Opera in the Redwoods
The Mendocino Music Festival opened July 9 for its 25th season on the headlands of Mendocino, in the artistic heart of the North Coast. Erected in the meadow was the festival tent, an enormous structure measuring over a quarter of an acre, tent poles festooned with orange banners, and with smaller tents selling beverages from the local wineries and breweries.
Within this magical space the orchestra took turns with jazz ensembles and big bands, and it was here, last Friday July 15, that I got to hear “OperaFest.” Eight top soloists recreated moments from some of the World’s great operas, backed by the full Festival Orchestra, which was led with verve by artistic director Allan Pollack.
Turning from gnarled vistas of crenellated shore, and that distant line where water blurs to air, we entered the tent, where 800 seats were drawn up in tiered rows, plywood sculpting the natural slope of the meadow down to the stage. It seemed a surprisingly small step from the vastness of nature into the works of mankind, but we started at the top: Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute. Filled with the leitmotifs of sorceresses, magicians and bird catchers, it was as heady as that view. At Pollack’s big-armed invocation two satisfying blasts shook the tent. And then a regal melody, unmistakably Mozartean with golden hues. Agile horns made way for well-rounded strings—neither too sharply etched nor heavily lush—which gave over to the oomph and sparkle of brass and flutes, a two hundred year old elixir still retaining its fizz.
Tenor John Pickle waltzed in with “Libiamo,” the well-known drinking song from Verdi’s La traviata. His voice held both warmth and enough spinto punch to sail over the musicians. Showing real ease on stage, this veteran opened the second half with another famous waltz, Verdi’s “La donna è mobile,” which he graced with humorous gestures and a flashy long-held “Cento!”
Bay Area mezzo Kathleen Moss anchored the lower registers in her solo, “O mio Fernando,” from Donizetti’s La Favorita, and her lyricism arrayed over French horns was a treat. If Pickle was a pot aboil, Moss stewed at a slow simmer. Earthy and umbral, this chocolaty voice kept getting better all evening.
The other standout was baritone Hector Vasquez, who effortlessly filled the Big Top with tight vibrato and strong currents, a voice like a deep-channeled river. After “Di Provenza,” from La traviata, he joined soprano Cynthia Clayton in a lover’s duet from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. There he acted the young Silvio, a dramatic pairing with Clayton’s Nedda, as lovers’ words turned to spat and then to a sizzling make-up.
Another duet, as a painter and his diva from Puccini’s Tosca, was a big moment for the evening and the Festival. Clayton’s soprano was a good match for Pickle, heavy on top and with softer notes like a well-aged Merlot. Her emotional punch sucked us into the action, first portraying a coquette and then shriller notes of jealousy as she caught sight of his latest portrait, and finally her surrender to trust and passion.
Though we lacked supertitles, they scarcely needed them to bring out the drama, and this concert version let the orchestra shine as well, with deft musical gestures inhabiting the stage rather than rising impersonally out of the pit.
Returning to The Magic Flute, Papageno’s much-loved duet followed, starring Vasquez and soprano Jillian Boye as an impish Papagena. Then the full ensemble lined up for the finale, the comic ending of Act 1 of Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, which they performed with glee. It was also an opportunity for bass Mathew Miksak to show off his considerable agility.
This Friday night soul and blues singer Bettye LaVette headlines. Then Saturda
y is the closing concert, featuring Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and over 100 singers from five different choruses who come together to perform Mozart’s Grand Mass in C Minor, a splashy end to a remarkable festival. For further information, see www.mendocinomusic.com.
—Adam Broner
Photo top of Festival Tent 2011, photo by A. Broner; photo bottom of mezzo-soprano Kathleen Moss.