Oberon's Grove

SALOME at the Met

Tuesday September 30, 2008 - Karita Mattila has returned to sing the title-role in SALOME at the Met, a production in which she triumphed in 2004. (Ken Howard photo, above) She gives a complete performance, unsparing in vocal passion and utterly inhabiting the role at every moment. At times she seems pushed to the very limits of her voice's possibilities but she plunges on, sailing up and down the range from full-throttle tops to sultry chest tones. A few of the highest notes seemed just a shade flat and not all her forays to the top fell pleasingly on the ear but she swept aside any concerns with her complete involvement - the kind of personal commitment that has marked so many great operatic interpretations over the years. I've seen some fantastic Salomes - Rysanek, Niska, Bumbry, Marton, Behrens, Malfitano - and Mattila stands comfortably in that stellar assemblage. 

Mikko Franck was to have conducted but withdrew due to illness and Patrick Summers took over. His tempi were excellent and the glistening orchestral effects and decadent harmonies of the music were given full rein. His unfortunate tendency to swamp the singers detracted from the overall success of the evening. 

Juha Uusitalo as Jochanaan was most affected by Mr. Summers' orchestral onslaughts. The Finnish bass-baritone has a warm timbre and could have been a very fine Jochanaan had Mr. Summers permitted us to hear more of his singing. Wisely, Uusitalo didn't try to out-shout the orchestra. In the beautiful passage where the prophet tells Salome to seek Christ at the Sea of Galilee, Uusilato made his most telling effect of the evening.

 

Ildiko Komlosi made a meal out of the role of Herodias. Looking like glam photos of Elizabeth Taylor with her black hair, dangling jeweled earrings and luxuriant decolletage, this Herodias gives her daughter a run for her money in the sex-bomb department. But in this production Herodias is too busy getting plastered to even think about sex. Ms. Komlosi sang Charlotte in WERTHER here for her Met debut in 1999; at that time she was a lyric mezzo and gave a very attractive performance. She has since gone the dramatic route and her big, biting voice flourished in the over-the-top phrases of Herodias. I'll look forward to her Santuzza later this season opposite Jose Cura.

[In December 2006, Ms. Komlosi's became something of a household name (well, in opera-loving households anyway) when she was singing Amneris at La Scala on the night Roberto Alagna walked off after being heckled following his "Celeste Aida". Ms. Komlosi remained onstage and Alagna's understudy, Antonello Palombi, still in street clothes, appeared and began singing.]

Kim Begley as Herod was somewhat hampered by the volume Summers was sending up from the pit; Begley's voice isn't quite thrustingly metallic enough to cut thru. He had many colorful phrases and a brilliant top note as he ordered Salome's death. He wasn't as loutish or grotesque as some who have played the role.

Joseph Kaiser seemed to push his tone somewhat but he was a sturdy Narraboth. Lucy Schaufer's deliciously fruity tone made her a very appealing Page and Morris Robinson's torrent of sound was truly impressive as the First Nazarene (a role I heard Samuel Ramey sing early in his career). Keith Miller and Richard Bernstein were strong-voiced Soldiers and Allan Glassman's First Jew was cuttingly sung; the scene of the Jews was very amusing. Reveka Mavrovitis made an effect as the Slave and David Won looks great in a tux - but the Met needs to give him bigger roles than that of the Cappadocian. 

The nightclubbish setting looked quite dazzling tonight, and Dmitry and I were surprised - as we took our seats - to see a new front drop-curtain of fanciful cherubs which wasn't part of the original design. I thought maybe they'd changed the opera to MEFISTOFELE.

The house was nearly full and it was one of the most attentive audiences in recent seasons. The newly-restored chandeliers look brilliant - now if they'd remove that 'Fidelio' sculpture from over the proscenium the Met would be looking pretty good. Despite a big roar for Mattila, the applause died promptly after one set of bows. Curiously, as the whole cast was bowing we heard a couple of very loud boos but it was hard to guess who or what they were aimed at.

Nude Prude

Going tonight to see the Met's SALOME with its momentary Karita Mattila nude scene makes me think about my odd dislike of stage nudity. Really, it has nothing to do with prudery or 'morality'. It's simply distracting.

I have nothing against nudity in general. For years, we always stayed at clothing-free guest houses in Provincetown and went to the nude beach. When visiting NYC from Hartford, I used to stay at the Colonial House with its nude rooftop sundeck. I love pornography as much as the next fellow. Having lived a fairly promiscuous lifestyle up til my 50th year, I've pretty much seen it all. And we are invariably nude at home.

But I don't like seeing it onstage at the opera or the ballet. Dance belt, jock strap, g-string, see-thru, shirtless men, topless women: fine. But complete nudity is too distracting: you focus on that instead of on what is being sung or danced. You lose your concentration; you start feeling aroused and your mind starts wandering.

Of course, nudity in a stage production practically guarantees good box office. I remember a few years ago that NYC Opera gave a production of Gluck's ORFEO ED EURUDICE. In their pre-season publicity NYCO posted a small-print caveat under the details for ORFEO; "Warning: This production contains nudity". I was going to NYCO fairly regularly at that time; the house was usually 60-75% full. But when I went to ORFEO, it was packed. My usher-friend said every performance attracted bigger-than-usual crowds. It was actually the ballet (the music used by Balanchine for CHACONNE) that was performed nude. I've never seen so many audience members armed with big binoculars at an opera performance.

When Maralin Niska sang Emilia Marty in Janacek's MAKROPOULOS AFFAIR at NYCO she had a nude scene. Telling the Baron Prus how she had developed a masochistic streak, she doffed her dressing gown as she turned her back on the audience so we could see the whip-lash marks on her torso. Just tantalizing enough without showing it all. Catherine Malfitano also bared herself from time to time.

In SALOME, Mattila's nudity is brief and she's courageous to do it. But whether it really adds anything to the production is questionable.

Nudity aside, I was thinking of Leonie Rysanek's famous quote about the Strauss character: "There are three kinds of Salomes: those who can sing it, those who can dance it, and those who should be shot."

Ingrid Bjoner: TURANDOT A.B.

 

Birgit Nilsson simply WAS Turandot. You can play her recordings of the role, commercial or pirated, and get knocked out by the power and accuracy of her singing. However, if you didn't experience it in-house, you were simply born too late. I count the five times I heard Nilsson launch "In questa reggia" (including the night she cracked!) among the highest of the heights of operatic excitement I experienced over the last forty-five years.

Elinor Ross and Marion Lippert took on the role at the Met when Birgit gave it up around 1970 but I didn't see Lippert as the Icy Princess and only saw Ross a bit later. My first Turandot A.B. (After Birgit) was Ingrid Bjoner.




Metropolitan Opera House
November 13, 1974


TURANDOT {126}

Turandot................Ingrid Bjoner
Calàf...................James McCracken
Liù.....................Lucine Amara
Timur...................Richard T. Gill
Ping....................Robert Goodloe
Pang....................Andrea Velis
Pong....................Charles Anthony
Emperor Altoum..........Robert Schmorr
Mandarin................Arthur Thompson
Prince of Persia........Marcus Bugler
Servant.................Ivan Allen
Servant.................Jack Hertzog
Servant.................Marc Verzatt
Executioner.............Jacques Cesbron
Executioner.............Alastair Munro
Executioner.............William Badolato

Conductor...............Alberto Erede

Bjoner had been a favorite singer of mine on broadcasts and tapes but I was seeing her 'live' for the first time.

"...her voice has a steady vibrato which - once accepted - does not deter from her performance, at least not for me. After a silvery and strong 'In questa reggia', Bjoner gave a most impressive account of the entire Riddle Scene, vocally glorious and vividly declaimed. She topped this with two magnificent high-Cs, ringing out over the chorus and orchestra like huge, glistening walls of sound. All of her singing in the third act, including some stentorian high notes, was really impressive and she ended the opera by swelling from piano to full-voice on the final B-flat and holding it forever..." 

"In light of so much vocal security, Bjoner would have been a highly successful Turandot even if she hadn't acted at all. But instead, her acting surpassed her singing and she gave a very exciting portrayal. Bjoner plays Turandot exactly as the libretto would have her played: no coyness, no hint of melting to Calaf. Birgit was sometimes almost playful with her prey, but not Bjoner. Her first appearance established her at once as a beautiful Principessa...her second act was extraordinary: furious as Calaf gained ground in the riddles...her glance at Liu's interjection could have killed. When she was defeated, Bjoner raced forward to isolate herself: there she sang her high-Cs. No by-play with the lollipop (*) - she was having nothing to do with Calaf. When he offered her a way out, she grasped it as an opportunity to mend her damaged pride and began to ascend the staircase. Here again, Bjoner scored - she did not turn around or allow Calaf to approach her; she merely glanced over her shoulder and continued her ascent, amplifying her other-wordliness.

Clearly shaken by Liu's explanation of love, Bjoner shuddered visibly as the slave girl sang 'Tu che di gel...'  Turandot was mystified by her own feelings, questioning herself. She was horrified by Calaf's kiss and she rejoiced when he revealed his name. This Calaf could not have known what Turandot would say before the gathered court. At the end, Bjoner eschewed the 'face-the-audience-regally' pose and instead stood embracing Calaf and quietly talking to him."

This series of TURANDOTs were Bjoner's last appearances at the Met.

(*) The 'lollipop' as we called it was a small sceptre which looked like an all-day sucker decorated with sequins which Turandot carried in this production; Bjoner's holding it in the costume photo above. Birgit had developed the habit of playing "fetch" with this prop when she and Corelli sang the opera together. She would fling the 'lollipop' across the stage in her rage at having lost the riddle game and the Franco would doggedly pick it up and present it to her. It seemed that Birgit threw it further and further in repeated performances. I heard that Franco got tired of this little in-joke eventually and one night he refused to play along. Bjoner left this by-play out of her interpretation and I thought she was wise to do so.       

MORPHOSES in London (Updated!)

UPDATE: More news here.

A quote from the blog Teenage Theatre Critic: "Unsurprisingly, Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowroski are flawlessly beautiful through every step and Craig Hall is a worthy partner to any ballerina, lifting with such care. Standout of the night overall though was Edwaard Liang who performed in all three pieces and acquitted himself supremely throughout."

Review here, photos and discussion here.  Above: a Yaniv Schulman photo of Rory Hohenstein, Craig Hall and Adrian Danchig-Waring.

Above: Two John Ross photos from COMMEDIA, the new Wheeldon ballet.

A LIGHT CONVERSATION @ Joyce/SoHo

Wednesday September 24, 2008 - Taylor, Tonya and I were invited to a working rehearsal of a new work, A LIGHT CONVERSATION, at Joyce SoHo jointly created by dancer-choreographers Wally Cardona and Rahel Vonmoos (photo: Heinz Peter Knes). I arrived at the prescribed time in a rather bad mood, preoccupied and even a bit annoyed with myself for having accepted the invitation which meant trekking downtown and breaking up my day. I was prepared quite honestly to dislike whatever was offered. Instead, I ended up loving it.

I'd never been in this intimate venue before and it was the feeling of being so close to the dance that gave the afternoon a sense of immediacy. Beyond that, the concept and the performance were extremely unusual and brought off with a deep sense of commitment by the two dancers.

Wally first explained that we weren't seeing a finished product: lighting was still being sorted out and other production details were in-progress (I don't know if there will be 'costumes' per se) but that they wanted to do a full run-thru.

To begin, a narrator told the story of Soren Kirkegaard's relationship with Regine Olsen, a woman with whom he was deeply in love and who loved him in return. The marriage was planned and all seemed auspicious when Kirkegaard suddenly broke off the relationship. Apparently they never stopped loving one another, even when Regine married someone else.

After this brief introduction, I expected some beautiful, moody Scandinavian music to start - maybe Sibelius or Grieg - but instead the entire piece is danced to a recording of a panel discussion of Kierkegaard. I would say there are two choices to finding a way into this work: one is to relate the dance to what is being discussed by the panel; the other is to tune out what is actually being said and focus instead on the rhythms and dynamics of the speeches. The latter is what I did and so, while I was aware of what was being said, it was the patterns of speech that became music. Only at one point does 'real music' take over: a turbulent percussion onslaught marks the turning point in the lovers' relationship. Later, what seems to be a telephone conversation between partners at the end of an affair is played: monosyllables and buzzwords...a conversation going nowhere.

Wally is an Everyman kind of dancer: bearded and a little scruffy, he's like the guy next door. Rahel really is captivating in her deep femininity and vulnerability; as she came near us, her eyes often seemed to focus on some distant illusion. They worked seamlessly together, moving around the playing area with expressive gestures of arms and hands. The movement is detailed and often seems spontaneous, though clearly it has been meticulously planned and is compellingly executed.

Benjamin's Paris Premiere

Benjamin Millepied's TRIADE, set to a Nico Muhly score, has been premiered by the Paris Opera Ballet. Above: Laetitia Pujol, Marc Moreau and Audric Bezard.

Triade

CRÉATION MONDIALE

Musique Nico Muhly (commande de l’Opéra national de Paris)
Chorégraphie et costumes Benjamin Millepied
Lumières Rémi Nicolas

Mariko & Kile: Dancing on Columbus (Updated!)

Sunday September 21, 2008 - As part of this weekend's Columbus Avenue Festival, choreographer Takehiro Ueyama (founder and artistic director of TAKE Dance) created a duet for Mariko Kurihara and Kile Hotchkiss which they performed three times over the course of the afternoon at a mini-festival in front of the Danskin Store on Columbus Avenue. Photo of Kile and Mariko dancing in the shade courtesy of Sarah.

UPDATE: The performance is now on YouTube.

It was a gorgeous end-of-summer day and I got to the spot at 1:00 to meet Sarah. Take, Jill Echo, Kile & Mariko spotted me easily as I was wearing my TAKE Tee-shirt. They explained apologetically that they had gone on a bit earlier than expected and would be dancing again in an hour. No problem: Sarah and I got crepes and lemonade and went to sit in the shade of a nearby church garden. We went back and watched some of the dancing: tango and tap. I sometimes forget how much fun tap can be.

When I say that Kile and Mariko were 'dancing on Columbus' I mean literally: right on the pavement. Kile stepped into the performing space out of nowhere and in a moment Mariko approached from the opposite corner. They were dressed casually and wearing sneakers. The duet is pure Take: flowing motion and lyrical partnering, with just a touch of an edge. Kile and Mariko make a very appealing partnership: he is tall and fair and she is a petite black-haired beauty. I can't begin to express my admiration for their ability to create a real atmosphere amid the street noise, fussing toddlers and a funky sound system. Their concentration was such that even a woman who brainlessly wandered into their space didn't faze them. I felt really drawn in to the choreography and their dancing: to a point where the distractions were tuned-out.

Take told me afterwards that he hopes to integrate this pas de deux into a longer piece. I will be looking forward to seeing the result.

Sarah is holding up well with her upcoming move, and it was great to see Sophie B again...it's thanks to Sophie that I discovered TAKE Dance.

The performance reminded me: I really MUST get a digital camera. So many photo ops and me unable to take advantage.

It's Almost Time...

...for MORPHOSES! (Yaniv Schulman photo)

ABT Celebrates Tudor

American Ballet Theatre salutes choreographer Anthony Tudor here.

Our New Apollo Is Born (Updated!)

Roslyn Sulcas reports on the gala evening at the Salle Garnier, Paris where dancers from the New York City Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet joined for what sounds like a spectacular evening. Among what seems to have been a remarkable gathering of dancers, Sebastien Marcovici's debut as Apollo (with new Muses Sara Mearns and Teresa Reichlen joined by the superb Parisian etoile Agnes Letestu) heralds the next era for Balanchine's masterpiece. How I wish APOLLO was in the repertory for the coming NYCB season at Lincoln Center! (Photo: Sebastien Mathe)

Nice to read about Ben Millepied's success dancing for the home crowd (has he ever danced SUITE here in NYC? I don't think so...) and it was so lovely this morning to read what Sulcas wrote about Wendy Whelan, too.

UPDATE: Monica Wellington writes glowingly of the evening here. I cannot wait to see her photos! And what a thrill to sit under the Chagall ceiling!!

Meanwhile, Palpatine has returned for another programme.