Shawna Lucey, the general director of Opera San Jose, loves a thrilling night at the opera, and she clearly recalls the first time she saw “Bluebeard’s Castle.” It was a few years back, in a New York production by the Metropolitan Opera.
“I saw it there with Gerald Finley as Bluebeard, and I was just overwhelmed,” she said. “It was a hide-in-the-closet, take-a-shower, run-through-the-streets-screaming visceral experience,” she says with a laugh.
Now Lucey is introducing the Northern California premiere of “Bluebeard’s Castle” at Opera San Jose, and says she’s fully immersed in Béla Bartók’s 1918 opera. The production is directed by Lucey, conducted by company music director Joseph Marcheso, and features soprano Maria Natale and baritone Zachary Nelson. Performances run Feb. 15 to March 2 in the California Theatre, with English and Spanish supertitles.
For Bay Area opera fans, it’s a rare chance to see this seldom-performed, fever-dream of a work. “Bluebeard’s Castle” was Bartók’s only opera, and it’s unusual in diverse ways. With a kaleidoscopic score composed in a single act lasting around 70 minutes, and a libretto by Béla Balázs, this psychological thriller re-creates the old tale of Duke Bluebeard, who escorts his new wife, Judith, through his castle for the first time.
Inside, Judith notices there are seven mysteriously locked doors, and of course she wants to know what’s behind them. Steven C. Kemp’s set for the production prominently features the seven doors.
As the score builds to a gripping mix of danger and allure, dark secrets reveal themselves then move swiftly to an unforgettable conclusion.
Opera San Jose is presenting “Bluebeard’s Castle” with a cast of two outstanding artists: Natale, a company favorite, is singing the role of Judith, and Nelson, making his company debut in the title role.
Audiences have seen Natale at Opera San Jose in an array of roles including the title role of “Tosca”; Nelson has worked at Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and with Lucey at Santa Fe Opera.
Lucey said the rehearsals have been eye-opening; this opera, she said, is unlike anything she’s produced before.
“Especially with these two singing actors, they’re meeting this score with amazing intensity for a perfect psychological battle between the characters,” she said.
Originally composed with a Hungarian libretto, “Bluebeard’s Castle” is being presented with an English translation crafted by Music Director Marcheso, and Lucey said it’s a great fit.
“Joseph is an incredible wordsmith and a great writer,” she said.
Over the last decade, Lucey has become one of this country’s most esteemed directors. A Texas native and a young artist who adored Chekhov’s writing , she earned her master’s degree in directing from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute of the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow and has directed top-drawer productions for the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Santa Fe Opera companies, among others. Her 2018 production of “Tosca” at San Francisco Opera earned rave reviews for her brilliant staging of Puccini’s classic; her Opera San Jose productions have been celebrated for reviving old works in new ways for contemporary audiences.
She says she still loves to mine each new opera for its deeper meanings, and that Bartók’s treatment of an old story, though short, yields many layers.
“I like to think of this piece as an expression of what they’re saying, but also as a metaphor for what’s happening in our contemporary life,” she said. “Judith has followed what she thinks is her heart. Of course, this is something we see often, someone who’s misunderstood the signals then finds she’s in completely over her head.”
Contact Georgia Rowe at growe@pacbell.net.
‘BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE’
Music by Bela Bartok, libretto by Bela Balazs, presented by Opera San Jose
When: Feb. 15-March 2
Where: California Theatre, 345 S. First St., San Jose
Tickets: $58-$215; operasj.org