I'm in eastern upstate New York currently directing a production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro for a relatively young opera company. Hubbard Hall Opera Theater is part of a Cambridge community based center for the arts: Hubbard Hall Arts Center. Started decades ago with a focus on producing theatre works, Hubbard Hall expanded about seven years ago to include an opera company. In years past they have presented Cosi fan tutte, Carmen, La bohéme, Hansel and Gretel, The Barber of Seville, Abduction from the Serglio, Don Pasquale, and a few others; some with piano accompaniment, but most with orchestral forces. This year's season is the aforementioned Nozze as well as Puccini's comic operatic masterpiece Gianni Schicchi.
I must admit to not knowing anything about the opera company until its artistic director called me up a few months ago to ask if I might be interested in directing the Mozart. As often happens, there was a different director associated with the production and then other factors came into play so the company was looking for a stage director. As also happens (more often than you might think), I was recommended by a student who had just left my McGill program after spending three years with me. Geoffrey Penar (who performed in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, and Volpone) is singing the Count in the HHOT production and I have him to thank for this gig!
The artistic director of HHOT is an operatic factotum of a young woman. Alix Jones is, from what I've seen over the past week, a tireless AD/GD/ED/FD/HD/TD/EtcD (Artistic Director/General Director/Executive Director/Financial Director/Housing Director/Technical Director/Etc Director); basically a one-woman show. Responsible for getting the shows chosen, casting made, artistic team put together, contracting singers and orchestra, coordinating set designs, finding props, building and painting sets, and then putting on a nice dress in order to serve as MC during a young artist community outreach event. I've been very impressed with her, and her company's, ability to juggle quite a lot of needs while maintaining a rather fun and casual environment in which to rehearse opera. That's rather tricky, speaking from experience. She also has been creating opportunities for young talented conductors, this year the orchestra and singers are being led by Lidiya Yankovskaya (click on her name to check out her website.)
Speaking of experience, my experience has made me feel, on this gig especially, like an old man o' the theatre. It's now been 30+ years in the business and though I've done quite an awful diverse number of jobs in opera all over America, I'm very much feeling my age. Staying in patron housing can be fun when you're younger but when you're set in your own ways, you realize just how inflexible you start to get. It's one thing to be a houseguest for a weekend, imagine four weeks. I'm making a concerted effort to find my flexibility here, both out of and in rehearsals.
The space that HHOT performs in is truly unique. Hubbard Hall is a remarkable 19th century "opera house" built in 1878 that was neglected for much of the 20th century and then had a renaissance due to the determination of one man, Benjie White, and the community of Cambridge. Here's a link to the history of the hall:
http://hubbardhall.org/about/history/
And here are some photos I took on a morning off strolling around Cambridge. I came upon a great farmers market right next to the old train depot.
And here's a terrific short video on the arts community that has found a home in Hubbard Hall. They are currently looking for donors to help them buy risers for the theatre and it's a micro-donation project via indiegogo, so if any of my readers from any part of this globe think they might like to donate $25, $50, or a $100 check out this video and see how terrific - and unique - this arts community is. They have Irish dance classes, yoga, Tai Chi, theatre improv, art classes, and much much more:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/risers-at-hubbard-hall
These are what the current risers look like:
As long as we're on links, here's a link to information about the opera performances:
http://hubbardhall.org/opera-spotlight/
And a cast list, where you can check out the bios of the young singers performing both operas:
http://hubbardhall.org/opera-spotlight/auditions/
I've been very impressed with the level of talent, both in the leads and in the smaller roles and cover casts. Mozart's perfect opera, Le Nozze di Figaro, is a daunting task to take on for the first time. The role of Susannah, for instance, is said to be the longest soprano role ever written. It certainly is a role that takes a great deal of stamina both vocally and dramatically. She's such a great, smart, liberated female character, written back in the 18th century by the great Beaumarchais in his banned play La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro (The Mad Day or The Marriage of Figaro) and then a bit later turned into THE comic operatic masterpiece of all time by Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte.
Here's a pic of my cast:
I mean to use all caps when I write "THE comic masterpiece of all time". I believe this is the perfect opera. Perfect in form, certainly. No one really could argue against that one. Just looking at the 2nd act it's clear that Mozart was a formal genius of structure. Just the key signatures alone give one a clue to his architectural genius. Each piece moves from E-flat (Countess' aria) to B-flat (Cherubino's aria) to G (Susannah's aria) to C (the duet where Cherubino leaps out of the window) and then when the big "finale" begins (the best one written, truly) Mozart writes in a tonal palindrome moving quickly from E-flat to B-flat to G to C and then back to F (a palindromic relationship, trust me) back to B-flat and ending in E-flat. That's just one part of one act, mind you. The other characteristics of this opera that make it perfect lie in how the characters' emotional lives develop through not just the plot devices and wonderfully comic and sexually-spiced text, but through the brilliant and transcendent musical score that Mozart gave us.
If you're in the area and have the chance to see the performances (we open on August 13th and it runs that weekend and the next), please come. The venue is truly an intimate one -- perfect for experiencing opera live and up close. The singers will be just feet from the front row, the orchestra will be behind the singers so you will literally see tonsils, tongues, quick eye glances that you'd miss in a big theatre, and you will experience the power of acoustic, sonically-charged opera right in your face! It's almost rock-n-roll, from a decibel perspective, once all of the characters get onto that stage and start singing!
Here's the link for tickets:
https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/hubbardhall/event.jsp;jsessionid=EF00FA83FEC0103ED70641FAED417AC9?event=1202
And if you can't come, find a recording in your house, or find one online, or check out youtube for full-length performances of this fantastic opera by Herr Mozart. And look for Opera McGill's own production of Le Nozze di Figaro this coming January at McGill University. It'll be directed by Nicola Bowie and conducted by Gordon Gerrard with a terrific student cast!
One more link for Opera McGill:
http://www.mcgill.ca/music/programs/department-performance/opera-area
See you at the opera!
Patrick
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