Musaic Concert Series - Mixing Genres to Promote Opera

When a good friend of mine told me she was going to be singing in an electronic opera, I felt lucky that the news was not disseminated face-to-face where she most certainly would have seen me raise my eyebrows in suspicion. I’m all for trying new things in opera, really I am, but this one I thought could end up being a bit nouveau-experimental. But being the very supportive friend I am, I decided I would smilingly go along anyway… I mean who doesn’t love the Lower East Side on a sweltering Monday night (think oppressive subway air, Chinatown crowds, and weekend garbage)? But hey, anything that supports a charity is pretty likely to make me give it a go. In this case, the event was part of a four-act evening in support of “To write love on her arms” (TWLOHA), an organization that exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.

When you walk into Crash Mansion on Bowery, honestly the last thing you think about is opera. Not that it’s a particularly dingy or questionable joint in the least, but it just isn’t the place you’d expect to hear, well, that kind of music. But as part of an evening showcasing four eclectic types of music, it made total sense. The whole event was the brainchild of soprano Caroline Selia, Founder of the Musaic Concert Series, an organization that smears the lines between genres to see what exciting new music can be created. Here you see Caroline in one of her fabulous moments on stage.


This was only the second event she had ever put together (the first was in December 2009 which received rave reviews), but what a resounding success it was! The evening was divided into four “acts.” The first two were presentations by singer-songwriter Josie Diels and a three-person funk band Razi-El (who were amazing!) while the last highlighted the mesmerizing voices of Isaac and Thorry Koren, otherwise known as The Kin, an Australian brother-band. The third act, however, was most certainly the highlight of the evening… and I’m not just saying that, promise!

The mini-electronica opera, Wednesday Before Last, composed by Kristen Hever with lyrics by Royce Vavrek, follows the lives of six people as they variously discover their own weaknesses and those of their life partners, betray one another, fall in love, decide they’d rather “swing the other way,” or otherwise generally realize that what they thought they knew their reality to be actually changed on the … Wednesday before last. Bass-baritone David Crawford and mezzo Kara Cornell, for my money, were the most accomplished and electrifying singers on stage. It wasn’t just their voices that captivated but their stage presence, their openness, their complete conviction in every movement they made and note they sang. Rounding out the cast were Dan Radzikowski, Maurice Parent, and Katherine Cardin, who each gave powerful performances as well. Caroline Selia herself also sang and wowed with her glittering, pitch-perfect soprano. None of it could have come off as perfectly as it did, however, without the expert guidance of producer and sound engineer Daniel Wyatt, who we never actually saw but whose mix beats provided a rock solid foundation for the piece.

Though the piece was composed as an opera and is sung by opera singers, it more closely approximates a cross-over piece, vacillating between moments when a rich operatic sound is completely right and other moments when the stronger, more strident sounds of a musical theater voice seem more appropriate. That didn’t bother me at all, though at first I thought it might. The two genres blended together seamlessly, hovering over the continuous stream of calmly – and sometimes even hauntingly - harmonic electronic sounds with reassuring clarity.



I commend Caroline on a brilliant idea and flawless execution. Combining genres and encouraging people to experience the differences in music all in one night and in one place, together, is a genius idea and one that bears further exploration. I commend her further on finding a resoundingly impressive cast, and look forward to hearing what’s in store at her next event on September 23rd, 2010. I’m sure she will continue to put together remarkable evenings such as this one and in support of many more important causes.

Lamar's Second Diary Entry

Hello again, I just finished week 2 at Placido Domingo's, Washington National Opera Institute for young singers. Things have really been busy this week. We started off this week with a wonderful masterclass with Elysabeth Muscat from Peabody Conservatory, She had some tips on breathing techniques and what the audition processes will be like for college. Tuesday, we had a workshop on Resume Writing, learning all of the pro's and con's of resumes. Thursday, We had another workshop with Washington National Opera, Education Director, Bruce Taylor on further developing your character. For that workshop we had to pick a character from an opera and answer a series of questions such as "What is important to your character, or what does your character need, or what is a significant event in your character's past?, What motivates your character to sing the aria? Why?, and What can you show the audience what your character is thinking or one of his/her personality characteristics?". The workshop with Bruce Taylor was amazing and I definitely benefited his workshop! We had our Italian Art Song Recital Friday (July 2nd), which was another rewarding experience. Washington National Opera Institute had 30 fabulous performers "wow" the audience!

Last week June 24th, I had a chance to meet and speak with First Lady of The United States, Michelle Obama and First Lady Of Russia, Svetlana Medvedeva. Michelle Obama requested for a performance at the Duke Ellington School of The Arts.




The opera workshop class presented, Act 1, Scene 1 and 2 of George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess". There were other performances from the Dance Department, Instrumental and Vocal Music Department. She is such an amazing person and so kind! I really hope to meet her again!




Next week at the Opera Institute there will be many exciting things! We have two very important recitals coming up! But you will hear about that next week!

Enjoy & Best Wishes!

-Lamar

Lamar Gaskins is a rising senior at the Duke Ellington School Of The Arts, located in Washington DC, where he studies classical music. He has been classically trained since the 9th grade and began private voice lessons at age 12. He plans on attending a music school for his undergraduate education and hopes to study voice performance at a conservatory or university music program such as San Francisco Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, California Institute for the Arts or Manhattan School of Music. He absolutely loves opera and can't wait to further expand on that career! The following is a short record of the first impressions he has from the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers!

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I auditioned for Placido Domingo's Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers in February and was recently accepted into the Institute which was so exciting! The Institute runs for three weeks at the American University, Katzen Arts Center in Washington DC (June 21-July 10). At the Institute we take a wide range of courses including Music Theory, Ear Training, Sight Singing, Opera History, various development workshops, Masterclasses, Drama, Movement, Opera Scenes, Chorus and sessions with our Vocal coaches/accompanists and Voice Instructors. It's an intense schedule but it's so exciting and worth it! Last Friday I had a masterclass with the wonderful Angela Mannino! This was my first week at the Institute and it was just such an eye opener, being able to work with amazing faculty and students who love the same thing you do is most definitely a rewarding experience! We were all recently assigned Italian Art songs and Opera Scenes to prepare for our big recitals which are coming up next week. I will be singing "Quando ti rivedro" by Stefano Donaudy for my Italian Arts song recital and I will be singing Guglielmo in the Cosi fan Tutte opera duet with Dorabella. I look forward to developing my confidence, musicianship skills, stage presence, voice, Italian diction and music theory before I leave the Opera Institute.

TOI's first NYC Meet-Up

On Thursday June 24th, 2010 The Opera Insider hosted its first New York City Meet-up coupled with a fundraiser for Mercury Opera's production of Pagliacci on Coney Island in September. About 100 people showed up to the LES's new hotspot, Foundation Bar NYC on Essex Street and partied for four hours from 6-10pm. Drinks flowed freely, and we were so happy to see so many of our members from NYC make the trek down to the Lower East Side to lend their support.



The night started out with mingling and lots of signing up for mailing lists, raffles, silent auction items, and of course drinks from the bar, expertly run by the lovely Beena. Our first door prize, a box of salt water taffy from Coney Island was won by Tamara Cashour, a NYC vocal coach and also the Artistic Director of Opera Avant who I had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks ago at the Opera America conference in Los Angeles.

Our other door prizes included two copies of Eric Salzman's book, The New Music Theatre, a T-shirt, and a 50/50 raffle which was won by a friend of one our singers, Laura Virella.

The teaser performance of a lover's duet and the first opera chart-topper "Vesti la giubba" was received well by everyone. Of course, how could it not be? The voices were just marvelous and we wish we could have heard more!! Here you see a few of the rising young stars serenading the guests:



Friends came in from all over the city and New Jersey and Pennsylvania for this event, and we are so grateful for the support you gave us. Mercury Opera's production will be an amazing experience, we are sure. The opera opens on September 1st and runs through the 11th. So please come on down and see them stage Pagliacci in a tent and set it on the Coney Island boardwalk. And if you haven't already don't forget to sign up to be a member of The Opera Insider so we can keep you up to date on our activities!

A plush rave from a hard pew

The latest in a series of articles by Meche Kroop, this one a review of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Chelsea Opera in New York.

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How many times can one see "Le Nozze de Figaro"? I for one never tire of Mozart's gracious melodic invention, his lovable and laughable characters, and his trenchant social observations. Still...to reach maximum delight one needs good singers and conducting as well as coherent direction. All these were present in the Chelsea Opera's recent production at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea. As compensation for the unforgiving pews we enjoyed the intimacy that only a small space can provide. It is always amazing how this small company gets things right so much of the time.

Music director Carmine Aufiero somehow managed to bring out lots of nuance and spirit in the small Chelsea Opera Chamber Orchestra without a sacrifice of texture. In this case, 13 was not an unlucky number. There was no problem overlooking a wayward horn. Just part of the texture.

The night I attended, the Count was magnificently sung by Peter Kendall Clark who created an amusingly arrogant and clueless husband. His lovely and bereft Countess was brought to life by Jessica Sandige. Rosa Betancourt was a winning Susanna and Robert Balonek was a clever devoted Figaro. Many giggles were provided by Brian DuBois as an ecclesiastical Don Basilio and the sourpuss Marcellina of Leonarda Priore, also one of the co-founders of the company.

The other co-founder of the company, Lynne Hayden-Findlay, served as Stage Director. If the reader, having read my earlier rants, is waiting for me to attack Ms. Hayden-Findlay for bringing the story into the 20th Century, you are waiting in vain. In this case, it worked out fine, with Figaro played as a butler and Susanna as a ladies'maid working for a glamorous "society" couple in what appeared to be a Hollywood "screwball comedy". Since I am not a fan of that particular genre nor terribly familiar with it, I cannot attest to this appellation. Let's just say the updating didn't detract from the music or the believability of the story. For this we are grateful.

The Rant continues...

This post was submitted to us in May, 2010 by Meche Kroop

Thrilling to this afternoon's broadcast of last autumn's Faust from Chicago Lyric Opera, I asked myself "What makes this such a beloved opera"? Duh, it's the TUNES! Can't anyone write tunes anymore? It seems like the academic branch of music approves the abstract, the inaccessible, the mind-numbingly boring. The critics fall all over themselves praising the new creations. Granted, some members of the audience seem to like these contemporary so-called operas, especially if they are tarted up with special multimedia effects. But for most of us, we avoid them like we avoid bedbugs, or we persuade ourselves to "give them a chance" and then walk out of the opera house stony-faced and glassy-eyed with no intention of ever seeing them again.

So, if most contemporary opera fails to sustain this precious art, what is the future of opera? Here is one opera-lover's opinion: American musical theater. On my way into the Metropolitan Opera House, I could not fail to notice the crowds thronging to see "South Pacific". They have been thronging all year, night after night. The history of the American musical is a glorious one and I fail to see the difference between that and what we call "opera" which happens in an opera house. Well, there is one difference and that is amplification. What if we took all these gloriously tuneful creations and presented them in a rather smaller house with good voices sufficient to carry without electronic assistance? New York City Opera has done a bit of this over the years but hasn't trusted the process and used amplification. I personally don't think we need big "names" to get people to see good music theater.

Some would argue with me that these are not operas. So, what IS an opera? It is a story accompanied by vocal music. It seems to me that Carmen had a bit of difficulty getting recognized as an opera because of the spoken dialogue. Are "Entfuhrung" and "Zauberflote" any lesser on that account? At the very least, American musicals, the good ones anyway, seem to do a great job using melodies (TUNES!) that stick in one's mind and swell in one's heart to enhance a story. I think not only of South Pacific but Oklahoma, Pacific Overtures, A Little Night Music, Candide, Carousel, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George....well, you get the the picture.

In my opinion, English is not a beautiful language to sing as Italian is. But it does lend itself very nicely to cleverness and humor. That is why the works of Gilbert and Sullivan are so cherished. They need full status in the operatic canon as well.

So, let's build a small opera house (something like Juilliard has) and bring in a large audience for an expanded notion of what opera is. It's all about entertainment isn't it? Mozart and Rossini didn't write for academia. They wrote for the public.

A rant from the Balcony Box - guest blog by Meche Kroop

A Rant from the Balcony Box

Some people have religion. Some have sports. I have opera. I take it seriously. I rarely miss one. I generally feel satisfied and sometimes I feel thrilled. Occasionally I feel angry and ripped off. It is not usual for me to complain about vocal imperfections or conducting. What irritates me the most is directorial "originality", i.e. the "concept" opera.

We read the anticipatory hype and the enthusiastic reviews in which critics try to convince us that they have witnessed something "artistic" and "relevant"; we sit through these misguided conceptual failures and then vow never to see them again. We have been "treated" to updatings of works of perfection from earlier epochs that now make no sense whatsoever, in the interest of "relevancy".

In "La Traviata", does it make any sense for a woman of the 21st century to be considered a "fallen woman"? Do Flora's friends need to wear black leather and snort cocaine for us to understand that they are wealthy degenerates? Does Violetta need to do cartwheels across cement boulders for us to relate to her? In "Tosca" do we need to see Scarpia being fellated to know that he is a tyranical scumbag? In "Don Giovanni", do we want to see the Don huddled on the floor of a church basement with the rest of the cast participating in what appears to be an AA meeting? Can we not be trusted to make the connections between other generations and our own?

I believe each opera was set in a time and place that had an authenticity of its own. By honoring this concept, instead of some hot-shot director's, we can arrive at an appreciation of another culture and another epoch AND we can learn that certain human qualities of nobility, greed, rage, betrayal and self-sacrifice transcend time and place. We are different in some respects but the same in others.

There are people in power who express fears that opera will become irrelevant, as in "museum piece". What on earth is wrong with that? We trek through the Metropolitan Museum awestruck by sculptures thousands of years old and paintings hundreds of years old. Does anyone propose ripping a Degas off the walls and replacing it with a more modern "concept" of a dancer? So, why do we need to update operas that represent their own time and place in history?

Down with whoever decided that opera is a director's medium. Let these directors go back to film where they can express their egos. Leave opera to the singers and the conductors-- with just enough direction to make the story dramatically valid! Let us honor the intentions of the composer and librettist to the maximum possible.

Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button? Not again, please! Wasn't it dreadful enough the first time around!

I have to confess I never did see the blockbuster movie with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, but I had heard enough bad reviews from friends that I was never tempted to go see it anyway. I was, however, intrigued when Eric Salzman, composer, author, arranger, and globe-trotting musician mentioned it to me over lunch the other day at Edgar's Cafe on the Upper West Side. Over panini and gazpacho he told me about his mentioned his involvement with a new opera called "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which was having its one and only New York performance that night at Symphony Space under the auspices of the Center for Contemporary Opera. I would have gone to the performance but already had plans that night, but Eric was kind enough to let me see the dress rehearsal. He cautioned me with a smile that I might be slightly surprised at what I was about to see. I didn't doubt him one bit.

Perplexed would absolutely be a good word to describe my initial reaction to the first two scenes (which was all I had time to see) Alert would be another. Nervous but curious would be some others. The piece calls for a relatively large cast (eight full cast members and several others who double as members of the orchestra) and a small chamber orchestra that sits on stage with the singers during the entire performance.

This opera is certainly full of the bleeps and blips that you would expect from quote-unquote "modern opera," but it is intimate and touching as well. The relationships seem awkward where they need to and make sense when they need to. I am sorry I had to cut out so soon after the start as I'm sure the rest would have been equally as thrilling.