Archive for December 15th, 2008

December 5, 7, 10, and 13 2008
By Dean Cassella

Operetta is the most accessible of classical musical genres, and those examples of it composed by Johann Strauss, jr. (a.k.a “The Waltz King”) easily count among the most enjoyable. Operetta is a kind of half-way house between Opera (with a capital “O”) and the modern musical, in that they have scenes of spoken dialog between the arias—think The Marriage of Figaro without recitative dialog. In this production, the combination of frivolous plots, along with melodies that above all are meant to please, and a lax attitude with regard to the libretto (the text has been translated into English, with many effective alterations) means that everyone is simply supposed to have a good time. 

And a good time was definitely to be had in Die Fledermaus.  Set in late nineteenth-century Vienna, the sets, courtesy of Seattle Opera, beautifully evoke the elegant, refined style of the period (a kind of precursor to Art Deco). By far the star of the production is Ana María Martínez in the prima donna role of Rosalinde, a bourgeois wife whose husband is about to serve a brief jail sentence and whose old flame Alfred, a singer, has shown up to take advantage of the situation. Her voice is large and rich and reminiscent of the current soprano of choice, Renee Fleming. Whenever she is on stage, Martínez’s voice dominates. 

For those who like to know how the local talent fares in the rarefied world of classical music, this production boasts no less than two sizeable roles sung by Texans. Ava Pines, a soprano from Galveston, gives an admirable performance as Adele, a feisty and conniving chambermaid, especially in the second act. 

Hailing from Orange, Texas, lyric tenor Chad Shelton gives a fabulous performance as Alfred, the singer who once was the object of Rosalinde’s affections. In this production, the role of Alfred is modestly transformed into the Italian “Alfredo,” an amusing reference to the lead role in Verdi’s La Traviata. Shelton really hammed it up with a hilarious Italian accent, and parodic musical allusions to many romantic roles in the Italian repertoire. Perhaps the funniest of these was a brief reference to Cherubino, the star-crossed young lover in last month’s production of The Marriage of Figaro, as he (Alfredo) followed suit by jumping out of his would-be lover’s window. Shelton’s voice is both sweet and full and, like Martínez’s, really hits home at the crescendos.

Arguably the best laugh of the evening came from mezzo-soprano Marianna Kulikova in the ‘trouser role’ (see below) as the Russian Prince Orlosky, who in Act II informs his listeners that from his “home I can see Alaska.”

As far as acting was concerned, Grant Neale, in the non-singing role of the drunken jailer Frisch, put everybody to shame. It was clear from the moment he entered the stage that he was a professional actor rather than singer. This is perhaps ironic, since the highlight of his scene was an extended comic diatribe against opera provoked by an excessive dose of singing which he had to endure at the hands of Alfredo, thrown into jail by mistake.

To this production I took my eight-year old daughter, who has been nagging me for years to take her to the opera. Based on her reaction, I would say that this was a near-ideal introduction to the art. She was pleased that the production was in English and she found much to laugh at during the performance. Her favorite role was, understandably, Alfredo. The fact that Prince Orlosky was performed by a women led to an interesting discussion about ‘trouser roles’, i.e. male characters sung by female mezzo-sopranos, the purpose of which is to convey the sense that the male in question is very young.

Be sure to check back on January 16 for my “pre-game show” for Dallas Opera’s next production, Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, which premieres January 23.