q Pa ARTS ge 8 Friday, June 1, 1984 The Michigan Dai The Metropolitan delivers ily By Anne Valdespino A BEJEWELED audience in Detroit's Masonic Temple was dressed for a gala occasion: The Grand Opera Association's presentation of New York's Metropolitan Opera. In celebration of the company's 100th an- niversary a host of musical luminaries prepared a week long engagement, in- cluding Zandoni's Francesca da Rimini, Verdi's Ernani, Wagner's Die Walkure, Mozart's Abduction from Seraglio, Puccini's Tosca, and Hendel's Rinaldo. The musical birthday party began with Peter Grimes by British 20th cen- tury composer Benjamin Britten. The opera is set on the coast of England; the musical score and set designs (the Met's own lavish ones brought from New York), created the atmosphere of the sea. Mist and 17th-century sailor costumes were a visual feast, while harp and clarinet arpeggios and sustained strings were an aural banquet that conjured up images of the relentless waves of the cold Northern deep. Central to the flavor of the opera was the chorus. Dressed in browns, grays and sepias, they were the simple fisher folk whose harsh judgement of Grimes (he is acquitted of the accidental death of his first apprentice) drives him to the brink of insanity. The Met's Opera chorus was more than professional in its role. Their ensemble in the contrapuntal passages that Britten is fond of writing was masterful. The sheer beauty of their sound is a delectable treat for audiences unaccustomed to hearing so many trained voices singing simultaneously. Two especially dramatic moments for chorus occur at the end of Act I and the beginning of Act II. In the pub scene, a distraught Grimes disturbs the local alehouse by proclaiming a poetic vision. The violent raving of his Aria is followed by a pause as the patrons ex- press a silent realization of his mad- ness. The chorus' rendition of "Old Joe Has Gone Fishing," Britten's arrangement of a traditional sea chan- ty, restores the jovial atmosphere to the pub. In Act II, the chorus is essential in setting the moral undercurrents of a tragic scene. Schoolmistress Ellen Or- ford asks the apprentice John about a bruise on his neck, correctly suspecting Grimes of brutality. Her aria is inter- spersed with the foreboding underscore of the townspeople singing hymns in church. The scene is permeated by a new sound, the organ, which lends a somber tone to this tuning point in the opera. Ellen is Grimes' only confidant and the woman he dreams of marrying. The beginnings of her mistrust spell doom for the poor fisherman, who by this time is dangling from a thin emotional thread. The long, soulful phrases of the offstage chorus reminds Ellen that she must attend to her moral respon- sibilities, in spite of her love for the misguided Grimes. In Monday's production, this touching scene was marred by Johan- na Meier's portrayal of Ellen. In con- trast to the members of the chorus, her singing sacrificed clarity of diction for beauty of tone, very disappointing as this opera (unlike many others) was performed in English. Over and over this diva seemed more concerned with the music, her part in particular, than the drama. Her character remained fairly expressionless and her gestures seemed arbitrary. Her role paled still more in com- parison to Canadian primo uomo (leading man) Vickers's. As an actor he reigned superb in the role of a tortured fisherman struggling to maintain his I I I SUNDAY, JUNE 3 POTTERS GUILD Renata Scotto starts in fear in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Francesca da Rimini, one of six shows in the company's current tour. mental health in the face of the town- Grimes's escape is followed by some speople's increasing hostility. comic relief. A lynch mob from the From the beginning he is a man town arrives to find the situation ap- alone. He takes a defiant stand in the parently normal and they have a good defendant's wicket, reprimanding the laugh at what they think are their hasty town gossip with the retort, "I don't conclusions. It is only when Balstrode like interferers". Even his body enters that an eerie atmosphere is re- language was in character as he established. Blue-white lighting and the staggered and reeled under the weight queer oscillating sounds of high-pitched of his terrible burden of conscience, and strings and celeste, first heard after the he began to transform into the creature boy fell, return the instant Balstrode that the townsfolk assumed he was opens the door. initially. He sneered and scowled, scar- Only during the last act, after many cely making eye contact with anyone excruciating and technically difficult except Ellen, his apprentice, and mad scenes, did Vickers begin to show Balstrode, a retired sea captain who signs of strain - understandable, as he sympathizes with him. is one of the senior members of this fine Most memorable in this production company. For the most part, his per- was the scene at Grimes's hut. His formance brought the best of music and crude one room apartment was framed drama together. Vickers's tenor voice and bisected to allow the audience ac- was strong, true, and possessed the cess to the inner world of the anti-hero. crystalline diction necessary to project In this realm Vickers delivers a power- to all areas of the large auditorium. ful monologue of false pride in a The exceptional chorus and orchestra hopeless situation with the aria "In made the opera's supporting roles fall dreams I've built". Bit all is lost. As right into place. These attributes were Grimes rushes his apprentice out the magnified times ten with a stellar per- back door, the boy plummets to his formance by Vickers. The Metropolitan, death from a steep cliff immediately Opera tour makes driving to Detroit behind the shack. well worth the trip. Fahey-finger-pickin' good T HE GUITAR is a simple looking label, Takoma Records. instrument. After all, it isn't Fourteen Takoma albums later, and anything more than a hollow piece of a Warner Bros. or Vanguard sprinkled wood with a few strings across it. in between, Fahey remains respected But that simple looking instrument has on all fronts. In addition to his own made a habit of attracting to it in- musical successes, he is credited with novator after innovator and virtuoso af- having "discovered" Leo Kottke and ter virtuoso. signing him to Takoma. Not the least of these virtuosos is Fahey is playing Saturday night at 8 John Fahey, considered the father of p.m. at the Ark. It is his first time ev- the modern fingerpicking method. er to the Ark, and his first Ann Arbor Fahey has been one of the country's stop in quite some time. Tickets are $6 top folk guitarists for close to two and available in advance from decades. As a young performer with Schoolkid's and Herb David's as well as new ideas, Fahey found commercial at the door. success by forming his own record - Joseph Kraus 01r "