Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MasterVoices celebrates its 75th season with Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek’s delicious and accessible 27

• By drediman
• October 24, 2016
• No Comments

The company of “27” at New York City Center

This past weekend, I attended one of the two performances of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek’s 27 at New York City Center, courtesy of MasterVoices, which this season is celebrating its 75^th anniversary. Mr. Gordon and Mr. Vavrek’s new opera tells the story of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas’s time together at 27 Rue de Fleurus.

Mr. Vavrek’s libretto is episodic and fractured (not necessarily a bad thing), which makes the entire endeavor seem more like a song cycle than music drama. This trait actually works well for a company like MasterVoices, which essentially mounts staged concerts with very limited runs. A lot of ground is covered in just under 90 minutes – the Parisian arts scene, World War I, Gertrude’s death – all within the context of these two women’s extraordinary relationship.

Mr. Gordon’s score is delicious and accessible, which is not something you can say about most contemporary operas. There’s a warmth and a lightness in his composition that was gorgeously captured by the fantastic Orchestra of St. Luke’s (conducted by artistic director Ted Sperling). As Gertrude and Alice, respectively, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and soprano Heidi Stober gave vocally and dramatically charismatic performances and had wonderful chemistry onstage. Indeed, these two performances beautifully held the production together. They were given terrific support by a trio of performers who resourcefully and amusingly played all the other roles – tenor Theo Lebow, baritone Tobias Greenhalgh, and bass-baritone Daniel Brevik (who was especially a splendid presence). Lastly, the MasterVoices chorus sounded vibrant, as always.

RECOMMENDED

27
Opera
MasterVoices at New York City Center
1 hour, 25 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed