Tag: Shakespeare

Roméo et Juliette

Published on by operazhenshchina14 Comments

Often billed as “the world’s greatest love story,” there was no question whether or not I would see Roméo et Juliette, Gounod’s French iteration of the Shakespeare classic, when it came into the theaters. As the curtain rose to the sounds of a mighty orchestra and hallowed chorus, I couldn’t help but feel that this opera was going to be golden.

Benjamin Bernheim and Nadine Sierra in Roméo et Juliette / Metropolitan Opera

Much of the greatness in the performance came from the pairing of the leads. Nadine Sierra and Benjamin Bernheim were a seamless match as the tragic couple with the latter having a glib command of his native language. Their love passages dripped like honey and their easy chemistry was undeniable. It’s too bad that the Met’s satellites were plagued by inclement weather in NYC. The interruptions in the live transmission caused our local theater to miss the pivotal, romantic moments, like Juliette’s first look at Roméo and much of the wedding scene. What a pity !

The wedding scene from Roméo et Juliette / Metropolitan Opera

Bartlett Sher’s current production of Roméo et Juliette mostly keeps with tradition while adding extravagance and taking modest artistic liberties. Despite the production moving the story to the 18th century, I was set on creating something that was more in line with the Renaissance styles of the original “Romeo and Juliet” without becoming too fussy or historically accurate. Without searching for it, I stumbled across the perfect pattern on Etsy.

The lacy neckline of View B (center on the envelope) screamed out as my opera dress. Gold it had to be, not only because of the comparison to Juliette’s Act I gown in the Sher production, but also for its representation of sunny Verona.

Surprisingly, the pattern came together quickly and was a simple sew, but gosh, that waistline was high !

The sleeves were a standout feature of the gown with elasticated bands separating the upper puffs from the lower bells.

My mother took pride in styling my hair, twisting it into whimsical braids. I loved it !

While my mother enjoys living out her hairdresser aspirations in styling my hair for the opera, she’s not always enthused about my costume creations. In fact, she gave Juliette’s gold satin gown the kiss of death by saying that it ranked “up there with the Russian one.” The blunt remark caused me to burst into peals of laughter.

Although I wasn’t crazy about the unnaturally high waistline, this dress gave me all the feelings of a dreamy Renaissance maiden, just like Juliette.

And now, Opie’s ready for his close up ! Juliette had to have been a cat lover, right ?

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

Roméo et Juliette ─ Charles Gounod (1867)
Live in HD air date: March 23, 2024

Cast:
Juliette ─ Nadine Sierra
Roméo ─ Benjamin Bernheim
Stéphano ─ Samantha Hankey
Tybalt ─ Frederick Ballentine
Mercutio ─ Will Liverman
Frère Laurent ─ Alfred Walker

Credits:
Conductor ─ Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Production ─ Bartlett Sher
Set Designer ─ Michael Yeargan
Costume Designer ─ Catherine Zuber
Lighting Designer ─ Jennifer Tipton
Choreographer ─ Chase Brock
Fight Director ─ B.H. Barry
Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson
Host ─ Ryan Speedo Green

Fifties Falstaff

Published on by operazhenshchina17 Comments

“A Cad’s Comic Comeuppance”

This alliteration advocate certainly appreciated the Met’s promotional tagline for the upcoming performance of Falstaff ! And on April Fools’ Day, it couldn’t have been more fitting. As the final opera of a venerable 79-year-old Giuseppe Verdi, Falstaff doesn’t follow in the steps of the slew of tragedies and dramas that emerged from Verdi’s pen. However, it’s an opera that is full of plucky delight and ebullient personality.

Michael Volle as Falstaff / Metropolitan Opera

While the comedy, based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, is set during the reign of Henry IV, Robert Carsen’s Met production places the opera in the 1950’s. This was brilliant. No part of the production conflicted with the concrete libretto and the stage flow felt natural to the circumstances. But really, the best part was the fashion ─ hands down !

Hera Hyesang Park, Ailyn Pérez, Jennifer Johnson Cano, and Marie-Nicole Lemieux in Falstaff / Metropolitan Opera

For Fifties Falstaff, opportunities abounded for sumptuous styles. Everything from wide collars to houndstooth was on the table, but I favored Alice Ford’s lemon yellow dress worn during Act II while working her wiles on Falstaff in her Betty Crocker kitchen.

Michael Volle and Ailyn Pérez in Falstaff / Metropolitan Opera

Simplicity 1459 was my chosen pattern because, although it wasn’t a carbon copy of Brigitte Reiffenstuel’s stage costume, it featured many of those retro details that make an outfit unmistakably 50’s: full skirt with crinoline petticoat, portrait neckline, covered buttons, and a cummerbund sash.

Finding an accurately matching yellow satin proved to be more difficult than expected. Samples turned out to be either too pale, too brash, or too exorbitantly priced for my tastes. Ultimately, I settled on a sample that seemed close to my vision. More than fiddling with shades of satin, another reality posed a problem with production. I now work a part-time job and my sewing time came down to the final 3 days before the opera. That’s right─ with 3 days before the performance, I had nothing to wear ! Can you imagine my stress ?

Sewing on the hooks and eyes of the sash the morning of the opera, my outfit was ready, but don’t look too closely at some of those seam finishes !

After a quick glance at the pattern envelope while writing this, I do believe I wore the cummerbund sideways. The opera wasn’t the only thing that was topsy-turvy on April Fools’ Day !

And that satin sample ? Well, the yardage that arrived turned out to be glaring in its intensity. Whether it was the same dye lot as the sample or not, I haven’t a clue. Its Crayola hue rendered my shoes a temperature mismatch, but who noticed ?

Fun Fact: That’s me in the picture above my shoulder when I was about 5 years old.

My mother styled my hair in a relaxed French twist, pearls were donned, and white gloves worn. Classic !

For just over 2 days worth of work, I was relatively pleased with my nifty Fifties dress, even laughing at times. Coincidentally, that adopted attitude corresponded with a main theme from the comedy. At the end of the opera, Falstaff and the cast of characters agree on one thing: “the whole world is nothing but a jest.”

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits

Falstaff ─ Giuseppe Verdi (1893)
Live in HD air date: April 1, 2023

Cast:
Falstaff ─ Michael Volle
Alice Ford ─ Ailyn Pérez
Nannetta ─ Hera Hyesang Park
Meg Page ─ Jennifer Johnson Cano
Mistress Quickly ─ Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Fenton ─ Bogdan Volkov
Ford ─ Christopher Maltman

Credits:
Conductor ─ Daniele Rustioni
Production ─ Robert Carsen
Set Designer ─ Paul Steinberg
Costumer Designer ─ Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designers ─ Robert Carsen, Peter Van Praet
Revival Stage Director ─ Gina Lapinski
Live in HD Director ─ Habib Azar
Host ─ Ryan Speedo Green

Otello

Published on by operazhenshchina12 Comments

It was an easy decision. After my spellbinding first opera experience with Il Trovatore, I couldn’t wait to shell out another $24 at the ticket booth for a following Verdi tragedy 2 weeks later, Otello. Intriguingly, it was Otello that jumped out at me the most when viewing the Live in HD schedule in the summer of 2015: the drama based on Shakespeare’s play could have easily been my first opera. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

Aleksandrs Antonenko in a promotional photo for Verdi’s Otello / Metropolitan Opera

Bartlett Sher’s production, with frosted Lucite walls that were supposed to be a spoof from a quote by Verdi’s librettist about enclosing Otello in a glass house, mimicked frozen blocks of ice rather than the intended domicile of transparency. They were cold, lifeless, and ineffective from my point of view.

Željko Lučić as Iago in Otello / Metropolitan Opera

The cast was decent with a liquid Željko Lučić and a piercingly chill Sonya Yoncheva (fitting for the icy production), but I felt Otello suffered from an identity crisis: with his clothing and styling (not to mention his lack of blackface) just as drab as all the secondary characters and chorus, there was nothing to distinguish him among the throngs of people on stage. Shouldn’t he have looked more… Moorish ?

Dmitri Pittas (far right) as Cassio and Aleksandrs Antonenko (center) as Otello / Metropolitan Opera

While Desdemona’s final “Muoio innocente” was moving, I was left underwhelmed by the overall performance. Still, my exuberant, newfound interest in opera was undeterred by this small nick in the grand scheme of things.

Sonya Yoncheva as Desdemona in Otello / Metropolitan Opera

Dressing up for my first opera was almost as much fun as seeing the performance itself. There’s something vicarious and invigorating about feeling fancy as if you, yourself, are a part of the opera by the clothes you choose to wear. To my second opera, however, I wanted to “theme” my outfit for the sunny Venetian locale of Otello and Desdemona’s spotless disposition. “Something golden, something demure…” I mused.

Othello Relating His Adventures to Desdemona

The scarves and skirts of my closet were paraded in breezy seaside style as I toyed with layering and softly blending color schemes. I used my standby gold tank top, which I wore to Il Trovatore, and slipped on a long white linen skirt. Then the fun began. A metallic gold thread woven through the pinky-peach and cream striped scarf gave glints of gentility and coastal charm. When I tied its fringed ends together into a loose side knot, the effect was just right… at least for an outfit made from scarves and skirts !

A pair of lace gloves (thank you, Aunt Countess !), antique gold rings (such a faux pas when worn with gloves ─ fie, me !), and just the right assortment of necklaces and earrings helped me feel right at home as Desdemona. Do I look as if I’m about to be strangled ?

I styled my hair in a “twisted sections pinned up and back” sort of style. Nothing fancy, but very elegant when clipped together with a gold flower hair accessory.

An outfit for free, a better-than-front-row-seat ticket for $24… Enjoying the thrills of opera and the emulation of one of Shakespeare’s most virtuous heroines doesn’t have to be a ship-sinking occasion. If only the production of Otello had fared better…

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

Otello ─ Giuseppe Verdi (1887)
Live in HD air date: October 17, 2015

Cast:
Otello ─ Aleksandrs Antonenko
Desdemona ─ Sonya Yoncheva
Iago ─ Željko Lučić
Emilia ─ Jennifer Johnson Cano
Cassio ─ Dmitri Pittas
Roderigo ─ Chad Shelton
Lodovico ─ Günther Groissböck
Montano ─ Jeff Mattsey
A herald ─ Tyler Duncan

Credits:
Conductor ─ Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Production ─ Bartlett Sher
Set Designer ─ Es Devlin
Costume Designer ─ Catherine Zuber
Lighting Designer ─ Donald Holder
Projection Designer ─ Luke Halls
Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson
Host ─ Eric Owens