|
New York Magazine (more)
Best of NY 2009
WNET SundayArts Profile (more)
February 22, 2009
Time Out New York (more)
L'isola disabitata
- David Shengold,
February 12-18, 2009
New York Magazine (more)
Gotham Chamber Opera Sets a Sexy Example for the City's Scene
- Rebecca Milzoff,
February 13, 2009
Opera Now (more)
Haydn in New York
- Robert Levine,
January / February 2009
"The mighty Metropolitan Opera has never ventured an opera by Joseph Haydn. But the scrappy little Gotham Opera staged one on Wednesday, commemorating the bicentenary of the composer's death."
- Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times, February 20, 2009
"Particularly noteworthy was its director: the choreographer Mark Morris."
- Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal, February 24, 2009
"Neal Goren, Gotham's artistic director, conducted a lively reading of the colorful score. ... The soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart sang with an expressive, honeyed voice and poignantly conveyed Costanza's heartache. ... As Silvia, the bright-voiced soprano Valerie Ogbonnaya's apt comic timing garnered plenty of laughs, particularly when she discovered that Gernando (convincingly portrayed by the tenor Vale Rideout) and Enrico belonged to the odious male species. And there was amusing chemistry between Silvia and Enrico, sung by the able bass baritone Tom Corbeil. He distracts her from her fawn - which is tossed into the water as the happy foursome leave the island together."
- Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times, February 21, 2009
"On February 18 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, Gotham Chamber Opera presented the first of five performances of Haydn's L'Isola Disabitata. The evening was everything chamber opera should be. Running a lean ninety minutes, it was musically and dramatically involving, simply but imaginatively staged and arrestingly performed. Haydn's score is delicately wrought, with suggestive rather than descriptive musical effects. Before the opera starts, Costanza, her husband, Gernando, and her infant sister Silvia are shipwrecked on an island. Gernando is kidnapped by pirates; Costanza thinks herself abandoned. Flash forward thirteen years, and Costanza has trained Silvia to hate and distrust men, so that when the newly freed Gernando returns to reclaim his beloved, along with his young buddy Enrico, the course of true love runs a little bumpily at first, though all ends happily.
Mark Morris's production was unfussy and uncluttered, allowing him to home in on the relationships and emotional values. Though his trademark playfulness was in evidence, it was restrained, and he allowed the laughs to spring organically from character and situation. He was aided in this by the simple, suggestive set - a raised, raked rock at center stage - as when Enrico, newly arrived, stood alone on it and sang, "It's a small island, we shouldn't get lost." The rock, which moved on a turntable to suggest different vantage points on the island, must have been challenging for the singers, but they navigated its treacherous rise fearlessly, rolling, sitting, climbing and lying around with surprising ease and naturalness. Morris also added an impish postscript, with lightning signaling an oncoming storm as the happy quartet sailed off into the sunset.
Morris and GCO artistic director Neal Goren assembled a quartet of skilled, engaging and dramatically savvy performers. Both sopranos were impressive singing actresses, well contrasted but sharing a clear emotional connection. Takesha Meshé Kizart made a proud, imposing and sensual Costanza, spinning out exquisite long lines in her two extended arias, the first of which was particularly affecting. Valerie Ogbonnaya was a shining, adorable presence as Silvia, and if her singing wasn't always entirely secure, she more than made up for it with a delightfully developed, unforced character, gutsily pulling off the ferocious two-octave leaps in her aria "Come vapor." Tenor Vale Rideout was a passionate Gernando, singing with bright, forward thrust and a fine messa di voce. As Enrico, Tom Corbeil, bravely shirtless, displayed a mellow bass-baritone and an easy, relaxed presence. He was especially amusing adopting a bar stance when he first meets the innocent Silvia, and this tenderly comic courtship scene was particularly charming. The orchestral playing under Goren's baton was elegant and sprightly, marred only occasionally by slightly out-of-tune string playing."
- Joanne Sydney Lessner, Opera News, May 2009
"What a delicious surprise! Neal Goren and his classy Gotham Chamber Opera struck gold at the end of February at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in New York with Franz Josef Haydn's "L'isola disabitata." A 90 minute, four character opera that was premiered in 1779, it makes one realize how good it must have been to be an Esterhazy. The desert island of the title is the setting: 13 years before the action begins, Gernando, his wife Costanza and her infant sister Silvia were shipwrecked. Gernando went to look for help but was kidnapped by pirates. Costanza, believing that Gernando abandoned her, has grown bitter, and has raised Silvia to hate and fear men. Suddenly, Gernando, accompanied by his friend, Enrico, both of whom have just escaped from the pirates, arrive on the island, and begin searching for the two women - or what may be left of them. Silvia spots Enrico, is oddly fascinated and terrified, and little by little, misunderstandings are untangled, Costanza and Gernando are happy again, Silvia "discovers" men and Enrico finds an enchanting young bride.
A delightful, uncategorizable opera - neither buffa nor seria but filled with both humor and pathos - brief, to the point, splendidly orchestrated with a full complement of winds (flute, oboes, French horns, bassoon) and strings, "L'isola..." starts with a tripartite overture in Haydn's best Sturm-und-Drang style. About half the opera is accompanied recitative but the entire orchestra is used and boredom never sets in. Recit turns to arioso frequently as the dramatic situation warrants and it's occasionally hard to tell when exposition has ended and a full-fledged aria has begun. The characters' feelings, often mixed and confused, just as often direct, are vividly expressed in both aria and recit.
Allen Moyer's setting - a big, rotating, oddly-shaped rock - perfectly suit the situation, and Mark Morris's witty but restrained direction, with the characters just missing one another, hiding in a cave, spying on one-another secretly, eventually coming face to face, has the limber cast climbing the rock like mountain goats; only in the final quartet do they move like dancers. Elizabeth Kurtzman's spare-to-say-the-least costumes (grass skirts and tops for the women; sarong-like clothing for the men), are a pleasure.
Kudos to conductor Neal Goren, his good-looking cast and sprightly, excellent orchestra: Costanza, normally a mezzo role, was taken by award winning soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart. She acts well, and has little trouble with the heights, depths, leaps and roulades of the role and its embellishments. One felt there were reserves of power in her dark hued, dramatic voice. Valerie Ogbonnaya is adorable and perky as Silvia, her voice larger-than-soubrette and pinpoint accurate. Vale Rideout's lithe tenor brings real pathos to Gernando's laments and enthusiasm to his newfound happiness, and bass-baritone Tom Corbeil, bare-chested throughout (and dubbed, immediately, a "barihunk") uses his dark, agile voice impressively as Enrico. The opera ends with a glorious 12-minute ensemble - the only one in the piece - in which each character first sings separately and is followed with instrumental interludes featuring, alternately, well-played obbligato violin, cello, flute and, bassoon. The singers then join in duets, and finally, a joyous quartet.
Uncomplicated but not emotionally simplistic, free of chorus, dancers, and extraneous characters and constructed as an unending situation that must be resolved (and observing the Aristotelian unities) "L'isolaŠ" was Haydn's favorite among his own operas. It is easy to see why."
- Robert Levine, Opera Now, May / June 2009
Read more about L'isola disabitata
|
