Bratislava, Santa Fe and $$$
Great opera at home and abroad

by Judith Reynolds

Call me naïve. As an American who recently attended a Czech opera in a Slovakian theater with German supertitles, I’d like to think it was a rare experience. At the same time, you can get a similar fizz closer to home in Santa Fe.

Some people travel 4,000 miles to see good opera cheap. Or you can drive four hours and see world class productions in northern New Mexico. But it will cost you an arm and a knee replacement.

On a late May trip to middle Europe (for non-opera reasons), I got lucky and stumbled on a ticket for Bedrich Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride.” My seat, second row, second balcony, cost about $6. It was a good seat, not top balcony, nose-bleed territory, or at the back of the first floor. Surrounded by Slovaks, Czechs, plenty of Germans, a contingent of Russians, and possibly two Italians, I settled in for an evening of language goulash. If the performance was any good, I knew the night would stay in memory.

Smetana’s comic opera stands tall in Czech history, a key ingredient of late 19^th-century nationalism. The first opera to be composed and sung in Czech, “Bride” spins an old village tale. From the opening bars, the opera bursts with folk tunes and rhythmic energy.

The Prague National Theatre production in Bratislava didn’t disappoint and was full of surprises (the kind you get every night in Santa Fe). Set on a bare, raked stage, the story unfolded with minimal props and a fresh approach to lighting, costuming and movement. During the overture, chorus members and dancers brought the village to life one brush stroke at a time. In muted light on a back scrim, they quickly painted shops, houses and a church. When the overture ended and dawn broke, the villagers assembled for the opening chorus. Starting as a tableaux vivant, the singers gradually created the illusion of a complex mechanical village. One by one, they mimed movements of field and farm, kitchen and smithy. In the tavern scene, soldiers celebrated the wonders of beer, some suspended from rafters like marionettes. And the singing wasn’t bad, either.

The high powered music and imaginative staging reminded me of Santa Fe. The best opera companies renew standard repertoire with innovation. Why else see “Carmen” for the 15^th time? Great opera companies also introduce new works to keep the form alive.

This summer, Santa Fe’s 50^th season offers all new productions of works staged many times before: Bizet’s “Carmen,” Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” and Richard Strauss’ “Salome.” Massenet’s “Cinderella” will be a first. And the company will present the American premiere of a new English opera, Thomas Adès’ “The

This summer, Santa Fe’s 50^th season offers all new productions of works staged many times before: Bizet’s “Carmen,” Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” and Richard Strauss’ “Salome.” Massenet’s “Cinderella” will be a first. And the company will present the American premiere of a new English opera, Thomas Adès’ “The Tempest.”

Conducted by Santa Fe’s new music director, Alan Gilbert, “Tempest” will be staged by London director Jonathan Kent. It was Kent who teamed up last year with the Welsh-born designer Paul Brown to create the dark horse of the 2005 season. Inventive, interlocking sets, onstage costume changes and outlandish interpretations of 18^th-century dress made Mozart’s little known early opera, “Lucio Silla,” a stunning achievement.

Anyone would be excited to hear world-class singers like Anne Sofie von Otter in her first American “Carmen” or France’s Natalie Dessay as Pamina in “Flute.” But for this critic, the prospect of top world designers and directors is equally compelling.

“Tempest” is the only opera to be sung in English this season. “Carmen,” of course, will be sung in French; “Flute” and “Salome” in German. In Santa Fe, viewers have a choice of English or Spanish titles, projected on discreet LED screens directly in front of each seat. It beats struggling with Bratislava’s German titles while listening to songs sung in Czech.

The only problem? It’s a big one. A ticket for the Santa Fe Opera costs a bit more than $6. Individual ticket prices range from $25 to $160. My Bratislava seat would cost about $125 in Santa Fe.

And this brings me to the trouble with opera in America; it’s class-based. If you’re not affluent, forget it. In under-malled, less-entitled Slovakia, opera still seems to be music for the people. As a critic, I’d much rather concentrate on artistic issues, yet doing so for opera ignores reality.

See you at the back of Santa Fe’s first floor or three rows from heaven. •