The women of Athens vow a sex strike in Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera’s semi-staged production of Mark Adamo’s ‘Lysistrata.’ (Pictured L to R: Maggie Finnegan, Katherine Beck, Lucy Schaufer, Felicia Gavilanes as Athenian sisters summoning the will to resist.)
By Keith Powers from Classical Voice North America
BOSTON — Fed up with war, Lysistrata leads both Athenian and rival Spartan women in a sex strike. For Aristophanes, over two millennia ago, that was the premise for a bawdy punfest of a comedy.
For composer/librettist Mark Adamo, the weak-kneed standoff between lusty women and their agonizingly erect men not only tries comically to end a war but also attempts to engender a broader discussion of fate and identity.
Sometimes it succeeds.
Odyssey Opera and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose, semi-staged Adamo’s Lysistrata: The Nude Goddess on Feb. 15 in Boston’s Jordan Hall, the principal performance space of the New England Conservatory. Lysistrata is Adamo’s second opera of four operas: Little Women was first, and most recently Adamo wrote the libretto for husband John Corigliano’s The Lord of the Cries as well. Lysistrata premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2005 and has had several stagings since.
Adamo has written a rich score — too dense at times — that was nimbly served by Rose, his orchestra, and the astutely assembled cast of singers. Soprano Anya Matanovič sang the title role, with tenor Dominic Armstrong as her love interest Nico. Mezzo-sopranos Katherine Beck (Myrrhine), Lucy Schaufer (Kleonike), Alexis Peart (Lampito, the tongue-twisted leader of the Spartan women), bass-baritone Kevin Deas (Leonidas), baritone John Moore (Kinesias), and a dozen ensemble singers in supporting roles sang with authority and blended beautifully.
A selection of Kathy Witman’s photos follow with captions below.
Top row of pictures of leading ladies
Far left: Lysia impatiently awaits her lover (Lysia: Anya Matanovič)
Second from left: Aphrodite, descended to earth (Aphrodite: Maggie Finnegan))
Far right: Lampito agrees to the embargo (Lampito: Alexis Peart)
Athenian and Spartan women offer Lysia ceremonial gifts
Left to right: Maggie Finnegan (Xanthe), Kristen Watson (Dika), Alexis Peart (Lampito), Anya Matanovič (Lysia), Jamie-Rose Guarrine (Charito), Felicia Gavilanes (Sappho), Katherine Beck (Myrrhine)
Spartan and Athenian soldiers beg for release
John Moore (Kinesias), Nathan Halbur (Bion), Fred C. VanNess, Jr. (Meleagros), Neal Ferreira (Alpheus), Nicholas Fahrenkrug (Philo), Fausto Miro (Maron), Kevin Deas (Leonidas)
Spartan soldiers struggling to sleep (with visual aid showing frustration)
Nicholas Fahrenkrug (Philo), Fausto Miro (Maron), Neal Ferreira (Alpheus)
Lysia maps out her boycott plan
Kristen Watson (Dika), Jamie-Rose Guarrine (Charito), Christina English (Arete), Alexis Peart (Lampito), Anya Matanovič (Lysia), Maggie Finnegan (Xanthe), Katherine Beck (Myrrhine), Felicia Gavilanes (Sappho), Lucy Schaufer
