Review: Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest

The conductor is about to begin when a man with a cucumber runs up to him, pushes him off the podium, and then proceeds to raise up his cucumber baton to the audience as the stage goes black and  messy piano variations on Auld Lang Syne are heard over the sound system. Thus opens Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest. 

Based on Oscar Wilde's hilarious play of the same name, this opera made its US Stage debut last night at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The production, with cast and direction from the Royal Opera, was part of the NY Philharmonic Biennial, the orchestra's festival of modern music and young talent. And there was no shortage of great music last night. 

Being a fan of the play, I was curious to see what the opera would add or subtract from the play's satire. Luckily, Mr. Barry has removed very little from the play in the process of writing the libretto, keeping the spirit in tact. The costuming, however, has moved to the modern day, highlighted by having the priest dress in a bicyclist outfit and a neck brace. Despite the costumes and phones removing the physical setting from the original time period, it still keeps its mannerisms strong. 

The orchestra is working overtime for this show by whistling, shouting in unison, stamping feet, and most of all, not letting the fact that they share the stage with the actors distract them. The percussionists Christopher S. Lamb and Daniel Druckman are especially to be acknowledge for their gun wielding, plate smashing, and große hammering. The show even includes prerecorded piano playing (which opened the show) and chamber male choir (spouting philosophies in Act 1). 

The music is a wild ride with variations on Auld Lang Syne all over the place. Repeating dialogue with dancing to mimic Gilbert and Sullivan's "When I go out of door", French horn and viola trilling to evoke bees, and settings of Ode to Joy as lyric and patter songs. The score is vast and yet so small, the orchestra under Ilan Volkov's direction does it's very best to showcase Gerald Barry's creativity.

 (Score courtesy of Schott and Hal Leonard)

       

With minimal set design, meaning steps and a white backdrop, the physical comedy and personalities of the actors really steals the show. Claudia Boyle as Cecily kept her voice over the staff most of the performance, being the bratty sort of school girl that can match Barbara Hannigan's Mystery of the Macabre performance. It was a perfect counterbalance for Hilary Summers as Miss Prism, whose contralto register and mid word pauses showcase an absentmindedness with old age. Simon Wilding as Lane/Merrimen does most of the stage managing work, even getting to stomp boots on tables and throw the last few dinner plates. I do feel bad for Kevin West, whose speaking role of Reverend Chasuble is a little reduced in this adaptation, removing the dialogue between him and Miss Prism. 

At the work's core though are the four main city folk: Benedict Nelson as Algernon, Paul Curievici as Jack Worthing, Stephanie Marshall as Gwendolyn, and Alan Ewing as Lady Bracknell. Each one is superb, working off each other and leading the emotional and comical high points. Jack's collectiveness stays strong and put under pressure by Bracknell's uptight attitude, Gwendolyn being overly directive, and Algernon's slobby self. 

My favorite point in the show has to be when Gwendolyn and Cecily meet for the first time and do not look at each other while performing sprechstimme through megaphones. Then when she learns about Cecily's identity, Gwendolyn exclaims her discontent while the percussionist throws a dinner plate after every word. Think of SpongeBob in Rock Bottom and you can see that this is doing that right. Even the audience will applaud during a humming pause to acknowledge how great that moment is.

If you get a chance to see this while it's still in NYC, I highly recommend it. (Performances June 3-4 at Rose Theater at Jazz in Lincoln Center) Otherwise, a full performance with the same cast is available to view for free via the Royal Opera's YouTube page. You too can learn "the vital importance of Being Ernest".

Review: Opening night of Donizetti's "Roberto Devereux" at The Metropolitan Opera

Last night, March 24th 2015, I was able to procure a ticket for the Opening Night of the newest production by David McVicar, Donizetti's Roberto Devereux. Below is some background information for the Tudor cycle, followed by my review of the performance.

Background: Roberto Devereux is the third opera by Gaetano Donizetti about the lives of the Tudors in England. The trio of works also includes Anna Bolena, about Henry VIII's ill fated second wife, and Maria Stuarda, about the Queen of Scots' imprisonment and execution. There is a fourth opera preceding these called Il Castello Di Kenilworth, but it is often ignored when performing the cycle the operas. 

Over the past 6 years, The Metropolitan Opera has been preparing for the full Donizetti Tudor Cycle, the product of David McVicar. It started with the 2011 production of Anna Bolena with Anna Netrebko, and 2013's Maria Stuarda with Joyce Di Donato. The cycle would conclude with performances in the 2015-2016 season with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky taking on the title roles of the first two operas, leading up to the role of Queen Elizabeth in Roberto Devereux. General Manager Peter Gelb's plan has been to revive opera popularity in the US by creating new productions with the help of directors like McVicar, Bartlett Sher, Robert Lepage, and Richard Eyre. However, this is the first "cycle" of operas under one director since Lepage's Ring Cycle, which received rave reviews for its performers but mixed reviews for its hulking set. 

The McVicar cycle, however, uses different sets for each opera.

Review: 

Right when you walk into the auditorium, you are greeted with a dark palace of Nonsuch, featuring the burial coffin of Queen Elizabeth I in white porcelain as two statues, representing time and death, look on from the sides of the main door. So far in this cycle, the most shocking image we have seen pre-overture has been the curtain for Maria Stuarda, featuring a lion and a griffin fighting. And as the overture plays in this opera, we see the courtiers of Elizabeth, played by the Met Chorus, gather on stage as the coffin is taken away. The courtiers then disperse in groups until the stage is set with a royal chair and the courtiers gather behind the columns and in the balcony, separated by sex. As the show goes on, these people do not disappear, but move around in the same spaces, looking on at private scenes of the Royals, clapping at the ends of arias and scenes, and then receiving bows from the main performers at the end of the show. At first, I just thought the chorus was eager to see everyone perform and clapped as you would in a rehearsal, but then they kept doing it, maintaining their role as chorus and audience. However, there are no other aspects to this production to suggest it would be a show within a show, like Sher's production of le comte Ory. The actors do not even address the chorus/audience until the curtain call. I can see it as symbolic of the fact that this is suppose to be after Elizabeth's life and that anything that wasn't public was more or less exaggerated on by a curious  public. 

We are even presented with very minimal scene changes, especially since the first two acts are presented without intermission or pause. The back panel of the stage, with three doors and the two statues, moves forward and backward to change the size of the space. The intimate spaces, the Nottinghams' quarters, are the most forward on stage, while the throne room and house of peers are the farthest back. In the final scene in Elizabeth's private quarters, the large space suggests that what should be the most intimate space for her majesty has become a public, as more and more people enter. And finally, after Devereux's execution, the back panel disappears into the rafters as we are given a larger space and the reappearance of Elizabeth's burial coffin. 

The final moments of the character once again on the way to the grave has been a connecting factor in all three productions. Anne Boleyn removes the bun from her hair as she accepts death and walks toward the scaffold and ending in a red curtain falling in front of the audience. Mary Stuart removes her gown as well as her hair when she makes her way to the scaffold in her final scene. And now, as the scaffold for Robert Devereux has been offstage, we see that Elizabeth's death comes in her removing her dresses, hair, jewelry, until she becomes an old woman in white makeup, white hair, and white night rail. She is as plain as she can possibly be and turns to see her coffin before passing out and dying. This is the chilling finale I have come to expect in this cycle, especially as the chorus sings of James' ascending the throne. 

Other than all this thoughtful and well designed execution of ideas, the best part of the night was the cast. Sondra Radvanovsky, following both operas, transforms into the powerful but bitter old monarch that is Queen Elizabeth I. Vocally and dramatically, she was the star of the show, especially knowing that this is an Elizabeth in her old age becoming more and more like her father, losing those she has favor towards, and unlit matey losing her royalty in her final moments. And fortunately, the supporting cast of Elīna Garanča, Matthew Polenzani, and Mariusz Kwiecién also provided a powerhouse of great performing. In fact, the bromance of Matthew and Mariusz has been on fire this season following their performances in The Pearl Fishers back in January. In more minor roles, we have Brian Downen, making his debut as Lord Cecil, and Christopher Job as Sir Walter Raleigh. Both men were excellent provided the right attention to their vocal lines and characters. 

With Maurizio Benini's great conducting of the orchestra and singers, the incredible costumes, and the tone set by the designers, I can say without a doubt that this production is one of the best in the Met's recent history. My only complaint would have been the cop out of Elizabeth dying of a broken heart. But that goes to the composer and librettist. McVicar presents it as her reaching the end after three long operas and decades of her reign. It is a perfect end to the Tudor Cycle and I hope that in the years to come, there will be more great sopranos willing to take on these roles and that people will see these works from a new perspective. 

Donizetti's Roberto Devereux plays at the Metropolitan Opera until April 19th. Visit metopera.org for casting info and tickets.