English Touring Opera are delighted to announce a season of lyric monodramas to tour nationally from October to December. The season features music for solo singer and piano by Argento, Britten, Tippett and Shostakovich with a bold and inventive approach to making opera during social distancing.
This tenth of ten Live from London concerts was in fact a recorded live performance from California. It was no less enjoyable for that, and it was also uplifting to learn that this wasn’t in fact the ‘last’ LfL event that we will be able to enjoy, courtesy of VOCES8 and their fellow vocal ensembles (more below …).
Ever since Wigmore Hall announced their superb series of autumn concerts, all streamed live and available free of charge, I’d been looking forward to this song recital by Ian Bostridge and Imogen Cooper.
Although Stile Antico’s programme article for their Live from London recital introduced their selection from the many treasures of the English Renaissance in the context of the theological debates and upheavals of the Tudor and Elizabethan years, their performance was more evocative of private chamber music than of public liturgy.
Evidently, face masks don’t stifle appreciative “Bravo!”s. And, reducing audience numbers doesn’t lower the volume of such acclamations. For, the audience at Wigmore Hall gave soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and pianist Simon Lepper a greatly deserved warm reception and hearty response following this lunchtime recital of late-Romantic song.
For this week’s Live from London vocal recital we moved from the home of VOCES8, St Anne and St Agnes in the City of London, to Kings Place, where The Sixteen - who have been associate artists at the venue for some time - presented a programme of music and words bound together by the theme of ‘reflection’.
'Such is your divine Disposation that both you excellently understand, and royally entertaine the Exercise of Musicke.’
‘And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven … that old serpent … Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.’
There was never any doubt that the fifth of the twelve Met Stars Live in Concert broadcasts was going to be a palpably intense and vivid event, as well as a musically stunning and theatrically enervating experience.
‘Love’ was the theme for this Live from London performance by Apollo5. Given the complexity and diversity of that human emotion, and Apollo5’s reputation for versatility and diverse repertoire, ranging from Renaissance choral music to jazz, from contemporary classical works to popular song, it was no surprise that their programme spanned 500 years and several musical styles.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields have titled their autumn series of eight concerts - which are taking place at 5pm and 7.30pm on two Saturdays each month at their home venue in Trafalgar Square, and being filmed for streaming the following Thursday - ‘re:connect’.
The London Symphony Orchestra opened their Autumn 2020 season with a homage to Oliver Knussen, who died at the age of 66 in July 2018. The programme traced a national musical lineage through the twentieth century, from Britten to Knussen, on to Mark-Anthony Turnage, and entwining the LSO and Rattle too.
With the Live from London digital vocal festival entering the second half of the series, the festival’s host, VOCES8, returned to their home at St Annes and St Agnes in the City of London to present a sequence of ‘Choral Dances’ - vocal music inspired by dance, embracing diverse genres from the Renaissance madrigal to swing jazz.
Just a few unison string wriggles from the opening of Mozart’s overture to Le nozze di Figaro are enough to make any opera-lover perch on the edge of their seat, in excited anticipation of the drama in music to come, so there could be no other curtain-raiser for this Gala Concert at the Royal Opera House, the latest instalment from ‘their House’ to ‘our houses’.
"Before the ending of the day, creator of all things, we pray that, with your accustomed mercy, you may watch over us."
The doors at The Metropolitan Opera will not open to live audiences until 2021 at the earliest, and the likelihood of normal operatic life resuming in cities around the world looks but a distant dream at present. But, while we may not be invited from our homes into the opera house for some time yet, with its free daily screenings of past productions and its pay-per-view Met Stars Live in Concert series, the Met continues to bring opera into our homes.
Music-making at this year’s Grange Festival Opera may have fallen silent in June and July, but the country house and extensive grounds of The Grange provided an ideal setting for a weekend of twelve specially conceived ‘promenade’ performances encompassing music and dance.
There’s a “slide of harmony” and “all the bones leave your body at that moment and you collapse to the floor, it’s so extraordinary.”
“Music for a while, shall all your cares beguile.”
The hum of bees rising from myriad scented blooms; gentle strains of birdsong; the cheerful chatter of picnickers beside a still lake; decorous thwacks of leather on willow; song and music floating through the warm evening air.
![Vanessa Vasquez (Liu) and Jonathan Burton (Calaf) [Photo by Duane Tinkey]](http://www.operatoday.com/DSC_0407.png)
With Turandot, Des Moines Metro Opera operated from the premise of prima la voce, and if the no-holds-barred singing and rhapsodic playing didn’t send shivers down your spine, well, you were at the wrong address.
The leading roles were deluxe casting , the envy of any world opera house. There are few roles with more baggage than Turandot and Calaf. The legendary pairing of Nilsson and Corelli is still discussed in opera circles, and even if we never heard them live, their voices are still in our head. Too, Pavarotti owned the aria Nessun dorma, and even thought he didn’t do all that many performances of the full role, interpreters are judged against that gold standard. Happily, our title role interpreter and her princely suitor were up to the task.
Alexandra Lobianco is well remembered here for her feisty Minnie in a recent season. If Fanciulla is a Big Sing for the soprano, Princess Turandot is a Big Sing on Steroids. The fiendishly high, clarion singing required is balanced with the need for controlled delicacy after her conversion to a loving mindset. Ms. Lobianco is short of physical stature, but makes up for it with potent spinto vocalizing that has its own towering presence. As she kept pouring out laser-focused riddles, rising in pitch as well as intensity, we sat wondering: “Where is all that glorious voice coming from”?
Alexandra Lobianco (Turandot) and kneeling, Jonathan Burton (Calaf)
Later, after she is vanquished, Alexandra’s Princess was able to lighten and mellow her legato phrases to convey first crushing defeat, then willing acceptance. From hostility to acquiescence, from fortissimo to pianissimo and all points between, nothing about this taxing role eluded her. She has recently successfully debuted at the Vienna State Opera, and further stardom is surely to follow.
Jonathan Burton is a match made in heaven, having previously paired so wonderfully with this soprano in the Golden West. Mr. Burton sings this role as successfully as anyone around, with a firm, substantial tenor that has plenty of buzz and boom. When he is called upon to ride the full orchestra, stand back! He can pin your ears to the back wall. But he can also rein in his large voice to suggest a glowing lyricism that is irresistibly charismatic. Could lightning strike a third time, and could DMMO lure this perfectly paired duo back for yet another collaboration? Please, Opera God?
As the one sympathetic character in the love triangle, and with two memorable arias, Liu can often run off with the show, and Vanessa Vasquez gave her co-stars a run for their money. Ms. Vasquez is a major “find,” with a stunningly rich lyric soprano, leaning into the spinto territory. Her poised pianissimo flights above the staff were heart stopping in their beautiful timbre. Combined with her impeccable musicianship and endearing presence, Vanessa’s star is on the rise.
From Left, Pang: Brian Frutiger; Ping: Michael Adams; Pong: Chris Carr
Ping (Michael Adams), Pang (Brian Frutiger) and Pong (Chris Carr) were particularly well sung, with polished flair, and consummate beauty of line. While their movements and gestures were cleverly coordinated, and while they functioned beautifully as a unit, each proved an accomplished, distinctive soloist. Mr. Adams showed off an ample baritone with lustrous tone; Mr. Frutiger sported a gleaming, incisive tenor; and Mr. Carr’s pointed lyric tenor instrument provided much pleasure. As Timur, Federico de Michelis’ authoritative, freely produced bass suggested a gravitas beyond his years. Similarly, young Ryan C. Connelly, decades too young for Emperor Altoum, successfully colored his pleasantly reedy tenor to cunningly suggest an aged monarch. As the Manadarin, Timothy Bruno chanted his pronouncements with solid authority.
Lisa Hasson’s superb chorus was the last major “cast member” and they sang with wondrous character and musical sweep. In such a modest sized house, this was the closest to operatic Surround Sound we might ever experience. The goose bumps are returning even as I write.
Music Director David Neely conducted his amassed forces with a loving, knowing baton. DMMO populates its pit with highly accomplished professional musicians from throughout the region (and beyond) and their incisive playing is second to none. The orchestra was a compelling partner in the musical drama, and they rose to meet every challenge.
Jonathan Burton (Calaf) sings “Nessun Dorma”
We have come to expect so much from DMMO that is innovative and forward looking, that it is a gentle surprise to find that this production of Turandot was more an homage to a glorious past. R. Keith Brumley’s handsome set design was wholly functional, suitably Chinese, and cleverly varied. A long set of stairs and platforms bisected the main stage from high up left to stage level stage right. Towers, drapes, and insets were moved in and out to suggest other locales, but his was one of those basic ‘unit foundation’ sets necessitated by budget realities in the 70’s. The effective costumes were courtesy of Mary Traylor and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, while Barry Steele contributed a straight-forward, well executed lighting design.
Director Stephanie Sundine has done a good job managing traffic (no small feat), and underlining the important Big Moments. Liu’s suicide had an admirable clarity and focus. But (pace Puccini) Turandot is not always dramatically propulsive, and there are stretches of (albeit beautiful) music where nothing of consequence is happening. Ms. Sundine did not completely solve the visuals of these slack moments, and too often the chorus was posed in pleasant rows, with principals left to look ‘interested.’
Small matter perhaps, as in a prima la voce mind set, this Turandot was a night to remember, and cherish.
James Sohre
Cast and production information:
Princess Turandot: Alexandra Lobianco; Emperor Altoum: Ryan C. Connelly; Timur: Federico de Michelis; Calaf: Jonathan Burton; Liu: Vanessa Vasquez; Ping: Michael Adams; Pang: Brian Frutiger; Pong: Chris Carr; Mandarin: Timothy Bruno; Prince of Persia: Nate Carter; Executioner: Paul Schmidt; Conductor: David Neely; Director: Stephanie Sundine; Set Design: R. Keith Brumley; Lighting Design: Barry Steele; Costume Design: Mary Traylor, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Make-up and Hair Design: Brittany Crinson for Elsen and Associates; Chorus Master: Lisa Hasson