BRAVA GERDA LISSNER

 Arlene Shrut, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Yeongtaek Yang, Matthew Cairns, Tatev Baroyan, Karoline Podolak, Shelen Hughes, Rosario Armas, Gemma Nha, and Anna Kelly

Thanks to the generosity of philanthropist Gerda Lissner, several generations of opera singers have been supported in their artistic growth. In addition, citizens of Planet Opera were gifted a thrilling evening of impressive singing at Zankel Hall.  Out of 300 presumably worthy applicants, ten winners were selected to perform and were the fortunate recipients of 95 thousand dollars. No, Dear Reader, you will not learn their ranking here. That is the difficult and unenviable task of the judges. Our "task" is to share our impressions.

It is particularly rewarding for us to witness the success of singers we have followed throughout their conservatory years; it is astonishing to catch up with the dramatic artistic growth of those who left New York City and haven't been heard by us for some time; it is exciting to discover artists who are new to us. It is also a delight to experience the gracious hosting of Midge Woolsey who made up for the lack of titles and translations by giving a brief synopsis of each selection. And finally, it is always a pleasure to see how pianist Arlene Shrut manages to switch genres and styles with ease, giving the young singers the collaboration and accompaniment they deserve.

It seemed to us that the audience comprised people who know and love opera, lieder, art song and zarzuela, all of which were represented in the award categories.  No one distracted other audience members. Everyone listened with rapt attention and applauded generously and enthusiastically--and never at inopportune times. 

Speaking of applause, it made us deliriously happy to hear the audience going wild over the zarzuela selection sung with consummately professional style by mezzo-soprano Rosario Armas. Regular readers know how highly we value this art form and how we always jump at the chance to attend a performance.  The selection that Ms. Armas chose was from Chapi's humorous Las Hijas del Zebedeo. Every gesture was on point and Ms. Armas used her rich expressive voice to create a character.

In a similarly light-hearted mood, soprano Shelén Hughes charmed us with a selection from Victor Herbert's operetta "Mlle. Modiste" which we sadly missed when Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live! presented it. It is a fine achievement when a singer is so secure in her technique and so well rehearsed that the performance seems spontaneous and very much "of the moment".

A coloratura soprano named Caroline Podolak gave a stunning performance of "Glitter and Be Gay" from Leonard Bernstein's Candide, giving the song just the right amount of humor as Cunegonde alternates between the shame of her status (which you all know) and the pleasure of receiving expensive jewelry. The high tessitura presented no challenge for her and the vocal effects were sensational. To add to the performance, this beautiful blond looked the part.

Similarly, mezzo-soprano Maire Therese Carmack looked and sounded exactly the way one would wish for the daughter of Wotan as she performed "Du bist der Lenz" from the first act of Wagner's Die Walküre. The entire setting of the Otto Schenk version (the only one that made sense to us) appeared in our mind's eye--always a sign of a great performance.

Soprano Tatev Baroyan gave a lovely and affecting performance as Liu, singing "Tu, che di gel sei cinta" from Puccini's Turandot. Mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly employed a sweet tone and personal charm in a Joseph Marx lied entitled "Jugend und Alter".  Soprano Gemma Nha performed Joowon Kim's "Like the Wind That Met with Lotus" with a haunting feeling and ringing top notes.

And now, let us get to the men. Guest artist counter-tenor Anthony Ross Costanzo delivered an inspiring "speechlet" about Orfeo and the power of music and then involved the audience in his performance of a scene from 

Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (in which he is starring at The Metropolitan Opera) which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Counter-tenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen was definitely not overshadowed by Mr. Costanzo's fame and performed two Händel arias, a deeply felt "Stille Amare" from Tolomeo and the spirited "Empio, dirò , tu sei" from Giulio Cesare in Egitto in which he dazzled us with fiery fioritura.

Yeongtaek Yang used his gorgeous baritone instrument to create a highly involving introduction to Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, bringing Tonio to vivid life. It felt so real that we nearly forgot where we were and were waiting for the opera to begin!

Tenor Matthew Cairns has a sizable voice with an interesting texture and fine French diction that he brought to "Ô Paradis sorti de l'onde" from Meyerbeer's L'Africaine.

What a wonderful evening--a gathering of the tribe joining to celebrate young artists. May they all achieve the professional success that they deserve!

© meche kroop

2023 GEORGE AND NORA LONDON FOUNDATION COMPETITION FINALS

 

Pianist Maestro Michael Fennelly, Foundation President John H. Hauser, and finalists in the 2023 Competition

The gracious presence of the late Nora London was greatly missed but we received a warm welcome from John H. Hauser, President of the George and Nora London Foundation. The prizes awarded in this competition are generous and the winners generally go on to great careers. The twelve finalists were of the very highest caliber and the judging must have been extremely difficult. We were glad not to have been among them! We love this competition because all finalists walk away with great honor as well as financial benefit.

If you must know which five of the twelve received the greatest honor, you must look on the foundation's website. We are sure it made a difference to the competitors but to our ears, they were all winners. There seemed to be more large voices this year and also a preponderance of sopranos and tenors with a lone mezzo-soprano, a sole bass-baritone, and a singular counter-tenor.

Regardless of who won the major prizes, several performances suited our taste to the point of lingering in our memory. That they just happen to be three beautiful young women "should" be considered irrelevant but it surely doesn't hurt one's career to be as appealing to the eye as to the ear.

Karoline Podolak put a smile on our face with a spirited performance of "Je suis Titania" from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon. There was charm and expressiveness in spades, utilized to underscore the fioritura which was cleanly delivered. It was altogether enchanting.

No less enchanting was the bright soprano of Erika Bakoff who performed "A vos jeux amis" from Thomas' Hamlet. It seems curious that we have heard very little of Thomas' works and here we got to hear two on the same program. We got to realize how well he writes for young light sopranos! Along with the lovely vocal line, we appreciated a terrific trill and a smoothly descending scale passage.

The role of Sophie in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier must impress the audience in the same fashion as Sophie herself is impressed by the attention paid her by Count Rofrano as he delivers the silver rose. In this case, Elena Villalon succeeded in conveying innocence and wonder with a sweet coloration to the voice and the assumption of a modest demeanor. It was a completely convincing characterization.

We have been hearing quite a bit of "Aleko's Cavatina" from the Rachmaninoff opera that we have never seen in its entirety. Poor Aleko sings of his despair, his Gypsy wife having fallen for a young man of her own people.  Somehow we were reminded of old King Philips's aria "Ella giammai m'amo" from Verdi's Don Carlo in which the singer must generate sympathy for a murderous man. At this task, bass-baritone William Socolof succeeded admirably  with a carefully modulated performance, generous tone, and exemplary Russian.

Contrasting with the lowest voice in the competition was the highest male voice, that of counter-tenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen who performed "Inumano Fratel...Stille Amare" from Händel's Tolomeo in which the eponymous title character believes he has drunk poison and cannot make it through the da capo. Mr. Cohen dazzled with his mastery of this rare fach and it's vocal fireworks. If our opinion inspires you, you can hear his video for yourself on YouTube.

It is always interesting in a competition to be introduced to an aria with which one is unfamiliar but it is an entirely different story when a young singer tackles a very familiar aria. We feel the satisfaction one feels with the familiar but we are looking for something original or different in which the singer tells us something new about the character. Tenor Matthew Cairns took on "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from Bizet's Carmen and he did so with full tone and a lovely vocal quality. We particularly admired the dynamic variety and a smooth decrescendo.

Tenor Joseph Sacchi has a large powerful instrument just right for the role of Max in Weber's Die Freischütz. "Durch die Walder, durch die Auen" was performed in clearly enunciated German, augmented by meaningful gesture.

We always enjoy arias more when we understand the words and tenor Jordan Loyd delivered "Inutile regrets" from the final act of Berlioz' Les Troyens in fine French. He employed his fine vibrato to express Énée's despair in an emotional performance.

Another highly emotional performance was that of tenor Ricardo Garcia who put 110% into his portrayal of Lensky facing death in Tchaikovky's Eugene Onegin. The vocal line was lovely and the gestures were Russian in their extravagance.

The only mezzo-soprano on the program, Olivia Johnson gave an expressive performance of "O ma lyre immortelle" from Gounod's Sapho. (The program listed the composer as Massenet and indeed Massenet did write a piece of that name almost a half-century later but we are quite sure that what we heard was from the Gounod.)

The only Puccini aria on the program was from Edgar, about which we know little. Amber Monroe has a sizable soprano with an expressive vibrato put to good use in "Addio mio dolce Amore" sung by the faithful Fidelia.

Perhaps it was the stress of singing first but having heard tenor Alexander McKissic several times in the past, we didn't think we were hearing him at his best in "Se all'impero amici dei" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, sung by the merciful titular character. He sounded best in the pianissimi passages with a lovely legato but as the volume increased his tone sounded rough which did not suit Tito's character. We found ourselves wishing he had not been first on the program.

Splendid accompanying in all these varied styles was provided by Maestro Michael Fennelly.

© meche kroop