and Fitzgerald).

OVERTURE, to J.S. Bach, and JUBA with a 'live' quintet of musicians playing John Mackey's score were especially enjoyable. Contributing to the visual attractions of both were costumes by former David Parsons dancer Mia McSwain. She created long skirts for the women in OVERTURE and peasant-style outfits for the four dancers in JUBA. Excellent lighting (Burke Wilmore) greatly enhanced these works.

In OVERTURE the dancers moved slowly (even at times when the musical tempo might have dictated otherwise) against a changing back-panel (violet, pale olive, blue), frequently falling to the ground as if oppressed by sorrow; occasional interruptions of an almost spastic nature keep the work fascinating. It was superbly danced, with the aforementioned solos by Kanji Segawa and Erika Pujic creating powerfully poetic images.

Kanji, Erika and Samuel were joined by George Smallwood in the folk-inspired JUBA with its relentlessly bouncing motifs. The dancing was non-stop and somewhat stylized, with a very brief adagio (oddly reminiscent musically of BUGAKU) before plunging back into the energized rhythms. The excellent drummer Damien Bassman set the pace for the very accomplished string players: Suzy Perelman, Lyris Hung, Alissa Smith and Kirsten Jerme. The live music added immeasurably to the joy of watching the dancers, bringing the evening to a rousing conclusion. The performers and Mr. Battle were warmly hailed by the full house.

Many thanks to Michelle, Lydia and the friendly house staff at the Joyce; it's always a pleasure to watch dance there.

Give Me Balanchine!

I'm glad the Robbins Celebration is over. Yes, I know he's a top choreographer, very versatile, and his ballets much-beloved by dancers and audiences alike. There's about a half-dozen Robbins ballets that excite me and another half-dozen that I can usually enjoy. But there's an awful lot of Robbins that just doesn't do anything for me: his Broadway-style ballets I avoid at all cost. I saw most (but not all) of the Robbins works presented during the Celebration; they all seemed lovingly prepared and mostly very well-danced. But what the Robbins Celebration made me crave was: more Balanchine. In the Paul Kolnik photo, the Company pays tribute to its founding genius.

First, I want to see the Balanchine SWAN LAKE Act II again. I happen to be one of those people who likes the Peter Martins full-length SWAN LAKE - now that I've managed to tune-out the decor. Perhaps we have been deprived of seeing Mr. B's setting so as to avoid confusing prospective ticket-buyers as to what constitutes SWAN LAKE. Well, there has to be a way around that because Mr. B's setting of the first lakeside scene should not be ignored.

Other Balanchine ballets that we ought to be seeing again are: LA VALSE, Tchaikovsky SUITE #3, CHACONNE, SCOTCH SYMPHONY, FIREBIRD, ALLEGRO BRILLANTE, SCHERZO A LA RUSSE, CORTEGE HONGROIS, and PORTE & SOUPIR. And what has become of GOUNOD SYMPHONY which I saw once long ago? Let's hope these ballets will all be returning to the repertoire soon.

This was my first viewing of the Balanchine SWAN LAKE; note that among the starry names of the Swans is one who soon after added an "e" to her last name, moved to ABT, starred in three films and is now a choreographer:

Edwaard Liang's New Ballet for The Joffrey

Watch a video interview with dancer/choreographer Edwaard Liang at the Joffrey Ballet's blog. In October, The Joffrey will premiere Edwaard's newest work.

Edwaard will be dancing with MORPHOSES at City Center again this Autumn; the interview he so kindly gave me last year remains my all-time most-read blog item. Edwaard has also now been Wikified!

This Week: BATTLEWORKS @ The Joyce

BATTLEWORKS, the Company of former David Parsons dancer Robert Battle, will be at the Joyce July  29 - August 2. Find ticket info here...and watch a brief video of Battleworks in action here. (Photo: Tom Caravaglia).

Saratoga 2008 - Week 3

Kyle Froman's celebratory photo of his fellow dancers to mark the final week of the New York City Ballet's 2008 summer season at Saratoga.

FAREWELL: Soloist Jennifer Tinsley-Williams will make her final appearances with New York City Ballet this week. Wei and I always loved watching her, both for her technical strength and her evident joy in being onstage. In the interview she speaks of the injury complications which have interfered with her career. Wish we'd had a chance to bid her a proper farewell here in NYC! (Paul Kolnik headshot). Ballet companies rarely makes a fuss over the departures of soloists; usually when a soloist is leaving, it's his/her fellow dancers who manage to find a way to alert the audience: Wendy Whelan kissing Edwaard Liang's hand at his final NYCB curtain call; the warm send-off for Tom Gold led by Wendy and Philip Neal; Sascha Radetsky being saluted by Julie Kent and Ethan Stiefel at ABT. Soloists are always much-beloved among the fans; usually they are dancers who carry big work-loads, cover for the principals when they are sick, injured or pregnant, and have their own loyal bands of devotees.

While we're on the topic of favorite soloists, this story by former NYCB soloist and current Pacific Northwest Ballet principal Carla Korbes will be of great interest to admirers of the gorgeous Brazilian ballerina. Carla talks about the injury that has side-lined her for several months and her preparations for returning to the stage. Boa sorte, Carla!

Sara sends the following news item:

On Wednesday, July 23 New York City Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins accompanies several dancers from the legendary dance company for a special opening day appearance at Saratoga Race Course. The ballet company, now in summer residency at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, will gather at Saratoga Race Course during the third race (around 2:05 p.m.), which will be named in their honor. Dressed in costume, dancers from the New York City Ballet, and Martins, will present the trophy in the Winner's Circle. Later that evening, the ballet will take the stage at SPAC for an 8 p.m. performance of WESTERN SYMPHONY and OPUS 19/THE DREAMER.

The story sent me searching for the photo of Balanchine with Suzanne Farrell at the Saratoga racetrack. It's in Farrell's book...and here it is:



And - also thanks to Sara - links to interviews with Faycal Karoui, Gonzalo Garcia and Jenifer Ringer, and a review of GOLDBERG VARIATIONS.

Open the comments for news and discussion of City Ballet's final week at SPAC.

ABT Summer Intensive Performance

Friday July 25, 2008 @ 4:00 PM - Rob and I attended this performance at LaGuardia High School by students who had participated in ABT's Summer Intensive program. We sat down and skimmed the programme; it looked like a long afternoon and it was - but long in a good way, for neither the  choreography nor the young dancers left anything to be desired.

The performance started with several scenes from Kevin McKenzie's ABT staging of SWAN LAKE. First some of the youngest participants danced the Maypole Dance; of course I assumed I wouldn't know any of the kids but I did see a face I recognized: Drew Nelson who was featured in the series MY LIFE AS A CHILD and also in ABT's SLEEPING BEAUTY (Garland Waltz). Today, he stood out again later in Joe Istre's LOVE in the second half. Then we had a sort of abridged version of the first lakeside scene with a really impressive Odette (Jaime Hickey) who reveled in a soaring extension and impressive balances. The swans were lovely and I fell in love with one girl who reminded me of Rebecca Krohn - but of course I could not begin to guess her name from among the large cast. In the Czardas Rob and I both really liked Francesco Gabriele Frola who later made a fine impression in Olga Dvorovenko's ALLEGRO. The would-be-brides number was danced as a group piece with 18 girls - very nice - and then the Mazurka where we first encountered the two boys who very much impressed us: Esteban Hernandez and Joan Sebastian Zamora. A substantial part of the final scene concluded the SWAN LAKE offering with another fine Odette, Karen Johnson and her attentive Prince, Piergregorio Regazzo.

In the Dvorovenko ALLEGRO (to the familiar 'Little Night Music' of Mozart) Hernandez and Zamora  showed how they might become the next generation's Bujones and Cornejo, and Mr. Frola danced very well. In both ALLEGRO and Warren Connover's VARIATIONS FOR FOURTEEN  (an elaboration of Anton Dolin's VARIATIONS FOR FOUR) it was men only and there's plenty of talent ascending here and some really interesting personalities. Who will end up where? Impossible to predict.

The opening movement of Balanchine's SERENADE opened Part II followed by Tina Fehlandt's fun and funny NEW YORK RAG, NEW YORK WALTZ. As Rob remarked, it was interesting to see the variety of body types among the women. 

Having seen two works by Jessica Lang a few years ago for the ABT Studio Company (OBLIVION  to Astor Piazolla and SIX TO A BUNCH to Kenji Bunch - I really love her musical choices!) I was looking forward to YOU WILL BE SAFE. In her program note, Jessica stated that the work was a collaborative effort between the dancers and herself. Danced in bare feet to an intriguing score by Rachel's, the darkish tone of the work was breath-taking; the dancers moved beautifully thru the music creating an integrated sense of community. It's a work I would very much love to see again.

Joe Istre used the immortal Beatles songs Here Comes The Sun, Imagine and All You Need Is Love to create a joyful piece for a large group of the younger dancers; he gave them real choreography and they seemed to enjoy dancing it. I wonder if any of them know who the Beatles were? And doesn't Imagine seem timelier than ever?

When I worked at Tower, Leslie Browne was one of my favorite customers. She would come in and shop til she dropped, searching for music to choreograph. Today her BREAK THROUGH worked wonderfully to a grand-for-dancing score by Michael Torke. Her beautifully costumed (black with baby blue accents and  jeweled earrings - classy!) women were joined by the dynamic men (again Mssers. Zamora and Hernandez were notable) in this non-stop dance fest - yet another work that should be seen repeatedly.

The opening sequence of Balanchine's RAYMONDA VARIATIONS was prettily danced, and then Kirk Peterson used another exciting Michael Torke score to bring the afternoon to a spirited conclusion with his BRIGHT BLUE DANCING.

The afternoon sped by with nary a hitch despite the huge numbers of dancers involved. Sometimes they slipped but nobody fell (that I noticed); enthusiasm and youthful energy were in abundance and overall a great sense of commitment to what they were doing. The dancers seemed so young onstage and then as we were leaving they had begun to come out to the lobby and they looked positively childlike.  

Dance and The City

View beautiful dancers amid the splendor and squalor of New York City in a brilliant collection of photographs by Richard Calmes. Among those featured are Elise Drew and Kile Hotchkiss from TAKE Dance.  Above, Yannick Lebrun of Ailey II. (Also visit Kent Atwell's site for "the making of..." the Calmes collection)

Looking Ahead: MORPHOSES @ City Center

Details of the second City Center season for Christopher Wheeldon's MORPHOSES are announced here.