By Nancy Plum

Boheme Opera NJ continued its virtual series of concerts at Monroe Township Library this past week with a program tracing the history of the “Pygmalion” theme through theater, opera, and musicals. In a program launched on Wednesday, April 14 entitled “I Could Have Danced 2,000 Years” and narrated by Boheme Opera President Jerrold Kalstein, four performers presented readings and musical selections dating back more than two centuries.  

Historically, the story which became the blockbuster musical My Fair Lady began in the first decade A.D. with a 15-book Latin narrative poem by the Roman writer Ovid. Chronicling the history of the world from creation to the deification of Julius Caesar, Ovid’s Metamorphoses included the Greek mythological story of Pygmalion, a king and sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had created. Boheme Opera began their broadcast with a reading by actress Virginia Barrie of Ovid’s poetry, translated into English. Throughout the broadcast, arias, and musical theater selections alternated with readings by Barrie, performed in costume to represent specific time periods.  

The first operatic treatment of Ovid’s story was Jean-Philippe Rameau’s 1748 one-movement “acte de ballet” Pigmalion, which used four characters to tell the tale of the sculptor who brought his statue to life. Soprano Eve Edwards, who has performed extensively throughout the region, including with Boheme Opera NJ in the past, sang Cupid’s aria from the fourth “Scène” of Rameau’s work. Accompanied by Boheme Opera managing director Sandra Milstein Pucciatti, Edwards sang expressively, holding her own in an aria which was extremely high in register and required a great deal of air to maneuver the long melodic lines. 

Edwards brought the audience into the 19^th century with a selection from Franz von Suppé’s 1865 operetta Die schőne Galathée. This time playing the role of the statue, Edwards well conveyed the sauciness of von Suppé’s music in the statue’s opening aria. Baritone Charles Schneider, currently on the voice faculty of both the Westminster School of the Arts at Rider and The Lawrenceville School, continued von Suppé’s storyline with an aria of the “wealthy donor” who purchases the statue. Von Suppé complicated the plot by turning the live statue back into stone when the resulting figure is a little more independent-minded than either the sculptor or donor had intended. Also accompanied by Pucciatti, Schneider well handled the “patter-song” style which was prevalent in 19^th-century light opera. Edwards closed the tribute to von Suppé’s treatment of the story with a spirited rendition of the title character’s “Trinklied.”

George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion is usually cited as the inspiration for Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe’s 1956 My Fair Lady. Shaw changed the title character from a sculptor to a phonetics professor, and the statue to an English flower girl. In Boheme Opera’s broadcast, Barrie returned as the flower girl Eliza Doolittle to recite from Shaw’s play, followed by Edwards, also dressed as Eliza, singing “Wouldn’t it be Loverly?” The songs from this musical theater production fit well in Edwards’ voice, and she was able to convey the character effectively in this song, as well as the signature “I Could Have Danced All Night.” Schneider returned as Henry Higgins, singing “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” with lyricism and good command of the music.  

The broadcast closed with two dramatic readings — one from Barrie playing the role of playwright Shaw, quoting from his own writings; and Kalstein reading from the end of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Although only featuring four performers, Boheme Opera NJ’s virtual presentation was well balanced between drama and music, and flowed well. Wednesday’s performance successfully fulfilled the company’s mission to use this virtual “lecture/performance series” to introduce new music and theatrical background to their audience and provide the company’s roster of singers a chance to perform.  

Boheme Opera NJ’s next virtual performance in the Monroe Township Library series will be Wednesday, April 28 at 1 p.m. Titled “Let Us Entertain You,” this performance will feature the music of Broadway composer Jule Styne, including songs from Funny Girl and Gypsy.  Information about accessing these performances can be found on the Boheme Opera NJ website at bohemeopera.com.