SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL OPERA  REVIEW

Donizetti, Anna Bolena: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of Dallas Opera, Graeme Jenkins, conductor. Winspear Opera House, Dallas, 6.11.2010 (LV)

 

Conductor: Graeme Jenkins

Director: Stephen Lawless

Scenery Designer: Benoit Dugardyn

Costume Designer: Ingeborg Berneth

Lighting Designer: Mark McCullough

Movement Director: Nicola Bowie

Cast:

Anne Boleyn: Hasmik Papian

Jane Seymour: Denyce Graves

Lord Percy: Stephen Costello

Henry VIII: Oren Gradus

Smeton: Elena Belfiore

Lord Rochefort: Mark McCrory

Hervey: Aaron Blake

Jane Seymour ( Denyce Graves) and Anne Boleyn (Hasmik Papian )
Picture © Karen Almond/Dallas Opera

On the Saturday night before Jerry Jones's pro football Cowboys, playing in a frozen northern stadium, would fail in the face of adversity, the Dallas Opera was playing in their grand new Winspear Opera House, in Dallas's gleaming downtown arts mall. The Opera came through like champions with an ultimately triumphant new production of a major bel canto set piece.

This was more than an outstanding operatic performance; it was a real-life drama that played out on the most appropriate possible stage, deep in the heart of Texas. During this performance of Donizetti's florid Anna Bolena, Denyce Graves suffered an early pregnancy miscarriage, but returned to the stage for the Second Act after receiving medical consultation during an extended intermission.

Though she was visibly shaken and clung to the walls of the stage for support, Graves's second act performance scored totally in the context of the melodrama, with moments of astonishing upper register power and beauty. In every way, shape and form, this Anna Bolena was a performance that could instantly become a legend at the level of Maria Callas's Lisbon Traviata. The only concession Graves made was to skip her big Second Act aria.

The performance, which was understandably ragged during Act One when the audience at least had no idea of why Graves was struggling, came together after it was announced on stage during half-time that Ms. Graves was ill. Gone was the caution and in its place genuine operatic thrills and seamless ensemble work. Stephen Costello's Lord Percy flashed youthful energy and virtuosity, while Oren Gradus's Henry flashed anger and energy in alternating waves. Unifying the play, Hasmik Papian's Anne Boleyn movingly sang her way to oblivion, tearing at every beauty in the score. Elena Belfiore was a creatively, oddly affecting Smeton.

Adding to the poise of the production, Benoit Dugardyn's theater-in-the-round, Globe Theatre-type of set worked wonders creating excitement, although the constant rearranging of eight panels, while creating some very interesting spaces, was also distracting.

Given the heroism and courage of Ms. Graves's performance, it's too bad Jerry Jones, who is reputed to be a generous arts giver, didn't attend with some of his coaches and players, to witness the bravery and heroism of Denyce Graves who, in at least a broad entertainment sense, is one of their colleagues.

Laurence Vittes