Ankstesnės produkcijos apžvalgos
2In the role of Butterfly, Hui He made a splendid entrance with Act one’s “ancora un passo,” flanked by her proceeding relatives and their eye-catching, traditional costumes. The soprano’s youthful tones carried wonderfully through the excited, legato phrases which blossomed into a soaring B-flat conclusion. Her infatuation lent itself to her flirtatious lines with Pinkerton, as she revealed her conversion to Christianity and willingness to leave her family, framing these as loving sacrifices. The character’s volatile emotions were expertly captured by Hui He throughout her time onstage, with her sensitivity to the words of others able to drive extended passages of suspicious or romantic fervor. This was powerfully heard in her Act two aria “Un bel di vedremo,” where her delicate passion quickly swept her up into a sonorous reverie, finishing as she demurred and closed the screen door as if to give herself a reprieve from the emotional excess. After the truth of Pinkerton’s return is made clear to her in Act three, Hui He’s utterly crushed lines were highly gripping as she readied for her suicide; her final aria “Tu? Tu? Piccolo iddio” was a thing of ruinous beauty as her grieving farewell to her child swelled to tremendous vocal heights.
One of my fondest memories of growing up in Wiesbaden, Germany was dressing up and attending Sunday matinees with my Grandma Dorothy at the Opera House. If I could pick one word to describe my fond memories of the opera it would be grandeur. Unfortunately my experience with Opera Colorado's production of Bizet's CARMEN (Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy) was anything but. Before I go into this critic, I have to say that if they had called this Carmen: The Concert, my expectations would have been altered and thus this review. The design team of Director Kathleen Belcher, Chorus Master John Baril, Conductor Robert Wood, Lighting Design by SeifAllah Christobal, and Costume Design by Ann Piano gave us a more bare-bones and stripped down version of this iconic opera and just me wanted more...much more. With the lack of any set or backdrop, a forgotten chorus stuck in the back of the stage in white shirts and black slacks, a minimal ensemble and the orchestra sitting in the middle of the stage like an awkward elephant in the room. So here is my wish list from the show - I wish that they had dressed the chorus in peasant costumes and had a painted backdrop of a rolling Italian countryside to transport us (even a little) into the story. Had they done these small changes, I could have gone with the orchestra being onstage. Even for my issues with the show, I did see several moments of excellence including the fun gypsies and the passionate exchanges between Carmen and Don Jose.
