Elizabeth – I must confess I’m still recovering from Met overload and wasn’t too excited to be attending an opera. Fortunately the first opera of Martina Arroyo’s 2013 Prelude to Performance program was Elixir of Love.  This was a piece I saw, and loved, at the Met last season and was excited to see Prelude’s take on it.

A young man, Nemorino, is in love with his childhood friend, Adina, but she is well off and educated and consequently out of his grasp.  The situation further worsens when Belcore, a sergeant in the army comes to town and impresses Adina.  Adina agrees to marry Belcore and Nemorino becomes desperate to try to win over Adina before her wedding to Belcore occurs.  When a doctor arrives with an elixir that can supposedly cure any ailment, Nemorino is thrilled.

Elixir started off with a slow tempo…and remained a bit slow for me.  Yunnie Park as Adina was excellent vocally.  Whenever she took the stage I relaxed, confident that she could hold her own and she did.  Her control over her voice was excellent.  James Knight as Nemorino clearly took advantage of the acting focus of the Arroyo program.  He was great physically with good gestures and movement around the stage while playing the lovesick, and later drunk, Nemorino. 

The chorus had great actors in addition to singers, better than some Met productions I have seen.  Everyone had a part to play and was actively engaged in portraying their character.  Elixir is a fun opera and I appreciated the humor injected into it by the Prelude cast—notably Jorell Williams as the pompous Belcore the Sergeant, checking his hair when taking off his uniform’s hat. 

Willie Waters conducted and it never ceases to amaze me how a coherent opera is produced within a few short weeks.  An orchestra playing in time together along with the singers and chorus is amazing with a full rehearsal schedule never mind a limited one. 

The next evening we saw the Tales of Hoffman, another entertaining comedic opera.  This was my first time seeing the opera and I decided not to read the program’s synopsis and let the story unfold before me.  Hoffman, sitting in a bar with fellow drinkers, tells the story of three women he fell in love with.  Each act features a different love story, in turn funny and heartbreaking.  Joseph Brent as Hoffman was incredible—he was in each scene of the opera and at close to 3 hours of singing that’s a long sing for one character.  Kudos to him.  Nian Wang as the Muse stole the show for me.  Vocally superb, her gestures and acting brought the story alive.  Sharon Cheng as Olympia was hilarious and impressive.  Some of her vocals are difficult—requiring the same kind of control as the Queen of the Night aria in Magic Flute—and she executed brilliantly, all while moving convincingly as a robotic doll.  Janani Sridar as Antonia was sweet as the daughter forbidden to sing, and Brandie Sutton as Giulietta was beautiful vocally and had great stage presence.

Eui Jin Kim as Councillor Lindors, Coppelius, Miracle and Dappertutto was striking, both in presence and voice.  His costume changes were dramatic, particularly when he came out bald, and he was excellent as the four evils.

Marcos Cuevas as Andres, Cochenille, Frantz and Pitichinaccio was a highlight of the show for me.  He donned many costumes and characters for the opera and had great comedic timing as well as strong vocals. 

Conductor Robert Lyall kept the intricate story moving along.  The costumes for both productions were fantastic and added to the professional polish of the program.   

Shawn – It was unfortunate we were trapped in Chicago for 30 hours due to nonexistent weather last week as we missed Thursday’s Hoffman with Won Whi Choi as Hoffman.  We heard him in an opera flash mob earlier in the summer and heard wonderful things about his performance in Martina Arroyo’s Prelude program this year.  BUT the other casts did not disappoint in any way, shape or form.  

I saw the striking Tito Capobianco acting master class for Prelude to Performance several weeks before the shows.  It was one of the best master classes I have ever seen and I have seen a lot.  He and Eric Owens’ (who gave a master class as well) acting advice paid off in the performances as the Prelude students were far more specific in their acting choices, economical in their gestures and movement and convincing in character onstage than really should be expected from performers their age–an age when most young emerging artists are sweating it out just to get through a piece and catch their breath for the next one to have much extra time, thought and energy to devote to the specificity and immediacy of acting and organic arc of character.  These kids did in spades.  Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program is certainly living up to its promise of bringing the focus of operatic performers back to character and the skills needed to convincingly convey character beyond vocal techniques.  Though they all, for the most part, sang beautifully as well. 

James Knight as Nemorino and Yunnie Park as Adina in Elixir had palpable chemistry both physically and vocally.  And Ignacio Gama, although forgetting Capobianco’s advice about repetitive hand gestures, performed admirably.

Joseph Brent as Hoffman in Saturday’s performance was excellent.  His rendition of the Kleinzach song has lingered in my memory since.  Eui Jin Kim in the four way villain role also deserves special mention as he found different and specific acting choices for each role even when briefly burdened with an ill fitting and unsecured bald cap.  Of Hoffman’s loves, Sharon Cheng stood out as Olympia and her vocal flourishes brought the audience to their feet.  But the star of the Hoffman for me was mezzo-soprano Nian Wang as Nicklausse.  The strength of her vibrant vocal character line carried the evening for me.

As tenor Richard Leech said quoting Ella Fitzgerald in his opening remarks before the performances, “the only thing better than singing, is more singing”.  Thank goodness Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance has a great deal more singing to bring us in the future. 

– Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes

For more information on Prelude to Performance please visit their website or on Facebook.

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