LAURA JOHNSON
Assistant Life Editor
Fat ladies, Viking horns, “Xena Warrior Princess” gear and a lot of loud crazy vibrato is often what the opera connotates. This brutal combination of over-the-top spectacles are not things that often entice the younger generation to go for a pricey seat at the opera. However, as it is in the real world, these stereotypes should be forgotten, and quickly.
In the L.A. Opera’s 21st season, the company branched out from the usual works of Puccini, Wagner and Mozart to a selection of operas almost forgotten by the world.
The operas “The Broken Jug” and “The Dwarf” have much in common. Both are sung in German (although subtitles are provided above stage,) are about an hour and a half long, are based on dark-comedy plays, include no fat ladies with horns and (most importantly) were written by two different Jewish composers, both of whom died in the early 1940s.
Viktor Ullmann composed more than 40 works before being executed at Auschwitz. “The Broken Jug” was his last work, finished while he was at the internment camp called Terezin, where all the artists were kept. This is the U.S. premier of the work.
Alexander Zemlinsky, who wrote “The Dwarf,” was able to immigrate to the United States before WWII. After his death, his main works went unnoticed. It was not until the 1970s when his genius became realized. “The Dwarf” has never been premiered on the West Coast, until now.
In an evening being advertised as “Recovered Voices” the two operas were shown back- to-back with a 20-minute intermission in between. Sometimes operas can be more than three hours long, so the quick-bite style shows were very appealing to one who may not be adept to sitting for so long.
The first opera followes the story of Adam (James Johnson), the village judge, who mysteriously wakes up with a huge bump on his head and can not find his wig. The case that he is overseeing that day involves a woman, whose daughter Eve (Melody Moore) had a late-night guest in her bedroom who wasn’t her fiancé. By the end of the night the mother’s jug is broken and there is a wig found in the bush outside.
The plot is rather confusing with many characters going in and out, yet the music remains comical and playful. The two leads sing effortlessly and the opera goes by quickly. However, the second opera is the one that steals show.
In “The Dwarf,” a Spanish princess (Mary Dunleavy) receives a dwarf, played effervescently by Rodrick Dixon, from the sultan as an 18th birthday gift. The dwarf is horrendously disfigured and, as he has never looked in a mirror, he never got the memo. The dwarf then falls in love with the princess, but, as she tells him in the final moments of the show, “I want to dance and play with you, but I can only love a man, and you are an animal.” The small fellow upon, hearing these words, falls over and dies, while the princess, laughs, and skips off to go to her dance party.
The audience is left to wallow in the strange conclusion of the opera, while being instilled with the hauntingly beautiful music Zemlinsky creates. Dixon’s almost tenor-timbered baritone voice resonates through the hall pulling at the heartstrings of everyone except the princess. The music provided by the 50-piece pit orchestra, times sounds like a movie soundtrack, playing all ranges of motion for the performers to sing above. At the end of the night, satisfaction is all that is provided to the viewers.
Playing at the beautiful Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Downtown L.A. right next to Disney Hall, the location is wonderful for a classy evening out. Driving there can take some time, but there is a parking garage conveniently located next door.
Although it seems like furs, diamonds and red lipstick are only for grandmas, it can be fun sometimes to pretend like one is debonair. This is where the opera can be helpful. Do not be afraid to try something new. Opera may seem boring, but after all the hard-core junk T.V. and tabloids bombard the world with, a blast of fresh air is necessary to keep breathing.
02-21-2008
