LA SERVA PADRONA

Fabrizio Doria, Pamela Jones, and Daniel Klein (photo by meche kroop)

Guest Review by Ellen Godfrey:

The audience at the National Opera Center, on Sunday afternoon, was treated to a delightful performance of the 18th century comic opera La Serva Padrona, presented by the Lighthouse Opera Company. The founder and director of the company, which was started two years ago, is Dr. John Banks, a classical musician and a high school music teacher. The company’s mission is to help shine a light on classically trained singers of all backgrounds by performing operas in their original language, for new and diverse audiences in the Bronx, New York City, and beyond. The company also brings new and emerging opera talent to the public’s attention with live opera performances.

La Serva Padrona, (The Servant Turned Mistress), was composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 -1736), based on a play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. This opera buffa, (comic opera), was originally performed as an intermezzo (intermission) for an opera seria  (serious opera) called Il Prigionier Superbo, (the Proud Prisoner).  The opera had its premiere in 1733 in Naples, and enjoyed great popularity throughout Europe for many years. Eventually, the two intermezzi were separated from the serious opera to become a 45 minute opera. It quickly grew very popular throughout European and is still being performed today.

In 1752, Pergolesi’s opera buffa sparked a great argument in France. It was called the querelle des bouffons (the war of the comic actors) and argued about  the merits of reverent French and irreverent Italian music theatre. These discussions further led to reforms by the composer Christopher Willibald Gluck, (1714-1787), who grew tired of the overly ornate operas of the Baroque period. He moved to the simplicity of the Classical style. Gluck’s reforms influenced the great Mozart, who composed operas in the same style.

Between the 16th and 18th century, Italian strolling players, known as La Commedia Dell’arte, performed throughout Europe and had a great influence on drama and music. The troupes used improvisation, stock characters, and a few standard scenarios to tell the funny stories. In La Serva Padrona the female stock character is Serpina, a bossy woman; Uberto is the grouchy older man, and Vespone, a mute servant.  The joke in the opera is a domestic argument which involves a reversal of roles; the servant is the mistress of the home while the older man is under her strict command.  He can’t decide if he wants to marry her or not. Serpina makes sure that he will marry her by pretending to marry a soldier (who is a mute servant in disguise).  In the end their roles reverse and they have a joyous marriage celebration.

There is a feminist side to this opera and other themes including ambition, equality of men and women, and recognition of respect for each other.  The wonderful director for this performance, John Tedeschi, has a real feel for comedy and he kept the action alive and funny. He changed the original location of the opera to the Civil War period. He was inspired by some similarities to a 19th century woman, Lydia Hamilton Smith, a servant and also mistress of her house. During the Civil War, both she and her husband, Thaddeus Stevens, were active in the underground railroad and helped shelter southern slaves to escape to the north. 

Daniel Klein and Pamela Jones made good sparring partners in this delightful comedy.  Bass-baritone Daniel Klein was a wonderful Uberto.  He is tall and has a big gorgeous bass-baritone voice with lots of resonance.  His frustration with his bossy maid, Serpina, was strong and humorous. He is an excellent comedian; he fidgeted, he twirled his mustache upwards, got angry, and contorted his face, especially by bulging his eyes. 

Coloratura soprano Pamela Jones has a beautiful clear big voice which she uses very well.  She never pushes the voice so it carries very beautifully.  She also has excellent diction. Having performed in opera, musicals, and straight plays, she is very much at home on the comic stage. Her Serpina was a strong character who knew just what she wanted and how to boss Uberto around.  As good as the acting of the performers was, it would have been even better if they did not have to look at the score.

Fabrizio Doria played the mute role of Vespone perfectly with lots of comic touches.

For this production, Maggie Ronck created costumes for the three principals that were appropriate to the period.  Uberto was costumed in a stunning suit with a long coat and tie and a big hat.  Serpina’s mid-19th century costume was a beautiful long checkered dress.  Later in the opera,when Serpina and Umberto were finally  ready to marry, they had broad hats of the period.  Pamela’s hat was adorned with flowers.  Ms .Ronck’s costumes for Vespone, the mute, were also designed well.

The music for this opera is absolutely delightful. The Sepia Baroque Ensemble was elegantly conducted by Maestro Stephen Francis Vasta. The ensemble of 5 string instruments (2 violins, a viola, cello, and bass were accompanied by the harpsichord. This small ensemble was very vibrant and supported the singers very well.

Everyone in the theatre enjoyed seeing this 18th century masterpiece.

© meche kroop

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GERDA LISSNER WINNERS CONCERT

Collaborative Pianist Arlene Shrut and winners of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Lieder/Song Competition

Young singers need all the help they can get in building their careers and the Gerda Lissner Foundation is unmatched in this role. There are yearly competitions for both opera and for song, with generous awards for the winners. Being present to hear these young artists in concert after the competitions is a special treat. It's an even tastier treat to witness their development as they achieve the fame they deserve. When we have time to read bios of successful singers we cannot fail to notice how many of them have begun their success by winning these competitions.

Friday's recital of 2019 winners presented ten young singers of great promise, all accompanied by the legendary collaborative pianist Arlene Shrut who matches her accompaniment to the special skills of each young artist and also takes into account the great variety of material they choose to present. Every singer was superb, each in a different way.

Tenor Eric Finbarr Carey had us trembling in our seat with a searing performance of Schubert's "Der Erlkönig". Goethe's text is tragic and dramatic; in contrast with so much contemporary poetry, it does beg to be set to music. What we look for in an effective performance is good storytelling. This means that the singer must play the part of the narrator with neutral coloring. When the story quotes the father, he must darken and age the coloration; when he quotes the child, he must lighten and whiten the color; and when he voices the titular Erlkönig he must begin seductively and end horrifically. Mr. Carey held us spellbound, sustaining the tension throughout a pause before the final grim "tod"!

Baritone Jonathan McCullough struck us as a complete artist with a mature round sound that conveyed everything one could possibly say about a man watching his beloved marry someone else. Mahler based this song (the first lied of his cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) on Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of folk poetry. Beginning in the mournful key of D-minor, it makes a brief excursion into a verse in the major mode as the poet witnesses the joys of nature. Then it sinks back into minor, since his grief blocks his appreciation of these joys. Mr. McCullough illuminated every nuance.

Soprano Monica Dewey injected Rachmaninoff's "Noch'yu v sadu u menya" with an anguished coloration that was deeply affecting. With brilliant tone she sang of a weeping willow and a sad girl. It was the last song Rachmaninoff wrote before leaving Russia and perhaps that it why he chose that sad story.

Coloratura soprano Alexia Mate selected a French song that was well chosen to show off her bright tone, her lovely French, and her flexibility. Dell'Acqua's "Villanelle" offers a lovely legato passage and some challenging staccato passages with trills and arpeggi, all successfully negotiated. There were also some melismatic passages. Mentally, we cast Ms. Mate as Queen of the Night! Sometimes,we just cannot keep from extrapolating from a sole performance to a singer's future.

With the kind of German diction one only hears from a native born German singer, Dennis Chmelensky gave a perfect performance of Schubert's "Willkommen und Abschied", the setting of a text by Goethe. Schubert's music and Mr. Chmelensky's singing gave us all the anticipation and fulfillment and also the pain of parting. He made good use of variation of tempo and dynamics to tell the tale. We sincerely believe that any singer who wants to sing lieder should master a few of Schubert's prodigious output of over 600 songs.

Tenor Alec Carlson has a sizable voice with the right weight and intensity to convey the despair of "Der Atlas", one of Schubert's more morose songs. This one is a setting of a text by Heinrich Heine and, although it is not among our favorite Schubert songs, Mr. Carlson's dramatic delivery put us right in the middle of Atlas' burdensome task.

Baritone Dongwei Shen made a daring choice of singing a Chinese song by Zaiyi Lu called "Overlooking my Homeland". Most Americans lack a frame of reference for an appreciation of this eminently singable language and the Chinese penchant for the retention of melody. No 12-tone serialism for them, thank goodness! The song offered opportunities for emotional connection which Mr. Chen conveyed successfully by means of vocal color, gesture, and dynamics. 

There was no translation but as we listened we felt pain and longing in our heart for something we were about to lose. After the concert, we asked Mr. Shen about the meaning of the song and it is about life passing by us. What a mark of success for a singer to convey such meaning in another language. Incidentally, we had a similar experience once in Bhutan of knowing what a song was about. Oh, the miracle of music!

Another baritone, Sung Shin, chose to sing Tosti's "L'ultima canzone", another song about a man losing his sweetheart. It's our favorite Tosti song because we love the alternation of moods and melodies in the verses; this feature gave Mr. Shin an opportunity to show off his impressive artistry. His instrument has an appealing tweedy texture and his Italianate vowels were scented with garlic. He shaped his phrases with great artistry, making use of occasional rubato. There was also some nice melismatic singing on "ah". We loved it!

Mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner's selection was the final one of Barber's Hermit Songs--"The Desire for Hermitage". The cycle is a setting of songs from Irish monasteries written down between the 8th and 13th c. We confess that these are not our favorite songs, although we do like the tranquil "The Monk and His Cat", the slightly irreverent "The Heavenly Banquet", and the short but bawdy "Promiscuity". But Ms. Wagner's choice was of a more ascetic bent, although we picked up a subtext of spiritual fervor. She sang it well and had a beautiful ringing top. Still, we would like to hear her sing in a different language.

Mezzo-soprano Anastasiia Sidorova, whom we just heard at a concert of winners of the Premiere Opera Foundation Competition, sang a beautiful song by Rimsky-Korsakov called "The Clouds Begin to Scatter", the setting of text by Pushkin. Ms. Sidorova, as we noted in our review a couple days ago, has a lovely instrument that she knows how to use. If only she could loosen up and use her body! We hoped that singing in her own language would work to her advantage but were a bit disappointed. We wanted more connection with the audience as well as more connection with the song. We hope that someone at her conservatory will work with her on this; it's like a pot on the stove with all good ingredients that just needs some heat to release the aromas and flavors! Tap into your Russian passion Anastasiia! Go for it!

Host for the evening was the engaging Midge Woolsey who introduced each singer and told us the theme of the song after it was sung. We would have preferred the description before it was sung.

The concert was produced in association with the Liederkranz Foundation.

© meche kroop

(RED) HOT MAMA

Curtain Call for Heartbeat Opera's Halloween Extravaganza at Roulette

We have been a fan of Heartbeat Opera since they first started producing opera. We were immediately bowled over by their Daphnis et Chloé, taking Offenbach's silly but bawdy story and telling it in the most creative way. Casting it with fine young voices and creating costuming and sets with far more imagination than expenditure, the work was an immediate hit and won our heart.

Since then, we have watched Heartbeat grow to become a full-fledged opera company producing one hit after another--most often presenting operas with an original take that sometimes thrilled us and sometimes upset us--but always left us feeling involved. Their productions have always been radical, original, and adventuresome; their audience is mainly young. We decided that there must have been something special in the water at Yale School of Drama, where Co-Artistic Directors Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard got their training.

Since we loved theater long before we got interested in opera, we always look at opera productions with an eye for dramatic validity and also for entertainment value. For us, it doesn't matter how famous the stars, how gorgeous the voices, or how well conducted the orchestra is; if the show doesn't work dramatically it doesn't hold our interest.

We are filled with anticipation for their December production of Weber's Der Freischutz, but until then we had our yen for Heartbeat-style entertainment well satisfied by their stunning Halloween show at The Roulette. Using the vital and worthwhile theme of Saving Mother Earth, there was plenty of eye and ear candy to make the bitter pill easier to swallow.

The "plot" followed the line of facing the peril to our planet and reforming ourselves. The theme involved trees ("Ombra mai fu" from Händel's Serse), flowers (the "Flower Duet" from Delibes' Lakme), melting icebergs ("Gelida in ogni vena" from Vivaldi's Farnace), birds ("The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams), global warming ("Too Darn Hot" from Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate), nuclear peril (John Adams' Dr. Atomic), and so on, right up to the finale of "Make Our Garden Grow" from Bernstein's Candide. Even Stravinsky, Mozart, and Wagner were on board. The cleverness with which the music was pressed into the service of the theme of the show was outstanding.

All the voices were admirable but we were particularly taken with the coloratura of Ariana Wehr who was dressed as a polar bear but still managed to take Vivaldi's vocal lines seriously with admirable ease of fioritura. The always effective John Taylor Ward did double duty as a plant and as the Monster of Climate Collapse.

Patrick Kilbride was covered with flowers and Dustin Ceithamer appeared as Mother Earth.  There was quite a face-off between "her" and the Monster. Clinton Edward and Brendan Henderson danced their way through their roles as birds, choreographed by Eamon Foley.

Words fail us in describing Miodrag Guberinic's elaborate and inventive costumes; we suggest that you see the photos we have posted to our FB page--Voce di Meche where you can also see Maiko Ando's fabulous makeup.

Even the musicians wore wigs and makeup. Musical Direction was by Jacob Ashworth (violin) and Daniel Schlosberg (piano and harpsichord) joined by violist Hannah Levinson and cellist Madeline Fayette. Onstage for the jazzy numbers was saxophonist Michaël Attias.

Props, like the suspended globe, were designed by Corinne Gologursky and Nicholas Hussong provided the projections, mainly quotes from famous people with serious messages consistent with the theme.

Also consistent with the theme was the provision of metal straws with the drinks for guests to take home. We have been using ours!

Significantly, a portion of the ticket proceeds went toward supporting Earthjustice. Heartbeat Opera is known for their socially oriented productions, such as their work with the incarcerated for their production of Beethoven's Fidelio.

This is the kind of work we would be happy to see again; however, like last year's Halloween show, part of the value comes from the knowledge that it is transitory in nature--very much ""of the moment"-- and can be cherished the way one cherishes a flower. The plant which produced the flower, however, is a perennial!

© meche kroop

A SEASONAL SEANCE FOR HALLOWEEN

Philip Stoddard, Cristina Marie Castro, Chantelle Grant, Jackson McKinnon, Kathleen Shelton, JoAnna Geffert,
and Joshua Miller

In 1946, commissioned by Columbia University, Gian Carlo Menotti composed the music and wrote the lyrics for a work entitled The Medium. Within a period of five years, it achieved a Broadway run, a television production, and a film.

It has been called an opera but, in our opinion, it comes across as a play with music. In its one hour duration, it has a great deal to say about deceit, gullibility, and abuse. As far as the "music" it is non-melodic, although there are three fine arias, two of which are for Monica and one for Madame Flora, her mother.

Although we have seen it before, the production we saw by City Lyric Opera hit all the right notes dramatically, thanks to Stage Director Mikhaela Mahoney who apparently included contributions from her excellent cast. Subtexts were revealed which were completely relevant to today's world.

The cast was uniformly excellent with Philip Stoddard portraying the mute Toby as a gangly adolescent whose mental faculties have not kept pace with his physical maturation. He conveyed so much with his face and gesture that speech would have been redundant.

As Monica, soprano Cristina Marie Castro invested her role with pathos and ambivalence. Clearly her abusive mother (Madame Flora) has brought her up with poor morality. She is obliged to serve her mother by fraudulently convincing Madame Flora's clients that she is the spirit of their departed children.

The one joy of her life is the presence of Toby whose backstory is only hinted at; he was rescued from the streets of Budapest and is mistreated by Madame Flora. The two youngsters are playmates but Monica cannot resist physicalizing their relationship in a way that confuses poor Toby.

Ms. Castro's shining soprano was lovely in "Monica's Waltz" and in the soothing song she sings to calm her anxious mother--"The Black Swan".

Chantelle Grant has an interesting texture to her mezzo-soprano instrument and was completely convincing as the duplicitous medium. Tampering with the world of spirits has its risks and Madame Flora becomes frightened when she hallucinates (or did she?) hands around her throat. She blames Toby for this, just as she blames him for everything.

She begins to decompensate and when her clients arrive for the next seance, she returns their money and tells them everything was a hoax. But they won't believe her and insist that their children actually contacted them! We see the same human flaw today in people who won't face the truth and clutch desperately to wishful thinking.

Ms. Grant takes to the bottle and sings a heart rending aria "Afraid? Am I afraid?" The three arias are in English and therefore less indicative of the quality of the voices than arias sung in Italian; but to our ears all the singers sounded just fine.

Aside from the three arias, all the other dialogue could be considered sprechstimme. No one would mind if the lines were spoken. As a matter of fact, since Music Director Jackson McKinnon played the piano with such an excess of volume, we would have preferred that, since many of the lines were drowned out. In all fairness, we were sitting very close to the piano, so if you attend one of the next four performances (and we hope you will) we advise sitting as far from the piano as possible.

The smaller roles were finely enacted. Kathleen Shelton portrayed Mrs. Nolan who wanted to communicate with her sixteen year old daughter. As the Gobineau's, JoAnna Geffert and Joshua Miller were convincing as a couple who had lost their two year old son and were satisfied just to hear him giggle. Of course it was Monica in both cases.

There were several small touches, which we will not reveal here, that made the production far more effective than it usually is. It was genuinely spooky and upsetting, which speaks well for the director and the performers. The casting was spot on. The roles of Monica and Madame Flora are double cast so you, dear reader, may see a performance that is slightly different from the one we saw. Still, we recognized the names of the second cast and can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

No one was credited for the set; it was simple but effective--a table, some chairs, a period lamp or two, and a neon sign advertising "Psychic". Dallas Estes' eerie lighting added to the experience. The uncredited costumes seemed period appropriate and fortunately did not call attention to themselves.

If you are unfamiliar with City Lyric Opera, let us fill you in. In a couple short years, Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors Kathleen Spencer and Megan Gillis have created a valuable niche for themselves with an artist-centric company that relies on an original vision to bring people into the world of opera with very modest ticket prices. Aside from their Mainstage Productions, they present Salons and WorkshOperas. These events must be experienced to be appreciated.

© meche kroop

SECOND ANNUAL PREMIERE OPERA FOUNDATION VOCAL COMPETITION

Where have you been all my life, Premiere Opera Foundation? Seriously, we love competitions and try to attend all of them; somehow this one escaped our notice but this is only the second annual one and we were highly impressed with the quality of the winners and their performances. There were 400 applicants from which 150 came to New York from all over. From these 150, a distinguished panel of judges chose 20 finalists. There were 10 winners and we were fortunate to hear a magnificent seven of them.

It was a special treat for us to hear several that we have reviewed on frequent occasions and we have a special leaning toward those whose development as artists we have been monitoring. Nonetheless we will make an attempt to rise above our bias and give a fair account of a recital that was thrilling from start to finish.

Mezzo-soprano Xeni Tziouvaras has been on our radar since her student days at Manhattan School of Music. We liked her performances so much that we invited her to sing at our first Around the World in Music; she sang Ravel's Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques which she had translated into Greek. We were so impressed with the sound of the language and how well the text fit into Ravel's melodies. We were even more impressed with Ms. Tziouvaras' stage presence and the dramatic way in which she created a world in a song,

For this recital we got to hear more of Ravel's sensuous and colorful writing. We heard the deeply felt "O, N'antselos eisai matia mou" with its haunting melody, and the frisky "Gelaroumbi"--both delightful. This wonderful artist immerses herself into the song before she even opens her mouth, creating a mood and sustaining it right through to the end.

Her French was as fine as one might wish in "O, ma lyre immortelle" from Gounod's Sapho which is the heroine's "swan song" after her lover has been deceitfully turned against her. Ms. Tsiouvaras' unique timbre served her well and she successfully employed dynamic variation and word coloration to get the tragedy across. There was an effective crescendo bringing the aria to a stunning close.

Another singer we have been watching is baritone Xiaomeng Zhang whom we first heard five years ago at Manhattan School of Music in the role of MacDuff in Ernest Bloch's Macbeth. But we really became aware of his potential at his Master's recital shortly thereafter when he sang in five languages. In his post-graduate stint at Juilliard, he mastered several operatic roles with the most impressive being the lead role in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

He has retained the flexibility he manifested in his many bel canto performances but his voice has expanded to the point that he can wow an audience with his performance of "Vy mne pisali" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. We attended his coaching session for this role and thought at the time that it suited him very well. 

His phrasing and gesture indicated that he really knew what he was singing about and to whom he was singing. It was impossible to judge his Onegin too harshly. Mr. Zhang created a character who seemed more like a "Dutch Uncle" than a callous cruel man. His instrument has a lovely timbre which he used effectively and the aria built in intensity and swept us along.

He also sang a Chinese song called "Grand River Gone East" by Zhu Qin; although we don't understand the language and there was no translation in the program the emotional content came through loud and clear. We felt the poet's sorrow and sense of loss. We checked it out with Mr. Zhang after the concert and indeed it is about all things passing away, even life.

Another baritone we know well has a different sort of voice; Takaoki Onishi gave a riveting performance of "O Carlo, ascolta...Io morro" which took us back to the time we heard the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the role of Rodrigo, Marquis de Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo. We thought we'd never enjoy that aria sung by anyone else but Mr. Onishi gave us a riveting portrayal of the loyal and selfless friend of Don Carlo. 

The texture of his voice is that of a true Verdi baritone--a singer of power who can combine passionate involvement with beauty of tone. It was interesting to us that he could also sing a tender and romantic love song with a lovely pianissimo, marking him as a singer of versatility. Ivor Novello's "I Can Give You the Starlight" went straight to the heart. If someone had told us that we would enjoy a 20th c. English song, we would not have believed them. We didn't even know who Novello was and were obliged to google him. He was a Welsh actor, singer, and songwriter who wrote "Keep the Homefires Burning". Who knew!

Time for a tenor!  And what a tenorrific artist is Dashuai Chen! What sets him apart from so many other tenors is that he doesn't push his voice. When a tenor goes high and loud we often feel our throat hurt. No such problem bothers Mr. Chen with his easy sound production. As a bitter and miserable Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, he performed the lovely legato lines with beauty but never shortchanged the character's pain. He has won a number of competitions with this aria and it just keeps getting better.

A Chinese song "Singing for You" by Yong Chen contrasted well by virtue of it's gentle melody and lyrics. We loved the alternation between major and minor modes. We want to see one more thing from Mr. Chen. We'd like to see him step away from the piano so his gestures can reflect the feeling as effectively as the voice does. Every time he let go of the piano we said in our head "YES!". We enjoyed the performance so much that we invited Mr. Chen to sing in our next Around the World in Song on February 28th.

We have heard mezzo-soprano Carolyn Sproule only twice--both times thanks to the George London Competition. There was a lovely "Aire des lettres" from Massenet's Werther one time and the other time Aldagisa's Act I prayer from Bellini's Norma. For this concert, she went in a different direction, creating the exuberant character of Octavian in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. The appealing timbre of her voice stood out and she showed an understanding of the character and his situation. Her German was quite good. The only "problem" was that she is a very feminine beautiful woman and without costuming and makeup it was difficult to see her as a young man!

The other selection of this highly versatile artist was "Je vais mourir...Adieu fière cité" from Berlioz' Les Troyens--a very different telling of the tale of Dido and Aeneas than the Purcell. We were very happy to hear this beautiful and moody suicidal aria without dealing with the fatigue of the four preceding acts! There was plenty of variety of dynamics and color as Dido's mood shifts. The pianissimo was gorgeous.

Completely new to us was Armenian soprano Anush Avetisyan, a guest artist who did ample justice to the stirring melody of Rusalka's "Song to the Moon". We heard some superb shaping of Dvorak's phrases, lovely legato (especially considering the consonant-heavy Czech language), and some finely tuned turns. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she wove a spell. We were enchanted.

As a follow up she sang "Kakavik" by the Armenian composer Komitas. We were amazed by the beauty and singability of the language.

Russian mezzo-soprano Anastasiia Sidorova sang the "Seguidilla" from Bizet's Carmen with a beautiful voice and effective coloration; however she did not convince us that she was Carmen trying to seduce a reluctant Don Jose. She did loosen up a bit as the aria progressed, but the role didn't seem to suit her.

We liked her much more in Tchaikovsky's "Otchego" which she sang with Russian passion. Possibly she feels more relaxed in her native language.

Accompanist for the evening was Gerald Martin Moore who has the softest hands and a preternatural ability to support each singer and to tailor his accompaniment to their differential skill set as well as to the demands of the music.

Planning for next year's competition is already underway and we refer you to the website to find out about an interesting partnership that will make the competition even more valuable to the singers who apply.  Go to this URL and click on "Vocal Competition".

https://www.premiereoperafoundation.org

© meche kroop

RICHARD TUCKER GALA

Michael Fabiano, Ermonela Jaho, Angel Blue, Stephen Costello, Artur Rucinski, Lisette Oropesa, Maestro James Gaffigan, Ailyn Pérez, Christian Van Horn, Jamie Barton, Lucas Meachem, Brian Michael Moore, and Corrie Stallings.
(photo by Dario Acosta)

Last Sunday saw the gathering of the tribe, denizens of what Fred Plotkin so aptly dubbed "Planet Opera", for the annual celebration of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, famed for forty years of aiding the careers of worthy young singers. The list of their award recipients looks like the Who's Who of Opera.

This year's award recipient was the stupendous soprano Lisette Oropesa who bedazzled the audience twice--once with "Come dolce all'alma mia" from Rossini's Tancredi and later with "Qui la voce...Vien diletto" from Bellini's I Puritani.

What we observed about her performances were a lovely evenness throughout the register with a soaring top which lends itself perfectly to the demands of coloratura. The Rossini is replete with scales and wide skips which she negotiated effortlessly. The Bellini involved some long lines that she phrased perfectly. The legato of the aria contrasted well with the fireworks of the cabaletta. Ascending and descending scales were performed with precision.

Soprano Ailyn Pérez, an all-time favorite of ours, was called upon to tell a story in "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from Puccini's La Rondine--and what a storyteller she is! With consummate musicality, her phrases soared with emotional content and vocal beauty. 

Later in the program, she and baritone Lucas Meachem conspired to win the hearts of the audience with "Tu souvaint-il du lumineux voyage" from Massenet's Thaïs, with a lovely prelude from The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, led by Maestro James Gaffigan. We couldn't keep from visualizing the ballet scene set to the Meditation from Thaïs, the melody of which has remained with us, here played by the Concert Master.

The French was excellent, the delivery passionate, the dynamics nuanced, and the climax passionate and devastating.

Soprano Angel Blue's creamy tone was just right for "Depuis le jour" from Charpentier's Louise. Her portamenti were particularly exquisite. She evinced the generous size of her instrument in a fraught duet she sang with baritone Artur Rucinski--"Udiste...mira d'acerbe lagrime" from Verdi's Il trovatore. She showed her dramatic chops as a desperate woman and Mr. Rucinski sang with power. The cabaletta was especially exciting.

Mr. Rucinski seems to be a consummate Verdi baritone, as seen in his delivery of "Il balen del suo sorriso" from the same opera. He sang with admirable phrasing, gorgeous tone, and a delicious decrescendo. This role is just about perfect for his fine technique.

Tenor Stephen Costello, whom we first heard as Lord Percy, gave an excellent interpretation of the bewitched Don Jose in "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from Bizet's Carmen. He sang with beautiful tenorrific tone and fine French, convincing us that he was a man possessed.

He was similarly persuasive as Lt. Pinkerton in the wedding night scene with Cio-Cio San from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Unfortunately soprano Ermonela Jaho was anything but convincing as the doomed heroine. She has her petite stature working on her behalf but her exaggerated gestures suggested anything but a 15 year-old Japanese girl. 

We liked her much better in "Io son l'umile ancella" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in which exaggerated gestures are more suited to the stage actress she was enacting. We liked the well executed crescendo at the end.

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, another favorite of ours, has a most wonderful stage presence and unique vocal texture. Her voice has not only texture but a satisfying weight without any sacrifice of flexibility. She gave us two selections from Verdi's Don Carlo. In the "Song of the Veil" we noted the echoes of major thirds and some rapid turns which put her flexibility to good use.

In "O don fatale" we perceived the change of mood and color from passionate to introspective. We love a performance that is so heartfelt!  Ms. Barton makes a splendid Princess Eboli. We might add that for the second aria she exchanged her very becoming black gown for one that made a political statement--by flashing a rainbow. The crowd loved it. See the photos on our Facebook page (Voce di Meche).

Tenor Michael Fabiano put a unique spin on "Kuda, kuda" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. He began quietly and built in power and dynamics until the aria reached a stunning conclusion. We really enjoyed the rare quality of floating his high notes. We also noted the contributions of the orchestra, especially the wind section.

Mr. Meachem injected new life into the clichéd "Largo al Factotum" from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. He entered coming down the aisle from the rear of the hall and began at audience level, only climbing onto the stage a bit later. His gestures were unique and he colored his voice differentially when describing la donnetta and il cavaliere. What fun! In the patter part he was perfect (alliteration intended).

Introduced by resonant chimes from the percussion section, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn created a chilling and authoritarian Scarpa in the "Te Deum" from Puccini's Tosca.

The evening ended with the sextet from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in which Ms. Oropesa's Lucia was joined by Mr. Costello's Edgardo, Brian Michael Moore's Arturo, Corrie Stallings' Alisa, Mr. Rucinski's Enrico, and Scott Conner's Raimondo. Of course with all that talent onstage it was memorable.

The contributions of the Metropolitan Orchestra were immeasurable and performed with their customary excellence. We want to see more of Maestro Gaffigan whose musical stature far exceeds his physical stature.

© meche kroop

FOR HAITI CHILDREN

Madison Marie McIntosh, Kofi Hayford, Damian Wayne Faul, Susie Scott Krabacher, Wil Kellerman, Reyna Carguill
Kelly Griffin, Amanda Tarver, Steven LaBrie, Raymon Geis, and Maestro Keith Chambers

The beautiful Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church played host for yesterday's benefit performance, organized by composer Theodore Christman who is writing a music theater piece (a word less "scary" than opera to those who think they are two different forms of entertainment) based on the inspiring career of Susie Scott Krabacher.

Ms. Krabacher has written a book describing her 25 years spent facing the many challenges of helping the children of Haiti. She has taken unwanted children from orphanages, many of whom are handicapped, and provided food, shelter, education, and medical care. She hopes to educate future leaders for this unfortunate island nation, people who will pull Haiti out of its present hopeless-appearing situation. She is one of those people who create hope.

This does not sound, at first hearing, like material for "musical theater". However we got a preview of three songs from the work and were delighted by the clever and punchy lyrics of Donna Gay Anderson which matched perfectly with Mr. Christman's tuneful music. You heard right, dear reader! Mr. Christman's music is melodic, as we have written on several prior occasions. It was just waiting for the right story and the right librettist. We do believe he's got it and are looking forward to Unfolded, as it is called.

In "Babies for Sale", Amanda Tarver played Madam Marcellus, an unscrupulous woman trying to wrest money from a young couple. In "Wash the Dirt", mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh, portraying Ms. Krabacher, was given a strong melody to sing as she confronts her younger self, portrayed by soprano Michelle Guillot. "The Standoff" portrays a fictionalized version of Ms. Krabacher meeting her husband (baritone Wil Kellerman) for the first time. The acting and singing were similarly on point. Truth to tell, we hope Ms. McIntosh will be chosen to play the role.

The rest of the program comprised opera standards, ones we always love hearing. Ms. McIntosh is a young singer we have been writing about for several years. Possessor of a creamy mezzo with a dazzling upper extension, she is particularly perfect as a Rossini heroine. The flexibility of her instrument makes all kinds of embellishments seem natural and organic with respect to the character's feelings.

She opened the program with a tender performance of Mr. Christman's setting of "Ave Maria". There was a delicate diminuendo requiring exquisite breath control that had us holding our breath. His skill with writing melody made this a valuable entry among the many settings of this prayer. 

Her aforementioned artistry with Rossini could be appreciated in "Una voce poco fa" from Il barbiere di Siviglia. She evinced Rosina's spunky personality with a precision of fioritura and tickled us with a rolled "r" in "trappole"; it's the tiny details that set a singer apart from the others.

She also "plays well with others" as we observed in the famous duet "Mira, o Norma" from the Bellini opera in which her Aldagisa was matched with the Norma of Reyna Carguill who was previously unknown to us. Her sizable soprano was heard later in "Ebben? Ne andrò  lontana" from Catalani's La Wally. She impressed us with her breadth and depth of tone, just right for verismo roles.

Kelly Griffin is another soprano with a sizable instrument, making her perfect for dramatic Verdi heroines. We have heard her sing "Pace, pace" from La forza del destino more than once and might have been disappointed not to find it on yesterday's program; however, she was equally effective in "Tacea la notte placida" from Il trovatore.

Her duet from Verdi's Un ballo in maschera--"Teco io sto" was sung with tenor Raymon Geis as Riccardo. Both singers did justice to Verdi's magnificent melodies.

Mr. Geis had a fine solo in "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Franz Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns. He paid exquisite attention to the meaning of the text and carressed each word in the pianissimo sections, then drew the piece to a thrilling climax.

His duet from Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles-- "Au fond du temple saint", sung with baritone Steven LaBrie, involves two men both bedazzled by the same presumably unavailable temple priestess. We picked up some teetering on the edge between trust and mistrust. 

Mr. LaBrie's solo was María Grever's popular "Júrame" which, in his golden throat, took on the quality of an art song, sung with sincerity of feeling instead of the customary grandstanding. We have been writing about Mr. LaBrie since we began writing and have always found his performances to be artistically and emotionally genuine.

There were a couple selections on the program that are not exactly opera. Amanda Tarver, previously unknown to us, performed a song by Jake Heggie with very funny divinely irreverent lyrics by Gavin Geoffrey Dillard. "In the Beginning" is a spoof of the first verse of the bible and is part of a cycle we've never heard called Of Gods and Cats. If we ever get to hear the entire cycle it just might change our mind about Mr. Heggie. Ms. Tarver's delivery was delicious.

Bass Kofi Hayford has pleased us with his resonant bass on prior occasions. Yesterday he sang "Old Man River" from Kern and Hammerstein's Showboat, which we consider an American opera, especially when sung unamplified by such a well trained voice . The feeling ran deep as the river itself and the low tessitura presented no challenge for Mr. Hayford.

And finally, we heard Damian Wayne Faul perform "If I Loved You" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, another work we consider an American opera. Mr. Faul also eschewed grandstanding for the sake of character, strangely giving  Billy Bigelow an accent that was more Southern than New England. Oh well, as a carnival barker perhaps he was itinerant!

Accompanist for the concert was the always wonderful Maestro Keith Chambers.

It was a fine afternoon of music, not to mention the lovely reception at which we got to speak with Ms. Anderson and Ms. Krabacher who has written an inspiring book about her life and experience in Haiti--ANGELS OF A LOWER FLIGHT: One Woman's Mission To Save A Country One Child At A Time. We hope that Mr. Christman's opera will serve to call attention to her work as founder and president of the Mercy and Sharing Foundation (www.haitichildren.org).

© meche kroop