May Festival Spellbinding in Second Weekend Opener

photo by Mark Lyons

For the May Festival Chorus, it was a kind of his and hers night at the Cincinnati May Festival Friday night at Music Hall.

The men of the Chorus were featured on the first half of the concert in Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex,” while the women took the stage in the second half with Debussy’s La Damoiselle elué (“The Blessed Damozel”) and Sirènes (“Sirens”) from his Nocturnes.

The voices came together (men and women) with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 for a spectacular finish to a thoroughly rewarding concert.

Master of it all on the podium was May Festival music director James Conlon.

Part opera, part oratorio, Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” was given a striking theatrical dimension by Ed Stern, former producing artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Looming over the stage was a giant bird, designed and created by Bruce Ruggaber and the theater production department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. And an evil-looking bird it was.

The acoustical towers at the rear of the stage were draped in neutral-colored fabric. A red carpet was spread over the middle of the risers behind the orchestra for entrances and exits by the singers (who were dressed in black like the chorus members). The men of the Chorus occupied the right side of the risers and a few chairs covered with black mesh were situated on the left. It made a highly effective setting for Stravinsky’s powerful music.

A product of Stravinsky’s neo-classical period, “Oedipus Rex” (not performed at the May Festival since 1977) is both starkly universal and intensely personal. Designed to be sung in Latin and narrated in the language of the audience, it was narrated by actor Joneal Joplin in his May Festival debut.

Joplin having set the scene, the Chorus and CSO sounded the mighty cry of the people of Thebes, imploring Oedipus to save them from the plague that is ravaging the city. CSO principal timpanist Patrick Schleker, who handled his important role splendidly, sounded the relentless minor-third motif that recurs throughout. The soloists were a superlative lot, with tenor Rodrick Dixon as Oedipus, baritone Donnie Ray Albert as his brother-in-law Creon (and the Messenger), mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller as Jocasta, bass Richard Bernstein as Tiresias and tenor Michael Moore as the Shepherd. Each captured the close mix of objectivity and subjectivity Stravinsky built into the work.

Joplin as the Narrator said it all: “Oedipus is a plaything of the heartless gods.” Giving visual emphasis to Oedipus’ fate, Dixon returned wearing a bright red shirt after the ill-fated king, who has unknowingly killed his father and married his mother (Jocasta), blinds himself after learning that she has killed herself in shame. The CSO rendered Stravinsky’s vivid score with great precision and clarity.

“The Blessed Damozel,” a “little oratorio” (Debussy) about a maiden in heaven waiting for her earthly lover to join her, set a plangent tone to open the second half. Heavenly peace might, indeed, describe the introduction, with the women’s voices threaded softly through the choral/orchestral texture. It was a peace mixed with hope, announced by mezzo Miller as the Narrator and ecstatically sung by soprano Tracy Cox as the Blessed Damozel. However, it was hope followed by dejection, as the next wave of angels fails to bring her beloved to her.

The sopranos of the Chorus sang wordlessly and enticingly in Debussy’s Sirènes, which pictures legendary sirens beckoning to sailors at sea (and dashing them on the rocks). It made quite a seductive portrait, ending with muted trumpet and flute. To end the concert, Conlon led a matchless performance of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloè Suite No. 2. Call it a luxury performance, in fact, since the work is heard most often without chorus.

The music bubbled up from the CSO with springtime freshness in “Daybreak,” where the woodwinds sounded bird calls with crystal clarity. Conlon saved the climax for the repeat of the daybreak music, which rang through Music Hall on the crest of the May Festival Chorus to spine-tingling effect. Principal flutist Randolph Bowman was a standout in the “Pantomime” (as were all the flutes and piccolo) and the “General Dance” ended with a delightful ruckus by all.

The May Festival concludes at 8 p.m. tonight at Music Hall with the May Festival Chorus, soprano Christine Goerke, bass-baritone Alan Held and the CSO led by James Conlon in choruses and scenes by Wagner and Verdi. Tickets, beginning at $25, are available at the Music Hall box office, or call (513) 381-3300.