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San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: West Edge Opera's ‘David and Jonathan' is a bold, queer revelation
Two young people fall in love. The father, jealous of his son's new love, interferes. Tragedy ensues. It's a standard opera plot, but it's no 'La Traviata.' In West Edge Opera's production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's 'David and Jonathan,' there's a twist: both lovers are men. The Bay Area company's take on the 1688 opera, which opened Sunday, Aug. 3, at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, presents a homosexual relationship that is far from 'the love that dare not speak its name' as part of its summer festival. Director Mark Streshinsky staged this biblical love story in open acknowledgement of the physical and emotional intensity between the title characters — David, the slayer of Goliath, and Jonathan, the son of King Saul of Israel. This openly gay vision of Charpentier's Baroque opera makes a radical casting decision. In the original score, Jonathan's part was to be sung by a boy soprano. Most modern productions cast a female soprano as Jonathan. But West Edge's version stars Derek Chester as David and Aaron Sheehan as Jonathan, both buff young men. We might think of the time of Louis XIV as frozen in conventionality, but Charpentier's music is passionate and full of life. The two title characters share their love, their sorrow and finally their grief in moving duets. Their bond is made even more emotional by West Edge's reworking of both vocal lines into tenor range: the lovers share a single expressive language. In Streshinsky's staging, the lovers display their affection passionately. They kiss, make love and pledge their union openly. And yes, because it's a tragedy, Jonathan dies in David's arms. Jealous Saul, powerfully presented by baritone Matthew Worth, forces the two lovers apart. As the biblical account makes clear, the king is deeply disturbed, prone to fits of anger and violence. His self-loathing turns against those he loves and eventually against himself. This fateful triangle of Saul, David and Jonathan plays out during the brutal, long-lasting war of Israel against the Philistines — the historical inhabitants of the anguished land we now call Gaza. The opera makes it achingly clear that such wars are fostered by obsessive and paranoid kings, and have disastrous consequences for all. At the end, when David succeeds Saul as king, the crown means nothing to him as he sobs, cradling his lover's lifeless body. West Edge's production makes the stage come alive, with a constantly moving set and expressive changes of lighting. A quartet of excellent dancers, choreographed by Benjamin Freedman, splendidly physicalized Charpentier's lively ballets. The fine baroque orchestra of strings and flutes was led from the keyboards by Music Director Adam Pearl. Pearl and Streshinsky clarified a number of confusing elements of the libretto, such as adding an opening number replaying David's heroic slaying of Goliath, comically reenacted in Saul's court with the giant as a monstrous puppet, ineffectively flailing his equally monstrous member. Supporting roles included Achis, King of the Philistines, sung with commanding presence by bass-baritone Wilford Kelly; Joabel, a treacherous Philistine, portrayed with swagger by Ben Pattison; Ghost of the prophet Samuel, a sonorous bass role, sung by Richard Mix; and the Witch of Endor, who pulls Samuel from the underworld, portrayed fabulously by mezzo-soprano Laurel Semerdjian in a bat-like costume. West Edge Opera's summer festival continues through Aug. 17, with additional performances of 'David and Jonathan' and two other operas, 'Dolores' (through Aug. 16) and 'Wozzeck' (opening Saturday, Aug. 9).
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: World premiere of ‘Dolores' another hit for West Edge Opera
West Edge Opera unveiled another triumphant world premiere, opening its season with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch's opera 'Dolores.' Telling the story of a pivotal year in the life of labor activist Dolores Huerta, the show is dramatically tight and musically transporting — a work made to last, though it's also undeniably timely. Benavides and Koch's take on the politics of the 1968 strike of California's grape pickers is unabashedly progressive and they indulge in the lightest moment of agitprop when, at the end of the opera, Huerta (mezzo-soprano Kelly Guerra) chants the United Farm Workers mantra 'Si, se puede' and motions for the audience to join in. On opening night, Saturday, Aug. 2, at Oakland's Scottish Rite Center, many did. Senator Robert Kennedy (tenor Alex Boyer) is pictured as heroic, while Richard Nixon (tenor Sam Faustine) is a creep. Yet librettist Koch stays close to the historical record, even using the historical characters' own words at times. Huerta herself, 95 years old and still spry, attended the performance and joined the cast onstage at the company bows. When Benavides handed a microphone to Huerta, she said, 'We know we can't give up. Together we will get through this terrible time in our history. … And we know we will win.' The opera explores themes that are deeply woven into the imagination of our immigrant nation. At its heart, the show is about the courage and resolve of ordinary people who are inspired to create change. Huerta's children come up frequently in the piece — she worries that she's not at home enough for them. As union president Cesar Chavez (baritone Phillip Lopez) prepares for a hunger strike, he keeps returning to the word 'sacrificio' set to a motive that Benavides weaves through the scene and recalls briefly at the end of the opera. 'Dolores'has the frisson of a masterfully paced thriller — there's not an extra word sung. Benavides' score keeps the story on the boil with sharp rhythms in the vocal lines, and a gamut of styles and emotions. The composer and librettist are not above adding comedy and dance into the mix. This variety is welcome in Nixon's waltz, 'I love a grape,' and then again when Huerta argues for — and gets — a mariachi band to strengthen the union's get-out-the-vote effort. Benavides' orchestration sounds much more opulent than its 15-player ensemble would suggest. His accompaniments are varied but also rhythmically layered, and conductor Mary Chun extracted every ounce of juice from this expansive score. The cast and Mark Morash's chorus were well-prepared and well-directed. Guerra's Dolores was urgent and authoritative, with plenty of heft to her sound. Rolfe Dauz successfully portrayed labor leader Larry Itliong 's complex personality and sang powerfully. As Chavez, Lopez was focused and intense, singing gracefully in the pivotal hunger strike scene. Soprano Chelsea Hollow was rock solid as Helen Chavez and Ethel Kennedy. Boyer was commanding as Robert Kennedy and Caleb Alexander was strong as Paul Schrade. Faustine was especially chilling as Nixon, giving the role many vocal and physical nuances. As Juan Romero, the busboy who held Kennedy after he was shot, Sergio Gonzalez sang a fervent and haunted aria that was an emotional highlight. Director Octavio Cardenas did exceptional work with his singing actors. Yuki Izumihara's projections gave the story almost a documentary feel, accentuated by Lilana Duque-Pinero's set design which was dominated by screens and Michael Oesch's well-conceived lighting. The costumes by Ulises Alcala, assisted by Colleen Nicole Fox, were historically spot on.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
New opera spotlights Dolores Huerta's farmworker legacy amid renewed immigration tensions
The nation is tense, and California's Central Valley farm fields have become an unlikely flash point. The workers — mostly immigrants — who harvest the fruits and vegetables that feed much of the country are scared and angry. They labor to the point of physical exhaustion for low pay. Protests against these conditions are organized and soon gain widespread support. This may sound like a dispatch from the front lines of 2025, a year that's been marked by the Trump administration's immigration raids and arrests across the state's agricultural industry. But it's also the historical backdrop for Dolores Huerta, who in the mid-1960s spearheaded a nationwide boycott of table grapes in solidarity with striking farmworkers. Alongside fellow labor leaders Cesar Chavez and Gilbert Padilla, she played an integral role in the era's civil rights movement. Huerta's story is a dramatic tale of friction and solidarity, of hope lost and restored — big themes practically made for the operatic stage. And that's exactly where they'll land on Aug. 2, when West Edge Opera presents the world premiere of 'Dolores.' The East Bay company will feature the new opera as one of three productions in repertory during its summer season at Oakland's Scottish Rite Center, along with Marc-Antoine Charpentier's 'David and Jonathan' and Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck' in performances through Aug. 17. In development for five years, 'Dolores' is not a direct reaction to today's tensions. But it's hard to imagine a better time to recount how a previous generation of immigrant workers stood up for their rights. 'It's funny how you can make plans to do something, and it suddenly, magically, seems very appropriate for the times,' West Edge General Director Mark Streshinsky mused from his office in Berkeley. Huerta's name was a familiar one for Streshinsky growing up. His father Ted Streshinsky — a prominent photojournalist whose work appeared in Time, Life, Look and other magazines — covered the early days of the grape boycott. Honoring that family legacy, the director is using some of his dad's images in the production. But composer Nicolás Lell Benavides has even stronger ties to this history. Huerta, who is still active today at age 95, is his third cousin. 'She has jokingly introduced me as her grandson,' said Benavides, a New Mexico native who spoke from his home in Long Beach. 'I knew her as a kid. She would frequently be at big family reunions we'd have in El Paso. She was present and attentive, particularly to children.' Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch pitched the idea for 'Dolores' in 2020 through West Edge's Aperture program, a pandemic-era initiative to incubate new operatic works. The pair's proposal stood out in a competitive field and was awarded a full commission the following year. Early in the writing process, Benavides and Koch decided to focus the opera's action on a pivotal few weeks in the summer of 1968, when the farmworkers' strike was buoyed by the support of U.S. senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy — and then dealt a huge blow when he was assassinated. Huerta was with Kennedy at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel the night he was gunned down. 'I wanted to show what it felt like to deal with such high stakes, to go through such immense loss and to discover the light on the other side,' Benavides explained. 'A lot of ancient mythological stories are built that way — where heroes go through trials, emerge victorious and teach us something about resolve.' Huerta's story has an added advantage, the composer noted. 'I think it's easier to see ourselves reflected in real people and see that it's possible to do something heroic.' The opera is largely true to the historical record, taking only minor liberties with the timeline of events and, out of necessity, imagining the intense conversations between Huerta and Chavez as they debated the best way forward. 'Leadership isn't this unified, dreamy state where everyone knows what to do and how to do it,' Benavides said of the opera's realist approach. 'There's a lot of doubt, a lot of mulling over decisions, a lot of discussions of how best to use finite resources and manpower. To me, that's a really interesting aspect of the story. They were refining their skills as leaders.' Benavides has seen his own career take off in recent years, graduating with his doctorate from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 2022 and receiving a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 2024. His score for 'Dolores' is 'exciting, driving and definitely connected to the culture of chant and protest,' Streshinsky said. It's also eclectic, drawing on genres that range from traditional Mexican ranchera and corrido to musical minimalism and even Gregorian chant. Saxophone and electric guitar augment the opera's otherwise standard classical chamber orchestra. Benavides likewise communicates a great deal in his writing for singers. 'I wanted the politicians to have high voices so they would kind of float above people,' he said, describing how he's cast the characters of both Kennedy and Richard Nixon as tenors. 'Even well-intentioned politicians can't always connect with working-class people. Dolores and Cesar are lower voices, more connected to the earth.' Capturing that earthiness has been a goal for mezzo-soprano Kelly Guerra, who's set to play the title role of Huerta. To fully reflect the real-life activist, whom the singer met at a public workshop production two years ago, 'I have to remember to be welcoming and joyful — not just righteous,' Guerra said, from her temporary residence in El Cerrito. 'It's an honor and a joy to help your community,' added the singer, who first heard of Benavides when they were both students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Huerta, a lover of the arts, plans to attend opening night. Throughout the work's long development process, 'she has been very supportive but very hands-off,' Benavides reported. 'She said, 'I trust you to do a good job.'' That faith is being rewarded with growing interest well beyond the Bay Area. 'Friends at other companies started calling me, saying they were hearing about it and were interested in being co-producers,' Streshinsky said. As a result, the piece plans to hit the road following its East Bay premiere. 'Dolores' travels to Opera Southwest in Albuquerque in October and is slated to appear in future seasons at San Diego Opera and Santa Monica's BroadStage. By that point, the political conversation will undoubtedly have shifted. But the opera's creators believe their themes will continue to resonate. 'There are parallels today — and inevitably, there will be parallels 50 years from now,' Benavides said. 'I'm not foolish enough to think an opera can change the course of politics in the United States,' he added. 'But making art that speaks to our current condition is a magnificent way to process what we're all thinking about.'
