A night at l'Opéra
Jordan Hall is the major concert hall in Boston. I have been there several times in the past to hear Lorraine sing.
Tonight it was Nat Watson's turn. He was singing in Jean Phillipe Rameau's opera Les Indes Galantes, an opera-ballet by the French Baroque composer.
Rameau replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the major opera composer of the period. He was also a contemporary of Francois Couperin.
The opera is in four un-related acts. Le Turc généreux, which takes place in Turkey; Les Incas du Pérou,set in Peru, Les Fleurs, set in Persia, and Les Sauvages, set in 18th century North America. It premiered in Paris in 1735.
Let's face it- Boston Baroque is not Les Arts Florissants. This is a very long opera that was put together in twelve long days of rehearsal. Lorraine used to spend the entire summer in Paris when preparing an opera with Les Arts Florissants. Obviously, the French government was pouring tons of francs into the production, so they had all the time in the world. Lorraine would show up at 10:00 for rehearsal and not sing a note until 4:00 in the afternoon.
Apparently a similar event happened with this production with only twelve days to get it ready for the stage.
That being said, it is a wonderful Baroque opera that deserved to be heard. This was just not the company to do it.
Nat sang like an angel. Beautiful voice, very dramatic on stage, funny, sad, whatever was needed. The other singers were Amanda Forsythe, soprano, Nathalie Paulin, soprano, Aaron Sheehan, tenor, Daniel Auchincloss, tenor, and Sumner Thompson, baritone. Of these my favorites were Paulin, Sheehan, and Thompson. And, of course, Nat.
Amanda Forsythe has a pretty voice that seems disembodied at times. There is no connection. This often results in a very fast vibrato which is unattractive.
Daniel Auchincloss has a raspy sort of tenor voice. He did a very funny bit in drag in the third part, using a lot of falsetto. Nat told me over drinks afterwards that this was NOT falsetto. Trust me, it was.
I was much more delighted with the singing of Aaron Sheehan. He is the same tenor I heard several years ago in a performance of Handel's Saul, which was sung by the Harvard choir in memory of John. In that performance, the part of Saul was sung by Nat, one sister was sung by Amanda Forsythe, and the second sister by my own favorite, Janet Brown. Aaron has a beautiful voice. He needs to learn how to move it more easily in rapid flowing passages.
Nathalie Paulin is an excellent singer from Toronto. She and Nat have sung together many times in Canada. It is an easy sound from top to bottom. In the last part of the opera she was really singing a mezzo role and brought it off beautifully.
Sumner Thompson is a fine singer. His voice moves easily throughout the wide range that was required in his singing tonight.
The chorus sang admirably. Good blend, energy. A few too many dumb things with props, but that isn't their fault.
The orchestra played very well. The conductor, Martin Pearlman, tended to drag tempi, making for a very long evening.
The weakest part of the evening's performance was the staging and the dancing. The staging seemed impromptu and the dancing mindless. Also the dancing went on and on. Here was a good place to cut. The choreographer, Marjorie Folkman, had supposedly done some work with Mark Morris. I am not a great fan of his choreography, but if anything, she took his worst habits and capitalized on them.
I must say in all lack of predjudice, that I was very proud of Nat. His singing these days is very musical, sophisticated, and beautiful. I guess he has had a good teacher.
PS Nat told me later that a lot of ballet music was cut from last night's performance. No where nearly enough, for my taste. Perhaps if there had been a more sensitive choreography that somehow related to the wonderful music, this would not have seemed so long. But endless 'heel and a toe and away we go' doesn't do Rameau's music justice and give it the gravitas it deserves. As it was, the incoherant bobbing around on stage was far from the mark. I would love to see a fully staged production of this work. It deserves no less.
Tonight it was Nat Watson's turn. He was singing in Jean Phillipe Rameau's opera Les Indes Galantes, an opera-ballet by the French Baroque composer.
Rameau replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the major opera composer of the period. He was also a contemporary of Francois Couperin.
Nathaniel Watson
The opera is in four un-related acts. Le Turc généreux, which takes place in Turkey; Les Incas du Pérou,set in Peru, Les Fleurs, set in Persia, and Les Sauvages, set in 18th century North America. It premiered in Paris in 1735.
Let's face it- Boston Baroque is not Les Arts Florissants. This is a very long opera that was put together in twelve long days of rehearsal. Lorraine used to spend the entire summer in Paris when preparing an opera with Les Arts Florissants. Obviously, the French government was pouring tons of francs into the production, so they had all the time in the world. Lorraine would show up at 10:00 for rehearsal and not sing a note until 4:00 in the afternoon.
Apparently a similar event happened with this production with only twelve days to get it ready for the stage.
That being said, it is a wonderful Baroque opera that deserved to be heard. This was just not the company to do it.
Nat sang like an angel. Beautiful voice, very dramatic on stage, funny, sad, whatever was needed. The other singers were Amanda Forsythe, soprano, Nathalie Paulin, soprano, Aaron Sheehan, tenor, Daniel Auchincloss, tenor, and Sumner Thompson, baritone. Of these my favorites were Paulin, Sheehan, and Thompson. And, of course, Nat.
Amanda Forsythe has a pretty voice that seems disembodied at times. There is no connection. This often results in a very fast vibrato which is unattractive.
Daniel Auchincloss has a raspy sort of tenor voice. He did a very funny bit in drag in the third part, using a lot of falsetto. Nat told me over drinks afterwards that this was NOT falsetto. Trust me, it was.
I was much more delighted with the singing of Aaron Sheehan. He is the same tenor I heard several years ago in a performance of Handel's Saul, which was sung by the Harvard choir in memory of John. In that performance, the part of Saul was sung by Nat, one sister was sung by Amanda Forsythe, and the second sister by my own favorite, Janet Brown. Aaron has a beautiful voice. He needs to learn how to move it more easily in rapid flowing passages.Nathalie Paulin is an excellent singer from Toronto. She and Nat have sung together many times in Canada. It is an easy sound from top to bottom. In the last part of the opera she was really singing a mezzo role and brought it off beautifully.
The chorus sang admirably. Good blend, energy. A few too many dumb things with props, but that isn't their fault.
The orchestra played very well. The conductor, Martin Pearlman, tended to drag tempi, making for a very long evening.
The weakest part of the evening's performance was the staging and the dancing. The staging seemed impromptu and the dancing mindless. Also the dancing went on and on. Here was a good place to cut. The choreographer, Marjorie Folkman, had supposedly done some work with Mark Morris. I am not a great fan of his choreography, but if anything, she took his worst habits and capitalized on them.
I must say in all lack of predjudice, that I was very proud of Nat. His singing these days is very musical, sophisticated, and beautiful. I guess he has had a good teacher.
PS Nat told me later that a lot of ballet music was cut from last night's performance. No where nearly enough, for my taste. Perhaps if there had been a more sensitive choreography that somehow related to the wonderful music, this would not have seemed so long. But endless 'heel and a toe and away we go' doesn't do Rameau's music justice and give it the gravitas it deserves. As it was, the incoherant bobbing around on stage was far from the mark. I would love to see a fully staged production of this work. It deserves no less.
