Conductor - Jayce Ogren; Osiride - Randall Bills, Faraone (Pharaoh) - Wayne Tigges, Amaltea (Queen) - Keri Alkema, Mose (Moses) - David Salsbery Fry (substituting for David Cushing), Aronne (Aaron) - Aldo Caputo, Mambre - Zachary Finkelstein, Elcia - Sian Davies, Amenofi - Emily Righter.
Story. The opera
is based on the events as described in Exodus.
It starts with the plague of darkness, and ends with the Egyptian army being
drowned at the Red Sea. Within this plot
is the love story between Osiride, the son of the Pharaoh, and Elcia, a Hebrew
woman. Osiride is struck down by
lightning as the result of the last plague.
It has been a long time since we last saw a New York City
Opera performance (April, 2008, according to my blog entries.) I have kind of written the company off ever
since they moved from the Lincoln Center and seemed to put out modern operas
that I don’t have much interest in seeing.
Persistence on their part in keeping me on their email list pays off –
in a small way. I thought a Rossini
opera on a familiar story would be interesting.
The City Center Theatre is on 55th St. The first impression when we got into the
theatre was that it has been squashed.
Our relatively cheap seats are quite high but still rather close to the
stage. There is a lot of leg room. Unfortunately we could not see the orchestra
at all. The Koch theatre in Lincoln
Center is supposedly “audio-enhanced,” I don’t know if that is the case with
this theatre.
First a word on staging.
In a word: none. Or nearly
none. There were a couple of pedestals
where the Queen and Moses stood on, and that was about it. The sceneries were provided by projections on
TV screens that fill the backdrop.
Sometimes real sceneries would be projected, sometimes silhouettes, and
sometimes abstract shapes (mostly squares and rectangles). The promotional video clips I saw would lead
one to think they seamlessly integrate into the stage, in actuality most of the
time they simply looked like TV projections.
Often, people movements were effected by panning across the sceneries
and by having the singers on moving platforms.
However, the technique became a bit trite way before the opera was
finished. That this is an opera lasting
about 2 ½ hours (plus an intermission) doesn’t help. Since NYC Opera probably has a tight budget,
perhaps this is acceptable. Of course I
don’t know if this is less expensive than traditional sets.
The costumes are on the traditional side, which I
appreciate. The Egyptians wear clothing
that is more “rigid” while the Hebrews wear free-flowing robes. Further, the Egyptians move in a more
mechanical manner, evoking images seen in hieroglyphics. Interesting, yes. Necessary?
Not so sure.
The orchestra is on the small side (roster has 8 first
violins and 6 second violins) but was more than adequate for the small
hall. It actually put in a very pleasant
performance.
All the singers did very well. David Cushing withdrew as Moses because he
was sick. His substitute Aldo Fry was a
bit on the rigid side. Perhaps that’s
how Moses should be sung, or perhaps he was nervous. Assuming he was called on at the last minute,
he also did a credible job.
While the love story provides some poignant moments for
the opera, I keep questioning how it is plausible. Osiride wears his disdain of the Hebrews on
his sleeve, so how can he fall in love with Elcia? Similarly, how can Elcia love someone who
harbors such deep hatred for her race?
As stand-alone arias and duets, many of the songs sung by Osiride and
Elcia provided moving moments in the opera.
Overall, I am glad I rediscovered the NYC Opera. We shall see if I will become a fan.
There are more reviews on this than I expected. This one in New York Post is quite
interesting.
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