Even though the Chicago Symphony has performed and even recorded “Bluebeard’s Castle, ” the opportunity to see a live staging of Bartok’s mesmerizing single opera is rare indeed (Lyric Opera last staged it in 1970) and should not be missed. Despite a minimalist staging and set and an orchestra clanging away so loudly under Alexander Platt that Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Kristina Szabo’s Judith could barely be heard throughout the opera’s climactic moments, veteran bass superstar Samuel Ramey’s performance as Bluebeard makes this Chicago Opera Theater production a “Bluebeard” to remember. Ramey’s voice is not the flexible instrument that it was when it was in its glory, but the power and deep timbre are still there, as is his uncanny ability to voice a characterization like no bass singing today. Pity that the essential role of the narrator—which provides a context for this psychologically based retelling of the fairy tale where expectations are turned upside-down—was cut. Schoenberg’s early pre-serial melodrama “Erwatung” is a tough work to sing, and even tougher to stage, given that the “action” is in the delusional mind of its lead character. Or is it? As staged by COT on this double bill, the bloody, lifeless “victim” is distractingly onstage throughout Nancy Gustafson’s soliloquy, which, though sung with flair and precision, was marred by jagged, overloud orchestral playing. This is Schoeneberg’s Expressionist period, folks, not his twelve-tone period. Thankfully, Gustafson’s riveting performance ultimately rescues the experience, a descent into paranoia that is the iconic aural equivalent of Munch’s “The Scream.” (Dennis Polkow)
“Bluebeard’s Castle & Erwartung” runs at the Harris Theater, 205 East Randolph, (312)704-8414, through May 19.
Transformation and Transfiguration: A Review of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing at Chicago Opera Theater British mathematician Alan Turing, who is the father of computer science, was primarily publicly remembered for being convicted of “gross indecency” for homosexual acts and was subject to chemical castration as a condition of his probation. From its opening notes, the music is compelling and perfectly captures the ambiguity of the worlds Turing was caught up in, almost a dramatic…
A Second Company's Saga: The Spirited Story of Fifty Years of Chicago Opera Theater Chicago Opera Theater began as a handful of vocal students of company founder Alan Stone. It was formed by Stone to give his students actual performance practice and experience. Stone’s decision to present operas in English was a considerable break with convention back in 1973.
