Projekt Wolfgang Auspicious in Chamber Opera Company Debut

Scene from Mozart's "Bastien und Bastienne," Queen City Chamber Opera, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 9, 2012 (photo by Mary Ellyn Hutton)

Queen City Chamber Opera, co-founded this spring by conductors Antoine-François López and Isaac Selya, made its debut at Hoffner Lodge in Northside Saturday night (June 9). Their calling card was Projekt Wolfgang, a double bill of Mozart’s one-act operas “Der Schauspieldirektor” (“The Impresario”) and “Bastien und Bastienne.” Formerly a Masonic lodge, now converted into an arts space accommodating about 250, Hoffner Lodge was well chosen, as Mozart was a Freemason.

Conductors and cast were from from the exceptional talent pool at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; the 24-piece orchestra from Ensemble Vita, a chamber orchestra founded by López three years ago, also largely from CCM.  López, a 2012 composition graduate who studies conducting with Leonid Grin in Philadelphia, led Saturday’s opening (attended by this reviewer).  Selya, a doctoral candidate in conducting at CCM, took the baton for the Sunday evening repeat. Roles in the operas were sung by sopranos Samantha Stein and Danielle Messina, tenor Ryan Connelly and bass César Méndez-Silvagnoli, with dancer Mandy Milligan in “Bastienne und Bastienne.” All are students or recent graduates of CCM.

Designed by Laura Jekel, the production was a simple one – a chair and table for “Schauspieldirektor,” a painted backdrop for “Bastien und Bastienne” (recalling that successful opera can be been staged with considerable economy).

The operas, a combined hour and a half with intermission, were treated as a play-within-a-play. Both are Singspiele (“song plays”) and utilize spoken dialogue between numbers. “Schauspieldirektor,” a work of the mature Mozart (age 30), is about an impresario auditioning contentious sopranos for an opera. The opera they audition for is “Bastien und Bastienne,” a pastorale written when Mozart was 12. The title characters are a shepherd and shepherdess who seek help from the village magician to cement their love. Both were sung in German, with English dialogue.

López and Selya streamlined the operas to make their concept tighter. They reduced the cast of “Schauspieldirektor” to four roles (the original has ten, five of them spoken): the impresario Buff, a spoken role performed by Méndez-Silvagnoli; Madame Herz (Mme. “Heart” in German), sung by Stein; Mademoiselle Silberklang (“Silver Tone”), sung by Messina; and Monsieur Vogelsang (“Birdsong”), sung by Connelly. So that M. Vogelsang, the tenor who tries to make peace between the dueling sopranos, has an audition aria of his own, they gave him Frisch zum Kampfe from Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.” (The audition arias are just that and have nothing to do with the underlying plot.) Dancer Milligan was added to “Bastien und Bastienne” as the unseen noblewoman who has supposedly come between the two lovers.

Selya, who studies conducting with Mark Gibson at CCM, re-wrote the spoken dialogue for “Schauspieldirektor” to give it contemporary relevance. In an exchange with Mme. Herz, for instance, Buff tells her she is so good she should be on YouTube.

The best known part of “Schauspieldirektor” is the Overture, one of Mozart’s finest. López led it with energy and precision, drawing a spirited performance from the orchestra. The sopranos, both fine actresses, gave distinct personality to their roles. Stein as Mme. Herz was hilarious as the aging prima donna, putting on airs and making extravagant gestures during her sorrowful aria. She produced a bell-like tone that soared to high F (the pinnacle reached by the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”), and her coloratura was agile and clean. Messina as Mlle. Silberklang played the flustered “beginner,” charming Buff with her seeming modesty. She displayed a big, bright voice, skillfully conveying the exuberance of her aria. Connelly’s lyric tenor was showcased beautifully in M. Vogelsang’s aria, though the orchestra was sometimes too heavy (this was partly the fault of the room, with its loud acoustics). Their trio, Ich bin die erste Sängerin (“I am the best singer”) in which Mme. Herz and Mlle. Silberklang engage in vocal combat, M. Vogelsang serving as referee, was a tour de force of vocal one-up-man(woman)ship. When Buff pronounced Mlle. Silberklang the winner, the sopranos maintained their catlike stance. During the trio finale, Stein peeked through the curtain and burst from the stage door with a couple of arresting high Fs (the actual lyrics have them making peace for the sake of art).

Members of the audience, a sizeable and appreciative one, may have been startled by the Intrada to “Bastien und Bastienne” following intermission. It opens exactly like Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. Still, it is unlikely that Beethoven ever heard it, since the first documented performance of “Bastien und Bastienne” was in 1890. (Speculation has it that both composers took the theme from another source??)

The voices in “Bastien” were well matched in timbre and weight, making for a unified ensemble and arias distinctly Mozartean in expressive beauty. There was plenty of humor as well, with magician Colas (bass Méndez-Silvagnoli) appearing behind a potted plant in the opening scene. As the curtain parted revealing trees, the sun and a pair of sheep on the backdrop, Colas stood holding the plant to hide himself from view. Messina, garbed demurely in pink as the saddened Bastienne, entered pulling a stuffed lamb on a leash, pouring out her heart over Bastien’s supposed inconstancy. It made for a charming scene as Méndez-Silvagnoli, dressed in wizard finery, emerged to console her. (Make Bastien jealous and he will return to the fold, he says.)

Clad in long robes and holding a shepherd’s crook, it was Connelly’s turn next to share his worries with Colas. (Speaking of crooks, Colas hears Bastien’s complaint and knowing both lovers to be mistaken in their doubts, pronounces a magic spell, hoping to make them believe in his powers.) The magic spell, “Diggi, daggi, shurry murry,” was sung with appropriate drama by Méndez-Silvagnoli, wielding a flashlight, with the stage lights down. Milligan danced nimbly around Connelly during Bastien’s squabble with Bastienne, disappearing into the wings as he dismissed her. The lovers’ reconciliation was heartfelt and joyous, Colas joining them in triumph.

Ensemble between the orchestra and the stage was outstanding throughout the evening.  López kept a firm hand on the proceedings, with a keen ear for shaping and idiomatic expression.  His approach was warm and enthusiastic, and the  musicians played beautifully for him.

It was auspicious beginning for an audacious enterprise, launched with vision, talent and hard work. For further information about Queen City Chamber Opera, e-mail Isaac Selya at Isaac.selya@aya.yale.edu or Antoine López at antoinel362@me.com. Stay tuned.