The Merola Opera Program's summer festival recently offered two one-act operas on an enticing double bill at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason. If ever there were an example of the importance of the valued organization and its renowned success rate, this was especially impressive. The charming Cowell, with its gracious staff and fabulous location (oh, that view of the Golden Gate!), is not the perfect venue for fully-staged opera (there is no orchestra pit), but the intimacy of the house serves the young singers well, and the excellent sight-lines and use of supertitles also help capacity crowds to enjoy every precious minute.
Choosing Gian Carlo Menotti's hoary exercise in occult lunacy The Medium to open the bill proved inept, but at least it offered a strong contrast to the winning second half. Puccini's tight little farce Gianni Schicchi deserves and got a thoroughly satisfying performance that showed just what fresh talent can do when the material is solid to begin with.
Menotti used to hold sway many years ago as an American composer even if his provenance and musical language remained steadfastly Italian. His rather simple writing is undeniably attractive and listenable, sort of watered-down Puccini with an occasional dissonance thrown in for a "modern" touch. The Medium was an early work that enjoyed success as a television broadcast on Studio One in 1948, and it showed the composer's lifelong penchant for mixing moody dramatics with tuneful songs.
Aging divas or college kids with lots of bad makeup have usually tackled the neurotic title role, but time has not been kind to the threadbare score, and without strong directorial help, the banality of the libretto is simply unsatisfactory. Director Peter Kazaras couldn't make much of the story of a charlatan who falls victim to her own scam, and his lack of vision left the small cast to their own devices in making sense of the shaky scenario. Conductor Mark Morash was more helpful, leading the orchestra in a confident performance that supported the singers without swamping them, and adding some rhythmic drive.
Mezzo-soprano Nicole Woodward is too young for the role of Madame Flora, and she was not helped by a lack of acting believability. The part often reverts to cruel spoken passages, and Woodward's shrill delivery was unconvincing. Her voice, however, is up to the composer's demands, and she ultimately triumphed with a strong portrayal of the character's mental decline in her big final aria.
Soprano Madison Leonard, as the medium's daughter Monica, tossed off the highlight "Monica's Waltz" (even Renee Fleming has recorded it) with accuracy and a pleasing tone. Her acting duties were also executed well.
The role of the mute gypsy boy Toby was performed by Australian tenor Alasdair Kent (though Menotti could have asked for any vocal register). He did the best he could under the circumstances, and was rewarded for his efforts later when he actually got to sing in Gianni Schicchi .
Watch the YouTube video of the elderly opera if you really want to know what atmospherics can do for The Medium . We suspect director Kazaras was distracted, using all his energy on Puccini in this production. His energy paid off big-time with a rowdy, tightly drilled and genuinely funny take on the beloved composer's witty and jaundiced view of a venal bourgeois Florentine family and their reaction to the exclusionary will of a rich dead relative.
Kazaras moved the action forward to 2014, and made the family a hilarious collection of Eurotrash stereotypes, including a loathsome tween-ager taking selfies with his uncle's dead body, and a chain-smoking, stiletto-heeled in-law taking the deceased's pulse.
The biggest comic joy in the belly-laugh-filled show was South Korean baritone Kihun Yoon in the title role. Wearing jogging gear and a sweatband (that revealed matching gray temples when removed), he used his big, expressive voice and wonderful comic timing to actually make us root for the rather nasty character. At least we could understand his plea to the audience when, in a Weekend at Bernie's moment, he sat with the dead Buoso and asked for our indulgence of his actions as really just an attempt to salvage his daughter's romance.
The ensemble was uniformly inspired, and they delivered Puccini's punchlines and Kazaras' sight gags to perfection. As the young lovers, soprano Cree Carrico and tenor Christopher Bozeka excelled with large-scale lyrical voices that will certainly fill the War Memorial easily as the Merola season concludes. Her lovely aria "O mio babbino caro" was accomplished exquisitely, still including the knowing wink, and Bozeka's big voice as Rinuccio rivaled Yoon's for audience approval.
We couldn't neglect mentioning the trio of women Tara Curtis, Kathryn Bowden and Ashley Dixon for their marvelous contributions, but everyone onstage (and in the orchestra) deserved the extended ovation. The only pity was the show was only scheduled for two performances. That might be an inducement for opera-lovers and anyone on the lookout for new talent to seek tickets for the Merola production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale coming up at the Cowell Theater in early August. The Merola Grand Finale comes later in the month, Saturday, August 22 at the War Memorial Opera House.