Loft Opera Stages a Rarity, With Lingerie

[lennygoran]

Won't get a chance to see this. Regards, Len

Review: Loft Opera Stages a Rarity, With Lingerie

By JAMES R. OESTREICH JUNE 26, 2017


The pocket opera companies that have sprung up around New York in recent years fulfill a great service in exploring unusual material. But that is not to say that they are necessarily expanding the active repertory.

On Site Opera finished a run of Darius Milhaud’s “La Mère Coupable” (“The Guilty Mother”) over the weekend, in what was said to be the work’s United States premiere, but given the difficulties of Milhaud’s score for performers and listeners alike, no company here is likely to revive it again soon. And LoftOpera is embarked on an hourlong production, “Pergolesi & Vivaldi,” at the Muse, a vast industrial space in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn, focusing on Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater,” which is also unlikely to become a permanent fixture.

Pergolesi wrote several operas in his brief lifetime (if not as many as were attributed to him), but his “Stabat Mater” (1736), a gorgeous setting of a liturgical text for soprano, alto and orchestra, was not one of them. The text merely reflects on the sorrows of Jesus’ mother, Mary, as she witnesses his crucifixion, with no dramatic action to speak of. Not that others have not tried to stage it. In another small-scale venture just two years ago, Morningside Opera and Siren Baroque did so in an odd coupling with Pergolesi’s little opera “La Serva Padrona.”


The music, in a sort of post-Baroque galant style, is often sensuous, sometimes even perky, despite its mournful subject, and it may be that duality that leads directors to think they can tease from the work something more than abstract emoting. LoftOpera’s production sets the scene with music of Vivaldi, a sonata and a sinfonia “Al Santo Sepolcro” (“At the Holy Sepulcher”) and two arias of consolation and hope, and there is plenty of emoting. The arias are sung by Heather Buck, a soprano, and Randall Scotting, a countertenor.
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Their roles seem ambiguous, to say the least. Ms. Buck, portraying physical anguish, doubles over and clutches her stomach, presumably reacting to the fate of the fruit of Mary’s womb (to use Roman Catholic terminology). But can this be Mary, wearing scanty lingerie under her robe? And does that make Mr. Scotting, bare-chested under his robe, Jesus?

Much in the “Stabat Mater” staging suggests something similar (in different dress), but there are also times when, given the nature of the text, the two singers simply observe and comment as dancers pose or sway around. At a climactic moment, Ms. Buck — perhaps in a misreading of the phrase “Mater, fons amoris” (“Mother, fount of love”)? — roughly strips Mr. Scotting to the waist. For the final “Amen,” Ms. Buck climbs a scaffolding and assumes the position of crucifixion.

Whatever the vagueness and confusion onstage, there was much to enjoy in the musical performances on Saturday evening. Ms. Buck was wonderful, her vocalism soaring, strong and pure. Mr. Scotting also sang consistently well, once past the Vivaldi. Brian Gilling, the music director, led a small orchestra from the positive organ with a sure hand.




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/arts ... ction&_r=0