Santa Fe – The Santa Fe Opera’s 2002 American premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin (Love From Afar)” took audiences on a spellbinding, transcendent journey and offered a startling new vision of what opera could be in the 21st century.
With two key members of that production team – director Peter Sellers and soprano Dawn Upshaw – back this year for what is in many respects a world premiere, the obvious question was, “Would this new opera live up to its landmark predecessor three years ago?”
Sadly, the answer is no. Despite world-class people onstage and backstage, plus a provocative,
sociopolitically charged story set amid the Spanish Civil War, Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” has much to offer but fails to achieve true transformative power or exert a lasting emotional impact.
The much-anticipated debut is the culmination of the company’s adventuresome final three productions in 2005, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Lucio Silla” and Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes.” They will run in repertory through Aug. 27 with two mainstream offerings that opened in early July.
The 71-minute, one-act opera revolves around the life of celebrated Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. Fascists gunned him down Aug. 19, 1936, at Ainadamar, a medieval aqueduct known in Spanish as “Fuente de Lágrimas (Fountain of Tears).”
The story, as conceived by librettist David Henry Hwang, is told through the eyes of the underappreciated Spanish actress Margarita Xirgu. A lifelong champion of Lorca, she staged “Mariana Pineda,” his play about a famed 19th-
century activist.
In Hwang’s fanciful three-section conception, Xirgu looks back on her life as she is about to die in exile in 1960s Uruguay. She recalls her portrayal of Pineda and her encounters with Lorca and tries to convey a sense of their passion and idealism to her prize student, Nuria (soprano Jessica Rivera).
Despite statements in the program asserting the clarity of the opera’s structure, it can be confusing at times, especially in the crucial opening minutes. There is also a sense that Hwang and Sellers, who played a big hand in the work’s overhaul since its 2003 premiere, tried too hard.
The two overloaded this short opera, and went too far in trying to give this story gravitas and make sure audiences grasp its latent relevance to today’s political climate.
Not helping matters on opening night were difficulties hearing Upshaw during the opening section of this amplified production (necessary because of the many otherwise inaudible orchestral effects) and bursts of actual propaganda recordings, which seemed detached from the action.
It is hard not to be impressed in many ways with Golijov’s score. An Argentinian-born composer of Eastern European-Jewish descent, Golijov draws on this background and Spain’s rich history to create a rich, flamenco-spiced musical stew.
The score is powered by a battalion of percussion instruments, from cajons and congas to a vibraphone and xylophone. Augmenting it are computer effects and some of the instruments and techniques that Tan Dun used so adroitly in his “Water Passion of St. Matthew.”
But as captivating as the music often is, it lacks the gut-wrenching emotional power that such a dramatic story demands. As Golijov’s entree into the operatic realm, though, it is a good start, suggesting something greater to come.
Whatever other shortcomings this production might have, it is impossible to fault the first-rate cast headed by Upshaw, who has become Golijov’s principal muse. This always amazing singer can adapt to any style and become the character she is portraying, as she does here.
The revelation of this production, though, is Kelley O’Connor, an apprentice artist on her way to a fine career. Her deep, haunting mezzo-soprano is a perfect fit for the role of Lorca, as Golijov realized when he discovered her at the Tanglewood Music Festival.
Upshaw is joined by singers in the company’s two other final productions who live up to their star status with extraordinary portrayals as well: tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham.
In a production that stands as Santa Fe’s crowning achievement this season, Griffey delivers a gripping, career-defining performance in the title role of Britten’s 1945 masterpiece, “Peter Grimes.”
The tenor conveys with hair-raising realism the breakdown of the enigmatic, outcast fisherman, while also managing to gain the audience’s empathy at the same time. His ideally suited voice marries dramatic power with vulnerability and even a sort of sweetness.
The rest of the cast is strong, as well, especially clear-voiced soprano Christine Brewer as Grimes’ would-be lover, the opaque Ellen Orford; baritone Alan Opie as Capt. Balstrade; and mezzo-soprano Judith Christin as the sometimes-humorous busybody Mrs. Sedley.
The company’s up-and-coming music director, Alan Gilbert, lives up to his much-touted potential in this work, injecting Britten’s ominous, often fractured-sounding score with suitably manic drive and energy.
In his Santa Fe debut, stage director Paul Curran, who has gained considerable praise for his Central City Opera productions, has sculpted a near-perfect production that captures the story’s claustrophobic tension and violent undertones.
Also deserving mention is designer Robert Innes Hopkins’ set, which evokes with striking realism a drab Suffolk seaport complete with four life-size replicas of the region’s distinctive clapboard net houses.
The rarely performed 1772 opera “Lucio Silla,” which Mozart wrote as a teenager, is a superb showcase for singers willing and able – as this cast is – to tackle its vocal challenges, such as intricate ornamentations.
In the trouser role of Cecilio, Graham shows why she is one of the world’s reigning mezzo-sopranos, singing with radiance, expressiveness and textbook, spot-on intonation and articulation. That said, male soprano Michael Maniaci as Cinna and soprano Celena Shafer as Giunia, almost steal the show.
To try to enliven the opera’s static, stand-and-deliver structure, stage director Jonathan Kent has invented as much action as he can. He also adds sharply stylized touches, such as Paul Brown’s absurdly exaggerated costumes.
Daring as this approach might be, it proves overwrought and distracting, especially when a production has singing this good.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
Santa Fe Opera
OPERA|Santa Fe Opera amphitheater, 7 miles north of Santa Fe on U.S. 84/285; “Peter Grimes,” 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11 and Aug. 17; “Lucio Silla,” 8:30 tonight and Wednesday; “Ainadamar,” 8:30 p.m. Aug. 12 and Aug. 18 and 8 p.m. Aug. 23 and 26.|$24-$142 |800-280-4654 or santafeopera.org
