OPERA TO DIE FOR

Michael Pilafian, Edgar Jaramillo, Tate Chu, Judith Fredricks, and Joseph Flaxman

What a clever title for a program of opera scenes, all of which dealt with death. Actors relish dying onstage and apparently so do singers.  Last night's recital by Opera New York, helmed by Artistic Director Judith Fredricks, gave us lots of great music performed by a group of excellent young artists.

The first three scenes were extracted from Verdi operas, so you know the music was good-- but also challenging for the singers, who uniformly rose to the occasion.

In Ballo in Maschera, Riccardo, the Governor of Boston, meets his bloody end at the hands of his Secretary Renato, who has joined in the assassination plot because he learns of Riccardo's love for Amelia, his wife. Amelia tries to warn Riccardo, to no avail.

Edgar Jaramillo's warm tenor was perfect for the role of Riccardo and his bloody death by stabbing was convincing. Soprano Courtney Delisle made a fine Amelia; baritone Joseph Flaxman did well as Renato, and soprano Xueyan Fan opened the scene as Oscar, the page.

Opera New York has frequently put the Act IV quartet from Rigoletto on their programs, but this is the first time they have performed the final scene in which Gilda dies in the arms of her father. The actual stabbing had occurred earlier in the act at the hands of the assassin Sparafucile.

Here, we were able to get a better appreciation of the skills of Ms. Fan who went from the frisky Oscar to the tragic Gilda. The handsome Mr. Flaxman did a great job of hiding his assets under a black cloak and transforming himself into a hunchback. Mr. Jaramillo gave us some "La donna è mobile" from offstage and sounded great. Whoever was responsible for lighting (uncredited in the program) put the scene in the dark with flashing lights successfully creating the illusion of lightning.

In the third Verdi scene, extracted from Don Carlo, baritone Roberto Borgatti performed the role of the heroic and loyal Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, who "takes a bullet" for his friend Don Carlo. We enjoyed hearing his "Per me giunto" and "Io morrò", happily recalling the time we heard Hvorostovsky sing the role at the Met.

The last operatic selection was the final scene from Gounod's Faust in which Marguerite, imprisoned for killing her newborn, of which Faust was the father, is visited by Faust and Méphistophélès. Soprano Tate Chu has a lovely instrument and was convincing as the unbalanced Marguerite. Mr. Jaramillo demonstrated his versatility by singing Faust in excellent French, and Mr. Flaxman created a devilish devil, dragging Faust away in a move reminiscent of the Commendatore dragging Don Giovanni to hell.

We even had organ music from Walter Hartman joining the offstage chorus for that uplifting spiritual moment. Otherwise, pianist and Music Director Michael Pilafian accompanied the singers with his customary professionalism.

All that death and dying was relieved by Scott O'Brien singing "If I Can't Love Her" from Alan Menken's Beauty and the Beast, and the dazzling coloratura of Jennifer Ter Keurst animating "Glitter and Be Gay" from Bernstein's Candide, an aria that always leaves us happy and humming

(c) meche kroop

A CENTURY OLD AND STILL FRESH

Omar Bowey, Elena Heimur, Joseph DiSalle, Roberto Borgatti, Veronica Loiacono, Jodi Karem, Patricia Vital, Walter Hartman and D'Ariel Barnard

Having enjoyed last Sunday's concert of opera scenes presented by Opera New York, we decided to see what this ambitious company could do with operetta.  The program was introduced by Director Judith Fredricks ; she described operetta as the bridge between European opera and American Musical Theater, an opinion that agreed totally with one we have often expressed.

She spoke of marching songs, drinking songs, romance, intrigue, silly plots and ravishing high notes--all of which we heard and enjoyed last night.  The names of Sigmund Romberg, Rudolf Friml, Victor Herbert, Franz Lehar and Johann Strauss Junior may or may not be familiar to you but they certainly were to your grandparents and possibly your parents.  These operettas were written about a century ago and merit revival as much as the zarzuelas we wrote about in our last entry.

Many of the singers last night were written about last week and we were delighted to hear them sing these treasures with neither amplification nor a whiff of irony.  Once again, Robert Wilson was the versatile accompanist.

D'Ariel Barnard (last Sunday's Frasquita) initiated the program with Nacio Herb Brown's "Love is Where You Find It" from The Kissing Bandit.  The song has a gypsy flavor and several melismatic passages to which this stunning soprano lent her brilliant coloratura.  Although not strictly speaking an operetta of that epoch, her delivery of Bernstein's "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide was thrilling.

Soprano Elena Heimur showed a fine voice and significant versatility in selections from Romberg's The New Moon, both in her solo and in a duet with the ardent tenor Joseph DiSalle entitled "Lover Come Back to Me".  It was so heartfelt that we were glad that he came back!

Soprano Veronica Loiacono, seen last week as Micaela in Carmen, impressed us with her performance of "Vilia" from Lehar's The Merry Widow and continued on with the Merry Widow Waltz in a duet with baritone Roberto Borgatti, whose secure baritone served him well in "One Alone" from Romberg's Desert Song.

Mezzo-soprano Jodi Karem (last week's Carmen) was delightful as Prince Orlofsky in "Chacun à son goût" from Strauss' Die Fledermaus, interpolating some clever and topical English lyrics.  It was astonishing to witness her versatility.

From the same operetta, soprano Patricia Vital (last week's Norina) performed "Adele's Laughing Song" with brilliant top notes, fine coloratura technique and a charming persona.  It was truly memorable.

Young tenor Omar Bowey reaffirmed our high opinion of his performance last week as Ernesto in Don Pasquale.  His sweet voice was perfect for "One Flower in Your Garden" from Romberg's The Desert Song.  We expect to hear a lot more from this gifted young man.

Bass-baritone Walter Hartman, last week's excellent Don Pasquale, was a real audience favorite in "Every Day is Ladies Day" from Herbert's The Red Mill.  He has a dark covered bass that lends itself to comedy for which he has quite a flair.

We have already put next Sunday evening's program on our calendar and so should you.  It will comprise readings of Shakespeare's texts and selections from operas based on his plays.  It promises to be a compelling evening.

ⓒ meche kroop

SMILES ON A SUMMER NIGHT

Edgar Jaramillo and Jodi Karem

 D'ariel Barnard, Jackie M. Hayes, Roberto Borgatti, and Jodi Karem

Daniel Quintana, Patricia Vital, Walter Hartman and Omar Bowey

Summer is indeed a time for informality and so it was that we found ourselves at a café table, relaxed and smiling, enjoying excerpts of three operas and hearing some fine voices. Only a few were previously known to us (and much admired) and we were happy to be introduced to some new ones. Cleverly staged by Director Judith Fredricks with the versatile Robert Wilson as accompanist, the entire experience was pleasurable.

First on the program was Carmen, at least all of the essential scenes from Bizet's most popular work.  In the role of Don José, we heard the creamy-voiced tenor Edgar Jaramillo who seemed to reach into the depths of his soul to reveal the weak-willed country boy who is seduced away from his military and marital plans by that bad girl we all adore, the eponymous heroine.

Jodi Karem  has a fine mezzo and certainly conveyed Carmen's sexuality in the way the audience expects to experience it; nonetheless we sense that she has a deeply personal sexuality that she could bring to her interpretation.  She seemed more authentic in the tavern scene where she gets angry at Don José and mocks him.  That was riveting!

We had the same feeling about Veronica Loiacono in her interpretation of Micaëla.  She has a lovely soprano and gave us what we expected of a girl from the country; but in "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante" she could probably benefit by digging a little deeper into some frightening experience of her own that she had to overcome, in order to make her portrayal feel more authentic.  That girl is pretending not to be scared!

As Escamillo, baritone Roberto Borgatti sang at the same fine level that he achieved several months ago as Giorgio Germont.  His interpretation of the arrogant toreador was right on the mark and he sure twirled that cape!

D'ariel Barnard and Jackie M. Hayes produced some beautiful harmonies as Frasquita and Mercedes. Singing in French is quite challenging, not only the vowels but the maintenance of an even barely accented vocal line.  Everyone's French was comprehensible but all could benefit by working on line.  Much of the phrasing was rather "four-square".

An excerpt from Puccini's Manon Lescaut followed with two big beautiful voices filling the room from stem to stern.  Julia Rolwing sang the eponymous heroine and Ta'u Pupu'a sang the role of Le Chevalier des Grieux.  The singing was outstanding but a bit more connection between these two artists would have been welcomed.

The final work on the program comprised excerpts from Donizetti's Don Pasquale.  Bass Walter Hartmann made an effective titular character and had the audience giggling.  He was especially fine in his patter song and had a fine duet with Norina, his intended bride.  That role was well sung and portrayed by soprano Patricia Vital.

We understand the justification for presenting the work in English, with the marvelous baritone Daniel Quintana employing his comic flair to narrate the action.  However, English is most difficult to understand in the upper register and we missed much of what Ms. Vital was singing; in the lower register, everything came across.  Some of the translation worked rather well but in other cases the accents of the text did not quite fit the accents of the music, as is often the case.

Mr. Quintana is truly a stage animal and did exceptionally well as Dr. Malatesta, both in his patter song and in his duet with Norina.  Last but by no means least, we were quite taken with Omar Bowey who brought his fresh sweet tenor to the role of Ernesto.  We were astonished to learn that he is only 21 years old and still an undergraduate.  We want to hear more of this promising young tenor as he matures.

Opera New York has several more tempting recitals to offer for the month of July.  Take a look at www.operany.com!

 © meche kroop