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OPERA REVIEW
August 20, 2005
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By Olivia Stapp
It is always a joy to attend the Merola Grand Finale. Saturday night at
the War Memorial Opera house showcased the latest class of graduates of
the San Francisco Opera's inestimable Merola Program. The twenty-four
young featured singers have been chosen from 700 applicants, and hail
from Canada, Australia, Russia, China and the US. This event is the
culmination of an intensive 11-week course with "master teachers"
selected by Merola director, Sheri Greenawald. The audience always
includes many friends and supporters of the opera, who usually express
their appreciation enthusiastically. One attends these occasions with a
special affection for the performers. It is their first performance in
that vast emporium, and everyone wants them to do well. There is great hope that one will be present at the debut of a new Callas or Domingo, or some of those past Merolini like Voigt and Netrebko. Should a singer miss a note, the audience is quick to forgive, but if they make the "big one" the audience will cheer them as if they have just witnessed the
winning touchdown in the superbowl. (That's opera.)
Last night's presentation was less than expected in this regard. Most of the program appeared designed more to accentuate ensemble spirit and careful constrained singing rather than the grandness of the genre. All of the singers thus managed their tasks exceedingly well. Granted, it is a
challenge to put together a program where all the students get to sing-
and not have simply aria after aria- but here, with a happy few
exceptions, and even in the ensembles, the heroics of operatic singing
were largely absent. Still, the evening, featuring the open freshness of
fledgling performers filled with artistic innocence and ambition, was
most pleasing.
The orchestra played an unfocused and messy Fledermaus overture, under the baton of Valery Ryvkin. Then curtain then rose upon a simple setting of two large velvet armchairs, which would be used for all the subsequent scenes. The talent was plentiful and excellent. Some of the
program's high points were: the quiveringly evil aria, "Over the water
over the ocean," Claggart's aria from Billy Budd, which was powerfully sung by David Crawford; the show stopping "Ode to the Moon" from Rusalka, portrayed by the superb singer and artistic presence Rhoslyn Jones (her voice is luscious, and her soul opens forthrightly and generously to the audience) ; and the duet from Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi with Ailyn Perez and Michele Losier, in which Perez kept the audience on the edge of their seats with her intentful filigree singing. A beautiful voice with great control. (Shades of Monserrat!)
The exceptional ensemble moments in the second half of the program started with the rapturous septet from Les Troyens, "Nuit splendide et charmante," featuring Andriana Churchman, Kendall Gladden, Veronica McHale, Matthew O'Neil, David Portillo, Liam Moran, and Joseph Rawley: here the luminous voice of Kendal Gladden reached out. A symmetrical quartet from Mozart's Idomeneo, "Andró ramingo e solo," sung with loving elegance by Melody Moore and Michele Losier, Ailyn Perez, and Matthew O'Neil. Then came the duet from Arabella, "Aber der richtige," sung with style and restraint by Melody Moore and Andriana Churchman. All the Merolini gave their best in the Falstaff finale, "Tutto nel mondo e burla," which, along with the above aforementioned, also featured Michele Bogdanovicz, Allison Watson, Liang Zhang, Liam Bonner, Timothy Fallon, Jeremy Galyon, Matthew Garrett, Christin-Marie Hill, Jason Karn, Rober Kerr, Ronnita Miller, and Faith Sherman. To the donors and directors, kudos. And to the students, also, Good Luck!
(Olivia Stapp is an opera director, formerly artistic director of Festival Opera (1995-2001), and has had a major international career as a soprano.)
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