AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES

Prizewinners onstage at Alice Tully Hall

The venerable Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation awarded prizes to a long list of young artists and also gave a generous gift to the opera lovers of New York--a Sunday afternoon parade of prizewinners who got onstage at Alice Tully Hall and gave their all to the grateful and appreciative audience.  Centenarian Signora Albanese came onstage to greet the audience and merited all the adulation she received, not only for her long illustrious career but also for her unstinting efforts to share her skills and wisdom with younger generations of singers.  Administrative/Artistic Director Stephen De Maio put together a superb program; Midge Woolsey hosted and contributed a great deal by giving the audience a concise explanation of the content of the aria and its place in the opera.

All of the singers performed at their peak; each voice we heard was special but a few touched us deeply. Tenor Anthony Kalil blew us away with a goose-bump inducing performance of "E lucevan le stelle" from Puccini's Tosca; he succeeded in making the aria his own.  Baritone Takaoki Onishi, who has been winning awards left and right, sang Rodrigo's arias from Verdi's Don Carlo, building from a subdued start to a smashing and powerful climax. 

We heard two superb Courtneys, both sopranos:  Courtney Mills has a sizable soprano that is very free at the top, supremely suited to "Ritorna Vincitor" from Verdi's Aida; the "junior" Courtney, still an undergraduate but with considerable promise, sang a charming duet from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia: "Dunque io son".  Her Figaro was the charming baritone Tobias Greenhalgh who captured his character's lovable wiliness.

"Oh Mimi, tu più non torni" from Puccini's La Bohème was movingly sung by tenor Aaron Blake and baritone Ricardo Rivera.  Regular readers know how much we love duets!  From the same opera we heard "O soave fanciulla" sung by soprano Marina Costa-Jackson and tenor Dominick Chenes.  Two more duets graced the program: in the "Brindisi" from Verdi's La Traviata, glamorous soprano Mary-Jane Lee sang Violetta with a lovely vibrato; her Alfredo was tenor Viktor Antipenko who has an open generous sound. The flower duet from Delibes' Lakmé is one of our favorites and Shelley Jackson's bright soprano melded beautifully with Shirin Eskandani's dark mezzo.
Soprano Jennifer Rowley has a lovely liquid sound that flows like heavy cream; she sang "Come in quest'ora bruna" from Verdi's Simon Boccanegra.  There were several fine baritones on the program with superb voices whom we will enjoy far more as they develop more contact with the audience.  With the exception of the following, all singers were accompanied by the Opera Orchestra of New York, conducted by Eve Queler.

There were also a number of performances given by recipients of Distinguished Achievement Awards.  We were most impressed by soprano Jennifer Check who has managed to lose weight without losing any of the gorgeous qualities in her voice; her "Vieni t'affretta", accompanied by Jonathan Kelly, from Verdi's Macbeth was memorable.  Kristin Chavez' "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen was steamy and involved some audience interaction; Arlene Schrut accompanied.  Eglise Guttierez sang Puccini's "Oh mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi and Ricardo Tamura sang "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot.

"Cent'anni" to Signora Albanese!  Oh wait, she already got there.  Well, here's to another century!

© meche kroop

HONORING JOAN DORNEMANN

Thanks to the generosity of the Gerda Lissner Foundatiion, helmed by Stephen De Maio, fifty-four promising singers were given grants this year.  Ten of these performed a superb recital at Zankel Hall last night, hosted by Midge Woolsey,    

and honoring Joan Dornemann. 

The plum in the pudding was Wendy Bryn Harmer who won first prize in the Wagner Division and gave a performance of "Du bist der Lenz" from Act I of Wagner's Die Walküre. This beautiful soprano has been seen quite a lot at the Metropolitan Opera this season and has never failed to thrill with her large luscious soprano.  Last night, she made a compelling Sieglinde and we look forward to hearing her in this role in a future Ring Cycle.

First Prize winner tenor Noah Baetge was equally compelling as the Italian Singer who performs at the Marschallin's levee in Der Rosenkavalier.  Long a fan of Mr. Baetge, we were impressed by his generous Italianate sound and diction.  Yet more delicious Italian (yes, when it SOUNDS good, it TASTES good!) came from tenor Michele Angelini, also a First Prize winner, who cut a princely figure in "Si, ritrovarla, io giuro" from Rossini's La Cenerentola.  We especially appreciated the expressive way he used the fioritura in the cabaletta.

Second prize winners were also outstanding.  Soprano Audrey Luna gave Gilda her all in "Caro nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto.  There were some completely thrilling moments when she easily reached her brilliant top notes, not to mention her liquid trill.  Soprano Danielle Pastin was perfectly suited to the emotional "Stridono Lassu" from Leoncavallo's  Pagliacci and gave us a deep appreciation of Nedda's personality.

Baritone Steven Labrie sang "Silvio's Aria" with a great deal of persuasion and lovely phrasing but a rather covered sound.  We wanted to feed him some pasta with lots of garlic!  Tenor Kevin Ray sang one of our favorite Wagnerian arias from Act I of Die Walküre, "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater".  When Mr. Ray let loose with his "Wälse, Wälse" we had goosebumps.

Countertenor Andrey Nemzer sang "Al lampo dell'armi" from Giulio Cesare in fine Handelian style and soprano Jacqueline Echols sang Pamina's aria "Ach ich fühl's" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.  She has a lovely bright sound and needs only to relax a bit so that the aria feels more spontaneous.  Bass-baritone Kyle Albertson was convincing with "Dans les rôles d'amoureux langoureux" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman.  He has some wonderfully resonant low notes and employed appropriate gestures.

Arlene Schrut did yeoman's duty at the piano and matched herself well to each singer.  We were so grateful for the opportunity to hear all these talented voices and would have happily sat still for the other 44 winners of the Gerda Lissner Foundation's 2012 International Vocal Competition.

(c) meche kroop