Met Live HD La Donna del Lago (The Lady of the Lake) Rossini's homage to "Beautiful Singing"

Rossini’s La Donna del Lago—Met Premiere

U.S. Encore:

Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 6:30 pm local time

Canada Encore:	Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 12 pm local time
	Monday, May 11, 2015 at 6:30 pm local time

by Dwight Casimere

 Joyce DiDonato is vocal eloquence personified in La Donna del Lago

Met Opera Photos/Ken Howard

Wednesday night, March 18,2015 is a night that lovers of bel canto opera will mark as one of the high points of the current Met Live HD opera season. That is when they will have witnessed one of the great performances of the Met's first production of Gioachino Rossini's La Donna del Lago (The Lady of the Lake). The opera is an homage to Bel Canto, the art of beautiful singing and the Metropolitan Opera's new production starring Joyce DiDonato in the title role and Juan Diego Florez as the Scottish King who pursues her, is a brilliant capsulization of everthing the composer had in mind. DiDonato is captivating as the red-haired maiden, torn between her sense of duty to fulfill an arranged marriage to Roderick, the leader of the rebels, and her true feelings, her love for Malcolm, a loyalist. She is renowned for her portrayal of bel canto roles, and this may be one of her finest performances.

The new production is headed by Scottish director Paul Curran and is based on the lengthy narrative poem of the same name by Sir Walter Scott. Scott's writing is also the inspiration for Lucia di Lammermoor, which premiered at the Met on St. Patty's Day. In the pit is conductor Michele Mariotti, who hails from Rossini's native Pesaro, Italy. Perhaps that explains his firm grasp of Rossini's spirited material.

Daniela Barcellona, with her rich, mahogany toned mezzo voice, brought a special nobility to the 'pants role of Malcolm (the male characters all wear kilts, a sort of plaid skirt for men). Her love duet with DiDonato was particularly arresting. There's even a kiss at the end that was genuinely touching. John Osborn had a ringing heroism in his voice that really brought the role of Rodrigo to life. Juan Diego Florez was ever the dashing and impassioned tenor as the king in disguise. He tossed off the most difficult vocal runs as if they were written just for him. Oren Gradas portrays Elena's father Duglas D'Angus with appropriate gravitas.

DiDonato as Elena, displayed her distinctive dramatic chops. When  she is called upon to present herself to her betrothed, she wordlessly conveys her sense of conflict and trepidation. "The ladies silence speaks eloquently," one of the characters said of her during the scene. Truer words were never spoken.

 The sets and costumes by Kevn Knight evoke the atmospheric environment of medieval Scotland, while the lighting design by Duane Schuler and projection design by Otto Driscoll, work in concert to create the Romantic era's fascination with civil-war conflicted Scotland. One particular scene, which depicts severed heads mounted on staves, brings a forboding clarity to the uncertainty and brutality of the time. "The same is true today," was the spontaneous comment of one of my seat mates in a veiled reference to the current ISIS terror.

Vocally, everyone holds their own and that is the sole reason this opera works so well. The plot takes a back seat. I didn't even bother to read the subtitles. Doing so distracted from the beauty of the vocal performances and believe me, they'll have you begging for more, even with a three and a half hour run time. Visit metopera.org or fathomevents.com for tickets.

Goodman "Two Trains Running" Revival A Centerpiece to Citywide Celebration

by Dwight Casimere

Goodman Theatre's revival of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson's "Two Trains Running" is the centerpiece of a citywide celebration of his genius. the production, directed by Resident Director Chuck Smith, runs through April 12 with the citywide retrospective "The August Wilson Celebration, running through April 18. Celebration Curator Chuck Smith, along with Wilson's widow Constanza Romero, actor/director Ron OJ Parson and Northwestern University's Dr. Harvey Young, partner with more than 20 theatres, schools and organizations to feature free concert readings of Winson's nine other "20th Century Cycle" plays, educational seminars ,discussions, poetry readings and more. For more information, visit GoodmanTheatre.org.

Goodman had a more than 20 year association with August Wilson and is the first theatre in the world to produce all 10 pladys in the "20th Century Cycle." Goodman produced the Chicago premiere of "Two Trains Running" in 1993 and the production is at the heart of the overall celebration. "Two Trains" presents a microcosmic view of the larger civil rights movement. Set in 1969 Pittsburgh in the al-Black Hill District, it reflects the personal aspirations of its everyday residents against the backdrop of the sweepiong goals of the civil rights movement. The local numbers runner, a recently incarcerated petty thief, an upwardly mobile funeral home director, an addled but lovable local ne'r-do-well and a heart of gold waitress who is both emotionally and physically scarred, all gather together in Memphis's (Terry Bellamy) home-cooking diner to gossip about the goings-on in the neighborhood and ponder the impact of the swirling sociological firestorm and its impact on their lives of poverty and hopelessness. It is a heady mix, full of both majesty and misery. Each character has his or her cross to bear and a story to tell; Memphis and his flight from racist opression in the South and his fight against the northern city''s equally oppressive eminent domain laws, Sterling's (Chester Gregory) struggle to repatriate himself into society after being incarcerated for a petty crime (one of the most pressing issues in the black community today, Wolf's (Anthony Irons) daily quest to somehow carve out dignity and self-worth even in his dispicable role as a numbers runner, the pathetic Chaplineque figure of Hambone (Ernest Perry. Jr., who  hopes to redeem his dignity in a dispute over a ham with a local grocer and deli owner and West (A.C. Smith), the bellicos owner of the local funeral home who clings to his own self-absorbed code of fractured business ethics as a shield against the decay and economic injustice around him. Wilson's mastery of ethnic dialogue elevates even the most crass references...particularly the persistent use of the "N" word, to sheer majesty. The lines are almost Shakesperean in their pathos and alliteration.  Memphis's (Terry Bellamy) soliloquy in the second act, in which he decries the  shooting death of a black youth by a white police officer is eerily prophetic and relevant, in light of the current swirl over the Ferguson shooting.

All of the performances are spot on with Chester Gregory as Sterling, Anthony Irons as Wolf, the huystler and Nambi E. Kelly as Risa and Ernest Perry as the lovable, bumbling Hambone, the most endelibe characterizations. "Two Trains Running" is a lovely play, that reminded me of the flowers I used to see growing the cracks of the sidewalks in the rundown Tenderloin district when I lived in San Francisco. Wilson's play proves that hope and aspirations and the healing and enduring power of love can triumph even in the ugliest of surroundings. It is a message that was powerful then, and is even more relevant now. Go see it. In fact, RUN! For rtickets and showtimes visit GoodmanTheatre.org.

Dwight Casimere with Chester Gregory who plays Sterling in Two Trains Running
Below: The brilliant ensemble cast of Two Trains Running-Goodman Theatre Production Photo/Liz Lauren

Broadway In Chicago: First Wives Club in Top Pre-Broadway Form

by Dwight Casimere


The pre-Broadway opening of Broadway In Chicago's new production of "First Wives Club" at the Oriental Theatre (through March 29, for tickets, visit BroadwayinChicago.com) had all of the glitz and glamor of the Great White Way. Complete with a pre-curtain Red Carpet and a gaggle of local media and paparazzi outside and a packed opening night crowd inside, expectations were high and the musical action that unfolded onstage did not disappoint.

This is not Strindberg, or even Neil Simon, but this second attempt at a musical version of the runaway hit 1996 Parmamount Pictures revenge comedy makes for one thoroughly satisfying evening. Complete with a book re-written by TV powerhouse Linda Bloodworth-Thomason of 'Designing Women' fame (based on the hit novel by Olivia Goldsmith) and a 'soundtrack of our lives' score by Motown hit-makers Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier, this is a toe-tapping, uncomplicated romp that somehow makes the weighty subject matter of suicide and infidelity tongue-in-cheek fun.

Although its a little hard to shake the spectre of the powerhouse cast of the film version (Goldie Hawn, Beth Midler and Diane Keaton), the Broadway in Chicago cast, tony Award winner Faith Prince (as the sarcastic Brenda, Carmen Cusack (Elphaba in the national tour of Wicked and standby for the same role in the Chicago production) in the Keaton role of the sexually repressed Annie and local Jeff Award winner Christine Sherrill as the alcoholic diva Elise, hold their own in a fast-paced production, directed by Simon Phillips (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Musical).

There are plenty of stock sitcom puns (some groaningly telegraphed) and familiar Motown tunes ("Stop in the Name of Love," "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch") and sanitized sexual humor to hold your attention during the nearly two and a half hour (with intermission) production. There's even a sentimental moment or two (Whirlpool of Memories, One Sweet Moment)

The male characters don't get much to work with, but then, they're not intended to be much more than dart boards, with the exception of Patrick Richwood as the gay hair stylist Duane, who acts as the loynch-pin for the plot. He nearly steals the show!

The choreography by David Connolly keeps things moving at a nice pace and there are a couple of show-stopper songs (Payback's a Bitch, I am Duarto) that make it recommendable.
Through March 29. Visit BroadwayInChicago.com.

Great Preformers: Joshua Bell at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

by Dwight Casimere

NEW YORK--Joshua Bell is one of the musical wonders of the world. Currently, he is one of the most recorded and honored artists in the classical music realm. He has more than 40 CDs to his credit and has won numerous awards, including the Grammy, Mercury and Gramaphone awards.

He was named music director of the eponymous Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, the first person to hold that position  since the orchestra was formed by Sir Neville Mariner in 1958.

A native of Bloomington, Indiana, he received his first violin at the age of four and began studying with Josef Gingold at Indiana University at age 12. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at 17 years old.

So it was with great anticipation that the audience at AliceTully Hall in Lincoln Center awaited his arrival  on stage with his 1713 Huberman Stradivarius and piano accompanist Sam Haywood, a respected solo artist in his own right, for a program of Beethoven, Grieg, Brahms and Bartok.

Alice Tully Hal is a jewel box of a venue. With its interior walls lined with muirapiranga wood,the hall is acoustically perfect. it's like sitting inside a Steinway piano. There are no bad seats, as sightlines are perfect throughout. 

Unless you are a musicologist, you may not be aware that Beethoven was a brilliant violinist as well as piano virtuoso. Although lesser known, his violin sonatas are as prized by violinists as are his piano sonatas by pianists. Bell made a strong case for the composer's Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, laying out its myriad themes and allowing them to ring in the air while they were emulated on the piano. The theme fragments unfold in orchestral fashion, darting in and out, building in intensity to an energetic conclusion. Bell maintained the piece's dramatic tension without ever losing sight of the melodic ideas at its epicenter. 

Edward Grieg's chamber music is as obscure as his piano concertos and orchestral suites are revered and celebrated. His Viiolin Sonata No. 1 in F major is thematically as beautiful as any of his better know work and Bell used his mastery of the Stradivari to caress each note. Pianist Haywood's sensitive introduction of the final theme established the framework for some highly emotive playing by Bell, who brought passionate expression to the finale.

Brahm's Sonata No. 1 in G major is full of bright, sunny motifs that perhaps mirrored the audience's desire for the start of spring in the midst of New York's winter chill. Bell provided plenty of warmth in his ringing tone and deeply moving expression. The alternating themes between piano and violin were enthralling with Bell navigating the tricky melodic patter of the final movement to a soft, burnished conclusion. 

The Bartok Rhapsody No. 1 for violin and piano was all a showcase for the considerable skill of both Bell and Haywood. The music is all whirling Hungarian folk dances and Bell/Haywood found its rhythmic  center and reveled in it.