OPERA
Lone Voice Versus Oppressive Society
Outsiders battle the status quo at New York Opera Fest
BY ELI JACOBSON
The biannual New York
Opera Fest commissions
small local companies
to mount presentations
all over the city in May and June.
This year the offerings were very
eclectic yet several I attended were
linked by the common theme of an
oppressed outsider at odds with
society.
Alessandro Stradella’s dramatic
oratorio “La Susanna” (1681) is a
retelling of the biblical tale of Susanna
and the Elders from the
Book of Daniel. In this collaboration
by Opera Lafayette and Heartbeat
Opera, the tale is told through
the prism of the #MeToo movement.
The premiere American staging by
director Ethan Heard utilized a
framing device: a doctoral dissertation
“Our Bodies, Our Stories:
Reclaiming the Narrative for Feminism”
presented by a Dr. Beatrice
Armstrong. Armstrong was performed
by contralto Sara Couden
who doubled as the opera’s singing
narrator Testo. Armstrong/ Testo
retells from a feminist perspective
the tale of a virtuous wife who is
spied on in her bath by two corrupt
judges who then falsely accuse her
of adultery and condemn her to
death. As Susanna’s position becomes
more and more desperate,
Dr. Armstrong/ Testo becomes
more and more involved in the action
while a Student (Ariana Douglas)
takes notes. Eventually, the
Student, outraged, tosses aside
her laptop and assumes the role of
the savior Daniel, who exonerates
Susanna and punishes the false
judges.
Usually I fi nd this type of selfconsciously
topical update forced
and contrived. But only a few
short months after the confi rmation
hearings of Justice Brett
Kavanaugh, the ancient story of
sexual harassment and corrupt
patriarchal authority gained fresh
power and pertinence that validated
the concept. Like Christine Blasey
Ford, Susanna fi nds her lone
voice of truth stifl ed by corrupt
male authority.
Lucía Martín Cartón with Patrick Kilbride and Paul Max Tipton in Opera Lafayette and Heartbeat Opera’s adaptation of Alessandro Stradella’s “La Susanna.”
Ryan Brown and Jacob Ashworth
leading the ensemble of six players
maintained the polished musical
values for which Opera Lafayette is
known. The edgy updated concept
and physical exuberance of the
performers bore the hallmarks of
Heartbeat Opera. Reid Thompson’s
set was a semi-circular arbor with
pillars with Susanna’s bath in the
center. Surrounding it were large
statues of men—– a high religious
cleric, a military general, and a
dictator — a triumvirate of male
power and oppression. At the end
of the opera, these statues were
overthrown.
Spanish early music specialist
Lucía Martín Cartón’s Susanna
combined an alluring presence
with aching vocal purity, presenting
a disturbing portrait of innocence
defi led. Couden’s resonant
alto had great vocal presence but
needs greater tonal focus and
smoother alignment of vocal registers.
Douglas’ live-wire soprano
fl ashed brightly in the fi nal scenes.
Patrick Kilbride and Paul Max
Tipton’s Elders exuded a deadly
yet familiar mixture of fatuousness,
entitlement, and corruption.
Stradella’s music is spare, highlighting
declamation of the text
harkening back to Monteverdi’s
simplicity. It needs to be heard in
an intimate space, which was provided
by the BAM Fisher Fishman
Space, along with a rather dry
acoustic.
OnSite Opera presented the
world premiere of “Murasaki’s
Moon” with music by Michi Wiancko
set to an English libretto by
Deborah Brevoort. The opera was
performed in the Astor Chinese
Garden Court at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and, like the venue,
is an infusion of Eastern art into
a Western setting. Lady Murasaki,
the granddaughter of a writer and
daughter of a scholar, was a rarity
— an educated, literate woman
in 11th century Japan. Her poetry
and storytelling gained her a place
at the Imperial Court, but those
talents also made her ostracized
by the court’s women. Her isolation
and privilege gave her the time and
resources to pen the world’s fi rst
novel: “The Tale of Genji.”
In this hour-long opera, Lady
Murasaki bewails her alienation
and loneliness to the moon. She
summons from her imagination
her novel’s bold and transgressive
hero, Genji, who has the freedom
she lacks. After a spirited debate
with her creation (whom she loves
and despises for his fi ckle nature),
Murasaki devotes herself to her
art.
Wiancko’s score combined elegant
RUSS ROWLAND
European-based writing for
the Aizuri Quartet with three instrumentalists
playing traditional
Chinese instruments led by Yoko
Reikano Kimura on the koto. This
layering of tonal Western music
with dissonant, spiky Chinese
music was intriguing and effective.
Kristen Choi dug into Lady
Murasaki’s declamatory music
with a bright, fl inty lyric soprano
that was just a little weak on the
bottom. Tenor Martin Bakari, in
vibrant sensual voice as the swaggering
Genji, had more melodic
music embellished by melismas.
His voice and presence added melodic
interest and sexual tension to
the piece.
Eric Einhorn’s stage direction
made a virtue of simplicity giving
the performers stylized movements
to create stage pictures in tandem
with Yoko Yamashita’s choreography.
Conductor Geoffrey MacDonald,
presented with the challenge
of leading a work with diverse musical
styles and instruments in an
outdoor space, pulled together the
disparate elements with keen insight
and smooth control.
In an online exclusive at gaycitynews.
com, Eli Jacobson also discusses
Little Opera Theatre of NY’s
local premiere of Benjamin Britten’s
“Owen Wingrave” in DUMBO.
August 15 - August 28, 2 28 019 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
