OPERA UP FROM UNDERGROUND

Opera Collective's Encore Gala Concert at The National Opera Center

Last night we were invited to a concert given by a collective of 13 singers, most of whom were unknown to us. We were impressed by their high quality and curious about how they were all connected.  It turns out that they all sing in the subway! These singers are committed to making more people aware of the art form--a goal with which we are in complete accordance. Unless we are mistaken, they must audition for the privilege of singing underground. We are glad they came up from under!

They all have fine voices and showed evidence of committed preparations, especially the ten women. Readers will recall how much we dislike singers singing from a music stand and how disengaged we feel when they do so.  Even in a quartet, if one person is "on the book" it detracts from the other singers. Consequently, we will decline to mention those numbers on the program.

In the opening number, the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen  (mezzo-soprano Rebecca Schuessler), the women of the chorus were "on the book" but that is forgivable.  From that moment on, all the women were well prepared and unleashed torrents of gorgeous music accompanied by Douglas Maxwell on the piano.

Soprano Jenny Ribeiro used her bright instrument and engaging personality to create a most believable Rosina in "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. We could not recall hearing more exciting fioritura than hers, so exciting that we forgot that the role was written for the mezzo voice. We hoped to hear more of her but did not; still, that was sufficient to persuade us that we'd love to hear her again in the future.

Soprano Kathryn Wieckhorst limned the character of Violetta in a meaningful way.  She sang "É strano...Ah, forse lui...Sempre libera" from Verdi's La Traviata, coloring each section according to the character's mood. Violetta's ambivalence came through loud and clear in this sympathetic portrayal.

We also enjoyed her Fiordiligi in "Soave sia il vento" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. Her voice harmonized beautifully with the Dorabella of mezzo Elizabeth Mondragon and the Don Alfonso of baritone Daniel Akerman.

Ms. Mondragon was particularly noteworthy in "My man's gone now" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. It was deeply felt and consequently quite moving. Every word of the text was understood and she brought the aria to a sorrowful end with a gorgeous vocalise.

Soprano Stacey Canterbury impressed us with her "Dich teure Halle" from Wagner's Tannhäuser. She evinced a great big sound and immersed herself in Elizabeth's character. She clearly can handle different sorts of roles as she demonstrated in the cherry blossom scene from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.  With mezzo-soprano Hannah Kramer as her Suzuki, she harmonized beautifully. The two women scattered (faux) blossoms on the floor of the stage, thus completing the lovely image.

Ms. Kramer excelled in "Stride la vampa" from Verdi's Il Trovatore, exhibiting true mezzo sound and a gift for storytelling. We were spellbound.

Soprano Michelle Ferrara gave a fine performance of Juliet's poison scene from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, emphasizing the long French lines.

Mezzo Abigail Wright gave a lovely performance of the Composer's peacemaking aria "Sein wir wieder gut" from Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. We wish more mezzo sopranos would include this wonderful piece on their recital programs.

Soprano Alison Tynes made a very funny Olympia, the mechanical doll that captures Hoffman's heart in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Her idiosyncratic movements were coordinated with her highly agile coloratura fireworks. The embellishments were astonishing.

We believe these artists must have won many converts to opera in their subterranean performances. We would much prefer to see straphangers converted to opera than to Scientology!

(c) meche kroop

NEVER ENOUGH PUCCINI

Jon Thomas Olsen, Jessica Sandidge, Sonja Krenek and Steven Wallace

We can never get enough Puccini!  Hours after Chelsea Opera presented an evening of scenes from Puccini's opera, we are still singing the wonderful melodies.  We think it's likely that many people in the audience are doing the same.  The concert was underwritten by Project 142; Christ and St. Stephen's Church on the Upper West Side was filled to overflowing, with bridge chairs hastily being commandeered in an attempt to accommodate the capacity crowd.

The evening opened with scenes from Turandot, the opera Puccini never finished. Ping, Pang and Pong (sorry but we can never remember which is which) have a wonderful trio and tenors David Kellett and Jon Thomas Olson with baritone Scott Lindroth brought it to vivid life.

Liù's suicide scene was movingly performed by soprano Rosa Betancourt who created a sympathetic character and enlived her with some persuasive acting.  She has a lovely vibrato and we enjoyed her later performance of "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi.

From the very early Edgar, composed when the master was only 26 years old, we heard bass-baritone Bryan Glenn Davis sing "Questo amor, vergogna mia". We liked him even better as the evil Scarpia from Tosca when he sang "Tre sbirri...Una Carrozza...Presto!" which suited him well.

From Le Villi we heard soprano Sonja Krenek sing "Se come voi piccina".  She made a fine Mimi in the "breakup" scene from La Bohème with tenor Steven Wallace as Rodolfo.  The heartbreaking scene was given comic relief by the embattled lovers Musetta (soprano Rosa Betancourt) and Marcello (baritone Scott Lindroth) whose music is in counterpoint with Mimi and Rodolfo's.

Our Tosca for the evening was the versatile Megan Nielsen who wowed the audience with her "Vissi d'arte". What a change from the character she portrayed just before--Suor Angelica from the eponymous opera.  Talk about heartbreak!  The poor woman was put away in a convent by her aristocratic family, after bearing an illegitimate child. Her aunt, La Zia Principessa, cold-heartedly tells Angelica that the child has died. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Moulton, a lovely jovial person in real life, demonstrated fine acting chops as she assumed her imperious manner. Poor Angelica sings out her grief in "Senza mamma".

Tenor Taras Chmil sang the favorite tenor aria of audiences everywhere--"E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca.   We realized that Puccini wrote his best music for characters who were about to die! Mr. Chmil also sang "Ch'ella mi creda", Dick Johnson's aria from La fanciulla del West.  Fortunately, Dick Johnson does NOT die!

Stacey Canterbury has a sizable soprano and used it well in "Un bel di" from Madama Butterfly, another heartbreaker.

Soprano Julia Rolwing sang Manon's final aria from Manon Lescaut--"Sola, perduta, abbandonata"--another death aria!  David Kellett sang Des Grieux's "Donna non vidi mai".

The delightful closing scene was from La Rondine featuring the quartet from the photo above.  For this scene, Magda was sung by Sonja Krenek with soprano Jessica Sandidge impressing us with her sweet voice and sparkling personality as Lisette. Steven Wallace sang Ruggero and Jon Thomas Olsen sang Prunier.  Happily, the rest of the cast became the onstage partygoers and, as directed by Lynne Hayden-Finley, were completely convincing.

In place of an orchestra, we had Christopher Cooley, who accompanied beautifully.

The delightful evening served to whet our appetite for the upcoming Tosca which will be performed in St. Peter's Church in Chelsea on 6/4 and 6/6.  It seems pretty far down the road but Chelsea Opera will also present Suor Angelica in a year's time.  We would be happy to hear Megan Nielsen once more in that role.

(c) meche kroop