Article: Summer Preview"Così time for New Jersey Opera Theater"The Times of Trenton (Anne Levin) At age 33, opera singer Matthew Curran might be expected to be well into the peak years of his career, but the Princeton native is a bass-baritone – a “low voice guy,” as he says – and that makes a difference. “As a bass, the voice doesn’t hit its try depth and color and maturity until about 35,” says Curran, who will sing the role of Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, opening New Jersey Opera Theater’s SummerFest 2006 tonight at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre in Princeton. “There is so much of Verdi and Wagner that I’d love to sing, but I don’t know if my voice is headed in that big and kind of beefy direction,” Curran continues during a break in rehearsals last week for the Mozart opera. I’m still more of a lyrical singer at this point.” In addition to the Mozart comedy, the 3-year-old opera theater will present Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and a double bill of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Michael Ching’s 1996 Buoso’s Ghost. The season is billed as Four Comedies of Love. Two special concert performances will take place on Saturday afternoons – Mozart and Friends on July 15 and Puccini, Verdi and Friends on July 22. Several master classes will be conducted in conjunction with the festival, which runs through July 23. Curran is one of several singers taking part in this year’s opera theater series, its second at the Berlind. “These are artists really on the cusp of their careers,” says artistic director Scott Altman. “Many of them have performed professionally, but may not have had their opportunity yet with the New York City Opera (or other large company). But these are program books you’ll want to save. Trust me.” A 1991 graduate of Princeton High School, Curran sang in the chorus and played percussion. He earned an undergraduate degree at Loyola University and a master’s degree in music at Indiana University. He began studying voice seriously about 13 years ago. “I decided opera was something for me to pursue. Prior to that, I had never seen an opera,” he says. “My first experience was singing in the chorus of an opera in New Orleans. I think it was the size of it all, with so much going on, that got to me. And the bottom line, of course, is that I love music and I love to sing.” Among Curran’s credits are the Seattle Opera, Skagit Opera, Zurich Opera Studio and the New Jersey Opera Theater, where he sang the role of Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro last summer and Pistola in Falstaff during the year. Curran also took part this past year in the company’s Singer Circle/Young Artist program. A tall redhead with a gentle manner to match his deep voice, Curran came alive during a rehearsal for “Cosi” in the Woolworth music building on the Princeton University campus last week. It was the final run-through before moving into the Berind, and the atmosphere was tense as director Albert Sherman put the cast through its paces. Mozart’s opera takes a comic look at fidelity and romance. Curran’s character is a troublemaker who bets two men that their brides will not remain faithful. “Don Alfonso is a fun role to play,” Curran says. “He’s kind of like the puppet-master of the show. The role doesn’t really have any vocal ‘home runs,’ but he gets to have a lot of fun, interjecting here and there. The role is a lot more performance than vocal display, and the opera, as a whole, is much more of an ensemble show than some other operas.” New Jersey Opera Theater was founded, in part, to fill the gap left by the 2004 dissolution of the Opera Festival of New Jersey, a fixture on the local scene for many years and a regular summer attraction at McCarter. Altman was a longtime participant in Opera Festival of New Jersey. While he has modeled the opera theater, to some degree, on the opera festival model, the newer venture has its own identity and boasts impressive growth in its three years. “We’ll bring major international opera stars to sing Turandot with us in March at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, and they sought us out,” Altman says. “Sharon Sweet is coming out of retirement to sing with us. We have discussions into 2008 and beyond.” New Jersey Opera Theater’s budget has jumped from $17,000 in 2002 to $860,000 this season, Altman adds. The organization offers educational programs for children and as many free performances as possible – including two last weekend at the Pettoranello Gardens Amphitheater in Princeton’s Community Park North. “A big part of our mission is to give back to New Jersey,” Altman says. “We put ourselves out there in public, for free, as much as we can.” Last year’s performances at the Berlind sold out, save for about 20 tickets, says Altman. For the performers, the enthusiasm was contagious. “I was very impressed, considering how young the company is,” says Curran. “Even though you’re dealing with young artists, many of whom are still in the training phases, the production was carried out in a professional way and the audience was fantastic – full houses of enthusiastic opera lovers. It made for great energy.” Curran believes there is a growing awareness and appreciation of opera, especially among young people. “I’m not sure how deep that goes, but it’s certainly becoming more accessible,” he says. “The use of surtitles, which is the thing now, is part of it. People can come and see that opera isn’t just about old, out-of-shape people bellowing on the stage.” |
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