Opera Orchestra of New York - Dom Sebastien Reviews

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Eve Queler, music director

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Reviews from the 2006 Dom Sebastien

Kasarova soars in `Dom Sebastien'

RONALD BLUM

Associated Press - Wed, Nov. 08, 2006

NEW YORK - Vesselina Kasarova triumphed in a rare New York appearance and rising tenor Dmitry Korchak impressed as the Opera Orchestra of New York unearthed one of Donizetti's rare operas, "Dom Sebastien."
The last of Donizetti's 70 operas to be produced, it first was staged at the Paris Opera in 1843 and largely disappeared from view in recent years until Kasarova starred in a concert performance that opened the Royal Opera's 2005-2006 season in London.
Wearing a bronze gown that matched her hair at Tuesday night's Carnegie Hall performance, Kasarova displayed the smoky, muscular voice that has made her a star. The Bulgarian mezzo-soprano became a regular at Europe's top houses after her Salzburg Festival appearance in 1991 and made her U.S. debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1997, but illness caused her to cancel scheduled Metropolitan Opera debuts in 1997 and 2000.
She made it to the Met for three performances in 2002 and six more two years later, but since then the most notable U.S. appearances for the Zurich-based singer were in Rossini's "Cenerentola" last year at the Lyric. Zayda, the daughter of the governor of Fez, allowed her to show off more of the dramatic part of her voice.
In Eugene Scribe's libretto, she is caught in a love triangle between Portuguese King Dom Sebastien (Korchak) and Moor chief Abayaldos (Stephen Gaertner). She is also trapped in the struggle between Islam and Christianity, causing her to be persecuted by Grand Inquisitor Juam de Sylva (Daniel L. Williams). Kasarova grabbed the audience's attention and sympathy with moving singing in several dramatic arias and duets.
In a strong cast, Korchak stood out, especially in the "Seul sur la terre" aria that closes the second act. The boyish-looking 27-year-old tenor, who made his New York debut two years ago in Rimsky-Korsakov's "Mozart and Salieri" at Lincoln Center, had a voice with both heft and pliancy. He has some significant debuts scheduled, and he is a singer to watch.
Also worthy of praise were a pair of baritones: Gaertner and Stephen Powell, who sang the role of the poet Camoens.
OONY music director Eve Queler also conducted "Dom Sebastien" 22 years ago, using a provisional orchestra score and an Italian piano vocal score. This time, she led from a 2004 critical edition published by Ricordi, getting through in three hours by cutting the ballet and several bits that Donizetti trimmed for the opera's 1845 Vienna premiere.
While the New York City Gay Men's Chorus and the Scott Choral Artists of New York were in fine form, the orchestra struggled at times, especially the horns.
Queler has arranged one of the OONY's stronger seasons, with Rossini's "Otello" (Jan. 17) and Cilea's "L'Arlesiana" (Feb. 21) to follow.

GAY CITY NEWS, November 15, 2006

David Shengold

Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY) began its season strongly October 7 with a stirring reading of Dom Sébastien. Gaetano Donizetti's last completed work offers some structural problems and longeurs but also some highly dramatic and musically intriguing passages. OONY's Carnegie Hall audience-always out in force for bel canto-certainly enjoyed itself.
As Dame Edna Everage would say, Vesselina Kasarova had "made the effort," stunningly coiffed, in a striking gown of iridescent bronze, she looked every inch a major recording star. The beautiful image was compromised when she sang, however; her facial grimacing-if hardly her vocalism-leaves Cecilia Bartoli in the shade. Kasarova's burnished mezzo has a distinct vocal personality, a welcome thing these days; but I found her constantly manipulated phrasing and glottal shock tactics wearying; and though she sang with feeling, her French was substandard.
Much more pleasure was provided by Dmitry Korchak, who had previously sung only Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart and Salieri in New York. His Sébastien showed admirable stylistic schooling and unerring musical acumen, including great dynamic control; just as one began to feel that the voice lacked much tonal profile, he would let forth astonishingly confident, "present" high notes. The Act II cavatina scored him a triumph. Young Michael Fabiano (Antonio) also showed excellent lyric tenor material and praiseworthy diction.
Stephen Powell's splendid baritone and style-attuned artistry enriched the marvelous part of the poet/warrior Camöens-long lines, tapered dynamics, and the breath control to end the evening on a thrilling long-held final note. Even without regard to the mediocrities foisted on Met audiences this autumn as Valentin and Marcello, one wonders why this excellent singer last appeared at America's leading opera house in 1998.
Stephen Gaertner also distinguished himself as Abayaldos, mustering an impressively projected baritone with high, concentrated placement and declaiming with considerable intensity. The villainous InquisitorJuan de Sylva got duly sounded low notes but not much else from the growly Daniel Lewis Williams, his head buried in the score. For many years Queler could confidently call upon Paul Plishka for this kind of thing; his successor is not yet at hand.
After shaping the prelude forcefully, she retreated to her more usual traffic-directing approach; but the evening was a distinct success, also thanks to the New York City Gay Men's Chorus and Scott Choral Artists. As some of Queler's much-appreciated organization's finest achievements have been in the grand opéra field, it would be fortuitous for her to make the acquaintance of some native Francophone artists. The fine Annick Massis headlined Bellini's Capuleti with Kasarova in 1999, but she's a rare exception who has not returned.

An Opera Whose Time Has Come

By George Loomis - MusicalAmerica.com - November 9, 2006

NEW YORK -- The Opera Orchestra of New York has been opening the ears of audiences to lesser-known operas for well over three decades. It also has been presenting established singers in roles not previously sung and introducing important new vocal talent.
OONY pretty much achieved all of these with its concert performance of “Dom Sébastien” Tuesday night in Carnegie Hall. The work has long intrigued Donizetti admirers because it occupied an inordinate amount of his time and because it comes at the end of his career, written for the Paris Opéra. Occasional modern revivals, including one 22 years ago by OONY, have shown it to be not without problems, but on the basis of this fine performance, it also has strengths that easily outweigh them.
“Dom Sébastien” is the grandest of the three grands opéras Donizetti completed for the Opéra. It is the only one in five acts and the only one with a libretto by Eugène Scribe, who furnished the librettos for Meyerbeer’s four French grand operas and for most of the other important works of the genre. Typically, it offers much spectacle, notably a big embarkation scene in which the ill-fated 16-century Portuguese king Dom Sébastien prepares to depart on a North African campaign against the Moslems (funny how so many operas seem to deal with Christian-Moslem conflicts) and a big ceremonial scene in which the king attends his own (bogus) funeral. Character development was not one of Scribe’s hallmarks; he was more interested in placing characters in novel situations and introducing an element of surprise, which often makes for a degree of implausibility.
But whether a character can come to life really depends on the composer, and the music Donizetti gave to Dom Sébastien and his beloved Zayda, the daughter of a Moslem ruler, defines them as flesh-and-blood opera characters. There may be some confusion over the work’s villains -- there are no fewer than three, each with a different agenda -- but the only real problem is the opera’s lame ending. Scribe liked to end with something spectacular, like the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre at the end of “Les Huguenots,” or the demise of Rachel in a boiling caldron at the end of “La Juive.” But Zayda and Dom Sébastien, who has been imprisoned by usurpers of the throne, are simply killed in an escape attempt, and the opera ends. There is no coup de théâtre, no sense if tragedy, just an unhappy ending. You get the iimpression that Donizetti realized he couldn’t do much with it and so didn’t even try. (Having the baritone sing a loud, sustained high note for several measures, as he did Tuesday night, hardly supplies much of a remedy.)
Otherwise, there is a wealth of top-drawer Donizetti in this opera. Writing for Paris brought out the best in composers. The individual pieces here have a consistently high level of formal polish and detail, and Donizetti makes judicious use of the Opéra’s orchestra’s resources with some especially colorful wind writing and other striking effects. The brooding tune of the funeral march, with its chromatic inflections, appealed to Mahler, who used it in the song “Die zwei blauen Augen” from “Songs of a Wayfarer.” In Act 2, set in Morocco, augmented intervals suggest local color. Overall, the numbers have a distinctively French rhythmic cut with pieces notable for their Italianate melodic style. It’s a consistently rewarding score.
The evening was also memorable for Vesselina Kasarova’s stunning portrayal of Zayda. Here is a singer who has won much international acclaim but whom New York has heard all too little (in part because illness forced her to cancel her Metropolitan Opera debut). Her mezzo is one of the most beautiful and impressive to be heard today, a model of resonance, evenness of production and steadiness. She also has a wonderful way of giving low notes a presence without letting them turn raspy or chesty, and she looks great on stage. The challenging role of Zayda, which she also sang in concert at Covent Garden last year, is one in which she seems very much at home, making the most of the character’s keen displays of temperament but also bringing a fine degree of tenderness, such as in her lyrical piece at the end of Act 1.
In Dmitry Korchak, a young tenor from Moscow’s Novaya Opera, OONY has a made a real find. The voice has an appealingly lyrical flexibility yet also a shining luster and is capable of producing secure, ringing high notes. He earned a well-deserved ovation for Dom Sébastien’s romance “Seul sur la terre,” with its three high C’s and one high D-flat. And Korchak showed a fine feeling for the niceties of French style. (Happily, the opera was sing in French, and not, as is so often the case with French grand operas by Italian composers, in an Italian translation.)
As Cadmoëns, the poet who befriends the beleaguered Dom Sébastien, Stephen Powell offered a warmly sung performance of “O Lisbonne, o ma patrie,” a piece sometimes extracted from the opera. Another baritone, Stephen Gaertner, sang with a handsomely focused sound and a dramatic presence as Abayaldos, Zayda’s jilted betrothed. Daniel Lewis Williams brought cavernous bass tones to the role of Juam de Sylva, who plots (successfully) to deliver Portugal to Philip II of Spain.
Eve Queler held the sprawling work together in good order, although it was a pity that she couldn’t have elicited cleaner wind playing. The opera was performed in accordance with a new critical edition by Mary Ann Smart. Cuts were skillfully handled and, apart from the ballet, which was omitted entirely, they involved mainly recitatives, although some interesting connective orchestral passages were sacrificed. But with the exception of the cabaletta of the Act 5 duet for Dom Sébastien and Zayda, the musical numbers were performed without debilitating internal cuts. Queler restored the opera’s fine sextet to its original position as the concertato movement of the Act 3 finale; at the behest of Scribe, it was transferred to Act 4 because he thought it would make a stronger impact there. In any case, the time has come to see how “Dom Sébastien” works on the stage.

Copyright © 2006, Musical America

Queler & Opera Orchestra Kick Off Carnegie Season with Donizetti "Dom Sébastien," with Strong Showing by Korchak & Kasarova in Ill-Starred Romance

by Bruce-Michael Gelbert

To start their 36th season at Carnegie Hall, on November 7, Maestra Eve Queler and her Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY) reinvestigated Gaetano Donizetti's last work, "Dom Sébastien: Roi du Portugal," a sprawling five-act grand opera, loosely based on historical events in Portugal in the late 16th century, written for the Paris Opéra and given a premiere 163 years ago this month. The leading singers in "Dom Sébastien"'s previous OONY outing, on March 23, 1984, were Richard Leech and Klara Takacs. This time, with striking young Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak and internationally acclaimed Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova heading a distinguished cast, Queler and company made rather more of a persuasive case for the opera.
In "Dom Sébastien," the King of Portugal (Korchak), accompanied by such followers as the poet and soldier Luis de Camoëns (Stephen Powell), author of Portuguese patriotic epic poem "The Lusitanians," departs Lisbon for Morocco on an, as it were, holy crusade, leaving Dom Antonio (Michael Fabiano) as regent, abetted by Grand Inquisitor Dom Juam de Sylva (Daniel Lewis Williams), to plot behind the king's back. Repeatedly crossing Sébastien's path, as they come to each other's aid on both sides of the Mediterranean, is Zayda (Kasarova), daughter of Ben-Selim, Governor of Fez (Philip Cokorinos) and fiancée of the warrior chieftain Abayaldos (Stephen Gaertner). Abayaldos' troops easily trounce Sébastien's; the loyal Sandoval (Mark Risinger) sacrifices himself to the enemy by claiming that he is the king; and Dom Juam and Dom Antonio hypocritically hold a lavish funeral for the king they despise, who turns up there, very much alive, only to be seized by the Inquisition. The monarch's foes try to use Zayda to get Sébastien to waive his claim to the throne; Camoëns attempts to rescue the lovers from prison; and, once they've been assassinated, Dom Juam betrays the pretender to the crown by turning the country over to King Philip II of Spain.
Making his OONY debut, Korchak, his tenor well focused, sounded promising from the start of his high-lying role. He thrilled listeners with his showpiece, the ravishing romance "Seul sur la terrre," at the end of Act Two, sung lyrically or ringingly as needed, with top notes-several high Cs and a high D-flat-surely placed. Zayda, surprisingly, has no single powerhouse scena, but Kasarova, despite quirky diction, made her mark, singing mostly with restraint, starting the first act final ensemble with a solo, "O mon Dieu, sur la terre," which showed off the light and dark hues in her mezzo; lending her plush instrument to "Sol adoré de la patrie," a melancholy meditation on returning to her country without Sébastien; and last act cabaletta, "Mourir pour ce qu'on aime," celebrating her anticipated sacrifice for her beloved.
Proving apt foils for each other, Korchak and Kasarova blended voices principally in "Grand Dieu, sa misère est si grande," a rapturous duet on the battlefield, its soaring lines dulcetly sung, and encouraging each other in its blazing stretta, "Courage, ô mon roi," capped with their ringing top tone, and in their jubilant reunion in prison, "Comment dans ma misère," and "Son âme noble et fière," uplifting expression of their resolve to defy the Inquisition.
The performance boasted two outstanding, contrasting baritones. Powell, a thoughtful Camoëns, introduced himself to his king with a stirring heroic aria, "Soldat, j'ai rêvé la victoire;" offered a mystical sounding prophecy, "Oui, le ciel m'enflamme," which gave way to a rousing martial refrain, "En avant, soldats," with the chorus; delivered an ardent patriotic paean, "O Lisbonne, ô ma patrie," on returning from the war in Africa; and sang a lulling barcarolle, "Pêcheur de la rive," as he prepared to lead Sébastien and Zayda to freedom. Gaertner, fiery as Abayaldos, roused his warriors into action against the Portuguese invaders with a blazing "Levez-vous, que la glaive," and scorchingly denounced his "adulterous" wife with "Va parjure, epouse impie," to start off the stretta concluding Act Four.
Powell and Korchak joined forces with distinction for recognition duet "C'est un soldat" and buoyant stretta, "Ah, ô jour de joie!" in the "funeral" scene. And Gaertner and Kasarova had a searing exchange, "C'est qu'en tous lieux ... En vaine pour te soutraire," in which he first accused her of harboring adulterous desires.
Bass Williams weighed in sturdily as arch-villain Dom Juam, collaborating with his forces on condemning the king and his disciples at the end of Act One-"Anathème à qui nous brave"-and menacing Sébastien in a low-lying solo, following the grand concerted andante (sostenuto) sextet, "De l'espoir et de terreur," at the end of Act Three, which found "good guys" Powell, Kasarova and Korchak, on stage right, facing off "bad guys," Gaertner, Fabiano and Williams, on stage left.
Queler and her players set the scene in Lisbon with a brief, but sweeping orchestral prelude and introduced the second act, in North Africa, with exotic-sounding strains. Portraying Portuguese soldiers and sailors, members of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus (who will start their own season at Carnegie with a holiday concert on December 11) had the first voices heard here, anticipating the voyage and crusade ahead-"Nautoniers, mettez à la voile"-and soon played Inquistors, ominously calling for "Céleste justice" (heavenly justice), which "punit les pervers" (punishes the depraved). The women of Scott Choral Artists of New York came into their own as Zayda's attendants, welcoming her back into their midst with a cheerful "Les délices de nos campagnes."
"Dom Sébastien" in concert called, of course, for audience members to envision for themselves the lavish spectacles of the port, royal palace, and principal square of Lisbon; the funeral procession, with 60 monks, four drummers, eight heralds, 12 soldiers, 24 lancers, a dozen officers, flag-bearers, pages, 6 horses, 40 young women carrying lighted candles, 20 casket-bearers, and so on, specified; and the "rich African landscape, more exotic garden than desert," as well as the somber Inquisition's torture chamber and prison in the Tower of Lisbon. Think, though, of the less than lavish designs decreed by the Metropolitan Opera for the mid-19th century French grand opera in its repertory in recent decades--all given with the requisite ballet omitted-because of budget constraints or contemporary taste. Its "Don Carlos," by Giuseppe Verdi, given as "Don Carlo," is imposing enough, but his "Vêpres Siciliennes," as "Vespri Siciliani," Giacomo Meyerbeer's "Le Prophète," and Jacques Fromental Halévy's "La Juive" have all been seen in fairly abstract productions that leave much to the imagination. An outstanding concert presentation, like Queler and OONY's "Dom Sébastien," is, even without scenery and costumes, vivid enough to satisfy.
OONY continues its season at Carnegie, under Queler, with Gioachino Rossini's "Otello," with Ramón Vargas, Ruxandra Donose, Maria Zifchak, Kenneth Tarver, Robert McPherson and Daniel Mobbs, on January 17 at 7:30 p.m. For further information, telephone OONY at (212) 799-1982 or visit its web site, http://www.oony.org.

A Rarity in Top Form

Jay Nordlinger - November 9, 2006

Opera Orchestra of New York, or OONY, performs two main services: It gives us operas rarely seen in opera houses. (These are concert performances, in Carnegie Hall.) And it gives us singers: sensational ones, often unorthodox ones. OONY is a presenter for voice nuts. And on Tuesday night, they were appeased and gratified.
The opera was, indeed, a rarity, but one that deserves fame: Donizetti's "Dom Sébastien," the composer's last. Donizetti wrote some 70 operas, beginning with "Il pigmalione" in 1816; he penned "Dom Sébastien" — or, more formally, "Dom Sébastien de Portugal" — in 1843. It is a French grand opera, with five acts, ballet, the whole nine yards. (OONY, under its founder-conductor Eve Queler, omitted the ballet.) The librettist for "Dom Sébastien" is the nicely named Eugène Scribe.
And the story? Set in 16th-century Portugal and Morocco, and loosely based on historical events, it's about Europeans and Moors, at each other's throats. The Moors scream such lines as "Holy war is declared, and my soul is concerned only with honor." Too bad these musty old operas are "irrelevant" to the present day.
In the course of the opera, the Inquisition and the Moors compete with each other in cruelty, and, in an apt development, they actually band together. Our heroes are Dom Sébastien, the Portuguese king, and Zayda, a Moorish princess. They love each other, and they die, for this is a "grande tragédie."
The opera has but one female role, because the original Zayda — a French mezzo named Rosine Stoltz — demanded so. Her boyfriend was head of the opera house. I know you can't imagine such dealing in the music biz today.
On Tuesday night, Zayda was sung by Vesselina Kasarova, one of the most remarkable singers around. She is well familiar with the role, having sung it at Covent Garden last season. And she sang the bejesus out of it for us.
I have tried to describe this Bulgarian mezzo many times before, and it's not easy. Her sound is extraordinary, filled with varied colors and qualities. It is beautiful, dusky, lush, ghostly, unearthly, earthy, baritonal, feminine, sensual — you name it. Prior to Tuesday night, I had heard the Kasarova sound only in opera houses (and fairly drafty ones at that). In Carnegie Hall, it was more astounding, and bewildering, than ever.
And Ms. Kasarova knows what to do with her voice. Her technique is secure, and so is her musicianship. She commands her voice like a cellist who has complete control over her instrument. ( Han-Na Chang?) In addition to which, her French is clear and good.
Ms. Kasarova was what you might call the top of the ticket, in this election season; but the singers were excellent "down-ticket," too. Where does Ms. Queler find these voices? Maybe it's that she tries.
In the part of Dom Sébastien was Dmitry Korchak, a Russian tenor still in his 20s. Mr. Korchak should make a tidy sum in Rossini and Donizetti, which is great, because the opera world can't live on Juan Diego Flórez alone. Like that Peruvian star, Mr. Korchak has a little quiver in his voice, and it is not unappealing. That voice was occasionally thin and pinched on Tuesday night; intonation sometimes sagged. But Mr. Korchak produced exciting high notes, and generally scored a hit.
In the role of Camoëns, the king's faithful friend, was the baritone Stephen Powell. What a beautiful voice, and what smooth — ultra-smooth — singing. There were no lumps in the porridge, so to speak. And the high G with which he ended the opera was glorious.
The bad guy in this opera — or one of them — is Juam de Sylva, the Grand Inquisitor. (Hiss loud.) He was sung by the bass Daniel Lewis Williams, who showed just the right combination of menace and elegance: a menacing elegance. His vibrato was generous — not quite overly so — and his lowest notes were very impressive.

Three more beautiful and well-supported voices? Three more capable, even stirring, singers? Stephen Gaertner, a baritone; Philip Cokorinos, a bass-baritone; and Mark Risinger, a bass. There were eight singers on that stage, and not a clinker in the bunch. That, like "Dom Sébastien," is a rarity.
And I have not yet mentioned one of the singers: Michael Fabiano, a tenor, and still a student. He owns a splendid, arresting instrument, and the skies before him seem very bright indeed.
Ms. Queler conducted as she usually does: with competence, knowledge, and devotion. Occasionally, the orchestra was too loud for the soloists, and even for the chorus. The chorus was strong, by the way: a merger of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus and the Scott Choral Artists of New York. Orchestra members were uneven, with the oboe having a good night, and the horns an unfortunate one — and so it goes.

Here is a question: Why can't OONY use supertitles, which we now and then see in Carnegie Hall? That would be so much better than burying one's head in the libretto (which OONY kindly provides). It could be the union costs are formidable, and nutty.
Look, "Dom Sébastien" is a wonderful opera, and OONY gave us a wonderful night. Sometimes in life, you get your money's worth, and then some.

MUSIC REVIEW; An Opera Returns, Like the Tide

By BERNARD HOLLAND - November 9, 2006

The argument doesn't exactly rage but it does go on -- why does some music live past its own age, while some is very nearly left behind? One answer is a certain kind of quality, a genetic makeup that appeals as much now as it did then. There is also luck, good and bad.
Another idea is the tidal thesis: that public recognition comes and goes according to the phases of some musical moon. It would be nice to attach this last theory to Donizetti's "Dom Sébastien," an opera that was much on the minds of opera lovers in the late 19th century but is not much on ours. Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York offered a reminder at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night.
This is the last of Donizetti's estimated 70 operas and was written in 1843 for the Paris Opera, set to Eugène Scribe's creaky libretto. Donizetti was by himself an engine of extraordinary lyrical beauty, but he was also the link to Verdi, on whose music Donizetti's footprints are always to be found.
"Dom Sébastien" is a work of substance and significance. If the credibility of its characters and their dismal fortunes are threatened by the hedonistic beauty of the music, there are also fine theatrical moments. He of the title is King of Portugal, caught in 1578 between the Inquisition and war with the Moors. There is the love affair that bridges enemy camps, political ambition, death, disguise and the like. Most of the principals end up dead, but the Spanish fleet arrives at the curtain to talk some sense to its Portuguese neighbors.
"Seul sur la terre" is one of Donizetti's great tenor set pieces and at one time much favored for its wonderful lyrical equilibrium and its high-flying tests of the singer's skill. There is a sextet of almost equal beauty and some formidable effusions from the opera's only woman, Zayda, as sung here by the Bulgarian soprano Vesselina Kasarova.
Ms. Kasarova, with her nonstop fervor and very serviceable, if slightly tough-sounding voice, made an argument for the theory of diminishing returns. There is such a thing as being too expressive, and here every vocal gesture seemed followed by an exclamation point. After three hours, hothouse drama squeezed out syllable by syllable ends up wearying the ear and dulling the effect.
The young Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak was clear and strong, making the most of an exceptional opportunity. I also liked Stephen Powell's fluid baritone as Camoëns. Stephen Gaertner sang Abayaldos with furious determination. The rest of the cast, which held up well, included Michael Fabiano, Daniel Lewis Williams, Philip Cokorinos and Mark Risinger. The New York City Gay Men's Chorus and the Scott Choral Artists of New York also sang.
Ms. Queler is an increasingly forceful conductor, partly because of her own growth and also because of that other essential conductorial skill: knowing how to assemble a first-rate orchestra, which this one was. Not all the transitions worked; some ensemble coordinations were wayward, but a large audience of opera devotees, sprinkled with the well-heeled supporters who keep this 36-year-old operation flourishing, seemed happy.