Arts & Events

At Merola Opera’s Schwabacher Concert on Thursday evening, July 11, at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I was reminded of the slogan Merola Opera has used over previous years — “The Future Is Now.” Well, that formulation is surely appropriate for this year’s bumper crop of Merola’s young singers. At this Schwabacher Concert the level of vocal artistry demonstrated by the Merolini was consistently at a very high level. For listeners, it’s quite exciting to hear young singers at or near the beginning of their careers, who go on stage with a full orchestra and limited but effective costuming and staging, and sing their hearts out in stirringly beautiful vocal display. 

For this year’s Schwabacher Concert, extensive scenes from five operas were performed by different casts of singers. Opening the program was Act 1 from Puccini’s La Rondine, which featured soprano Amber R. Monroe as Magda. Monroe’s voice is impressively rich and full, though her high notes can be shrill. Her voice is so powerful I’m not sure which roles are best for her, though Turandot comes immediately to mind. As Magda, Amber R. Monroe delivered a stirring rendition of Prunier’s unfinished song, Chi bel sogno di Doretta. In the role of Prunier, tenor Victor Starsky was impressive, both vocally and dramatically. But the real star of Act ! of La Rondine may well be the soubrette role of Lisette, here gorgeously sung by South Korean soprano Hyeree Shin. Lisette may be Magda’s maid, but this woman has a mind of her own; and she takes no nonsense from anyone, especially not from her secret lover, Prunier. Also worthy of mention were baritone Jeff Byrnes as Rambaldo and tenor Salvatore Atti as Ruggero. 

Next on the program was Act 1, Scene 4 from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. The role of Lucia was splendidly sung by soprano Chelsea Lehnea, who brought great intensity (and a hint of the madness that later overcomes Lucia) in her portrayal of the superstitious but passionate Lucia. Here, Lucia surreptitiously meets her beloved Edgardo, only to learn she must endure a long separation. Tenor Salvatore Atti was an able Edgardo opposite the tall, imposing Chelsea Lehnea as Lucia, never lacking in vocal presence. In the role of Alisa, Lucia’s confidante, mezzo-soprano Alice Chung gave an impressive foretaste of the riches she later delivered as Azucena in Verdi’ Il Trovatore.  

The second half of the program opened with Act 2, Scenes 3 and 4 from Richard Strauss’s rarely performed Die schweigsame Frau/The Silent Woman. The plot of this comic opera by Strauss is quite similar to that of the much better known Don Pasquale by Donizetti. Here the older man foolishly in search of a young wife is nobly sung by bass Stefan Egerstrom in the role of Morosus. Soprano Hyeree Shin was outstanding as the young girl who assumes the name of Timidia and pretends to be shy and innocent in order to lure Morosus into a marriage proposal he will soon regret. In the role of the scheming Barber, baritone Laureano Quant was vocally impressive while surreptitiously managing the pretense as an eminence grise. 

Next came Act 4, Scenes 3 and 4 from Gounod’s Faust. In the title role, tenor Salvatore Atti gave a fine performance, one embodying the hesitations in Faust’s feelings about his responsibility towards Marguerite, whom he has impregnated. As Marguerite, soprano Anna Dugan had little opportunity to show off her vocal talents, though they were briefly in evidence here. Bass-baritone Andrew Dwan was a forceful, manipulative Mephistopheles, and baritone Laureano Quant was a vocally impressive, angry, vengeful Valentino, Marguerite’s brother. 

Rounding out the evening in splendid fashion was a lengthy excerpt of most of the last act of Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Here soprano Anna Dugan truly came into her own as Leonora. Dugan’s voice is a richly colored soprano with a full-bodied mid-range combined with spot-on high notes. 

Dramatically, Dugan sang with great intensity, skilfully embodying all he conflicting emotions Leonora goes through as she tries to save the life of her beloved Manrico. As Count di Luna, baritone Jeff Byrnes was convincingly evil. Tenor Victor Starsky was outstanding as Manrico. Starsky, too, sang with great intensity, and he let out all the stops in this vocally demanding role. 

In the role of Azucena, mezzo-soprano Alice Chung was stupendous! Her husky voice is admirably suited to the role of this tormented Gypsy woman; and Alice Chung sang with great gusto and enormous vocal range. So uniformly excellent were all four singers in this lengthy excerpt from Verdi’s Il Trovatore that one could easily imagine these were leading international opera stars and not young artists in the Merola training program. 

Throughout this concert, the Schwabacher Summer Concert Orchestra was robustly led by conductor Craig Kier, who brought out the fine orchestral moments while always attentive to guiding the singers in matters of tempo and dynamics. The staging by Jose Maria Condemi made fine use of minimal props while emphasizing movement and expressive gestures from the singers. 

So, yet again: the future is now. Don’t miss the Merola Grand Finale on Saturday, August 17, at the Opera House. Moreover, there’s an added bonus production of a new opera by Jake Heggie, If I Were You, the first ever opera to be commissioned by Merola in its 62-year history. If I Were You will receive four performances, August 1, 3, 4 and 6 at Herbst Theatre.