Shana Blake Hill / Ocene

Soprano Shana Blake Hill starred in the daunting title role — she is part of almost every scene — with a mixture of charm and complexity. Her Act I aria, “Ain’t it a pretty night,” epitomized the opera’s music as a whole — on the one hand eminently accessible, tuneful, even folksy; and at the same time, edged with an expressive modernist dissonance.

The most finely drawn character is Laura, to whom the excellent soprano Shana Blake Hill brings a feasibly coy rectitude. The feckless Wilhelm can be a little hard to bear but, given stentorian honor by the strong tenor Scott Ramsay, he ever so slowly becomes more sympathetic.