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Rodney Gilfry & Nancy Gustafson
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LOS ANGELES OPERA 2003 Domingo
Batting .500 “Nicholas & Alexandra” Will Likely Be Remembered as a Fiasco By Marc Porter Zasada In his role as general director, tenor Plàcido Domingo decided to open his L.A. Opera season with two huge risks. The first, Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” staged by controversial German expressionist Achim Freyer, was a triumph. The second, a new American opera called “Nicholas & Alexandra” will probably be remembered as a fiasco. But with risks of this magnitude, a .500 record ain’t bad, and all opera-goers should thank Domingo, the sponsors, and the company for taking these risks on our stage. Opera lives today because people are willing to go out on a limb artistically and financially, knowing that limb might crack right under them. Someday, someone will write a great opera about the end of the Romanov line in Russia, the corrupt Rasputin, and the bloody victory of the Bolsheviks. But that significant work did not premiere in Los Angeles last week. “Nicholas & Alexandra,” by Brooklyn composer Deborah Drattell and librettist Nicholas Von Hoffman, certainly had every chance at greatness. Commissioned by Domingo himself, starring a fine cast of singers, directed by the famed Anne Bogart of SITI, and featuring Mstislav Rostropovich at the podium, the new work told the story of the last Tsar and his doomed family in a linear fashion, right up to the moment before their execution at the hands of the revolution. The performers we saw on Wednesday the 17th gave it their all: the orchestra sparkled, the chorus spoke in hushed precision, the leads and supporting cast sang with power and feeling. And yes, Domingo put his legendary gusto into his wigged & cassocked role as Rasputin, the power-and-sex-crazed monk. All this talent and effort, however, was wasted on a flat score by Drattell, a lifeless libretto by Von Hoffman and a monotonous production from Bogart. Drattell had one musical idea, and in the tradition of so many modern composers, she beat it to death. The audience was appropriately bludgeoned, but largely unimpressed. Here’s her idea: Write an orchestral and choral score with traditional harmonies and dramatic, if repetitive themes – then give the individual singers a narrow range of nearly random notes to sing above the orchestra, notes chosen to make sure that chords are never resolved, harmonies are never established, and most importantly, that no musical drama is ever developed. The vocal lines were devoid of peaks and valleys – and if you plotted them on a monitor in the ICU, the nurses would quickly call in the next of kin. The words “hesitant dirge” come to mind. Director Anne Bogart also had one idea: Instead of asking the singers to act and move on the stage, and instead of building fancy sets, why not drop in a troupe of dancers carrying religious icons to strike dramatic poses in the background!? These poses, from the SITI theatrical troupe, were beautifully crafted – but the movements, costumes and ideas, like the music, were the same scene after scene after scene. For opera-goers who are used to visual surprise and delight with each set-change, this just doesn’t work. It turns out that no matter what’s going on in the background, it’s pretty dull if the singers just stand there. (Domingo, by the way, managed to break out of this directorial straightjacket, and bring some life to his orgy scene: perhaps a perk of celebrity.) The libretto, by Nicholas Von Hoffman, violated the two most basic rules of opera: Rule 1—don’t waste much time with scene-setting, get right to the drama. And Rule 2 – the characters must have personalities as big or bigger than the story. Only in the second act, when Rasputin was doing his worst, were these rules briefly recalled. (Okay, the librettist violated a bunch of other rules as well, for example: Rule 3—Dialogue should be more eloquent than everyday speech, Rule 4 -- Tragedy should arise out of personality, Rule 5 –A chorus should be a character, not just a backdrop. But let’s not get picky.) As Nicholas & Alexandra, local favorites Rodney Gilfry and Nancy Gustafson turned in exceptional performances under difficult circumstances: carving what vocal drama they could out of their parts. Gustafson, in particular, was highly sympathetic. Singers in supporting roles were equally strong: boy soprano Jonathan Price as the weak prince Alexis gave us a beautifully heartrending performance. Lorraine Ernest sang a fine Princess Lapishchev, Rasputin’s primary conquest. Jessica Rivera made the most of her part as Anastasia, suffering in confinement by the coarse revolutionaries. Gary Rideout and David Babinet worked well together as plotting courtiers. In the pit, Rostropovich showed that he still has what it takes. On Sept. 19, after we went to press, a new opera called “Rasputin” premiered at the Finnish Opera. Written by Einojuhani Rautavaara, the story is said to focus less on history than on “mysticism.” Reviews should be filtering out on the internet by now. Who knows, maybe this will be the significant work the opera world has been waiting for. Meanwhile, Mr. Domingo, we hope you’ll keep taking chances. How about an opera based on the Bolsheviks themselves? You know, how they start out all idealistic and then turn into monsters? You could still work in the Romanovs…and there’s lots of composers right here in L.A. who know how to craft a drama.
“Nicholas & Alexandra” continues through Sept. 26 in
repertoire with “La Damnation de Faust.” In English with sur-titles. call (213)
365-3500 or visit www.losangelesopera.com. |
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All material on
this website is Copyright © 2001 or © 2002 by Marc Porter Zasada, and
may not be duplicated in any electronic or physical form without written
permission from the author. |
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