The Opera Tattler

Opera San José's Florencia en el Amazonas

* Notes *
Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas (Act II pictured, photograph by David Allen) had a long overdue Bay Area premiere at Opera San José last weekend. The attractive new production features lots of strong singing.

The music is reminiscent of Puccini, lots of shimmery swells of sound. The orchestra sounded robust under Maestro Joseph Marcheso. Likewise the singing was very powerful.

Bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian (Captain) has impressive low notes that resonate well. Baritone Ricardo José Rivera has a loud, booming voice, and he was suitably fey as Riolobo. Baritone Efraín Solís sounded very distinct from Rivera, his part as Alvaro is much more of this world, and his warm, textured sound was charming. He sang well with mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz, I like her part of Paula, as there are an interesting range of feelings that are explored with this role.

Tenor César Delgado and soprano Aléxa Anderson are convincing as young lovers Arcadio and Rosalba. Delgado is plaintive and Anderson is bright. Soprano Elizabeth Caballero did a fine job with the title role of Florencia Grimaldi. She has a dramatic flair to her sound, her final aria "Escúchame" was effective.

The set, designed by Liliana Duque-Piñeiro, has two pieces of scenery that suggest the river boat, basically some stairs with a deck and a paddlewheel. There are also a bunch of large cutout pieces hanging from the ceiling that are leaves and vines of the jungle, it is pretty, and the lighting pulls everything together. It wasn't always clear when the characters were on the boat or not, or when they were traveling on the river. Director Crystal Manich has the singers push the pieces of the set around to change the scenes, which went smoothly. I liked the butterfly imagery that was employed throughout the opera, there was a puppet, winged costumes, and blue butterfly confetti.

* Tattling * 
The audience silent for the most part, I only noted a light crinkling of paper from the center of the orchestra level during Act II, but it was only for about a minute.

San Diego Opera's Florencia en el Amazonas

* Notes *
A vibrant production of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas opened at San Diego Opera last night. The sets and singing had much to recommend it, and it was easy to see why this piece has been revived multiple times in the almost 22 years since its premiere in Houston.

The music is lyrical and exuberant, and most of the singing was absolutely lovely. Only baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco (Riolobo) seemed underpowered, though he is a fine actor and boasts an impressive physique.

I liked the range of emotions portrayed by mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala as Paula, part of a bickering couple seeking to renew their love, she was frighteningly shrill at the outset and charmingly warm at the end. Her other half, baritone Levi Hernandez as Alvaro, was affable. Baritone Hector Vásquez (Capitán) sang with authority.

Tenor Daniel Montenegro and soprano María Fernanda Castillo sang beautifully together as they fall in love as Arcadio and Rosalba. Montenegro's voice is sweet, while Castillo's is brilliant. As opera singer Florencia Grimaldi, soprano Elaine Alvarez seemed perfectly suited, her rich, vivid voice was very convincing.

The set, from Mark F. Smith, is essentially a steamboat on a turntable, and this is effective, especially with the lighting. It definitely had a resemblance to Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, which is fun, since both works deal with the Amazon and opera. Much of the chorus wore unitards some festooned with elaborate accessories to represent the water of the Amazon and various jungle beasts. This was in keeping with the libretto, which takes inspiration from Gabriel Garcia Marquez (perhaps Love in the Time of Cholera is most obvious) and has a dreamy, surreal quality.

 

* Tattling * 
The audience fairly quiet, though two men behind me in the center of Row S did make some loud comments.

Daniel Catán

Opera composer Daniel Catán died yesterday in Austin, Texas. He was 62.

NPR | Biography

World Premiere of Il Postino at LA Opera

* Notes *
The Los Angeles Opera 2010-2011 season opened with the world premiere of Daniel Catán's Il Postino. The music is lush and ornate, has soaring lyrical lines, and is pretty enough to not scare those wary of new music. Though the action takes place in Italy, and the title is Italian, the libretto is in Spanish. This was amusing, a sort of inversion of famous operas like Carmen or Il Barbiere. Neruda's poetry is used in the text, especially the poem "Mañana XXVII."

The set and costumes, both designed by Riccardo Hernandez, likewise were attractive. The tiled turquoise and cobalt floor was especially stunning, though one imagines the effect is better from the balcony than the orchestra. Jennifer Tipton's lighting designed featured many spotlights, and the those projections by Philip Bussmann that were visible in the balcony involved many words and water.

Grant Gershon conducted the orchestra, the sound was full, the brass blurred. The onstage banda was charming, and the accordion was particularly wonderful. The chorus sounded lovely in Act III, this was one of the most moving parts of the piece. The clear standout in the smaller roles was Gabriel Lautaro Osuna (Mario's father), who sang a gorgeous a cappella aria in the wedding scene of Act II. The music here was poignant.

Nancy Fabiola Herrera was hilarious as Donna Rosa, Beatrice's suspicious and protective aunt. Her warm voice betrayed no strain. In contrast, Cristina Gallardo-Domâs trembled her way through Matilde Neruda, and the Act II duet with Plácido Domingo (Pablo Neruda) was not flattering to her. Amanda Squitieri (Beatrice Russo) was icy and piercing, at first perhaps a bit shrill, but she sounded strong in the last act.

Charles Castronovo was winsome in the title role, he projected the earnest, often abashed nature of Mario Ruoppolo clearly. Though he has a very pleasing sound, vocally he could not compete with Domingo. The latter sang with vigor and youth, despite having not sung in the final dress rehearsal because of a sore throat.

* Tattling * 
The audience was better behaved than usual. There was some speaking and unwrapping of cough drops during the music. A few watch alarms were also heard. The worst noise seemed to come from the lighting booth at the very back of the house.

The crowd at the stage door after the performance was formidable. One person was heard to joke that he had could not believe someone made an opera of Kevin Costner's post-apocalyptic film. A pair of immodest girls in revealing gowns were seen congratulating tenor Daniel Montenegro (1st Thug).