Last night the Merola Opera Program presented its Grand Finale at the War Memorial Opera House, providing all of the 2010 "Merolini" with their one opportunity to perform opera scenes in the space of a full-scale opera house. As is the case every year, the program was both diverse and extensive and is best approached through its high points, both musical and dramatic (as I had done with the scenes performed at last month's Schwabacher Summer Concert). Those high points may not necessarily help to predict who will be the next generation of opera stars, but they tend to indicate where the most promising signs of talent may be found.
There is no doubt that those signs were strongest in soprano Hye Jung Lee. She had the ambition to take on two of the most challenging soprano roles from the twentieth century repertoire; and, in spite of those roles being so radically different, she triumphed in both of them. The first of these was Tytania in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I recently declared to be "the mother of all killer coloratura roles." Since almost all of Britten's operas tend to deal with the harsh realities of everyday life, his move into a world of enchantment involved a major stylistic shift; and many who think they are familiar with Britten's style have trouble adjusting to his overall tone in this opera. Once we get used to the other-worldly qualities he elicits from both vocal and instrumental resources, however, we discover a truly outstanding piece of work; and last night's scene gave it all the loving respect it deserved.
The scene involves Tytania's first encounter with Bottom (sung by Thomas Florio who complemented Lee excellently). There is a double layer of enchantment here, since Tytania, a "queen of enchantment" has, herself, been enchanted by the potion from Oberon's flower. That double layer is disclosed through melodic lines that soar into the stratosphere, often leaving their more earthbound words trailing behind. One might say that this is a setting of text in which ecstasy trumps grammar, and Lee's voice soared along each of Britten's phrases as if their execution were the most natural thing in the world.
Florio's Bottom, on the other hand, was firmly rooted in Shakespeare's earthbound absurdities. Having built up the strength of his bass Dulcamara by the final performance of Gaetano Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore in the more modest setting of the Cowell Theater at the beginning of this month, he was now ready to fill the space of the War Memorial with all of the rich eccentricities with which Britten endowed his character. Furthermore, with the exception of only a pair of slightly oversized ears, Florio conveyed the nature of Bottom's enchantment entirely through a rich palette of expressive movements, all of which emphasized how successful Oberon has been in trapping Tytania in a thoroughly ridiculous situation.
Lee's second triumph came in the second half of the evening with her performance of Zerbinetta's seduction of the Composer (a "trouser" role performed by Colleen Brooks) in the Prologue to Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. This is much more a "real world" setting, in which an art-for-art's-sake composer has his first confrontation with the compromises that he must make to get his work performed. That confrontation is embodied in Zerbinetta, a seasoned trouper who runs a company that produces "entertainment for the masses." The Prologue is concerned with preparing a performance of the Composer's latest work, a tragic opera about the mythic encounter between Ariadne and Bacchus; and the twist in the plot is that this opera must be performed with Zerbinetta and her crew on the same stage at the same time. In the course of this one scene, we see the Composer having a meltdown over the abusive treatment of his efforts, Zerbinetta briefing her players on how they will improvise their way through the evening, and, most important, Zerbinetta winning over the Composer with just the right blend of sex appeal and feigned admiration for his artistic ambitions.
It is through this scene that we learn all we need to know about Zerbinetta, and it was clear that Lee had grasped the full extent of this character. Strauss' score leads us through all the twists and turns of Zerbinetta's character traits, and Lee was confidently prepared for all of them. Brooks was equally attuned to the musical demands and admirably depicted the transition from steadfast idealist to victim of Zerbinetta's wiles. However, this was a scene in which Zerbinetta is always in the spotlight (because that is the kind of person she is); and, from a musical point of view, the solo with which she persuades the Composer ("Ein Augenblick") is a "warm-up" for the tour de force aria with which she confronts Ariadne in the "opera proper," "Großmächtige Prinzessin." If the Fates are favorable, we may yet have an opportunity to hear Lee take on Zerbinetta's role in its entirety.
One of the other most memorable moments of last night's performance also came from Strauss' music. This was an aria from his far less familiar opera Die Schweigsame Frau, based on Ben Jonson's play, Epicœne, or The Silent Woman. Kevin Thompson sang the role of Sir Morosus in the aria "Wie schön ist die Musik." There is a good chance that Morosus was a "market-driven" character, a product of the success of the portrayal of Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier. One can imagine Strauss besieged with requests to bring Ochs back for another equally absurd plot line. Dramatically, Jonson's play is an entirely different story; but musically Morosus revives most of Ochs' most memorable qualities, all the way down to the lower depths of his bass line. The music may have been unfamiliar, but Thompson brought it to life with all the character attributes that established themselves in Strauss' earlier comedy. It should not be long until he is ready to take on Ochs' role in a full Rosenkavalier production.
These, then, were the high points. Fortunately, the lowest ones were few in number and do not need to be emphasized. Most important was the occasion itself: performing in a full-scale opera house with the full forces of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in the pit. This is how the next generation of talent must ready itself for "prime time."
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