GOIN' ON FIFTY

Terrence Chin-Loy, Cheyanne Coss, Teresa Castillo, Nicole Brooks, Tesia Kwarteng,
Ryan Johnson, Nora London, Monica Dewey, Alisa Jordheim, Danielle Beckvermit,
Justin Austin, Jana McIntyre, Anne Maguire, Jessica Faselt, Lindsay Kate Brown, and Katherine Beck

It's the competition we look forward to all year and it's been around longer than we have. Entering their fiftieth year of giving awards to promising young singers, the George London Foundation has earned our respect and admiration for a number of reasons: applicants and competitors pay no fee, pianists are provided (last night it was the absolutely first rate Lydia Brown), prizes are awarded immediately, and all finalists receive awards. No one is left standing on stage without appropriate recognition. We love that!

Planet Opera is a small world and we were tickled to learn that with only a couple exceptions, we were connected in some fashion with all the finalists. Some had received Encouragement Awards from The London Foundation in years gone by; some we knew through The Metropolitan Opera National Council Competitions, some from Opera Index Competitions, some from The Gerda Lissner Foundation Competitions, some from The Richard Tucker Foundation Competition, and some from the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program.

Let us begin with the women, in no particular order. Soprano Jessica Faselt made a large statement with Donna Anna's "Or sai chi l'honore", tackling the unrelenting tessitura and wrestling it to the ground without breaking a sweat. Nor were the subtleties lost in this riveting performance.

Soprano Jana McIntyre created a charming Amina, the now wide-awake somnambulist, exulting in Bellini's long phrases in a highly polished performance. There were some beautiful bel canto effects including a liquid trill at the top of the register.

Anne Maguire's chocolate-toned mezzo was just perfect for Fricka's passionate argument with Wotan from Wagner's Die Walküre--"Wo in Bergen du dich birgst". She was completely convincing and employed fine German. We wondered what was going through the mind of our favorite Wotan James Morris who was in the audience!

Another mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown had such strength in the lower register that we sniffed out a contralto in the making. In fine French, she did justice to the role of the unfortunate Léonor singing "O mon Fernand" from Donizetti's La Favorite. The lovely legato lines were beautifully realized.

Our third mezzo-soprano was Katherine Beck who filled out "Non piu mesta" from Rossini's La Cenerentola with joy and personality. Her bel canto technique was flawless and there was an evenness from the top of the register to the bottom. There is a terrific texture to her instrument that made the performance a singular one.

We loved the bell-like sound of soprano Teresa Castillo as she sang the "Bell Song" from Delibes' Lakmé. She used the entire stage and was generous with her gestures. The precision of the staccato passages was augmented by a gorgeous trill and a floated top note that we'd like to use as an example for some tenors we've heard!

Soprano Monica Dewey performed similar magic with "Caro nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto--precise staccato passages and facility with the fioritura. Her fine vibrato was particularly appealing.

Soprano Danielle Beckvermit has a pretty voice, just right for "Ain't it a Pretty Night" from Floyd's Susannah. Along with fine head resonance and clarity of English diction, we appreciated her acting. We could see the stars in the sky through her eyes.

Soprano Alisa Jordheim gave a fiery delivery of "Air du feu" from Ravel's L'enfant et les sortiléges. The florid vocal lines were wondrously negotiated. Our only complaint is that it is such a short aria and we wanted to hear more of her.

Soprano Nicole Brooks gave a splendid account of Frau Fluth's aria "Nun eilt herbei" from Nicolai's Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor. She used her bright instrument and generous gesture to create a believable Alice Ford. We admired her German and her use of embellishments in tune with the text.

Tesia Kwarteng is an impressive mezzo-soprano who was completely new to us. She used an entire palette of colors to limn the character of the distraught Charlotte in the "Letter Scene" from Massenet's Werther. We enjoyed the dynamics and phrasing that she employed to show the character's deep feeling.

Soprano Cheyanne Coss performed "Comme autrefois" from Bizet's Les Pêcheurs des Perles in lovely French, exhibiting a wonderful top to her instrument.

There were only three men on the program  and we were happy to get another opportunity to hear baritone Justin Austin. "Bella siccome un angelo" was a wise choice since Mr. Austin has just the right dramatic skills to create the character of Dr. Malatesta from Donizetti's Don Pasquale. His beautiful tone and lovely legato made him a standout and every gesture and facial expression served the characterization.

Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy won our heart with a heartfelt "Che gelida manina" from Puccini's La Bohème. He has a warm quality to his tone and seemed to caress each word that he sang. He shaped his phrases well and came across as an ardent youth "selling himself" to a new love object with a newly found bravado.

Tenor Ryan Johnson, also new to us, began Lensky's aria from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in a rather stoic pose. He built from that position to a profound emotional impact as he revealed a range of emotions, recalling the events of the prior evening and his love for Olga.

We are happy not to have been one of the judges because we never could have narrowed down this field of stars in the making. All of them are delighting audiences around the country but we got to hear them all in one place on one glorious program. We felt so fortunate! We have added several new voices to our "Singers to Watch" list.

© meche kroop

GERDA LISSNER WINNERS CONCERT

Collaborative Pianist Arlene Shrut and winners of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Lieder/Song Competition

Young singers need all the help they can get in building their careers and the Gerda Lissner Foundation is unmatched in this role. There are yearly competitions for both opera and for song, with generous awards for the winners. Being present to hear these young artists in concert after the competitions is a special treat. It's an even tastier treat to witness their development as they achieve the fame they deserve. When we have time to read bios of successful singers we cannot fail to notice how many of them have begun their success by winning these competitions.

Friday's recital of 2019 winners presented ten young singers of great promise, all accompanied by the legendary collaborative pianist Arlene Shrut who matches her accompaniment to the special skills of each young artist and also takes into account the great variety of material they choose to present. Every singer was superb, each in a different way.

Tenor Eric Finbarr Carey had us trembling in our seat with a searing performance of Schubert's "Der Erlkönig". Goethe's text is tragic and dramatic; in contrast with so much contemporary poetry, it does beg to be set to music. What we look for in an effective performance is good storytelling. This means that the singer must play the part of the narrator with neutral coloring. When the story quotes the father, he must darken and age the coloration; when he quotes the child, he must lighten and whiten the color; and when he voices the titular Erlkönig he must begin seductively and end horrifically. Mr. Carey held us spellbound, sustaining the tension throughout a pause before the final grim "tod"!

Baritone Jonathan McCullough struck us as a complete artist with a mature round sound that conveyed everything one could possibly say about a man watching his beloved marry someone else. Mahler based this song (the first lied of his cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) on Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of folk poetry. Beginning in the mournful key of D-minor, it makes a brief excursion into a verse in the major mode as the poet witnesses the joys of nature. Then it sinks back into minor, since his grief blocks his appreciation of these joys. Mr. McCullough illuminated every nuance.

Soprano Monica Dewey injected Rachmaninoff's "Noch'yu v sadu u menya" with an anguished coloration that was deeply affecting. With brilliant tone she sang of a weeping willow and a sad girl. It was the last song Rachmaninoff wrote before leaving Russia and perhaps that it why he chose that sad story.

Coloratura soprano Alexia Mate selected a French song that was well chosen to show off her bright tone, her lovely French, and her flexibility. Dell'Acqua's "Villanelle" offers a lovely legato passage and some challenging staccato passages with trills and arpeggi, all successfully negotiated. There were also some melismatic passages. Mentally, we cast Ms. Mate as Queen of the Night! Sometimes,we just cannot keep from extrapolating from a sole performance to a singer's future.

With the kind of German diction one only hears from a native born German singer, Dennis Chmelensky gave a perfect performance of Schubert's "Willkommen und Abschied", the setting of a text by Goethe. Schubert's music and Mr. Chmelensky's singing gave us all the anticipation and fulfillment and also the pain of parting. He made good use of variation of tempo and dynamics to tell the tale. We sincerely believe that any singer who wants to sing lieder should master a few of Schubert's prodigious output of over 600 songs.

Tenor Alec Carlson has a sizable voice with the right weight and intensity to convey the despair of "Der Atlas", one of Schubert's more morose songs. This one is a setting of a text by Heinrich Heine and, although it is not among our favorite Schubert songs, Mr. Carlson's dramatic delivery put us right in the middle of Atlas' burdensome task.

Baritone Dongwei Shen made a daring choice of singing a Chinese song by Zaiyi Lu called "Overlooking my Homeland". Most Americans lack a frame of reference for an appreciation of this eminently singable language and the Chinese penchant for the retention of melody. No 12-tone serialism for them, thank goodness! The song offered opportunities for emotional connection which Mr. Chen conveyed successfully by means of vocal color, gesture, and dynamics. 

There was no translation but as we listened we felt pain and longing in our heart for something we were about to lose. After the concert, we asked Mr. Shen about the meaning of the song and it is about life passing by us. What a mark of success for a singer to convey such meaning in another language. Incidentally, we had a similar experience once in Bhutan of knowing what a song was about. Oh, the miracle of music!

Another baritone, Sung Shin, chose to sing Tosti's "L'ultima canzone", another song about a man losing his sweetheart. It's our favorite Tosti song because we love the alternation of moods and melodies in the verses; this feature gave Mr. Shin an opportunity to show off his impressive artistry. His instrument has an appealing tweedy texture and his Italianate vowels were scented with garlic. He shaped his phrases with great artistry, making use of occasional rubato. There was also some nice melismatic singing on "ah". We loved it!

Mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner's selection was the final one of Barber's Hermit Songs--"The Desire for Hermitage". The cycle is a setting of songs from Irish monasteries written down between the 8th and 13th c. We confess that these are not our favorite songs, although we do like the tranquil "The Monk and His Cat", the slightly irreverent "The Heavenly Banquet", and the short but bawdy "Promiscuity". But Ms. Wagner's choice was of a more ascetic bent, although we picked up a subtext of spiritual fervor. She sang it well and had a beautiful ringing top. Still, we would like to hear her sing in a different language.

Mezzo-soprano Anastasiia Sidorova, whom we just heard at a concert of winners of the Premiere Opera Foundation Competition, sang a beautiful song by Rimsky-Korsakov called "The Clouds Begin to Scatter", the setting of text by Pushkin. Ms. Sidorova, as we noted in our review a couple days ago, has a lovely instrument that she knows how to use. If only she could loosen up and use her body! We hoped that singing in her own language would work to her advantage but were a bit disappointed. We wanted more connection with the audience as well as more connection with the song. We hope that someone at her conservatory will work with her on this; it's like a pot on the stove with all good ingredients that just needs some heat to release the aromas and flavors! Tap into your Russian passion Anastasiia! Go for it!

Host for the evening was the engaging Midge Woolsey who introduced each singer and told us the theme of the song after it was sung. We would have preferred the description before it was sung.

The concert was produced in association with the Liederkranz Foundation.

© meche kroop

MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE STUDIO ARTISTS RECITAL

Michigan Opera Theater Studio Artists at National Opera Center

Dear Readers,

Allow us to introduce you to our guest reviewer Ellen Godfrey, an opera lover with lifelong experience at the Metropolitan Opera, now serving on the boards of Opera Index and Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance.  The recital of the Michigan Opera Studio was too compelling to go unreviewed and we were busy reviewing Mark Padmore's recital.  So...enjoy!

A DELIGHTFUL EVENING AT THE  MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE CONCERT AT THE  NATIONAL OPERA CENTER

On Thursday, April 19, Opera America presented, as part of the Emerging Artist Recital Series, a concert by the Michigan Opera Theatre Studio, which features promising young singers on the brink of a great opera career.  MOT studio artists, now in its fourth season, fulfilled a dream of Michigan Opera founder and composer Dr. David Di Chiera, to create an advanced training program for young singers. The Director of the Resident Artists Program is the worldwide renowned opera tenor Richard Leech. With the support of the Studio’s principal coach and accompanist Tessa Hartle, they provide outstanding training and performance opportunities for the young singers.

Each season MOT selects five singers for either a one or two year commitment from June to April for advanced training in repertoire, vocal coaching, role preparation, acting and language study. In addition, legendary opera singers conduct masterclasses. This outstanding program is underwritten by a major grant from the William Davidson Foundation.  Performance opportunities include featured and supporting roles in MOT main stage productions and an enhanced presence in the community through participation in leading roles in community productions as well as outreach to Detroit Public Schools.

The five talented singers chosen for this season were Monica Dewey, soprano; Briana Elyse Hunter, mezzo-soprano; Michael Day, tenor; Harry Greenleaf, baritone; and Erik Van Heyningen, bass-baritone. All of them have performed in major opera houses. Among them the Santa Fe Opera, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, San Francisco Opera, and Wolf Trap. Many have received important awards in major vocal competitions.

Wayne. S. Brown, President and CEO of the Michigan Opera Theatre welcomed the audience to the concert. The selections for the concert were carefully chosen to highlight each singers vocal and performing qualities.  

The concert opened with a dazzling display of vocal fireworks by bass-baritone Erik Van Heyningen as The King of Jerusalem in Handel’s Rinaldo. His aria “Sibilar gli angui d’Alletto"…..(the hissing of Alecto’s serpents ) requires an astonishing amount of breath  control and he was more than up to the task.  His burnished bass-baritone projected the power of the king.  Later in the concert, he showed both his language and vocal versatility singing an aria in Russian from Alexander Borodin’s Prince Igor --“Ni San ni otdycha”.  Igor can’t sleep and is dejected about being taken prisoner.  Erik pulled out all of the emotions of this great aria. This summer he returns to Santa Fe Opera to perform in Madama Butterfly and Candide.  In the fall he will attend The Juilliard School for an artist diploma in opera studies.

Tenor Michael Day sang a beautiful  "De’miei bollenti spiriti” from Verdi’s La Traviata.  He has a bright tenor sound and a big voice.  His Italian was excellent and through his facial expressions and his body language, he projected Alfredo’s love for Violetta.  Love came calling again later in the program with a sensitive performance of the song “Maria” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.  He started off singing softly and increased the volume slowly as he expressed his undying love for Maria. His final "Marias" in head voice were spell-binding.  He returns next fall to MOT.  This summer he will perform the role of Leo Hubbard in Blitzstein’s Regina at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Michael Day and Erik van Heyningen showed that they are equally good in comic opera as well.. both of them enjoying the comedy.  In  the duet “Voglio dire…Obbligato” from Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore. Michael Day sang the love sick Nemorino desperate for an elixir of love which Dr. Dulcamara, sung by Erik Van Heyningen was more then happy to supply.  Their voices blended very well and the audience delighted in their performances.

Mezzo-soprano Briana Elyse Hunter sang a heart-felt aria from Gluck’s Orphée et  Eurdice..."Amour viens rendre a mon âme”. Orphée calls on the gods to bring his dead wife back to life or he will join her in death. This is another aria full of fioritura and Briana sang it fearlessly.  Her mezzo voice is distinctive and lush and she has great stage presence.  Later in the program she moved effortlessly from Baroque opera to the 21at century opera Doctor Atomic by John Adams.. “Am I in your light” is a reflection on love and death and was sung with great warmth. 

Briana and soprano Monica Dewey sang a sweet melodic duet from Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera 27…which explores the relationship between Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. The duet “The Bells. That Chime” …the bells chime “genius” ring for each of them. This is very original music. Each time they sang the word “ring” there is an imitation of a ring by going up and down the scale or a slow trill. When they sang together their voices blended beautifully. Both Briana and Monica will be Performing with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Monica Dewey joined with baritone Harry Greenleaf for a duet from Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath. The music had a nice bouncy sound and they were a convincing couple.  They worked well together with clear diction, and nice vocal shading.

Monica showed her spunk in a delightful performance of the cantabile “Par le rang et par l’opulence” followed by the cabaletta "Salut a la France" from Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment. The first part of the aria is slow and sad…and she sang it with great beauty ..she is sad because she is separated from Tonio …suddenly she hears the sounds of the soldiers in the distance and her mood changes to joy.  She sings the song of the regiment; "Salut a la France"…full of fioritura and octave leaps. She has a brilliant and sparking sound and her voice grew larger as she ascended to the high notes,

Harry Greenleaf  sang an aria from Britten’s Billy Budd --“Look! Through  the port comes the moonshine astray”which he sang in a a subdued and pensive manner with his attractive and smooth baritone voice and very clear English diction. He captured Billy’s feelings as he contemplates death. Harry later sang an aria from David DiChiera’s opera Cyrano, in which the eponymous Cyrano is contemplating his own death. Once again he created a whole picture of Cyrano’s thoughts and sadness, singing with clear French diction.

Tessa Hartle, Principal coach and accompanist for the young singers was supportive throughout the whole concert.  She never overpowered the singers and was certainly attentive to everything they did.   It was clear that the singers enjoyed working with her and appreciated her support.

Congratulations to all the singers and to the wonderful supportive staff of MOT Studio Artists for a memorable evening.

(c) meche kroop