Maryland Lyric Opera Ends Verdi Season With Solid Otello

Maryland Lyric Opera ends its current season of four Verdi operas with Otello, following Un ballo in maschera, Macbeth and Falstaff. All of the four operas performed at the Music Center at Strathmore have been semi-staged as the concert hall has no room for fully staged operas. Sharing the stage with a large orchestra can be taxing on singers, but it enables the audience to focus more fully on the music. The choice of Philippe Auguin to conduct Verdi's last drama was an excellent one. He led the chorus and the orchestra with a sure hand and perfect synchronization. The choice of principals was a mixed success.

The opera opens with a crowd outside a castle on the Island of Cyprus, watching a ship commanded by Venetian general Otello struggle to reach the port through a stormy sea. Otello, who is a Moor, has been awarded governorship of Cyprus as reward for his heroism in fighting the Turks and has also won the hand of beautiful Desdemona. The crowd is cheering the ship's landing while Otello's ensign Iago plots his master's demise. The opening storm is spectacular with blasting chorus and orchestra, interjections and thunderclaps. The scene reaches a climax with Otello jumping on shore and exclaiming "Esultate!"  (rejoice) in one of opera's most exciting entrances. The brief but powerful first encounter with the tenor is a good indicator of what to expect from him as the drama enfolds.

Gregory Kunde, an internationally acclaimed tenor who - unfairly - never quite achieved stardom, acquitted himself well in his entrance to the stage on Saturday (March 3), with only a minor strain felt at the peak of his jubilant cry. Kunde's strong voice was buoyed, not drowned, by the expertly controlled chorus and orchestra under the baton of French conductor Philippe Auguin. The lighting and projections, combined with the energetic music, created a realistic feeling of the sea storm. 

As the opera progressed, Kunde's once ringing voice showed signs of dryness and fray. In Otello's love duet with Desdemona (Greek soprano Eleni Calenos), Kunde appeared less comfortable than his fresh-voiced partner, so much so that it was almost a relief to hear him complete the high-octave finish line"Venere splende" without mishap. The chemistry with Calenos was barely there.

Such moments were not infrequent throughout the evening. Kunde's rendition of Otello's descent into madness consisted largely of abrupt switches from whisper-soft voice to jarring shouts, which marred his act III aria "Dio mi potevi scagliar."  Such harsh transitions continued all the way to the bedroom scene in the last act.  Only after the murder scene, as Otello realizes he has been duped into murdering his innocent wife, Kunde regained a dignified tone and delivered the surrender aria "Niun mi tema" in appropriately noble vein.  He was also poignant in recalling the couple's first kiss as the tragic Moor ends his life by his wife's deathbed.

Otello is arguably Verdi's most demanding tenor role and singers take time to get ready for it. Kunde may have waited too long. The singer who was a memorable Otello in Rossini's bel canto version and an impressive Enée in Berlioz's epic Les Troyens, may have had a bad night on Saturday, but it is more likely that his best Otello days are behind him.

Gregory Kunde as Otello and Eleni Calenos as Desdemona.  Photo: Julian Thomas

Calenos was not the kind of Desdemona that brings tears to your eyes.  She was in good voice throughout the evening, but her vibrato sometimes veered on the verge of wobbling and her phrasing was occasionally choppy. While appropriately gentle and in turn confused by Otello's increasingly erratic behavior, the soprano's emotion never seemed as deep as the words would have it. In Desdemona's encounters with Otello, Calenos acted more like an obedient daughter than a loving wife. She may grow into the role with time, but is not there yet.

Mark Delavan had a great evening as the devious Iago. His rich bass-baritone sounded better to this ear than in MDLO's Falstaff earlier in the season. Delavan delivered an impressive "Credo in un Dio", Iago's aria in which he reflects on his cruelty in stirring Otello's jealousy, to achieve the destruction of the hated Moor through his innocent wife. He was an equal partner to Kunde in the menacing duet "Si pel ciel marmoreo giuro!"

Delavan was not the darkest and cruelest Iago to ever grace an operatic stage. There was a glint of humor rather than glee in his eye, when he put his booted leg on Otello's chest, and his flight from the stage after his crime is unveiled brought to mind comical Falstaff. But overall, he projected enough malice to make a convincing evil doer.

Yi Li was a charming Cassio, Otello's captain who provoked Iago's envy and served as the instrument of his revenge.  David Pittsinger made for an elegant and respectable Venetian envoy. Mezzo-soprano Patricia Schuman had good moments as Iago's wife Emilia, but did not quite rise to the occasion in her crucial scene of standing up to Otello for killing Desdemona, and unveiling her husband's role in it.

Supertitles by Chadwick Creative Arts included some weird translations. In Act III, Desdemona talks about Otello's angry look, "lo sguardo tuo tremendo," which was translated as "your fearful gaze." Otello's look was supposed to be frightening rather than fearful. Likewise, Otello's exclamation,"Anima mia, ti maledico," is addressed to Desdemona. He is calling her "my soul" as is common in addressing a beloved person in Italian and he is cursing her at the same time. The translation had Otello condemning his own soul. Those were minor distractions, likely missed by most patrons.

While the soloists sang with various degrees of success, the grandeur of MDLO's Saturdays performance was secured by the brilliant chorus, excellent orchestra and unwavering guidance by conductor Philippe Auguin.

The two-hour-40-minutes long performance will be repeated on Sunday, March 5.

Lucia di Lammermoor for Shutdown Era

Misery loves company. Maybe cliché. But the fact is that watching the torment of a young girl forced into an unwanted marriage, albeit only on stage, helped alleviate the tension on the 34th day of the government shutdown and fear of the misery it could produce.  Maryland Lyric Opera's Young Artists Institute presented Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. In the opera,  a sister is used and manipulated by her brother in the name of the family's honor, something more important than her. It ended tragically. Some 800.000 government workers have been used and manipulated in the name of a greater goal, something more important than their livelihood. We hope it won't end tragically.

Lucia is based on Sir Walter Scott's romantic novel The Bride of Lammermoor set in the 17th-century Scotland and, according to some sources, on a real life event. Lucia is in love with Edgardo, a young man from a rival clan, while her brother is arranging a marriage for her to save himself and the family name from ruin. She is bullied, threatened, betrayed and coerced to the point of exhaustion. But only when she is convinced there is nothing left to live for, she succumbs.

Three hundred plus years after Lucy of Lammermoor (or Janet Darlymple, whose story inspired Scott) millions of young girls worldwide are equally forced to marry for the benefit of the family, often before reaching adulthood. They are controlled, bullied and threatened at what is supposed to be their home, but feels more like a prison. If they manage to flee, they are hounded, caught and beaten into submission, or disposed of. If they do reach freedom, they are disowned.

I am not talking only about Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Afghanistan. A new bestselling memoir, "Educated" by Tara Westover, reminds us that the United States is no exception. So we applaud young Saudi Rahaf al-Qunun, whose escape was successful and whose future in Canada will be in her own hands, her mistakes her own, and her success also her own.

Maeve Höglund as Lucia and Yi Li as Edgardo in MDLO's production of Lucia di Lammermoor

Maryland Lyric Opera could have moved Lucia out of Scotland - such transfers are common in new opera productions. But it chose not to, despite a large number of Asians in the cast.
In the end, it may have been the best decision. The performance turned out to be surprisingly convincing for a lesser known company and mostly unknown cast.

In my view, the relationship between Lucia and her brother is central to the opera, not the tragic love story. If the two singers portraying the Ashton siblings are weak, the performance is doomed to fail. MDLO's Lucia, Maeve Höglund was utterly captivating, once she overcame initial self-consciousness. By the time she reached the famous "mad scene", immortalized by Lily Pons, Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, she really let go, while retaining control of her voice and precision of her delivery. Höglund was a thrilling Lucia.

SeungHyeon Baek as Lucia's brother Enrico had a commanding stage presence due mainly to his powerful baritone and expressive vocal delivery. In terms of acting, his facial expression did not change at all at any point in the evening. Perhaps it was a deliberate effort to show the brother's insensitivity. But when Lucia breaks down, Enrico expresses remorse, as well as fear for his future. Some of this should reflect in the performer's face.

Yi Li's Edgardo was no match to Höglund's Lucia. He visibly and audibly struggled with the high notes and with the Italian language. "L'alma innamorata" from one of his two final arias sounded like "l'arma innamorata." He has a lot of work still to do to improve his technique so he can inhabit his role more naturally.

Second act sextet, Lucia di Lammermoor

Bass Wei Wu was a remarkable Raimondo. In addition to his ringing voice, he made a good effort at acting. The clumsiness in his last act encounter with Yi Li is more likely an omission in directing, than in Wei's acting. Instead of trying to prevent Edgardo from stabbing himself, Wei's Raimondo stands right next to the desperate man and does nothing but call him "sciagurato."

My personal favorite was Roy Hage, a unique Arturo. Hage stepped on the stage with the swagger of a proud young man, with a conquering smile and puffed up chest. He strutted around like a peacock, shaking hands with men and nodding to women, secure in his welcome. In most productions Arturo comes off as an insufferable snob or just a bore, but this one was charming and likable. I am looking forward to seeing him again.

Yang Chen was a promising Normanno and Daiyao Zhong was a gentle and caring Alisa. She also would benefit from some additional Italian lessons.

The choir and orchestra under the baton of Maestro Louis Salemno did a wonderful job. Kudos to the harp and piccolo.

The set and costumes were as good as anything you see on the Kennedy Center's opera stage, except for the shoes. They were clearly from the present era and did not match the costumes.

One of Donizetti's most successful works, Lucia has two crucial pieces - the second act sextet and Lucia's mad scene. The first is a climactic confrontation between the feuding families, which needs to rouse the audience and keep it on its toes. The second requires a soprano with the stamina to deliver the long aria with a fresh voice after singing and acting throughout the first two acts. In addition to that, the interpreter needs to project the various emotional stages of the maddened girl and gain compassion.

MDLO triumphed in both and Thursday's Lucia can be considered a resounding success for the company of mostly young singers with limited stage experience.

Keep up the good work!