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September
2007
, vol 72
, no.3
RECORDINGS
Opera and Oratorio
SCHIFF: GIMPEL THE FOOL
 Fortunato, Rowe, Besley, Schiff; Zeller, Walsh, Glenn, Rideout, Oliphant, Hunt; Third Angle Ensemble, Kiesler. No texts. Naxos 8.669010-11
Naxos has added David Schiff's opera to its small American Opera Classics catalogue; scenes already belong to its Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. Based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, about the disillusionment of a foolish baker in rural Poland, Gimpel the Fool was originally conceived by composer Schiff to be written in Yiddish. For accessibility, it is certainly a blessing that the final product is in English, with a smattering of Yiddish words (familiar cries of "Mazeltov" and "Oy vey"), Hebrew ceremonial and references to the Talmud. Schiff has found inventive ways to apply familiar Jewish modal scales (flat 2nds and 6ths abound) and dance rhythms to a libretto and story of distinctly Jewish flavor.
With a number of vocal works in his catalogue, Schiff is a practiced composer for the voice. It's a pity he hasn't written more opera. I can't recall when I have listened more happily to a contemporary stage work for the first time. The voices are not ever taken out of expressive range. And the orchestration, as rendered by the alert chamber band, the Third Angle Ensemble, never gets in the way of the singers' words. (Other contemporary opera composers could take a note or two.) Schiff accompanies the voice in several ways: he opens the instrumental texture momentarily when a line is being sung; he chases the voice briefly with the last snatch of vocal melody or with a characterful cell of instrumental melody; he ghosts along with one instrument underpinning the voice; or he opens up an instrumental flourish while the singer is sustaining a note. All of these are very wise choices — ones that pervaded the first 250 years of opera, but which were increasingly lost in the course of the last century, to the detriment of many voices. The up side is that Schiff's libretto is virtually crystal clear from beginning to end; indeed, the only parts I couldn't grasp were some of the Yiddish intrusions. (I could not find the libretto online, and, as is common with Naxos, no text is supplied with the CD.)
Schiff's orchestration is economical, but this is used to advantage in creating a colorful palette of sounds to compliment the voices. Needless to say, supplying most of the "Jewish" character, the clarinet does a great deal of the heavy lifting accompaniment-wise, whether alone with a voice, or paired, as it is frequently, with flute or violin. The tuba supplies some of the more amusing instrumental commentaries on foolishness and cuckoldry. And other colors are added in just the right amounts by harpsichord, accordion and mandolin. Schiff applies these colors to various melodic motifs, which he brings back frequently to suggest the various personages, but especially the baker, his wife and the Jewish community itself.
The story concerns the gullible Gimpel, who allows himself to be hoodwinked into marriage with the unfaithful Elka and generally tricked and baited by the other villagers. On her deathbed Elka confesses her guilt, revealing Gimpel's six children to be the offspring of other men. At first bereft, though he has had ample opportunity over several decades to comprehend the deceit, Gimpel renounces his worldly goods and becomes a storytelling wanderer. His new credo: "The longer I live, the more I am convinced that there really are no lies. For if something did not happen to one man, then it happened to another man; if not now, then tomorrow, or in a year, or in a thousand years." This thoughtful sentiment allows a man who was the butt of a lifetime of jokes to give meaning to his existence.
Highest honors in the strong cast go to mezzo-soprano D'Anna Fortunato. Her Elka is a perfect wheedling harpy, jumping accurately through leaps and vocal hoops with the text still intact and the musicality appropriate to the situation. In a wooing duet with Gimpel, as the foolish man asks her for the truth she replies with some hilarious, shapely nonsense melismas. As Gimpel, Richard Zeller displays a lovely but generic romantic baritone that often hits stray of the mark, lacking the simple directness that would be ideal for the role. And it is a good role, with several poignant monologues. The town clown, the Badkhen, is perfectly realized by Kevin Walsh, whose iterations of "Don't ask!" and "Oy vey!" provide playful commentary in the course of the piece. There are several well-written duets but few larger ensembles. Schiff's well-judged variety of dancing, tuneful solos and arias makes Gimpel the Fool a lively entertainment.
DREW MINTER
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