The gardeners are Sue and myself. We got this email this morning. I admit I didn't quite understand their policy for open seating but we just can't take a chance on this--too bad because we've enjoyed On Site Opera and have never seen this opera. Regards, Len
Message to attendees of Mozart's "The Secret Gardener"
Thank you for registering for On Site Opera’s upcoming production of Mozart’s The Secret Gardener (May 12th) in the West Side Community Garden. We are in the midst of our final rehearsals and getting ready to share this production with you. In advance of the performance, we would like to clarify a few things about your registration and share some day-of information with you.
What does “open seating” mean?
As you read when you made your reservation, registering for “open seating” for The Secret Gardener does NOT guarantee you a seat or entrance to the garden. Open seating and standing room will be available on a first-come first-served basis. Ushers will begin admitting patrons with “open seating” registrations at 6:15pm. At 6:45pm, those without registrations will begin to be admitted. We will continue to welcome patrons into the garden until capacity is reached. We anticipate large crowds, so we encourage you to arrive at the garden by 6:15pm in order to secure your spot.
Where should I go when I arrive at the garden?
Please use the entrance on 89th street between Columbus and Amsterdam. The performance will begin at 7:00pm, and will run 90 minutes without intermission. Please note, there are no restrooms on site.
What happens if I don’t get in?
We look forward to accommodating as many people as possible. If you registered for “open seating,” but are not admitted due to capacity, you will receive a special discount code for tickets to On Site Opera’s next production: Milhaud’s The Guilty Mother (June 20, 22, 23, 24).
What happens if it rains?
If Mother Nature does not cooperate, the performance will be postponed to Sunday, May 14 at 7:00pm. We will contact you as soon as a weather cancellation is determined.
Thank you for being a part of the On Site Opera family! We look forward to seeing you in the garden next week!
-The On Site Opera team
Gardeners Cancel OSO open seating for The Secret Gardener
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lennygoran
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lennygoran
- Posts: 19341
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:28 pm
- Location: new york city
Re: Gardeners Cancel OSO open seating for The Secret Gardener
Well here is the review of what I decided to not go to-somehow I'm not disappointed by that decision. Not that impressive as a garden and the weather was not too good. Regards, Len
Review: Mozart’s ‘Secret Gardener’ Amid Real Flowers
By CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM MAY 12, 2017
The best way to see one of the hundreds of community gardens in New York City is by accident: Nothing quite matches the delight of stumbling unawares onto a peaceful fleck of green tucked away in a maze of stone and concrete. Evening strollers alighting upon the West Side Community Garden on 89th Street on Thursday were met with an added surprise: a Mozart opera, fully staged by On Site Opera, and free to anyone willing to brave the unseasonal chill.
Those who settled on three concentric rows of seats ringing a small lawn were treated to a performance of Mozart’s “La Finta Giardiniera” (in an English translation as “The Secret Gardener”) that was as breezy as the weather. The show was produced with the Atlanta Opera and will travel to that city’s Botanical Garden later this month.
Mozart’s early opera (he wrote it when he was 18) was subjected to some energetic pruning for the occasion, and a good thing, too. This comedy about concealed identities, madness and mismatched couples contains some lovely arias and ensembles, but also reams of workmanlike recitative. Here, it was trimmed to 90 minutes and the score adapted for wind ensemble (and double bass), creating a more compact sound that carried well out of doors. On Thursday, this arrangement was entrusted to the period-instrument ensemble Grand Harmonie, which, led by Geoffrey McDonald, played it with grace and verve.
The story involves three couples with convoluted back stories. The title character is Lady Violet, who poses as a garden girl while putting some distance between herself and her hotheaded lover, Count Belfiore. The On Site Opera version scrubbed out the more disturbing elements of the original, including a stabbing incident that is blithely forgiven, in favor of sharpening the work’s comic thrust.
After a few creaky horticultural puns early on — “I was quite a rake in my time” — Kelley Rourke’s English adaptation found its flow, and the excellent cast of seven young singers seemed liberated by the brief passages of dialogue that took the place of Mozart’s recitatives. Economy of gesture and wit were also the motto of Eric Einhorn’s stage direction, which had singers moving freely about the garden, and which made inventive use of a pair of pruning shears and a hose.
With singers spread out, often behind the listeners, the sound was predictably uneven. In some of Mozart’s finely wrought ensemble numbers it might have been preferable to have them perform closer together. But that was a small price to pay for close-up portraits of some highly talented artists. Outstanding among them were two servants: the baritone Jorell Williams as Robert and the clear-voiced soprano Alisa Jordheim as Serpetta.
The honeyed warmth of Maeve Höglund’s soprano (the noble Arminda) gained impressive bloom in the course of the evening, and the mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein, pacing the lawn as Ramiro, whom Arminda rejects, spun lines of an uncannily silky legato that transcended the tricky acoustics of the open space.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/arts ... views&_r=0
Review: Mozart’s ‘Secret Gardener’ Amid Real Flowers
By CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM MAY 12, 2017
The best way to see one of the hundreds of community gardens in New York City is by accident: Nothing quite matches the delight of stumbling unawares onto a peaceful fleck of green tucked away in a maze of stone and concrete. Evening strollers alighting upon the West Side Community Garden on 89th Street on Thursday were met with an added surprise: a Mozart opera, fully staged by On Site Opera, and free to anyone willing to brave the unseasonal chill.
Those who settled on three concentric rows of seats ringing a small lawn were treated to a performance of Mozart’s “La Finta Giardiniera” (in an English translation as “The Secret Gardener”) that was as breezy as the weather. The show was produced with the Atlanta Opera and will travel to that city’s Botanical Garden later this month.
Mozart’s early opera (he wrote it when he was 18) was subjected to some energetic pruning for the occasion, and a good thing, too. This comedy about concealed identities, madness and mismatched couples contains some lovely arias and ensembles, but also reams of workmanlike recitative. Here, it was trimmed to 90 minutes and the score adapted for wind ensemble (and double bass), creating a more compact sound that carried well out of doors. On Thursday, this arrangement was entrusted to the period-instrument ensemble Grand Harmonie, which, led by Geoffrey McDonald, played it with grace and verve.
The story involves three couples with convoluted back stories. The title character is Lady Violet, who poses as a garden girl while putting some distance between herself and her hotheaded lover, Count Belfiore. The On Site Opera version scrubbed out the more disturbing elements of the original, including a stabbing incident that is blithely forgiven, in favor of sharpening the work’s comic thrust.
After a few creaky horticultural puns early on — “I was quite a rake in my time” — Kelley Rourke’s English adaptation found its flow, and the excellent cast of seven young singers seemed liberated by the brief passages of dialogue that took the place of Mozart’s recitatives. Economy of gesture and wit were also the motto of Eric Einhorn’s stage direction, which had singers moving freely about the garden, and which made inventive use of a pair of pruning shears and a hose.
With singers spread out, often behind the listeners, the sound was predictably uneven. In some of Mozart’s finely wrought ensemble numbers it might have been preferable to have them perform closer together. But that was a small price to pay for close-up portraits of some highly talented artists. Outstanding among them were two servants: the baritone Jorell Williams as Robert and the clear-voiced soprano Alisa Jordheim as Serpetta.
The honeyed warmth of Maeve Höglund’s soprano (the noble Arminda) gained impressive bloom in the course of the evening, and the mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein, pacing the lawn as Ramiro, whom Arminda rejects, spun lines of an uncannily silky legato that transcended the tricky acoustics of the open space.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/arts ... views&_r=0
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jbuck919
- Military Band Specialist
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Re: Gardeners Cancel OSO open seating for The Secret Gardener
Oh come on, you would have loved it. 
I seem to have a non-musical problem with early Mozart opera. The first time I see their title in English I want to say, "Wait, Mozart never composed anything called that." I had the same problem when one of my (very musical) students said his sister was participating in a college production of The Goose of Cairo. (Well, that's what it means, though it really sounds dreadful, doesn't it?) Of course, no one has figured out a good translation for the non-early Così fan tutte, which literally means "All women do such things." Of course, like Les misérables, it is almost never rendered in English at all, and this dates back to before the time when PC would have provoked howls for a title such as "Women are like that," which I have actually seen somewhere. Maybe a good compromise, if one were needed, would be to fall back on the alternative title, which renders itself into straightforward English as "The school for lovers."
I seem to have a non-musical problem with early Mozart opera. The first time I see their title in English I want to say, "Wait, Mozart never composed anything called that." I had the same problem when one of my (very musical) students said his sister was participating in a college production of The Goose of Cairo. (Well, that's what it means, though it really sounds dreadful, doesn't it?) Of course, no one has figured out a good translation for the non-early Così fan tutte, which literally means "All women do such things." Of course, like Les misérables, it is almost never rendered in English at all, and this dates back to before the time when PC would have provoked howls for a title such as "Women are like that," which I have actually seen somewhere. Maybe a good compromise, if one were needed, would be to fall back on the alternative title, which renders itself into straightforward English as "The school for lovers."
There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach
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lennygoran
- Posts: 19341
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:28 pm
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Re: Gardeners Cancel OSO open seating for The Secret Gardener
That's "La finta giardiniera," composed in 1775, though most likely they use the version of 1780 when Mozart rewrote it with a German libretto and spoken dialogue, "Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe." Mozart recycled the overture as the first two movements of a symphony in D major, K. 207a.
John Francis
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