- ‘Sex & Violence’
vivifies violence and seconds sex...
-
- Review:
- ‘Sex and Violence:
The World of Grand Opera’ in Middletown
By JAMES F. COTTER
For the Times-Herald Record
October 21, 2009
-
- MIDDLETOWN — Hudson Opera Theater
has come up with a hot idea inspired by Ron De Fesi’s love
and knowledge of opera: scenes with the theme “Sex and Violence:
The World of Grand Opera.”
- Eight soloists, a
chorus of 18 and 13-member orchestra combined for a tastefully
spicy Sunday afternoon of opera revue, in the United Presbyterian
Church at that! Not to worry, nothing X-rated occurred as De
Fesi reviewed the plots of some 14 operas with summaries and
humorous asides about dying lovers and their inevitable swan
songs. Translations in English were projected on a wall so one
could follow the words and lines.
- This is a company
of well-trained voices dedicated to keeping opera alive for the
community. As De Fesi pointed out at the end of the program,
without small groups of local audiences, the Met and big city
companies will not continue to thrive.
- Mozart’s “Magic
Flute” is a popular favorite with its fantasy and wit. The
orchestra played the Overture for a tuneful opener, the first
violin leading the way for the other strings and woodwinds to
follow in an energetic romp. Heather Connolly then sang Lucia’s
lovely aria, “Regnava nel silenzio,” from Donizetti’s
“Lucia di Lammermoor.” Connolly’s coloratura soprano
captured the pathos of the heroine’s encounter with her
grandmother’s ghost.
- The Anvil Chorus
from Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” offers a rousing call
“To work, to work,” which the choral group intoned
with spirit. Mezzo-soprano Mariella Nocetti took on a rejected
boy’s role for the aria “Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio,”
from Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito.” She has a
rich, attractive voice that made her appeal moving and appealing,
accompanied as it was by the oboe [clarinet played by Allan Plumb].
- Contralto Christa
Damaris assumed the role of the villainous aunt in Puccini’s
“Suor Angelica” with genuine nastiness emphasized by
a drum roll, while Robin Rubendunst confident soprano was accompanied
by a harp as she prayed for peace in Verdi’s “La Forza
di Destino.”
- Two selections
from Bellini’s “Norma” had the chorus calling
to battle in “Guerra, Guerra” and soprano Karen Suchy
as the high priestess of the Druids joining tenor Justin Randolph
and bass John Costello and the chorus for a mighty climax to
the first half of the program.
- After intermission,
14-year-old chorus tenor Michael Kolb led the Peasant Chorus
from Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” beginning
with an a cappella Russian chant and involving the orchestra’s
full support in a harvest hymn. Handel’s “Guilio Cesare
in Egitto” brought Nocetti and Damaris together for a dirge
as son and mother mourning “I was born to sigh and weep.”
- Tenor Nathan
Carlisle used his resonant tones as Mozart’s notorious Don
Giovanni, while soprano Suchy sang beautifully as a doomed Tosca
in Puccini’s masterful opera, declaring “Vissi d’arte,”
“I lived on art.” Connolly, Kathryn Alicia Tate, Carlisle
and De Fesi made up a quartet for Verdi’s “Bella figlia
dell’amore” from his “Rigoletto,” with the
women and father teaming up to unmask the unscrupulous duke (Carlisle).
- Mezzo-soprano
Tate looked lovely and sang tenderly in the love aria from Saint-Saens’
“Samson et Dalila” with oboe and flute in the background.
Rubindunst, Carlisle and De Fesi formed a trio, with Carlisle
as Faust, as Gretchen prepares to die in the finale of Gounod’s
opera.
- “Va, pensiero”
from Verdi's “Nabucco” closed the revue with a sonorously
inspiring anthem and invocation, “Fly, thoughts, on wings
of gold.”
- IF YOU GO ...
What: “Sex and Violence:
The World of Grand Opera” staged by Hudson Opera Theater
- Where: United
Presbyterian Church, 25 Orchard St., Middletown
- When:
4:00 p.m. Oct. 25
- Tickets:
$25, $22 senior citizens, $15 students
- Call:
661-0544
- On the Web:
www.hotopera.com
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