The DMMO Years
The 2015 Summer Season
After those2013 and 2014 Summer Festivals, one would think that DMMO would take a bit of a break and go for lighter operatic fare. This was definitely not the case with the 2015 Summer Festival season, which was even more ambitious than its predecessor. Not only were there the usual three mainstage productions, plus one Second Stage production, there was another off-season production after the mainstage season in December of 2014. I was involved in all productions except for the off-season production. The repertory for the 2015 festival season was exciting and challenging. It covered all the traditional genres and then some! The season opened with five performances of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio. Next up was Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of The Golden West), also with five performances. This was followed up by DMMO’s first-ever production of a Czech opera. Janacek’s Jenufa was the chosen opera to represent the Czech operatic repertory, and it is quite something. Second Stage was to have two productions instead of the one as in the 2014 Summer Festival. The first of these was the above-mentioned offstage production in December 2014 – Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers”. The other was performed during the actual 2015 Summer Festival itself. This was Catan’s Rappacini’s Daughter. Since I was not involved in the off-season production, I will not be mentioning that one any further as I have had no experience with it. I did take part in Rappacini’s Daughter and will talk about it later in the blog post. The housing and musical arrangements were the same as in the previous two seasons – I used the Yamahas again in 2015 – and would do the same in my final season, which would be the 2016 Summer Festival. I remained a contented occupant of Room 100 in Kresge Hall, and all the logistics for this season went off without a hitch. In addition to the mainstage performances and Rappacini’s Daughter, there was the usual “Stars of Tomorrow” concert held at Sheslow Auditorium on the campus of Drake University during the last week of the season. More on these concerts in a later blog post. This was a busy season, and I liked to be busy rather than bored.
The Operas
The Operas
Mozart: The Abduction from the Seraglio
I had taken part in performances of The Abduction from the Seraglio on only one occasion in the past, and this happened during my senior year at Manhattan School of Music. I was fortunate to be part of that college production, which was conducted and staged by Maestro George Schick, our school’s president and an expert opera conductor, with a particular bent for the Mozart operatic canon. I fell in love with the opera then and love it to this day. You may remember some of the music from the movie” Amadeus” as some scene from the opera feature prominently in it. It is a happy opera – C major is always a happy key. The overture has always been a favorite of mine as well as the whole of the first act. I have heard it said that the second act is the weaker of the two acts, and I remember asking Maestro Schick about that in college. At a fifty-year remove from that occasion, I cannot remember his exact words, but they had something to do with the fact that the music and the action did not mesh as well as that of the first act. Having said that, it is still lovely music and great fun. The timpani part is not overly taxing, but with Mozart (as with all opera), one must keep alert and play with sensitivity. My Eerho disc- shaped timpani mallets came in handy, as well as my Carlisle Mozart mallets. I also made use of my Sarah Basel timpani mufflers, and I was very satisfied with the results.
The production was an excellent one. Dean Williamson conducted, and Chas Rader-Scheiber was the stage director. What a team! The production sparkled under their inspired collaboration, and the cast was superb. The cast included:
Belmonte: Ben Bliss
Konstanze: Amanda Woodbury
Blonde: Ashley Emerson
Pedrillo: Jonathan Blalock
Osmin: Matt Boehler
Bassa Selim: David Adam Moore
You could not have asked for a better cast. All sang and acted on a very high artistic level. The audiences at these performances were most appreciative.
By now, the DMMO had gone over to five performances for all productions (at least for this season), and so Abduction received five superb productions. The opera was performed in German with English dialogue.
Here is a link to the opera. This is a performance conducted by Georg Solti at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden:
Puccini: La Fanciulla Del West (The Girl of The Golden West)
Even though sung in Italian, I will refer to this opera with the English title, as the libretto by Civini and Zangarini is based on the 1905 play by playwright David Belasco. Puccini’s version is in three acts. Its composition follows that of Madama Butterfly, which is also based on a Belasco play. While lacking the so-called “greatest hits” of Butterfly, the orchestration is impressive and, in my opinion, the musical language points towards Turandot, the composer’s last opera, which was left incomplete at his death and completed by Franco Allfano. It is a shame that The Girl of The Golden West isn’t heard more often. Musically and dramatically, I think it is one of Puccini’s finest creations. Of course, I am a bit biased as the timpani part is wonderful – one of his best in many ways. My Carlisle mallets, the borrowed Herbert mallets and my Yamahas served me well, and the opera gave me much scope to use a full range of mallets – there was much in the opera that enables one to go a little further than usual in mallet choices. And of course, there is the first entrance of Minnie – it is almost a showstopper in its own right.
Music Director David Neely took to the podium for this production, and he was on top form, conducting a musically cogent and exciting performance. Stage Director was David Gately, whose staging was masterly. There were five performances in all, and at the risk of repeating myself – all were of the highest caliber. The cast was superb, and included the following:
Cast
Minnie: Alexandra LoBianco
Jack Rance, sheriff: Kristopher Irmiter
Dick Johnson/Ramerrez, a bandit: Jonathan Burton
Nick, a bartender at the Polka saloon: Steven Sanders
Ashby, a Wells Fargo agent: Christopher Job
Sonora: Joshua Jeremiah
Jack Wallace, a traveling camp minstrel: Brandon Hendrickson
Trin: George Ross Somerville
Bello: Tyler Alessi
Harry: Lee Steiner
Happy: Zachary Owens
Joe: John Robert Lindsey
Larkens: Andrew Potter
Sid: Evan Ross
Billy Jackrabbit: Brent Michael Smith
Wowkle: Kristen Dininno
José Castro, one of Ramerezzs band: César Méndez-Silvagnoli
The Pony Express Rider: Benjamin Schaefer
This was one of the larger casts, and I could not praise them highly enough. Singing and acting were superb. Again, I wish we had an extra performance or two. It is always that way when a production is of that standard.
Here is link to a performance of the opera:
Janacek: Jenufa
As I look back over the Summer Season 2015’s offering on the DMMO website, I had completely forgotten that this opera, which was a company premiere, received five performances, just as the other two mainstage productions did. This was a first. Usually, the third production was the one that normally received four performances. I realize now, that Jenufa, being a company premiere, and the first time the company was producing an opera outside of the traditional Italo-German- French repertoire, that this would be the case. This was the first Czech opera that DMMO had undertaken, it is a significant milestone in the company’s repertoire and production history. This was the opera that I was looking forward to since I first learned that it was to be programmed for the 2015 summer season. (The company usually announces the repertory for the following season during the first performances of the previous season, and the announcement is usually posted in the program book. In this case, this was the program book for the 2014 season.) I had performed several works by Leos Janacek before – his Sinfonietta, and Lachian Dances. I was also familiar with some of the composer’s other works, such as Taras Bulba, and the Glagolithic Mass. Many of Janacek’s orchestral works and the Mass include timpani parts that are very challenging. Several of his operas also include some very difficult passages, but Jenufa, while challenging in its own right, is not as challenging as some of the others. Nonetheless, it contains enough work for the timpanist to remain on his or her guard, and it is a very rewarding part to a very demanding and moving opera. Leos Janacek composed the music and wrote the libretto for this three-act opera between 1896 and 1902. It received its premiere in Brno in 1904, and was later revised by Karel Kovarovic, and it was in that version that it earned its world-wide popularity. However, the composer’s 1904 version has now largely replaced the Kovarovic revision; it is the version that is currently heard today, and the one we performed in 2015.
The part is active enough for me to use a mixture of my Carlisle mallets and the borrowed Herbert mallets throughout the opera, and they were just the right mix for the music.
The production was conducted by David Neely, our music Director, and Kristine McIntyre performed her usual directorial magic, and this combination produced one of our epic productions. With a cast including the likes of Sara Gartland, Brenda Harris, Joyce Castle, and Steven Dennis, it was bound to be what some people would describe as “epic.” I have to say that this was one of our all-time best productions since the new administration commenced its direction back in 2010 and points the way for the continued growth of the company that continues to this very day.
Needless to say, the audiences at all five performances were ecstatic, and the production, which was aired on Iowa Public Television, was a 2016 Emmy Nominee. I’ll let that speak for itself.
The cast:
Jenůfa: Sara Gartland
Grandmother Buryjovka: Joyce Castle
Laca Klemeň: Richard Cox
Jano, a shepherd: Brittany Fouché
Stárek, Mill Foreman: Joshua Heremiah
Kostelnička Buryjovka: Brenda Harris
Števa Buryja: Josseph Dennis
Barena, servant girl at the mill: Rachel Blaustein
Aunt: Morgan Earle
Mayor: Kristopher Irmiter
Mayor’s Wife: Mary Creswell
Karolka, their daughter: Shannon Prickett
It was quite an honor to be a part of this production. This is one of those experiences that makes me miss being a member of the DMMO Orchestra, and I am glad that this opportunity came before I retired after the 2016 Summer Festival. More on that later.
Here is a link to the opera preview – rather than a complete performance. This will give a little taste of what this production was, and how special the opera is. Enjoy!
Catan: Rappacini’s Daughter
This was the Second Stage production performed during the season on July 9 and 12th, 2015 at the Des Moines Botanical Garden. It is an opera in two acts, composed by Daniel Catan to a libretto by Juan Tovar, based on a short story by Natheniel Hawthorne. It had its premiere in 1991 in Mexico City and its US premiere in San Diego in 1994. Since it was sandwiched in between performances of the mainstage productions, all I remember is that we played it outdoors, and that the weather was hot and muggy. The cast was excellent, and Dean Williamson conducted admirably, especially under the circumstances. The orchestra was little larger than that used for the previous seasons The Tragedy of Carmen, and the musical language was definitely late twentieth century. The part was unremarkable, but musical. Octavio Cardenas was the stage director. His direction was very good, but it is too bad that we could not have done it inside. All I really remember is that it was hot, and I was using borrowed Yamaha 6000s, for which I was grateful. I thank Mark Dorr for making sure that we had decent equipment to use.
The cast:
Beatriz: Zulimar López-Hernández
Rappaccini: David Adam Moore
Giovanni: Mackenzie Whitney
Baglioni : Steven Sanders
Isabela: Melisa Bonetti
Flower Voices: Rachel Blaustein, Kristen Dininno, Emma Sorenson
Here is a link to a performance of the opera:
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