Five one-sentence reviews

Boston has become an unlikely epicenter of operatic activity through May and June. American Repertory Theater is premiering a new work about Walt Whitman during the Civil War called Crossing. At the other end of the spectrum the Boston Early Music Festival is presenting some of the oldest surviving operas, a trilogy of works by Claudio Monteverdi. Boston Opera Collaborative is staging Ned Rorem's treatment of Our Town.

Odyssey Opera is in the middle of their spring festival, and on Saturday night I saw Kings, Queens, Saints & Sinners, five monodramas (scenes for one singer) by British composers. Each scene ran only about 15 minutes, so they merit short reviews.

1. Four Poems of St. Teresa of Avila by Lennox Berkeley – Contralto Stephanie Kacoyanis had a warm stage presence and a shimmering voice in these songs of devotion.

2. Ophelia by Richard Rodney Bennett – Countertenor Martin Near had unsteady pitch and no evident connection with the French text, ultimately just singing notes off the page.

3. Phaedra by Benjamin Britten – Mezzo-soprano Erica Brookhyser sacrificed diction for tone production, obscuring a third of the words; she wasn't really singing about turnips, was she?

4. King Harald's Saga by Judith Weir – Soprano Elizabeth Keusch sang a three-act opera (with epilogue) about Norway's failed invasion of England in ten minutes; her a cappella virtuosity and dramatic clarity crowned the evening.

5. Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies – Baritone Thomas Meglioranza took us inside the madness of King George, and he was definitely singing about cabbages.

Wine report: White Burgundy

When you mention Burgundy, people think of the dark red wines from which the color gets its name. But Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is a region in eastern France that should be equally known for its white wines. White Burgundy is made almost exclusively from the Chardonnay grape, and for the May wine tasting the Boston office sampled three entry-level varieties.

Most Americans grew up thinking Chablis was a generic term for white wine, but Chablis is a village in northern Bourgogne that gives its name to some very fine Chardonnays. We tried the 2013 Jacques Bourguignon Chablis, a Trader Joe's exclusive selling for $13 a bottle. All of the tasters liked this wine, but no one could say exactly why. I had a strong, immediate reaction, but it took two days to nail down the associations. When I was in Hawaii I tried the local pineapple wine, which was like rubbing alcohol with a thimble of pineapple juice waved past. It was undrinkable. This Chablis tasted like what that pineapple wine should have been: an initial statement of tropical fruit balanced by enough bitterness to keep it from cloying. This would be a light, summery companion to a pear half with cottage cheese on a bed of lettuce.

Our next offering was the 2013 Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages, meaning meaning white wine from the greater vicinity of Mâcon. Also $13, this wine was more aromatic, but I was hard pressed to identify what that aroma was. Tangerine? Peach? Almond paste? Ultimately it smells and tastes like the subheading on the label indicates: Chardonnay. This is crisper than the typical oaky American style; tasters noticed green apple with a vanilla finish. Perhaps serve this with barbecued shrimp or fish tacos.

The final French wine was the 2013 Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé ($22), again taking its name from the producing villages. We spent a lot of effort trying to pronounce the name, but YouTube (click here) came to the rescue: Poo-yee Fwee-say. This Chardonnay had personality right from the first sniff. "Smoky" quickly gave way to "sulfurous", but several participants noted that it tasted better than it smelled. The minerals and acidity made this a surprising favorite. Our Dutch chef suggested pairing it with poached salmon or coquilles St. Jacques.

We tried a California Chardonnay for comparison. All of the white Burgundies had the pale yellow color of fresh straw, but the 2013 Shannon Ridge Chardonnay ($6 from a bin end) was a touch darker, almost golden honey. There was an aroma of bubble gum and bananas (Necco Banana Splits again?), but flavor notes of scotch and caramelization. This wine was much more pleasing than we expected for the price, and would go well with roasted chicken or banana flambé.

This was a successful final sampling before the Wine Tasting goes on its summer holiday. The Chablis and Pouilly-Fuissé had the most favorable responses, but there were no strong negatives across the board. The only downside is that now I am tempted to explore beyond the entry levels of white Burdundy. Oh, to have the bank account for a Beaune or Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet. Le sigh.

Patinkin and Mac and the End of the World

That's great, it starts with an earthquake....

American Repertory Theater is currently running The Last Two People on Earth: an Apocalyptic Vaudeville. Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac discovered that they love the same music, so they wove thirty tunes into a cautionary tale of climate change. If you know Mandy Patinkin from his recent television roles, you will be entertained to see him in an evening of song and soft shoe. If you know him from Sunday in the Park with George, you will weep for the ravages of time and belting.

The material spans Irving Berlin to R.E.M., Gilbert and Sullivan to The Pogues. Richard Rodgers, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim are balanced by Randy Newman, Patty Griffin and Paul Simon. If you listen to college radio and enjoy the Broadway hour, this is the show for you. If you don't like show tunes, stay away; it will seem like an 80-minute drama school vanity project.

True to the Vaudeville style there was plenty of visual shtick, much of it involving hats and canes. An inflatable doll, stage snow and a pie in the face had their comic effect. Taylor Mac's minute-long puke into a hat earned my biggest gut laugh. Credit goes to director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who found the right movement for this pair of passable hoofers. She also knew when to keep the action quiet. Some of the best and most sobering moments came when the two singers were absolutely still.