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In her profile of Barack Obama in the 7 May 07 issue of The New Yorker, Larissa MacFarquhar wrote:

'What strikes me most when I think about the story of my family,' Obama writes, 'is a running strain of innocence, even by the measures of childhood.' Innoncence is not, for him, a good quality, or even a redeeming excuse; it is not the opposite of guilt but the opposite of wisdom.

I usually find the character of Tosca unbearable: a self-centered diva who is responsible for getting innocent people killed while playing out a psycho-sexual drama with Cavaradossi. However, three years ago, I heard Cynthia Lawrence sing the role at the Met, and her fidelity to the text, rather than the shape of versimo, convinced me that Tosca could be flawed, but sympathetic. Hearing her again last week in Vancouver Opera's production of the opera brought this point home: in fact, Lawrence's Tosca has the innocence that MacFarquhar describes, the opposite of wisdom. Her Tosca is a woman out of her league, one who doesn't comprehend why her schoolgirl piety doesn't win the day. She changes from a self-inflicted jealous fury to a gentle soul focused completely on Cavaradossi (and back again.). Hers is the first interpretation of the role where you can imagine her lovingly preparing Cavaradossi his morning capuccino, and where you can see why his love for her goes beyond the make-up sex. And that, for me, is no small miracle.

Renzo Zulian, her Cavaradossi, has a bright top, but little style getting there. I would liken him in figure skating to Vancouver's Mira Leung: she certainly goes for the jumps without fear like he goes for the notes, but the landings are shaky. Yalun Zhang's Scarpia was impressive both vocally and dramatically. Apart from the stock "baritone lunge" when confronting Cavaradossi in Act II after Spoletta announces Napoleon's victory, his vocal and physical acting was subtle, but pointed. He was a man who knew his own power, but, like Mac the Knife, he didn't show his knife.

In a basic, traditional production, the most striking effects were in lighting, where the designer used a spotlight to highlight a single performer during arias or scenes. At the end of Act I, for Scarpia's monologue, the stage was lit at dusk, except for the spot on Zhang, and only when the chorus joined for "Te Deum" was the entire stage lit. During "Vissi d'arte" the spot faded from each of two spots as it lit another, as Tosca progressed across the stage. This took away from the self-consciousness of the scene she's playing for Scarpia, because it made the aria an internal dialogue only. "E lucevan le stelle," a private aria, like Scarpia's scene, was lit similarly.

This past week, I saw two performances of Seattle Opera's season-ending La Boheme. On Sunday, the Silver Cast made it's debut. I don't know how singers can sing matinees, especially opening matinees: at 2pm, I'm not sure how they've even cleared their throats. Making their Seattle Opera debuts as Mimi -- also an American debut for her -- and Rodolfo were Gun-Brit Barkmin and Scott Piper. When Barkmin entered the garrett, I thought it was a reprise of Tosca: she had spirit and spunk, and her "Cherco!!!!!" was so emphatic, as she bossed Piper to look for the key. Barkmin has a big, focused voice that cuts through the orchestra like a laser beam. Her Mimi may have had consumption, but more like Violetta in La Traviata did: she may have been on the decline, but she had enough good hours in the day, living her life, that when, in Act III, she asked "Am I dying?" it was reasonable that she didn't know it was quite that bad, and it was a real heart-breaker when she found out.

The big surprise was Scott Piper's "Che gelida manina." I've heard this aria on countless recordings and broadcasts, and, on the whole, no matter how great the voice and interpreter, it is usually sung with the same general arc to it. Although I knew the gist of the words, Piper, like Lawrence, sang every word with meaning, and the shape of the aria sounded completely different. Instead of waiting for the big climax, I listened to every word along the way. In Sunday's performance, I thought he had more ideas than his voice could support. (Given the number of ideas he had, this is not small praise.) But Tuesday night, his voice had settled, and it was like a wine that had opened. Sitting closer on Tuesday night, I saw how he acted throughout his aria -- no speaking to the audience -- checking to see how his words affected his Mimi. And during her response, the aria, "Mi chiamano Mimi," he quietly reacted to everything she said. Barkin was also a terrific actor: at the end of Rodolfo's aria, when asked her to tell him about herself, she showed a moment of panic (omigod, omigod, omigod what will I say???????), all with a simple gesture and facial expression. Piper didn't downplay any of Rodolfo's ridiculousness -- his "I don't allow my girl to act like this or that" sounded as pompous as the text -- and his "Mimi's a jerk and that's why I'm leaving her" in Act III made you want to slap him silly, which made his confession to Marcello that much more moving.

Colline has his farewell aria to his overcoat in Act IV, in this cast beautifully sung by Ashraf Sewailam, with his resonant bass, but Schaunard, the musician, has only a scene, in Act I. Most of the time, it's performed like filler, with a bunch of goofing by the other three men, and the audience waits for that scene, and the following scene with Benoit, the landlord, to be over so that Rodolfo and Mimi can get on with the "real" music. Not so in this cast. Marcus DeLoach made every moment count, and his telling of how he killed the parrot with herbs and earned the money they're about to spend on Christmas Eve was a riot.

The orchestra under Vjekoslav Sutej was superb, but among all of the wonderful playing, there was a most magical moment: there is a silence, just before the concluding duet of Act I ("O soave fanciulla"), and after it, the orchestra dropped in, like a moonbeam shining through the skylight. Piper took the final note as written, in lower harmony with Mimi, which gave it a sense of wonder.

Act II showed true ensemble singing and acting, with Schaunard and Colline having a great joke at Marcello's expense. Although I thought that Margarita De Arellano's Musetta was a bit over-the-top -- a little too much skirt raising; one could almost feel sorry for Alcindoro -- her voice, with a lovely lower register was wonderful, and she really called the shots, leaving Marcello to declare that he still had some heart with her black feathered boa around his neck.

Given how big her voice is, I expected Barkmin to go full-blast in Act III, but instead, she took a more subtle approach, varying intonation throughout the act. You could imagine that after Rodolfo left her, she spent the entire night waiting for dawn, so that she could try to reconcile with him, by how crushed she was in her scene with Marcello and through the quiet desperation in which she asks a bystander to fetch Marcello from the tavern. Director Jose Maria Condemi took the unusual stance of having Marcello and Musetta fight, and then make up by jumping into each other's arms and rushing into the tavern during the Act III quartet; dramatically, it was a heart-rending contrast when, after Rodolfo and Mimi reconcile, they are almost too hurt and sensitive to get near each other as they, exhausted, head home.

In Act IV, Barkin's Mimi slowly dies not only visually, but vocally. Slowly, she altered the volume of her voice, to get softer and softer, always clear and articulate until it was barely audible. Piper left out the vocal sobs, but kept the visual ones in his body, until he slumped to the ground next to her bed.

This is a cast that deserves hearing and seeing.

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I agree, reading Helene's reviews are educational and clear as a bell. She always gives me something to think about.

I saw this same cast (silver) last Tuesday. I normally don't go to see the silver cast since my regular subscription nite is the gold cast (next Wednesday...Yea!). But I happened to attend the 3 hour seminar last Saturday morning with General Director Speight Jenkins, Stage Director Jose Maria Condemi, and 3 of the 4 principal male singers (sans Rudolfo), and it inspired me to see this cast. Those 3 guys seemed to have so much camaraderie talking about how much fun they had working out the business on stage that I just had to see them in action. This cast has a spark. I can't really add to what Helene has said about the main characters, but overall I add my enthusistic endorsement that this silver cast is a treat, and worth seeing/hearing to share their unquenchable energy as they enjoy such a superb production at this youthful and relatively unjaded point in their careers. This cast and this production is alive.

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:) artist and SandyMcKean. I used to be scared of a blank page (or screen), but I find four things essential to writing any review: go alone in order to mull, see something multiple times, not have a deadline, and never want to shut up :)

I wish I had seen that seminar. I love to hear singers describe what they do, and the multi-artist, multi-hour format allows them to get deeper than in a studio interview, and to respond to each other.

For those outside of Seattle, the Gold Cast (Nuccia Focile, Rosario La Spina (from Australia), and Philip Cutlip) will be broadcast live tonight at 7:30 pm PDT on KING-FM, and the broadcast is available over the Internet at www.king.org with Windows Media Player or Real Player. (Click the "Listen Online" button from the upper right corner of each page.)

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I find four things essential to writing any review: go alone in order to mull, see something multiple times, not have a deadline, and never want to shut up

Then there's hope for me since I qualify on all 4 counts -- especially the last one :):) (altho my wife has recently started to pick up the habit, the expensive habit, of going to multiple performances too, so I am slowly losing the 1st essential :) )

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You are a lucky man, SandyMcKean -- the expense is worth it. There's been a recent topic on the Opera-L list about what to do when your spouse or partner doesn't enjoy opera, and it's painful to hear how many don't.

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You are a lucky man, SandyMcKean

Indeed I am! She and I are about as different as you can imagine; however, somehow we appreciate life and people in so much the same way. We laugh at the same things, warm up to the same kinds of people, see beauty at the same time for similar reasons, not to mention loving our cats (they might as well be our children). I got her into ballet, she got me into opera. We fight like crazy sometimes, but it works, and has been working for 30 years come this September. You may spot us easily at the McCaw Hall because she looks elegant in her flawless and classic taste in clothes and presence, and then next to her is me somewhat slovenly, more like I was going to a baseball game than the ballet. In our own way we are Mutt and Jeff.

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The downside of having many years of experience is forgetfulness: I completely left out Michael Todd Simpson's superb Marcello. He's a terrific actor with a beautiful, smooth upper range, and his lovely, equal "O Mimì, tu più non torni" with Scott Piper was a highlight.

Next I'll be wondering where I left my glasses. Oh, I'm wearing them and am practically blind without them.

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Wonderful review, a real pleasure to read. It is nice to read reports concerning Scott Piper as he progresses and I am not surprised that he was impressive both as a singer and an actor. We heard him here in Motown in some smaller roles ten years ago and both thought and hoped that he would have a decent career. He was the Messenger in “Aida” and A Priest in “Magic Flute” but we really remember his Steersman in “Flying Dutchman”. His aria in the first act was very clear, sweet and had just the right mixture of longing and desperation. We were very familiar with him since my wife had subscriptions to both Saturday night and Sunday matinee. I went by myself twice more in the week that the Dutchman dropped anchor here.

Scott’s voice is not lacking in heft, has a very solid core and a real edge when called for. He was a success as des Grieux with Houston and Ramades in Busetto although some think his voice is too small for the great Verdi tenor roles others compare him to a young (or youngish) Pavarotti. He is also quite good looking and cuts an elegant figure onstage.

Again, thanks for the terrific review.

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Wonderful review, a real pleasure to read. It is nice to read reports concerning Scott Piper as he progresses and I am not surprised that he was impressive both as a singer and an actor. We heard him here in Motown in some smaller roles ten years ago and both thought and hoped that he would have a decent career. He was the Messenger in “Aida” and A Priest in “Magic Flute” but we really remember his Steersman in “Flying Dutchman”. His aria in the first act was very clear, sweet and had just the right mixture of longing and desperation. We were very familiar with him since my wife had subscriptions to both Saturday night and Sunday matinee. I went by myself twice more in the week that the Dutchman dropped anchor here.

Scott’s voice is not lacking in heft, has a very solid core and a real edge when called for. He was a success as des Grieux with Houston and Ramades in Busetto although some think his voice is too small for the great Verdi tenor roles others compare him to a young (or youngish) Pavarotti. He is also quite good looking and cuts an elegant figure onstage.

Again, thanks for the terrific review.

Good to hear from you, too, Ed. Pipe up more often. :clapping:

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Since Ed brings up Scott Piper, allow me to say a bit more about the cast he is in (sliver cast). As I mentioned above, I was scheduled to see the gold cast a week or so after seeing this silver cast. The gold cast normally has better known, bigger voices of older, more established opera stars. Overall this production was in that same mold. But for me, I was somewhat let down by the gold cast when I saw it. True, the voices were "better" (altho I'm not sure I have the ear or knowledge to truly make such distinctions), but I, for one, enjoyed the silver cast performance more. That silver cast had some sort of special bond that drew the audience into the world of Bohemian Paris. This is partly explained, I think, by the fact that these younger men looked like the kinds of young, poorly fed, artists they were acting to be. But most of the magic this cast had was the flat out fun they were having together, and the risks they were willing to take together to increase the power and the realism of the drama.

I just couldn't get that silver cast out of my mind, even after seeing the gold cast, so Sunday last when I realized I had 1 hour before the curtain of the final performance of La Boheme being done by either cast, I put aside rationality, hopped in the car, and saw the silver cast perform one last time. They exceeded my expectations. Altho Rosario La Spina's Rodolfo (gold cast) had a huge powerful voice that surpassed at moments anything Scott Piper could do, I far preferred Scott's performance. His interpretation had greatly grown since I saw him the first time 10 days or so before. He put so much nuance into his singing, and his acting was far superior, and there was a "sweetness" of young love in his voice, all of which I found wholly convincing. I also preferred Gun-Brit Barkmin's more vital Mimi to Nuccia Focile's more "weakened by disease" interpretation (for very similar reasons on Barkmin to Helene's above). I thought there was no comparison between the 3 other men from the 2 casts: the silver cast "had it" and the gold cast didn't. The singing was terrific in the gold cast (particularly, I thought, bass Deyan Vatchkov in Colline's "ode to my overcoat"), but the silver cast became the characters instead of just playing the characters. Unlike Helene, I liked Margarita De Arellano's over the top performance of Musetta. I thought it just right for the strutting, ego-centric, but heart of gold Musetta. Karen Driscoll's Musetta was too tame for me.

Overall, I don't expect to see a better performance of La Boheme than the one Stage Director Jose Maria Condemi created here as performed by the silver cast. I'm sure I will see performances in the future with greater voices (altho Gun-Brit Barkmin's voice could scarcely be improved upon), but this cast in this performance had a spark I felt lucky to have seen.

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Apart from preferring Driscoll to De Arellano as Musetta, I agree with Sandy's assessment. (De Arellano has a gorgeous voice, particularly in her lower register, while Driscoll's was more Mimi-like.) I, too, was disappointed by the Gold Cast. I had heard much of the broadcast, and while Rosario La Spina has a very bright top and lots of power, to me he sounded like he was pushing and going for effects, with dodgy endings to his high notes -- my standard here is Nicolai Gedda's recording with Mirella Freni and Schippers . Live, in my opinion, he didn't hold a candle to Piper as a bohemian, an engaged stage presence and ensemble player, or interpreter of text. While I love Nuccia Focile, and she was a very delicately affecting Mimi vocally, she really was a wisp from beginning to end, and Barkmin's more robust approach has spoiled me forever. One interesting part of the two very different interpretations of Mimi is that from both approaches, my sense of Mimi was of a woman who wasn't used to being heard. In Focile's case, it was as if she rarely spoke, living alone in her room, sewing for work and as a hobby, and when she sang "Mi chiamano Mimi" it was as if she was literally voicing things she had only thought about. This is probably pushing things, but my "backstory" for Barkmin's was that she was a spirited girl, maybe a youngest (or at least not the oldest,), who was always being told by her family to be quiet.

On Saturday night, after the Gold Cast had sung two consecutive nights in a row, in the post-performance Q&A, Speight Jenkins said that bass Deyan Vatchkov got stronger as the run when on, and he was very impressed by the young bass, because he had learned how to turn it around (paraphrase) over the course of the run. He has the resonance to make me think "Boris Gudinov!" "King Philip!" "Hagen" (someday, I mean). I love Philip Cutlip's voice -- it's rich with a gorgeous top -- but as the performance went on, I found him getting more and more stagy, and his curtain call bow was modified 18th century. As a crew, the bohemians didn't click and create quite believable characters or friends in the Gold Cast, despite some great attempts by Jeremy Kelly's Schaunard.

I really wish I had been able to go to Sunday afternoon's performance. I agree, too, that I've been spoiled forever by this production and in the way the Silver Cast performed it. It is the standard to which other Productions will be compared.

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