Quick word to readers

I am currently taking a break from using this blog for the month of January. I am writing for another blog, Hofstra Opera Musings. Check it out to learn more about Schubert and his two works that I will be a part of. Die Verschworenen, a one act opera based on Lysistrata, and Die Winterreise, a song cycle about death and isolation.

10 Great Opera Villain Moments

Samuel Ramey as Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust

As an avid opera goer, I find nothing more exciting then a well written villain. From hostile takeovers, kidnapping, manipulation, and murder, there are some incredible villains in the great history of opera. I have compiled a list of my personal favorite moments where the villain gets to shine. These picks are either scenes or arias or a combination of the two. For this list, I have picked ten operas and at least one villain from that opera. My focus will be on opera from the classical era up to the early-mid 20th century, since these are more prevalent in the public eye. I disqualify villains from comic operas and operettas in order to focus on dramas and tragedies. My list does not reflect the views of any other particular person or organization. In no particular order, here is my list of ten great opera villain moments.

1) "Credo in un Dio crudel", Iago from Verdi's Otello
There is no uncertainty in the opera world that Iago is one of the great villains to ever be penned. The second to last of Giuseppe Verdi's great operas, Otello follows the great moor of Shakespeare as his jealousy leads him to commit murder. Who leads him to this downfall? His "trusted" ensign Iago. In the original play, he is more of a trickster and less of a cold hearted demon. He is racist, manipulative,  and competitive. In the opera, Iago is passed over for the appointment of captain by the Moor general Othello. In revenge, he makes up an affair between Desdemona, Othello's wife, and Cassio, a captain in Othello's fleet. In his famous aria, distancing himself from Shakespeare, he declares his belief in a cruel god, who wants nothing more but for men to suffer in this life and the next. This is the epitome of evil for any operatic villain.

2) "La Veau d'Or", Mephistopheles from Gounod's Faust
Historically, there has been no greater force of evil that man fears more than eternal damnation at the hands of the devil. None has been more prevalent than in the legend of Faust, a german scholar who sells his soul for youth and knowledge. The devil Mephistopheles has appeared in many adaptions, but Gounod's Faust was so acclaimed, it ushered in a new age of french opera. In his famous song of the golden calf, Mephistopheles sings an ode to the greed of man, while simultaneously creating a frantic orgy. He knows the sin of the earth and revels in how easily man is led astray.

3) "O Beauty, O Handsomeness, goodness.." Claggart from Britten's Billy Budd
Benjamin Britten's opera, based on the story by Herman Melville, follows the recollection of  british Captain Vere's days as a captain during the days of the French Revolution. After taking on new recruit Billy Budd via impressment, John Claggart, master-at-arms of Veer's ship, orders his spy Squeak to get the young man in trouble. When his plan fails and he sees Billy's innocence and loyalty, Claggart curses goodness and beauty, stating that he will destroy the boy who brought it on the ship. In the second act, he frames Billy for conspiracy to mutiny. When Billy is charged in front of Vere, he stammers and kills Claggart with a single punch. This ultimately leads to Billy's execution.

4) "Schweig', damit dich niemand warnt"/Wolf's Glenn scene- Caspar from Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischutz
This is the only combination of two separate moments from the same opera. Der Freischutz is considered the first great romantic german opera. When a hunting ranger named Maxwell fears that he will be unable to pass a trial shot before his wedding, he seeks the help of a fellow ranger Caspar to help him obtain magic bullets. Unbeknownst to him, Caspar is the cause of Maxwell's unlucky streak, due to some supernatural assistance. In the finale of Act 1, Caspar sings of how he will use the magic bullets to exact revenge on Maxwell for stealing his former love Agathe. In the Wolf's Glenn, Caspar calls on the devil, portrayed as the Black Huntsman, to give him one more day to find a replacement soul, Maxwell. The rest of the scene involves the creation of the magic bullets, summoning wild creatures, demons, and spirits to the land of the living. The day of the wedding, the plan fails. The final bullet, controlled by the devil, misses its intended target and kills Caspar.

5) "Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen", The Queen of the Night from Mozart's The Magic Flute
Yes, this list has an overload of testosterone. But that doesn't mean we don't have great female villains in opera. None can match the pure evil that is The Queen of the Night. Sopranos of all ages envy this role for its difficulty and her power. In the first act of the opera, Tamino is sent on a quest to save the queen's daughter from the evil Sarastro. By the time we see he again, we find that the queen is actually the villain, and Sarastro the good guy. In her famous aria, she orders her daughter Pamina to kill Sarastro or be killed herself. It is one of Mozart's greatest arias and remains a classic to this day.

6) "Va, Tosca", Scarpia from Puccini's Tosca
None of Puccini's villains is as sadistic and lustful than Baron Scarpia, chief of police for the city of Rome. He is after a political prisoner and the affection of Floria Tosca, an opera singer. Knowing that her boyfriend Cavaradossi is an accomplice and a political ally for the prisoner Angelotti, he uses her emotions to his advantage. After tricking Tosca into thinking that her lover is having an affair with another woman, she confesses to Cavaradossi's whereabouts. When Scarpia believes that he has both the prisoner and Tosca in his sights, he sings of his love of Tosca, which is distracting him from the Te Deum performed in the church. This is some of Puccini's most chilling writing.

7) Revival Scene, Olin Blitch from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah
What is a villain without power? And what greater power than a religious god? In this classic american opera, a young woman is judged by her townsfolk for her supposed sin. Along comes Olin Blitch, a revival pastor, who comes to town to judge the wicked and save the good. At a revival meeting, Blitch gives a sermon aimed at Susannah of how God punishes the wicked. After public humiliation, he rapes her. After Susannah's brother kills Blitch in revenge, she ostracizes herself from the rest of the town. Many situations like this were based in the cold reality of life in the southern USA, and touched the souls of many facing the wrath of Senator McCarthy's Red Scare.

8) "Quel vecchio maledivami", Sparafucile from Verdi's Rigoletto
This is one of the two duets I have on this list. Sparafucile is an assassin who introduces himself to Rigoletto, and is later hired to kill the Duke of Mantua...unsuccessfully. He lives to kill for cash uses his sister to seduce his victims. Before this meeting, Count Monterone places a father's curse on the Duke for raping his daughter, and on Rigoletto for mocking him. After Rigoletto's own daughter Gilda has been saved from the Duke and Monterone only reverses the curse on the Duke before his execution, Rigoletto has no choice but to have the Duke assassinated. But, after Sparafucile's sister falls for the Duke, he decides that he will kill someone else (Gilda) and take the money. He has no moral center to anything but family and money. I consider this an important moment

9) "Son'io dinazi al re?", The Grand Inquisitor from Verdi's Don Carlo

The second scene involving two characters is the meeting of the Grand Inquisitor with King Philip of Spain in Don Carlo. The Inquisitor is so full of himself that he essentially tells the king to kill anyone who dares defy the kingdom and the church. In this case, he means his son Carlo and his friend Rodrigo, a revolutionary. He is the ultimate power in the case. His influence is the reason so many people died by the hands of the inquisition. He goes into depth of how god is commanding him to rid the world of evil. And of course, the dark deep bass is terrifying enough as it is.

10) "Bin ich nun frei?", Alberich from Wagner's Das Rheingold
No other villain casts a shadow that take four operas to bring to an end. Alberich is the main antagonist of the Ring Cycle. He is a dwarf who takes the enchanted rheingold to fasten a ring to give him unlimited power, but only by denouncing love. Wotan, king of the gods, kidnaps Alberich, takes all his gold to pay a debt to some giants, and cuts off his hand to take the ring. Angered, Alberich places a curse on the ring. It will bring death and destruction to whoever holds it until it is returned back to him. He is mentioned in Die Walkure, plots to take the ring from a young warrior in Siegfried, and commands his son to kill Siegfried and take the ring before being dragged down to his death by the rhinemaidens in Gotterdammerung. His curse lays down the foundation for the rest of the cycle.

Well, that's my list of some of the best villain moments in opera. If you agree, disagree, or have your own favorite that wasn't mentioned here, feel free to comment down below.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 7- A Condensed Week and an Elegy

I had originally meant for this to be posted before the events of Sunday came around. Unfortunately, things never go as you plan, life has its ways of taking the things we hold dear. I am currently in mourning of Lorin Maazel, a great man who I had the privilege to meet a few weeks ago, but whom I had admired my entire life. So, I will divide this into two parts: a quick summary of the week following the Don Giovanni premiere and my thoughts on the late maestro.

The Sunday after opening night, I went to a wonderful after party hosted by a donor, and went swimming in the lake with the rest of the CATS.

 Monday I went to Shenandoah Park and did a 2 mile hike with my housemates.

 The rest of the week went by without much except a concert on Thursday at the wonderful Hylton Center at George Mason University with Jonathan Beyer and Denyce Graves.

 Then I met Margaret Warner, famous host of PBS News Hour, who was to narrate Peter and the Wolf that Sunday. After another Butterfly and Don Giovanni performance, we all got the shocking news that Maazel passed on Sunday morning, so we dedicated the Story in Music Concert in his memory. Dietlinde, his wife, was not able to narrate his pieces as originally planned. Luckily, Maria Tucci, who had performed in a reading of Don Juan in Hell by GB Shaw, had agreed to step in. Plus, we had the wonderfully outlandishly dressed Sir James Galway perform in one of the pieces. He also gave a masterclass the day beforehand. During the company party, we gave a toast to Lorin Maazel, "the greatest showman who ever lived".

Now, how to honor this man? How do I go and tell the world the great deeds he has done? I can't. Everyone else has. It would be useless to say what he has done when it has been printed by every newspaper in the world. I attended a memorial service for him this past Wednesday. Never in my life would I ever think I was important enough to be part of his family. But there I was, with my fellow "Castletonians" as one speaker put it. I can never thank the man enough for everything he has done to inspire my life's ambitions. The man was truly a citizen of the world, and just for a few weeks, he was part of mine.

Now, I never got to shoot the breeze with him.The only time I ever talked to him about anything musical was over Facebook. And I think I lost that conversation years ago. And when I finally talked to him here, It was just a question as to whether or not I needed to print scores for all the conducting fellows. That was all. Everything else I ever heard him say was to the orchestra and singers. And every word out of his mouth was magic, or to more age appropriate, remarkable. The last time he was in the theater was for a Don Giovanni dress rehearsal. Since then, he had been watching every performance from his manor house on the farm. He was a pleasure to meet and will be an inspiration to millions in the future. Thanks to this festival, Youtube, and the hundreds of recordings he has made. No future musican will ever be able to learn about great music men without hearing the name Lorin Maazel. Thank You Maestro. Godspeed.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 7, Extra- The Rant (Optional Reading)

---Warning: Rant Ahead-----

The Don Giovanni premiere went very well. Splendid cast and orchestra, wonderful sets, not so shining reviews. 

"Worse was the coda: Giovanni’s comeuppance is taken not by him, but by a doppelganger who shadows him at various points during the show. Giovanni stands by to watch, bemused, as the doppelganger is dragged off to Hades. He then provides cynical, pantomime commentary on the other characters’ denouements, upstaging them with a quick, final sexual conquest. So the moral of the story, I guess, is that as long as you stay true to your libertine principles, nothing bad will befall you."-Robert Battey, Washinton Post

He bashed the conductor, the costumes, and our concept, but the cast blew him away. I don't care what he has to say. I thought everything was incredible. My personal philosophy for putting on an opera is that you are always putting on a show for someone who has never seen an opera. Your production be whatever you want, but if your audience can't follow along with the story or with the emotions of the characters, then you are, and excuse my language for this with kids, s**t out of luck. This production was alive and engaging, and I was sitting in the wings the entire night. 

But the one thing I will care about is how in both opera reviews from The Washington Post, they continually set out to rip on the conductors. I think that this is simply because they are not Maazel. Things happen, people get sick, that is the whole reason why we have assistant conductors. Brad Moore is exceptional. Salvatore Percacciolo knows the work with such clear definition in his mind. I have spent weeks watching these rehearsals. The only things I have concern over are the length of the rehearsals, at least two 3-hour rehearsals a day for at least 6 days of the week. These musicians are kicking behinds and taking names, and I think that people should give them a break when it comes to being criticized. 

Maazel was there when they picked every musician and conductor who auditioned for this program. He has given his blessing to everything in the output and input of these performances. He has been watching every performance via live stream. He is essentially our Big Brother, ironic because he wrote the operatic version of 1984. Plus, we are working with ridiculous circumstances. Musicians are out of commission left and right and we need to fill replacements at the last minute notice. New practice parts have to be scanned and printed on the daily, not just for concerts, but Chamber Cabarets before each concert and the weekend chamber and scenes concerts. Instruments have to be moved between rehearsal spaces and performance venues on the daily. Internet and Phone service are incredibly limited. But that is all made up for in talent and drive. 

After Maazel passes over the reins of this festival, it is up to the musicians, singers, directors, teachers, and conductors to make this festival worth while for the duration of its existence, which i hope will be a long one because Rappahannock County needs this festival like a dog needs a bone. I have total faith in the people who brought me here. And one day, I hope it will be able to stand on its own without Maazel. He started this project, and it is up to the people to keep it going. 

---This concludes the rant. We return to our original programming in the next post---

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The Castleton Diaries: Week 6- The Storm and Patriotic Flag Waving

I'm very glad to say that opening night for Madama Butterfly was a huge success. We had a sold out audience and a wonderful cast and orchestra to brighten the tears in peoples' eyes following the ending. The Mozart concert the following day was also wonderful. Donald Runnicles is a pleasure to have at Castleton. So what next....

Full on battle mode for Don Giovanni has been the driving force of my work ethic that past week. We open just a week after Madama Butterfly, and on top of that, we had the Military Reserve Band led by Colonel Bourgeois. That in itself was a real experience to witness. The brave men and women who fought to serve our country and protect our rights were together to play some extraordinary music. Marches, Slow Drags, Anthems and Hymns, you name it, they played that patriotic tune. Plus, three choruses, US Army Men's Chorus, a youth choir from DC, and the Castleton Festival Chorus. We also had the honor of having Joseph Alessi, aka the world's foremost trombone player, to play the solo in Arthur Pryor's Blue Bells of Scotland, followed by an encore of Debussy. So moving, and on such a peculiar instrument.

       Colonel Bourgeois leading the dress rehearsal

The rehearsal beforehand also was a sight to behold. We had a huge storm the Wednesday before and the power went out several times. During the longest outage, the band played through The Stars and Stripes Forever by memory. Not something you see or hear everyday. Also, I spent that night without power or running water in our house. FUN!

The craziness ensued as we worked our butts off to make the music for Don Giovanni sound incredible. The horns had the blunt end of the demands from the maestro. "Can we get them to sound softer?". They moved around, muted, covered the area behind them with padding and blankets and even putting in sound guards. The next logical thing is to put them offstage. Hopefully I'm just being ridiculous and it won't come to that.  

Fireworks

Also, this is a time where I no longer trust all reviews. We got a pretty nasty review in the Washington Post for Madama Butterfly. But then we got a great review from DC Theatre Scene. I was pretty worried. But honestly, we still are selling out shows left and right, and we have a great Don G production premiering by the time this goes online. I have my doubts, but I also have great hope for the talent and production design. 

The raven ladies, symbolizing Don Juan's past

The big ending of the production may also scare a few purists, but when it was explained to me, it made sense in terms of the mythological man known as Don Juan. The production makes him out to be more of a legend more than a man. During the finale, the Commendatore is accompanied by Raven Ladies, symbolizing the women who Giovanni had "conquered". Then, Don Giovanni's body double, who lurks in the background of the show and who wears a mask made for this production from a face casting of the star baritone, is dragged to hell instead of him. But Don G is still out of reality by remaining on the other side of the pit and in the audience. This is supposed to represent how the legend of Don Juan survives in every generation.

Set design for Act 2 

The work has also been piling up in other departments. We had a late arrival of parts for the CATS opera scenes concert, so we attempted to use a program called Partifi to make easy parts from the scores. It ended miserably and now I keep getting pop ups on my Chrome browser. Musicians can't play music if they are missing measures. Luckily, we have all the parts now and the concerts will sound spectacular.

That's all I can really say for this week. Until next time, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

A very tired oboist goes full zombie from rehearsing all day.

The Castleton Diaries- Week 5: How to Keep Calm and Carry On with Allergies

By the time this goes online, it will be Monday, late by 2 days. Well, I have my reasons. I've been so busy with my job that I haven't been able to process everything that has happened.

Rehearsals man! Physically and mentally draining. 6 hours a day on one show. Staging, music, tech. These three things must be perfected before the work can go before an audience. But when it does, boy is it beautiful.

Butterfly set

So essentially we had a rehearsal every day this week, only one break per rehearsal, plus lunch and dinner. I have to be on my toes when my boss isn't in the room, due to a flood of daily emails and calls. But luckily, nothing severe has happened apart from the swallowing of flies by singers and one minor glockenspiel snafu. I had to put all the keys back on after we accidentally unloaded it upside down. Thanks to perfect pitch (and the fact that the notes were etched onto the keys) it took no time at all.

Theater House Stage, Bradley Moore at Piano, Daniel Lelchuk with Cello

I went to Sperryville for an off the clock event: US vs Portugal. What a game. So many people atvthe bar were screaming and shouting. Probably hadn't been that excited about soccer in a while. Before the game, I walked around town. So many sweet little shops. And then I bought a copy of The Piedmont Virginian at the corner store. Why? The Castleton Festival program was inside. I found my name!! I was so thrilled. Just think, my name is attached to a major opera festival. It puts things into perspective. It was also amazing to read about the singers and musicians participating. I then bought the most delicious goat milk caramels I ever tasted. It was a good Sunday.

Bridge over river in Sperryville

Stress levels were at an all time high. Which is probably why I was so susceptible to summer allergies. Oy vey! I'm surrounded by musicians and singers that need to stay healthy, and I'm in the back sneezing and coughing with a runny nose. (In a nasally tone: too many tissues, so much cough syrup, and all the hand sanitizer!!). Luckily, no one got seriously sick before opening night. Did Maestro Maazel conduct? No. Did the Assistant Conductor do a fantastic job? Hell Yes! Madama Butterfly's opening night was wonderful. But boy was I uneasy. Between running around, being medicated for my allergies, and just the lack of energy due to late nights, I don't know how I managed to not explode. Honestly I love working here, but the responsibility I am given has not been the easiest thing to carry on my back. Plus, THE BUGS!! I hate the bugs in Virginia. I miss the lack of weird flying creatures that buzz on Long Island. But luckily, I have bosses and coworkers that care about me, which I am so lucky to have.

Tchaikovsky Wax Figure in Theater House

To tell you the truth, I am probably not going to make a career out of managing orchestras, but now I have a greater respect for the people who work at places like The Metropolitan Opera and The NY Philharmonic, who deal with this kind if stuff on a 24/7/365 schedule. Also, watching Donald Runnicles conduct was pretty awesome. Can't wait for Alisa Weilerstein to get here.

I will be back on Saturday. Until then, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

Knick Knacks at Pink House

The Castleton Diaries: Week 4- “Get that child off the stage!” and the Hiking Trip that Wasn’t

Not too much happened this week to be honest. Everyone is really starting to reach beiling point because the opening night is next Saturday, June 28^th. People are busy with rehearsals and recovering mentally from rehearsals. Sitzprobe and full staged runthroughs in the theater have begun for Madama Butterfly, the final staging rehearsals for Don Giovanni were completed at the local elementary, and orchestral rehearsals for the symphonic concerts have been going and going as they are allotted. 

The Orchestra Management Work Corner

            One thing that happened on Sunday was that my housemates and I were to go to Shennandoah National Park for a nature hike. That day, I decided to go shopping at Walmart for a few house necessities: shower mat, dustpin, water bottles, and air fresheners. When I got back, I found the house was empty except for me. Everyone was gone and I assumed that they left without me. So I drove out to the park, spent $15 on admittance, and drove up the mountain, enjoying the incredible views. Absolutely breathtaking. Too bad that when I finally got a message to one of them, it turned out they went to the pool at Meadows house across from the festival tent. So after taking some more pictures, I rushed back to Castleton, pissed that no one had informed of their change in plans. Luckily, they had never meant to leave me out of the trip had it happened. So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, playing ball and barbequing. It was a much-needed break from all the hubbub.

Shenandoah National Park

            The rest of the week has been nonstop rehearsals. We finally started in the theater on Tuesday, after a few sitzprob with both show casts. I was very impressed with the design of the sets and backgrounds. I will be even more impressed once decisions of the background projections are finalized. Otherwise, everything is absolutely beautiful. There was one staging direction that went from beautiful to hilariously distracting of one person: Trouble. Of course, I mean the child actor who plays Butterfly’s child. In the scene where Butterfly and Suzuki set flowers on the floor, the way the scene is originally set is to have just the two of them. But the director wanted the child to join in setting out the flower petals. But she was too distracting, and Maestro Maazel would not have it. She was removed from that part of the scene so that it would just be a beautiful moment between to friends finding great joy in Pinkerton’s return.

A view of the pit

            This past Thursday, I made a trip out to Maryland. I was informed the day before that I would be driving two of the orchestra members to different shops in order to pick up their rental instruments for the remainder of the festival. Luckily the shops were only 20 minutes apart. L & L Music was in Gaithersburg, where my roommate Rupert got a rental horn. The cellist Stephanie had to go to Bethesda to get a cello at Potter Violins. Both store staff were great to talk to and very understanding of the time restraints and international issues for ID. They were also very impressed on our being part of Castleton. I would definitely recommend to those who need good shops to go to. And luckily, we had an enjoyable time in the car, discussing our favorite and least favorite music, the people we left behind at home, and how much we couldn’t get the festival music out of our heads. And after making a lunch break at Firehouse Subs, which was incrediblely delicious (better than Subway even), I made it back to drop them at the rehearsal in time. Good thing I get reimbursed for gas for errands in my personal car, because I probably used as much as gas that day as I had originally purchased that morning.

            Besides finally having a functioning printer/copy machine again, there isn’t much else going on. I will let you faithful readers know that the opening night of Madama Butterfly will be streamed online. So I hope that you will either come out to Castleton to view the operas and concerts, or watch the opera opening nights online. More info on that soon.

Until next time, this has been The Castleton Diaries.