THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES – REVIEW OF 2019 GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

James Karas

The Ghosts of Versailles is a big a opera by composer John Corigliano on a libretto by William M. Hoffman. It was commissioned in 1979 by New York’s Metropolitan Opera and premiered in 1991. It is a highly ambitious work with a complicated plot, a large cast and huge production demands for cast, costumes and scenery. 

It is partly based on Beaumarchais’ third Figaro play The Guilty Mother with significant additions by Hoffman. The servants Figaro and his wife Suzanna, Count Almaviva and the Countess Rosina from The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro as well as Cherubino from the latter opera appear as do a host of other characters. I count 31 roles in the program plus dancers. 

(Center) Jonathan Bryan as Beaumarchais and members of the ensemble. 

Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

The ghosts are members of the French royal family with Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI being the most important ones. Beaumarchais plays a key role because his ghost is in love with Marie Antoinette’s ghost and he has written an opera that will change history. The characters from The Marriage of Figaro mentioned above and a few others will appear in the opera. The complications and turns of events are very numerous and not very exciting to be recited in a review. Let’s just say the complicated plot adds nothing to the opera.

Let’s give credit to the creators of the production starting with Director Jay Lesenger who handles the large cast, numerous scene changes, entrances and exits with aplomb. James Noone’s sets are visually stunning. Nancy Leary’s costumes take us back to 18^th century grace and splendour that only massive wealth could have produced then and no doubt do not come cheaply today but that is irrelevant to the splendour they add to the production. No one can take issue with the production values that the Glimmerglass Festival has marshalled for this opera.

I did not like the rest of the production at all. Corigliano’s modern music sounded jarring, dissonant and frequently unpleasant. There are some arias, duets and quartets that were almost melodic but they were some distance from being completely enjoyable, I realize and admit that Mozart’s music kept playing in my head. I realize the unfairness in hearing other music instead what is played in front of me but so be it. At one point Rosina, the unhappy wife of Count Almaviva, sings an aria expressing her misery and seeking the lost years of her youth. That is similar to “Dove sono” from The Marriage of Figaro where the Countess seeks the pleasant past. Corigliano’s music sounded jarring compared to the sumptuous beauty of Mozart. Unfair comparison? Perhaps.

The Ghosts takes potshots at comic opera and there are few laughs in it. Beaumarchais wants to free Marie Antoinette from her present condition – remember she was beheaded and is now a ghost - change the course of history and enjoy life with her in Philadelphia – “if you can call that life!” is the last comment on the suggestion We have a sword fight only to discover you cannot stab to death someone who is already dead. 

(From left) Brian Wallin as Count Almaviva, Emily Mirsch as Florestine, 

Joanna Latini as Rosina, Kayla Siembieda as Susanna, and Ben Schaefer 

as Figaro. Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

There is a great party at the Turkish embassy which goes on for too long and ceases being amusing long before it is over. Lesenger makes generous use of the aisles of the theatre and you see French royalty walking by you. At one point one of the cast mumbles the comment “is this thing still going on? It is so boring” or words to that effect.

Let’s give credit to the cast who work hard and I do not hesitate to express my adulation for their work. Of the ghosts, the main ones are Yelena Dyachek as Marie Antoinette, Jonathan Bryan as Beaumarchais, Peter Morgan as Louis XVI and Zachary Rioux as the Marquis.

The opera-within-the opera that Beaumarchais “composes” has some nineteen characters including Figaro (Ben Schaefer), Susanna (Kayla Siembieda), Rosina (Joanna Latini), Count Almaviva (Brian Wallin), Begearss (Christian Sanders), Cherubino (Katherine Maysek) Pasha (Wm. Clay Thompson) and Samira (Gretchen Krupp).

With the exception of Dyachek, the entire cast are members of the Young Artists Program.

There are aspects of The Ghosts of Versailles that people find entertaining, admirable and even wonderful. I find myself on the side of those who did not enjoy the opera at all.    

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The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano (music) and William H. Hoffman (libretto) is being performed eight times between July 13 and August 23, 2019 at the Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown, New York. Tickets and information (607) 547-0700 or www.glimmerglass.org

SHOW BOAT – REVIEW OF 2019 GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

James Karas

Show Boat is a grand musical in the old style. It has a large cast, features some marvelous dance routines, a few great songs and touches on some societal issues. It is also sentimental, sometimes corny with a few too many coincidences but in the end it leaves you highly entertained and satisfied. And that describes the Glimmerglass Festival’s gorgeously sung and beautifully designed production directed by the highly capable Francesca Zambello.

Show Boat equals the great aria “Ol’ Man River,” a personification of the grand Mississippi River that "jes' keeps rollin' along". “Ol’ Man River” equals the unequalled voice of Paul Robeson. In this production Justin Hopkins as Joe does justice to the song with his great midrange and wonderful rumbling low notes. 

Lauren Snouffer as Magnolia Hawks, Michael Adams as Gaylord Ravenal 

and members of the ensemble. Photo Credit: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

But there is more to Show Boat than one great song. Jerome Kern married Oscar Hammerstein II’s lyrics based on Edna Ferber’s novel and produced one of the landmarks in American musical theatre. The integration of plot and music, the subject matter which includes miscegenation and the overall quality of the show have made a milestone that is frequently revived since its premiere in 1927.

The Cotton Blossom is a floating theatre that travels along the Mississippi. The musical starts with a fistfight where the star of the show Steve (Charles H. Eaton) knocks out Pete the engineer (Maxwell Levy) for making passes at his wife Julie (Alyson Cambridge). The crux of the incident is to bring into focus one of the most disgraceful chapters in endemic American racism: the criminal prohibition of interracial marriage and sex. Julie has Negro blood and that makes her marriage to Steve a crime. Before the sheriff can arrest her, Steve cuts her hand and sucks some of her blood. Thus he can prove that he has Negro blood as well and their marriage is legal!

This is a minor but striking incident in the musical. We then get on with the main plotline which is the relationship between Magnolia (Lauren Snouffer) and the debonair gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Michael Adams). He is tall, dark and handsome, as they say, and she is blonde and pretty. He sings "Where's the Mate for Me?" and they both sing “Make Believe” and its love forever. Snouffer and Adams turn in superb performances.

They marry, have a child and do well until Ravenal returns to gambling, loses everything and disappears for a couple of decades. She hits bottom and rises to the top on Broadway and loves Ravenal forever.

Magnolia’s father, Cap’n Andy is overplayed by Lara Teeter who tries a bit too hard to be funny. His wife Parthy a.k.a. Parthenia (played by Klea Blackhurst) is a termagant and her name gives away her character. She is right about Ravenal but we prefer Andy’s judgment because we do not want to interfere with the course of love especially in a musical.

 Justin Hopkins as Joe and Lauren Snouffer as Magnolia Hawks. 

Photo Credit: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

The musical covers some 40 years from 1887 to 1927 and by the end Magnolia’s and Ravenal’s daughter Kim (Hayley Ayers) is grown up. Andy arranges for a reunion on the Cotton Blossom. Kim rushes into her father’s arms but Zambello, quite smartly, does not have Magnolia do the same. It may be a musical but reality has not been abrogated.  

Show Boat has a chorus of stevedores and working girls who perform a number of songs and brilliant dances choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

The sets by Peter J. Davison from the brilliantly coloured show boat to the gritty harbour to the posh hotel and Trocadero are superb.

The Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra is conducted by James Lowe.

The Mississippi may be eternally rolling along oblivious to the affairs of humanity but humanity, especially the audience in The Alice Busch Opera Theatre was certainly not oblivious to “Ol’ Man River” or this production of Show Boat as marked by their standing ovation.

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Show Boat by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) is being performed thirteen times between July 6 and August 24, 2019 at the Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown, New York. Tickets and information (607) 547-0700 or www.glimmerglass.org

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of  The Greek Press. www.greekpress.ca

BLUE – REVIEW OF 2019 GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

James Karas

The Glimmerglass Festival is in its 45^th season on the shores of Lake Otsego and, yes, near Cooperstown. The village lays claim to fame for opera, of course, the Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum, and The Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard winery. Oh yes, there is also the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Despite the latter, people of culture and civilization still go to Cooperstown and walk up and down Main Street. Then they surreptitiously sneak away and drive along the lakeshore towards the Alice Busch Opera Theatre.  The Cooperstown Association for the Preservation of Civilization advises visitors to put on a baseball cap (preferably Blue Jays so no one will notice or care) and sneak by the village’s only traffic light and go to the Alice Busch Opera Theatre without arousing suspicion. The cap lets you enter any one of the ten thousand shops selling baseball memorabilia so you can camouflage the real purpose of your visit.

Back to civilization. This year the Festival offers six productions among other events. There is something new, Blue, something old, La Traviata, something modern, The Ghosts of Versailles, and something classic American, Show Boat. In addition to these, there is a production of Benjamin Britten’s Noah’s Flood by the Glimmerglass Youth Ensemble and a version of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. 

(From left) Mia Athey as Girlfriend 3, Brea Renetta Marshall as Girlfriend 2, Briana Hunter 

as The Mother and Ariana Wehr as Girlfriend 1. Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

Blue is a new opera that was commissioned by Francesca Zambello, the Festival’s Artistic and General Director. The title refers to the colour of the uniform of the New York City police. The music is by Jeanine Tesori whose first opera A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck premiered at the Glimmerglass Festival in 2011. The libretto by Tazewell Thompson tells the tragic story of a family living in Harlem that is also a parable of the life of blacks in America.

As becomes a story about a people as well as a family, the characters are not given names. The main characters are the Father (Kenneth Kellogg), the Mother (Briana Hunter), the Son (Aaron Crouch) and the Reverend (Gordon Hawkins). The Mother has three girlfriends and the father has three friends who also act as members of the Congregation.

We first meet the Mother who is deliriously happy about being pregnant. Her friends are more practical, perhaps cynical and advise her that the rule is “thou shall not bring black boys into the world”. The Mother’s excitement is undiminished. We meet the Father who is a rookie police officer and deeply in love with his wife and thrilled at the prospect of fatherhood.

The Mother and the Father have friends and belong to an integrated society that should reflect the America Dream. They have every right to belong and think that they belong. That notion is quickly shattered.

When the Son is 16, he rebels against the racial injustice in America that besmirches its history like a huge streak of blood on a white sheet from the arrival of the first slave in 1619 to last week’s shooting of a black man by the police. The Son engages in peaceful protests against the endemic racism around him and has a falling out with his Father. He is shot dead by a police officer.

The family and the dream of a good life are destroyed. The Father becomes bitter, hateful and thirsting for revenge. The mother is distraught and the effect of racism is brought into horrifying relief. It is a portrait of America.

After the son’s funeral, there is a dream sequence which paints a picture of what might have been if the son had not been killed.

The libretto tells a simple story, almost mundane in view of what occurs so frequently. One becomes almost anesthetized at its horror. It is a parable and not a documentary account and it is more powerful for its simplicity.

Tesori’s music is beautifully modulated and apt for the changing scenes of the opera. It opens with dark, foreboding music but we quickly get into the uplifting scenes of happiness and hope.

We experience the jarring notes of the fight between father and son; the attempt by the Reverend to preach forgiveness in the midst of anger, and desire for revenge. During the funeral scene, we hear the congregation sing airs with the cadence of Negro spirituals until the final notes of resolution in the dream sequence.

Bass Kenneth Kellogg as the Father is big physically and vocally. He has a marvelously resonant voice with some rumbling low notes. He goes from a buddy with fellow police officers, to a happy new father, to a man who is hated by his teenage son, to a vengeful man and finally to one who is reconciled through his faith. It is a tough role that Kellogg handles superbly.

 

                (From left) Kenneth Kellogg as The Father, Aaron Crouch as The Son and Briana 

Hunter as The Mother. Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival

Briana Hunter is a young singer who as the Mother starts as an attractive, spirited and happy woman who is excited about motherhood, deeply in love with her husband and must face the reality of racist America. A well done performance by Hunter.     

Bass Gordon Hawkins played a well-sung and sympathetic Reverend giving Christian hope in a situation where there is little room for it.

The Son (Aaron Crouch) and the six singers who made up the three girlfriends, three friends of the Father and the congregation, all members of the Festival’s Young Artists Program, did fine work supporting the main characters.

The set by Donald Eastman consisted of a few pieces of furniture as required for each scene in front of a backdrop of a three-story apartment building.

Librettist Tazewell Thompson also directed the production with economy and simplicity as becomes the telling of a parable.

John DeMain conducted the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra in a fine performance of a new work.

Back to reality. The advisability of wearing a Blue Jays cap as camouflage in Cooperstown may be short-lived. There is strong evidence that the Toronto team will do in baseball what the Raptors did in basketball. In that case being seen in an American town with or without an opera festival with the cap of a Canadian team becomes highly risky.

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Blue by Jeanine Tesori (music) and Tazewell Thompson (libretto) is being performed eight times between July 14 and August 22, 2019 at the Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown, New York. Tickets and information (607) 547-0700 or www.glimmerglass.org

James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press. www.greekpress.ca