Wow!
That seems like the only suitable response to the Sept. 10 gala opening of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the renovated Newton Auditorium at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
Opera Colorado’s star-studded concert and all the accompanying festivities provided a kind of three-in-one-event – great music and socializing combined with the first chance to see the city’s spectacular new opera and ballet venue in action.
After just one offering, it is way too early to make any definitive judgments about the $92 million facility, but it does, on first impression, seem to live up to the hype.
With its lyre shape, red seats and cherry-wood accents, it is rooted in the grand tradition of revered European opera houses, but that nod to the past is balanced by clean, flowing lines that infuses it with a contemporary flair.
The theater seems to function well both backstage and in the house and lobby areas. A particular hit was the Figaro seat-back titling system, which allowed attendees to effortlessly track Saturday’s lineup and follow the texts of the selections.
The biggest question going into the concert was the theater’s much-touted acoustics, and they seemed to live up to their billing. Even the dialogue that preceded mezzo-soprano Judith Christin and baritone Robert Orth’s wonderfully witty duet easily could be heard.
Perhaps best of all, the sound seems full-bodied, natural and pleasing – not dry or antiseptic but, just as important, not too bright or reverberant in some exaggerated way, either.
Distracting sounds of ice being poured and things being slid across a floor wafted into the house several times during the concert. Fortunately, those turned out not to be the result of any architectural flaw but simple carelessness.
According to lead designer Peter Lucking of Semple Brown Design, workers preparing for the party after the concert unwittingly left open soundproof doors to a storage area where they were working near the lower-level Chambers Grant Salon, and noise drifted through stairwell air vents into the hall.
Because of the extreme acoustical sensitivity of this hall, everyone working there will have to learn that keeping doors closed and respecting the sanctity of the house during performances is critical.
Opera Colorado brought together an astonishing group of 16 singers for this concert. While the quality of the performances varied, some will probably not be equaled in Denver for decades to come.
One was the extraordinary duet from Act 1 of “Otello,” featuring two of the greatest living opera singers – soprano Renée Fleming and tenor Ben Heppner. Many attendees will treasure that glorious moment for the rest of their lives.
The two also were impressive on their own – Heppner filling the hall with sound in “Prize Song” from “Die Meistersinger” and Fleming nimbly handling the tricky ornamentations of “Mercè, Dilette Amiche” from “I Vespri Siciliani.”
Standout performances came from other singers as well, including noted bass-baritone Hao Jiang Tian, who was in especially fine voice. He offered a strong, confident take on “La Calunnia” from “The Barber of Seville.”
And though he was supposedly suffering from bronchitis, veteran bass-baritone James Morris stole the show in the first half, grippingly evoking all the tortured emotions of “Die Frist ist Um” from “The Flying Dutchman.”
If the general impression was overwhelmingly positive, there were some less-than-satisfying aspects as well. Because room had to be made for artists added at the 11th hour, the program ran three hours, which was way too long.
And because of the demanding schedules of many of these performers, there was little opportunity to rehearse. That led to less-than-ideal synchronicity in some cases between them and the pit orchestra of Colorado Symphony musicians, despite the best efforts of maestro Stephen Lord.
All in all, though, the gala was a grand evening that only whetted the appetite for the host of performances to come in this welcome addition to the Denver performing-arts scene.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
