Madama Butterfly melds abstract with poignant reality

By Burt Saidel

Dayton Opera made its art the art of the city.  Grand opera has always combined the arts, music, singing, dance and dramatics.  Dayton Opera Impresario Tom Bankston added a dimension by inviting artist Jun Kaneko to bring his new production of the beloved Madama Butterfly to the Schuster Center.

Kaneko, an internationally acclaimed sculptor, painter and ceramicist, dwells in the world of spatial relations.  His works embody qualities of mass, line and color into a total effect.  Many of his works were seen and shared in exhibitions at the Dayton Art Institute and Dayton Visual Arts Center.

Well-attended lectures and events brought an aura of excitement to the entire opportunity. Kaneko, spreading his gifts into the world of opera, brought expansiveness and an intimacy to the tragic tale.

Every aspect of the production was designed and executed by Kaneko.  The set, a circular dais within a swirl of concentric lines, became the entire world for the star-crossed Butterfly.  It was clear from the first moments that her world was but a footnote to the chauvinism of B.F. Pinkerton, the epitome of the arrogant American of the past.

The opera’s first moments set the tone for the magic to follow.  Kimonos, coats of many colors and designs, covered the stage curtain.  When it lifted, those same fantasy-filled costumes appeared on all the characters.

The house, leased by Pinkerton, along with a wife, became an abstract of sliding panels on the world-circle.  Everything was an abstraction brought to startling dramatic reality by the magic of the music and the marvel of the human voices.  The music, under the baton of the operatic genius of Charles Wendelken-Wilson, sparked the perfection of the opera.

As Butterfly, Soprano Indira Mahajan returned to Dayton Opera.  Well remembered for her leading roles in I Pagliacci and La Bohème, she became totally unforgettable as her first Butterfly.  I can predict that this will be the role she will own in the great opera houses of the world.

This “Butterfly” properly centered the roles.  Pinkerton remained relegated to his persona, a cad and bounder.  The characters of the American Consul Sharpless and Butterfly’s faithful companion Suzuki joined Butterfly as the axis on which the drama turned and the tragedy unfolded.

Sharpless was sung by baritone Malcom Mackenzie.  He brought a rich and highly mutable vocal face  to the often overlooked sensitivities of the character.  Puccini gave so many musical gifts to that role and Mackenzie made use of each of them.
Layna Chianakas made her Suzuki the caring and loving companion underscoring the tragedy.   She sang beautifully and swelled each scene with her dramatic sensitivity.  All were ably assisted by Richard Crawley as Pinkerton and the effervescent personality of Richard Roberts as Goro, the marriage-broker.

I must return to the singing of Indira Mahajan.  Sweeping vocal power in an unbroken line is inspiring.  Mahajan has that under her complete control.  What she adds is an incredible ability to enter that line from the softness of her inner feelings with effortless grace.

The drama was magically enhanced by lighting and scenic effects.  Pinkerton’s ship sails in caricature across the stage, flowers fall and, tragically, blood flows with piercing effect.  Even more magic arrived in the part of Sorrow, Pinkerton and Butterfly’s child.  Nearly five-year-old Caroline Perry admits that she is an opera star.  No one could argue that!

The presence of the child and its loving inspiration for Butterfly and Suzuki brought a poignant and powerful reality to the abstraction of the opera.  I understand that the new Met production of “Butterfly” uses a puppet as the child.  They missed the point which director Leslie Swackhammer, Impresario Bankston and Jun Kaneko understood so well.  The audience, many moved to tears understood it as well.

The Claremont Trio

The Claremont Trio has their own magic without stage sets, colors and dramatic lighting.  This magic resides in their music.

The three young and beautiful musicians have devoted themselves to developing and expanding the piano trio literature.  They are becoming stars in the world of chamber music.

Violinist Emily Bruskin, cellist Julia Bruskin and pianist Donna Kwong consider Vanguard Concerts and Dayton to be one of the favorite stops in their busy schedule. The feeling is entirely mutual as near-filled houses at the Renaissance Auditorium of the DAI attest.

This concert was unusual as they repeated the Piano Trio of Anton Arensky played last season.  Impresaria Elana Bolling was lobbied relentlessly by Vanguard supporters to have this exciting but rarely heard trio replayed.  The well beloved Piano Trio of Antonin Dvorák and a contemporary work, String Band by Mason Bates made up the program.

Each of these works is very different requiring unique voices from the instruments. The amazing and endearing quality of the Claremont Trio is their ability to make each of these sounds, each of these musical personae, live as if it was the only work they played.

All three of these great artists add their youth and passion to their technical brilliance. Every one of their appearances ends with standing ovations, prolonged applause and the question, “When are you coming back?”  The answer is simple, soon and often!

Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman, the most celebrated violinist of our time, returned to the Dayton Philharmonic in a special concert.  He has been an icon for decades.  During that time, his violin magic has kept pure musicality foremost.

Many famous violinists are known for their fiery interpretations or deeply dramatic moods.  Itzhak Perlman has made his name synonymous with joyous music-making, wide-ranging scope and a compelling presence.

Just in case anyone in the Schuster Wintergarden didn’t know that the special guest was a violinist, that fact was learned very quickly.  Before the concert, at least 30 beautiful young faces held violins close to their cherubic cheeks.  In an amazing display they played, in unison and in tune, a score of pieces without a note of music in front of them.  At least one of these talented chicks could become a Perlman in future years.

Not content to let the enthusiastic crowd disperse to their seats, a Klezmer band assembled.  Before too many minutes, there was even dancing!

Dayton has been a regular part of Perlman’s travels.  I can recall a half dozen appearances at least.  Most memorable, from a personal standpoint, was an evening at Memorial Hall nearly 40 years ago. Perlman, a bright young superstar, played with the orchestra.

After the concert there was a reception below.  As I stood examining the buffet table, a voice commanded, “Hold these.”  I found that I was holding Perlman’s arm crutches. I watched as he heaped two plates to the brim with the buffet delicacies.  He handed me the plates, took the crutches and said, “Take these to a table.” Do I know Itzhak Perlman?  We dined together!

For this concert, Perlman chose a very distinctive concerto - Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, subtitled The Turkish.  Often played at all performance levels, this work is full of hidden treasures.  Its strength is in subtlety, not bravura.  Mozart, the genius, knew just how to bring the listener into his magic presence.  Perlman, the artist, knows how to keep them there, enthralled and transported.  

Each of the three movements is melodic with interesting ranges of dynamics and tempi.  There are no “fireworks” but a continuum of effervescent musical treats.  There are cadenzas and mini-cadenzas in all movements and Perlman made the most of them with magnificent phrasing and scarcely hidden jocularity.  I anticipated the famous Turkish Janissary March of the last movement and found that it was intoxicating in elegance and vivacity.

Our special guest was not finished. Immediately after intermission, he played what Maestro Neal described as “bon-bons.”  Fritz Kreisler knew the fiddle, he knew melody and he knew musical joy.  He didn’t know Itzhak Perlman but if he had he would have written Liebeslied and Liebesfreude just for him.

The concert opened on a more difficult note.  Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture is familiar and well-loved.  It is full of delightful folk melodies portrayed in masterstrokes.  Still, it demands good orchestral harmony.  Unfortunately, the horns couldn’t find the all-important key notes and nearly everything went askew.  This happens to all orchestras from time to time.  In the acoustical perfection of the Schuster, a missed note sounds like a cannon shot and can disturb the audience as well as the other musicians.

This problem was solved in the concert’s finale.  Maestro Neal sent all the brass, and even the woodwinds, into a form of temporary exile.  The orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings as it can only be heard in the rarefied acoustics of the Schuster by the artists of the Philharmonic strings.

Hearing the famous serenade is like drowning in velvet but with  plenty of pure air to breathe.  Tchaikovsky never found a melody he didn’t like. There were tunes aplenty, played with clarity and delicacy compelling the ear and brightening the spirit.
The leadership of all the section principals, Aurelian Oprea, Kirstin Greenlaw, Sheridan Curie, Andre Padrichelli and Jon Pascolini was clearly evident in the magnificence of the sound and the interweaving of the elements.  If ever there was a need for an encore performance, the Serenade for Strings cried out for it.  Is that a gentle hint, Maestro Neal?

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October 24, 2006
Volume 15, Number 43

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