With the pandemic at bay, Portland Opera emerges with fiery Frida before a live audience - outdoors

Ballet Foklorica performs

A convivial evening outdoors Thursday night (June 24) witnessed the resurrection of live Portland Opera's production of Robert Xavier Rodríguez's “Frida.” The Portland metro area was on the verge of the big heat wave, and it was hot, but not hot enough to reduce patrons to a puddle of sweat. With an audience arranged in pods, the atmosphere was lively, expectant, and informal with coolers and an occasional glass of wine. Everyone had been starved and eagerly anticipating its first live performances since February of 2020.

This production, crisply directed by Andreas Mitisek (who had previously directed the company’s production of “As One”) took place at the Jordan Schnitzer CARE Summerstage between the company’s headquarters at the Hampton Opera Center and OMSI. The stage featured huge speakers, excellent lighting, and video screens to project the action to those furthest away.

The sound of an Amtrak train and an occasional MAX line didn’t disturb the performers in the slightest. The evening kicked off with a half-hour of dancing by Ballet Folklorica with colorful costumes, fancy footwork, and, colorful, swirling skirts. Their dances (to pre-taped music) gave a taste of traditional Mexican culture, which stood in contrast to untraditional life of the opera’s title character, Frida Kahlo.

Written in 1991 (and revised in 1993), “Frida” has enjoyed a number of productions both in the US and abroad. By weaving spoken text with singing and a pastiche of musical styles that never settles into place, “Frida” straddles the line between opera and musical, making it a hybrid that I would call an oprical. You can hear influences from Gershwin, Weill, Sondheim as well as Mariachi, and Mexican folk music plus dissonance and some atonality sprinkled in. Its complexity was expertly conveyed by a tight ensemble consisting of six singers and six musicians led by Uruguayan American conductor Andrés Cladera.

Through a series of vignettes, “Frida” depicts the turbulent life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, whose paintings have acquired an international following in recent years. When she was 18, she became immersed in painting as a way to overcome a near fatal accident that involved a streetcar. Her independent spirit, determination, and resilience, embodied with a powerful performance by Catalina Cuervo, are a big part of her story. Cuervo’s impressive vocal power, in particular, extended into the basement of the mezzo-range, which she delivered with a sultry gusto.

Because of her serious injuries, Frida was constantly confronted with death, conveyed by three Calaveras (characters wearing masks that portray skulls) who swirl around her from time to time. Frida’s tempestuous marriage to the famous muralist Diego Rivera, sung with passion by Bernardo Bermudez, was a real roller-coaster with numerous infidelities on both sides, including lesbian lovers of Frida. So despite their unified political views with the Mexican Communist Party, Frida and Diego’s rocky relationship ended in divorce (1939), but their remarriage a year later came across as superficial.

Aline Bahamondez created a passionate Cristina Kahlo (Frida’s sister), who was riddled with anguish after her affair with Rivera. Bahamondez, along with Rachel Hauge, Joseph Michael Muir, and Adrian Rosales-Casillas expertly portrayed numerous roles that in included the Fords, the Rockefellers, and the Trotskys – all of whom added drama to Frida’s life.

Samples of Kahlo’s and Rivera’s paintings, projected on the large scrim that formed the huge back wall of the stage, reinforced the storyline. Frida aptly summed up her style of art versus Rivera’s when she said, “Rivera paints the big outside. I paint the inside.”

PS: Today is Frida Kahlo's birthday.