UNDERGROUND SALON

Felix Jarrar, Alexandra Lang, Angela Candela, Gillian Watson, Celeste Morales, Robert Colon, and Chantal Brundage

What a splendid idea to provide a safe place for young artists to try out new material. Angela Candela's brainstorm is in its second year and we are so glad that we were able to attend. We have wonderful memories from last April as well as from last night. We heard a few sopranos that we have heard before and a couple who were new to us, as well as a countertenor. All were accompanied by the versatile pianist/composer Felix Jarrar who always gives his all to whatever he undertakes.

Several of the singers have upcoming auditions and competitions and were trying out their arias in front of a live audience, all the members of which were supportive, giving them the applause they so richly deserved. A few asked us for suggestions to improve their presentations but those who asked struck us as being performance ready. All the singers introduced themselves and told the background of the arias they were about to sing. This is so helpful and we thought of this as event as the perfect one with which to introduce an opera newbie.

Ms. Candela is a remarkable soprano whom we have reviewed a number of times -- at the gala of Classic Lyric Arts and at the International Vocal Arts Institute. Her ability to slip into any role makes her an artist to watch. We still recall her hilarious "Je suis grise".

Her Mimi last night (from Puccini's La Bohême) served to introduce her character in a way that made us want her to "get the guy". Like any young woman on a first date she was "selling herself" with both winsomeness and flirtatiousness. She colored her lovely voice with sweetness and negotiated the upward leaps with a satin legato.

Later in the program, she picked up where Chantal Brundage left off in Violetta's Act I scene from Verdi's La Traviata. Ms. Brundage gave gravitas and vulnerability to the "Forse lui"  and Ms. Candela stepped in with the fiery cabaletta "Sempre libera", filled with stunning coloratura effects. What a versatile artist she is!

Celeste Morales is well remembered from her admirable Alice in Verdi's Falstaff at Manhattan School of Music. Last night she gave a deeply affecting performance of Liu's aria "Signor ascolta" from Puccini's Turandot. With terrific technique, she portrayed the desperation and anguish of the slave girl warning her master. The sets and costumes appeared in our mind's eye--always a good sign of a successful portrayal. We loved the legato line, the Italianate phrasing, and the dynamic variety.

In a total change of pace, she also performed Joseph Marx's romantic "Hat dich die Liebe berührt"; we are pleased to report that the German was excellent. We were inspired to hear more of this late 19th c. Romantic composer. 

The first time we met Alexandra Lang, she was directing a charming pastiche of operetta for New Camerata Opera, which may actually have been our introduction to the company that was to grow into a successful presence on Planet Opera. Last night she tackled the extremely difficult mad scene from Donizetti's Anna Bolena and made us sit up and take notice.

Not only is the vocal line devilishly difficult but the singer must portray a wide range of emotions by employing a variety of vocal colors. The doomed Queen faces death with denial at first, luxuriating in some pleasant memories, and then with panic. The flowing legato of the aria was followed by a fioritura-filled cabaletta, marked by accuracy in the scale passages and arpeggi. It was riveting and we believed Ms. Lang's characterization.

Gillian Watson is new to us and we were glad to have her brought to our attention. Her bright and powerful instrument was put to good use in "Mi tradi" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. She evinced a fine vibrato and successfully negotiated the melismatic arpeggi. She limned the character of Donna Elvira with fine vocal control combined with generous use of gesture.

Later in the program we heard her fine French in "Il est doux, il est bon" from the seldom performed Hérodiade by Massenet.

Robert Colon, the sole male on the program, is listed as a countertenor but the unevenness throughout his register made it difficult to place him in that fach. He sang our beloved "Verdi prati" from Händel's Alcina with feeling and expressiveness and some very interesting embellishments of the vocal line in the repeat. However, he needs to work on getting his voice centered and perhaps considering a different fach. His second selection was "on the book" and did nothing to change our initial impression since we heard a lot more chest voice than one would expect from a countertenor.

The concert lasted but an hour but gave us a great deal to appreciate. We hope we will be free for the next Underground Salon.

© meche kroop

UNDERGROND SALON

José Luis Maldonado, Shaina Martinez, Amir Farid, Michael Celentano, Chantal Brundage, Christa Dalmazio,
Angela Candela, and Andrew King

We found out about Underground Salon's April Showcase quite by accident and we are so glad we did. Angela Candela is a young woman after our own heart; we share the same goals of fostering the careers of young singers. Her idea was to get together some friends and colleagues from Manhattan School of Music and to offer them a safe space to try out new repertory. No auditions, no competition, no judgments. What a great idea!

We were delighted to hear some of our favorite young singers in a different situation. All singers know, and Joyce DiDonato pointed this out several times in her master classes last weekend, that a safe non-judgmental space makes it possible to experiment. Surely breakthroughs happen when we experiment with something new!

We would like to point out at the very start how effective it is when the singers introduce themselves and tell what they will be singing. In this salon, they went even further and told a little about the aria they would be singing and its place in the opera. They all spoke clearly and we appreciated it.

Baritone José Luis Maldonado is well known to us; indeed he was selected to sing a set of Spanish songs for the April 29th concert at St. John's in the Village--"Around the World in Song". But on Sunday we heard him sing in Russian! The selection was "Ja vas lyublyu" from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame and we were mightily impressed.

What strikes one about Mr. Maldonado is the kind of generosity of spirit that we haven't seen since Pavarotti. The sound is generous and so is his presence. There is a magnificent connection with both the aria and the audience; one experiences him as a conduit and feels the feelings so intensely that one might overlook the superiority of his technique.

One might call him a "stage animal". There is no holding back; it's all "out there", witness his performance of Billy's soliloquy from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel which proved to our satisfaction that this work is truly an American opera, far more than the tuneless pieces we have been sitting through lately. The texture and resonance of his instrument combined with the way in which he employs them, make for a thrilling listening experience.

In terms of "trying out new material", the prize goes to soprano Shaina Martinez who took a risk with "Ombre pallide" from Händel's Alcina. The reason it was a risk was that a teacher once told her that her voice wasn't suited to Händel.  We think that's a tutelary error to tell a student something like that. The best singing comes when one sings a song one truly wants to sing. We heard that advice years ago in a master class and couldn't agree more.

Ms. Martinez performed this difficult Baroque aria with complete investment, passion, and connection. She tossed off the ornamentation with style but also handled the low notes effectively. We would like to cheer on her rebellious spirit (or "phase", as she called it). Please, singers, don't let other people tell you who you are!

Ms. Candela herself won our admiration for her performance of "Mi tradi" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. There was an effective contrast between the recitativo and the aria and an admirable connection with the character of Donna Elvira. If the work wasn't 100% stage-ready, that was not a problem. It's a work in progress but we have high hopes for the finished product.

Her pretty instrument was evident in "Hear Ye Israel" from Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah. But oratorio, religion, and English are not our favorite things so we far preferred the Mozart.

Chantal Brundage performed "Robert, toi que j'aime" from Act IV of Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable. This underrated and underperformed composer seems to write well for the voice and Ms. Brundage employed her excellent resources to convey the emotions of the character, and she did so in fine French which we had no problem understanding. Her tone at the upper end of the register is beautifully brilliant. 

Christa Dalmazio has a sparkly soprano matched by a sparkling personality that was just perfect for "Poor Wand'ring One" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. There was personality to spare and pretty good English enunciation but at such a high tessitura, one cannot get all the words.

However, in the "Silver Aria" from Douglas Moore's Ballad of Baby Doe, she made every word clear and captured the character of Baby Doe. 

Tenor Michael Celentano sang "Addio fiorito asil" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly with more grandstanding than subtlety. We want more variety from him--variety of color, dynamics, and pacing. His instrument is a large one and a promising one and when he gets it under control there will still be more than enough volume. We want him to forget about making big sounds and to try getting inside the character.

The same comments could be made about his portrayal of Rodolfo in the Act IV duet "O Mimi, tu piu non torni" in which Mr. Maldonado took the part of Marcello.

Supportive piano accompaniment was given to the hands of Amir Farid and Andrew King--both of whom are superb.

We are hoping there will be a May Showcase and that we will be available to attend. It was a truly exciting experience!

(c) meche kroop