Newspaper Article

TALE OF GENJI' PREMIERE SHINES AT STELLAR ST. LOUIS OPERA THEATRE

ROBERT CROAN, POST-GAZETTE SENIOR EDITOR

2000

Overview

Nonetheless, this is a very affecting work, and the present production is optimum in just about every aspect: [Cohn Graham]'s grandiose yet stylized staging, Setsu Asakara's vivid sets and costumes, Kikusiro Onoe's choreography; and not least, Steuart Bedford's valiant musical direction of an intricate score that includes not only the standard Western instruments but also -- quite prominently - - Japanese koto and pipa. [Minoru Miki]'s idiom is, for the most part, tonal in a late 20th-century way, flavored with Japanese elements. Still, the work is closer to Puccini or Barber than Kabuki or Noh. As appealing as it is, however, the score of \"Genji\" does not quite carry its inordinate length (over three hours with a single intermission). *At the other end of the spectrum is Handel's \"Radamisto\" -- a melodic rarity that James Robinson has staged in such lively fashion as to make us forget the static nature of 18th-century opera seria, which features elaborate solo arias of reflection interspersed with recitative that puts forward what action there is. Countertenor Rymand Angel excelled in the title part (written for a castrato) with electrifying vocalism and a many-sided emotional scope. His grasp of the Baroque style was matched by the distinguished, knowing work of conductor Grant Llewellen -- who will succeed Christopher Hogwood next year as artistic director of Boston's Handel and Haydn Society.

• Publisher: Pittsburgh Post - Gazette
• Subject: Graham, Cohn / Mackay, Charles / Miki, Minoru