Tenor Michael Hendrick, a former Studio Artist for the company who sang the role of Laca in last season’s “Jenfua,” returns as Levko. “The opera itself may not be familiar, but audiences may recognize some of the music. “There are a couple of tenor arias, one that opens Act Three, that was a favorite of many tenors. The overture has been used all over the world as a concert number.” ~ Valerie Ryvkin (conductor)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Byline: Jay Handelman THEATER WRITER;
Valery Ryvkin was born and raised in Russia, which may make him a natural choice to conduct the North American premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian opera “May Night” at the Sarasota Opera.
Never mind that it marks his debut as conductor of a Russian opera.
When he immigrated with his family into the United States 19 years ago to continue his musical training, Ryvkin was concerned about being “pigeonholed” doing Russian operas.
“But I haven’t conducted a single Russian opera before now,” he said, laughing. “I’ve done most of theopera repertory. In some ways, it’s very much the same as doing anything else. But it’s nice because I feel more of a connection with the language. I react much more immediately to the subtext.”
Ryvkin didn’t purposely avoid conducting Russian operas. “It just happened that way. This was the first one offered to me,” he said.
The offer was for the first production in North America of an opera that is a regular part of the operarepertory in Russia and is frequently performed in Europe.
Both Ryvkin and stage director Darko Tresnjak can’t understand why it has taken so long to make it to the United States. The opera had its premiere in Moscow in 1880 and in London in 1914.
“I’ve fallen in love with it so much, I have no idea why it’s not done,” Tresnjak said. “The music to my ear is exquisitely beautiful. I think a lot of American companies are afraid of doing Russian operas because the language is so difficult.”
The Sarasota Opera, which performs all productions in the original languages, has presented works in Russian, Czech and Dutch, languages with difficult-to-sing consonants. English translations are flashed on a screen above the title.
The opera itself may not be familiar, but audiences may recognize some of the music. “There are a couple of tenor arias, one that opens Act Three, that was a favorite of many tenors. The overture has been used all over the world as a concert number,” Ryvkin said.
“The music is very much Rimsky-Korsakov. The music is very colorful and there is so much variety because there are elements of comedy, satire, romance and fairy tales in the music and the story,” the conductor said. “And it’s a relatively short opera. In other Rimsky-Korsakov operas, you say, `Come on, let’s get on with it,’ but not here. This one moves along at a nice pace.”
“May Night” (or “Maiskaya Noch” in Russian), is based on a story by Nikolai Gogol.
“It doesn’t have a conventional plot and continuity is not its strongest point,” Tresjnak said. “But it has a wonderful collage, romantic in the first act, slapstick in the second and the third act is essentially a ghost story.”
The romance involves Levko, the mayor’s son, and his beloved Hanna, who must wade through ghost stories and silliness to win approval of their marriage.
Tenor Michael Hendrick, a former Studio Artist for the company who sang the role of Laca in last season’s “Jenfua,” returns as Levko.
Mezzo-soprano Amy Ellen Anderson, currently part of the Studio Artist program, makes her debut as Hanna.
Bass-baritone David Lanagan also joins the company for the first time as the mayor. (He’ll also be heard in the annual Verdi concert March 27.) Stephen Eisenhard, a bass-baritone in his fourth season in Sarasota, sings the role of the town drunk, Kalenik. (He’s also heard as Rambaldo in “La rondine.”)
The production is an original creation across the stage. Scenic designer David Gordon and costume designer Howard Tsvi Kaplan worked with Tresjnak “to create the look of those high-polished black-lacquer Russian boxes and dolls,” Kaplan said. “They often had fairy tale characters painted on them and we were trying to create that high-polished, shiny, fairy tale look.”
In addition to directing, Tresnjak has designed the puppets that help tell the story.
Opera is taking up an increasing amount of time in Tresnjak’s schedule. He started directing for the theater, but was encouraged to expand his experience.
“The first productions I did in college had 30 or 40 people in them and I was always drawn to directing on a large scale. After graduating (from Swarthmore College), I realized that working in the theater meant directing much smaller productions.”
Andrei Serban, a noted theater and opera director, became a mentor and told Tresjnak that he had to tryopera. He did so in graduate school and before he received his diploma, he had an agent and work lined up for three years.
He keeps involved in the theater each summer by returning to the Williamstown Theatre Festival in northern Massachusetts, where he has staged his own adaptations of “Love of Three Oranges” and “Princess Turandot,” both based on stories by Carlo Gozzi.
While elements of directing are the same, Tresjnak said theater directors too often have “a hard time accepting a suspension of time. If a singer can perform an aria, which musically takes 10 minutes, theatrically, it is just a moment of time.”
Another problem stems from the scope of opera. “Most theater directors don’t work on such a large scale and it takes a lot more preparation to figure out what 40 people will be doing in relation to the music. With choruses, I know what I’m going to do months in advance. But theater directors are accustomed to working more organically. In theater, it’s almost an insult if you come in too prepared. But in opera, if you don’t do your homework, people think you’re a mess and disorganized, and you have a hard time getting their respect.”
There haven’t been any complaints from the cast and crew so far.
DETAILS
MAY NIGHT
Opens at 8 p.m. Saturday and continues at 8 p.m. March 16, 18 and 24, and at 2 p.m. March 21 and 27 at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Tickets range from $15-$60. Call 366-8450.
CAPTION(S):
Army Ellen Anderson, left, plays “Hanna” and Michael Hendrick plays “Levko” in the Sarasota Operaproduction of May Night.
STAFF PHOTO/MIKE LANG
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