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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

I’ve created a monster.  After taking my partner to see the Lyric’s Carmen, which he loved, he told me he wanted to see Acis and Galatea presented by The Friends of Chamber Music.  I had to bite my tongue.  The lushness and drama of the thoroughly-Romantic Carmen is one thing, but to go from that to a da capo aria-laden, intimate, action-free Baroque opera? That’s a hard sell. 

I should know better.  Cynthia Siebert always brings top-notch talent to Kansas City and the production of the Handel’s Acis and Galatea by the Boston Early Music Festival was no exception.  Acis and Galatea was composed under the patronage system, a rarity for Handel, yet commonplace in the era.  Written for the Earl of Carnarvon (later Duke of Chandos) in 1718, the bucolic English masque tells Ovid’s story of water nymph, Galatea, who is in love with shepherd Acis.  But the jealous Cyclops, Polyphemus, wants Galatea for himself and crushes Acis with a boulder. Heartbroken, Galatea transforms Acis into a “murm’ring stream.”  It is a fitting story for the Earl of Carnarvon whose estate was peppered with water features, impressive feats of engineering designed by his chaplain Rev. John Theophilus Desaguliers. 

Staged as if the Folly Theatre's stalwart audience was in attendance at the Earl of Carnarvon’s salon, with sensuous period costumes by Anna Watkins, the singers interacted with the instrumentalists and minimalist set as if the entire proceedings were improvisatory. At times it was enjoyable to redirect attention to the supernumeraries in the scene; everyone was constantly engaged and mannered. They were portraying characters beyond those of the opera. Stage director Gilbert Blin created a play-within-a-play, from my vantage, capitalizing on the librettists' (John Gay, Alexander Pope, John Hughes) ties to the Scriblerus Club. The group raged against rustic pastorales in favor of Arcadian ideals. Both are present in Acis and Galatea and the stretch is not a hard one to make especially since the singers would return to specific roles, like that of a composer trying out new ideas or a despondant poet, when not singing.

The cast of five singers (one soprano, three tenors, one bass) and one non-singing female attendant (Melinda Sullivan) were superb with some of the most amazing English diction I’ve ever heard.  The singers also served as their own Greek chorus, displaying no vocal ego contests, but performing as a polished whole.  This did create some awkward moments as dead Acis still had to sing, but I found this more forgivable than Desdemona’s return to life in order to sing more lines in Verdi’s Otello. Aaron Sheehan (Acis) and Teresa Wakim (Galatea) both took time to lock into their roles though their voices were clear and pristine throughout.  After their duet, “Happy We,” a forward trajectory seemingly took hold and it was an exhilarating rush to the end.  Wakim’s “Heart, the Seat of soft Delight,” a welcome respite from the da capo form, was her best of the evening.  Bass Douglas Williams (Polyphemus) performed with astounding agility even in his lower registers.  His timbre was warm and polished but managed to convey a surprisingly menacing stage presence for a gent in a powdered wig, tights, and an eye patch.

Zachary Wilder’s “Would you gain the tender Creature” stole the evening however.  Sung with supreme tenderness and emotional directness, Wilder (Coridon) made every note and embellishment sparkle.  The perfectly wrought rendition brought spontaneous applause from the audience and murmurs of “That was lovely!,” “Oh my…,” and “WOW!” “Consider, fond Shepherd” sung by Jason McStoots (Damon) was restrained and delicate with delightful rising lines.

As an ensemble the singers showcased their agility in “Wretched Lovers!,” having to spit out the awkward line “Behold the Monster Polypheme” repeatedly with venom and malice.  Conversely, their gentleness was showcased in “Mourn, all ye Muses” the most dramatic of the vignettes because the last portion was sung a cappella.

The orchestra of ten instrumentalists was well balanced.  The sound of the lute/guitar/therbo continuo combination (Paul O'Dette, Stephen Stubbs) as opposed to a harpsichord-dominated one was refreshing.  Intonation in the strings was centered and focused, a difficult feat with only two violins.  The Baroque oboe posed some problem squawks and intonation flubs but they were few and far between; together though, they were able to achieve a very soft dynamic.  The recorder playing was dazzling especially with the flageolet.

Though not as overtly dramatic as the Romantic and Modern operas, Handel’s work and the Boston Early Music Festival’s found the drama in the intimate spaces.  This fact speaks to Siebert’s successful tag for the conclusion of the 35^th season “Where the intimate voice becomes the conversation…”

REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music
Boston Early Music Festival: Acis and Galatea
Friday, April 1, 2011
Folly Theater
12^th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or visit http://chambermusic.org

Top photo: Zachary Wilder, Melinda Sullivan, and Jason McStoots in BEMF's Acis and Galatea (Photo by David Walker)

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com