Rod Gilfry, left, portrayed the demon barber and Karen Ziema was Mrs. Lovett in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's "Sweeney Todd." St. Louis -- More than a few American cities have struggled during the past decade to maintain a consistent level of professional operatic activity. Cleveland is one sad example.
Then there's St. Louis, which has been something of a mecca for opera lovers since 1976, thanks to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. The company presents an annual summer festival of standard and adventurous fare, always in English, in a 987-seat, thrust-stage theater that keeps the audience in close contact with the action.
It was a pleasure to take in three of the 2012 season's four productions recently at the Loretto-Hilton Center in Webster Groves, a southwestern suburb. Production and musical standards were high, with seasoned and emerging singers in the casts and members of the excellent St. Louis Symphony in the pit.
The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis experience goes well beyond the theater. Before performances and during intermissions, patrons gather outside under tents for meals, refreshments and discussion (often heated debate; this is opera, after all). They can mingle with the artists in that day's show after the final notes have sounded.
The 2012 season was a typical Opera Theatre of Saint Louis mix of the beloved and the unusual. Along with Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" (which I skipped in favor of a new-music concert at the city's gleaming Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts) were Bizet's "Carmen," Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" and the American premiere of Unsuk Chin's "Alice in Wonderland" (libretto by David Henry Hwang).
The last work continues the company's tradition of presenting recent and new operas. Since 1976, it has offered 22 world premieres and 23 American premieres, as well as revivals of such significant works as John Adams' "The Death of Klinghoffer" and John Corigliano's "The Ghosts of Versailles."
Next season's world premiere will be jazz composer Terence Blanchard's "Champion," about the prizefighter Emile Griffith, set to a text by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael Cristofer. Such tantalizing pieces set Opera Theatre of St. Louis apart from American companies that tend to shy away from anything past the works of Benjamin Britten (whose centenary will be justly celebrated next year).
Not everything of recent vintage that the St. Louis company puts onstage is a masterpiece, by any means. Although "Alice in Wonderland" received an inventive and beautiful production staged with bountiful wit by artistic director James Robinson, Chin's score goes out of its way to emphasize the tale's bizarre aspects while failing to heighten its varied worlds of enchantment.
The South Korean composer often conjures magical atmospheres and effects in the orchestra (the score was marvelously played under conductor Michael Christie, an Oberlin College grad). But the vocal writing is ungrateful, with too much dry sprechstimme (pitched speech) intruding upon the narrative.
Ashley Emerson was radiant in the title role in Unsuk Chin's "Alice in Wonderland" recently at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, which presented the 2007 work's American premiere. The cast triumphed over the complexities and brought every vivacious and quirky detail to vibrant life. Among the superb contingent of singers were the radiant Alice of Ashley Emerson, delicious Cheshire Cat of Tracy Dahl and imperious Queen of Hearts of Julie Makerov.
Musical theater plays an occasional role at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. This year's entry, "Sweeney Todd," has established itself in the opera house, though Sondheim doesn't think the piece is an opera. Whatever you call it, the show needs healthy voices and a production that balances mirth with menace.
Ron Daniels' direction managed the juggling act with fine purpose. There were awkward moments: Most of the bodies of Sweeney's victims were hauled away by actors, rather than dropping down a chute. But the show had plenty of blood, not to mention stellar performances.
Rod Gilfry may have lacked the last ounce of vehemence that the best Sweeneys possess, but he used his baritone to lustrous effect. Similarly, Karen Ziemba's Mrs. Lovett was delightful and incisive without being quite wacky enough.
The fresh young voices of Kyle Erdos-Knapp as Tobias, Nathaniel Hackmann as Anthony and Deanna Breiwick as Johanna were enormous assets, as were the authoritative portrayals by veterans Susanne Mentzer as the Beggar Woman and Timothy Nolen -- a former Sweeney -- as Judge Turpin.
Nothing much was gained by giving "Carmen" film-noir treatment or using a wordy English translation, though the concept at least didn't draw attention away from the central conflicts.
Bizet's score sounded as inspired and tuneful as ever in the intense hands of conductor Carlos Izcaray and the alluring voices of Kendall Gladen (Carmen), Adam Diegel (Don Jose), Corinne Winters (Micaela) and Aleksey Bogdanov (Escamillo).
The company's 2013 season also looks alluring. In addition to "Champion," the lineup includes Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance," the double bill of Puccini's "Il Tabarro" and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" and -- a real novelty -- Smetana's "The Kiss." Check out the new season at opera-stl.org.