 |
Photo By Jymi Bolden
|
Curt Tucker and Alison Acord prepare for Sorg
Opera's production of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf
Naxos in Middletown this weekend.
|
The opera Ariadne auf Naxos is certainly not the work most of us think of when Richard Strauss is mentioned. Come to think of it, Richard Strauss is certainly not the first composer most of us think of when we think of opera. Last summer, Cincinnati Opera brought the haunting melodies and agonizing drama of Strauss' Elektra to life at Music Hall, but before that production, local audiences had had very few opportunities to experience the composer's operatic music in live performance. Sorg Opera in Middletown is ready to challenge all of that. This weekend, Sorg opens their new season with the 1912 work, Ariadne auf Naxos, the first Strauss opera to make it to Sorg's stage.
Richard Strauss -- not to be confused with famous waltz composer Johann Strauss, to whom he bore no relation but with whom he is often confused -- was born in Germany in 1864, the son of a respected musician in the Munich Court Orchestra. During the course of his life, Strauss wrote a lot of elegant music with superb orchestrations and beautiful lyricism, including several operas. Among the most well-known and frequently performed are Der Rosenkavalier and Salome. Less familiar but arguably no less delightful is Ariadne. So why did Sorg Opera choose to open its season with this of all operas?
"It's important to distinguish this opera from Salome and Elektra, because those are operas that push the bounds more than his other pieces. Those are his dissonant operas," says Curt Tucker, general director of Sorg Opera and conductor for Ariadne. "With the Ariadne, he returns to neoclassical work. That's pretty much where he stayed with his later pieces. Strauss wrote compelling, dramatic pieces much in the style of Wagner, and some of his music sounds very Wagnerian. We don't have the space and the resources to do a Wagner opera. This is dramatic and Germanic. It's as close to Wagner as you can get."
Ariadne pairs a dramatic, classically operatic story of Ariadne, the abandoned lover, with the wit and wile of a troupe of commedia dell'arte players. The juxtaposition of drama and comedy is an interesting and entertaining statement on the realm of opera itself.
"This opera has an unusual dichotomy to it, that is, having a very serious opera and a very comic opera going on at the same time. Usually it's one or the other. This piece has elements of both," says Tucker. "That's fun to wrestle with." But just because there is comedy involved, don't think for a moment that Ariadne isn't tough to sing. Remember, this is Richard Strauss.
"One of the challenges with Strauss is in the ability to play -- and sing -- the music," Tucker explains. "The orchestra doesn't exactly just hand the singer his or her part. When you're singing Mozart, you can sing along, and it flows naturally from your ear. This is not a highly dissonant work, but for those of us used to Mozart and Puccini, the vocal lines don't always follow where you expect them to go. It's a beautiful lush score, but it's not the sort of thing you pick up and learn without much analysis."
Soprano Alison Acord, singing the title role, concurs. "The speed of harmonic progression is such that your ear has to be tuned in and ready to adjust tonalities sometimes as quickly as every two beats within a measure. Other composers, like Mozart, may stay in the same key or tonality for eight measures," says Acord. "That is a challenge with Strauss music. It means the singer has to be keenly aware of focusing the voice so that it gets out over the orchestra with minimum effort."
That's one reason American audiences aren't more familiar with Richard Strauss' operas: Our opera houses are significantly larger than those in Europe, requiring singers to project their voices with much greater force. This is also a reason why Sorg Opera might be exactly the right opera house to stage this lesser known jewel.
Curt Tucker thinks so. "The sound at the Sorg is really, really good. The acoustics are excellent," he says. "Plus, with the chamber setting, you can see the expression on the people's faces. That's how I like to see opera best." If your only experience with opera has been at Music Hall, prepare yourself for a big surprise. At Sorg Opera, they can honestly say, there isn't a bad seat in the house.
Like just about everything else in Middle-town, Sorg Opera is friendly and quaint, and on a smaller scale than venues you typically find in larger cities: No need to worry about what you wear, or where you are going to park. The Middletown environment provides just about the least intimidating arts excursion you can find in this area. As Curt Tucker is fond of saying, "This is not a place where you have to put on airs to put on opera."
Tucker is excited by the challenges of Ariadne. "This is the first time Sorg Opera has done a Richard Strauss opera, so it's all kind of new. It's exciting to go in a new direction. Of course, there's no question that it's a challenge. It's fun to get in and wrestle with something like this," he says. "It's great fun."
The small, intimate space provides an ideal setting for the lively antics of the commedia dell'arte characters and Strauss' intricate melodies, which are at times nearly as challenging for the listener as the singer. But if you are up to the challenge, the rewards are great.
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS will be presented by the Sorg Opera on Friday and Saturday.
Printer-friendly version
