Seattle "Pagliacci" Hits All the Notes

The cast and setting of Pagliacci at Seattle Opera.

REVIEW

Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, McCaw Hall, Seattle Opera, Seattle

ERICA MINER

Ruggero Leoncavallo.

Verismo, It.: “slice of life.”

The term has become familiar and beloved to opera lovers since the late 19th century. Seattle Opera offered Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, one of the most performed works of this genre, as its opening production of the 2024-25 season. Often paired with another iconic verismo opera, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (“Rustic Chivalry”), Pagliacci has more than enough engaging music and drama to stand on its own as a complete operatic evening.

The company assembled a brilliant cast in director Dan Wallace Miller’s 1940s post-World War II setting, with two debuting artists in the leading roles. 

Monica Conesa as Nedda.

Cuban American soprano Monica Conesa brought a feminist sensibility to the role of Nedda, the feisty, beleaguered woman of her times, the only female member of her traveling troupe of stage performers. Her voice was sumptuous down to the excellent lower chest tones and crystal clear in the sparkling high notes. She made the most of her characterization, with many alluring contrasts between the sympathetic, put-upon wife, captivating Commedia dell’Arte ingenue, and shameless adulteress.

Vesti la giubba is considered the highlight of the opera, and the lead tenor’s performance frequently is judged most on this iconic aria. As Nedda’s volatile husband, Canio, Mexican/Australian tenor Diego Torre hit it out of the park, but he also made a huge impression in the role overall. Both his voice and his stage presence were immense. Dramatically, he did not hold back. His violence toward his unfaithful wife was supremely believable, yet his psychic pain was real and relatable. Vocally, he exuded a Wagnerian power while staying true to the Italianate quality required of the role.

Diego Torre as Canio.

As Tonio, Seattle audience favorite Michael Chioldi commanded attention from the very first note of his opening monologue, Si può, embodying the slice of life the audience is about to witness. From that point on, he varied his lush voice according to the characterization, whether the lovesick loser or the vengeful would-be lover, with compelling vocal strength.

Rounding out the cast in lesser but pivotal roles were Seattle Opera Resident Artist Michael J. Hawk as Silvio, and John Marzano as Beppe. Marzano’s voice had the perfect range and lightness for his “Colombina” aria, which was pleasing in every way. Hawk was not entirely convincing as the passionate lover of a mature married woman, but vocally he made an admirable effort.

A great deal of thought had gone into Dan Wallace Miller’s setting and period of the production. Italy was devastated by World War II, and the stresses of struggling with that crushing situation added tension and conflict to the already strained relationships between all the characters, especially the troubled marriage of Nedda and Canio. This portrayal, which gave the audience a view into the mind of a murderer, allowed for a heightening of the effect of the music, which is some of the most overwrought in the verismo genre.

The "play within a play", l-r: John Marzano as Beppe, Michael Chioldi as Tonio, and Monica Conesa as Nedda.

Miller gave the audience plenty to observe onstage throughout the drama, with lively, nicely detailed chorus activity that was a pleasure to watch and never distracting the viewer from the main characters’ actions. Especially appealing were the chorus children’s playful goings-on. The main characters were well drawn. Each of them displayed the gamut of emotions, from amorous to violent, three-dimensional and plausible in their relationships to each other, inexorably leading up to the explosive climax.

Michael J. Hawk as Silvio.

In his Seattle Opera debut, scenery and props designer Steven C. Kemp skillfully combined a traditional look with an ambiance reflecting difficult postwar times. The unit set, reminiscent of the best aspects of the classic Metropolitan Opera Zeffirelli production, drew the viewer in: extremely realistic, slightly tattered, but evoking an atmosphere of joy and anticipation during hard times.

Debuting Lighting Designer Abigail Hoke-Brady’s bright, sun-filled setting at the beginning of the drama became increasingly foreboding as the background gradually turned into darkness.

The players’ costumes by former Seattle Opera Costume Director and Director of Production Cynthia Savage effectively contrasted the grim realities of life for the characters in their everyday clothing with the colorful Commedia dell’Arte garb of the play within a play.

The climax of Pagliacci at Seattle Opera.

Physical conflict is also important in this gritty work, and fight director Geoffrey Alm kept the viewer glued to the stage, especially in the brutal climactic scene of grisly murder that ends the drama.

Familiar to SO audiences over many years, Conductor Carlo Montanaro showed his usual deft approach in the repertoire he clearly knows so well. Tempi were appropriate, and well-paced, and he kept the momentum throughout. The cello and violin solos were especially well done.

Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta prepared the 36-member Seattle Opera Chorus impeccably, as Youth Chorus Master Julia Meyering did with the 16-member youth chorus.

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McCaw Hall, Seattle Opera, 321 Mercer St, Seattle, WA, Sunday, August 11, 2024, 8:00 p.m.

Images: Leoncavallo: Opera World; The production: Sunny Martini (cast and setting, Monica Conesa, opera climax), Philip Newton (Diego Torre, play-within-a-play, Michael J. Hawk).

"The Righteous" Has World Premiere at Santa Fe Opera

The opening scene of The Righteous: l-r Greer Grimsley (Paul), Brenton Ryan (CM),
Michael Mayes (David), Anthony Roth Costanzo (Jonathan).

REVIEW

Gregory Spears' The Righteous, Crosby Theater, Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe

RODNEY PUNT

Gregory Spears.

Highly anticipated at this 67th season of the Santa Fe Opera was the world premiere production of The Righteous, an opera commissioned by the company from the New York-based composer Gregory Spears, setting a libretto by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and memoirist Tracy K. Smith. The production was directed by Kevin Newbury, whose previous work at Santa Fe Opera included The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs in 2017 (reviewed by myself here and in its Seattle Opera incarnation by my colleague Erica Miner here), and was conducted by SFO newcomer Jordan de Souza. I took in the fourth of six performances on July 30.

The setting is an unidentified locale (Texas?) in the American Southwest during the 1980s, when President Reagan proclaimed his term in office, with unintentional irony, as “Morning in America.” (In reality, Reagan's election represented a politically retrograde revolt by America's conservative interior states against its more progressive coastal ones, along with the ideas the latter were embracing to propel the country toward more liberal social policies.)

However, having invoked just enough real-life context for what the opera was to unfold, Smith and Newbury avoided any further direct reference to then-current history or personalities, so that only in a general sense does that decade’s socio-political climate inform the work’s two Acts, each of about 70 minutes' duration.

The Crosby Theater's al fresco setting, enhanced by its open sides, provided cinematic views of New Mexico's incomparable blazing skies, and the unfolding drama of The Righteous duly recalled the scope of classic Hollywood films such as 1955's Giant, where Texas cattle-ranchers, in testosterone-driven competition with oil barons and their dirty wells, vied for control of land and the state capital, while their pretty wives sipped mint juleps and decorated huge mansions. 

The Righteous is thus a Texas-sized morality tale in which a circle of family and friends pursue multi-generational power, with tugs of war between ambition and personal relationships: archetypical struggles where timeless religious and temporal political power intertwine by habit and history in a land where the Protestant former leans toward Fundamentalism and the latter fervently embraces the notions of individual freedom and self-reliance. 

l-r: Michael Mayes (David), Greer Grimsley (Paul).

In Spears' and Smith's debut opera all this requires a lot of words, and the density and quantity of dialogue often had audience eyes swiveling up to the close-caption scrolling to catch all the spoken action's nuanced twists and turns.

The story opens with charismatic oil magnate Paul (powerful bass-baritone Greer Grimsley) on a hunt with his son Jonathan (countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo), as the former prepares to run for state Governor. Paul's hunting partner and political protégé, the preacher David (plangent baritone Michael Mayes), is also considering a run for Governor at the suggestion of political adviser “CM” (tenor Brenton Ryan), who recognizes that David’s charisma and drive make him ideal for political as well as priestly success.

Michael Mayes (in real life born in the Texas city of Cut and Shoot, no less) brought authenticity and a nuanced pathos to his pivotal role. The story centers around David's personal and professional life, but while he demonstrates uncanny public leadership skills, he seems unaware how manipulative he is, and what effects his ambitions have on others. 

l-r: Michael Mayes (David), Anthony
Roth Costanzo (Jonathan).

The sensitive Jonathan's best friend is this same David, for whom he has special feelings that are reciprocated but not with the same sensibility. David tells Jonathan that God wants him to marry his sister, Michelle (radiant soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano), who later agrees. Meanwhile David's friend Eli (tenor Andrew Turner), a serviceman in David's church, is called up for overseas military duty, and leaves over the protests of his wife Sheila (soprano Elena Villalón). 

Paul’s death early in Act 2 enables David's (successful) run for Governor, but his drive for achievement and recognition alienates him from Michelle, who leaves him. After Eli's death in battle, David marries his widow, Sheila (sweet-voiced soprano Elena Villalón), a parishioner he had recruited to lead a women’s group, but she too eventually departs. Despite his outward success, David's constant ambition makes him unable to connect with people emotionally and even Jonathan finally feels he must move on. 

In the end David admits to alienation and loneliness: always assigning his ambition to "God's will," he has failed to see that his actions reflect that ambition's essential selfishness. His character recalls the 1960 film, Elmer Gantry (from the Sinclair Lewis story), where charismatic preacher Gantry (Burt Lancaster) delivers fiery sermons to persuadable country rubes. But where Gantry knows he is manipulating people (film audiences relished his virtuoso con-artistry), David in The Righteous, while also self-promoting, is so sincerely focused on his mission that it's hard to feel real contempt for him. Rather than outrage, one's disapproval tends instead to pity which, unfortunately for this work, is an emotion hard to invoke real dramatic heft in an operatic context.

l-r: Elena Villalón (Sheila), Jennifer Johnson Cano (Michelle).

In this very crowded, quasi soap-scenario, the large cast of 17 named individuals establish a pattern of contrasting gender behaviors. The self-absorbed career ambitions and personal drives of the first Act's male characters yield, in the second Act, to the kinder sensibilities of the females. This contrast is one of the work's main points, typified when, late in Act 2, the former wives, Michele and Sheila, meet accidentally and form a bond of friendship that neither had been able to find in their marriages to David.

The work's other key character is Jonathan, an un-outed gay devoted from childhood to David. Eloquently portrayed by Anthony Roth Costanzo, he weaves in and out of the story’s main arc, occupying an almost Christ-like presence as an implied moral conscience. As with other aspects of this work, a Hollywood film is invoked—Brokeback Mountain (2005), based on a Larry McMurtry story, in which a similar gay/straight relationship develops.

Anthony Roth Costanzo (Jonathan), with members of the Santa Fe Opera Chorus.

Musically, the long first Act's single-minded quest for power is evoked in Spears’ churning and thickly orchestrated score. Indebted to Minimalist models, its relentlessly dark and dense textures pile one on another in almost numbing succession. By welcome contrast Act 2—focusing as it does on relationships between the women characters—is much more lyrical, with the SFO Orchestra under Maestro de Souza (left) emphasizing the transparent textural interplay of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

As in past years, Santa Fe Opera in this crowded work benefited from a depth of vocal resources. Credit the training and cultivation of singers this company invests in each year, with a special shout-out for the Apprentice program, its opportunities for young singers (and technicians) being among the nation's most impressive.  

Despite some reservations over the story per se and its operatic handling, the singing and stage presences of the principals were uniformly impressive, their voices carrying over even the thick orchestral textures of Act 1. 

The ensemble cast of The Righteous, against the backdrop of distant Santa Fe scenery.

                                                                 

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Crosby Theater, Santa Fe Opera, 301 Opera Drive, Santa Fe, NM, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, 8:00 p.m.

Images: Gregory Spears: Composer website; The production: Curtis Brown Photography.

Mozart, Mischief and Mayhem Abound in Santa Fe

The Don (Ryan Speedo Green) propositions Zerlina (Liv Redpath) in Act 1 of Santa Fe Opera's production of Don Giovanni.

REVIEW

Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Crosby Theater, Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe

ERICA MINER

The unfinished portrait of Mozart
by his brother-in-law Joseph Lange
from 1782, five years before the
composition of Don Giovanni.

As part of its 2024 season, Santa Fe Opera is presenting a beloved favorite often called the greatest opera of all time: Mozart’s dark comedy, Don Giovanni K. 527. In an intriguing new production by returning director Stephen Barlow, the opera features a stellar cast of singers, who had great command of their famously arduous roles and handled the ornamental enhancements in their arias and recitatives with impressive facility.

Intimidating, ominous, yet universally appealing, the Don has been compared to such iconic bad boys as Casanova and Dorian Gray. Three-time Grammy Award winner Ryan Speedo Green, one of today's most high-powered operatic bass-baritones, took on the devious Don for the first time in his career with an aplomb and vocality that demonstrated how well qualified he was for that prestigious recording prize.

Ryan Speedo Green (Don Giovanni).

Known for other dark roles such as Wagner’s Flying Dutchman and Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, Green brings a devilish vocal and dramatic excitement to the Don that grabs the viewer and listener by the throat. He was born to play the character, and he has it down: the cavalier arrogance, the egocentricity, the stubborn refusal to acknowledge any authority but his own. Green’s vocal range is remarkably consistent from top to bottom, and his overall performance was electrifying from beginning to end. His Fin c’han dal vino brought down the house. After such a thrilling rendering, the anticipation of his Wotan in the company’s 2025 Walküre is palpable.

Nicholas Newton (Leporello).

As his beleaguered servant Leporello, former company Apprentice Nicholas Newton, doing double duty this season in the role of Jacob in the premiere of The Righteous, held his own as a vocal foil to the over-the-top Green. His range was remarkable, from the profound lower notes to the clarion high notes, which rang out through the house. Newton posed a dramatic/comedic challenge to the Don with his upbeat perspective, interpreting the role with the appropriate combination of comic flair and theatricality. Comedically, he was impeccable, milking the humorous lines for all their worth.

The cast also featured an impressive list of soprano leads: former Apprentice Rachel Willis-Sørensen in her Santa Fe Opera role debut as Donna Anna; the company debut of Rachael Wilson as Donna Elvira; and former Apprentice Liv Redpath as Zerlina.

David Portillo (Don Ottavio), and
Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Donna Anna).

Willis-Sørensen, who made her SFO debut in 2010 as an Apprentice in the role of First Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute, negotiated the difficult tessitura and heavy duty fioratura of Donna Anna, the grieving daughter and conquest of the Don, with full, rich voice—astonishing, given her glittering performance as the Marschallin in the previous night’s Der Rosenkavalier.

The role of Anna is Wagnerian in its demands, and Willis-Sørensen delivered superbly. The high “D” in one of the arias was extremely well done, but it seemed an unnecessary strain on the voice when she had more major singing to do that evening.

In her SFO debut, Wilson gave a sympathetic portrayal of the long-suffering Elvira, although her Freudian hysteria seemed exaggerated at times. Vocally, she displayed a good command of the fioratura, which in many ways is as challenging as that of Donna Anna, and her voice was powerful enough to cut through the heavier moments of orchestration; but some of the slower tempi were challenging in terms of the long vocal lines required of the role.

Rachael Wilson (Donna Elvira).

As Zerlina, Redpath used her pure, true tones to advantage in authentic Mozartian style, with a pleasing combination of purity and heft in every register. The voice was wonderfully consistent, a delight to hear; and Redpath’s interpretation of Zerlina's character was charming.

Tenor David Portillo’s Don Ottavio was as classically refined as his Italian singer in the previous evening’s Der Rosenkavalier was Italianate. The role and his voice were perfectly suited. Portillo has many of iconic tenor Fritz Wunderlich’s qualities in voice, timbre and interpretive skill. The second of his arias, the hugely difficult Il mio tesoro, has defeated many a tenor. Portillo’s rendition was achingly beautiful and an unqualified pleasure to listen to.

Basses William Guanbo Su (Masetto) and Soloman Howard (Commendatore) contributed depth to their characters. Masetto tends to be overlooked, but Su brought a convincing aggressivity to the role, both vocally and dramatically. The Commendatore’s commanding presence, though he appears onstage only at the beginning and end of the opera, was enhanced by Howard’s profound bass voice. At once terrifying and sympathetic, his all-too short appearances onstage left an indelible impression.

Harry Bicket.

To say that company music director Harry Bicket is a world-recognized expert in Mozart would be an understatement. Past seasons with the company include panoplies of classical as well as romantic works. In Giovanni he helmed stage and pit with grace and an obvious deep knowledge of the style, but also with an ease that kept the momentum going without feeling driven. The tempi in the iconic overture were brisk and effective, but some of the arias were taken at a slower, less effective pace.

With so much manic activity onstage in the Act 1 finale, it was difficult to determine whether there were indeed three stage bands; one also missed seeing the Act 3 stage banda playing onstage rather than hearing them from the pit.

Barlow’s Giovanni takes place in the Victorian London of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray, seen from the perspective of the disturbing novel depicting the evil, disdainful personage in question, thus holding up a mirror to the unsavory ethics of the protagonist. The director’s vision emphasized the dark side more than the comic side of the work’s dramma giocoso genre.

The late Victorian mise en scène, with Masetto (William Guanbo Su) jealously accusing Zerlina
(Liv Redpath) of infidelity with the Don.

Barlow's directorial interpretation of the Don’s sheer evil allows for no doubt as to the appropriateness of the character’s demise, though one would have preferred a more satisfying death scene. Leaving the body on the floor with Anna and Ottavio sitting down to dinner alongside it, rather than the Don being dragged to hell, detracted from the effect of the climax.

The scenic and costume designs by Yannis Thavoris, traditionally elegant and sophisticated for the period and highlighted by sweeping skirts and stylish top hats, allowed for both the graceful and dramatic movements characteristic of each individual role.

Company veteran lighting designer Christopher Akerlind’s effects, such as those in the chilling entrances of the Commendatore’s ghost, were dramatic but not overstated, while  Mitchell Harper’s choreography was entertaining to watch in the Act 1 party scene, with just the right measure of mischief and mayhem.

The ensemble cast for Don Giovanni.

For tickets to subsequent performances through August 23 of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, visit www.Santafeopera.org, or call 800-280-4654 or 505-986-5900.

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Crosby Theater, Santa Fe Opera, 301 Opera Drive, Santa Fe, NM, Saturday, August 3, 2024, 8:00 p.m.

Images: Mozart: Wikimedia Commons; The production: Curtis Brown Photography.

Santa Fe Opera's "Rosenkavalier" Sparkles and Captivates

The ensemble cast pile onto the hapless Baron Ochs (Matthew Rose) in Act 3 of Santa Fe Opera's
2024 production of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.

REVIEW

Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Crosby Theater, Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe

ERICA MINER

Richard Strauss (right), and
Hugo von Hofmannstahl (left).

Richard Strauss, whose 160th birthday is being celebrated this year, enjoyed a dream collaboration with writer/ librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal that lasted more than two decades and produced operas of intense beauty and brilliance. But they never quite matched the unique splendor of their first lighthearted and endearingly romantic endeavor, Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59, which premiered in Dresden in 1911.

Debuting director Bruno Ravella’s classy new 1950s-era production for Santa Fe, co-produced with Garsington Opera and the Irish National Opera, is cleverly constructed with not a moment of down time. Ravella plays up the humor to the max, with plenty of opportunities for bittersweet moments in between. Gary McCann’s scenic and costume design plus Ravella’s concept create the perfect atmosphere for an updated period comedy, with emphasis on the comedy. The superpower cast supported the direction and artistic ambiance superbly.

Since her initial experience as a company Apprentice, Rachel Willis-Sørensen has made a name for herself at major opera houses worldwide. Her portrayal of the key role of the Marschallin buoyed her reputation. She was radiant, both in physical presence and vocal beauty. In her dominant first act, her dramatic, classic portrayal of the conflicted noblewoman melded perfectly with the gorgeous tones that filled the theatre in her every phrase.

Rachel Willis-Sørensen (the Marschallin) and Paula Murrihy (Octavian)
at the beginning of Act 1.

Also a former Apprentice, mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy gave a sympathetic rendering of the impulsive, lovesick cavalier Octavian. The joy in her depiction was palpable from the first moment she emerged barefoot from the curtained love nest with Willis-Sørensen. Energetic, passionate, suffering from teenage love angst, Murrihy displayed a keen understanding of all the characteristics of this less complex but lynchpin character. Her voice was perfectly suited to the role, though in the first act her vibrato was overly prominent but less so in the second and third acts. In the latter, her interpretation of the chamber maid was highly entertaining and hysterically funny.

Megan Marino (Annina) and
Matthew Rose (Baron Ochs). 

Known for his 2009 Santa Fe rendering of the role of Leporello in Don Giovanni, Matthew Rose projected his deep bass impressively, backing it up with a strong characterization of the dodgy yet maddeningly appealing Baron Ochs.

Rather than the woolly sound often associated with the role, Rose’s huge, lush voice gave a scintillating aspect to the character’s self-importance and a certain believability to his vision of his potential as a lover to an absurdly young woman. McCann’s first act costuming set the stage for the over-the-top buffoonery that Rose carried through to the finale. Having Rose scream his protest over being wounded when Murrihy had not actually touched him was a particularly amusing detail.

Soprano Ying Fang was engaging as the innocent but feisty teenage Sophie. Her transformational arc, from devoutly pliable to strongly defending her right to live her life happily with her chosen love interest, was well played. But it was her arrestingly beautiful vocality that stood out. She spun one stunning high note after another, consistently, with a seeming ease that belied the difficulties of the tessitura, projecting through the huge orchestration, always in a truly memorable way.

Ying Fang (Sophie) and 
Zachary Nelson (Faninal).

As Faninal, Sophie’s misguided father, Zachary Nelson departed from his usual heavier roles to bring a believable combination of lightness and portentousness to his portrayal. He made the most of his relatively short time onstage to deliver a convincing characterization.

David Portillo gave a lovely rendering of the Italian Singer’s aria, impressively negotiating a difficult tessitura which can challenge any tenor of the highest regard. Ravella’s staging, with the Marschallin listening to the first verse at the window and the other characters motionless, heightened the Marschallin’s perpetual fear of time marching on. However, this reviewer would have preferred to watch Portillo onstage for the entire aria.

Making his company debut as Valzacchi, tenor Gerhard Siegel was a seriously devious presence, while mezzo-soprano Megan Marino gave a sparkling rendition of Annina, his partner in crime. Together they formed a great team, mirroring the characters’ collegial relationship and mining the potential for deception in a charming, humorous way while making the most of their respective vocal challenges. Marino’s background in theater was evident in her physical comedy exploits. Her singing was impeccable, and her trendy costume added appealing visual interest. Siegel deftly handled the vocal and comedic demands of his role.

The presentation of the Rose by Octavian (Paula Murrihy) to Sophie (Ying Fang).

The librettist’s multitude of minor but pivotal characters presented a golden opportunity for appearances by current and former company Apprentices, who were delightful in the many comprimario roles that Strauss and Hofmannsthal created for their comedic confection. Several of these Apprentices have been adding to their onstage experience by participating in the cast of the debuting The Righteous this season. Among them, Katharine Henry (Marianne Leitmetzerin), Natasha Isabella Gesto (Dressmaker), and the three Orphans (Isobel Anthony, Ashlyn Brown, and Christina Grohowski) made a lasting impression. Kudos go to Kathryn Henry for bringing attention to the small but pivotal role of Marianne with her outstanding, well-projected high notes.

Karina Canellakis.

Conductor Karina Canellakis showed, in her splendid Santa Fe Opera debut, why she was a winner of the prestigious Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Having started out playing the violin, she demonstrated a violinist’s sensitivity in her interpretation of this glorious score. Hofmannsthal had requested some “sweet waltzes” from Strauss, despite the genre not being appropriate for the period in which the opera was set.

Canellakis made full use of sweeping gestures to emphasize the importance of these captivating waltzes throughout the performance. Her keen orchestral sense was evident in the sparkling sounds that she drew from the musicians, and her pacing was impeccable, holding the audience’s interest through to the very end of a long evening.

Strauss’s music and Hofmannsthal’s story—the former much loved and the latter highly insightful—together form a reflection on the war between the upper and lower classes that can present a challenge with regards to direction and setting, which in this production was rather more contemporary than the work's authors envisaged.

Ravella’s staging infused the trio of settings of the three acts with humor and a canny sense of sympathy to all the vicissitudes of the characters’ personalities. Gary McCann’s scenic and costume design are pleasing to the eye but at the same time visually believable as an intriguing combination of ornate Baroque, classical and mid-20th century ambiance viewed from a current point of view.

Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Marschallin)
 at the window.

A good example is the striking carved white plaster background decoration sculpted by Stephen Metcalf. With Malcolm Rippeth’s LED lighting, which brilliantly displayed each dramatic milieu, both give a modern feel to the centuries-old theme of the work. Large windows on stage left add a sense of connection to the outside world. The scene changes, in full view of the audience, are adeptly done, the Act 3 changeover containing an especially delightful surprise.

McCann’s costumes are equally eye-catching. With the huge number of characters, the potential for different styles is key: from the ultra-sophisticated and dramatically romantic Marschallin to the sleazy, pseudo-aristocratic Baron Ochs. All the designs, carefully crafted to play up the most important dramatic and comedic aspects of the characters, added up to a visual feast whose updated feel allowed the audience to connect more closely with the personages onstage.

All in all, Santa Fe Opera's production of Strauss and Hoffmanstahl's masterpiece, which continues with further performances on August 8 and 15, was striking and well worth multiple viewings. The company’s season is dedicated to the memory of much beloved former General Director Richard Gaddes.

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Crosby Theater, Santa Fe Opera, 301 Opera Drive, Santa Fe, NM, Friday, August 2, 2024, 8:00 p.m.

Images: Strauss and Hofmannsthal: richard-strauss-institut; The production: Curtis Brown.