In Love with Tchaikovsky’s “A Russian Affair”
A Review by Joan E. Kruger
Staff Writer
The final production of this season’s Sacramento Opera opened on a
Friday night at the Sacramento Community Center to an enthusiastic
audience. “A Russian Affair” was not a full-blown opera production,
but a nice change by having a bill of two short concerts, featuring
the works of Peter Tchaikovsky, in excerpts from Eugene Onegin
(based on the classic Russian novel by Alexander Puskin), and
excerpts from The Queen of Spades (after Puskin’s novella). The
night opened with a surprise: Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson taking
the stage to welcome the patrons and thank them for supporting the
Arts, especially in these hard economic times, with lots of
encouragement to the crowd to continue doing so, to which the
audience (a bit sparse, it must be said) responded warmly.
For the staging of these two pieces, the orchestra moved from the
pit to the stage, on a slightly raised platform toward the back. In
front of them was a Spartan set that served for both works,
featuring just a few pieces of period furniture: a chaise or two, a
table and chair, a doorway, a garden bench. There were no elaborate
backdrops nor costume changes, just the stories, pared down, with
some narration (provided by Andrei Cordrescu, in his Sacramento
debut) to string together the best songs from each opera, telling
the complete stories in just an hour each. It was a sort of “opera
light” that was refreshing and quite enjoyable.
The bill opened and closed with the same conceit of the Narrator (Cordrescu),
as Puskin, seated at the table, quill pen in hand, writing out
these tales, while he voiced the prologue (and later, the
afterword). Thereafter, the narration was heard as voiceover, with
only a few places where Cordrescu appeared onstage (as at the
gambling table in The Queen of Spades). This device had mixed
reactions from patrons, some enjoying the “filling in the blanks”
aspect of it (as the entire opera, in either case, was not being
seen), while some would have preferred to just hear the singing.
While this reviewer has been a long-time fan of Cordrescu’s poetry
and fiction, and especially spoken-word essays on NPR, the
narration for this bill felt flat and unrehearsed. Cordrescu seemed
to stumble on a couple of words; though a few glitches on opening
night are more or less to be expected, this patron found the
narration more distracting than helpful.
On the other hand, no fault can be found with the cast: Emily
Pulley (soprano, the ingénue Tatyana in Onegin, and Liza in
Spades), Dana Beth Miller (mezzo-soprano, Olga in Onegin, the
Countess in Spades), Richard Crawley (tenor, making his Sacramento
Opera debut as the poet Lenski in Onegin, Herman in Spades), and
Malcolm McKenszie (baritone, Onegin in Onegin, Count Tomsky in
Spades), with conductor Timm Rolek at the helm, in his twelfth
season as artistic director for the Sacramento Opera. All performed
admirably, as could be expected given their long list of impressive
credits each, with Emily Pulley having the best acting chops (sure,
it’s about the singing, but in opera one must also act!), and
Richard Crawley having the fulsome emotional tone that is so
necessary in telling these tragic stories, full of “gloom and
torment” (those very words appear often the libretto), especially
Eugene Onegin. Crawley has a voice full of tears when he sings a
canon (as Lenski) with McKensie (Onegin), as each privately
declares they would rather laugh together as bosom friends than
meet as blood enemies in a duel. However, McKensie is also
wonderful, especially in his impassioned duet with Tanya, pleading
for her mercy, as she remains firm in her resolve to resist him (Onegin).
Of the women, Dana Beth Miller had the stronger voice, although
Emily Pulley was excellent as well; unfortunately, it was sometimes
hard to hear her (the same was true of Malcolm McKensie), for the
orchestra overpowering the voices. That has been on ongoing problem
for this patron, in several other shows as well (not just the
opera), and is especially disappointing for the opera, where the
voices are the reason you came! Further, of the two pieces, Eugene
Onegin was by far the stronger (The Queen of Spades’ story too
contrived for even the most willing to “suspend disbelief” as a
requirement of theater!), and one wonders if it might not have been
better to have that one last on the bill, rather than first.
Nevertheless, all in all, it was a delicious bill, if sadly, only
there for a scant two performances!
We shall eagerly await the 2010-2011 season, which begins on
November 19, 2010 with Orlando and continues with The Magic
Flute (Feb 25) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (May
6). Single tickets, or information call
(916) 737-1000.
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