Arts & Events
The 2019 Merola Singers Strut Their Stuff in the Grand Finale
Every year the Grand Finale offers a new crop of Merola singers the opportunity to strut their stuff on the grand stage of the War Memorial Opera House. For the young artists this is a thrill. For audiences, too, it is often a thrill to discover the opera stars of tomorrow. Indeed, on Saturday evening, August 17, the 2019 Grand Finale offered the chance to hear quite a few opera stars of tomorrow.
Among the “can’t miss” category I noted, in no particular order, mezzo-soprano Alice Chung, tenor Brandon Scott Russell, soprano Chelsea Lehnea, mezzo-soprano Cara Collins, soprano Anna Dugan, baritone Jeff Byrnes, tenor Victor Starsky, and, well, the list could go on and on. One thing that impresses about the 2019 crop of Merola singers is the uniformly high level of vocal mastery. Among the 18 scenes from different operas performed in this year’s Grand Finale, there was hardly a scene that didn’t reveal at least one opera star of tomorrow; and often there were several!
Opening the program was the post coital bedroom scene from Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with Cara Collins as Octavian and Anna Dugan as the Marschallin. Both singers were in top form, with Cara Collins wondrously singing Wie du warst/How you were, and Anna Dugan returning the compliment. Next came an excerpt from Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani featuring baritone Laureano Quant and tenor Victor Starsky, both of whom were excellent. Then we heard mezzo-soprano Brennan Blankenship in a harp-accompanied aria from Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, another excellent performance. Soprano Anne-Marie Macintosh sang a lovely aria from Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Next came a surprise highlight, tenor Brandon Scott Russell singing the Prince’s aria Vidino divná, presladká from Antonin Dvorák’s Rusalka. An excerpt from Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites featured two opera stars of tomorrow, soprano Amber R. Monroe as Madame Lidoine and mezzo-soprano Alice Chung as Mère Marie.
An excerpt from Mozart’s Così fan tutte was beautifully sung by soprano Esther Tonea and tenor Michael Day accompanied by Andrew King on harpsichord. Another surprise highlight ensued with soprano Chelsea Lehnea holidng forth as Queen Elisbeth in Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda while two courtiers, tenor Salvatore Atti as Leicester and bass-baritone Rafael Porto as Lord Cecil, pressed rival claims. To close out the first half of the concert, baritone Jeff Byrnes gave a ringing interpretation of Germont’s aria “Di Provenza il mar” in an effort to persuade his son Alfredo to forget Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.
Throughout this Grand Finale conductor George Manahan led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and director Greg Eldridge staged each scene. One might mention, in passing, that in the aforementioned scene from Verdi’s La Traviata Greg Eldridge made the highly questionable move of having Germont père drag in Alfredo’s sister as a mute presence in the father’s efforts to win back his wayward son. In all the myriad performances I’ve attended of La Traviata, never has Alfredo’s sister been seen on stage till now. Oh well. Finally, one might mention that the entire Merola Grand Finale was staged on the ship-like set of San Francisco Opera’s forthcoming production of Billy Budd designed by Christopher Oram.
After intermission, the second half of the program got underway with soprano Elisa Sunshine as a vivacious Marie in Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment, aided and abetted by bass-baritone Andrew Dwan as Sulpice. Next came an excerpt from Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, gorgeously sung by soprano Anna Dugan and tenor Victor Starsky. These two singers even held their own against a full-out fortissimo from the orchestra! Then, in a scene from Otto Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weber von Windsor, baritone Edward Laurenson and bass-baritone Rafael Porto hammed it up as, respectively, Fluth and Falstaff. Next we heard soprano Hyeree Shin as a bright-voiced Sandrina in the aria “Geme la tortorella” from Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. Then came what may well have been the vocal and dramatic highlight of the concert —mezzo-soprano Alice Chung as Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, and baritone Tim Murray as Hamlet in a gut-wrenching scene from Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet. Bass Stefan Egerstrom made a brief appearance as the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Then came an excerpt from Jacques François Halévy’s La Juive, followed by the forest scene from Verdi’s Falstaff, featuring soprano Patricia Westley as a bright-voiced Nannetta and soprano Esther Tonea as Alice Ford. Mezzo-soprano Edith Grossman then sang the role of Hélène and tenor Nicholas Huff was Paris in an excerpt from Jacques Offenbach’s La belle Hélène. To close out the 2019 Grand Finale all the Merolini joined together to sing the fugal final chorus of Verdi’s Falstaff, with its famous punch line, “Tutto nel mondo è burla/The whole world’s a joke.” All I can say is, when the joke is as beautifully sung as everything was in this year’s Merola Grand Finale, Viva la burla!
The 2019 Merola Singers Strut Their Stuff in the Grand Finale
Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Every year the Grand Finale offers a new crop of Merola singers the opportunity to strut their stuff on the grand stage of the War Memorial Opera House. For the young artists this is a thrill. For audiences, too, it is often a thrill to discover the opera stars of tomorrow. Indeed, on Saturday evening, August 17, the 2019 Grand Finale offered the chance to hear quite a few opera stars of tomorrow.
Among the “can’t miss” category I noted, in no particular order, mezzo-soprano Alice Chung, tenor Brandon Scott Russell, soprano Chelsea Lehnea, mezzo-soprano Cara Collins, soprano Anna Dugan, baritone Jeff Byrnes, tenor Victor Starsky, and, well, the list could go on and on. One thing that impresses about the 2019 crop of Merola singers is the uniformly high level of vocal mastery. Among the 18 scenes from different operas performed in this year’s Grand Finale, there was hardly a scene that didn’t reveal at least one opera star of tomorrow; and often there were several!
Opening the program was the post coital bedroom scene from Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with Cara Collins as Octavian and Anna Dugan as the Marschallin. Both singers were in top form, with Cara Collins wondrously singing Wie du warst/How you were, and Anna Dugan returning the compliment. Next came an excerpt from Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani featuring baritone Laureano Quant and tenor Victor Starsky, both of whom were excellent. Then we heard mezzo-soprano Brennan Blankenship in a harp-accompanied aria from Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, another excellent performance. Soprano Anne-Marie Macintosh sang a lovely aria from Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Next came a surprise highlight, tenor Brandon Scott Russell singing the Prince’s aria Vidino divná, presladká from Antonin Dvorák’s Rusalka. An excerpt from Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites featured two opera stars of tomorrow, soprano Amber R. Monroe as Madame Lidoine and mezzo-soprano Alice Chung as Mère Marie.
An excerpt from Mozart’s Così fan tutte was beautifully sung by soprano Esther Tonea and tenor Michael Day accompanied by Andrew King on harpsichord. Another surprise highlight ensued with soprano Chelsea Lehnea holidng forth as Queen Elisbeth in Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda while two courtiers, tenor Salvatore Atti as Leicester and bass-baritone Rafael Porto as Lord Cecil, pressed rival claims. To close out the first half of the concert, baritone Jeff Byrnes gave a ringing interpretation of Germont’s aria “Di Provenza il mar” in an effort to persuade his son Alfredo to forget Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.
Throughout this Grand Finale conductor George Manahan led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and director Greg Eldridge staged each scene. One might mention, in passing, that in the aforementioned scene from Verdi’s La Traviata Greg Eldridge made the highly questionable move of having Germont père drag in Alfredo’s sister as a mute presence in the father’s efforts to win back his wayward son. In all the myriad performances I’ve attended of La Traviata, never has Alfredo’s sister been seen on stage till now. Oh well. Finally, one might mention that the entire Merola Grand Finale was staged on the ship-like set of San Francisco Opera’s forthcoming production of Billy Budd designed by Christopher Oram.
After intermission, the second half of the program got underway with soprano Elisa Sunshine as a vivacious Marie in Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment, aided and abetted by bass-baritone Andrew Dwan as Sulpice. Next came an excerpt from Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, gorgeously sung by soprano Anna Dugan and tenor Victor Starsky. These two singers even held their own against a full-out fortissimo from the orchestra! Then, in a scene from Otto Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weber von Windsor, baritone Edward Laurenson and bass-baritone Rafael Porto hammed it up as, respectively, Fluth and Falstaff. Next we heard soprano Hyeree Shin as a bright-voiced Sandrina in the aria “Geme la tortorella” from Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. Then came what may well have been the vocal and dramatic highlight of the concert —mezzo-soprano Alice Chung as Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, and baritone Tim Murray as Hamlet in a gut-wrenching scene from Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet. Bass Stefan Egerstrom made a brief appearance as the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Then came an excerpt from Jacques François Halévy’s La Juive, followed by the forest scene from Verdi’s Falstaff, featuring soprano Patricia Westley as a bright-voiced Nannetta and soprano Esther Tonea as Alice Ford. Mezzo-soprano Edith Grossman then sang the role of Hélène and tenor Nicholas Huff was Paris in an excerpt from Jacques Offenbach’s La belle Hélène. To close out the 2019 Grand Finale all the Merolini joined together to sing the fugal final chorus of Verdi’s Falstaff, with its famous punch line, “Tutto nel mondo è burla/The whole world’s a joke.” All I can say is, when the joke is as beautifully sung as everything was in this year’s Merola Grand Finale, Viva la burla!