The San Diego Opera
Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire
Civic Theatre, San Diego, CA
April 25, 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire was first performed on September 19, 1998, at the San Francisco Opera, and one of its performances there was televised with a cast that featured several of the artists that appeared in this San Diego production. The opera was also produced this past season in New Orleans, where it received excellent notices. Librettist Philip Littell has pared down the Williams play to a singable text without lessening its impact, and he has turned some of its famous speeches into excellent texts for modern day arias, one of which, “I want magic,” has been recorded by Renée Fleming, the role’s creator. (The premier performance of the entire opera is, of course, also available as both a compact disc set and a video.)
Andre Previn’s music re-creates the atmosphere of a New Orleans summer in the late l940s. Most of the opera is made up of powerfully expressive sung recitative accompanied by a rich orchestral background. When I heard it on television with the composer conducting I was not overly impressed with the orchestration, but in the live San Diego performance I enjoyed the interesting sonorities brought out by Karen Keltner. This music creates its own images-new, and it tells us much that the words do not. Composer Previn reveals a truly remarkable gift for setting a text. The rise and fall of his melodies – melodies that become richer with repeated hearings – illuminate these famous lines, providing ideal line readings of a play that is already one of the immortal masterpieces of the spoken theater. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Streetcar is one of the most viable and artistically successful operas of modern times. It captures the tragedy of Blanche’s mental state, the brutish chauvinism of Stanley, the dependence of Stella and the naivete of Mitch, with the result that this rather long opera becomes a truly interesting evening.
The San Francisco production was directed by Colin Graham, and the one in San Diego was done by his assistant there, Brad Dalton, who went back to the play to get a fresh approach. His encouragement of realistic acting and the changes he made in the final scene were extremely effective in bringing out the tragic nature of the piece.
Although the New Orleans-style sets and the 1940s costumes were the same as in the premiere, some of the characterizations were different. Sheryl Woods’ portrayal of Blanche was much darker than Fleming’s and shows her character to be even more out of touch with reality from the beginning. As the opera progresses, we watch her slide inexorably into her delusions. She says she wants magic and she wants to give it to us all as well. Woods’ singing is magical, but all Blanche ever experiences is rejection, except for one short moment with Mitch. Their duet at the end of Act Two is among the most memorable pieces in the score.
David Okerlund’s Stanley is an old fashioned male supremacist with a mean streak who is hypnotically attractive to both his wife, Stella, and to Blanche, her visiting sister. He wants to be left alone with his wife and is willing to go to any length to achieve his goal. His music is as rough as his character, and he has no aria… yet. Previn has asked permission from the Williams estate to write one, however, so baritones, pay attention!
Elizabeth Futral’s attractive soprano serves to draw a realistic portrait of Stella, who cares for Blanche but would never favor her over Stanley, the main support of her emotional and physical life. Futral, who actually grew up near New Orleans, was also in the San Francisco cast and worked with Previn from the beginning. She describes him as having a huge intellect coupled with a great deal of humility. Stella’s music is often influenced by blues sonorities; the way Futral sang the “Vocalise” that serves to illustrate her satisfaction with Stanley’s lovemaking was absolutely delectable, delighting the audience as much as it upsets Blanche.
Anthony Dean Griffey’s Mitch was both dramatically and vocally persuasive. Despite his large build, his character was in total contrast to Stanley when he sang about the virtues of being in love, and at one point in Act Two he and Blanche almost seemed to have a happy future.
Priti Gandhi, a recent alumna of the San Diego Ensemble, made the most of her opportunity to appear on the main stage. Showing us some of the exquisite colorations of her opulent voice while singing the dark part of the “Mexican Woman,” with her haunting call of “flores para los muertos,” Gandhi delivered the role in a less spoken, more richly musical manner than the singer in the work’s premier. This demonstrated the ongoing fascination in getting to know the potential glories of a complex new work. Although we are accustomed to thinking of her as a coloratura mezzo, this role shows that she can do other types of parts as well.
As Stella and Stanley’s neighbor, Eunice Hubbell, Susanna Guzman, whose rich mezzo voice is capable of a great variety of expression and whose acting ability is already legendary, was a perfect 1940s wife. This was, indeed, luxury casting.
James Scott Sikon made excellent use of his vocal and acting skills in his portrayal of her husband. Jeffrey Lentz as “The Collector” and Gregory Gonzalez as Pablo showed themselves to be fine singing actors, while Melvin Golzband and Shirley Hall gave solid portrayals of the doctor and nurse who take Blanche away at the end.
A Streetcar Named Desire is an opera with a bright future. Having already been performed by three American opera companies, it is slated for production in France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. – Maria Nockin
Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone
Malcolm Martineau, piano
Ohio Theatre
Columbus, OH
May 11, 2000
Bryn Terfel walked slowly onto the stage of the Ohio Theatre last night and briefly regaled a crowded house with the travails of his back surgery and a ten-hour layover in Philadelphia due to storms. Then he sang Schubert, Schumann, Butterworth, Quilter and John Ireland with a voice intact and gloriously rich from resplendent top to bottom.
Six songs from Schwanengesang opened the program. “Liebesbotschaft” was caressed and led at once into a dramatic “Der Atlas.” It was worth the price of admission to hear Malcolm Martineau space the opening chords of “Der Doppelgaenger.” Seldom have I heard singer and pianist so perfectly in accord, one matching the sense of the other. This was no opera star slumming. Terfel came to share music and text and did so deliciously. “Der Taubenpost” was both romantic and a shade sad, and Schumann’s “Two Venetian Songs” (op. 25 nos. 17 and 18) were sung with a hushed expectation of delights and trials to come.
The program continued after the intermission with three songs by John Ireland : “Sea Fever,” “The Bells of San Marie” and “The Vagabond.” Terfel consulted his program book and announced, “Oh I see you don’t have the words for the Butterworth!” We didn’t need them. You could take dictation from Terfel’s diction. The Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad were sung, quite simply, with love.
Having seen his Figaro and Wolfram at the Met I was prepared for Terfel’s fine voice. What caught me unaware was his immense love for music and text. Terfel puts nothing between himself and his audience. Whether you know German or Welsh (there was a lusty Welsh contingent in the house, complete with flag waving and loud calls for Welsh favorites) He is a big, good looking man with a big voice, and he puts everything he has in service to the music. But he never forgets his audience. The woman sitting next to me didn’t have a program. I offered her mine but she said, “I don’t need it. I know what he means.” Not since hearing Leontyne Price in recital have I heard a voice used at such service to the audience, to make music, to give pleasure. Terfel’s voice loves you back.
His stage demeanor was relaxed and welcoming; he chatted up the audience. After the first of the six Schwanengesang the audience broke into applause. Terfel smiled, walked forward a bit and said, “Well now look. Thank you so much. But if you applaud after every song we’ll be here all night!” Then before the Schumann group he smiled, “There are five songs here, so you can applaud if you want to after the fifth song!” He made an audience unaccustomed to song recitals feel right at home, cannily setting the mood in which to best enjoy his marvelous gifts. –Christopher Purdy
The Program:
Schubert:
From Schwanengesang
Liebesbotschaft
Der Atlas
Der Doppelgaenger
Das Fischermaedchen
DieTaubenpost
Schumann:
Widmung
Du bist wie eine Blume
Leis’ rudern hier
Wenn durch die Piazetta
Die beiden Grenadiere
John Ireland:
Sea Fever; The Bells of San Marie; The Vagabond
Butterworth: Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad
Loveliest of Trees
Look not in my eyes
When I was one-and-twenty
Think no more, Lad
The lads in their hundreds
Is my team ploughing
Hubert Parry:
Love is a babel
Roger Quilter:
Now sleeps the crimson petal
Michael Head:
Money O!
Welsh Songs
Suo Gan; Bugail Aberdyfi-Shepherd of Aberdovey; Dewrion Harlech (Men of Harlech)
Encore:
Flanders & Swann, The Gas Man
