Placido Domingo conducts Washington National Opera in concert version of 'Turandot' at Baltimore's Lyric Opera House
It was great to hear operatic voices filling the Lyric Opera House again Tuesday night. Such sounds have been sadly missing for months now in the theater that opened with the iconic voice of Nellie Melba more than a century ago. The folding of the Baltimore Opera Company earlier this year left a void that was vividly filled, if only for one night, by Washington National Opera, presented by the Lyric in a concert version of Puccini’s Turandot that drew a good-sized crowd.
WNO general director Placido Domingo, the tireless tenor superstar, led the performance – his first turn at conducting Turandot, as it happens. A few passages could have been a little smoother, but Domingo brought admirable passion and sensitivity to the proceedings. Although he had not conducted the score before Tuesday (his first and only rehearsal came that afternoon), his long experience appearing in the opera onstage as Calaf obviously served him well. It didn’t hurt that his company has been performing Turandot for a couple weeks now at the Kennedy Center (with another conductor). Still, there was an effective air of spontaneity about Tuesday’s effort, not to mention a sense of occasion.
Even without the advantage of the sets and costumes that WNO audiences have been enjoying in Washington, this Turandot hit home. In the title role, Maria Guleghina had even more impact than I remember from her opening night in D.C. Her formidable voice was given such a boost by the Lyric’s welcoming acoustics that I wouldn’t be surprised if ...
For consistent beauty of tone, the performance had the advantage of Sabina Cvilak, whose portrayal of Liu was characterized by melting lyricism. As she did in Washington, she spun some remarkable pianissimo high notes and sculpted phrases with poetic power.
Dario Volonte disappointed again as Calaf. The hardworking tenor sounded stretched to the edge of his abilities and rarely bothered with dynamic nuance. All the same, he came close enough to the mark when it counted most – his Nessun dorma was applauded, which didn’t happen on opening night at the Kennedy Center.
Morris Robinson, as Timur, used his sumptuous bass to telling effect. Nathan Herfindahl (Ping), Norman Shankle (Pang) and Yingxi Zhang (Pong) brought abundant personality to their vocalism. The chorus and orchestra did impressive work.
Reminders of the Baltimore Opera were impossible to miss during the evening. For one thing, Domingo sang for that company more than 40 years ago on the Lyric stage, as he recalled in remarks to the audience after the truncated curtain calls. (To much applause, he said he would like to come back and sing with a new Baltimore Opera.) In the WNO chorus were singers. among them Robert Cantrell and Brendan Cooke, who performed with the Baltimore company. And out in the house could be spotted former patrons and staffers of the now liquidated organization.
Judging by the audience's enthusiastic response to this performance, it may be that many people would be happy to welcome the Washingtonians back, whether for more concert opera or, after the renovations of Lyric’s stage, for full productions. There certainly was no mistaking the sound of quality on Tuesday. I hope we won’t have to wait too long before we hear something on that level again, whether imported or homegrown, in this treasured venue.
PHOTO BY YOUR HUMBLE BLOGGER OF PLACIDO DOMINGO CHATTING WITH PATRONS AT A RECEPTION AFTER THE PERFORMANCE OF 'TURANDOT' AT THE LYRIC OPERA HOUSE
Comments
Tim,
It was quite strange to be in the Lyric last night with the "away team" but quite exciting to be there again nonetheless. I hope that operatic performances at the Lyric become a regular spot on the calendar very soon. Thanks for your support of all things operatic in Baltimore.
Strange, indeed, but, as you say, quite exciting. That theater and opera just go together somehow (even if the actual shape of the house is antithetical). It will be interesting to see how things develop. TIM
Posted by: brendan cooke | June 3, 2009 8:50 AM
This was a wonderful evening. We MUST bring opera permanently back to Baltimore.
I couldn't agree more. TIM
Posted by: John Shields | June 3, 2009 8:55 AM
I was surprised that the audience was so small. I guess people don't have much money to spend on opera tickets in this economy.
Actually, I was surprised that the audiences was so large, given that this was a one-night event, unsupported by a subscriber base. TIM
Posted by: James Shannon | June 3, 2009 9:28 AM
That tenor has had bad reviews as Calaf all over the place. I would have thought Washington Opera could have found someone more vocally capable.
It is a curious choice. Maybe he sounded better back when was engaged for the role. TIM
Posted by: Heather Martin | June 3, 2009 9:53 AM
Any word if Washington will be bringing other performances to the Lyric ?
Nothing yet. TIM
Posted by: karen | June 3, 2009 3:17 PM
As more than a 20-year Baltimore Opera subscriber, I had my soul filled by this 'Turandot.' Re.audience size - some of us Anne Arundel senior center opera students were offered free tickets by the Lyric. Because of this generosity we were able to hire a van to transport 10 of us from Severna Park to opera heaven at the Lyric.
Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm. TIM
Posted by: mary johnson | June 4, 2009 2:57 PM
As the Lyric Treasurer and Board member, the Lyric Foundation is working to engage opera back into the music fabric of this great facility whose acoustical quality is world class. Opera is expensive and to be successful needs a subscriber base, a need for quality, and community support. December 17, Renee Fleming will be helping us to revive Opera just before the Lyric goes dark to make major construction upgrades to the stage and facilities to continue its "home town team" facility for decades to come. Hope folks get the message and come to the December Opera event!!! You cannot pray for opera you have to support the productions.
Posted by: Ed | June 5, 2009 7:43 AM
As the Lyric Treasurer and Board member, the Lyric Foundation is working to engage opera back into the music fabric of this great facility whose acoustical quality is world class. Opera is expensive and to be successful needs a subscriber base, a need for quality, and community support. December 17, Renee Fleming will be helping us to revive Opera just before the Lyric goes dark to make major construction upgrades to the stage and facilities to continue its "home town team" facility for decades to come. Hope folks get the message and come to the December Opera event!!! You cannot pray for opera you have to support the productions.
Posted by: Ed | June 5, 2009 7:44 AM
As a member of the Lyric Board and the Lyric Treasurer, we were elated to attract the Washington National Opera to the great Lyric facility with its world class acoustic quality. Mr. Domingo enjoyed the evening and asked us to schedule him back to sing and we will. The next opera will be Dec 17th with Renee Fleming in a solo recital. To have opera and quality opera requires community support. The Lyric Board is working to engage top quality opera for Baltimore at the best concert hall the Lyric. Note in early 2010 the Lyric will go dark to undergo a major construction upgrade to the stage and facilities so as to improve operations and add modern capacity to handle opera and complex stage productions. We need community attendance at all of your productions to be successful!!!
Folks ought to get the message now. Thanks for posting. TIM
Posted by: Ed Crawford | June 5, 2009 7:55 AM
Tim,
Thanks for directing me to your blog review - having failed to find one in the paper itself. NOW, if the Baltimore Sun would have run your fine review in the PRINT edition, then maybe more people would hear about - and be drawn to - opera in Baltimore!
We heard Franco Farina last night as Calaf down here in DC - he is much louder than Volonte but somehow Volonte had the more refined voice -too bad they couldn't have melded the two of them into one! The sound at the Lyric was awesome though. I hope the Lyric Board can attract some major sponsors/underwriters as well because in listening to the crowd around me on Tuesday night there are many who would LOVE to come to opera, they just can't afford the high ticket price. So I think a combination of sponsorship, marketing and affordability would deliver that community support. We need to promote opera to - and inspire - the young (I had an 8-year old daughter in the Turandot Children's Chorus who loved every note of her experience and can sing the whole opera now!) but to do that, there has to be a way to make it financially accessible.
Linda
Thanks very much for your thoughtful comments. And the report on Farina. I would have been interested to hear him against Guleghina; poor Volonte didn't stand a chance. TIM
Posted by: Linda Gunter | June 5, 2009 10:01 AM