West Bay Opera’s Fidelio Is a Stunner

BY JANOS GEREBEN

February 19, 2018

Opera at its best is more than a show — it involves, moves, enthralls. And so it was at West Bay Opera’s Sunday matinee of Beethoven’s Fidelio as the majestic finale’s delirious celebration of freedom and the triumph over evil moved to tears (wiped surreptitiously during the standing ovation).

Fidelio is a difficult masterpiece, challenging even major opera companies. How extraordinary it is to witness an exceptional, affecting production from a small regional company. Sure, West Bay Opera has had decades of surprises, going beyond expectation time after time on Lucie Stern Theater’s tiny stage, orchestral excellence rising from a miniature pit, but this performance was incomparable.

Under Music Director José Luis Moscovich’s baton, the orchestra — split between the pit and the wings of the stage — played with dedication and high spirits. Soloists shone, the chorus of a dozen male prisoners — later doubled in size when women joined in for the finale — channeled the sound of big symphonic choirs.

Peter Crompton’s complex sets were architectural marvels. Stage director Ragnar Conde’s concept of bringing the work into a present-day U.S. prison (but retaining the German text) might have been asking for trouble, especially if it was overdone. Some clever bits in the Supertitles and a few Facebook projections came close to that danger point, but respect for the work and the relentless focus on realizing Beethoven’s intention and art saved the day. (On Sunday, the day before the U.S. holiday, there was an audience-tickling bit that changed “the Spanish king’s name day” to President’s Day.)

As Moscovich wrote about Fidelio, “it is music that reaches the heart,” an observation well demonstrated by the WBO performance. “The score is different and unconventional, to be sure,” Moscovich continued, “but it is also extremely effective ... with great symphonic music, great vocal ensembles, as well as magnificent arias.”

In the title role, Meredith Mecum made an important West Bay debut, the clarion call of her powerful voice never diminished in one of opera’s most demanding roles. Her big aria, “Abscheulicher!” (Abominable monster), shook the rafters and moved the audience.

The counterpart to the soprano’s big moment is Florestan’s heroic aria, opening Act II: “Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!” (God! How dark it here), and Brent Turner tossed it off as if it wasn’t a killer of tenors. Both Mecum and Turner sang “big,” but without showing any effort. Their triumphant love duet in the finale — “O namenlose Freude!” (Joy without name) — was exhilarating.

Ben Brady’s sonorous Rocco (and fine stage presence), Kate Fruchterman’s appealing Marzelline, Carmello Tringali’s lovestruck Jaquino, Jackson Beaman’s First Prisoner, and Stephen Boisvert’s Second Prisoner were excellent individually and their ensemble blend was exemplary.

As symbols of evil and good, Krassen Karagiozov’s prison warden Pizarro and Kiril Havezov’s Fernando were both splendid, vocally and theatrically. Moscovich and Conde took some minor liberties with those characters: when Pizarro is unmasked, he runs away — a simple, but effective staging idea. Fernando, a minister in the original, here becomes the Attorney General, prompting some of the audience to consider if Jefferson Sessions would bring “the day and hour of justice” to the story.

Disregarding financial and space limitations, Moscovich assembled and led an orchestra that performed wonderfully well.  From concertmaster Kristina Anderson and Evan Kahn’s cello to Peter Lemberg’s oboe, Art Austin’s clarinet, Carolyn Lockhart and Susan Dias’ bassoons, strings and woodwinds sang with broad power and affecting beauty. At the beginning, the brass had a few problems, but when it came to the trumpet’s starring role, Rick Leder’s instrument provided the pure, thrilling sound of liberation and triumph.

Fidelio at West Bay Opera

February 16, 2018

Freedom, a constant struggle.

Big themes and a big orchestra filled Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theater last Friday, Feb. 16 for the opening of Beethoven’s Fidelio.

It was his only opera and he cursed the ten years that he spent writing and revising it. Although Beethoven was the Grand Master of many musical forms from symphonic to sonata, his one attempt at opera was cautiously received in 1804 and then again in 1814 and still performed less than one might expect from the stirring music and clever ensembles. That fault may lie in the earnest libretto, which was neither comic nor tragic, but rather moralistic and carefully political.

And like a lot of political art that needs to get past the censors, there was a choppy quality as if had been heavily cut, and an overall tone that could only be described as blandly optimistic.  While Beethoven was inspired by the turmoil of his era and the long French struggle for freedom, he didn’t want to alienate the two powers of the land – the Church and the Aristocracy. So the cast had to frequently trumpet their faith in God, and the savior of the political prisoners was…ahem… the Attorney General.

Now that’s diplomacy!

On top of walking that rather narrow path, Beethoven was part of the early movement away from Classical (which was already brand new) and into Romantic, with idealizations of Liberty and Justice and Beauty cropping up all over the arts. Combined with the grandeur of his middle or “heroic” period, those ideals tended to flatten Fidelio’s characters into cartoons.

But the music did shine a path through that marsh, especially in the overtures where one could clearly hear the mastery. Here were intimate passages and woodsy winds, noble horns and stirring progressions, all woven together into a tapestry that built into big and satisfying moments that shook the hall.

José Luis Moscovich led the larger-than-usual orchestra with economy and attention. That small pit in the Lucie Stern Theater was enlarged by placing the horns and winds in two-tiered constructions on each side of the stage, where they could still see the conductor. It is an arrangement that allows West Bay Opera to host a fuller orchestration instead of the careful reductions of many of their productions.

Clever staging by Ragnar Conde made the most of an excellent set by Peter Crompton and projections by Frederic Boulay, turning the original ancient French dungeon into a modern high-security prison with sturdy lines and heavy concrete forms.

And the singing was classy. Ben Brady brought warm bass heft to his role as the chief jailor throughout the opera, embracing the emotional center of the action as his role slowly grew from the narrow strictures of a soldier into a moral awakening as a citizen.

Leonore was sung by New York-trained Meredith Mecum, a lyric soprano with a lovely mid-range and purring low notes. Her big sound was driven by a heavy vibrato and would be better suited  for Verdi or Wagner than for duets and ensembles, of which there were many in this production. But her duets with Kate Fruchterman, who sang the delicate and enchanting soprano role of Marzelline, daughter of the chief guard, had something more. Leonore was disguised as a man to infiltrate the jail and search for her husband, Florestan, and when Marzelline falls in love with her there was some real chemistry onstage.

Actually, I thought they would be better off together!

Florestan was played to the hilt by Brent Turner, another heroic voice of muscular beauty, and most appreciated in his solos, especially the famous “Gott! Welch dunkel hier.”

And particularly appealing was the men’s chorus, which quick-changed from guards to miserable wretches as needed. Prepared by chorus master Bruce Olstad, they had a firm smooth sound further emboldened by Beethoven’s careful bracketing of bassoons and oboe.

The cast was amply filled out by Bay Area regulars Carmello Tringali as the spurned tenor, Krassen Karagiozov as the baritone everyone loves to hate, and Kiril Havezov, the velvet-toned Attorney General.

—Adam Broner

“Fidelio” Review – Exquisite Voices and a Captivating Story

February 20, 2018

Barbara Keer

West Bay Opera’s production of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio opened on Friday, February 16, 2018 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, its home in Palo Alto, California. Both the opera and the opera company deserve kudos. The opera is charming, the music beautiful and the story very dramatic. West Bay Opera made it their own with top- notch artists, cleaver additions, wonderful sets, costumes and the wonderful live orchestra. Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven is sung In German, with English titles. 

Opera at the Lucy Stern Theatre is a very different experience than being at a large opera house like the Civic Opera House in Chicago where I enjoy Lyric Opera of Chicago performances. What I love about the Lucy Stern Theatre is the intimacy, the feeling as an audience member that I am part of the action. I also enjoy the large size print and placement of the supertitles, which I can read and continue to follow the action, which enhance the consistently outstanding productions envisaged by General Director, José Luis Moscovich.

 Fidelio began as an opera in three acts but was revised to the two act opera that was received with positive reviews when it premiered at the Theater an der Wien- Vienna- November 20, 1805 and has remained popular ever since. 

Florestan has been chained to a rock at a high-security prison, for his attempt to bring to light Pizarro’s corruption and wrongdoing. Florestan’s intrepid wife, Leonore, disguised as a young man who calls himself Fidelio, gets herself hired into the prison and works tirelessly to free Florestan and other political prisoners.  Beethover’s only opera is an ode to freedom and the power of the human spirit, and a reminder that a single person can make a difference.

The cast for this production is truly outstanding and includes New York-based heldentenor Brent Turner as Florestan, and dramatic soprano Meredith Mecum in the title role.  Ben Brady sings Rocco and Krassen Karagiozov appears as Pizarro.  Marzelline is sung by Kate Fruchterman and Don Fernando by Kiril Havezov. Tenor Carmello Tringali sings Jaquino and Jackson Beaman and Steven Boisvert sing first and second prisoner, respectively.

Set in a contemporary for-profit American prison, the sets designed by Peter Crompton are compelling and perfect for the story. Callie Floor’s costumes enhance the look and feel of the production, while video projections by Frédéric Boulay add interest and humor. The makeup design by Lisa Cross completes the picture.

The “Prisoners’ Chorus” (O welche Lust—”O what a joy”), an ode to freedom sung by a chorus of political prisoners is a known standout in this opera and it certainly did not disappoint in this production. This felt like a “breath of fresh air”, a joy to hear.

Outstanding, too, was the Florestan’s (Brent Turner’s) aria as he envisions Leonore an angel come to rescue him. The final scene in which the rescue takes place, the finale, celebrates Leonore’s bravery with alternating contributions of soloists and chorus and repeatedly says the “Never can we over praise a wife who saved her husband”. I would say of this production as well that it would be hard to over praise. It was a wonderful experience that you should not miss.