Antonio Carlos Gomes |
At last night's recital, arias and duets from five of his operas were heard: Salvator Rosa, Maria Tudor, Fosca, Lo Schiavo and Il Guarany. Synopses of all were thoughtfully included in the program so that audience members could understand the place in the drama held by each number. We particularly enjoyed the duet "Soli, del mondo immemori" from Fosca, sung by soprano Raquela Sheeran and tenor Adam Cromer; the voices balanced well and the harmonies were lovely. The same could be said for "Colui che non canta" from Maria Tudor, sung by soprano Catherine Murphy, also with Mr. Cromer, and "Salvator libero sei" from Salvator Rosa, sung by Pamela Lloyd and tenor Philip Alongi.
Mr. Costello himself used his big bass-baritone in the aria of renunciation "Sogni d'amore" from Lo Schiavo and in the strophic drinking song from Il Guarany-- "Senza tetto, senza cuna". Soprano Pamela Lloyd sang "Come serenamente" from Lo Schiavo, demonstrating a really fine trill. The accompanist for the evening was Craig Ketter.
Some dances from Lo Schiavo were performed by Alison Cook Beatty and Alejandro Herrera in bare feet. We would have preferred to see them in ballet footwear, more suitable to this 19th c. work.
The program (sans ballet) will be repeated Thursday evening at Christ and St. Stephen's Church where we hope the acoustics will be more suitable and kinder to the voices.
Hearing a full opera by this gifted composer is going on our wish list. It seems tragic that his work, oft celebrated in Italy, has been rather ignored in the USA.
© meche kroop
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