JACOPERA

Jesse Pieper, Jennie Legary, Anastasia Rege, Christina Hourihan

"Why JACOPERA?" we wondered when we received the invitation. Duh!  Jen, Ana, and Chrissy-- JAC.  Three friends who love to sing and started a group to present recitals.  Last night we attended their debut at the National Opera Center, and a mighty fine debut it was. 

We had reviewed soprano Christina Hourihan in the dog days of summer and actually went onstage to wind up her Olympia. That aria was not on last night's program but there was plenty of other material to enjoy.

We particularly enjoyed Ms. Hourihan's sense of drama in everything she sang, making each aria believable, even when out of context. Mozart's "Batti Batti, o bel Masetto" from Don Giovanni was a standout and truly conveyed the various strategies Zerlina uses to win Masetto's forgiveness. This gal can really act!

Saturday night we heard "Mein Herr Marquis" from Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus sung in English.  Last night Ms. Hourihan sang it in the original German and we liked it so much better.  We could really believe her as the maid Adele putting on airs for her employer Eisenstein.

We also enjoyed her "O non credea mirarti" from Bellini's La Sonnambula both the cantabile section and the cabaletta "Ah, non giunge!" in which she unleashed her coloratura skills.

Soprano Anastasia Rege made serious inroads into our disinterest in singing in English. We particularly liked her performance of "The Trees on the Mountain" from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah; we liked it so much we hope to hear the entire opera in the near future. Most importantly, we could understand the words!

Similarly, "Dido's Lament" from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas was beautifully rendered with fine diction and lovely phrasing. But she also sang well in Italian--the "Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello--always a heart breaker.

Mezzo-soprano Jennie Legary had her finest moment in "Va! Laisse couler mes larmes" from Massenet's Werther which impacted us with its intense feeling and the richness of Ms. Legary's voice. She not only handled the French beautifully but also sang in Italian --"O Mio Fernando" from Donizetti's La Favorita in which she displayed a great deal of strength in the lower register. We wonder why this glorious opera is so rarely performed.

One advantage of having a group of singers is the opportunity to mix it up with duets and trios. The opening duet was the first movement from Stabat Mater by Pergolesi which sounded gorgeous but was marred by the use of (YIKES!) music stands.

The two sopranos sounded glorious in "Sull'aria" from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro with Ms. Rege taking the role of the Countess and Ms. Hourihan performing the part of Susanna. It would have been much better off the book, and the same can be said for "Sous le Dôme épais" from Delibes' Lakmé. Memorize, girls, memorize!!!

The closing number was "Lift Thine Eyes" from Mendelssohn's Elijah in which the three voices created perfect harmonies that thrilled the ear.

Piano accompaniment was provided by the excellent pianist Jesse Pieper who is relatively new to New York and who deserves a welcome mat.

This fine grouping will be going on tour and are sure to delight audiences on the West Coast.

(c) meche kroop

QUELLE BELLE NUIT

Christina Hourihan getting wound up by Voce di Meche (photo by Chris Arnau)

Kyungmi Nam, Christina Hourihan, and Abigail Wright

It was une belle nuit, if about 20 degrees warmer than our preferred temperature, but the oppressive heat could not keep us away from a night of songs, arias and duets from some of our favorite works. With the fine accompaniment of pianist Kyungmi Nam, the scintillating soprano Christina Hourihan and the mellifluous mezzo-soprano Abigail Wright graced the stage of the acoustically perfect concert hall at the National Opera Center. The heat could not keep us away, nor did it have a deterrent effect on the audience, gathered together to listen and be entertained.

Above all else, we adore duets and the two lovely ladies joined their voices in harmony for "Sous le dôme épais" from Léo Delibes Lakmé.  The gals not only sang but entered into the spirit of the work with Ms. Hourihan enacting the part of the eponymous heroine and Ms. Wright, that of the nurturing companion Mallika.

Later the two gals made much of the interesting close harmonies of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater" with excellent contributions from Ms. Nam's piano. To close the program, the two joined voices once more for "Belle Nuit" from Jacques Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman.  How absolutely perfect! There was also an encore of "Moon River" by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer.

Ms. Hourihan has a bright coloratura sound which is well-focused and well suited to the trills, arpeggios and wide skips of Olympia's aria "Les oiseaux dans la charmille" from Les Contes d'Hoffman. For that aria, she donned a short doll-like dress and ballet slippers, charmingly portraying the mechanical doll, wound up by a large silver key--to the audience's amusement. Guess who was chosen to wind her up!!!

Ms. Wright, on the other hand, has a rich and resonant instrument that retains its power all the way to the bottom of the register. She performed three songs from Georges Bizet' Carmen, of which our favorite was "En vain pour éviter" which is generally overlooked in favor of the Habanera and the Seguidilla.

A fine guitarist by the name of Kenji Haba provided the accompaniment for a pair of songs by Douglas DaSilva--one a tender tale of a ghost appearing to her husband, based on a 19th c. haiku by Yosa Buson--the other a setting of a grim anti-war text by Wilfred Owen.

The audience was as pleased as could be by the program. Old, new, borrowed and blue!

(c) meche kroop