Tag Archives: Verdi

Hawaii Opera Theatre’s ‘Il Trovatore’ is a melodramatic shocker

Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of Verdi’s “Il trovatore” (The Troubadour) is the first Honolulu has seen in over two decades. It’s a melodramatic shocker that took the world by storm, simultaneously delivering tradition while transforming opera into something new.

In its early centuries, opera was focused on delivering satisfying endings, natural conclusions to human dilemmas, endings that reinforced the natural order and goodness of the universe. All that changed in the Romanticism of the 1800s, which began to explore the darker sides of human nature and the many ways that fate can go wrong.

In the 1850s, Verdi produced three back-to-back blockbuster hits (“Rigoletto,” “Il trovatore,” “La traviata) that ushered in his mature style, catapulted him to world renown, and established shocking as a titillating norm.

Shocker plots are harder to devise than one might think, and the plot of “Il trovatore” is about as convoluted as they come.

At its heart, “Il trovatore” is about the destructive power of revenge: The elder Count burned at the stake an old gypsy woman he believed had cursed one of his two sons. In revenge – and while her mother was burning – Azucena, the younger gypsy woman, kidnapped the Count’s younger son, intending to throw him onto the burning pyre. In her frenzied delirium, she instead threw her own son onto the pyre.

You would think that would be lesson enough, but all that happens before the opera has even begun.

Fifteen years on, with the elder generation dead, Azucena has raised the Count’s younger son as her own and renamed him Manrico, the titular troubadour. Now in his early twenties, Manrico has fallen in love with Leonora, a lady of the court who represents all that is innocent and pure, and she loves him in return. The conflict is that the elder Count’s eldest son, who has inherited everything, including his father’s title of Count di Luna, is also in love with Leonora and not about to give her up to some riff-raff of a gypsy.

From there ensues a tale involving not only infanticide and murder but also war, duels, suicide, fratricide, class warfare – and more. In the end, of course, everyone good dies. Classic opera.

Perhaps most fascinating of all is the transition mid-opera from the old-style “number opera” into a then-brand-new integrated style.

The first half feels old-school, with its staged storytelling (the action happens off stage) and standard cavatina-cabaletta arias for each of the major characters. In the second half, suddenly verses from different arias – the monks’ chorus, Manrico’s off-stage lament, Leonora’s anguish aria – are all interwoven in the same scene, at the same time. It was revolutionary and psychologically powerful.

“Il trovatore” has some of opera’s most famous and vocally demanding roles, so it is almost impossible to find vocally mature singers who can convey the hormonal passions of youth. Kisses may have been more chaste than passionate, but the voices HOT chose were excellent.

Victoria Livengood was absolute dynamite as the gypsy Azucena, with her powerful, exceptionally expressive mezzo soprano voice, from ringing head notes to growling chest voice. A strong actress, Livengood held focus in each scene, so that the opera seemed more her story than the troubadour’s.

Both male leads were impressive, as well: Count di Luna (the younger Count) may not be very nice character, but baritone Michael Chioldi made him the most powerful – he has a beautiful voice! – and although tenor Carl Tanner is not close to Manrico’s age, he delivered a well-crafted performance born of experience. Both men displayed impeccable vocal technique well worth making an effort to hear.

Michelle Johnson (Leonora), the youngest of the leads, is just hitting her vocal maturity, and her lovely tone and bel canto lyric soprano promise a great career. Her voice was the lightest of the four in the first half, but perhaps she was saving for her powerhouse scene in the second half, when her voice was stronger.

Brandon Coleman was memorable as Ferrando, the Count’s Captain of the Guard who explains the backstory in the first scene, his smoky-dark, weighty bass lending gravity to the role. Also notable were Maya Hoover, as Leonora’s confidante Inez, and Ryan Souza as Ruiz, one of Manrico’s soldiers.

The singers were supported well by Conductor Emmanuel Plasson, who set singable pacing and ensured that every note by every singer was clearly audible. The orchestra’s performance was good but lacked the nuance that delivers dramatic impact.

HOT delivered its usual high standard in visual artistry, from richly-hued costumes to an impressive set.

Peter Dean Beck’s rectilinear set in foreshortened perspective presented castle walls around a central pathway, which transformed into various scenes via drops and rotating towers on either side of the stage. For the gypsy camp, a particularly lovely and effective drop suggested a forest camp with overlapping open-weave cloths hanging from an angled beam that cut across the rectangles, much as both gypsies and Verdi’s opera cut across traditions.

Beck’s lighting may have overplayed the symbolism of red conjuring fire, revenge, passion, and blood, but was otherwise effective, from the rectangles of light shining on the floor to the cross of light mirroring the church’s hanging cross.

Every opera has its challenges, and for “Il trovatore,” it is trying to stage scenes in which almost all of the action takes place elsewhere. A war is fought between scenes; swords are drawn, but the duel is offstage; a pyre is built, but then the scene shifts away; and the soldiers sing the happiest tune imaginable for “soon our swords will be dripping with blood.”

Director Paul Peers elicited every bit of action possible and used the chorus and extras to enhance the storytelling.

For Star-Advertiser by Ruth Bingham

Hawaii Opera Theatre announces the 2015-16 Opera Season

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Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), the Islands’ only major operatic company, announces the 2015-2016 Opera Season, themed Things Are Not As They Seem.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s eternally popular and entertaining tale of love, The Magic Flute, opens the season on October 9, 11 & 13. Metropolitan Opera Stage Director Daniel Rigazzi created this new and innovative production, which follows the love-struck Tamino on his quest to rescue the lovely princess, Pamina. Accompanied by an affable bird-catcher, Papageno, and possessing a mystical flute, Tamino must brave several trials, certain to reveal far more than simple matters of the heart. Set in a fictitious Egypt, this fairy-tale sings of the classic struggle between good and evil, the power of music, and the pursuit of noble virtues. Originally debuting in September of 1791, Mozart’s final opera continues to captivate operagoers of all ages with its elegant balance of mystery and whimsy, and stunning music.

The magic continues February 12, 14, & 16, 2016 with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Benjamin Britten’s inventive interpretation of Shakespeare’s comic play. Set in dual locations, a mythical Athens, and an enchanted forest, this playful fantasy explores three very different realms – that of the fairies, of the nobility, and of the working class. When the Fairy King, Oberon, introduces a magic flower to the land, madness ensues as unlikely romances blossom. Originally debuting in June of 1960 at the Aldeburgh Festival, Britten gave new life to a charming classic. This production will be under the stage direction of HOT’s award-winning Artistic Director, Henry Akina, marking his 20th year with the company.

The season concludes with Giuseppe Verdi’s epic masterpiece Il Trovatore. Set in the Spanish Middle Ages, this is a complex story of love and revenge. When her mother is unjustly sentenced to death, Azucena knows only vengeance. Meanwhile, star-crossed lovers Manrico and Leonora defend their union in this exciting story of mistaken identity. Originally premiering in January of 1853 at the Teatro Apollo, this production is elevated by intense passion and drama.

HOT is known for bringing some of the world’s finest voices to the Honolulu.  Making her HOT debut this season, So Young Park stars as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. Park will be ready for the role as she stars in this Summer’s acclaimed Glimmerglass Festival’s production of the opera in New York.  Last season’s breakout stars Rachel Schutz (Papagena, The Magic Flute) and Kyle Erdos-Knapp (Flute, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) take the stage once again this season joined by Metropolitan opera talent and HOT favorites Jamie Offenbach (Theseus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Michael Chioldi (Count di Luna, Il Trovatore). Curt Olds (Papageno, The Magic Flute) and Victoria Livengood (Azucena, Il Trovatore) also make their return to Honolulu. Olds and Livengood thrilled audiences during 2014’s modern take on The Mikado. 

Join us on this enchanting journey through three fantastical tales. Subscribe today by contacting the HOT Box Office at (808) 596-7858.  From now through Oct. 1, 2015, New Season Subscribers can receive a special Buy 2, Get 1 Free discount.

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Opera in Cinema – Aida

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The Honolulu Museum of Art continues its Opera in Cinema series with Aida this Tuesday!  This film was shot during the production’s run at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Fun Fact: HOT last featured the Verdi classic during the 2012 Opera Season.

There is a single showing of Aida on February 4, 2014, at 1:00pm at the Doris Duke Theatre. Don’t miss it!