2011-05-07T05:11:00.001-07:00

Boston Vocal Arts Studio Launches with a Bang

Sunday evening, April 17 at 6:30 at Center Makor (Temple B’nai Moshe in Brighton MA).

A performance of Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G.

Boston Vocal Arts Studio is a new group on the Boston music scene. Their mission is to present under‑performed masterworks. They draw upon the rich talent in the Russian music and arts community and they are all professional singers, actors, and instrumentalists.

La Serva Padrona is one of the earliest Italian operas, composed in 1733. Giovanni Pergolesi died at age 26 of tuberculosis, but in his short life gave us many beautiful secular and sacred works. This comic opera is lightly scored – only two singers plus a silent actor, accompanied by strings and harpsichord. The plot is light also. A grumpy master waits forever for the maid to bring him his chocolate. He grumbles. She feels she is the main mistress of the house and can do what she pleases. She wants more of him, and tricks him into marrying her. No death, no murder …. only marriage!, and they sing joyously about it at the end.

The Orchestra of BVAS sparkled in their support of the stage action. Julia Scott Carey, harpsichord, created artful accompaniments, sounding effortless and beautiful. The piece is with singing throughout, in 14 movements, alternately with orchestra and with harpsichord alone in the recitatives and ending with a couple of bouncy arias with all singers and players. The costumes were designed and handmade by Ludmilla Starobinets, a veteran actress and director of her own theater company. Stage direction was by Roxanna Myhrum. It was a simple set -- a couch, chairs, a chess table, and partitions on both sides to simulate a parlor in an old house. Sumptuous fabrics in white and beige were chosen for the backdrop and the partitions. That plus the old-fashioned upholstery pattern and the ornate costumes, gave a richness and believability to the setting. As Uberto the master and Serpina the maid have their arguments, the servant Vespone silently serves and suffers his two bosses, and he holds out for the 40 minute duration without saying a thing, but in the funniest of ways.

The opening act of the evening was the Mozart concerto No 3 with violinist Stanislav Antonevich as conductor and violin soloist. One player per part in the orchestra … strings, two oboes, two horns, and flute. Clean sounding. Antonevich’s violin sound was clear, perfectly in tune, and light in the best Mozart style. He gave an interesting few words of introduction about his love of Mozart’s music. He hears the dramatic quality of opera in the way Mozart makes melodies talk to each other like characters. He played a brief solo on violin to make his point, showing what wonderful reverence he has for the composer and for the sound of the violin. One immediately knew they’d be hearing something uncompromisingly beautiful. Mozart is deceptively difficult to play because his music is so transparent and the slightest fault of bowing or intonation would be apparent. However, this performance was utterly free of ‘ouches’ and permitted Mozart’s voice to ring. He played the cadenzas daringly, going for the pizzazz, and didn’t miss a single detail. Thrilling.

The auditorium can hold 700 people and felt rather full. The fans of BVAS apparently are well off because it seemed that everyone must have bought two or three seats J. The actual count was around 300 people -- an amazing figure, really, for the first concert of a new musical organization.

The hall acoustics were perfect for this program. The solo violin and strings sound soared upward and over, while the wind’s sound seemed more direct, giving an impression of silken strings coming from heaven, over a solid foundation from the oboes, horns, and flute. In La Serva Padrona, the strings and harpsichord were at floor level and on the right, so the singers had unobstructed visual and aural projection to the audience. There was no feeling of competition with the instruments. With the orchestra slightly remote, it softened their sound and sweetened their edges, so the vocal artistry was given its proper emphasis in the listener’s ears. Lidiya Yankovskaya’s confident conducting was absolutely in sync with the action on stage, and her care in preparing the musicians was evident from the clearly detailed melody lines and her close coordination of the rubatos and tempo relaxations sprinkled everywhere.

Lisovskaya’s Serpina and Prokhorov’s Uberto must be complimented highly. Her voice was full of color, with spittingly careful diction, excitement, and impetuousness as the part demands. His grumpiness and power were perfectly portrayed and with a deep basso voice, in full song and in parlando. Together, they were vivid, bright, and good-sounding. You might close your eyes and be lulled into reverie in the sweet slow moments …. but you wouldn’t want to, because their antics were riveting: Vespone getting slapped around by Serpina, playing a game of chess in sync with Uberto’s aria, disguising himself as a soldier and suitor to Serpina (her plot to make Uberto jealous and marry her himself). It was comedy tonight, and vocal art. It’s a great name for the ensemble, the Boston Vocal Arts Studio. Sounds like a parlor where they do paintings on canvas. This night, their canvas was the stage, the lush fabric backdrop and the rich costuming. The strings were sweet and happy sounding always, and the magic of the harpsichord blended it all together.

The audience watched English and Russian translations projected on a screen to the left of the stage, so they could follow the gags … but certain moments needed no translation: Serpina shushing Uberto and mocking his anger at her. Vespone, disguised as Captain Tempesta, drawing his sword at Uberto and everyone gasping. Uberto and Serpina sighing together as lovebirds in the final duets.

Fans had this to say about their experience:

Nicholas Shaplyko, artist, said that the opera was very light and uplifting, like "champagne's bubbles" ….. the colors were perfectly matched: with white and burgundy splashes here and there in the costumes and in the stage design. Vespone’s acting was in great contrast to the two lively and juicy characters of Uberto and Serpina. His costume, in the same colors as the other two characters' but in hushed tones, also added to his "don't mind me" character --- a triumph for costume designer Starobinets.

Several people said that Lisovskaya’s Serpina was a complete picture and a finished product: beautiful voice and musicality, brilliant acting and stage presence - ready for the "big stage".

Others saluted the high energy, dynamic performance, good chemistry between Uberto and Serpina.

Stanislav Antonevich, in addition to being soloist and conductor for the Mozart violin concerto, was also the concertmaster for La Serva Padrona. His leadership was key to the accurate and beautiful sound of the BVAS orchestra. He took the cues from the conductor and amplified the ideas she desired to be expressed, and added his own punch. He spent hours making careful bow markings so the violins could confidently play in sync and advised the rest of the ensemble when questions about how to articulate a phrase arose (play at the tip for lightness, or play on the string in the middle of the bow for a heavier sound, etc.)

More comments about Stanislav Antonevich and his rendering of the Mozart Concerto No. 3:

A complete immersion into an other-worldly dimension.

One feels Stanislav's energy and fervent spirit as his passion sings from his strings. My emotions danced in tandem with Stanislav as he became one with his music.

When Stanislav plays, there is such an emotional contact with the audience that the world dissolves, the heart seems to stop beating and one floats in the music until the last note.

From the first note of Stanislav's violin, the sound of his music wakes up my soul. When he performs, this talented violinist lives and dissolves in his music. Each time I hear Stanislav, it's an enchanting combination of talent and passion. I want to wish him success on the difficult but beautiful path that he has chosen, bringing people a feast for the soul.

In summary, this was a blessed coming together of mature musical, dramatic, and visual artists, and we hope the beginning of a glorious partnership for future works. They want to seek out under-appreciated works from Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, etc., polish them and give them a new life. Bravo to everyone involved!

Jagan Nath Khalsa

Critic at Large

May 7, 2011

Voice Recital at Brookline Public Library wows audience

2010-05-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Event occured Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 7 PM, Brookline Public Library, Brookline MA

Light Opera and Broadway hits

50 people came out on an ordinary Thursday night in spring to watch something extraordinary. Olga Lisovskaya soprano, Bulent Guneralp baritone, and pianist Boris Fogel presented 20 gems from the classics, Broadway and seldom-heard Russian film and opera music.

Lisovskaya took her talent to the lighter side of the operatic spectrum and started with three famous arias that showed her acting ability on top of a lovely voice. J. Strauss’s “Adele’s Laughing Song”, Offenbach’s “Doll Song” where she is a mechanical doll singing thoughtlessly and with a slightly disconnected brain, and Offenbach’s “Périchole's aria” where she is tipsy and sings about her own alcoholic haze (picture Virginia Woolf drunkenly dominating the dinner party). She chose a very challenging collection of songs and sang them effortlessly; you could relax in the artistry of her other talents beyond the vocal.

In the opening numbers, this reviewer laughed out loud (to the amazement of his fourteen year old daughter) with every extreme of Lisovskaya’s emotion --- from giddy laughter to her drunk abandon as she staggered next to the piano.. She was dressed beautifully in pink gown and had a placid comportment …. but her hand gestures and facial expressions were absolutely in service to whatever she sang, and she was comforting and delightful to watch. She spoke a few words now and then to introduce pieces. I felt a rich intelligence in what she does. She knows she is a storyteller rather than a vocal gymnast, and brings understanding beyond the words, in her voice and her actions.

She chose guest baritone Bulent Guneralp to do some American standards from Broadway. He has a deep voice, and has a rakish and debonair air about him well suited to a favorite number from Guys and Dolls, “I’ll Know” and Loesser’s “Once in Love with Amy.” From South Pacific, he sang “This Nearly Was Mine”. Guneralp, too, goes beyond merely mastering the song; he moves, he chuckles, he winks and instantly creates a vivid character to put across these songs. Together, he and Lisovskaya are the perfect duo. Perfect interpretation and emotional impact as if they ARE the characters they sing.

Boris Fogel is a master accompanist whose forte is Russian film and show music. He was constantly in control, but not dominating, and had a wonderful smile for the artists as they finished each piece. He took little acclaim for himself, but this reviewer appreciates what an important role is the accompanist; he can make or break the magic his solo partners weave. He did one piano solo, a potpourri of Russian music by Kalman. Lisovskaya remarked “nobody in the world can play these quite like him”.

The last four pieces of the program were by a Russian film composer, I. Dunaevsky. It was a heavily Russian-speaking audience. As I looked around the room I saw several people with their hands clasped in delight and deep smiles on their faces, like they were receiving rare gifts. This is music-making --- it obviously transported the listeners to happy realms.

Encore: Rossini’s “Duet for Two Cats”. They fooled the audience by announcing they were going to do a duet with very difficult lyrics to remember. It turned out the words were simply, “Meow Meow”. But oh what fun with nuance, innuendo, and gesture. After an entire evening of masterful emoting in every human situation portrayed, this was a crowning piece of fun, and took us by surprise.

It was a very successful evening of artistry, highlighting the smaller-scale song formats, as compared to grand opera with all its high intrigue, murder, and mayhem. A twenty-faceted dessert platter, as compared to a heavy, cloying brownie in three acts.

Jagan Nath Khalsa

Critic at Large

Music and Song

Voice Recital at Brookline Public Library wows audience