Reviewed by James Karas
LA CALISTO
In 1651 when Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto premiered in Venice, opera had been around for only a bit more than fifty years. The subject that his librettist Giovanni Faustini chose was from Greek mythology which at the time was almost the sole source of plots and remains so today if to a much lesser extent.
La Calisto deals with the relationship among mortals, demigods and deities, a popular subject. In this case, Jupiter the chief god is in Arcadia and he sees the beautiful nymph Calisto. There is no polite way of saying it, but he wants her. Callisto is a follower of the goddess Diana who is sworn to chastity and Jupiter cannot have what he wants. His son Mercury has an idea. Why doesn’t Jupiter change into a Diana-look-alike and attempt to seduce Calisto? Great idea and not only does it work but Calisto enjoys it. Diana is furious and threatens to banish Calisto.
The opera has fifteen roles including Nature, Destiny, Eternity, a couple of Furies and five Dancers. The main characters are the beautiful nymph Calisto (Emilie Kealani), Diana and Jupiter-as-Diana (Taylor Raven), Endymion (Kyle Sanchez Tingzon), Juno (Eve Gigliotti), Jupiter (Craig Irvin), Mercury (Schyler Vargas), Linfea/Destiny (Winona Martin) and Pan (Namarea Randolph-Yosea.)
Photo by Brent DeLanoy / The Glimmerglass Festival.
Jupiter’s fun with Calisto is ruined by his harridan wife Juno who complains about his serial infidelities and turns Calisto into a bear. But love or maybe lust is a mainstay of the opera. The not-so-young Linfea reconsiders her devotion to virginity while the Younge Satyr (Amanda Sheriff) offers his services to her only to be unceremoniously rebuffed. The handsome shepherd Endymion is attractive but unsuccessful. Pan enters ready to go after Diana. There are conflicts and compromises and there is a happy ending! Calisti is turned into a star – Ursa Minor and all is over.
The opera is sung through with harpsicord and full orchestra accompaniment. The plot complications are not always clear but the beauty of Cavalli’s music and the singing never fail or falter. They provide a delightful performance.
The costumes by Carlos Soto are what you may imagine gods, nymphs and satyrs should look like and the sets are similarly opaque classical imagery.
Rob Ainsley conducts the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra and brings out the best in Cavalli’s beautiful and varied music.
Mo Zhou directs the lustful gods and demigods and worshippers of
chastity in a work that is from the earliest day of opera and worth seeing today.
ELIZABETH CREE
We jump from 1651 to 2027 for Elizabeth Cree. a new opera with music by Kevin Puts and libretto by Mark Campbell. The summary in the Glimmerglass Festival program provides the following information:
Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age.
The opera opens with a hanging of a woman on April 9, 1881. The production is very precise on dates and they are projected on the side of the stage. One can hardly ask for a more dramatic and startling opening. The prisoner is Elizabeth Cree and her crime is the murder of her husband.
The startling opening, the dramatic music and the promise of the summary should provide an outstanding performance. It did not. My reaction to the opera was one of almost complete inability to relate to the plot and consequently not enjoy the music or anything about the performance.
After the hanging scene, we go back to Elizabeth’s youth and to 1878 where she visits a music hall and is taken in by the performers.
Photo by Brent DeLanoy/The Glimmerglass Festival.
Forward to 1880 where an entry in John Cree’s diary records the brutal murder of a prostitute. Panic strikes the city and a Scotland Yard inspector discovers that the victim went to the reading room of the British Museum. He interviews novelist George Gissing who is doing research there.
It is February 1881 and Elizabeth's trial for the murder of her husband John Cree.
April 1878, back to the Music Hall where she performs and meets John Cree, playwright and critic. On September 12, 1880, we check John’s diary with an entry that he murdered a Hebrew scholar. Two days later Karl Marx is interviewed, February 1881 in court we hear the suggestion that Elizabet poisoned John. Back to the Music Hall in November 1878 where Elizabeth has become a star performer.
By this time, we have gone through 12 scenes out of a total of 29. But we continue with more murders, more searches for the culprit and on a happier note John proposes marriage to Elizabeth and she accepts. There is a wedding party. The fun is over because Elizabeth refuses to consummate the marriage. John goes to the British Museum; sees Karl Marx and we have finished 20 scenes.
This summary alone makes it clear that I was bored out of my mind. The
music distracted me a bit from the plots,
however many there are and from the constant changes in venue and time, but not
enough. No doubt Puts and Campbell’s opera has many admirers but I do not count
myself as one.
________________________
La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli and Elizabeth Cree
by Kevin Puts continue in repertory at the 2024 Glimmerglass Festival in the
Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown, New York. More information at: www.glimmerglass.org
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