Opera Review: OTSL and Puccini make beautiful music together in "La bohème"

When Puccini’s “La bohème” premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1896 (with Arturo Toscanini at the podium, no less) the public and critical reception was lukewarm. That changed quickly as productions became more widespread, and it’s now a favorite of companies around the world.  Opera Theatre’s current production is the seventh in their 49-year history. It might not be their best, but it certainly has its merits.

L-R: Moisés Salazar, Titus Muzi III, Robert Mellon
Thomas Glass, André Courville 
Photo: Eric Woolsey

For those of you who have missed being exposed to Henri Murger’s episodic 1851 novel “Scènes de la vie bohème” (“Scenes from Bohemian Life”) or Puccini’s opera or Jonathan Larson’s 1996 rock musical adaptation “RENT,” here’s a quick plot summary. On Christmas Eve, the poet Rodolfo, the painter Marcello, the philosopher Colline, and the musician Schaunard are young, creative, broke, and burning some of their work to heat their squalid Parisian apartment. Enter the equally poverty-stricken seamstress Mimi, whose candle has gone out, leaving her stuck in the stairwell. Before the first act is over, she and Rodolfo are smitten. The opera chronicles the highs and tragic lows of both their relationship and that of Marcello and the singer Musetta. Mimi dies (of consumption, as tragic heroines were wont to do in the 19th century), Musetta doesn't, and nobody lives happily ever after.

L-R: Moisés Salazar, Katerina Burton
Photo: Eric Woolsey

Opera Theatre can generally be relied upon to cast strong singers and have done so here. Former Gerdine Young Artist Moisés Salazar, whose robust tenor served him so well in 2021’s Center Stage Showcase, displays that same power here as Rodolfo. He’s a good match for fellow GYA alumna Katerina Burton, whose lyric soprano has just the right sense of sweetness to offer a pleasing contrast, without being overwhelmed by Salazar. Their justly famous Act I love scene—Rodolfo’s “Che gelida manina,” Mimi’s “Mi chiamano Mimi,” and the duet “O soave fanciulla”—had a kind of childlike innocence, if not a great deal of adult passion.

L-R: Thomas Glass, André Courville,
Brittany Renee, Katerina Burton, Moisés Salazar
Photo: Eric Woolsey

That offered a sharp contrast to the openly fraught affair of Marcello and Musetta, who like Lois in “Kiss Me, Kate” is “always true to you, darling, in my fashion.” As sung and acted by baritone Thomas Glass (an outstanding Harvey Milk in 2022) and soprano Brittany Renee, both characters felt like full-blooded (if excessively self-dramatizing) adults while Rodolfo and Mimi came across as children playing dress-up. I’m not sure that’s the best way to underline the difference between the two couples, but it does have the advantage of explaining Rodolfo’s jealous rages as mere acts of jejune petulance.

Glass and Renee both have full, robust voices that allow them to project clearly over the crowd in the Café Momus scene. Renee, in particular, radiates a sultry assurance that serves her character well, especially in her show-stopping “Quando m’en vo” (a.k.a. “Musetta’s waltz”).

Bass-baritone André Courville makes an impressive OTSL debut as Colline, providing one of the more moving moments in “Vecchia zimarra,” his tearful Act IV farewell to the faithful old coat he plans to pawn for medicine for the dying Mimi. Baritone Titus Muzi III, who was such a wonderfully fussy Sacristan in “Tocsa” last season, scores again as Schaunard, with his outrageous tale of being hired to sing the role of a rich man’s parrot.

L-R: Thomas Glass, Titus Muzi III, 
Moisés Salazar, André Courville
Photo: Eric Woolsey

Even the smallest parts in this production have been filled by performers who can boast of considerable vocal and dramatic strength. Witness baritone Robert Mellon—an outstanding Figaro in Union Avenue’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia" in 2021 and an equally remarkable title role in the same company’s “Falstaff” in 2022. Here, he creates a pair of memorable clowns in the roles of the easily befuddled landlord Benoit and Musetta’s hapless sugar daddy Alcindoro, who is stuck with the bill at the end of the Café Momus scene.

Director Michael Shell’s decision to move the action to 1950 and to change the color scheme from technicolor in the Puccini’s Acts I and II to a grim grayscale in acts III and IV doesn’t seem to add much, but neither does it subtract. Besides, I tend to remember the 1950s as being in black and white (in more ways than one), in any case. His direction generally does a good job of keeping focus where it should be and only comes up short in the final moments of the massive Café Momus scene, which has often been an issue for OTSL’s relatively small stage.

Puccini’s intention in that scene was to portray the rich panoply of Parisian street life at Christmas time. As Michele Girardi writes in Gove Online, he achieved that by stacking up “numerous events, entrusting them to small choral groups and soloists, and ensuring appropriate timing and cuts from one scene to another which are almost film-like in their lightning rapidity.” If the stage becomes too crowded, there’s not enough space for the audience to hear to small groups properly, and it all becomes visual and sonic clutter—as it did on opening night.

Katerina Burton, Moisés Salazar
Photo: Eric Woolsey

“Puccini,” writes conductor José Luis Gómez in his program notes, “offers the conductor and orchestra a chance to support the singers…but to also be a clear protagonist in the entire drama.” His wonderfully sympathetic reading of the score demonstrates that consistently, especially in places (like the wintry beginning of Puccini’s Act III) in which the composer’s tone painting vividly evokes a frigid February dawn at the city gates. It’s a fine performance, exquisitely played by members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. It’s also the perfect complement to Takeshi Kata’s sets, Amanda Seymour’s costumes, and Marcus Doshi’s lighting.

If you’re a fan of “La bohème” you’ll probably find much to admire in Opera Theatre’s latest presentation of it, which runs through June 30.. If, like me, you can take it or leave it, I doubt this will change your mind.

Performances of “La bohème” are sung in English with English supertitles and take place on the main stage at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus in Webster Groves. Run time is around two and one-half hours, including an intermission between acts II and III. For more information on this and the other three operas in the 2024 season, visit the Opera Theatre web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Opera Review: A smartly staged 'Macbeth' at Winter Opera

“Verdi adored Shakespeare,” writes Garry Wills in his invaluable “Verdi’s Shakespeare: Men of the Theater,” and goes on to note that the composer briefly considered operatic treatments of “The Tempest,” “Hamlet,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” He considered “King Lear” more seriously, but ultimately left us with only three operas based on the Bard: “Otello” (1887), “Falstaff” (1893), and “Macbeth” (1847, revised in 1865).

Michael Nansel, Nathan Whitson, and the witches
Photo: Rebecca Haas

Union Avenue Opera gave us a solid “Falstaff” last August, but it has been a good seven years since local audiences have had a chance to see “Macbeth” (in an English translation at Opera Theatre). That made Winter Opera’s admirable production last Friday and Sunday (January 20 and 22) all the more welcome. Smartly staged and powerfully sung, its only serious flaw was the fact that it ran only two performances and that, by the time you read this, it will no longer be possible for you to see it. I don’t know whether or not Verdi would have adored it, but I think he would have been happy to see his work treated with such respect.

Audiences who know their Shakespeare probably noticed that Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei’s libretto follows the bare bones of Shakespeare's original, although the story has been considerably streamlined and many secondary characters have been eliminated. But the big moments are still there: the scenes with the witches, Lady Macbeth's "letter" and sleepwalking scenes, Macbeth's "dagger" monologue, and of course, the banquet with Banquo's ghost. And in Verdi's hands, they form the basis for very powerful theatrical moments.

The banquet scene
Photo: Rebecca Haas

Stage Director John Stephens wisely decided to eschew the kind of gimmicky attempts at updating that have plagued so many productions of established operatic classics in recent decades. “Our production,” said Stephens in an interview last week, is set circa 1100 with magnificent period costumes.” And, in fact, Scott Loebl’s sparse sets, Amy Hopkins’s costumes, and Michael Sullivan’s lighting all set the appropriately Gothic atmosphere.

All this would have been for naught without a cast of strong singing actors. Verdi was, first and foremost, a man of the theatre. “Verdi,” writes Wills, “was determined to break away from ‘the tyranny of good singing,’ from the empty beauties of bel canto.” He wanted gritty, realistic characters for “Macbeth” and Winter Opera’s cast delivered them.

Michael Nansel
Photo: Rebecca Haas

Baritone Michael Nansel, whose resume includes both musical theatre as well as opera, was a big, commanding Macbeth. Verdi wanted his Macbeth to display overweening ambition and crippling self-doubt. Nansel did that, backed up by a powerful voice. Bass Nathan Whitson was an equally compelling Banquo. Both had potent stage presence, making their Act I duettino (in which Macbeth’s growing royal aspirations are contrasted with Banquo’s unease about them) truly compelling.

Unlike Shakespeare, Verdi saw Lady Macbeth as the prime mover in the action who “dominates and controls everything.” So while her role isn’t large, it’s critical, requiring either a soprano or mezzo (some of it lies quite low) with a wide vocal and dramatic range. Soprano Whitney Myers has both, and was equally convincing in both her triumphant Act II aria “La luce langue,” in which she celebrates the “voluttà del soglio” (the “rapture of the throne”), and her hollow-eyed Act IV sleepwalking/mad scene.

“Macbeth” is an opera of low voices, matching its dark themes. The only tenor role of any consequence is that of Macduff, but his one aria—“Ah, la paterna mano” (Ah, the paternal hand”), in which he laments the slaughter of his family at the hands of Macbeth’s thugs—can be heartbreaking if done properly. Jonathan Kaufman employed his heroic tenor to great effect here and was warmly applauded when we saw him on Sunday.

Whitney Myers
Photo: Rebecca Haas

Finally, let us not neglect the witches. Verdi certainly didn’t, seeing them as a powerful malign presence. The score calls for three separate groups of six each—a mob which, on the Kirkwood Arts Center’s stage, would leave little room for anything else. Winter Opera gave us three groups of three, which was not only more manageable but also allowed each which to have her own unique personality, from seductive to deranged. I have noted in the past the Winter Opera’s choristers generally avoid the trap of coming across as (in Anna Russell’s words) “homogenous—as in milk.” Both the male and female singers were consistent in projecting vocal harmony without neglecting dramatic diversity.

Finally, Edward Benyas conducted the small but solid orchestra in an excellent reading of the score, assisted by the warm acoustics of the Kirkwood theatre.

Granted, there were a couple of technical snafus Sunday, one of which left a hapless stagehand frantically dumping dry ice into the witches’ cauldron after the curtain rose on Act III. But that, my friends, is show biz.  The infamous “trampoline Tosca” of Dame Eva Turner comes immediately to mind as an example. But the bottom line is that Winter Opera’s “Macbeth” was a production of which General Director Gina Galati and her crew can be proud.

Winter Opera’s season concludes with Romberg’s “The Desert Song” March 3 and 5; visit the company web site for more information.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Opera Review: Lovely to look at, delightful to hear: 'Madama Butterfly" at Winter Opera

This Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26, Winter Opera presents a polished, musically impeccable production of the 1907 version of Puccini’s “Japanese tragedy” "Madama Butterfly." Beautifully sung and respectably acted overall, with fine playing by the orchestra under the baton of Ed Benyas, this might not be the best “Butterfly” I’ve ever seen, but it’s good one and should appeal to those who love this popular opera.

I, alas, am not one of those people.

Seon Duk Kim, Jonathan Kaufman
Photo Riq Dilly

My issues are mostly about the libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, based on a play by David Belasco. On the one hand, I have always regarded Pinkerton, the sailor who seduces and abandons the title character, as arrogant, self-centered, and chauvinistic. On the other hand, the Geisha Cio-Cio-San (a.k.a. Madama Butterfly) displays a degree of naiveté that, despite her youth (she's supposed to be fifteen when she marries Pinkerton), borders on the delusional.

As a result, this tragedy has always struck me as a bit forced. The libretto also spends far too much time (two entire acts) chronicling Cio-Cio-San’s decline and fall. Citing Butterfly as an example, Dr. Ross Hagen has observed that there is “an impulse towards sadism in Puccini’s treatment of these ill-fated heroines that he has supposedly come to empathize with.” I’m inclined to agree.

Winter Opera has, in any event, assembled a strong cast here, headed by Seon Duk Kim in the title role and tenor Jonathan Kaufman as the appalling Pinkerton. Their voices blend beautifully in the long and rapturous Act I love duet “Bimba, Bimba, non piangere” ("Sweetheart, sweetheart, do not weep") And a good thing, too, since the contrast between the diminutive Kim (who really does look like a teenager in the role) and the imposing Kaufman tend to give the entire business a creepy, child molester vibe. Legally, after all, Pinkerton is committing what in our day would be statutory rape.

L-R: Michael Nansel, Jonathan Kaufman
Photo: Riq Dilly

Both singers have strong individual moments as well. Kim's small but crystalline singing makes her "Un bel dì vedremo" (the opera's Big Hit) a lovely thing and Kaufman's big, clear voice drives home the nationalistic braggadocio of “Dovunque al mondo” ("Throughout the world"), his Act I duet with the American Consul Sharpless (baritone Michael Nansel, in another solid performance).

The best combination of acting and singing skills, though, can be found among the supporting roles. In addition to Nansel’s compassionate Sharpless, we have mezzo Sara Louise Petrocelli’s tragically loyal Suzuki, bass-baritone Joseph Park as the romantically disappointed Prince Yamadori, and tenor Marc Schapman as the scheming marriage broker Goro. Director Mark Freiman also has an impressive moment in the cameo bass role of The Bonze, who self-righteously excoriates Butterfly for converting to “the American God.”

The Winter Opera chorus continues their unblemished record of producing a small but mighty sound while still creating individual characters in the process.

Seon Duk Kim and chorus
Photo: Riq Dilly

Freiman and his team have put a lot of care into making this "Madama Butterfly" look and feel authentic—which is considerably more than Puccini and his librettists did.  Lauren Smith Bearden’s costumes and Scott Loebl’s simple but effective set firmly establish the Japan of the librettists’ imagination, assisted by Jessica Dana’s wigs and makeup.

In the 2020/2021 season, “Madama Butterfly” was the 6th Most Performed Opera in the world according to Operabase, so my disdain for it puts me in the minority. If you're in the majority, I don't think you can go wrong with this production. Winter Opera continues to maintain a high standard of quality on a relatively low budget, and that is most admirable.

Winter Opera presents “Madama Butterfly” Friday at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 2 pm, March 25 and 26, at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit the Winter Opera web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Review: Wait until dark

Verdi's 1851 tragedy Rigoletto is certainly a dark and menacing tale.

Nicholas Newton, Joshua Weeker, chorus
Photo by Eric Woolsey

From the ominous brass fanfares that open the prelude to Rigoletto's final despairing howl of "La maledizione" ("The old man cursed me" in this translation) it's a story of vice rewarded and virtue punished in which only the amoral Duke of Mantua lives happily ever after.

Under the direction of Bruno Ravella, the current Opera Theatre production, which runs through June 30, emphasizes the opera's darkness in literal fashion, with the men dressed mostly in black (contrasting with the brighter colors of the women) and the lighting sometimes so dim that faces are difficult to see. Mr. Ravella has shifted the action from Renaissance Mantua to Paris in the 1880s (when the play on which the opera is based, Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse, was written) and has given Rigoletto a ventriloquist's dummy to highlight (unnecessarily, in my view) the character's "schizophrenic nature."

None of this seems to add much to the drama but, except for a few moments when the dummy steals focus from baritone Roland Wood's excellent performance, it doesn't seem to do any damage either.

Roland Wood, So Young Park
Photo by Eric Woolsey

Mr. Wood's Rigoletto is powerfully sung, credibly acted, and serves as a solid foundation for this generally excellent production. This is a Rigoletto boiling with a rage and frustration that makes the character's ultimately destructive determination to punish the Duke for seducing his daughter Gilda entirely understandable-if no less appalling.

As the sociopathic Duke, tenor Joshua Weeker oozes charm from every pore. Soprano So Young Park is a heartbreaking Gilda, whose absurdly self-sacrificing nature leads to the opera's tragic conclusion, and her performance of the coloratura passages in the famous "Caro nome" aria in Act I was a real winner.

Bass-baritone Nicholas Newton's powerful voice enhances the small role of the doomed Count Monterone, whose dying curse falls heavily on Rigoletto, and bass Christian Zaremba makes an impressive OTSL debut as the ironically principled assassin Sparafucile.

Christian Zaremba, Roland Wood
Photo by Eric Woolsey

Conductor Roberto Kalb leads the St. Louis Symphony musicians in a fine, robust account of Verdi's dramatic score. Cary John Franklin's chorus sings, as always, with powerful assurance.

It can be difficult to watch Rigoletto these days, given how many contemporary Dukes we seem to have in positions of power. But maybe that's a reason to see it all by itself. "We still must negotiate how best to deal with the tyrants amongst us," writes Hannah McDermott in an essay in the program. "The opera's plot still resonates...Rigoletto's themes, tragically, endure."

Opera Theatre's Rigoletto is sung in English with projected English text and runs through June 30 at the Loretto Hilton Center on the Webster University campus.

Opera Review: Lyric's "Trovatore" embraces darkness

L-R: Russell Thomas, Tamara Wilson, Artur Rucinski
Photo by Todd Rosenberg

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The story line may not make much sense and the principal male characters are studies in testosterone poisoning and bad judgment, but nevertheless Verdi's 1853 tragedy "Il Trovatore" ("The Troubadour") has proved to be one of the most enduring hits produced during his "Middle Period" in the 1850s. I have some complaints about the staging of Lyric Opera of Chicago's production, which I saw in its final week, but overall I found it very compelling.

"Il Trovatore" is classic romantic Italian opera, with doomed lovers, a witch's curse, babies switched at birth, jealousy, violence, and death--everything you might want at this festive time of year. You can find a complete plot synopsis on Wikipedia, but let's just say that if "Il Trovatore" has a message, it might be "don't mess with the Gypsies."

Jamie Barton
Photo by Lyric Opera of Chicago

According to opera and theatre critic Charles Osborne the great Enrico Caruso is said to have once observed that all it takes to perform "Il Trovatore" is the four greatest singers in the world. Happily, all of the singers in Lyric's cast are vocal powerhouses as well as respectable actors--a good thing, given the emotional hell to which librettist Salvadore Cammarano subjects them.

Tenor Russell Thomas, who sang so beautifully in Lyric's "Norma" in 2016, scores again as Manrico, the titular troubadour who has won the heart of Leonora and, as a result, the enmity of the brutal Count di Luna. Soprano Tamara Wilson makes an excellent Lyric debut as Leonora, easily launching notes into the stratosphere and tugging at the heartstrings, most notably in the agonizing Act IV.

L-R: Artur Rucinski, Russell Thomas
Photo by Lyric Opera of Chicago

In his Lyric debut, baritone Artur Rucinski is the arrogant and lustful Count di Luna. His powerful voice and committed acting combine to produce a gripping portrayal of a man whose hormones have entirely destroyed any principles he might have once had.

The role of Azucena, Manrico's retribution-obsessed mother, is one that invites some scenery chewing, and mezzo Jamie Barton gives it her all without ever tipping over into parody. I have seen her do admirable work previously, not only at Lyric at also at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Glimmerglass, and her superbly sung performance here does not disappoint. Bass Roberto Tagliavini is a strong Fernando, making the expository "Di due figli vivea padre beato" at the top of Act I a riveting story.

The "Anvil chorus"
Photo by Lyric Opera of Chicago

The chorus is very important for Verdi, and chorus master Michael Black's singers are consistently powerful, precise, and varied in their performances, filling the stage with interesting individual characters. Conductor Marco Armiliato and the orchestra deliver a virtuoso reading of the dramatic score. And, yes, they deliver an impressive "Anvil chorus," complete with the requisite hardware.

Originally presented at Lyric in the 2006-2007 season, when it was directed by Sir David McVicar (Roy Rallo is the revival director), this "Trovatore" is, according to Lyric's press release, "set in the smoldering atmosphere of darkly mysterious 15th-century Spain, inspired by the evocative paintings of the Spanish artist [Francisco] Goya." Both Charles Edwards's relentlessly bleak set, with its massive, ruined walls, and Chris Maravich's generally dim lighting certainly add to that atmosphere. They create a pervasive sense of doom, but they also can make it hard to see the faces of the performers. The sheer size of the set also means that the turntable used for scene changes moves rather slowly, which can be awkward at times.

Roberto Tagliavini
Photo by Lyric Opera of Chicago

The violence implied in the libretto is also demonstrated a bit too graphically at times on stage, as in Act III when de Luna's men physically abuse the captured Azucena before dragging her off.

Still, this is a worthwhile staging of Verdi's drama, and if you're a fan of the opera you certainly will not be disappointed. Sung in Italian with English supertitles, it runs through December 9th at Lyric Opera of Chicago; visit their web site for information on their season, which runs through May 2019.

Review: Lyric Opea of Chicago's spectacular "Turandot"

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Stefano La Colla
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

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Turandot is one of the most popular and, in many ways, most controversial of Puccini's operas. Left unfinished at the time of the composer's death in 1924, it has never been given a fully satisfactory finale. At the opera's premiere, in fact, legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini stopped the performance after the last note actually composed by Puccini, turned to the audience, and said, "At this point the Master laid down his pen."

These days, the common practice is to move on to a triumphal final scene, assembled from Puccini's sketches by Franco Alfano, in which Turandot declares her love for Prince Calàf and everyone more or less lives happily ever after.

In the program for the Lyric Opera of Chicago's exemplary production of Turandot, which runs through January 27th, 2018, director Rob Kearley talks about the many challenges a stage director faces in dealing with this theatrically compelling but often bizarre work, including the question of that final scene. He finally decided to go with Alfano's finale, despite acknowledging that it "cannot be said to represent the master's vision" and that it "leaves one feeling compromised." Sometimes, I imagine, the weight of history is just too great.

Stefano La Colla and Amber Wagner
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

Which makes a certain amount of sense, as the oppressive presence of the dead hand of history is part of the subtext (intentional or not) of the opera. Based on an old Persian fairy tale as retold by Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi, Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni's libretto tells the story of the misandryst Chinese princess Turandot. In revenge for the torture and murder of her ancestress, Turandot forces her many suitors to answer three riddles to win her hand. Failure means death, and as the opera opens the body count is already fairly high, but Turandot seems unwilling (if not unable) to escape her past.

Witnessing the execution of the latest loser, Prince Calàf falls instantly in lust with Turandot despite warnings from his blind father Timur, the slave Liù (in unrequited love with Calàf), and palace functionaries Ping, Pang, and Pong. He answers her riddles, poses one of his own, and finally wins her, generating his own share of death and misery along the way.

That's the Cliff's Notes version, anyway. Wikipedia has a far more detailed synopsis. The bottom line, though, is that Turandot and Calàf are two of the more appalling characters in operatic literature. The former is clearly unhinged; the latter a callow youth determined to possess his lust object regardless of who gets hurt (quite literally, in Liù's case) in the process. Puccini's music redeems them somewhat, but ultimately Turandot's story is a fairly unpleasant business, which is why Alfano's happy ending feels so false.

Zachary Nelson, Rodell Rosel, and Keith Jameson
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

Despite all that, the Lyric Opera production delivers plenty of musical and theatrical excitement. That finale is still creepy, but it's also undeniably thrilling. Such are the contradictions of Art.

The role of Turandot is difficult for many reasons. She doesn't sing a note until the second scene of Act II, at which point she needs to quickly dominate the stage. In the next act, she has to completely change from cold autocrat to swooning lover after a single forced kiss from Calàf. It's a hell of a challenge, but soprano Amber Wagner, whose big, rich voice enhanced Lyric's Tannhäuser two years ago, is more than up to it. When she describes the horror that made her the avenging angel she has become (the aria "In questa reggia" in II, 1), she's riveting, while her sudden defrosting in the next act feels equally real. That's no small accomplishment.

Tenor Stefano La Colla makes Calàf's obsession with Turandot as credible as possible, and does so with a solid-gold voice. He gives the character the irresistible energy that he needs. I do wish he hadn't decided to break character to bow to the audience after "Nessun dorma," though.

Maria Agresta
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

The commedia dell'arte trio of Ping, Pang, and Pong might have been nothing more than comic relief in the hands of lesser composers and librettists, but Puccini and company added a layer of complexity to them in their second-act trio, in which they lament their service to the homicidal Turandot and long for bucolic homes. Baritone Zachary Nelson (Ping) and tenors Rodell Rosel (Pang) and Keith Jameson (Pong) have voices that blend beautifully and bring out the pain that coexists with the trio's sarcastic humor.

Every Puccini opera has a suffering heroine. In the case of Liù that means both romantic yearning and physical torture. Italian soprano Maria Agresta (who will be replaced in January by Janai Brugger) makes an auspicious Lyric debut in this role, turning in a performance of lyrical beauty and passion. Also making his first appearance at Lyric, tenor Josh Lovell cuts an imposing figure as Emperor Altoum and bass Patrick Guetti is nicely menacing as the Mandarin who reads Turandot's decree at the beginning of the opera.

Andrea Silvestrelli shines in the small but important role of the deposed king Timur. I had just seen him the night before as the stern Nourabad in Lyric's Pearl Fishers, and the contrast between them demonstrated his range as an actor.

The chorus and children's chorus carry much of the narrative weight in Turandot, especially in the vast blocks of exposition that constitute the first act. Chorus Master Michael Black can be justifiably proud of their remarkable work here, as they sing with overwhelming power and precision. Bravi, all.

Sir Andrew Davis leads his massive forces, including the offstage brass, in a reading of the score which, while tending to favor slower tempi in many places, nevertheless delivers all the drama one could wish.

Josh Lovell and Amber Wagner
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

I can't complete this review without heaping praise on Allen Charles Klein's opulent and evocative sets and costumes. Originally designed for the Dallas Opera, they create a compellingly surreal atmosphere. Vividly suggesting a semi-mythical China, the set is dominated by a rather deranged-looking dragon and a massive scrying globe. I had a Lord of the Rings flashback when Turandot's massive eye suddenly appears in it in Act I. The elaborate costumes, with their massive, flowing sleeves and striking colors, complete the effect. Masks and makeup inspired by classical Peking opera add to the overall impact.

Mr. Kearley's direction pulls this all together to create a theatrical experience of stunning power. Yes, all of Puccini's unsolvable problems are still there--as, I expect, they inevitably must be--but this all works so well that it ultimately doesn't matter. If you want to understand why this flawed masterpiece continues to appeal to audiences, make your way to Lyric Opera of Chicago before their Turandot orders her last execution on January 27, 2018. You won't regret it.

Review: The spectacular singing of Chicago Lyric's Lucia di Lammermoor

This review originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Albina Shagimuratova and Piotr Beczała
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

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Bel canto opera stands or falls on the strength of the singing, and by that standard Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Donizetti's 1835 tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor stands very tall indeed. From the starring roles down to the chorus, this is a cast that can handle the most demanding material with ease.

And a good thing, too, because the score is one of Donizetti’s richest and most dramatic. From the teeth-rattling choruses that conclude the second act, to the often imitated and even more often parodied aria "Il doce sono" (a.k.a. the "mad scene"), to the legendary sextet—a piece so famous that even the Three Stooges and the Warner Brothers cartoon crew knew they could make fun of it without losing the audience—Lucia provides a treasure trove of great music. The Lyric cast does it full justice with a great performance.

Albina Shagimuratova
Photo: Andrew Cioffi

Soprano Albina Shagimuratova is a radiant Lucia, handling Donizetti's most demanding passages with ease. Her mad scene was a thing of vocal beauty, wonderfully controlled and yet thoroughly expressive. Matching her in power and dramatic conviction is tenor Piotr Beczała as Lucia’s tragic lover Edgardo, as effective in his tender love duets with Ms. Shagimuratova as he is in the violent Act III tower scene (which is, by the way, as good an example of testosterone poisoning as you’ll find anywhere in operatic literature).

His opponent in that tower scene is Lucia’s scheming brother Enrico, sung with menacing force by baritone Quinn Kelsey. I don't think director Graham Vick's decision to make him a shambling drunk adds anything useful but it doesn't really detract either, so overall I can't complain.

Somewhat less credible is Mr. Vick's decision to make the small role of Arturo—whom Lucia is forced to marry, with tragic results—into a kind of foppish scarecrow with his arms permanently outstretched as though posing for a painting. It turns his sword fight with Edgardo into inappropriate low comedy. Tenor Jonathan Johnson looks and sounds great in the part, though, which helps.

Adrian Sâmpetrean
Photo: Andrew Cioffi

Bass Adrian Sâmpetrean puts a sympathetic stamp on the role of the chaplain Raimondo. The character is the moral center of the opera and needs to be credible, especially in "Ah, cedi, cedi!" the Act II aria in which he persuades Lucia to agree to the arranged marriage with Arturo. Mr. Sâmpetrean fully delivers the goods.

Tenor Matthew DiBattista, who has done such great work here at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, once again rises to the occasion as the scheming Normanno, whose forged letter from Edgardo helps persuade Lucia to accept the marriage contract with Arturo. Mezzo Linsday Metzger has less vocal power than her fellow cast members, but is otherwise a very appealing Alisa, Lucia's confidante.

L-R: Piotr Beczała, Jonathan Johnson,
Albina Shagimuratova, Quinn Kelsey
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

In his director's note in the program book, Mr. Vick says that he sees Lucia as "a late-classical work". It's an interesting point, but given that the Romantic movement in music was well underway in 1835, I'm not sure I buy it. In any case, his implementation of that view appears to involve fairly static staging and a monochromatic set by designer Paul Brown that consists largely of multiple levels of gray flats that are used to represent all the indoor scenes, from the Great Hall at Lammermoor Castle to the tower of Edgardo's Ravenswood.

Behind them is a "blasted heath" that Macbeth would have recognized, complete with a eerily crooked tree and an unnaturally large, featureless, and sometimes distractingly mobile moon. Mr. Vick seems fond of that heath, placing much of the opera's action there, even in scenes that are explicitly indoors, like the Act II wedding contract and Lucia's "mad scene." It's especially odd in the latter, since Lucia is supposed to be hallucinating the heath, not wandering about on it.

Mr. Brown's costumes, though, are right on the money. I thought decking the entire Bucklaw clan in blinding white and gold was a nice touch, contrasting strongly with the earth tones of the Lammermoors and Edgardo.

The wedding party
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

At the podium is Enrique Mazzola, an Italian conductor who, to quote his program bio, is "[g]reatly admired internationally in bel canto." If his work here is any indication, that admiration is richly deserved, as he leads the Lyric Opera Orchestra in an assured and well-paced reading of Donizetti's score.

Donizetti assigns an important narrative role to the choir, so Chorus Master Michael Black also deserves praise for the powerful and articulate sound of his singers.

The important point is that if bel canto is your thing, you can't go wrong with a production like this one in which all the musical elements are so strong. And despite my misgivings about some of Mr. Vick's decisions, there's no denying that this Lucia packs a real wallop overall. Performances continue through November 6 at Lyric Opera's home in the magnificent Civic Opera House in the Chicago Loop. Information on Lucia di Lammermoor and the rest of the current season is available at their web site.

Review: A bloody good Macbeth at Opera Theatre of St. Louis

L-R: Robert Pomakov, Roland Wood, Julie Makerov
Photo: Ken Howard

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Verdi, like many nineteenth-century composers, was a huge fan of Shakespeare. Two of his most highly regarded operas-Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893)-were based on The Bard's plays. He even planned a musical treatment of King Lear, but it never came to fruition.

This season, Opera Theatre is presenting Verdi's first Shakespeare opera, Macbeth, in the revised version the composer prepared for Paris in 1865. It's not generally regarded as being in the same league with the other two (although according to Operabase it's just as popular worldwide), but in the skilled hands of director Lee Blakeley and conductor (and OTSL Music Director) Stephen Lord it makes for a rattling good melodrama and an irresistible evening of musical theatre.

The libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei follows the bare bones of Shakespeare's original, although the story has been considerably streamlined and many secondary characters have been eliminated. The big moments are still there, though: the scenes with the witches, Lady Macbeth's "letter" and sleepwalking scenes, Macbeth's "dagger" monologue and, of course, the banquet with Banquo's ghost. And in Verdi's hands, they form the basis for very powerful theatrical moments.

Roland Wood and witches
Photo: Ken Howard

OTSL has a great cast on hand, headed by British baritone Roland Wood in the very large and demanding title role. His powerful, clear voice and imposing stage presence were a perfect fit for the part. Canadian bass Robert Pomakov was just as impressive as Banquo, forcefully and easily projecting even the lowest notes.

Speaking of low notes, the role of Lady Macbeth, although officially a soprano part, often drops quite low as well-so much so that it has sometimes been played by a mezzo. Julie Makerov sings the role here and while she's a soprano, she sounded entirely at ease with the part's range, top to bottom, and handled the coloratura-style elements in the banquet scene easily. Like her co-stars, she's a compelling actress, as credible in the fierce "letter" scene as in the Act IV "sleepwalking" aria "La luce langue" ("The light fades")-one of the numbers Verdi added for Paris audiences.

The tenor role of Macduff is less important in the opera than in the play-he only gets one aria, and that one quickly turns into a duet with the opera's other tenor, Malcolm. Matthew Plenk did a brilliant job with it, though, provoking enthusiastic applause when we saw the show. Tenor Evan Leroy Johnson cuts a striking figure as Malcolm.

L-R: Matthew Plenk and Roland Wood
Photo: Ken Howard

Director Lee Blakeley's stark set, inspired by the bare-bones quality of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, makes scene changes quick and fluid, and his staging highlights the loneliness of the Macbeths, as their relentless and bloody struggle for power alienates everyone they haven't killed or exiled. He and lighting designer Christopher Akerlind have made it a mostly very dark set as well-sometimes too much so. Still, it's a nice visual analogue for an opera in which dark, low voices predominate, and it works nearly all of the time. 

The orchestra of St. Louis Symphony musicians performs flawlessly under Stephen Lord's baton, and Robert Ainsley's chorus sings with sometimes overwhelming power and exactitude. The women's chorus is especially impressive in the two scenes with Macbeth and the witches, where Verdi replaced Shakespeare's trio of crones with an entire cackling choir divided into three covens.

You have one more chance to catch OTSL's Macbeth on Sunday, June 26 2016, at 7 p.m. and-trust me on this-you don't want to miss it. I can't recall the last time it was performed here in St. Louis, so this could be your only chance to catch this violent and compelling work. As with all OTSL operas, it's sung in English with projected English text. For more information, visit the Opera Theatre web site.

Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

Andrew Haji, Hae Ji Chang, and the company
Photo: Ken Howard

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By the time Puccini and his librettists got around to translating Henri Murger’s episodic 1849 novel Scènes De La Vie Bohème into the 1896 opera La Bohème, it had already enjoyed a considerable European vogue, so it’s not surprising that La Bohème has gone on to become a favorite of opera companies around the world. That includes Opera Theatre of St. Louis, which has presented it five times since 1978.

For its sixth run at this classic tearjerker (which runs through June 25, 2016), OTSL has assembled a fine cast, with particularly strong performers in the supporting roles. Combine that with generally very smart direction and superb orchestral playing and the result is a very gratifying production which, despite a few missteps, serves both Puccini and his librettists very well.

L-R: Sean Michael Plumb, Anthony Clark Evans, 
and Bradley Smoak
Photo: Ken Howard

For those of you who have somehow missed being exposed to this tale of starving artists in the Latin Quarter of Paris, here's a quick summary. On Christmas Eve, the poet Rodolfo, the painter Marcello, the philosopher Colline, and the musician Schaunard are young, creative, broke, and preparing to burn some of their work to heat their squalid Parisian apartment when the equally poverty-stricken seamstress Mimi comes knocking. Before the first act is over, she and Rodolfo are smitten. The opera chronicles the highs and tragic lows of both their relationship and that of Marcello and the singer Musetta. Mimi dies, Musetta doesn't, and nobody lives happily ever after.

Bass-baritone Bradley Smoak and baritone Sean Michael Plumb turn in two of the strongest performances as Colline and Schaunard, respectively. A regular on the OTSL stage, Mr. Smoak once again displays the ideal combination of vocal power and theatrical prowess that made him a welcome addition to (among others) the company's Pirates of Penzance in 2013 and Don Giovanni in 2011. Mr. Plumb, in his OTSL debut, proves to be a skilled actor with a fine sense of comedy and an accurate, robust voice.

Andrew Haji and Hae Ji Chang
Photo: Ken Howard

Also making his company debut is baritone Anthony Clark Evans as Marcello, who can't decide whether he's less happy with Musetta or without her. His battle and reconciliation with her in the big Café Momus scene of Act II was a highlight of the evening.

Speaking of Our Lady of the Relaxed Virtue, soprano Lauren Michelle (yet another newcomer to the OTSL stage) gives Musetta a bit more of a comic edge than I have seen in other productions. It makes her great fun to watch, even if it makes Marcello's obsession with her a bit less credible, but she sings up a storm in the famed "Musetta's Waltz" sequence and makes the character's compassion for Mimi in the last act very moving.

As Rodolfo, Andrew Haji (a late replacement for the originally scheduled Anthony Kalil), displays a smooth and appealing tenor voice which is not, unfortunately, quite as powerful as that of his fellow cast members, so he tends to get a bit swamped in ensemble numbers. He also is a bit overpowered by his Mimi, Hae Ji Chang, who has the kind of big, rich soprano required for this "full lyric" role. They're fine singers, but neither seemed to be fully invested in their characters, resulting in performances that felt a bit one-dimensional to me.

Lauren Michelle and the company
Photo: Ken Howard

Even so, Mimi's death scene, which OTSL General Director Tim O'Leary calls "one of the most heartbreaking scenes in all of opera," manages to generate the right amount of pathos, so on the whole I can't really complain.

Bass-baritone Thomas Hammons, whose cameo in Tabarro was so moving back in 2013, shows solid comic chops as the befuddled landlord Benoit and Musetta's equally confused sugar daddy Alcindoro.

Director Ron Daniels, Set Designer Riccardo Hernandez, and Costume Designer Emily Rebholz have moved the action from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, using silent film clips and non-singing actors (including a pair of Charlie Chaplin imitators on roller skates and stage veteran Joneal Joplin as Santa Claus) to set the tone between acts. This makes a certain dramatic sense, in that Paris in the 1920s probably has the same kind of nostalgic feel for the modern audience that the mid-1900s Paris would have had for Puccini's audience at the end of that century.

L-R: Anthony Clark Evans, Thomas Hammons,
Andrew Haji, Sean Michael Plumb, and Bradley Smoak
Photo: Ken Howard

Mr. Daniels's direction is, in any case, fluid and creates interesting visuals, even if he does have the crowd at the beginning of Act II mill around the stage in circles for a bit too long. He has also found more humor in the opera than I have sometimes seen in the past, especially in the opening scene with Rodolfo and his flat mates.

Conductor Emanuele Andrizzi is making his OTSL debut, and it's an auspicious one. His tempi are well chosen, his vocal/orchestral balances are good, and he keeps everything running smoothly. That includes the complex Café Momus scene, with both adult and children's choruses and even an offstage marching band parading through the house. The orchestra plays beautifully, with a big, rich sound that does Puccini proud.

Finally, I'd like to offer praise for the excellent rhyming English libretto by Richard Pearlman and Francis Rizzo. Too often, translators make little or no attempt to duplicate the scansion and rhyme schemes of the original material. It's nice to see it done so well here.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis's La Bohème may not be perfect, but it's awfully good and gets the company's fourty-first season off to a gratifying start. It runs through June 25, 2016, at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. Tickets available online or by phone at 314-961-0644.

Opera Review: Singing steals the show in Winter Opera's "Il Trovatore"

L-R: Maria Kanyova, Neil Nelson

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Verdi's 1853 tragedy "Il Trovatore" ("The Troubadour") has proved to be one of the most enduring hits produced during his "Middle Period" (basically the 1850s), which also gave us the massively popular "La Traviata" and "Rigoletto."  Winter Opera's current production is not, perhaps, ideal.  But its musical values are solid, and that's saying a lot.

"Il Trovatore" is classic romantic Italian opera, with doomed lovers, a witch's curse, babies switched at birth, jealousy, violence, and death.  You can find a complete plot synopsis on Wikipedia, but for the purposes of this review I'll just note that nobody lives happily ever after.  If "Il Trovatore" has a message, it might be "don't mess with the gypsies."

Claudia Chapa and chorus

According to opera and theatre critic Charles Osborne, the great Enrico Caruso is said to have once observed that all it takes to perform "Il Trovatore" is the four greatest singers in the world.  He was exaggerating for effect, of course, but the fact is that the opera's four principal roles are very demanding both vocally and theatrically.  Verdi's music has elements of the heavily ornamental bel canto style (especially in the music for Leonora, the romantic lead) but also requires real power and lyrical beauty.  Add in the fact that he and librettist Salvadore Cammarano put all the leads through emotional hell and you have material that demands singing actors at the top of their games.

Winter Opera has a quartet of fine singers in the roles, with pride of place going to bass-baritone Neil Nelson as the arrogant and lustful Count di Luna, whose obsessive and one-sided pursuit of noblewoman Leonora leads to disaster.  When I reviewed his performance as Hagen in Union Avenue Opera's "Götterdämmerung" last summer, I noted that his big, powerful voice easily delivered even the lowest notes with authority. It still does, and his acting is once again impeccable. His "Il balen del suo sorriso" was a brilliantly creepy portrayal of a man whose lust has totally overridden any principles he once had.

L-R: Claudia Chapa, Jorge Pita Carreras

Soprano Maria Kanyova, who has given us so many top-notch performances in Opera Theatre of St. Louis productions over the years, is in fine form again as the object of di Luna's unwelcome affections, trying to find happiness with the doomed Manrico.  Her dynamic range and vocal flexibility were impressive when saw her at Wednesday night's final dress rehearsal and her acting was completely committed.  Her "D'amor sull'ali rosee" in Act IV had real tragic weight.

Mezzo Claudia Chapa is perhaps a bit young for the role of Manrico's revenge-obsessed mother, but she sings with real power and acts with great conviction.  "Stride la vampa," the aria in which she describes how her mother was burned as a witch and her need for vengeance, was very compelling,

Tenor Jorge Pita Carreras brings a solid bel canto voice with a rich low end to the role of Manrico, but nothing else.  At least when we saw him, he rarely made any connections with his fellow actors and seemed largely disengaged from the drama, often staring out into the middle distance. His tragic downfall, as a result, lacked the dramatic punch is should have had.

Antoine Hodge, chorus

Bass-baritone Antoine Hodge makes an excellent Ferrando, delivering the expository aria "Di due figli vivea padre beato" at the top of Act I with the relish of a true storyteller.  Soprano Sharon Sullivan is a sympathetic Ines, Leonora's confidant.  Tenors Clark Sturdivant and Ryan Keller have effective cameos as Manrico's second-in-command Ruiz and a messenger, respectively.

Director Mark Freiman has had considerable success on local opera stages as a singer and his direction of Winter Opera's "Tosca" in 2013 was also impressive, but work here struck me as rather uninspired.  Far too often, actors were simply planted on stage and singing towards the audience, even when they should have been interacting with each other.  I also felt his decision to pantomime the events being narrated by Azucena and Ferrando produced a lot of unnecessary and distracting stage business.  Less would have been more in this case.

Down in the pit, conductor Darwin Aquino leads the orchestra in a very polished interpretation of Verdi's score.  It's not a large ensemble (23 musicians) but they produced a satisfyingly robust sound.  Nicole Aldrich's chorus also sounded larger than its size would suggest.

Scott Loebl's sets were minimal but very effective, and the nocturnal backdrop for Leonora's garden in Act I, scene 2 was quite striking—deep indigo with a bright full moon.  Sean Savoie's lights helped maintain the illusion.  JC Krajicek's medieval costumes were very effective as well.

Winter Opera continues to produce very respectable (and sometimes quite fine) productions of opera classics, and their home in the Skip Viragh center is one of the better spaces for musical theatre in town.  Their "Il Trovatore" will be presented Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., March 4 and 6.  It's definitely worth seeing, especially if you love your Verdi (as so many of us do).  Visit the company web site for ticket information.

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Join me at the Fourth Annual Award Ceremony of the St. Louis Theatre Circle at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 21, at the Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade. If you can't make it to the ceremony, you can watch HEC-TV's live stream of the event at www.hectv.org.

A dark, driven "Rigoletto" at Union Avenue Opera

Jordan Shanahan and Lucy Sauter
Photo: John Lamb

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Union Avenue Opera is following up on its highly praised "Don Giovanni" with an impressive production of Verdi's 1851 tragedy, "Rigoletto." From the ominous brass fanfares that open the prelude to Rigoletto's final despairing howl of "La maledizione" ("the curse"), Tim Ocel's knowing direction drives this "Rigoletto" to its tragic conclusion with the relentless energy of a runaway train.

Implacably dark and menacing, this tale of men behaving incredibly badly is dominated by low voices—basses, baritones, contraltos, and mezzos. The prevalence of those darker and richer sounds is a characteristically smart theatrical decision by Verdi; it lends a sense of inescapable weight to the story of a revenge plot gone horribly wrong.

Jordan Shanahan and James Callon
Photo: John Lamb

That only works, of course, if you have strong singers for those roles. Happily Union Avenue has them in abundance here, with pride of place going to baritone Jordan Shanahan in the title role. If you've seen UAO's "Rheingold," "Siegfried," or "Dead Man Walking," you already now that Mr. Shanahan boasts both a big, wide-ranging voice (with solid bottom notes that sound more like the work of a bass-baritone) and an approach to acting that allows him to completely inhabit his characters. His horror movie makeup is so obviously artificial that it's a bit distracting, but the fierce commitment of his performance makes that a minor issue.

As the feckless (if not downright sociopathic) Duke who callously seduces, assaults, and then abandons Rigoletto's daughter Gilda, tenor James Callon is just as smugly repellent as he should be. He had a couple of rough notes in the second and third acts on opening night, but otherwise sang with admirable clarity garnering the expected applause with popular arias like "La donna è mobile".

James Callon and Mark Freiman
(rear)
Photo: John Lamb

Soprano Lacy Sauter, who was such a heartbreaking Blanche in "Streetcar Named Desire" last season, returns to UAO as Gilda, whose absurdly self-sacrificing nature leads to the opera's tragic conclusion. The very implausibility of the character is, in my view, a real obstacle for any actress, but Ms. Sauter manages to pull it off with a convincing characterization and a voice that easily navigates the coloratura passages in the famous "Caro nome" aria in Act I.

Bass-baritone Patrick Blackwell is the doomed Count Monterone, whose dying curse falls heavily on Rigoletto and bass Mark Freiman is the ironically principled assassin Sparafucile. They're both compelling actors, with big, powerful voices that fill the UAO space. There's fine singing as well by Mezzo Kristee Haney, darkly seductive as Sparafucile's sister and partner in crime Maddalena.

This is, in short, a very strong cast, right down to the smallest walk-ons. That includes Debby Lennon as Gilda's nurse Giovanna, Andy Papas as the put-upon Count Ceprano, Anthony Heinemann the sneering courtier Borsa, and Robert Garner as Marullo, whose momentary attack of conscience, while not explicitly called out in the libretto, nevertheless makes good dramatic sense.

Patrick Blackwell
Photo: John Lamb

Union Avenue's chorus sings with impressive power and clarity. Under Scott Schoonover's usual expert direction the orchestra sounds impressive despite its small size and the vocal/instrumental balance is quite good.

Tim Ocel has demonstrated on more than one occasion that he knows how to handle the unique demands of the operatic stage—most recently in UAO's stunning "La Traviata" last season. He has done it again with this "Rigoletto," maintaining a sense of tragic inevitability while still allowing the big musical moments to breathe.

Kristee Haney and Mark Freiman
Photo: John Lamb

Kyra Bishop's deliberately shabby set with its peeling plaster and exposed lathe and Teresa Doggett's intentionally drab costumes (only Rigoletto has any real color) are presumably intended to underline the moral decay that pervades Francesco Maria Piave's libretto. If so, they do the job admirably. Paige Seber's lighting, however, is so dim that faces are sometimes lost. I'm not sure that the darkness of "Rigoletto" needs to be that visible.

Union Avenue Opera's admirable "Rigoletto" runs through August 9th at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sing in Italian with projected English text. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8, although given that parking on the lot is at a premium, you'll want to get there by 7:30 if possible. For more information, visit the company's web site.