San Francisco Classical Voice

RECITAL REVIEW

Young Singers Tear Up the Stage

May 11, 2004

Katherine Rohrer

Nikki Einfeld

By Janos Gereben

Opera is more than music. Judging by the vastly entertaining evening presented by five San Francisco Opera Center singers, the Merola and Adler training programs' emphasis on extra-musical aspects of the craft is highly successful. The young artists switched languages effortlessly, used commendable diction and projection, and exhibited self-assured, winning stage manners. The two sanguine patrons of the arts to whom the Temple Emanu-El's "Music at Meyer" series is dedicated, the late Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson, would have enjoyed themselves greatly.

The ability to improvise is among the basic necessities of performance, and it came handy tonight when director/pianist/MC Mark Morash told the audience at the beginning to forget about the printed program because it had no relationship to reality. He then announced each selection, seemingly making up the program as he went along, and yet, all fell in place. There was a well-resolved musical traffic jam as Lucas Meacham's Edgardo finished the duet with Jane Archibald's Lucia di Lammermoor, stayed put while she walked off the stage, Thomas Glenn entered as Zurga, and Meacham became Nadir, shifting into French and Au fond du temple saint. Meacham's French and unflappable stage presence also came handy in the tenor- (or audience-) killer "Ah! Mes amis," from La Fille du Regiment, telling and acting the story, not just getting ready for the high C's (which he negotiated well).

Glenn's self-effacing participation in the Delibes duet was especially meaningful because the rest of the evening, he tore up the stage, especially as Figaro, in three excerpts from Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The fact that he is not automatically overwhelming, that he doesn't have to flaunt what he has, may make a big difference in his career. The evening showed off two spectacular coloraturas, Archibald (especially in an Abduction from the Seraglio aria) and Nikki Einfeld, Canadian Tracy Dahl-sound-alike (she is her voice teacher), getting the most out of "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide and charming the audience in a duet from Don Pasquale with Meachem.

Music and presence came together with a special promise in Katherine Rohrer's performances. A petite young mezzo with a big, mature voice, Rohrer has an uncanny ability to fill the hall not with force, but with the quality of the sound she produces. With just a bit more shading and patience to let the music breathe more, she could be on her way to big roles right now. She exhibited an impressive range, from a brilliant vibrato used in the Lakme duet (with Archibald), to a thoughtful, deeply-felt Charlotte of the "Letter Scene" from Werther, to a hilarious Rosina, unable to tear herself away from Almaviva, in the Barbiere "Qual colpo . . . Zitti, zitti!," to a showstopper performance of Bernstein's "Story of My Life," funny and touching, fusing genres and moods in a few minutes.