The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) Opera Theater's fall production is Gabriel Fauré rarity "Pénélope" (1913), slated for three performances, beginning on December 9. Music of this opera, by a composer probably better known for his art songs, bears a resemblance to work by Fauré's younger contemporary Claude Debussy and shows the influence of Richard Wagner. The action takes place on the day that King Ulysse (Ulysses, or Odysseus) finally returns, from the Trojan War and his subsequent misadventures, to his eminently faithful, patient Queen Pénélope (Penelope), after 20 years' absence, and rousts her unwanted suitors from his palace. After a leisurely-paced, expository first act, the music becomes more stirring when the disguised Ulysse reassures Pénélope that he has seen and sheltered her spouse in Crete, convincing her by accurately reporting on what the King was wearing; assembles an army of shepherds to assist in combating the suitors; defeats his would-be rivals; and has the long-delayed reunion with his mate and their people.
The four principals, paced by the Los Angeles Opera's Laurent Pillot and directed by the New York City Opera's Lawrence Edelson, were set to appear in all three hearings. Soprano Lori Guilbeau, as Pénélope, and tenor Cooper Nolan, as Ulysse, students of Trish McCaffrey, mezzo-soprano and teacher of Patricia Racette, and Ashley Putnam, soprano, respectively, both displayed voices capable of the lyric and dramatic singing alike that their roles demanded.

Guilbeau, an ideal 'falcon,' a soprano with a mezzo-soprano core, showed the lyric side of her art as she cunningly unraveled her daily work, at her loom, ostensibly on a shroud for Ulysse's father, to put off responding to her demanding suitors, and the dramatic aspect, when openly, scornfully venting her ire at them.

First encountered bent over and in rags, in disguise as a beggar, Nolan sang gently when accepting the Queen's hospitality and encouraging her to test the suitors by having them bend Ulysse's powerful bow, a weapon only he is strong enough to ply and shoot an arrow from, and was heard in full cry when he revealed his identity to rally the loyal shepherds and when he handily bested his foes.

Supporting these protagonists and giving striking performances as their allies, the nurse Euryclée (Eurycleia) and shepherd Eumée (Eumaeus), both of whom knew Ulysse all his life and recognized him, by a scar on his foot, inflicted by a wild boar, even before Pénélope did, were mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas, baritone Mark Oswald's pupil, and baritone Robert E. Mellon, veteran mezzo Mignon Dunn's protégé.

John Myers, Marc Khuri-Yakub, Joo Won Kang, Andre Chiang, and Michael O'Halloran depicted the suitors as a vile and vulgar lot, prized only by Pénélope's maids, played by Bevin Hill, Lindsay Russell, Aesil Cho, Katya Powder, and Nicole Weigelt-most of both quintets sing in the December 11, 7:30 p.m. performance and are spelled by others in the December 12, 2:30 matinee. Julius Rees, as a piping treble shepherd boy, merits mention for his contribution to the start of Act Two. Pavlina Horáková and Dan Foran took other roles.

Maps, constellations, and roses abounded here. The maids wielded skeins of wool and the shepherds, arrows. Martin T. Lopez (sets), Miranda Hoffman (costumes), Josh Epstein (lighting), and Anne Ford-Coates (hair and makeup) were responsible for the designs.

For tickets, priced at $20, or $10 for students and seniors, for remaining hearings of "Pénélope," or for information, visit www.msmnyc.edu, email concertinfo@msmnyc.edu, or call 917/493-4428. MSM is located at 120 Claremont Avenue, at the northwest corner of Broadway and 122nd Street.

The MSM Senior Opera Theater Production will be George Frideric Handel's "Il Pastor Fido," conducted by Jorge Parodi and directed by Dona D. Vaughn, from April 1 to 4, 2010, and MSM Opera Theater gives Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro," conducted by Giovanni Reggioli and directed by Vaughn, from April 28 to May 2. Tickets for "Pastor Fido," in the Ades Performance Space, are $5, and those for "Figaro," in the Borden Auditorium, as the Fauré was, are priced the same as the "Pénélope" tickets.