Ensemble Parallèle's The Great Gatsby: Part 1

Julienne Walker, Jason Detwiler, Marco Pannucio. Photo by Steve DiBartolomeo

Last year Ensemble Parallèle staged a production of Phillip Glass' Orphée which was a triumph of imagination, creativity and execution by the small opera company. This year they pulled it off again, with an almost audaciously ambitious production of The Great Gatsby, John Harbison's opera originally commissioned by the Met and presented here in a re-orchestration by Ensemble Parallèle's own Jacques Desjardin, with Harbison's approval.

Though Desjardin reduced the original score from 80 instruments to 30, and by any measure E.P. is still a small company, what they've put on the stage is a full-blown realization of Harbison's opera which looks fantastic and features a very strong cast.  As Gatsby, tenor Marco Panuccio managed to convey the character's surface confidence and underlying insecurity with exceptional smoothness. His duet with Susannah Biller's Daisy at the end of the first act was the highlight of the opera, with both singers conveying a potent desire for each other. Vocally, Biller, a current Adler Fellow, is the biggest presence onstage, strongly reminiscent of Rene Zellwegger's Roxy Hart in the film Chicago. As Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan, tenor Dan Snyder lent his strong voice and imposing physicality to a memorable performance oozing barely contained menace. Of all the performances, his was the most intriguing from a dramatic perspective. Mezzo Julienne Walker was fine as Jordan Baker, but I'm not sure the young singer knows how much stage-presence she actually possesses- if she turned it up a bit, Biller would have more competition and a stronger dynamic between the two would have made their strong pairing even better.


In the smaller but significant roles of George and Myrtle Wilson, bass Bojan Knezevic and mezzo Erin Neff gave two of the strongest performances of the night- and somewhat oddly, their characters have some of the opera's best material.


Jason Detwiler's Nick Carraway was problematic, not because of anything on the part of the singer, whose performance was fine, but the character who is the conscience of Fitzgerald's novel is hardly more than a cipher in Harbison's opera- and while on the whole I found the opera to be musically engaging and was frequently captivated by its jazz-infused score full of the energy and uncertainty of the U.S. in the 1920's, without Carraway's voice to center it the characters lack depth and this undermines the whole. 

Susannah Biller.  Photo by Steve DiBartolomeo   

When Panuccio sings "I'm Gatsby" to the unknowing Carraway at a party, nothing earning him the epithet " The Great" ever follows. The audience's only clue that Gatsby might be more than he seems comes toward the end when Carraway delivers the line (lifted straight from the novel), "you're better than the whole bunch." We're told this, but never shown, and if the audience is to take the opera on its own merit, apart from the novel, it leaves a gaping hole in the development of its three main characters, unless we're meant to see them little more than shallow figures lost in a haze of jazz, booze and cigarettes.


In the end, it's really only the Smiths, strangely enough, and perhaps because their desires and needs are the simplest and most obvious, who come close to being fully realized.  The choice to remove Carraway's conscience at the center of the story would be fine if there were more in the libretto shifting these portrayals to the singers, or with a greater use of motives in the music (perhaps it's there and I just didn't listen carefully enough on hearing it for the first time), but there's not enough for them to work with to make them fully developed. Unless of course that's Harbison's point. Discuss.


On the other hand, condensed to ten scenes in two acts and effectively restructuring the narrative to include the most important scenes from the novel, Harbison has done an effective job of rendering the story, and especially the atmosphere of Gatsby, into an opera.


The production team Ensemble Parallèle brought together for this did a fantastic job, especially the exceptional set designs and lighting by Matthew Antaky and the marvelously evocative video work by Austin Forbord, which really is as good as, or better than many recent productions by San Francisco Opera. How they accomplish this is somewhat of a miracle. The costumes by Christine Crook were perfect and there was much to admire in the choreography by Tom Segal.

Conductor Nicole Paiement worked hard to keep a lot of competing elements on track- the orchestra, a jazz band on stage, a dancing chorus, and of course the singers. Most of the time it worked, especially in the party scenes which were exuberantly staged, but the first act's quartet went off the rails  pretty quickly and sometimes the taut pace sounded a bit cacophonous.


Director Brian Staufenbiel's work is impressive, with the exception of some distracting "stand and deliver" moments when the singers directly face the audience instead of to whom they're singing and there's the jarring misstep of having Gatsby rise from the dead to get into his coffin while onstage.


Reader, you may have noticed most of the characters who populated this narrative in the past have lately disappeared,  but indeed they are still around (some, at least). As are their cuckolds, their relations, and their strange and often malevolent behaviors. And last night there we were, all together in that warm and crowded theater, crashing into each other like the cars driven by drunken guests leaving one of Gatsby's parties. Part 2 of this post, if I write it, will be about the opera that unfolded off on the stage.  

Biller, Parnuccio. Photo by Steve DiBartolomeo

It's a small town, old sport- and perhaps I'm Gatsby.

Ensemble Parallèle presents John Harbison's The Great Gatsby

Susannah Biller as Daisy in Ensemble Parallele's The Great Gatsby

Ensemble Parallèle returns next weekend with their most ambitious production yet- The Great Gatsby, composed by John Harbison and featuring a libretto by the composer culled from the text of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel. The original version of the opera, commissioned by the Met to celebrate James Levine's 25th anniversary as Music Director, called for an orchestra of 120 players and has only been performed twice before in New York and Chicago, to great acclaim. Putting on a work that size is a formidable task for even the largest companies, which explains why it hasn't been staged since 2000. Ensemble Parallèle and the Aspen Music Festival engaged composer Jacques Desjardins to re-orchestrate the score, with Harbison's approval, and the result will be performed by a 30-piece orchestra and seven-piece jazz band, with approximately 30 minutes trimmed from the original score (with Harbison's approval).

In a series of events held over the past two months, Ensemble Parallèle's artistic team previewed the production's design and musical evolution. Desjardin's task was no small feat, but the results, some of which he's presented in these previews, come across as well-considered and musically bold. E.P.'s conductor Nicole Paiement and director Brian Staufenbiel have really delved into the work and arrived at some very creative methods to preserve the opera's large sense of proportion while working with much smaller resources. With each new outing, Ensemble Parallèle  appears determined to up the artistic ante, and Gatsby, with its chorus, jazz band, complex characters, party scenes and multiple locations, is a huge artistic undertaking for a small company. However, as they've proven before, this is an incredibly creative team and everything revealed in the previews leads one to conclude that what's unveiled next weekend at YBCA's Novellus Theater will be well worth seeing and hearing. Don't wait until the last minute to get tickets- it's highly likely the three performances (February 10-12) will sell out.


The cast features Adler Fellow Susannah Biller as Daisy Buchanan, Marco Panuccio as Gatsby, Dan Synder as Tom Buchanan, Jason Detwiler as Nick Carraway, Julienne Walker as Jordan Baker, and Bojan Knezevic as George Wilson. The production team includes video artist Austin Forbord, sets and lighting by Matthew Antaky, costumes by Christine Crook and choreography by Tom Segal.

The Best of a Beast: 2011

In compiling this year's "best of" list I knew two things before I even began:  Prince would get the top spot and there would be very little opera on it. Part of the reason for the latter is because I didn't travel to L.A. or New York this year (though there was much I would have liked to see in both cities), and the other is locally it wasn't a good year. San Francisco Opera's Ring Cycle had some great moments, but overall, director Francesca Zambello's production failed to leave a lasting impact after the thrill wore off of having a Ring Cycle in town. Regrettably, I missed SFO's Xerxes, which was their only other production to get solid reviews and word of mouth. Half of SFO's fall offerings were so uninspiring I didn't even bother to attend them and those I did were severely flawed. However, I really enjoyed Merola's Barber.

The void left by the lack of good opera created a list dominated by contemporary performance pieces and recitals. Two shows, The Tempest: Without a Body and Necessary Monsters, were presented by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). The organization is dedicated to presenting the work of living artists and they consistently deliver challenging and provocative programs. It's become an increasingly important source of culture for me this past year. I'd also like to acknowledge the success of the San Francisco Symphony's Centennial Season programs, both onstage and within the community- this is truly a special year for the organization and their hard work is paying off handsomely.

As has been the case in the previous two years, it was difficult to narrow it down to ten-  in the end I cheated.

The ranking is in order, starting with the best:

1. Prince
Prince played three wildly different shows, each with a unique set list.  More impressively, he struck a completely different tone as a performer every night- on the first he was a sexy crooner, the following evening he was the funkmeister, and finally, in the last show (my favorite) he was a blazing guitar god for over three hours. I've never been more impressed with a musician. Prince is a genius, and in his prime as a performer.

2. The Tempest: Without a Body
Eight months later this performance by Lemi Ponifasio's MAU company, it still frequents my consciousness. It was dark, disturbing and unforgettable and I don't think I could stand to see it again. Still, I would if given the chance, because I've never seen anything else that moved me in quite the same way.


3.  Orphée
Ensemble Parallèle proved again that an opera company doesn't need tremendous financial resources to put on a great production- just talent and imagination. It's been years since San Francisco Opera did something this well. Get ready for their production of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby in February.

4. Necessary Monsters
Like The Tempest: Without a Body, Carla Kihlstedt's work also left a lingering impression long afterward. An enchanting work-in-progress that will make you think about the Necessary Monsters in your own life, see it if you have the chance.

5.  The San Francisco Symphony's Mahler's 3rd
San Francisco Symphony's Centennial Season has had numerous highlights so far, but this exquisite performance was truly spectacular.

6. Yefim Bronfman
Bronfman turned in another brilliant performance this year, made all the more heroic because he didn't let on that he had seriously injured two of his fingers during it.

7. Jonas Kaufmann
He came and conquered the audience with an extremely generous performance. Never have I heard German sung with such eloquence and beauty.

8. Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Hvorostovsky's recital was an early highlight of the year. He's never sounded better and the material he chose was perfect. The encore was thrilling.

9. Goran Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Orchestra
The most fun I had at a show all year, maybe ever- and on top of that, these folks can play.

10. tie: Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester, Alexander Melnikov, &  The Robert Glasper Experiment
Initially I was going to make this year's list a dozen so that I could include all three of these performances. Let's just call it a three-way tie instead because at one point each one occupied the tenth slot.

Honorable mentions are due to The Wild Bride, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Rowe, Jay Hunter Morris, The St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Keith Jarret Trio,  YoYo Ma & the SFS, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, which has been consistently spectacular over the past year.

Four Saints in Four Acts- yes, four

Florine Stettheimer’s set for Act I of the 1934 production of Four Saints in Three Acts; Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven; photo: Harold Swahn.

SFMOMA and YBCA have teamed up with Ensemble Parallèle, Luciano Chessa and Kalup Linzy to present  Four Saints in Three Acts: An Opera Installation, which began a four performance run last night in the Novellus Theater. The "Installation" part refers to "A Heavenly Act," created by Chessa and Linzy, which precedes the Virgil Thompson and Gertrude Stein opera  Four Saints in Three Acts (not an installation).  For the most part the first act doesn't add anything to the Three which follow it.


"A Heavenly Act" features Chessa re-working Thompson's music and Stein's lyrics, cut from an later revision of the opera by Thompson sometime in the fifties, with Linzy performing multiple duties while deliberately out-of-focus seraphim are projected behind the stage. It's visually arresting for a moment, then becomes a bit tedious, though there's a gospel sequence that pulls everything together brilliantly, if only for one segment of the whole.


When it ends, the lights come up halfway, a neat bit of staging resembling seeing the seafloor disappear before your eyes, and an altogether different lighting scheme signals the beginning of Four Saints, proper. Musically and visually, the Ensemble Parallèle production works splendidly. Conductor and Music Director Nicole Paiement and Director Brian Stauenbiel have created another engaging, well-crafted and beautifully performed piece and while it may not be as arresting as the brilliant Orphée they presented earlier this year, it succeeds on the strength of its very strong cast and theatrical flair.


Even if he weren't brilliantly costumed in red, it would be hard to take your eyes off Eugene Brancoveneau's Saint Ignatius whenever he opens his mouth. His voice just gets better and better. Competing with Brancoveneau for attention is John Bischoff's Compère, a delightful singer and actor who presides over it all with an air of Keith Moon keeping it in check. The entire cast is vocally splendid, but three women deliver especially memorable turns: Wendy Hillhouse as the Commère was brilliant; Nicole Takesano's Saint Sarah was another standout whose clear voice drew attention; and Heidi Moss' Saint Teresa I, dressed in a fantastic yellow gown (all the costumes by Christine Crook were great), centered all of the madcap activity swirling around her.


As can be expected with Ensemble Parallèle, the staging and lighting by Matthew Antaky are clever and inventive. I especially liked seeing the Picasso portrait of Stein at the top left of the backdrop, making it seem as if Stein herself was a saint, watching the show from above. Paiement conducted the 22-piece orchestra with her usual precision and flair.

Ensemble Parallèle's Orphée

Ensemble Parallèle's highly anticipated production of Phillip Glass' chamber opera Orphée debuted at the Herbst last weekend. Last year the company staged what was by all accounts a stunning production of Berg's Wozzeck, which I missed because I was out of town so I was pretty keen not to miss their annual production this time around. It didn't disappoint.

Actually, that's an understatement. For a small company with limited resources, staging an opera for only two performances, I was somewhat baffled and frequently amazed at the high level of quality and imagination permeating every aspect of this superb production. When the Femme Fatale and I took our seats and saw the orchestra set up on the front of the stage I'll admit to being slightly confused, thinking how are they going to stage this with the orchestra front and center like that? The lights went down, and Orphée's face, brilliantly portrayed and sung by Eugene Brancoveanu, appeared on five video screens mounted at the back of the stage. He introduced himself like a young man preening before a mirror, practicing his pick-up lines as each screen showed him from different angles and close-ups.

Then Ensemble Parallèle's conductor and director Nicole Paiement ascended a ridiculously tall podium and the music began. To the right of the stage, on a small platform used to enter the staging area, a cafe scene unfurled which culminated in the murder of the poet Cégeste, played by Thomas Glenn. This was entertaining and had an air of the sinister about it as Glass' music begins with a propulsive, carnivalesque drive.

But having not seen the Jean Cocteau film on which the opera is closely based, I kept swivelling my head to read the surtitles above the stage, thinking to myself, two hours of this is going to make me crazy. Then the orchestra descended into a pit I didn't know the stage contained, revealing an entire set behind it. It was a nice touch of flair that proved to be the first of many to follow.

Once the fourteen piece orchestra was down in the hole, the audience was treated to a set that looked better than it had any right to. A blue light cast a cool glow over the domestic life of Orphée and Eurydice (Susannah Biller) and in the underworld everything was a lurid red. The costumes were perfect, especially Phillip Skinner's turn as the Judge in a completely over-the-top Louis XIV wig that looked to be about three feet high and would have been right at home on the stage of Beach Blanket Babylon. I almost hate to make that comparison, because I don't want to imply anything about the production was frivolously staged and wasn't carefully thought out. Just the opposite was the case. Along with the ample singing and acting talent on display in every role, (including the circus performers and supers), it's obvious the creative team worked extremely hard and the results paid off handsomely. Director and production designer Brian Staufenbiel did a hell of a job.

As Death, or La Princesse, Marnie Breckenridge initially seemed to struggle, perhaps due to singing the role the night before, but by the time she sang the first of two duets with Brancoveanu in the second act she was in great voice and became the focal point of the show, delivering a mesmerizing performance. And permit me to comment on those duets. If you have the notion in your head Glass can't write for voice or that his music lacks emotional depth, you need to hear this. The scenes featuring Death and Orphée as doomed lovers were simply beautiful. Most especially, the final moment of the opera was one of the most perfect endings I've ever seen on a stage, rivalling that of the recently seen Eonnagata in its poignancy.

As Heurtibise, the chauffeur from Hell, John Duykers gave a memorable performance, though his voice wasn't particularly robust. As mentioned before, Brancoveanu was excellent. Thomas Glenn handled the roles of Cegeste and the Reporter in good voice and aplomb. Making the most of their smaller roles, Brooke Muñoz and Austin Kness performed well. Susannah Biller remains an Adler fellow worth keeping an eye on. Also making significant contributions to the overall effect and success of the performance were David Poznater working the Roue Cyr, and the incredibly talented aerialist Marina Luna, whose strength even the Femme Fatale had to admire.

Paiement did a wonderful job with the orchestra, which had a marvelous rhythmic quality throughout and fully integrated itself with the singers.

My only complaint is there were only two performances. If you missed Ensemble Parallèle's annual weekend of opera this year, make a plan to see their upcoming performances of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby. It's not going to happen until a full year from now, but I'm already looking forward to it. I've read elsewhere they are also going to be presenting Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts as part of SF MOMA's upcoming exhibit, The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde. Be sure to check it out. For a small company, they are having a significant impact on the local opera scene.

SF Mike, who was one of the delightfully decadent and scary supers, has some great photos and comments about Orphée on his blog. All of the photos appearing in this post are by Steve DiBartolomeo, Westside Studio Images, Santa Cruz, CA. http://www.westsidestudioimages.com/

After the performance the Femme Fatale and I went to an Oscar party where I found myself to be the only male in attendance. I was forced to choose a persona for the evening, so I picked Jennifer Lopez over Snookie. As we pondered what exactly is the matter with Halle Berry, I consumed everything placed in front of me and then as the night wore on I consumed everything within reach. Eventually I decided somewhere along the way to abandon my J-Lo persona in favor of Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? The Femme Fatale, who had previously been the Hoff, dropped him in favor of Richard Burton. To the young people on the bus to whom possibly inappropriate suggestions were made, I apologize.