MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010 OPERA REVIEW


‘Magic Flute’ hits the right notes — except for the dramatic ones


Too many in Friday cast at Catholic University lacked acting chops to match vocals


by Joan Reinthaler Catholic University’s Opera Theater


offered four performances of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at the Hartke Theatre this past weekend with four different casts. Friday’s performance was gener- ally well sung (expertly in the case of Sun A. Yeo’s Pamina) but, except for the she- nanigans of a delightfully agile and zany Papageno and an obnoxious Monastatos, dramatically inert. The balance between fairy tale and ritual in this opera is always a crapshoot and, although audiences love fanciful animals and flying spirits, Mozart’s Ma- sonic message tipped that balance here. There were some light moments besides Alex Indelicato’s well-sung turn as Pap- ageno the bird-catcher and Michael Brown’s Monastatos. Monica Harwood’s appearance in the opera’s last minutes as the frenetic Papagena and the slithery snake that had its two minutes of glory in the opening scene reminded us that this was, after all, a fairy tale. Eric Gramatges’s Tamino (earnest, pure and in pursuit of Pamina) came to life in his arias. He has a voice that is smooth throughout his range, and al- though he seemed to tire at the end, he was able to inject a gratifying warmth and intensity to his role. When he wasn’t singing, however, he was a lump, as were many in the cast. Yeo’s beautifully voiced Pamina suffered from this same in- ertness as did Damian Savarino’s sono- rous Sarastro, and the guards and the priests.


Conductor David Searle contributed also by leaving gaps between the scenes just long enough to kill whatever mo- mentum had accumulated. His orches- tra, however, did an admirable job throughout, particularly the flutist, whose timing was outstanding. Friday’s (and Sunday’s) Queen of the Night was soprano Jessica Bachicha, a PhD candidate at Catholic University and an up-and-coming recording star in the Charlotte Church mold. She is blind but navigated the set — with its many steps — with ease and grace. She also nailed the highest notes of her famous aria (and drew the greatest applause). But the Queen of the Night is not her role, at least not yet. Her voice is pretty but not commanding and, at this point, she seems able to project only a narrow emotional range. The trio of spirits, who seemed to


have no obvious role in this production, sang with an irritating edginess while the trio of queen’s assistants were a well balanced and nicely modulated ensem- ble. The direction was in the hands of


KLMNO MUSIC REVIEW


From Chuco Valdés, fine jazz and a bit of musical diplomacy


by John Murph


Delivering invigorating Latin jazz was only part of pianist Chucho Valdés’s agenda Saturday night at the Warner Theatre; he also affirmed alliances be- tween various Afro-Cuban idioms and several American jazz legacies. Because visa restrictions had prevented Valdés from performing in the United States for the past seven years, his mission seemed all the more crucial. To accomplish such diplomacy, Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Messengers focused mostly on music from his new disc, “Chu- cho’s Steps,” which laid out blueprints for his lofty goals. Whether on swooning bal- lads such as “Begin to Be Good” or blis- tering John Coltrane-esque exploits such as “Chucho Steps,” all the musicians played with ferocity and precision. Still, it was 69-year-old Valdés who displayed the most galvanizing virtuosity as he re- peatedly unraveled prolix solos, marked by jolting harmonies and anchoring montuno patterns. Still, some cultural-exchange attempts were more successful than others. While a fine showcase for Carlos Miyares Her- nandez’s raspy tenor saxophone, the transitions between post-bop balladry and danzón in “Danzón” were jarring. And the funky rumba tribute to the Mar- salis family on “New Orleans” was more edifying than satisfying. More gratifying was “Zawinul Mam- bo,” Valdés’s flinty homage to composer


MUSIC REVIEW


Lively Bach from Finland at the Library of Congress


by Charles T. Downey ED PFUELLER/CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY


QUEEN OF THE HIGH C’S: Jessica Bachicha, a Catholic University doctoral student who is blind, sang the Queen of the Night in the school’s Opera Theater production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Four separate casts performed over the weekend.


Except for the shenanigans of a delightfully agile and zany Papageno and an obnoxious Monastatos, the Friday performance at CU’s Hartke Theatre was dramatically inert.


Jay D. Brock and the simple but effective set was designed by Dominic Traino. CU’s new president and all-around


good sport, John Garvey, made a cameo appearance at the beginning to intro- duce the opera and produced, credibly,


several of the lowest notes of Sarastro’s “O Isis and Osiris” aria, much to the de- light of the largely CU-connected crowd. style@washpost.com


Reinthaler is a freelance writer. On Saturday evening, concertgoers


skirted rallygoers to hear the latest at the Library of Congress. In honor of the birthday of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the institution’s beloved patron of music, members of the Helsinki Baroque Or- chestra performed music of Bach and his lesser-known contemporaries Dietrich Buxtehude, Franz Tunder and Andreas Kirchoff. The last three were connected because a Swedish kapellmeister named Gustav Düben copied their music into a manuscript collection now at the Uppsa- la University Library. Countertenor Teppo Lampela dis-


played a broad vocal range, most effec- tive at shifting down into the baritone register and less assured at the top. The tone was pretty, and he added some strik- ing ornaments and expressive nuances while maintaining admirable clarity and agility in the rapid passages, as in Kaspar Förster’s gorgeous “Laudate dominum


Adapted from a recent online discussion:


Dear Carolyn: I’m self-employed, make decent money


and have plenty of free time to do the things I like. Living the dream! My wife, on the other hand, is in grad school and works part time, makes little money and doesn’t have much free time. For some time now, I have felt


frustrated by her attitude toward my free time. If I say I’m headed to the gym, she says petulantly, “I wish I had time to go to the gym,” and a diatribe ensues on how busy she is and when the last time she exercised was. No matter what it is I’m going to do, if I tell her about it, I feel guilt-tripped. I’ve tried talking with her about this, and she apologizes, but soon reverts to doing it. Recently, I find that I’ve stopped telling her when I leave to do something. She’s typically at work or her internship, so she never knows. I know this is the wrong path to take, but it’s so much easier if she just doesn’t know.


His hard-working wife is resentful of his free time CAROLYN HAX


I hate that I’ve become this. Any advice? West Virginia I’m not entirely convinced you’ve


“become” something bad. If your having free time isn’t the problem, and instead it’s just hearing about it that sets her off, then what’s wrong with a little discretion? I’m a huge fan of easy, practical solutions. Now, if the fact of your free time is an issue, and if she thinks, for example, that you should be using some of that gym/hobby/whatever time to lighten her load somehow (grocery shopping, meal prep, housework, etc.), then hiding will be easy now and much harder later.


omnes gentes.” Paired violinists Minna Kangas and Tuomo Suni took up the sing- er’s motifs and traded them back and forth, often engaged in smiling one-up- manship while embellishing their lines. Artistic director Aapo Häkkinen an- chored the ensemble from the harpsi- chord, providing a solid rhythmic founda- tion with his dynamic continuo realiza- tion. His solo turn in a performance of Bach’s “Italian Concerto,” which was not note-perfect but had flair, included a beautifully executed second movement, with the accompaniment on a lute stop and the melody on a normal registration. The fragile tone of lead viola da gamba player Mikko Perkola, so delicate as to be non-present at times, undermined some of the interesting pieces that featured two gamba parts. The other gamba player, Varpu Haavisto, had a stronger melodic presence in Bach’s aria “Wie starb die Hel- din so vergnügt.”


style@washpost.com Downey is a freelance writer.


S


C5


JUANA ARIAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


THE MASTERS: Yaroldy Abreu Robles was on percussion and Carlos Miyares Hernandez played sax in the concert at the Warner Theatre.


Josef Zawinul, on which drummer Juan Carlos Rojas Castro and percussionists Yaroldy Abreu Robles and Dreiser Dur- ruthy Bambolé pounded out a percussive showdown. When the concert concen- trated more on Afro-Cuban music, as on “Changó” and the encore “Los Caminos,” both graced by Bambolé enchanting bata drum polyrhythms and sacred chanting to various Afro-Latin orishas, Valdés’s goodwill was at its most persuasive. style@washpost.com


Murph is a freelance writer.


She’ll be angry, you’ll be living your life independently of hers, and your marriage will be dying slowly right under your noses.


NICK GALIFIANAKIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


So, you need to be really tough on yourself before you’re tough on her. It may seem otherwise, but grad school isn’t eternal; are you doing everything possible to support her through her big push? Have you taken over most, if not all, of the household drudgery and logistics? Petulance and diatribes aren’t the mature way to express anger to a spouse — however, if her schedule consists of school, internship, laundry/ grocery shopping/straightening up/ paying bills, and yours consists of work, gym/a provocative novel/some e-mails/a nap in the breezes, then the substance of her anger is valid and warrants an abject apology. And four loads of laundry a week, five dinners, seven clean kitchen sinks and a weekly grocery trip. If you have been her knight in shining dishes, then stick with the discretion plan and modify only the guilt. If it helps, consider the absurdity of the alternative:


taking on an extra part-time job for money you don’t need just to make yourself as miserable as she is. By the way — while grad school will end, the fact of annoying life stages is always here to stay. Prepare for that by making a habit of examining a difficult situation, being ruthless in assessing your own contribution to it, and weaving these into a practical, high-road adaptation to it. This will help you get through a bad stretch without hating each other, and all but guarantees you’ll get through without hating yourself.


Read the whole transcript or join the discussion live at noon Fridays


on www.washingtonpost.com/discussions.


Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com.


ASK AMY


Cheating friend and spouse


are oblivious to her rage


Dear Amy: About a year ago I asked my husband to


leave the house we shared with our children because he was an alcoholic. He did a couple of stints in rehab but is still drinking heavily. His life continues to spiral out of control. Throughout this long, painful process, I confided almost daily in my friend “Connie” about my husband and the problems in our marriage. Recently my husband asked me if he


could start dating, and I said yes. He decided to ask out Connie. I was shocked. I begged him not to do it, but he did.


And instead of rejecting him flat out, she reciprocated his feelings. She sent me e-mails, explaining her feelings for him, which were full of very inappropriate and boundary-crossing language about their relationship.


I became enraged by her betrayal, and


eventually my husband broke it off with her in the interest of keeping the peace with me. But neither of them can understand why I felt betrayed, and I feel like I am going crazy explaining this to my soon-to-be-ex-husband and my former friend. Do you have any choice words I can use


to show these two what was so wrong about their actions, because nothing I say is getting through?


Frustrated in Chicago


I do have some choice words that apply to this situation, but you shouldn’t waste my words, or yours, on these two. So let me suggest that you replace your words with silence. Do not go crazy explaining your


reaction to this very simple betrayal. You already did that, and they interrupted


Dear Amy: My sister is divorced. My wife and I met


her boyfriend, “Trent,” at her home for the first time. He’s a retired executive who now owns his own business. I thought we’d meet a smart businessman who knows the importance of first impressions. Instead, he made some rather sharp political comments. We changed the subject several times. He then proceeded to a discussion of illegal immigrants and repeatedly referred to Mexicans using a slur. My good wife of 35 years is Mexican by birth and has lived in this country for 54 years. After he departed, I explained to my sister that both my wife and I were very offended by his comments and choice of words. She apologized to my wife and said it was just his sense of humor. We saw nothing funny about this.


their relationship; you got what you wanted.


If you must speak, let your statement be: “I can think of no two people who are better suited for one another than you two.”


My sister said they’re in love and going


to move in together. I care for my sister and don’t want to sacrifice our relationship because of him. So what do I do next?


Bothered Brother Evidently you associate business


executives with respectful and responsible behavior. That was your first mistake. Your second was to confront your sister about “Trent’s” behavior — and let her apologize for him. Instead of handling this by proxy, you should have given him the benefit of knowing how you felt about his actions, thus giving him the opportunity to know you better, and to apologize to you and your wife for his offensive remarks. You could say to him, “Trent, we didn’t


get off to a very good start. But I want you to know that we don’t appreciate ethnic slurs, even used in jest.” Give the guy another chance. You can always avoid him like the plague later.


Dear Amy: “Crazed Co-Worker” was annoyed that


her officemate whispered out loud to herself while she preferred to work “in relative quiet.” This woman needs to quit her whining and get used to working with some noise. Amy, work relationships are much like families; you don’t get to choose your family, and you don’t get to choose your colleagues. My brothers and sisters always got along because whenever we complained to my mother about one another, she always told us, “While you are busy putting up with them, they are busy putting up with you.”


A Happy Colleague Work and home: Two places where


the phrase “You’re not the boss of me” falls on deaf ears.


Write to Amy Dickinson at askamy@tribune. com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.


© 2010 by the Chicago Tribune Distributed by Tribune Media Services


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