Performance Review
Beloved
operetta a hit in Hartford
SPRINGFIELD UNION NEWS/SUNDAY REPUBLICAN
By CLIFTON J. NOBLE JR.
HARTFORD — Eye-catching sets and
costumes and top-shelf singing graced Connecticut Opera's production of Johann
Strauss Jr's beloved operetta "Die Fledermaus" Thursday evening at the Bushnell.
Suzan Hanson portrayed a nimble and commanding Rosalinde, her splendid soprano
soaring in her "Czardas" and gilding every ensemble number in which she
participated. Tenor Justin Vickers made an auspicious Connecticut Opera debut as
Alfred, Rosalinde's amorous singer/suitor, liberally sprinkling his dialog with
snippets of Italian and his incidental singing with a surfeit of high-Cs and
extra-operatic references.
Mezzo-soprano Emily Golden triumphed as an 11th-hour replacement in the part of
Orlovsky. According to company staff, Golden knew the English translation
Connecticut Opera was using and actually arrived on opening day. Her resume was
impressive, including premieres of William Bolcom's "McTeague" and Wolfgang
Rihm's "Oedipus," and a professional debut at the age of 20 with the
Metropolitan Opera. Sporting an accent as outrageous as her moustache and
side-whiskers, Golden brought to bear a dark, fruity tone and flawless instinct
for timing and bearing as the jaded Russian Prince.
As Rosalinde's maid Adele, Anna Vikre saved her most impressive singing for her
Act III show-stopper in which she convinced her bravo-shouting audience as well
as prison warden Frank, solidly sung by John Salvi, that she was "born for a
stage career." With a voice that came most comfortably into its own above the
musical staff, it was no surprise that Vikre had previously delighted
Connecticut Opera audiences as Mozart's Queen of the Night.
Veteran character actor Ken
Richters' mastery of physical comedy as Frosch the boozy jailer nearly stole Act
III out from under the singers. His hilarious slapstick drunkenness might have
been coached at the quaking knees of the late Foster Brooks. Richters shared
with Hanson and Golden an instinct for posture, pacing, and delivery that would
have been welcome throughout the cast.
Tenor Gary Harger and baritone Gregory Keil sang superbly as the protagonist
Gabriel von Eisenstein and his friend, practical joker and "The Bat" Dr. Falke
respectively, but their tendency (or perhaps their direction, the bailiwick of
Ellen Douglas Schlaefer) to overplay lines and actions in a cartoonish manner
undercut their humorous potential.
Neely Bruce's chorus delivered several stirring vocal moments as well, chief
among them the final cadence of Act II's "Sing to Love."
The talents of set designer Ericol Sormani, costume designer Charles R. Caine,
and lighting designer Julie Duro (whose rosy-hued illumination of Eisenstein's
capacious apartments in Act I created the perfect atmosphere of foppish
decadence) rendered Orlovsky's Act II party a truly high class affair, dotted
with local celebrities and walk-on audience members who took the company's
suggestion of attending in elegant attire and were rewarded by having their
names and home towns announced by Ivan the majordomo (Joseph Demarest).
The transformation from Frank's jail to Orlovsky's palace — grim walls and
bars flying out, glittering chandeliers and draperies flying in — to
highlight the rousing ensemble finale was a master stroke.
Since the production was sung in English with English supertitles projected
above the stage, and diction was crisp across the board, it was difficult to
reason why some of the tempi taken by Maestro Willie Anthony Waters were less
than effervescent. Adele (in "My dear marquis"), Alfred, and even Rosalinde
seemed at times to be trying to coax the orchestra up to a speed to which it
would not accede. Some plodding numbers resulted, hamstrung by artificially
fussy rubatos that impeded the gaiety of the occasion.
The charm, skill, and style of Strauss' cheery, swirling music is the key reason
why this piece endures. Executed with natural Viennese ebb and flow, easily
spinning, daintily inflected, and light as a puff pastry, these tunes can't be
beat.
"Die Fledermaus" repeats tonight at 8 p.m.
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"Richters turned in a
broad, funny characterization in the speaking role of Frosch."
--Hartford Courant
by Gerald
Moshell
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"... popular comedian Ken Richters stole his scene as the bumbling jailer, Frosch."
--The Times by Larry Kellum
