James Karas
The Glimmerglass Festival on the shore of
Lake Otsego is up and running for its 41st season. A few kilometers
away from Cooperstown and the museum that honours people who hit balls with a
bat, it provides cultural nourishment, intellectual pleasure and spiritual
enrichment for modest people who enjoy opera. You may roll your eyes now.
One of this year’s eclectic choices is The
Crucible by composer Robert Ward and librettist Bernard Stambler. It
gets a superb production conducted by Nicole Paiement and directed by Francesca
Zambello.
The Glimmerglass
Festival's production of Robert Ward's "The Crucible." Photo: Karli
Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
Ward and Stambler captured and indeed
heightened the dramatic events of the play. Nicole Paiement conducts the
Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra in an intense and nuanced performance
emphasizing every dramatic chord.
The singing is affecting and frequently
outstanding if just as frequently uneven. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton gave
perhaps the best performance as Elizabeth Proctor, a troubled woman who betrays
her husband while trying to save him. Her marvelous voice conveyed pathos and
she gave us an Elizabeth that we fully sympathized with. A nice combination of
vocal beauty and acting ability.
Baritone Brian Mulligan has the taxing role
of John Proctor, a practical farmer who committed a sin and is caught in the
maelstrom of insanity led by a few girls. He is caught up in the vortex of
religious fanaticism, vengeance and greed that will lead to his death. In the
end he rises to heroic if tragic stature in a fine performance by Mulligan.
Tenor Jay Hunter Morris sang the role of the
Judge Danforth, the man who arrogates to himself the role of God’s spokesman
and Satan detective. Morris may have been having a bad night but he sounded
strained at times even though he never failed to be dramatic.
Jamie Barton as Elizabeth
Proctor, Brian Mulligan as John Proctor and Maren Weinberger as Mary Warren in
The Glimmerglass Festival's production of Robert Ward's "The
Crucible." Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival
Most of the cast of The Crucible comes from the Festival’s Young Artists program and
their performances were overall admirable. Most notable were soprano Ariana
Wehr as Abigail Williams, baritone Michael Miller as the nasty Thomas Putnam,
mezzo-soprano Helena Brown as Rebecca Nurse, and Maren Weinberger as Mary
Warren.
Zambello’s production is taut but Spartan.
The set by Neil Patel consists of bare gray walls with windows that serves for
interior and exterior scenes. The only change is the scene between John Proctor
and Abigail where the same gray motif prevails but there is a fallen tree in
the background.
The staging is done expertly and the drama
proceeds to its ultimate climax inexorable and dramatically.
A superb night at the opera.
And speaking of baseball, some of you
American aficionados may wish to acquaint yourselves with opera. The World
Series is coming faster than a curve ball and where will you go when the Blue
Jays clobber all the American teams? Remember, the lights go down during an
opera performance.
_____
The Crucible by Robert Ward (music)
and Bernard Syambler (libretto) based on Arthur Miller’s play opened on July 23
and will be performed nine times until August 27, 2016 at the Alice Busch Opera
Theater, Cooperstown, New York. Tickets and information (607) 547-0700 or www.glimmerglass.org
No comments:
Post a Comment