Our annual Musical Culture Week

Our annual Musical Culture Week

We start by leaving the RV in White Rock and driving the car down to the Santa Fe Opera House for their weekly “Opera Insiders” session.  After coffee and donuts we meet Adam Franklin, the artistic administrator for the opera, who fills us in on his role taking care of physical arrangements and day to day needs of the opera singers and apprentices.  It’s not a part of the opera you would normally think about, but the talk, and ensuing Q&A session, is fascinating.  After the talk we’re split into smaller grous and given a backstage tour, including the costume and scenery shops as well as a view of the orchestra pits and the elevators used for entrances from the floor of the stage.  A very entertaining, and totally free experience, after which we drive back to White Rock, hitch the car to the RV, and move to our home for the next week.

It’s a short drive to Pojoaque so we’re soon settled into the RV park.  We drive the car down to Whole Foods in Santa Fe to stock up on essentials like bread, cheese and pate for tailgating before the opera.  We notice that what was a building site just north of the Opera House last year is now a new casino.  Not something that would normally excite us, but this one is advertising a jazz brunch on Sunday, sp we add that to our “to do” list.

After a quiet evening we do take in said jazz brunch.  It gives us a choice of entrée while listening to a good live jazz trio, and unlike many casinos, this one is bright and cheerful.  Vicky enjoys a Shrimp Cobb Salad” including huge grilled shrimp and what she describes as a great avocado dressing.  For me, an “only in New Mexico” Green Chile Eggs Benedict, with perfect poached eggs, runny-yolked just the way I like them, plus ham and the promised chiles, accompanied by great hash brown potatoes.

We relax for the afternoon then head down to the Opera House.  Today is “Apprentice Scenes”, a series of 7 or 8 fully staged opera scenes featuring the stars of tomorrow – young opera singers (and technicians) in their late twenties who have survived a rigorous audition process and who spend the summer playing minor roles in the mainstage productions and learning from seasoned professionals.  The quality is always excellent and we enjoy everything from Wagner’s Ring to the final scene of “Carmen”. 

But the highlight for both of us is a scene from “Gianni Schicchi”, past of a trilogy of one act operas by Puccini.  It’s a delightful comedy about a group of family members concerned that their deceased uncle has left his huge fortune to some monks.  They ask the title character to help them, even though some of the family believe he’s “beneath” them socially.  To make things more complicated, the youngest son is in love with Gianni’s daughter.  The whole thing, as presented here, is a rollicking farce, interrupted by the beautiful soprano aria O mio babbino caro (O My Beloved Father), where Gianni’s daughter is trying to persuade her father to help the family and let her marry.

For the next 5 days we’ll see a different opera each night, while enjoying the charms of northern New Mexico and visiting with our friend Michelle and her beautiful wolf Gracie.  Monday’s opera is “La Boheme”, which we’ve seen many times.  The highlight of this production is the staging – realistic Paris scenery, with each act set in a different season.  Seeing soprano Gabriella Reyes as Musetta enter on ice skates was definitely a special moment, and of course all the singing was superb.

Tuesday is Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” (So are all women) a politically incorrect story about rogue who bets two young soldiers that he can prove that their beloved fiancées will be unfaithful if given the chance.  He forces each of the soldiers to woo the other’s fiancée.  The original setting called for disguise using masks, but his director uses almost a bare stage and no disguises at all.  As the plot progresses, one of the girls gives in immediately, while the other holds out until finally succumbing in the 3^rd act.  The ending is ambiguous and the music not Mozart’s most memorable, but it does provide another interesting, and fun evening.

Wednesday is a world premiere of “The Thirteenth Child”, by Danish composer Poul Ruders and American librettists Becky and David Starabin.  The plot is based on “The Twelve Brothers”, one of the less famous fairy tales published by the Brothers Grimm.  The music is modern and largely atonal with a few good melodies.  The first act, setting up the situation, dragged a little.  A king and his wife have 12 sons and she is about to give birth.  The king, who’s been convinced by a scheming regent from a nearby kingdom that his sons are planning to kill him, decrees that if the new child is a girl the boys will all be executed and the girl will inherit.  With mother’s help the boys run away to the forest, and of course the new baby is a girl, who also ends up being sent away.

The second act, in which the sister finds her brothers and everything ends up “happily ever after” is much more fast moving and kept us awake and rooting for the downfall of the villain.  It’s always an interesting part of the Santa Fe experience to see a new opera, and while this didn’t compare in quality with what we’ve seen in previous years (Cold Mountain, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and Doctor Atomic) we definitely enjoyed the production on balance.

Leos Janacek’s “Jenufa” on Thursday is the highlight of the week.   I took my drama students to this opera in New Zealand and they were blown away.   This production doesn’t disappoint and Vicky declares afterwards that this is her favorite opera.  The heroine spends the first act worrying that her handsome fiancé Steva is about to be called up to the army, meaning that they will have to postpone the wedding.  This would be embarrassing as she’s pregnant and hasn’t told anyone.  Steva’s more homely younger brother Laca, who has loved Jenufa since they were children, tells her that Steva only loves her because she’s beautiful.  They get into an argument, which turns physical, and Jenufa’s face is cut (accidentally) by a knife that Laca has been using in his work.

Steva is not inducted into the army and turns up drunk.  He’s chased off by Jenufa’s stepmother but not before it’s become apparent that he no longer loves her.   After the intermission Jenufa has the baby and her stepmother, who has kept her secluded and told everyone she’s gone away, murders the child.

There’s a powerful ending that I won’t spoil for you.  If you’ve never attended an opera, like most of my students, this superbly crafted (and acted) drama, accompanied by lyrical Bohemian style music, will be a perfect introduction.  This provides a lot of post opera discussion for us, and will for you.

Our final operatic treat is Georges Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”, which is new to us.  It’s another timely plot, involving two men who, when younger, had both been in love with the same girl.  To preserve their friendship, they both renounced her.  Then they went their separate ways.  Now, one of the men is the “king” of a group of pearl fishers off the coast of a (fictionalized) Ceylon.  The other man turns up at the same time as a mysterious “princess” who the pearl fishers believe will keep them safe from storms as long as she concentrates on her job and stays alone on a rock.

Of course, it’s the girl from the past, and things get complicated when she and the non-fisherman recognize and still have strong feelings for each other.  This is one of Bizet’s earlier works and doesn’t have the “timeless” music that characterizes “Carmen”, but it’s still highly melodious, and with a strongly dramatic plot, makes for another thought-provoking experience.  A great ending to our week of opera.

While I’ve concentrated on the musical evenings in this post, we also enjoy a relaxing day at the spa pools at Ojo Caliente, which I talked about last year, and a wonderful lunch with Michelle in Ciimayo, a restaurant in a 100 year old house with traditional Mexican recipes.  I had feather lite sopapillas stuffed with pork and spices.  They also give you plain sopapillas for the table with honey for dipping, in the traditional Mexican way.  Maybe I should have been born Mexican!