A Lively, Entertaining Zorro in San Jose

 

Eugene Brancoveanu as Moncada, Xavier Prado
as Zorro. Photo by David Allen.

Opera San Jose

Hector Armienta’s Zorro

April 19, 2025

I spent the afternoon protesting the oppression of poor brown people in America. I spent the evening watching an opera about the oppression of poor brown people in America. That’s how very, sadly topical is Hector Armienta’s Zorro. It’s also a very entertaining and action-packed show, but the currency of its central message makes it especially relevant.

Based on John McCulley’s 1919 novel and a stream of follow-up variations, the story centers on Diego de la Vega, an Alta California kid who returns from his education in Spain to his hometown, Pueblo de Los Angeles. Since his father’s death, the city has fallen under the rule of Moncada, a cruel mayor who freely tortures everyone but the landed Spanish gentry.

Armiento, who also wrote the libretto, develops his first act at a leisurely pace, but there’s a certain pleasure in watching him spread unrecquited love all over the city like landmines. Diego ended a love affair with Carlota just before her powerful family backed Moncada’s ascension. Diego, meanwhile, has the hots for childhood friend Ana Maria, but she’s wholly occupied with saving the region’s poor and needy citizens. Moncada, meanwhile, was Diego’s university pal, but their friendship ended badly and he sees Carlota as an opportunity for a juicy vengeance.

Driven by Ana Maria’s encouragement and his late father’s devotion to justice, Diego crashes a masquerade party in the classic black hat, mask and cape and takes on Moncada’s soldiers, leaving a couple of them with the classic Z-shaped wound. And a legend is born.

Armienta is an unapologetic Romantic in the Puccini tradition. He handles dialogue in the through-composed style of the later Puccini, but when it comes to set pieces, he dips into the rich Latin/Mexican tradition, drawing from mariachi, flamenco and corrido music. It’s an intriguing blend. Compositionally, he reaches his peak with the Act I quartet, the four principals singing their desires and conflicts over an incredibly lush outpouring from the orchestra (led by Jorge Parodi). This deft handling of multiple voices reminded me of another Italian composer, Verdi.

Tenor Xavier Prado brings a charming underdog quality to Diego, full of swagger but also a self-questioning vulnerability. His middle range began a bit covered, but above the staff his tone rang like a bell. He also excelled in the quiet passages, notably in the Act 2 love duet with soprano Maria Brea as Ana Maria. And he performed a steamy flamenco dance with Brea, this time in his guise as Zorro.

Mezzo Melisa Bonetti Luna uses Carlota’s Act 2 aria to deliver a meaty psychological dilemma: does one respond to rejection with the obvious vengeance, or is it better to wish the object of your affections a happy life? Her performance in this piece was passionate and moving.

Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu is eminently fierce and hissable as Moncada, but also sings so beautifully that it’s hard not to enjoy it. His impatience with his oafish Sergeant Gomez (bass-baritone Jesus Vicente Murillo) lends a touch of ‘30s madcap comedy. Don’t feel bad for Gomez, however. He ends up with the beautiful housemaid Luisa, leading to the most relatable romance in the opera. Luisa sees Gomez as a hero, and Gomez has no idea why. Soprano Arianna Rodriguez sings Luisa with the most dazzling voice in the cast, diamond-like in its brilliance.

The production is performed in alternating phrases of English and Spanish. I would have preferred all Spanish - it being the more singable language - but I can see where Spanglish is a distinctly California phenomenon. I wondered, in fact, if this was confusing to the singers, but they didn’t show any flubs. Another little “code-switch” was one of the peasant mothers threatening a soldier with her shoe, which is a long-standing Mexican/Chicano joke.

I really enjoyed the colorful, authentic costumes of designer Ulises Alcala, particularly the sharp colonial uniforms. Liliana Duque-Pineiro’s scenic design also delivered that authenticity, adobe surfaces with rough-hewn timbers. Her sets were like little puzzle boxes, endlessly shifting. Slide an altar out of the wall, drop down a crucifix and tada! Villa to chapel in seconds. (That air of authenticity ran through the production, which is such a welcome distinction from the sometimes-hokey stereotypes of Hollywood Zorros.)

The swordfighting was so intricate and edgy, I really did worry that someone was going to get hurt. Kudos to the cast, stage director David Radames Toro and fight choreographer Dave Maier.

Through May 4, California Theater, 345 S. First Street, San Jose. $58-$215. 408/437-4450. operasj.org. OSJ’s ‘25-’26 season will include Cosi fan tutte (Sept. 14-28), Madama Butterfly (Nov. 16-30), Cavelleria Rusticana and Pagliacci (Feb. 15-March 1) and La Traviata (April 19-May 3).

Michael J. Vaughn is a 40-year opera critic and author of 30 novels. His latest, I Look for You in the Crowd, is available at Amazon. 

The Hypnotizing Case of Bluebeard's Castle

 Opera San Jose

Bartok: Bluebeard’s Castle

February 15, 2025

Seeing Bartok’s 1918 one-act is not just a rare opportunity, it’s a mesmerizing one. It would be difficult to experience this work without having the furniture in one’s mind fully rearranged.

Taken from a French legend told by Charles Perrault, Bela Belazs’s libretto carries a fairly discursive pattern. In her desire to marry the mysterious bad boy next door, Judith (Maria Natale) comes to his castle and is led through a series of seven doors, each revealing an aspect of its owner’s life, the last of these completely verboten.

The unsettling mood is set up immediately by Steven C. Kemp’s gorgeous gothic set, two high stone walls outfitted with doors of different shapes and colors and an array of grand mismatched chandeliers. The seventh door stands at the top of a set of stairs, carved and golden.

Bluebeard himself (Zachary Nelson) opens with a spoken prologue, which in itself is an unsettling opening for an audience primed for singing. Our heroine arrives in a sexy sheer bridal outfit that looks a little Taylor Swiftian (Caitlin Cisek, costume designer).

The riddles begin, and one by one the doors are opened: a torture chamber, a store of bloody weaponry. A fairly creepy beginning, but it’s also hard to decipher the back-and-forth between bride and groom. Is this foreplay, or is this a cat playing with a mouse before killing it? 

This perilous little tennis match is represented in the music, as well. Bluebeard, often seated, sings plainy and in the pentatonic mode, often repeating the phrase “Are you frightened?” Judith moves restlessly about the chamber as she quizzes her suitor, singing in richer modalities inspired by Debussy. She also applies trickier rhythms, triplets and shifting signatures taken from Transylvanian folk music.

Joseph Marcheso and his orchestra do an amazing job of delivering this demanding score. The proceedings reach a grand climax with the revelation of Bluebeard’s expansive landholdings, represented by a burst into C major and the sublime rumbling of the California Theater’s Wurlitzer organ, played by Veronika Agranov-Dafoe.

Nelson sings Bluebeard with a calm presence and a rich baritone, providing the possibility for both menace and kindness. Soprano Natale does a superb job of exploring Judith’s emotions, giving the tale its necessary dramatic throughline.

Stage director Shawna Lucey leans into the story’s feminist implications, underlining the power plays between authoritarian male and disadvantaged female - but I would add a further interpretation. Judith is horrified at the violence revealed by the first two doors, but her disgust lessens as she sees the gold, gardens and lands that came as a result. And there’s your modern oligarchy.

Lighting designer Michael Clark achieved some innovative effects with the door openings, particularly the shimmering of Bluebeard’s treasures. There’s a bit of license taken with the ending, but the change is actually much closer to Perrault’s original story.

Through March 2, California Theater, 345 S. First Street, San Jose. $58-$215, operasj.org, 408/437-4450. In English with English and Spanish supertitles.

Michael J. Vaughn is a 40-year opera critic and author of thirty novels, including his latest, I Look for You in the Crowd, available at Amazon.com.

Image: Maria Natale as Judith, Zachary Nelson as Bluebeard. Photo by David Allen.