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OPERA REVIEW
June 24, 2004
Photos by Peter Crompton
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By James Keolker
The Jarvis Conservatory in Napa has reached a level of musical sophistication and theatrical maturity with its current offering of the 1896 zarzuela, Luis Alonso by Jerónimo Giménez, which opened lst Thursday.
William and Leticia Jarvis began their dedication to local zarzuela productions in 1995 with the conversion of an old winery into a downtown jewel-box theater. They established a workshop system where young singers, dancers and directors interested in Spanish operetta could come once a year to perform in four “festival” performances. But it has not been until now that the Conservatory has been able to master the elusive form with any kind of élan.
As Vienna had Johann Strauss, Jr., and the boulevards of Paris had Jacques Offenbach, Spain had La Zarzuela composed by a number theatrical talents, Giménez among them. But like light opera from Friml to Romberg, the form has always required a keen sense of style. Luis Alonso is such a challenge, met this year with a production that boasts fine integration of song, dance, and plot, fine singing by a young, energetic cast, vigorous dancing, and an orchestra of quality under the direction of José Antonio Irastorza, a zarzuela maestro from Spain.
What William Jarvis as artistic director has done, is to stitch together two shorter works (The Gypsy Bride of Luis Alonso, and (The Dancing School of Luis Alonso) to make one bright show. As far as the slim plot is concerned, Alonso is an aging dancing master who hopes to marry a much younger (and evidently more experienced) gypsy girl. After a few, not too serious complications, the wedding takes place onstage and the resulting celebration serves as the reason for a series of dances and songs. Jarvis then slyly worked additional solos and duets into an Act Two sampler of famous zarzuelas ( (El Niño Judio, Gato Montés, and El Barbero de Sevilla among them). What makes this property worth producing is Giménez's delightful score. Rhythmic and lyrical in that special lilting Spanish way, this music is filled with romantic ballads and zesty instrumental accompaniment. Puerto Rican baritone Abdiel Gonzalez was a tall, suave, and richly voiced Alonso, well-paired with the pretty and pert Adrienne Starr as the gypsy-bride. Diana Kehrig was the appropriately nervous mother, tenor Luis Galvez the sweating father. Among the ensemble of various friends, dancers, and clients of the dance studio, young Celeste Mann from New York City stood out for her dark, luxurious voice in a brief song of frustration (her husband has eyes for the gypsy-bride). Another youthful singer of note was Christopher Bengochea, a tenor from Montana, whose soaring solo of “Te Quiero Morena” from José Serrano's El Trust de los Tenorios, earned much applause. < Others in the company of twenty who sang especially well were Daniella Carvalho as Manuela, a woman who never likes to pay when she can wheedle, Fabienne Wood in a coloratura turn, and lyric tenor Brendan Daly. Former Metropolitan Opera soprano Carol Neblett was this year's vocal coach, and along with John Ballerino as musical assistant, the ensemble showed bright mastery.
Director Daniel Helfgot has integrated the various dance sequences well. The choreography by Maria del Sol and Mario La Vega of Spain featured a variety of energetic flamenco, chotis, jota, polkas, and a varsovienne. The dancers were often elegantly gowned with rich color and regional detail, and the fierce, masculine postures of Antonio Martinez recalled a young José Greco. If this quality of production continues, then the Jarvis Conservatory will have achieved the level towards which it has striven.
(James Keolker is a frequent lecturer and writer on opera, and the author of Last Acts, the Operas of Puccini and His Italian Contemporaries, available on Amazon.com)
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Abdiel Gonzales (Luis Alonso)