A GERDA LISSNER CELEBRATION

WHAT A GROUP OF ARTISTS!!!

Yesterday's recital of winners of The Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition offered immeasurable delights. Somehow it felt more like a celebration than a recital. We celebrate the largess of the foundation that awarded a most generous $238,000 this year to 17 young artists who were chosen from among the 330 who auditioned.

We celebrate the rapid ascent of these dedicated young singers who put in so much time and effort to share their love of opera with the grateful audience.  And we also celebrate the fact that we are a community, a family of opera lovers who can gather together and share our joy.

The host for the evening was Brian Kellow, Features Editor of Opera News. The well-loved Diana Soviero presented a lifetime achievement award to Lenore Rosenberg who, among many other gifts, is a fine judge of competitions worldwide.  She spoke briefly but every word she said was valuable and we wish to quote her.

What she said was "It's not the kind of voice a person has but the kind of person who has the voice." She spoke about the balance among vocal quality, technique, and expressiveness.  She spoke about the single mindedness that makes for success in this difficult field.  The ones who make it are those who never consider an alternative career. They sing because they must.  That's what they do! She gave us a lot to think about and we are grateful for it.

We heard sixteen singers in a space of two hours and, although everyone was at least good and most were excellent, a few stood out for various reasons. Sometimes it's someone we've never heard. Sometimes it's someone we have been writing about for several years and have always loved. And sometimes it's someone who has made great strides since we heard them last.

The first singer who comes to mind is Mingjie Lei. And why? Because his delivery of "Una furtiva lagrima" produced una furtiva lagrima in our eye! We have heard Donizetti's star-making aria from L'Elisir d'Amore countless times but never felt such an identification with Nemorino.  Mr. Lei's Nemorino didn't come across as a doofus but as a very real person who is about to realize his deepest dream. We saw the situation through his very eyes.

Soprano Kiri Deonarine dazzled our ears with "The Bell Song" from Delibes' Lakme. It was the sheer force of her technique coupled with a singular coloratura instrument that blew us away. Such pinpoint accuracy in her wild flights into the stratosphere! Such perfectly executed trills and scales and fioritura !

Marina Costa-Jackson impressed us with her versatility. We have reviewed her often and love the generous amplitude of her voice, her assurance onstage and the way she slips into her character as she did into that of Amelia in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. The sad aria "Morró, ma prima in grazia" affected us deeply.

Bass Patrick Guetti tackled the severity of "Il lacerato spirito" from Verdi's Simone Boccanegra with aplomb and fearlessness. The note he ended on, at the very bottom of his register, was unforgettable. He is still very young for a bass and has enormous potential.

We admired baritone Jared Bybee's Rodrigo in "Io morro" from Verdi's Don Carlo.  The sense of dying for a higher purpose came through clearly in his stunning performance.

Baritone John Viscardi threw himself into Figaro's "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and used the entire stage and his ample dramatic skills to create a complex character overwhelmed by his own busyness. (Oh, how we could relate!)

Lovely mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges brought out all the delicacy of "O ma lyre immortelle" from Gounod's Sapho. She has a wonderful instrument that she employs judiciously, carefully modulating both volume and color.

We loved the gracious phrasing baritone Jarrett Lee Ott brought to "Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen" from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt. We understood every single word of his flawless German diction.

Soprano Nicole Hazlett made the perfect fairy godmother in Massenet's Cendrillon. Her "Ah! douce enfant" was shimmery and ethereal.

Soprano Kirsten Mackinnon filled the air with chills and thrills as she performed the "Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust.  Her French diction was excellent, even at the top. We do so love good coloratura!

Bass Wei Wu gave a solid rendition of the stately "O Isis und Osiris" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.  His sizable voice filled the hall and sounded far more impressive than it did yesterday in the small recital hall of the American Opera Center.

Baritone Michael Adams is a stage animal--totally assured with both the Russian language and with his character Tomsky from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame. We look forward to hearing him at the Santa Fe Opera this summer.

Baritone Reginald Smith Jr. stood out for his convincing performance as The Emperor Jones in the eponymous opera by Gruenberg.

We have not distinguished between the various levels of prizes awarded. That information is available elsewhere and matters little to us. What matters to us is the opportunity to share a glorious experience with our fellow opera lovers.

(c) meche kroop

GIULIO GARI ANNUAL GALA WINNERS RECITAL

GIULIO GARI

The memory of this fine tenor lives on by virtue of the admirable work of The Giulio Gari Foundation; they provide awards, grants and performance opportunities to young singers on the cusp of major careers.  Few opera goers acknowledge the intense hard work that goes into career development and the high cost of lessons and coaching. We witness the end results and neglect the means.  It was up to Stephen De Maio and Licia Albanese to get together with Gloria Gari to honor Mr. Gari's memory in the best way possible, ensuring that the baton will be passed to younger generations.

The Giulio Gari Foundation presented their awards yesterday to as fine a group of young singers as we have heard. As a matter of fact we have been fortunate enough to have heard many of them before and were thrilled to have the opportunity to hear them again. . The winners we heard deserve every accolade they received. The foundation chose wisely and well; needless to say, each singer chose his/her material wisely and well, with an eye to showing off his/her own particular vocal range and style.  Piano partners Arlene Shrut and Mikhail Hallak partnered the singers with panache and versatility.

First prize winner Marina Costa-Jackson was saved for last. Without drawing any comparisons, let us just say that her family has astonishing musical genes which, along with dedication and hard work, resulted in a stirring performance of  "Stridono lassu" from Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci; her gorgeous soprano evoked the flight of birds so envied by Nedda whose life is constrained, to say the least.  As she began, her rich low notes suggested those of a mezzo but then her voice soared into the sky with the most gorgeous vibrato and top notes.

Second prizes were won by Michelle Johnson and Chloe Moore, both sopranos.  Ms. Johnson sang "Io son l'umile ancella" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur and caressed each word and phrase with her silky sound which opened up beautifully in the crescendo.  Ms. Moore used her bright and shiny voice in "La Gavotte" from Massenet's Manon.  When she opened up at the top of the register we thought all the glasses in the room would break.

The brilliant bass-baritone Musa Ngqungwana, third prize winner, performed "Riez, allez, riez du pauvre ideologue" from Massenet's Don Quichotte with a big round tone and fine French diction.  We made sure to learn how to pronounce his name because we are going to be hearing a lot more from him.

Fourth prize was won by the excellent baritone John Viscardi who sang "Ya vas lyubil" from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame; his performance was filled with Russian soul.  Oh, how we dearly love Tchaikovsky!

Fifth prizes were won by sopranos Elise Brancheau and Ewa Plonka Nino.  Ms. Brancheau performed Micaela's aria "Je dis que rien ne m'epouvant" from Bizet's Carmen.  Her fine vocalism and acting captured the faith-based courage of her character.  Ms. Nino did justice to "Acerba volutta" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. We enjoyed her pianissimo as much as the grand crescendo in which she spun a beautiful tone.

Grant winners were also on the program and every single one excelled.  Bass-baritone Leo Radosavljevic captured Figaro's outrage with his fine voice and expansive personality as he performed "Aprite un po' quegl'occhi" from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro (which we heard at the Metropolitan Opera and reviewed last night).

Soprano Liana Guberman and tenor Riad Ymeri harmonized perfectly in the tender duet "O soave fanciulla" from Puccini's La Boheme.  We enjoyed the depth of feeling they expressed.  We fondly recall Ms. Guberman's beautiful realized Mimi last season at Loft Opera.

Another brilliant duet was performed by soprano Mia Pafumi and tenor Mingjie Lei--"Una parola, O Adina" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. Their characterizations were as admirable as their voices, both of them fearlessly tackling the fioritura. Both have sweet light voices, perfect for those roles.

We loved the way mezzo Shirin Eskandani realized the character of Rosina as she performed "Dunque io son" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia; she tore into the fioritura with gusto. Her Figaro was the fine baritone Christian Bowers; his reactions were priceless.   Instead of writing notes, they sent messages to Lindoro via cellphone.  The audience loved it.

The fiery duet from Donizetti's Anna Bolena--"Ah! Qual sin cercar non oso" was well performed by mezzo Lisa Chavez and baritone Jarrett Ott.  We always love a good bel canto duet and last evening we reveled in an embarrassment of riches.

Last but by no means least, we thrilled to the sound of trumpets.  That is we thrilled to the sound of "Suoni la tromba" from Bellini's I Puritani.  What thrilled us particularly was the big bass sound of Patrick Guetti and baritone Jamez McCorkle. Mr. Guetti, whose performances  we have enjoyed on several occasions, strikes us as one of those "stage animals" from whom one cannot takes one's eyes and ears.

Not only were we thrilled by the quality of the entertainment but we had the pleasure of experiencing the honoring of two renowned singers who have contributed so much to young artists--Marilyn Horne and Richard Leech, both of whom had interesting things to say.

And then...as they say...dinner was served. We would like to honor The Giulio Gari Foundation for their generous contribution to the world of opera.

(c) meche kroop

BEETHOVEN'S ONE AND ONLY

Alex Penda and Paul Groves (photo by Ken Howard)

How is it that Beethoven only wrote one opera and spent a dozen years doing it?  It must not have come easily to him.  Indeed, he rewrote the overture to Fidelio several times and the opera as well.  It premiered for the first time in 1805 in Vienna which was, at that time, under French rule.  Largely influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution it was denied performance by the censors and only achieved production due to the intervention of Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa.

This was an unusual choice for the Santa Fe Opera.  Although it is considered an opera, it has a great deal of spoken dialogue.  Although it has a happy ending it is not a comedy.  It has two major themes: the sacrifices of marital love and freedom from tyranny.  It's message is as valuable today as it was 200 years ago.

The orchestral music is as ravishing as anything Beethoven ever wrote and the Santa Fe Orchestra under the baton of the illustrious Harry Bicket (newly appointed Chief Conductor) did it justice with clean textures and rhythmic thrust.  The vocal lines are memorably melodic but challenging to sing; the game cast managed to carry it off with style.

The staging began even before the overture and introduced Leonore, disguised as Fidelio and serving as assistant to the jailer Rocco.  We also get to see Rocco's daughter Marzelline fussing about the kitchen of Charlie Corcoran's two-story set.  Jaquino, Rocco's other assistant, is importuning Marzelline to make marriage plans but she has fallen out of love with him and fallen into love with the recently arrived Fidelio.  One by one the voices join for a stunning quartet.

As Marzelline, the strong and silky soprano of Devon Guthrie (seen as an apprentice in 2010 and 2012) contrasted well with the sharper-edged soprano of Alex Penda as the titular Fidelio.  Ms. Penda was totally convincing as a young man but she is also very petite and at least a head shorter than Ms. Guthrie.  Yes, it is true that sometimes very tall women fall for very short men but it did look rather unbelievable onstage.

As the nice-guy jailer Rocco, Austrian bass Manfred Hemm sang with intensity and created a believable character.  As the spurned Jaquino, tenor Joshua Dennis used his fine voice and dramatic skills to make more of the role than is customary.

Leonore's husband does not appear until the second act but tenor Paul Groves made up for it, giving his all to his difficult aria and still managing to look as if he'd been in a dungeon for two years, imprisoned by his vicious enemy Pizzaro, portrayed with nasty gusto by bass-baritone Greer Grimsley.

Appearing at the end as a deus ex machina, Don Fernando comes to free all the prisoners.  The powerful and imposing bass-baritone Evan Hughes filled the shoes well.  Two members of the Apprentice Program made fine showings in brief solos as prisoners: the marvelous young tenor Joseph Dennis and the astounding bass Patrick Guetti.  We fully expect to see both their careers advancing rapidly.  So much talent at such a young age!

Not enough fine things could be said about the chorus, enacting prisoners desperate for freedom. Susanne Sheston gets big props as Chorus Master.

In spite of the superb orchestral and vocal performances we found Stephen Wadsworth's concept and direction to be distressing.  It is true that oppression exists everywhere and in all epochs but we fail to see how the Nazi holocaust has much to do with the political imprisonment of a small group of people. The concept was revealed gradually.  At the beginning it seemed to be anytime/anywhere but then a portrait of Hitler was exposed and Nazi uniforms appeared.

We found this to be at odds with the intentions of Beethoven and his librettists.  (There were several as he continually revised the opera.)  It seemed to be a graft that did not take.  We would have preferred a less specific setting that would have allowed us to make our own connections.

Furthermore, there are references to "the King".  Huh??? Which King?  And British soldiers coming in to liberate the prisoners and to hang the Union Jack? We don't like to see operas manipulated to fit into a Procrustean bed.

We liked Mr. Corcoran's realistic set.  On the ground floor were Fidelio's room and across a passageway, the kitchen.  Behold Ms. Guthrie as a drab German hausfrau! (Costumes were by Camille Assaf).  On the upper level were Pizzaro's office and some kind of waiting room.  Colors were all grey.

Duane Schuler's lighting was effective.  We liked the torches illuminating the dungeon and the sunlight when the prisoners were freed.

German diction was so perfect that subtitles were scarcely necessary.  Even the spoken dialogue was crisp and clear.

(c) meche kroop