L'Inoronazione di Poppea
Claudio Monteverdi
Fortuna Sharon Baker Soprano
Virtu' Janine Hawley Mezzo
Amore Sandra Piques Eddy Mezzo
Ottone Bejun Mehta Countertenor
First Soldier Frank Kelly Tenor
Second Soldier Ryan Turner Tenor
Poppea Judith Lovat Soprano
Nerone Deanne Meek Mezzo
Arnalta Mark Molomot Tenor
Ottavia Jane Gilbert Mezzo
Nutrice Janine Hawley
Seneca Daniel Smith Bass Baritone
Valletto Sandra Piques Eddy
Drusilla Sharon Baker
Damigella Elisa Doughty Soprano
Liberto Ryan Turner
Disciples of Seneca Marc Molomot
Frank Kelly
David Kravitz
Lucano William Hite Tenor
Littore David Kravitz
Consuls & tribunes Frank Kelly,
William Hite
Ryan Turner
David Kravitz
Daniel Smith
Conductor Martin Pearlman
On Saturday Oct 28th, I attended Boston Baroque's production of "The
Coronation of Poppea" at The New England Conservatories Jordan Hall. Jordan
Hall is a perfect theater for small Baroque productions like Poppea. Having
only a main floor & 1 tier for the singers to project to, made this jewel of
an opera come off well. It was semi staged using a few props, chairs &
benches. Martin Pearlman did a nice job leading the Boston Baroque orchestra
(on period instruments). I suspect that it was a little hard for him to
follow the singers, as the orchestra & the harpsichord which he conducted
from were off to the left of where the singers were. I remember a few times
where it seemed as though he & the singer could not agree on a tempo.
Particularly with the drunken duet, but a few other places as well. One
other thing that bothered me was that in some sections the tempos were a bit
slow. Overall, he did a nice job. I suspect that they had a lack of
rehearsals, although I am just speculating.
The Soprano Sharon Baker, & the Mezzo Janine Hawley who played the gods at
the opening of the opera sounded decent. They blended their voices quite
beautifully in their close fitting harmonies. The only thing that really
struck me, was at the close of their little harmonic mylisma that they do in
the beginning (before Ottone comes out), Baker seemed like she was very
unsure. She stopped singing for like 2 seconds, and then did a small quick
crescendo from pp to p to mp to get back sync with Hawley. Hawley seemed
more fine tuned as a God than Baker. I found that odd because Hawley doesn't
do nearly as much Baroque repertoire as Baker does (at least that's what
their BIOS in the program lead me to believe). Baker sounded much more
secure as Drusilla later on though, & Hawley went on to sing a fine Nutrice.
A Mezzo Sandra Piques Eddy sang Amore. I didn't think that her voice type
was right for the role. I have always heard Amore done by a boy soprano, or
a female soprano who is capable of lightening up her voice to sound more like
a treble. This women had a dark timber. She still sang well though, keeping
in time with Pearlman's dragging tempo's, & playing to the audience for
laughs
As Ottone Bejun Mehta was outstanding. This is my first time seeing him
live. On tape (which is how I had heard him before this), he sounds
fabulous. However to actually see him in person is something else. From the
moment he set foot on stage all eyes & ears were on him. He opened his
mouth, & out soared one of the most beautiful & dramatic countertenor voices
I have heard. It was an easy effortless sound that just floated; & don't get
me started about the luscious color that he's able to get into his voice.
You could actually hear the gasps & the whispers in the audience while he was
singing. I think that this is one of the fun things about singing
countertenor. No matter what you sound like, everyone always stops to
listen. It was obvious that he was a little bit more prepared than some of
the other singers. With every phrase you couldn't help but feel the sadness
that he was trying to convey. His stage presence & exotic looks also kept
the eyes glued to him. During the intermission, all you could hear was
everyone talking about him. (("Oh the countertenor sings lovely" "The mezzo
is good, but did you hear the countertenor, he's absolutely marvelous")). It
was definitely a triumph for him, yielding more applause at the end than that
of Poppea.
Judith Lovat as Poppea, & Deanne Meek as Nerone made a nice couple. I
thought both were wonderful singers with well polished techniques, however I
thought that Meek stole the show from Lovat. I think that it was because
Meek seemed more into character than Lovat. I really got the Roman Emperor
impression from her, whereas Lovat seemed like she was concentrating more on
the singing, & less on becoming the sex kitten; that can work with some
operas, but not this one. Poppea needs lot's of life to come off well.
Because of the lack of dramatics, she came off a bit dry (at least to me).
Meek on the other hand was completely into character; Not afraid to move
around & just really let herself go. Despite how good she was, I kind of
wished that they had Daniels there to sing Nerone. Even though Meek did a
fabulous job, I think the fact that Daniels is male would have added that
extra oomph to the character. Especially during the drunken duet, when they
try to convey that homo erotic vibe. To me, it looked like a woman doing a
great job at acting like a drunk straight/possibly BI curios man, with
another man. However had Daniels done it, they would have fully gotten the
point across.
As Arnalta, Marc Molomot was hilarious. He wore a few female accessories, &
make makeup to add to the drag role. The audience was bowling over laughing
as he camped about the stage. Vocally, he was good. I think that he would
have sounded better without all the camping around; however this is the way
this role is supposed to be played, so it was appropriate. On my live Farao
Classics recording with Dominque Visse in the role, he does the same thing
(sacrifice the voice for the sake of drama). Although he never really did
have the best voice to begin with, a bit too nasal for my taste. Oooops, bad
example. Basically what I am trying to say is that this type of approach
works for this role. I loved all the different voices he used. In this voice
I heard a full loud ringing tenor, then I heard a light heady but chest
connected sound, used to sing pianissimo, & then I heard a falsetto voice
used for comedy. Absolutely Arnalta!!!!
Jane Gilbert yielded some admirers after her Ottavia. She sounded good, &
did a decent job of conveying the characters feelings of pain & betrayal.
Yet I still got the impression that she was not fully connected with her
character. It was that sort of on the surface acting. I bet Lorraine Hunt
would have done a much more convincing character though.
I have now come to Daniel Smith who sang the role of Seneca. He acted well, &
his singing was not that bad. The middle & the bottom seemed in decent shape,
however as he went further up, his voice got thinner & thinner. As Lucano,
William Hite was fine. He seemed a bit eager to show off his coloratura
during the drunken duet. He would sing his runs a little faster than that of
Nerone (who was in time with the orchestra). Incidentally I wish they
followed Hite's tempo as it makes this duet more exciting. All the others in
the small roles did acceptable jobs. One thing I must say is that the
baroque Monteverdi trills were not trilling this particular night. Nerone,
Arnalta, & Ottone did them well, but the rest of the cast was either so so at
doing them, or just bad.
Despite my few negative comments, I really enjoyed this production. I had
not been to the opera in over 2 years, so I was long over due for a live fix.
During the 2 curtain calls at the end the audience cheered & whistled.
Arnalta, Ottone, Nerone yielding the most applause. As soon as this was
over, I politely pushed my way through the crowed so I could make my move. I
ended up in this hallway by a room where they were going to have an after
party. The hallway had a few people in it, but not as crowded as where I had
just come from. Off in the distance I could see the little handsome man with
the great big voice. He was chatting with some scholarly looking older
gentlemen & the mans wife. Bejun was in a jolly mood, carrying on, gesturing
with his hands. They were laughing & joking about some guy from Harvard.
After they were done & he was about to walk away, in the shyest voice I said
KE "Excuse me, Bejun Mehta".
BM "Yes"
KE "Would you mind signing my Rinaldo CD book"
BM "Oh my God, I haven't even seen this"
KE "I love it, but I wish you had a bigger part"
BM "It was a favor, I wasn't even supposed to be in this"
He asked if I had a pen, & when I realized that I didn't, I asked the some of
the people in the small crowed that was starting to form. I ended up getting
one from the wife of the man that Bejun was talking too. As he was signing
the book, he says to the people around us
"Can you believe he has this? I havn't even seen it yet. I sing like this
small part, ect..ect.."
I then asked him about a recital CD. He said that it's in the works. In my
book he wrote "Thanks for noticing that I'm on this. Bejun". My meeting
him, was the highlight of my evening next 2 his singing. I must thank all of
you who gave me tips on how to meet the singers. I followed most
instructions to the letter, & they worked. So I thank all of you. Now I
have to do it again at City Opera this Saturday. I think it will be a little
more tricky, but Im up for the challenge.
Best,
Ken Ealy
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