Posts Tagged ‘Fort Worth Opera’

Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie
Fort Worth Opera, May, 2, 9 2009
Bass Performance Hall
Review by Dean Cassella

The Fort Opera Festival’s current production of Dead Man Walking, a relatively new (2006) work, has everything that one could hope for in an opera performance except one. The libretto, based on the memoir of a nun, Sister Helen Prejean, who counseled Patrick Sonnier (Joseph De Rocher in the opera), an inmate placed on death row for the brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl and her boyfriend, is riveting and thought-provoking.

Composer Jake Heggie has a profound gift for orchestration, made evident from the first bars of the prelude. The sets perfectly capture the bleak and somber atmosphere called for by the subject. The singers and musicians delivered a powerful, resonant performance worthy of the best halls in North America.

What is missing is melody.

Although I try not to be close-minded about these things, I do tend to approach new operas with a bit of suspicion. We are, for all intents and purposes, still living in the post-Wagnerian world when it comes to opera, and the last serious exemplar of tonal melody (who was himself half-Wagnerian) was Puccini. I actually love Wagner’s works, but I am one of those who believe that the great master set opera down a path that eventually stripped away the medium’s most enduring qualities, qualities at which Wagner himself excelled, despite his (often spectacularly successful) innovations.

Dead Man Walking narrates the last few weeks in the life of a man condemned to die by lethal injection in a Louisiana prison. Amidst the ordeal of his final appeal and last meetings with his mother and brothers, he develops a relationship with a nun who wrote letters to him, presumably under the Christian injunction to comfort those in prison. Through his relationship with Sister Prejean, he eventually comes to accept responsibility for his crime. The final scene—his execution—is performed in absolute silence as he is strapped to a table and hooked up to a machine that administers the poison. The humming of the machine is harrowing, as was the reenactment of the rape in murder at the beginning of Act I.

The melodies throughout are almost entirely dissonant (but in a mild way) except for a Christian hymn sung by the nun in her first appearance. One could almost think of this music as her leitmotiv—or that of “hope”. Although one could argue that this bleak subject matter calls for such a harmonic treatment, and it does, in fact, work most of the time, I nonetheless believe that the work’s impact would have been greater if the dissonance was balanced by some consonance. Rigoletto, after all, deals with some very dark and seedy subject matter, and even has its own version of De Rocher in the person of Sparafucile. Yet that work contains some of the most powerful song in the whole standard repertoire. Another interesting point of comparison is Carmen, the work which began this season’s Fort Worth Festival. As was pointed out in the program, Carmen caused some problems for its original audience because such unsavory characters were singing such beautiful melodies. In Dead Man Walking, scenes which included De Rocher’s mother, either pleading to the parole board to spare her son’s life, or bidding goodbye to him just before he was escorted to the death chamber, were crying out for even a touch of the sentimentality that made opera the art form that it is. Had Heggie used song-like melody, the impact of De Rocher’s execution would have been three-fold.

Bass Baritone Daniel Okulitch, most recently seen locally in the lead role in Dallas Opera’s Marriage of Figaro last fall, gave an outstanding performance as De Rocher, and his loud, edgy voice captured the character perfectly. He also gave a partial reprise of his recent nude scene in Paris/L.A’s The Fly although this time he only strips down to his tighty whities. But the loss of genitalia shock value is made up for by the large number of tattoos Okulitch sports for the role. So far as I can tell, the operatic  ”naked thing” got its start in the late 80’s with Sir Peter Hall casting his wife, Maria Ewing, in the title role of Strauss’ Salome, wherein she takes it all off during the Dance of the Seven Veils, something that has of late seemed almost de rigeur.

Speaking of nudity, the Fort Worth Opera website gave one of those “nudity and mature themes” warnings that usually turns out to be a type of lurid promotion. This was not the case here, because the proviso referred not to Okulitch, but rather to the rape/murder at the beginning of Act I. Although the stage was so dark that it was hard to tell just how much covering the actors had, it was disturbing, if only because the simulation was being done with live people, rather than filtered through a projector lens or monitor. In any case, there was nothing erotic about it (unless you are as depraved as De Rocher).

Prima donna Robin Redmon played the role of Sister Prejean in a very prosaic, low-key way that makes sense, given the character. Her powerful, lovely singing, however, was anything but prosaic.

In conclusion, I believe that Dead Man Walking is a worthwhile experiment, and certainly was worth the time and effort to see. I would encourage others to give it a chance in future productions. Attending the show with me was someone who has active interest in classical music, but relatively little sympathy for modern composition. Despite her initial reservations, she found the production well worth seeing.

But I still wonder if I will ever get to see a new opera in my lifetime that embraces, rather than avoids, soaring melody and song.

Cinderella
by Gioacchino Rossini
Fort Worth Opera

Bass Performance Hall, 26 April, 1, 9 May, 2009

Review by Dean Cassella

There is no doubt that Fort Worth Opera’s latest incarnation as a spring festival has come of age and warrants national attention by opera lovers,   and its current version of the Rossini’s classic is one of the finest productions I have had the pleasure of seeing. 

Guest conductor Scott Bergeson’s direction was light, delicate and lively from the opening bars of the overture, and sustained the viewers’ attention through a long (three hour) performance.

A real treat in this production is stage director David Gately’s delightful and often hilarious hijinx that match perfectly (in my opinion) with the spirit of the libretto. This includes a large number of carefully choreographed jokes, the most effective which is the old standby “slow motion” routine at the end of act one (used by FWO at the end of Act I of The Barber of Seville back in 2003). I have no idea where this device originated, but it always does the trick. Here, it is employed in the banquet scene, which includes the dreams of Cinderella’s stepsisters wherein the latter is carved up as part of the festivities.

In keeping with modern, Hollywood-influenced trends, the singers in this production have been carefully chosen to match the age and appearance expectations of current audiences. Although this can sometimes create compromises in vocal quality, this was a non-issue here, as all principals had outstanding voices. Prima donna Isabel Leonard, a petite darling of a thing, captivates with her voice from the first scene, and never lets go. On a few occasions her voice had trouble carrying over the orchestra. But generally she could more than carry her own.

Italian Michele Angelini was a perfect match for Leonard as lead tenor in the role of Prince Ramiro. His voice has that firm yet delicate quality that so well suits the “dreamy young man of marriageable age.” The pair’s voices blended perfectly from their first duet together in Act I.

Rod Nelman, in the buffo-bass role of Don Magnifico, the bumbling and cruel step-father, really came into his own in Act II. He did a brilliant job with the rapid-fire patter that is one of the hallmarks of opera buffa. Also worthy of note was the dashing, flamboyant singing of Andrew Garland as Dandini, the valet-turned-prince-for-a-day that helps to vet out prospective brides for his lord incognito. Brandi Icard and Alissa Anderson also sang well, and demonstrated genuine acting skill as the buffoonish, spoiled sisters who will stop at nothing to marry the prince. Finally, Derrick Parker as Alidoro, the prince’s tutor, was commendable both vocally and acting-wise.

The sets, borrowed from Kentucky Opera, and the costumes, borrowed from San Francisco Opera (and designed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, whose death over 20 years ago has had no effect on his career as a set and costume designer!), were quite beautiful, especially Cinderella’s black and silver ball gown.

For this production, I brought along a boy of 14 who has a modest interest in opera. He really appreciated the humorous and spirited stage direction, in particular the slow-motion dream sequence mentioned above, and Nelman’s boorishness as Don Magnifico.

All in all, signs point to a distinguished future for the Fort Worth Opera Festival. Kudos to Darren Woods and the whole company!

Next up: Dead Man Walking.

FORT WORTH – Fort Worth Opera has been working together with Bass Performance Hall to monitor the risks associated with the H1N1 virus and has announced that the Fort Worth Opera Festival, which opened April 25, 2009 will continue as planned – with a few adjustments.

In an effort to ease concerns over the spread of the H1N1 virus (commonly called the “swine flu”) and to promote public health, Fort Worth Opera is taking the following steps for the remainder of the 2009 Festival Season, which will continue through May 10, 2009:

§         All employees, contractors, volunteers, and ushers will be provided with updated swine flu information per the Center for Disease Control, including tips to prevent the spread of the disease and symptoms.

§         All employees, contractors, volunteers, and ushers have been instructed to stay home if they experience symptoms of the H1N1 virus until they have been cleared by a medical professional to return to work.

§         Employees, contractors, volunteers and ushers working at Fort Worth Opera Festival performances at Bass Performance Hall will be provided hand sanitizer and instructed to use it frequently as well as provide it to customers upon request.

§         Fort Worth Opera is working with Bass Performance Hall, which already has stringent cleaning policies in place, to coordinate additional measures to provide a safe and entertaining environment for patrons attending the Fort Worth Opera Festival.

§         Cough drops will be provided at each performance free of charge.

Ticket holders usually do not attend opera when feeling sick, as the art form is not conducive to coughing or getting up and down due to illness.  However, as an additional precaution, Fort Worth Opera is reminding ticket holders to consult the Center for Disease Control or other reliable source for H1N1 symptom information and requesting that they not attend an opera if they are experiencing any symptoms, no matter how mild. The company has implemented alternative options for ticket buyers who are experiencing symptoms.

Darren K. Woods, General Director of Fort Worth Opera said, “An opera performance is not the same environment as a school, so we are not concerned at this time. As a precaution, we are taking steps to ensure that the environment is as sanitary and safe as possible.”

More information about Fort Worth Opera, the Festival, customer options, and the steps the company is taking to minimize the risk of H1N1 transmission can be found on the company’s website: www.fwopera.org or by calling 817.731.0726.

Schedule of remaining 2009 performances at Bass Performance Hall:

May 10             2 p.m.               Dead Man Walking

More information can be found on the website: www.fwopera.org.