INDIANOLA, Iowa — Des Moines Metro Opera continues working its magic, summer after summer, as it steadily turns itself into one of the nation’s premiere opera festivals. Under the innovative leadership of general and artistic director Michael Egel, it has earned a place alongside Glimmerglass and Santa Fe as a draw for opera fans from all over the country. This summer’s performances have been repeatedly selling out.
And with good reason: this summer’s three operas are showing the company at peak form. The lineup itself gives a sense of a typical Des Moines Metro season — Of Mice and Men, Tosca, and King Roger. An admired but neglected American work, an audience favorite, and a rarity all benefited from the unusually high level of artistry the company attracts. All performances are staged at Simpson College in the suburb of Indianola at the exquisitely intimate Pote Theatre of the Blank Performing Arts Center, whose 467 seats are spread stadium-style around a large thrust stage that brings the singers unusually close to the audience.
Surtitles almost seemed superfluous for Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, with its cast of Anglophone singers so near to the viewers. The production, shared with Houston Grand Opera, Florida State University, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, worked well despite the projections by scenic designer Luke Cantarella, which at times appeared somewhat muddy and difficult to distinguish against the variegated batten-board backdrop to the action. Kristine McIntyre sensitively directed this familiar John Steinbeck tale of migrant Depression-era farmhands that remains all too relevant today.
Floyd’s tense, often brutal score, powerfully conducted July 10 by David Neely, hits like a sledgehammer, and it benefited here from a fine cast of singing actors. British tenor John Findon has the shambling, child-giant look of a perfect Lennie; his final scene was particularly moving. If he resorted to more falsetto than one usually hears in this role, it was not inappropriate to the character. John Moore’s George offered solid, steady contrast with his firm baritone, and Moore also projected George’s absolute desperation hauntingly. Cadie J. Bryan was a brazen bundle of trouble as Curley’s wife, and she looked smashing in costume designer Kara Harmon’s firmly-in-period 1930s dresses. She approached the testing upper extremes of the role fearlessly.
As Curley, Adrian Kramer was a wiry, bullying menace, and he used his tenor well to convey this character’s sadistic hectoring of everyone in his path. Dean Murphy, Ethan E. Burck, and Mario Manzo lent effective support in smaller roles, and Kevin Deas stood out with his mellow bass-baritone and his touching performance as Candy.
It is rare that one experiences a Tosca at such close range that one feels implicated in the action, but that is what happens when you stage this opera in a very wide, shallow auditorium. At the performance July 11, director Joshua Borths made excellent use of this attribute, and also gave us a Tosca in which we could appreciate his sensitive Personenregie. Facial expressions that get lost in the wide-open spaces of most opera houses here can be appreciated from close up, and the fond interplay between Tosca and Cavaradossi became especially charming.
Laura Wilde (pronounced WIL-dee) brought strong stage presence and a big, multi-hued voice to the title role. Her upper extension was as thrilling as her tough use of chest voice and parlando. She also took the unusual step of building “Vissi d’arte” to an ending of direct anger at God rather than the usual whimpering, and it paid off. Whether it was Wilde’s decision (or the director’s) to have her stab Scarpia not only in the chest but then in the back and to finish him off by savagely strangling him as she sat triumphantly astride him on the floor, that certainly worked, too. We have an exciting singing actress on our hands.
Brian Michael Moore made a dashing Cavaradossi in the John Gilbert mode, generating real chemistry with Wilde and sparks in the audience. Very youthful in appearance, he boasts a fine spinto tenore that he can file down to a gentle croon during his romantic moments. Like most tenors today, his “Recondita armonia” suffered from shouting, but once past that, he showed us the many vocal colors he is capable of.
Norman Garrett had proven himself a magnificent Jokanaan in Salome at Des Moines Metro in 2024, but Scarpia may not be the best role for him. He seemed tentative, as if feeling his way through the part, and he did not dominate the “Te Deum” the way this character must. His voice, mellifluous as Jokanaan, sounded unfocused and roughly produced here. Many of us have seen better Scarpias, but it should be noted that he received a huge ovation at his curtain call. Alan Williams as Angelotti let out booming bass-baritone sounds that made one wish the role were not so brief. Lucas Van Lierop and Titus Muzi III were elegant and oily as Spoletta and Sciarrone, respectively, and rising bass Wei Wu offered plush timbre and great comic timing as the Sacristan. The sets by Steven C. Kemp were enveloping and opulent, and Robert Perdziola’s costumes, especially for Tosca, were lushly appealing. Christopher Allen’s conducting was alive to the tension and tenderness in Puccini’s score.
Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger is 100 years old this year, and it is surprising that more companies are not honoring it with anniversary stagings. But this opera does not follow traditionally satisfying dramatic norms and will probably always be a tough sell, despite its brilliance and beauty. Nonetheless, audiences are often smitten with it after their first hearing, and that seemed very much the case in Des Moines. The spectacular production and talented, attractive cast certainly put it over in a way that was guaranteed to excite.
Symanowski’s philosophically based libretto, inspired by his travels to Sicily and North Africa as well as by his concern with the conflicting forces of spirituality, responsibility, and sensuality, makes for a somewhat static story line, yet this relatively brief opera (three acts with a total running time of only 85 minutes) is clothed in a late-Romantic score of such gorgeous voluptuousness that one can do little but surrender. Whether staged or in concert, King Roger continues to succeed in winning new admirers.
Director Chas Rader-Shieber wisely turned the three brief acts into one, allowing each locale to move further into a sense of abstraction that led naturally to the work’s finale set against a huge rising sun. With the first act clearly set as Szymanowski intended, in 12th-century Sicily, Rader-Shieber’s concept edged each act toward the present day through the use of Jimmy Stubbs’ striking sets and Robert Perdziola’s lavish costumes. (Connie Yun’s contribution as lighting designer cannot be overestimated here.) With Des Moines Metro’s large stage and its close proximity to the audience, Symanowski’s exploration of King Roger II’s internal battle and search for meaning became an intimate epic in Rader-Shieber’s hands.
Alexander Birch Elliott has been known for lyric roles, but as Roger II he revealed what has become a forceful baritone with an attractive oaken quality that paired well with his urgent, intense interpretation. This performance made big demands on him, right down to a finale that saw him stripping down to a pair of Speedos. Christopher Sokolowski was his counterweight as the mystical young Shepherd who entices Roger’s queen and most of his kingdom away into a hedonistic religion. With his youthful appearance, curly blond locks, and lithe figure, Sokolowski certainly had the physique du rôle. This is a demanding part, requiring the tenor to sing over loud orchestral passages while maintaining an otherworldly float to his voice. Few tenors have managed this successfully. At the performance of July 12, Sokolowski could always be heard, but the more lyrical, dreamy vocal aspect often went missing in his otherwise arresting performance.
Lydia Katarina cut a striking stage figure as Roger’s easily swayed Queen Roxana, and her ripe lyric soprano negotiated the tricky melismas in her second-act aria with ease. Van Lierop handled well the rather thankless part of Roger’s confidant Edrisi. Ben Strong, Cameron Howard, Margaret Macaira Shannon, and Eliza Lucyna were effective in smaller roles.
Choreography is an essential component of Act Two of King Roger, when the Shepherd leads Roger’s subjects into a sensual dance that, in this production, developed into an orgy. Isaac Martin Lerner’s work as choreographer was memorable here, and it is telling that the program book listed an intimacy coordinator.
Any performance of this work is a demanding undertaking, and Symanowski’s thrilling, shimmering score was masterfully conducted by David Neely. Des Moines Metro’s orchestra and chorus responded to his direction with sensitivity and great skill.
Next year’s schedule will bring Les contes d’Hoffmann, Billy Budd, and Philip Glass’ Orphée — another typically adventurous lineup for a company that continues to redefine how to build a new audience for opera.
