Workshop hopes to hit right note

Wednesday, April 17, 1996

Excess, drama to mark presentations of Puccini, Rossini
masterpiecesBy Elizabeth Bull

Daily Bruin Contributor

Prepare for a surplus of drama, intrigue, tragedy and comedy
this weekend when two great Italian composers heap on passionate
emotions ­ opera style.

"In 1996 we need a little excess in our lives," says John Hall,
Music Director of UCLA’s Opera Workshop. "What I love about opera
is that it’s always one step further than reality. We need people
hitting high Cs, flitting around in great costumes, and running
into pink walls."

UCLA Opera Workshop celebrates this excess in its productions of
Rossini’s "La Scala di Seta" and Puccini’s "Suor Angelica." Playing
in Schoenberg Hall, these one-act operas are different in style and
content, but connect through their human emotions.

"La Scala di Seta," a light farce with plenty of mistaken
identities and door-slamming, was composed in the early 19th
century. A reversal in genre, "Suor Angelica," composed in 1918,
revolves around the tragedy and suicide of a young, mysterious
nun.

"We’ll either get you with the cute costumes in ‘Scala’ or the
pathos from ‘Angelica,’" laughs Hall. "It’s quite a strange program
but in many ways it’s an interesting thing to see what happened in
a hundred years of Italian opera."

Carol Lee, a first-year masters student in the workshop, sings
the lead in "Suor Angelica," and enjoys the drama of Puccini.

"I love opera because it’s so complicated ­ it requires not
only a voice but drama, music, and human feeling," Lee says. "We
have to express the human nature, instinct and heart. Puccini
requires very high notes, but high notes with a very painful
feeling. You have to put your own emotions into it."

According to Hall, this personal quality, so intrinsic to opera,
is what gives it lasting appeal.

"To me there is nothing more human than to gather and watch
people use music, theater, dance, costumes, lights and all of that
good stuff, just to amuse and entertain us," Hall says.

"That’s a classic thing and you cannot simply sneeze at it.
Opera was invented around the 1600s and in the last 400 years, a
lot of people have been changed and moved by this art form. It’s
got this great power to it that I can’t explain," he says.

Luckily for Hall, no explanation will be necessary if this
production sells out like the Opera Workshop’s 1995 performances of
Mozart’s "The Magic Flute" and a Stravinsky concert.

"It’s fascinating to me how many people on this campus love
opera," Hall says, "but it’s like they are secret opera fans. I’m
always stunned to find out the support we get from people."

Financial help, though, is far from ideal. When the program
began in 1949, six directors ran the whole operation. Now, because
of cutbacks, Hall is the single director with only a few part-time
coaches. In fact, this year’s performance is only possible through
the Gluck Foundation in Southern California, which pays for all of
the physical components.

"It’s sort of discouraging because I want to uphold the same
kind of standards that we made a reputation on 20 years ago and
it’s kind of tough when you have less than 12 percent of the
original resources available to you," says Hall.

"I think I failed in trying to get a wide audience for these
things. Without money I just have to learn a new way to put on
shows. I used to have to be creative about what I put on the stage
but now I also have to be creative in advertising and getting our
message across campus," he says.

But even though the opera workshop isn’t strongly supported
financially, it’s beginning to gain support from both faculty and
students.

John Klacka, who plays the romantic lead in "La Scala di Seta,"
says he firmly believes that the program is still in the beginning
stages.

"We may actually be a pretty old workshop, but we’re young. It
feels like we’re just beginning to grow," he says.

The department’s new advanced degree is beginning to draw in
talented graduate students who have the potential to expand the
opera workshop into a larger production.

"I really believe that if we do well and bring in money and
people we might be able to put on bigger operas," Lee says.

For the time being, though, Hall and his students are content to
produce these one-acts to introduce different opera genres to
students.

"I think everybody will really appreciate what we’re doing
because it’s just fun," says Andrew Sweeney, a first-year graduate
student in the music department. "We’re doing it in English so it’s
easy to understand and it’s great music ­ it’s catchy."

"If people come just to hear the tunes that’s fine," Hall
concedes, "but I think the act of watching people do this is
fascinating. It’s like a sport. All of the collaboration between
the music and design and everything is an incredible human feat.
I’m always amazed at what we do."

OPERA: UCLA Opera Workshop presents Rossini’s "La Scala di Seta"
and Puccini’s "Suor Angelica" conducted by Moustafa Nagui, directed
by John Hall. Playing in Schoenberg Hall April 18-21. TIX: $15,
$10, $5 for students. For more info, call (310) 825-2101.

STEFANIE CHAO

UCLA Opera Workshop presents Rossini’s "La Scala di Seta" and
Puccini’s "Suor Angelica" playing in Schoenberg Hall, April
18-21.