CLASSIC LYRIC ARTS FALL GALA

Glenn Morton and participants in Classic Lyric Arts summer programs

The Classic Lyric Arts Fall Benefit Gala is a highly anticipated annual event; it is a golden opportunity to be introduced to participants in CLA's immersive summer programs in France and Italy. These stars of tomorrow have spent some very intensive time in the country of their choice--studying, coaching, learning the subtleties of the language, the culture, the food, and the music.

After a decade, the program is well established; young artists of promise are able to attend even if they cannot afford the tuition because, this year alone, 18 grants were made to help them along. Next year's goal is 28 grants and lovers of this very special art form could find no better means to make a valuable contribution.

The teachers and coaches have been selected for their dedication and desire to pass along their knowledge and expertise. Artistic Director Glenn Morton gave a wonderfully welcoming address to the select audience, pointing out that not every participant will achieve a major opera career; some will wind up in different capacities within the field and others will choose a different profession. But it seems that each and every participant soaked up what was offered to him/her and was greatly enriched.

Before and after the performance, we enjoyed a generous spread of goodies and an opportunity to mingle with the artists and to learn about their education and career goals, and also to hear them extol the benefits of their summer study. 

Alumna Caroline Lopez Moreno possesses a glorious soprano instrument that she uses well and which has captivated us on prior occasions. She has presence to spare as well, and spoke eloquently of her experience with CLA and her respect for Mr. Morton's astute and encouraging coaching.

She performed a divine duet with mezzo-soprano Sarah Fleiss, who is new to us. Rossini's Tancredi offers opportunities to show off and these two young women ran with it, giving an arresting account of this fraught scene in Act II. Rossini gave these conflicting lovers the most harmonious music; Ms. Moreno made a marvelous Amenaide and Ms. Fleiss sounded just grand as Tancredi. The overtones of each voice bounced off the overtones of the other. The fireworks in the cabaletta were dazzling.

We love listening to mezzo-sopranos who have a true mezzo texture to their voices and Ms. Fleiss surely does have the right sound. She was not the only one. Swedish mezzo Loella Grahn gave a winning performance as Rosina in the "note scene" ("Dunque io son") from Rossini's comic masterpiece Il barbiere di Siviglia. Ms. Grahn had all the right qualities--charm, presence, musicality, and good chemistry with her Figaro, wonderfully acted and sung by baritone Carlos Arcos.

Rossini's music is very kind to coloratura sopranos but Puccini demands a more substantial voice and we heard that in Johanna Will; she has a voice with plenty of substance that can effortlessly soar into the upper register. We greatly enjoyed her Cio-Cio San, singing in the Act I love duet from Madama Butterfly "Vogliatemi bene". Tenor Alexei Kuznietsov, whom we have written about several times, did an admirable job as Pinkerton. He just keeps getting better and better, a trajectory we love to witness in a young singer.

His versatility as an artist showed in the lighthearted "C'est l'amour" from Ganne's comic opera Les Saltimbanques, singing with Rachel Liss. We were excited to be introduced to a work and a composer that were new to us.

Similarly we got a kick out of  "Non, non jamais les hommes" from the Yvains operetta Ta bouche--another work and another composer new to us. The delightful Shannon Delijani was joined by Hannah Klein in this very cute number about how men can't understand women. In another number from this operetta, we heard Ms. Klein sing a duet with Wesley Diener entitled "Ta bouche a des baisers".

Soprano Lena Goldstein had a winning presence as Susanna in the scene from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in which Susanna misunderstands the marital intentions of Figaro, here performed by Mr. Arcos who had to take a slap to the face which was quite convincing.

Marcellina was sung by mezzo Nanako Kato who also made a fine Isabella  in a scene from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri with Chang Liu singing the rejected wife of Mustafa (Mr. Arcos). 

There was a charming fluffy trio from Berlioz' Béatrice et Bénédicte with the voices of Temple Hammen, Bela Albett, and Melanie Dubil achieving perfect harmony.

We also enjoyed a sweet duet from Puccini's La Rondine--"Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso"-- with Ms. Lopez Moreno's Magda partnered by tenor Travis Benoit as Ruggero and a rousing "I Could Have Danced All Night" from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady with Courtney Sanders singing Eliza Doolittle, joined by the chorus.

There seemed to be varying levels of experience in the singing. Some were "performance ready" and other showed promise. But all exhibited the kind of enthusiasm that warms our heart. And everyone sang with Italianate or Gallic style as the piece demanded. All had excellent diction which speaks well for their training with CLA.

Let us not forget the artistry of the collaborative pianists: Jake Landau, Migeun Chung, Vladimir Soloviev, Xu Cheng, and Ariela Bohrod. They too seem to have picked up a lot of French and Italian style during their residency abroad.

© meche kroop

CLASSIC LYRIC ARTS SALON

Alexei Kuznietsov, Johanna Will, Carlos Arcos, Temple Hammen, Daniela Magura, Carolina López Moreno,
and Jake Landau

Last night we attended a lovely private salon held by Classic Lyric Arts, at which we were introduced to some very promising young singers and also had another opportunity to enjoy the ringing tenor of Alexei Kuznietsov who made such a strong impression at Monday's Around the World in Song.


We have written often about CLA and their total immersion programs held every summer for the past ten years in Italy, and almost as long in France. Every time we hear students from those programs we have been impressed by their facility with language and also by the sense that they know what they are singing about.

Because we love duets, we found ourself particularly pleased by "Belle nuit" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman. Here, the role of Niklaus was sung by mezzo-soprano Daniela Magura and soprano Julianna Will sang the part of the courtesan Giulietta. Collaborative pianist Jake Landau skillfully kept the gondola rocking!

We would not hear Ms. Magura in a solo aria but enjoyed her very much in the closing duet "Dôme épais" from Leo Delibes' Lakmé in which she sang Malika to the Leila of soprano Carolina López Moreno. The French was as fine as one could wish and the harmonies were luscious.

Ms. Moreno has a soprano of great promise and we thrilled to her emotional performance of "Tu che di gel sei cinta" from Puccini's Turandot. She has a real feel for Puccini as we heard in "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from his La Rondine. In both cases, the Italian diction and phrasing were admirable and her voice opens beautifully at the top.

Ms. Will's fine instrument was heard in the "Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust and in "Un bel di vedremo" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. We are pleased to tell that her Italian was excellent and the sound of her voice was glorious.

Soprano Temple Hammen performed "Se il padre perdei" from Mozart's Idomeneo and the delightful "Du gai soleil" from Massenet's Werther. Both French and Italian were lovely.

Mr. Kuznietsov performed "Amor ti vieta" from Giordano's Fedora with an appealing vibrato that caught our ear. He also proved that a singer doesn't have to be Spanish to capture the essence of zarzuela. His "No puede ser" from Sorozábal's La tabernera del puerto was given full expression with plenty of variation in color.

Baritone Carlos Arcos performed Tosti's "Non t'amo più" with plenty of Latin passion and variety of dynamics, all the way down to a delicate pianissimo. His phrasing in "If ever I would leave you" from Loewe's Camelot reminded us of the very permeable border between opera and musical theater.

Mr. Landau's piano was supportive throughout without ever overwhelming the singers.

It was a very fulfilling evening and we are looking forward to hearing more of these special singers.

(c) meche kroop