By PABLO A. TARIMAN
BARITONE Andrew Fernando has tackled another Russian role with flying colors in Shostakovich’s lone operetta, “Moscow, Cherry Town,” mounted recently by the Long Beach Opera (LBO) in California.
Fernando said the audience loved last weekend’s opening night of the operetta — a musical comedy in three acts with libretto by Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky.
“On the whole, it was a good feeling…lots of laughter and satisfaction from our patrons,” he said. “This one wasn’t particularly difficult but still a singer has to be careful and smart to deliver the message without losing its subtle hint of satire.”
Known as “Moskva, Cheryomushki” in Russian transliteration, the operetta’s story is indeed one that would never have been told under the repressive regime of Josef Stalin, who loaded honors on Shostakovich but also twice (in 1936 and 1948) had his music denounced publicly. Stalin’s opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (1934) was sharply criticized by the Soviet press reportedly on Stalin’s orders.
The Long Beach critic dissected the operetta as “a carefully calibrated satire gussied up as a frenetic farce, concerns Khrushchev’s mass housing projects, those concrete behemoths that upgraded citizens’ living conditions while pummeling their aesthetic sense and nearly choking them to death with red tape.”
The waiting list for these apartments was usually long so that married couples, like the characters of Sasha (played by Andrew Fernando) and Masha (Peabody Southwell), were often forced to live apart until they could get an appropriate residence.
According to Fernando, what was difficult in staging this operetta was telling the story because “it can be quite complex.”
Fernando, who received a rousing standing ovation in his intimate concert series “Kiss The Cook Gourmet” in Manila last March, compared his two Russian roles and his operatic transition from the noble man in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin to Sasha, the government housing unit dweller in Khrushchev’s Moscow circa 1980s.
The Filipino singer said he got into the Soviet psyche in the opera by just understanding how people in then Soviet Union felt about the system. In the case of his character, Sasha, he had to internalize the pain of not being able to live in the same house with his wife.
“Sasha is a commoner with no money (while) Onegin is a person of higher status,” he noted. “Singing Onegin is truly amazing though. The dramatic content of the character is more vast and deep.”
Fernando said he found the Shostakovich operetta extremely singer-friendly.
“The music—to my surprise —is very tuneful!” he said. “I know that when we mention the name Shoskatovich, we may right away think we would hear very complex music but not ‘Cherry Town.’ It turned out a delightful bright operetta!”
He continued: “I think Russian music in general is always beautiful. The part for my role Sasha is very melodic and sing-able, so to speak.”
On opening night, Fernando admitted he was as usual nervous in a positive kind of way. “When I perform, I downplay the critics’ coming verdict and think more of communicating the story and music! I always pray I get to do my best!”
Fernando’s journey to vocal maturity was probably helped in no small way when he was presented in public master classes given by legendary names in opera, namely, Carlo Bergonzi, Tom Krause, Jane Eaglen, Deborah Voight and Dolora Zadjick. He has shared the opera stage with Helen Donath, Vinson Cole, Maria Ewing, Federica Von Stade and Lauren Flannigan, among others.
He was the first Filipino First Prize winner of the prestigious 2003 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition in the United States and an alumnus of the world renowned San Francisco Opera Merola Program.
Described by Musical America as a “major presence,” the Filipino baritone sang “Rigoletto” in Modesto in February 2007 to critical acclaim. He created the role of Powhatan in the World Premiere of Linda Tutas Haugen’s and Joan Vail Thorne’s “Pocahontas,” presented by the Virginia Arts Festival in cooperation with Virginia Opera in May of 2007 as a contribution to the 400th Anniversary of the settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. He also sang the lead role in Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle,” presented by Let’s Shout Out Inc. of Boston.
On the present state of his vocal instrument, he had this to say: “It has become more mature with a lot more ring and focus. We, baritones, develop more as we age. We are like good wine better with age, granted that we are well guided and continue to work hard.”
On July 22, Fernando will teram up with mezzo-soprano Clarissa Ocampo, flutist Christopher Oracion and pianist Mary Anne Espina for an intimate concert at Bahay Kalinaw at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
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