{"id":98184,"date":"2023-08-14T10:12:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T14:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=98184"},"modified":"2023-08-14T10:12:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T14:12:21","slug":"scrutiny-desert-songs-2023-santa-fe-opera-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/08\/14\/scrutiny-desert-songs-2023-santa-fe-opera-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Desert Songs: The 2023 Santa Fe Opera Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Peleas
Pelleas et M\u00e9lisande at the Santa Fe Opera Festival (Photo: Curtis Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A major summer music festival in North America, the Santa Fe Opera has entertained opera lovers with glorious music since its inception in 1957 by the late American conductor John Crosby, who was at the helm until his retirement in 2000. He conducted his final performance, Richard Strauss\u2019s Elektra, on August 24, 2000, a stunning 567th time on the Santa Fe Opera podium.<\/p>\n

Crosby\u2019s vision of opera in the desert is very much alive and thriving to this day. The 2023 marks its 66th season, with a felicitous mix of operas spanning three centuries \u2014 Orfeo (1607), The Flying Dutchman (1843), Tosca (1900), Rusalka (1901), and Pelleas et Melisande (1902). The only thing missing this year is a contemporary work, an in` formal tradition of the Santa Fe Opera. It\u2019s good to know that it\u2019ll resume next season with the world premiere of The Righteous by composer Gregory Spears, with Canadian conductor Jordan de Souza at the helm.<\/p>\n

I have been coming to the \u201cLand of Enchantment,\u201d aka Santa Fe, since 1998. The artistic standards have always been very high, not to mention the bonus of enjoying the incredible mountain vista surrounding the opera house. I\u2019ve been hooked ever since, returning many times in the last quarter century. My 2023 sojourn consisted of all five operas, beginning with The Flying Dutchman (July 31), followed by Tosca (August 1), Orfeo (August 2), Pelleas et Melisande (August 3), and Rusalka (August 4).<\/p>\n

\"Elza
Elza van den Heever (Senta) in The Flying Dutchman at the Santa Fe Opera Festival (Photo: Curtis Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Flying Dutchman<\/h3>\n

Wagner is a rarity at the Santa Fe Opera \u2014 last year\u2019s Tristan und Isolde was its first in 34 years. To the delight of Wagner fans, Dutchman made it two years in a row, with an ideal cast starring South African Elza van den Heever as Senta and American bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee as Dutchman. Van den Heever was a luminous Senta, singing with power, beauty, and a full palate of tone colours. Brownlee, last season\u2019s memorable Kurwenal in Tristan, was an equally fine Dutchman. As Daland, Morris Robinson\u2019s sonorous bass was impressive. Tenor Chad Shelton, a late replacement, was an excellent Erik, a rather thankless role. Former Apprentice tenor Bille Bruley was a fresh-voiced Steersman, while current Apprentice soprano Gretchen Krupp made a characterful Mary.<\/p>\n

The production was another story altogether. British director David Alden\u2019s concept was a bit of a head scratcher, one of the most non-nautical looking Dutchman sets (by designer Paul Steinberg) I have seen. Instead of spinning wheels, the women were costumed in garishly yellow factory uniforms, doing nondescript duties. At one point, Dutchman appeared in a three-piece business suit. The chorus, made up of SFO Apprentice singers, were musically fine, but the choreography reminded me more of Broadway than a Wagner opera. Thomas Guggeis conducted with energy and passion, exciting if a touch too loud.<\/p>\n

\"Leah
Leah Hawkins (Tosca) and Joshua Guerrero (Cavaradossi) in Tosca at the Santa Fe Opera Festival (Photo: Curtis Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tosca<\/h3>\n

The Wagner opera was followed by the Puccini warhorse, Tosca. Once again, singers with very fine voices. While it was sad that Angel Blue cancelled the whole run due to a family emergency, Leah Hawkins was a worthy replacement. Her Roman diva was marked by rich, sumptuous tone and suitably stately presence. Tenor Joshua Guerrero (Cavaradossi) matched her with a ringing tenor and great high notes. Baritone Reginald Smith Jr held his own as Scarpia. Yet I am sorry to say that it wasn\u2019t as good as it should have been, due to the production, the staging and to a certain extent musically. I was expecting more from the American conductor John Fiore, who led a fine COC Un ballo in Maschera way back in 1989. His conducting here was marred by flaccid tempi, especially in Act One. Somehow, his conducting sounded rather routine to my ears.<\/p>\n

The production was by another big-name director, Keith Warner. The set by Ashley Martin-Davis bears little resemblance to a church in Act One, to Scarpia\u2019s study in Act Two, or Castel Sant\u2019Angelo in Act Three. This was the first time I\u2019ve seen a Tosca where the audience stare at the back of Cavaradossi\u2019s painting of the Madonna. Why? It takes away a focal point of the drama. During the Act Two sexual assault scene, Tosca and Scarpia are several feet apart. Again, why? Rather than stabbing Scarpia, Tosca strangles him with a cord. Instead of jumping to her death, she points a gun to her own head as the stage light goes out, but no sound of gunshot. If I sound like I am nitpicking, so be it. I would love to hear the thoughts of Mr. Warner. To that end, it would have been great if the lavish program contained directors\u2019 notes.<\/p>\n

\"Rolando
Rolando Villazon in Orfeo at the Santa Fe Opera Festival (Photo: Curtis Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Orfeo<\/h3>\n

A major attraction of this 2023 Santa Fe season was the appearance of Rolando Villazon as Orfeo (August 2). I heard Villazon multiple times early in his career, but never in Baroque. His Orfeo almost didn\u2019t happen, as he sustained a back injury while strapped in a harness suspended in midair at the final dress rehearsal. He had to cancel opening night (July 21). Fortunately, he was well enough \u2014 though I understand heavily medicated \u2014 to sing the performance I saw. Some of his aerial acrobatics had to be cut as a result.<\/p>\n

The Yuval Sharon production dispenses with representational realism, instead we got a brilliantly imagined visual feast, starting with the descent of Orfeo into Hades to look for his beloved Euridice, sung by Amber Lorelai. The stage is dark, with Orfeo suspended in midair. In Euridice\u2019s scene, she\u2019s surrounded by extraterrestrial creatures dressed in black, with heads framed by circles of light, creating quite a spectacular visual effect. Orfeo is of course an opera seria, but somehow Sharon manages to inject a few brief moments of humour, likely to showcase the irrepressible stage persona of Villazon.<\/p>\n

Given that the Monteverdi Orfeo is written for a baritone, it would seem unsuited to Villazon the tenor. But time and overuse have robbed him of his vocal brilliance, especially in the high register, making Orfeo a good compromise given his current vocal estate. Together with his trademark heart-on-sleeve acting, he had a success, a few awkward vocal moments notwithstanding. Also noteworthy was the La Musica of soprano Lauren Snouffer and the La Messaggera of mezzo Paula Murrihy. SFO Music Director Harry Bicket, an Early Music specialist, led a striking performance of the newly re-orchestrated score for modern instruments by Nico Muhly, specially commissioned by Santa Fe Opera for this run.<\/p>\n