By GEORGE B. PAROUS
Last evening Pittsburgh Opera continued their season with the first night of Missy Mazzoli’s chamber opera, Proving Up. With a libretto by Royce Vavrek, adapted from a short story by Karen Russell, the 2018 opera has been called “brilliant” by Musical America, and “harrowing… powerful…a true opera of our time” by the Washington Post. While set in the 1870s, the work is indeed, as the Washington Post says, an opera of our time.
The music was everything I’ve come to expect from “modern day” opera composers. The “grand opera” idiom is avoided at all cost, as is melody and much in the way of sustained, lyrical passages for the singers. This work is not totally devoid of such things, but they are very much out of the picture. Proving Up, actually, might be the perfect “first opera” for people who think they don’t like opera. This one act production runs approximately 90 minutes, and be on time or you’re not being seated. Likewise, stay in your seat, because if you leave before the performance is over, you’re not getting back in.
As for Royce Vavrek’s libretto, so much has been discussed in print and previews that much more would be a spoiler for people who like hearing and seeing new operas completely unawares. A link below will provide very detailed information regarding the plot, composer, performers, etc. As may be seen from the photos included, costumes, set designers, lighting, etc., were all entrusted to very capable hands. But angles from the arrangement of seats and other audience members, block much of the far ends of the stage for those seated in at least the third and fourth rows.
Pa Zegner (Brandon Bell) stresses the importance of Miles’ (Fran Daniel Laucerica) upcoming errand
Fran Daniel Laucerica, the gifted singer we’re just getting to know, last evening gave a marvelous display of his vocal and acting abilities in the role of Miles Zegner. He acted in a manner that suited the bleakness that surrounded his character, and sang with a pure and ringing tenor voice that made quite an impression. He exuded a dynamic personality that kept his listeners focused on his characterization, and sang with appealing tones that made an excellent imprint from the start. Opera News has deemed him “a very promising high tenor,” and it’s a very fair assessment on the part of the magazine.
Emily Richter, in the rather thankless part of “Ma” Zegner, last evening stirred mixed emotions. She sang, of course, gloriously, her powerful and plush soprano voice filling the studio with its wonted brilliance and warmth, but a touch of pathos must have been felt by many in the audience. These are the last performances she will give as a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera. From here she moves on to the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and other promising opportunities. We have not heard the last of her; that she won’t be engaged by Pittsburgh Opera for future productions is unfathomable. Until that time, one of the greatest of vocal artists who have come this way will be very much missed, indeed.
Pa, Ma, and Peter Zegner ((Emily Richter, Brandon Bell, Mason Dowd) wish Miles (Fran Daniel Laucerica) a successful journey
Evan Lazdowski, while having shown his bass voice most favorably in past productions, last night was a revelation. He sang with a true mastery of bel canto phrasing and fluidity, qualities sometimes missing in singers of his range. The creepy Sodbuster is a role that suits his cavernous, lustrous bass voice perfectly, and he sang with a booming resonance that topped all of the fine performances he has given to date, which is saying much. The deep and golden tones of Brandon Bell, as “Pa” Zegner, were on full display and at their best, as well, and he acted the role with the same attention to detail that he also applies to his singing.
(Left to right) Peter Zegner (Mason Dowd), Littler Zegner Sister (Jazmine Olwalia), Taller Zegner Sister (Julia Swan Laird), Mrs. Johannes (Ma Zegner, Emily Richter), Mr. Johannes (Pa Zegner, Brandon Bell)
Julia Swan Laird and Jazmine Olwalia, familiar faces and voices also nearing the end of their runs as Resident Artists with Pittsburgh Opera, rounded out the well chosen cast, as did Mason Dowd as Peter. The two “sisters,” Laird and Olwalia, did an excellent job of giving their listeners increasingly larger doses of the heebie-jeebies as the opera progressed.
From on high, James Lesniak and the reduced orchestra gave support and a fine performance of their own, the violins and harps augmented by an occasional harmonica or two. Mazzoli’s orchestration is very clever in the use of the twenty or so players to get across moods and themes of the libretto. Strings sometimes sound like fiddles being sawed – everything from a hoedown to utter bleakness is painted in the score, and Lesniak and his players, high above the stage, did noble work sending these jagged rhythms and occasional chaos out over the singers below.
The Sodbuster (Evan Lazdowski, with Zegner sisters Julia Swan Laird and Jazmine Olwalia) brings bad news and an aura of menace
The audience was a diversified one of all ages that occupied most of the studio’s limited seating. The singers, orchestra and production staff got hearty rounds of applause, and hopefully this will be a trend for the remaining performances.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Proving Up has performances February 20 – 25, 2024 at the Bitz Opera Factory in the Strip District (Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters). For complete production information, tickets, and more, visit Pittsburgh Opera
The Artistic Team for Proving Up –
Conductor, James Lesniak; Stage Director, Haley Stamats; Set Designer, Brett Rochford; Costume Designer, Nancy Julian, Lighting Designer, Todd Nonn; Stage Manager, Claire Young, Fight Coordinator, Mason Dowd; Assistant Conductor, Glenn Lewis, Director of Musical Studies, Mark Trawka
David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera
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