ST PAUL, Minnesota, Jan 28, (AP): “Only the children’s voices soothe me,” an anguished Sister Aloysius sings at the conclusion of “Doubt,” the new opera based on John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. She has just confessed that she is tormented by uncertainty about the actions she has taken to drive out a priest whom she suspects of sexually abusing a child in the school where she is principal. And Shanley makes things just ambiguous enough that the audience, too, is left unsure of the truth. But of this there is no doubt: The opera, with a libretto by Shanley and music by Douglas J. Cuomo, makes for a gripping 2 1/2 hours of theater. The work had its world premiere Saturday night in a production by Minnesota Opera, which commissioned it, and the enthusiastic audience at the Ordway Center responded with a standing ovation for the cast and creative team. The loudest applause deservedly went to Christine Brewer, the distinguished American soprano who may have found the role of a lifetime as Sister Aloysius, an old-style disciplinarian whose devout faith does not inhibit her from resorting to devious tactics to defend her values. On first hearing, it is hard to say how much of the project’s success is due to the strength of Shanley’s play and how much to Cuomo’s musical setting.

Composer
The composer, who has written one previous opera called “Arjuna’s Dilemma” and is perhaps best known for the theme music to TV’s “Sex and the City,” is clearly talented. He has an ear for subtle dissonance, and his inventive orchestrations are enhanced by judicious use of saxophone, piano and celeste. Shanley has rewritten a lot of the text to make it more singable and has opened up the play by adding choruses for children and for the churchgoers at St Nicholas parish in the Bronx of 1964.
Like the play — and the movie adaptation that starred Meryl Streep — the operatic “Doubt” takes its time gathering steam. A series of light-hearted scenes in Act 1 seem to be mainly depicting a culture clash between the rigid Sister Aloysius and the more progressive Father Flynn. Cuomo’s music for these early scenes is written in short, matter-of-fact phrases of sung dialogue, and he relies on rumblings in the orchestra to evoke the sense that something is not quite right.

But as Sister Aloysius becomes increasingly suspicious of the priest’s relationship with the school’s only black pupil, the music gains in lyric and dramatic power, culminating in their first confrontation at the end of Act 1. This arc continues throughout Act 2, where scene after scene reaches an emotional peak. The encounter in which Father Flynn wins over the young Sister James to his side takes on the feel of a seduction scene, their voices rising in overlapping harmony as they affirm that the “message of the Savior” is the “love of people.” And Sister Aloysius’s interview with Donald’s mother — sung with rich, passionate tone by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves — is riveting in its intensity.

Fullest
It’s in these later scenes that Cuomo gives Brewer a chance to exploit her plush upper register to its fullest. And her soaring vocal line as she moves toward victory and then gives voice to doubt imbue her character with a kind of tragic grandeur that words alone could not achieve.
The other soloists are first-rate as well. As Father Flynn, Matthew Worth complements his flexible baritone with a dashing, ingratiating presence that may or may not conceal a dark secret. Mezzo Adriana Zabala makes a sweet-voiced, earnest Sister James.
The production, directed by Kevin Newbury, is fast-paced and effective if perhaps overly elaborate. The many scenes melt seamlessly into one another thanks to Robert Brill’s movable sets and Japhy Weideman’s evocative lighting. Conductor Christopher Franklin leads the orchestra in a persuasive account of the score.
There are four more performances through Feb 3.
 

There is no pumpkin-turned-coach on the stage, no glass slipper, no fairy godmother, and the action takes place in an imaginary Italian duchy in the 1950s. But Gioachino Rossini’s take on Cinderella remains utterly magical in the new version being put on by the Vienna State Opera.
While all operas stand or fall on the quality of their singers, La Cenerentola presents a particular challenge, with solos replete with florid vocalization, full-out crescendos and sustained, flowing melodic lines.
But all soloists passed the test with full honors — and then some — in the production that premiered Saturday.
As Angelina — Rossini’s Cenerentola, or Cinderella — mezzo Tara Erraught unleashed an array of coloratura fireworks in a role that affords opportunities for vocal pyrotechnics like few others.

“Non piu mesta” — where Angelina, the prince by her side, announces that she forgives her cruel step-sisters and step-father — is considered one of opera’s most difficult arias. No problem for Erraught. Her rendition perfectly mirrored Angelina’s transition from a servant singing a simple ditty at the fireside to a princess in full embellished voice.
While he was describing the opera in general terms two centuries ago, feared Vienna critic Eduard Hanslick could have been referring to Erraught’s performance when he wrote: “This ... Cinderella is in fact a Cinderella in clothing only; her singing brims over with pearls, velvet and silk.”
A hard act to match — and as Don Ramiro, Angelina’s prince, Dmitry Korchak was almost equal to the task.

“Almost,” only because his light tenor initially threatened to get lost in the orchestra. But Korchak gained in confidence — and his voice in power — effortlessly pinpointing his high C’s in “Si ritrovarla io giuro,” as he declared that he will find the girl who so enchanted him at the ball, no matter what it takes.
But to do so, he must get past Angelina’s step-father, who keeps her in ashes while he plots the prince’s marriage to one of his two daughters. As the bumbling Don Magnifico, Alessandro Corbelli was indeed Mr Magnificent Saturday, bringing the mean and scheming persona to life in a humorously endearing way. Apropos of mean and scheming: Valentina Nafornita and Margarita Gritskova are beauties visually and vocally but convincingly rotten to the core in their roles as Clorinda and Tisbe, Don Magnificio’s preening daughters

Also good — Vito Priante as Dandini, the prince’s servant, and Ildebrando D’Arcengelo as Alidoro, the prince’s philosopher. As this Cinderella’s de-facto fairy godfather, he pulls the strings behind the scenes to bring the story to a happy ending. But there is no happy ending in any opera unless the orchestra is up to scratch. With Rossini specialist Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducting, musicians of the Vienna State Opera delivered a sparking rendition of a vibrant and complex score. Good singing by members of the Vienna State Orchestra Choir rounded out the evening, in a production as pleasing visually as it was musically. After the first performance flopped in 1817, Rossini was optimistic proclaiming: “People will love this opera.” They did Saturday.