West Bay has assembled a production packed with vocal talent
– including three of the finest alumni from Opera San Jose’s residency program
– and a smart, visually stunning production design. It’s a brilliant
concoction, marrying the best of Silicon Valley technology with the potent
imaginations of both its composer and its protagonist.
Playing the title character, tenor Christopher Bengochea is
a force of nature, singing with a broad, wolfish timbre in the middle ranges,
bursting into bronze tones above the staff, and attacking the stage with great
athleticism. In the opening scene, Bongochea meanders from the song about the
dwarf Kleinzach, taking the audience into the ether of its impassioned bridge,
and just stays in that elevated state for the rest of the opera. He is the
perfect singer to play the love-tormented, charismatic writer.
Another perfect match is mezzo Betany Coffland as Hoffmann’s
muse-turned-companion Nicklausse. Representing the eye of the opera’s
hurricane, Coffland sings with inspiring clarity and a perfect sense for
phrasing. Her performance of “Vois sous l’archet frémissant,” a paean to music
and creativity, is captivating.
Bass-baritone Robert Stafford plays the devil-as-four-characters
with a delicious creepiness, not to mention a running fashion show of rock-star
jackets (Abra Berman, costume designer). The ultimate was his turn as Dr.
Miracle in “Pour conjurer le danger,” interviewing an empty chair (hello, Clint
Eastwood) as he torments Antonia’s father (baritone Carlos Aguilar). Stafford
also drove the glorious trio with Antonia and her deceased mother, sung by
mezzo Michelle Rice. By the final act, he sounded a little worn-out, and
frankly I don’t blame him.
West Bay assembled an impressive cast of supporting singers,
notably baritone Martin Bell as the innkeeper and Schlèmil, and tenor Trey
Costerisan, who provided some fun with the aging servant Frantz’s “Jour et nuit
je me mets en quatre.” The chorus delivered plentiful energy – and occasionally
too much, as they got ahead of the beat (a common choral calamity). José Luis
Moscovich and his musicians were on the mark all night, delivering great
curtains of sound from their orchestral cave (at times, Moscovich was close
enough to his tenor to shake hands).
Jean-Francois Revon’s set design is sheer genius. The
accordion-shaped walls of the opening-scene tavern serve as projection screens
for the three tales: a collage of gearworks for Olympia, burning candles for
Antonia, Italian artworks (and a gondola) for Giulietta. The great power of this
is that Hoffmann is telling these tales inside those same tavern walls. There
are also two eye-catching uses of video, Antonia’s dead mother coming to life
inside a portrait (hello, Harry Potter) and the theft of Hoffmann’s reflection.
Another delight are the steampunk motifs in the costumes and
furniture (steampunk style is based on a fusion of modern technology with 19th
century culture – lots of gears and metal and colored glasses). Stage director
Ragnar Conde did an excellent job of keeping all these elements in the flow of
the action. The result is a vastly entertaining production that brings out the
magical realism of Hoffmann’s fertile imagination (a century before that term
was coined).
Through Oct. 21, Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road,
Palo Alto, California. $40-$75. 650/424-9999, www.WBOpera.org
Images: Tenor Christopher Bengochea, mezzo Betany Coffland as Hoffmann and his muse. Photo by Otak Jump.
Images: Tenor Christopher Bengochea, mezzo Betany Coffland as Hoffmann and his muse. Photo by Otak Jump.
Michael J. Vaughn is author of the novel Operaville,
available at amazon.com
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