Michael Halbig
Hassle in Tahiti, Bernstein’s first opera, plunges the viewers into the abyss of a dysfunctional marriage towards the backdrop of an arcadian postwar American suburb. Annapolis Opera’s earnest manufacturing made a robust case for the opera’s continued relevance at present. Baritone Timothy Combine and mezzo-soprano Alice Chung led the forged as Sam and Dinah, the quarreling couple whose dynamic comes underneath the microscope in Tahiti. The opera recounts a day within the lifetime of the 2 characters, starting with breakfast, adopted by a day on the workplace and the fitness center (Sam) and a go to to a psychoanalyst and the films (Dinah), and concluding with the couple going to the films collectively. Craig Kier, who marks his fifth 12 months as inventive and music director of Annapolis Opera in 2025, carried out the corporate’s nine-person orchestra with verve, providing peppy renditions of Tahiti’s jazzy numbers and an ethereal “I Was Standing in a Backyard,” Dinah’s account of a dream.
Combine’s studied portrayal of Sam gave the viewers better perception into the character. His stentorian baritone lent heft to “There’s a Legislation,” Sam’s paean to aggressive masculine virility. Adopting a masks of emotional restraint, Combine deployed a full, prideful sound to nice impact. Gone have been any of the humanizing attributes that characterised his supply within the earlier scene’s duet, during which Combine placed on a courageous face for Chung’s Dinah however tremulously revealed a extra deep-rooted harm. Combine’s ease in revealing and camouflaging the emotions of his character successfully conveyed the affect of societal strain on males to keep away from shows of emotion.
Chung probed Dinah’s psychological depths in “I Was Standing in a Backyard,” her lithe voice shifting from haunted to tranquil. Chung’s electrical efficiency of “What a Film!,” Dinah’s recounting of watching a stereotyped Fifties journey movie, was a crowd-pleaser. Her propulsive vitality convincingly betrayed Dinah’s curiosity in a film that the character professes to dislike.
Michael Halbig
Soprano Amanda Densmoor, tenor Patrick Kilbride, and baritone Rolfe Dauz had glorious chemistry because the Trio, Tahiti’s jazz-inspired Fifties Greek refrain. Their tightly stitched harmonies maximized the potential of those roles, which demand shut collaboration. The graceful polish of this Trio added panache to their expository remarks and feedback on shopper tradition. Densmoor soared to new heights in singing Bernstein’s seemingly extemporaneous scatting and wouldn’t have been misplaced in a jazz membership.
Matthew J. Schulz’s route saved the opera buzzing alongside and successfully leveraged bodily distance and posture as an example the obstacles holding Sam and Dinah aside. Surroundings and lighting by Christopher Brusberg thoughtfully evoked the idylls of suburban life with silhouetted homes, classic commercials, and the archetypical white picket fences, right here organized extra ominously as a pen trapping the orchestra. The imprisonment of the Trio behind it on the finish of the opera supplied a becoming coda to this suburban satire. Traditional mid-century furnishings replete with gleaming chrome and classic costumes straight out of Mad Males (a fancy dress designer was not listed in this system) took the viewers again in time.
Annapolis Opera offered Tahiti because the second half of a double invoice that additionally featured a group of different songs by Bernstein, many written for the Broadway stage. These alternatives complemented Bernstein’s opera of married suburban life by exploring different themes of affection and relationships. The corporate interspersed the songs with spoken quotes from Bernstein and people recognized solely in this system as “his confidants.” These added depth, significantly an excerpt from a letter written by Felicia Montealegre Bernstein with regards to the composer’s sexual orientation, however offered with out attributions or context, this spoken phrase element risked going over the top of those that are usually not diehard Bernstein aficionados.
Michael Halbig
Densmoor opened this system with “I’m a Particular person Too” from Bernstein’s I Hate Music! cycle, and her clarion voice elegantly expressed the tune’s humor. Her intoxicating tackle “Dream with Me,” written for Bernstein’s 1950 musical Peter Pan, was a tonic to the cynicism of Tahiti. Kilbride’s glowing rendition of “I Go On” from Bernstein’s Massshowcased his luxurious tones, which he additionally deployed to golden results in Bernstein’s “I Know a Fellow,” written within the Forties and never a part of a musical.
Dauz and Chung’s duet in “Ohio,” an ode to a Midwestern house left behind in Fantastic City (1953), was a spotlight of the night, their wealthy, heat voices eloquently conjuring nostalgia and homesickness. Combine’s plaintive supply of “Story of My Life,” written for a similar musical, was one other deal with. Schulz’s partaking blocking energized Bernstein’s songs with a brand new spirit, significantly his rousing choreography to “Ya Acquired Me” from On the City (1944), carried out by the entire forged. A static recital in entrance of music stands this was not. This system succeeded in recontextualizing Tahiti as a part of a broader venture from Bernstein of reflecting on human connections, respecting the Fifties setting whereas universalizing its themes.
