This summer the Merola Opera Program took two decidedly different approaches to marking the end of the season. Readers may recall that the usual Merola Grand Finale, which brings together all of the participating Merolini featured in a wide diversity of arias and ensembles coordinated by a Stage Director (Audrey Chait), was relocated from the War Memorial Opera House to the Golden Gate Park Bandshell. That adjective “wide” has, almost out of tradition, been more of an understatement than one might expect, since selections from fifteen different operas were presented over the course of an understandably lengthy program.
That Finale program thus occupied the better share of the afternoon of Saturday, July 31. However, David Paul, working in his capacity as a video director, conceived an imaginative “virtual” alternative to the “physical” Finale, showcasing the Merolini in a one-hour video around selections from sixteen sources (not all of which were operas), which was so imaginative that one was barely aware of the passing of time. The title of the video was Back Home: Through the Stage Door; and it is now available for viewing, at no charge, through YouTube. Having spent many summers following the “traditional” Merola activities, I found this video to be like a shot of adrenaline in the context of my memories of past Finale marathons.
What was most appealing was Paul’s gift of interleaving the narrative content of the texts being sung while, at the same time, presenting the artificiality of the spaces in which the excerpts were being performed. Now, to be fair, there were definitely times when I was pretty sure that the audio had been recorded separately, meaning that, on the video, the performers were lip-synching. However, the overall visual flow was so smooth that I could not fault Paul for taking a realistic approach to what the performers could and could not do in “real time.”
I was also struck by the balance of content, which may well have emerged from Paul preparing his work by cultivating a keen understanding of how each of his vocalists had both a “comfort zone” and the ambition to “cross the limits” of that zone. For example, he chose to begin his program with art song rather than opera; and his selection could not have been more unexpected. The program began with Merolina soprano Johanna Will singing “Vorfrühling” (early spring), the first in a set of three songs that Anton Webern composed between 1899 and 1902, probably completed before his first encounter with Arnold Schoenberg. I suspect that this may have been the first time any composition by Webern was performed at a Merola event, and it was definitely the first time I had experienced this song through any medium other than compact disc! Similarly, Merolina soprano Celeste Morales’ account of Florence Price’s “Hold fast to dreams” was the first time I even knew that this song existed.
Philippe L’Esperance, Bryan Banowetz, and Laureano Quant working of the technical details for their Fledermaus performance (screen shot from the video being discussed)
Equally interesting was how Paul’s direction could play with how the singers alternated between the “world of the performance” and the “real world” in which rehearsals (and performances) took place. For example, the program included an episode from the first act of Die Fledermaus (the bat) by Johann Strauss II. Gabriel von Eisenstein (baritone Philippe L’Esperance) is about to serve a short prison sentence for bad behavior; but his friend Dr Falke (baritone Laureano Quant) tempts him to spent the evening at a gala ball before presenting himself at the jailhouse. Strauss composed some of his most interesting counterpoint to capture Falke’s scheming and Eisenstein’s submission; and, as a result, there are moments in which the two vocalists have to return to the “real world” to iron out a few details with accompanying pianist Bryan Banowetz. As a result, the singers smoothly glide in an out of character until they are satisfied that they have nailed their performance.
This “interplay of two worlds” was at its most sublime at the conclusion of the program. The final selection was the Finale of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 492 opera The Marriage of Figaro. Count Almaviva (Quant), has been caught in an act of dalliance by his wife the Countess Rosina Almaviva (soprano Mikayla Sager); and all he can do is humbly beg his wife’s pardon. Pardon is granted and affirmed through a rich choral passage for all the members of the cast. Thus, while we only see five of the actors on the stage (of Herbst Theatre, for those interested in the venue), all of the other voices came from Merolini seated in the audience and captured by Paul’s camera work.
In other words Back Home is basically a study of the rich interplay between the real world of Merolini aspiring to be successful professional vocalists and the many imaginary worlds they must inhabit through their acts of performance. Through this video, one appreciates not only the talents of those vocalists. One also appreciates the paths that they have committed to follow for their sake of their professional ambitions.
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