Frederica von Stade offers a fond farewell in COT's 'Three Decembers'
Audiences who dislike modern classical music have nothing to fear in Chicago Opera Theater's local premiere of the 2008 chamber opera "Three Decembers." On top of the melodic score by composer Jake Heggie and emotional script by librettist Gene Scheer, "Three Decembers" should win over audiences right from its start since they'll immediately relate with two of the opera's three characters as they rail into a hyperbolic (and error-filled) annual Christmas letter.
Easy-to-identify-with moments like these make "Three Decembers" a comfortable crowd pleaser. Heggie and Scheer have skillfully adapted Terrence McNally's short play "Some Christmas Letters (and a Couple of Phone Calls)," which follows the conflicts and reconciliations of a celebrated Broadway actress and her two adult children across three decades starting in 1986.
But the main reason truly die-hard opera fans should rush out to see "Three Decembers" is to catch the Chicago farewell performances of retiring American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, who plays the mother, Madeline. (von Stade is set appear as the maid Despina in the Ravinia Festival's upcoming production of Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutti" in August, but this performance is only a concert.)
Though she could have shown more steely determination and brassiness as a Broadway diva who has clawed her way to the top, von Stade still displays a lovely voice that blooms wonderfully in the acoustically friendly Harris Theater for Music and Dance. And clearly this role, which was written exclusively for von Stade who turns 65 this year, is both a flattering and fitting farewell.
von Stade's co-stars are no slouches either. Baritone Matthew Worth plays openly gay son Charlie with plenty of depth and emotion as he shows his resentment of his mother's unwillingness to acknowledge his relationship with his partner, Burt, who has recently been diagnosed with HIV.
Soprano Sara Jakubiak brings the right amount of humor and pathos to the alcoholic daughter Beatrice, who is still bitter about her mother's love of the stage taking precedence over her own children. Both Jakubiak and Worth shine in their Golden Gate Bridge duet as they try to reminisce about their late father, and in their final confrontation with von Stade over a secret Madeline has kept from her children most of their lives.
Conductor Stephen Hargreaves commands the onstage orchestra masterfully (which includes composer Heggie on the second piano). Some may find Director Leonard Foglia's staging to be far too minimal, but it does allow for the focus to be squarely on the emotional lives of this sometimes-fractured family.
<p class="factboxheadblack">"Three Decembers" </p>
<p class="News">Three stars</p>
<p class="News"><b>Location:</b> Chicago Opera Theater at Millennium Park's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago, (312) 334-7777 or chicagooperatheater.org</p>
<p class="News"><b>Showtimes:</b> 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, May 12 and 14; 3 p.m. Sunday, May 16</p>
<p class="News"><b>Running time:</b> 95 minutes with no intermission</p>
<p class="News"><b>Tickets:</b> $30-$120</p>
<p class="News"><b>Parking:</b> adjacent and nearby parking garage</p>
<p class="News"><b>Rating:</b> For adults, strong language and subject matter</p>