If you go
What: Central City Opera presents Benjamin Britten’s “The Burning Fiery Furnace.”
When: 5 p.m. tonight, noon Wednesday, Aug. 2
Where: Martin Foundry Rehearsal Hall, 212 Eureka Street, Central City
Cost: $30
More info: 303-292-6700 or centralcityopera.org
In 2015, after experiments with season-closing musical theater events in Denver, Central City Opera went in a different direction with its late-season shows and decided to do traveling one-act operas. These productions were always staged in one of the “alternative” venues around the company’s home opera house, and then they were taken on tour along the Front Range.
It turned out that the productions in the Central City venues were so singular an experience that the company decided to keep them there this year and abandon the tour.
The first one-act production, English composer Benjamin Britten’s 1966 church parable ” The Burning Fiery Furnace,” opened Wednesday afternoon at the Martin Foundry Rehearsal Hall in Central City. The second performance is planned for Thursday evening, and a third follows at noon next Wednesday, Aug. 2.
The production, like the score itself, is strange. The venue is unusual by any standard. The floor is flat, there is no stage to speak of and the performers are in intimate proximity to the audience. The orchestra — “Furnace” was originally written by Britten for a small chamber group, which CCO faithfully follows — is house right, again, virtually on top of the audience. It is a testament to director Ken Cazan’s genius that he was able to adapt the work to this space and make it an integral part of his vision.
Britten’s musical language in 1966 was complex and advanced. While the show’s biblical story is a timeless one — three young Jewish men in the service of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar refuse to worship his golden god and are cast into the furnace, where they are miraculously unharmed and supported by an angel — Britten’s music lends it an otherworldly quality.
Sometimes the music is extremely harsh, as in the almost orgiastic chorus of the Babylonians worshiping their god Merodak. Later, it is ethereal as the angel appears in the flames. But as the 70-minute work approaches its conclusion, the emotional impact is so great that it is hard to keep one’s eyes dry. Whether one is a believer or not, Cazan’s imaginative staging combined with Britten’s music makes the message universal. The overall effect was reminiscent of his 2015 production of another Britten church parable, “The Prodigal Son.”
Cazan keeps most of the “Babylonian” action at the front, while the brutal beatings of the young men, the simply but effectively rendered flames of the furnace, and the appearance of the angel all take place in the aisle separating the crowd seated on portable chairs — a most impressive effect.
The most incredible aspect of CCO’s one-act productions is that the casts are assembled from the company’s highly-regarded Artists Training Program. These young performers never fail to produce professional-level performances. In the case of “Furnace,” the mostly-male chorus of Babylonians really stands out in the aforementioned praise of Merodak, where the tenors scream out high notes and the dissonant harmonies are absolutely chilling. Throughout, the chorus is the lifeblood of the action.
Tenor Bille Bruley — an alumnus of the Young Artists Program who returns as a developing artist — shows that he is well on the way to a successful professional career in his gripping performance as Nebuchadnezzar. In Cazan’s modernistic staging of the story — where the Babylonians carry cell phones and iPads and wear modern suits — it was probably predictable that the king would be presented as a Trump-like figure. Bruley’s entrance was one of several bits of comedy early in the proceedings. Nonetheless, by the end of the opera, Bruley manages to imbue the king with real humanity after he witnesses the miracle. His voice is radiant, his enunciation impeccable. Every word he sings is easily understood and every note is precise in pitch.
As the villainous Astrologer (and also the head priest who introduces the story in the prologue), baritone Zhiguang Hong is a menacing presence who sings with a thunderous voice. Baritone Dean Murphy is a wonderfully sycophantic Herald (or in this version, a press secretary).
And the three Israelites — known most commonly by their Babylonian names of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego — are portrayed with extreme sensitivity by tenor Humberto Borboa, baritone Tim Murray, and bass-baritone Stephen Clark. Their three-part harmonies always pull strongly at the heart, whether they are praying or respectfully refusing to eat Nebuchadnezzar’s food. And their English diction is always clearly understood. Their traditional Jewish costumes contrast effectively with the bright colors worn by the Babylonians. In fact, costumer Stacie Logue deserves a special mention for her beautiful work in this production.
Women are a minimal presence in the opera, but Cazan makes the most of what he has. Louise Rogan’s voice soars as it should when she appears as the angel above the hymn sung by the young men in the furnace. Marlen Nahhas and Quinn Middleman provide more comedy as a pair of gender-ambiguous Babylonian entertainers. There are also two identically-dressed women who seem to act as both stage managers and servants to the king. Cazan’s message with them is somewhat difficult to decipher.
Finally, conductor Christopher Zemliauskas and his small ensemble deserve the highest praise for their focus and deep understanding of the demanding score. Exposed as they are, the players never lose their concentration on the intricate but transparent nuances of Britten’s orchestration.
