TRAGEDY TONIGHT--COMEDY TONIGHT

Kathleen Felty, Kaitlyn McMonigle, Kathleen Reveille, and Erica Petrocelli
(photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

Amy Owens and Colin Ramsey (photo by Bobby Gutierrez)

What a dazzling finish to our time in Santa Fe!  The exemplary nature of the final Apprentices Recital left us with glorious memories and the determination to return next August. Under the experienced guidance of Gayletha Nichols, the next crop of young artists have a high bar to surmount! There is a reason why the pair of Apprentice Recitals are always sold out. The young artists get a chance to be center stage, performing in a varied selection of scenes and the members of the audience get a chance to see the stars of tomorrow at a very modest ticket price of $15. In our opinion, the evening is worth tenfold the price.

Opening the evening was one of our very favorite scenes--the opening of Tchaikovsky's 1881 Eugene Onegin. This scene successfully establishes the characters of Tatyana and Olga, the two very different daughters of Madame Larina; it also shows us life in provincial Russia in the late 19th c. (We are always grateful for the preservation of the original setting; this opera demands it.) 

Soprano Erica Petrocelli made a lovely introspective Tatyana and allowed us to see the reserved dignity that would make its appearance by the finale of this tragic masterpiece; her tone was youthful and distinctive.  With three mezzo-sopranos onstage at once, we were happy to note their differentiation. As the bubbly sister Olga, Kathleen Reveille had a girlish spontaneity, whilst Kaitlyn McMonigle injected a note of maturity and a touch of melancholy as she and her friend, the nursemaid Filipyevna (Kathleen Felty) reminisced about their own youth. 

We love the easy way the two women had with one another and recall their message about the mature acceptance of the routine of life, a message Tatyana would live by as well. James Robinson's direction and Mackenzie Dunn's costumes brought everything together. The excellent singing was marked by some fine Russian diction.

The second scene brought us to the world of comedy, not just comedy but silly hilarity. In this scene from Jacques Offenbach's 1858 operetta Orphée aux enfers, Jupiter disguises himself as a fly and buzzes around the bored Eurydice. Soprano Amy Owens and bass Colin Ramsey distinguished themselves with some superlative singing in glorious Gallic style. We have included a photo to show Reilly Johnson's clever costumes. Director Mo Zhou ensured that the singers made great use of the space, the feathers, and the wings.  What a treat!

Act III of Verdi's 1851 Rigoletto is unutterably tragic; soprano Regina Ceragioli made a touching Gilda with the innocent coloring of her sweet soprano. Baritone Kenneth Stavert colored his voice darkly and gave an impressive performance as the eponymous jester. We have always found a great deal to admire in the performances of mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino; her Maddalena lived up to our expectations, and perhaps exceeded them. This Maddalena was a real character, not a stereotype! Bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian had the right low notes for Sparafucile and the fine Mexican tenor Abraham Bretón wowed the audience with his "La donna è mobile". Director Fernando Parra Borti staged the scene well but, for some reason, ended the scene abruptly after Gilda enters the tavern at midnight. This left us hanging and feeling unfulfilled.

Puccini's lighthearted 1917 La Rondine is always fun. Soprano Meryl Dominguez made a lovely Magda, out for a flirtatious night at a café dansant  in disguise, experimenting with a new "self". Sitting with Ruggero (tenor Mackenzie Gotcher) she is "discovered" by her chambermaid Lisette (soprano Abigail Rethwisch) whilst the poet Prunier (terrific tenor Joshua Blue) tries to cover up for Magda. Kathleen Clawson's excellent direction created a whirlwind of excitement with Lisette acting wildly. Sage Foley's turn of the 20th c. costumes were lovely.

Mr. Borti also directed the Act II sextet from Mozart's 1787 Don Giovanni. We loved the singing but did not care for the "update". Everyone wore contemporary street clothes; Leporello (booming bass Brent Michael Smith) and Donna Elvira (the full-throated soprano Sarah Tucker) were depicted in bed together!  There are those who enjoy these updating but we are not among them. We did, however, enjoy the singing, especially that of soprano Mathilda Edge, whose Donna Anna was superb. We were happy to hear Mr. Ramsey again in the role of Masetto with mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Sarian as his flirtatious bride Zerlina. Rounding out the ensemble was tenor Elliot Paige as the loyal Don Ottavio. The voices harmonized beautifully, thanks to Music Director Glenn Lewis.

Handel's 1711 Rinaldo was represented by the Act III duet between Argante, King of Jerusalem, and the sorceress Armida. The duet was perfectly cast with the admirable bass-baritone Erik Van Heyningen and the exceptional soprano Stacy Geyer who impressed us so highly as Elvira in L'Italiana in Algeri. James Ramsay Arnold's baroque costumes were absolutely gorgeous, and the entire scene felt authentically baroque.

Leoncavallo wrote a most affecting duet for Nedda and Silvio in his 1892 Pagliacci. Silvio pleads for Nedda to run away with him but the frightened Nedda resists. Director Mo Zhou gave the pair some very interesting stage business which added greatly to the excellent performances of soprano Shannon Jennings and baritone Benjamin Taylor. They drew us into their private world and we wound up caring for them, although we knew their tragic ending.

We would have been happy to end the evening there before a scene for Carlisle Floyd's mid-20th c. Wuthering Heights. Although the melodramatic story has an operatic grandeur to it, the opera seemed to reduce it to a drawing room conflict that made no sense. We did not like the music at all. Readers will recall that our 19th c. ears are never quite comfortable with music written after Richard Strauss. Still, the singers were all excellent, although we were never completely sure who was whom. . So we will leave it at that with kudos for Ms. Petrocelli, Ms. Dominguez, Gillian Lynn Cotter, William Hughes, and Anthony Ciaramitaro who did their best with the unmelodic vocal lines, and also for costumer Rebecca Kendrick who had everyone looking perfectly 19th c.  If only the music had sounded like the costumes!

Well, the evening was varied and provided something for everyone, with all centuries represented and several languages as well. We can scarcely wait for next year and hope that many of these talented artists will be invited to return.

© meche kroop

WINNERS ALL AT THE GEORGE LONDON COMPETITION

Nora London surrounded by a bunch of winners!

The George London Foundation has been generously awarding grants to young singers for 45 years now. Nora London has done a fantastic job of honoring the memory of her late husband.  Last Friday afternoon six eminent judges awarded $73,000. to the 23 finalists, culled from a field of 85 applicants.

The overall quality of the performances exceeded our expectations from prior years. We generally put a star on the program next to the name of the singers we like the best.  By the time we starred the first four singers we realized there was no point trying to second guess the judges. We are glad we were not called upon to put one performance above another.  For those readers for whom the amounts of the awards are of interest, we refer you to the press release...

http://www.wadacommunications.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Winners-Announced-for-George-London-Foundation-45th-Annual-Awards-Competition-February-19-2016.pdf 

For our part, we prefer to share with readers our own impressions without regard to the level of the award. Our bias is toward singers who relate to the text and can communicate that to the audience. Having spoken to some of the singers we believe that the singer does best if he/she loves the song.  Each singer submits a list and then is told what the judges wish to hear.

So...here goes! Soprano Jacqueline Piccolino wowed us from the first second with her thrilling sound, a garlic-scented dramatic coloratura, an unusual fach to be sure.  She performed "Bel raggio lusinghier" from Rossini's Semiramide with marvelous flexibility in the cabaletta and a true diva's command of the stage.

This year there was no shortage of big voices. One can always count on soprano Marina Costa-Jackson for a fine performance and she showed her stuff with the heart-breaking "Morrò, ma prima in grazia" from Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

Antonina Chehovska used her wonderful soprano for the challenging "Letter Scene" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. She mined every phrase for dramatic meaning and conveyed all the passionate intensity of a young woman in the throes of first love.

Lighter sopranos were also in evidence and we loved Claudia Rosenthal's "Non monsieur mon mari" from Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tiresias. It was an unusual choice but it gave full access to her vibrant personality and acting skills.

Another lovely performance in French was that of mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall who filled "Oh! La pitoyable aventure!" from Ravel's L'heure espagnole with plenty of humor.

Soprano Kirstin MacKinnon excelled in the "Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust and used her bright instrument effectively, bringing the aria to a stunning climax. 

Mezzo-soprano Shabnam Kalbasi performed "Nacqui all'affano...Non più mesta" from Rossini's La Cenerentola with a lot of charm and evenness throughout the wide-ranging skips and jumps.

Considering the male singers, baritone Steven LaBrie performed "Pierrot's Tanzlied" from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt with a great deal of feeling and artistry to swoon over.

Bass Colin Ramsey was simply wonderful in "The Catalog Aria" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. We haven't heard him sing since his undergraduate days at Manhattan School of Music and were thrilled to hear how his voice has developed.

Speaking of developing voices, we detected something new and exciting in the baritone of John Viscardi who filled the room with glorious sound in "Avant de quitter ces lieux" from Gounod's Faust. He sang with an enviable legato and wisely modulated the dynamic intensity in accordance with the text.

Baritone Sean Michael Plumb used his rich voice and dramatic skills in "O Carlo ascolta...Io morro" from Verdi's Don Carlo.  It was most convincing.

Baritone David Pershall sang "Starbuck's Aria" from Heggie's Moby Dick with power and eloquence, sensitive to the character's moral dilemma.

Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel sang "Blick'ich umher" from Wagner's Tannhäuser and pleased us with his breadth of tone.  The dynamic variety was well achieved and there was some lovely delicacy in the pp passages.

Baritone Jared Bybee sang "Vision Fugitive" from Massenet's Herodiade with lovely alternation between intensity and delicacy.

Craig Rutenberg was the accompanist for the singers and one could not have wished for better. We particularly enjoyed his playing of Wagner and Tchaikovsky.

We have heard the future of opera and we are not worried.  Au contraire, there are plenty of superlative artists.  All we need are the companies to employ them!

(c) meche kroop