Tuesday night (June 25th) Opera Theatre of St.
Louis presented the ninth edition of its justly celebrated
“Center Stage” concert. I was looking forward to this year’s
annual showcase of opera and musical theatre selections for two
reasons.
[Watch my interviews with Patricia Racette.
and Daniela Candillari
on Chuck's Culture
Channel]
First, the performances by the young singers from the Richard
Gaddes Festival Artists and Gerdine Young Artists programs have
been consistently excellent since I started attending these
concerts in 2019.
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David Wolfe
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
Second (and every bit as important) is the fact that they are
backed up by the full St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra (SLSO). In the past, the orchestra has worked
under a series of guest conductors. That changed in 2022 when OTSL
appointed their first-ever Principal Conductor, Daniela Candillari—thereby providing
a continuity of musical leadership that is cause for applause.
I was not disappointed. Once again, the evening was immensely
entertaining, with a wide variety of music and excellent
performances all the way around.
Working in the limited space in front of the nearly 80-piece
orchestra on the Loretto-Hilton stage, directors Ian Silverman,
Olivia Gacka, and James Robinson, and Artistic Director of Young
Artist Programs Patricia Racette, provided enough staging for
dramatic context while still maintaining a brisk pace.
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L-R: Madeleine Lyon, Brad Bickhardt
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
Rather than go into details on every number (which would tax
both your patience and my memory) I’m going to concentrate on what
were, for me, the more notable moments (your mileage may vary).
For inquiring minds who want to know, you’ll find the complete
program below.
The evening got off to an energetic start with, appropriately
enough, a Prologue—specifically the one from “Pagliacci” as
baritone David Wolfe, in the role of the clown Tonio, took the
stage to welcome the audience. It was a funny, captivating
performance.
Wolfe’s Tonio stood in stark contrast with his dark and vengeful
Rigoletto in the Act III quartet from the Verdi opera of the same
name. Soprano Laura Santamaria was a tragic Gilda, the naive
daughter of Rigoletto who remains smitten by the Duke (played with
cynical assurance by tenor Brad Bickhardt) even as she and her
father, concealed in the shadows, watch him seduce Maddalena,
sister of the assassin Sparafucile. Mezzo Madeleine Lyon was a
cheerfully flirtatious Maddalena.
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L-R: Elijah English, Luke Elmer
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
This has been a good season for countertenors, as Luke Elmer and
Elijah English demonstrated in “Hark! How the Songsters of the
Grove” from the masque “Timon of Athens” by Henry Purcell. The
song demands (and got) virtuoso close harmony as the singers
mimicked birdsong, accompanied by flutes and harpsichord. The
harpsichord was virtual (Peter Henderson on the synthesizer), the
flutes were real (Matthew Roitstein, Andrea Kaplan, and Jennifer
Nitchman), and the results were delightful.
Soprano Jouelle Roberson was Cio-Cio-San (a.k.a. Butterfly) and
mezzo Michelle Mariposa her long-suffering friend Suzuki in “Il
cannone del porto,” from Act II of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”.
It’s the scene in which the two adorn the house with flowers in
anticipation of the feckless Pinkerton’s long-awaited return. It’s
one of the more heartbreaking moments in opera, delivered with all
the tragedy one would wish. Cio-Cio-San is one of the most tragic
and sometimes most annoying characters in 19th century Italian
opera. Roberson let us see the pure tragedy.
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L-R: Michelle Mariposa, Jouelle Roberson
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
The course of true love runs more smoothly in Act II of Richard
Strauss’s “Arabella” as the wealthy Mandryka (baritone Titus Muzi
III), smitten with the title character (soprano Kathleen O’Mara),
tells her of a custom in his country in which a woman offers her
fiancé a glass of water as a love token—to which the equally
smitten Arabella happily agrees. Muzi and O’Mara—this year’s
Gaddes Festival Artists—sang this lush, rapturous music
beautifully.
Wrapping up the first half of the evening was the Act III finale
of Offenbach’s “Les contes d’Hoffmann.” Tenor David Eatmon was the
foolishly passionate Hoffman, so entranced by the courtesan
Giulietta (soprano Chase Sanders) that he lets her steal his
reflection, much to the delight of the evil Dr. Dapertutto (a
menacing performance by bass-baritone Justin Ramm-Damron).
Hoffman’s friend Nicklausse (Lyon), the appropriately named
Schlemil (bass-baritone Jared Werlein), and the dwarf
Pitichinaccio (tenor Hakeem Henderson) look on helplessly as the
music rises to a powerful climax, with the soloists and chorus
singing their hearts out.
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L-R: Jared Werelein, Justin Ramm-Damron,
Chase Sanders, Devin Eatmon, Madeleine Lyon,
Hakeem Henderson
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
It was a thrilling moment, just as Offenbach intended.
Candillari and the orchestra kicked off the second half of the
concert with a sizzling reading of the overture from the operetta
“Gräfin Mariza” (“Countess Mariza”) by Hungarian-born Emmerich
Kálmán (1882–1953), one of the many composers who kept the flame
of classic Viennese operetta burning well into the early 20th
century. They’re all mostly forgotten these days, at least in the
English-speaking world, but this lively batch of tunes, in which
the csárdás plays a prominent role, is a reminder of why they were
so popular in their day.
Violetta’s death scene from “La traviata” is one of Verdi’s
great tear jerkers. It begins with Alfredo (tenor Brad Bickhardt)
pleading with Violetta (soprano Jennifer Kreider) to leave Paris
(“Parigi, o cara”), unaware of just how close she is to death.
Verdi’s music is aware, though, as Violetta’s rising and falling
vocal line contrasts with Alfredo’s impassioned legato. Bickhardt
and Kreider squeezed every bit of pathos out of this, under the
masterful direction of Racette.
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L-R: Patrick Wilhelm, Georgia Belmont
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
Comic relief followed in the “Duo de la mouche” (“The Fly Duet”)
from Offenbach’s satirical “Orphée aux enfes” (“Orpheus in the
Underworld”). Eurydice, in this version, is seduced by Jupiter,
who is disguised as a fly so that he can slip through the keyhole
into her boudoir. It’s quite an accomplishment since, when he
isn’t addressing the audience in asides, his disguise limits his
dialogue to buzzing (“Zi-zi-zi”). Soprano Georgia Belmont was the
easily-persuaded Eurydice and baritone Patrick Wilhelm was
Jupiter, attired in a fancifully silly fly costume. Hilarity
ensued, along with some great singing (and buzzing).
Racette also directed the showpiece “Carceleras” ("The
Prisoners' Song") from the zarzuela “Las hijas del Zebedeo” (“The
Daughters of Zebedeo) by Ruperto Chapí (1851–1909), Spanish master
of the form (he wrote 15, plus a few operas). The title
notwithstanding, this spicy and quintessentially Spanish number is
all about Luisa (mezzo Gabriela Linares) enumerating the
outstanding qualities of her lover Arturo. Linares delivered a
scintillating performance, complete with some nice dance moves.
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Gabriela Linares
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
Not all operatic finales are tragic, as demonstrated by the trio
“Marie Thérese! Hab’ mir’s gelobt” (“Marie Thérese! I have
promised myself”) which begins the last scene of Strauss’s “Der
Rosenkavalier”. In it, the Marschallin (O’Mara) realizes that the
time has finally come to release her teenage lover Octavian
(Mariposa), the titular Cavalier of the Rose, from his promises so
he can marry his true love Sophie (Belmont). This trio, along with
the duet for Sophie and Octavian that follows, constitutes one of
the most sublime examples of writing for women’s voices in all of
opera. All three performers did it full justice; brave!
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L-R: Kathleen O'Mara, Michelle Mariposa,
Georgia Belmong
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
The concert closed, as it always does, with some numbers from
Broadway musicals. This time, though, there was an additional (and
delightful) surprise—two Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs. Jared
Werlein and baritone Joseph O’Shea dashed the tongue-twister
lyrics of “When I Go Out of Door” from “Patience” with impressive
precision while throwing in a Vaudeville-style dance duet. Titus
Muzi III returned, this time with the full ensemble, for a
hilarious “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.”
Director James Robinson included a bit added for Joseph Papp’s
1980 Public Theatre production in which the conductor dares the
Major General to repeat the final chorus “really fast.” Which,
needless to say, Muzi did, with panache.
From Broadway, we had a first-rate “Fugue for Tinhorns” from
“Guys and Dolls” and an equally fine “Together Wherever We Go”
from “Gypsy” with mezzo Sophia Baete and a commanding Mama Rose.
The pick of the litter, though, was “Make Our Garden Grow,” the
harmonically rich finale from Bernstein’s often-revised 1956
musical-cum-operetta “Candide”—and also the finale of the concert.
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L-R: Joseph O'Shea, Jared Werelein
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
Musically, this is Bernstein at his most ecstatic, growing from
a simple duet for Candide (tenor Levi Adkins) and Cunegonde
(Belmont) into an overwhelming wall of vocal harmony (including a
killer a cappella interlude) with just enough contrapuntal and
harmonic complexity to give it a bit of spice. I could not have
asked for a better way to close this stunning showcase of young
operatic talent. Congratulations to everyone involved, including
any singers I have missed. You were all terrific, trust me. I just
wish this annual event could run for more than one night.
While we’re on the topic, a footnote regarding OTSL’s Young
Artist Programs is perhaps in order.
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The full company in the Candide finale
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
Gerdine Young Artists is an intensive nine-week professional
development program for rising young singers that includes master
classes, extensive vocal coaching, and performances in both the
OTSL chorus and supporting roles in the festival season.
Admission is highly selective. This season only 28 of over 1100
applicants who submitted video auditions made it into the program.
Add in the two performers who were admitted to the Gaddes Festival
Artists program—an honor reserved for “exceptionally remarkable
young singers”—and you have quite the all-star lineup.
This year’s Gaddes Festival singers were baritone Titus Muzi III
and soprano Kathleen O’Mara. If you saw Muzi in this year’s “La
Bohème” or last year’s “Tosca” or O’Mara’s Lucia (from “Lucia di
Lammermoor”) or Marguerite (from “Faust”) at least year’s concert,
I think you’ll agree that they fully deserve to be called
“exceptionally remarkable”.
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Christine Brewer
Photo: Eric Woolsey |
The Gaddes Festival Artists program was named after OTSL’s
founder Richard Gaddes, who died last December at
the age of 81. This year’s concert, as a result, included
fond remembrances of Gaddes from OTSL General Manager Andrew
Jorgensen, Artistic Director James Robinson, and celebrated OTSL
alumna Christine Brewer. As part of her
tribute Brewer and pianist Kirt Pavitt gave us a moving
performance of the 1934 song “When I Have Sung My Songs” by Ernest
Charles (1895–1984), which Gaddes had requested she sing, as a
memorial.
Added to the 22 other musical numbers, the tributes to Gaddes
made this one of the longer programs, but only a die-hard
curmudgeon (which I am not) could object to such heartfelt
sentiments about the man who made OTSL possible. Besides there
was, as usual, so much musical variety and so many strong
performances that it hardly mattered.
The Opera Theatre season is over now, but the 2025 season has
already been announced. Check the OTSL web site for
details.
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