This is an online only review - no other format is available.
Permission is granted to print and distribute this review in any format.

The Grandeur of Opera
The Grandeur of Opera redux
Sunday, October 29, 2006 & Saturday, November 11, 2006
By Paul M. Somers

Sunday, October 29, 2006
Princeton Pro Musica chorus and orchestra, Frances Fowler Slade (conductor), Veronica Mitina (soprano), Sonia Gariaeff (mezzo-soprano), Richard Ziebarth (bass). “The Grandeur of Opera.”. Bizet: Carmen — Prelude, Scene and Chorus, Chorus of Cigarette Girls, Habenera (Act 1), Toreador Song (Act II), Micaela’s Aria (Act III), March and Chorus (Act IV); Verdi: Il trovatore - Anvil Chorus, Nabucco - Chorus of Hebrew Slaves, Aïda - Triumphal Scene; Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer — Overture, Spinning Song, Senta’s Ballad (scene 2), Sailor’s Chorus (scene 3); Lohengrin — Bridal Chorus; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg — Procession and Chorale, Finale (Act III). Richardson Auditorium, Princeton.

Saturday, November 11
Coro Lirico, Jason Tramm (conductor), Caroline Parody (piano), Lorraine Ernest, Nancy Mion, Gloria Diamond (sopranos), Theodore Chletsos (tenor), Kenneth Overton (bass). Bellini: La sonnambula - opening scene; Ponchielli: La Gioconda - Cielo e mar; Verdi: Macbeth - Witches Chorus; Mozart: Idomeneo - Voyagers’ Chorus; Bellini: I Puritani - A, per sempre; Verdi: Il trovatore - Di quella pira; Gounod: Faust: Waltz Scene and Chorus, Jewel Song; Gershwin: Porgy and Bess - I Got Plenty of Nuttin’; Verdi: Macbeth - Chorus of Scottish Refugees; Delibes: Lakme - Indian Bell Song; Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana - Easter Hymn. Presbyterian Church, Chatham Township.

The odds of two different and independent concerts bearing the identical title are not so steep when the subject is opera. “The Grandeur of Opera” is hardly a stretch — obvious on the one hand and challenging on the other. Both the Princeton Pro Musica with its Met Chorus-sized ensemble and Wagner-sized orchestra, and the Coro Lirico, with its smaller size and a piano accompaniment, lived up to the title.

In both concerts the sponsoring chorus was completely up to the task. Were it not for the stamina it would take, this listener would have been ready to sit in place for more from both choruses. After all, each concert lasted less time than any of the full operas from which we heard excerpts (with the exception of the one act Cavalleria rusticana. Each excerpt was most welcome, but each one was also both a teaser and a door-opener. Yes, I was teased into wanting to hear the rest of the opera, and yes, I could see in my mind’s eye the settings and the action, whether from my imagination or from the memory of an actual performance. And of course, there was the residual wish to program another “Grandeur” concert for each group.

The Princeton Pro Musica, led most ably by Frances Fowler Slade, is a chorus of considerable size which does a wide variety of music, including its annual Messiah. Coro Lirico was founded by Italo Marchini for the express purpose of singing opera choruses and non-operatic works by opera composers. Now conducted by Jason Tramm, they will be performing Verdi’s famed Requiem in the spring, a work which they also did with Marchini. Both groups hired professional soloists. These were similarities.

The differences were not merely the obvious — and thus to a certain extent superficial — sizes of the two groups, and Princeton’s first-rate orchestra vs. Lirico’s fine pianist Caroline Parody. When both the choruses were singing the audience was fully captured by the fullness of sound, by the expanse of the expressivity, and the emotional lift a great chorus lends to an operatic scene. But Ms. Slade chose to dip deeply into the grandeur of three representative composers: French Bizet, Italian Verdi, and German Wagner; Mr. Tramm on the other hand chose to inspect the grand moments of eight composers including one French and one American, but no Germans. Neither touched one of the great choral operas of all time, Mussorgsky’s Russian masterpiece Boris Godunov. For both groups one can only wish to hear, say, the “Coronation Scene” with a great basso next time. We know there will be a next time for Coro Lirico, but we pray there will also be a next time for Pro Musica.

With a full orchestra on stage, Slade made sure she used it to full advantage. The concert began with the slam-bang excitement of the Prelude to Carmen, opened the second half with the stormy Overture to Der fliegende Holländer, and concluded with the exuberant final Sachs monolog and chorus from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Slade gave the orchestra its head, as it were, yet kept things together so that ensemble was only an issue once, but more about that below. Dynamics from both chorus and orchestra were at a full range with mere whispers for *pianissimos and *fortissimos that threatened damage to Richardson Auditorium.

The women were featured in the “Chorus of Cigarette Girls” from Carmen and in “Spinning Song” from Holländer, with the men bringing great gusto to the “Sailor’s Chorus” from the same opera. There was laughter as the men “danced” in place.

We are so used to Slade’s ability to draw understandable diction from a large group, that it is easy to take it for granted. But here, functioning in three languages for the evening, she did it again! One has to be impressed.

With the need to switch gears from composer to composer for each choral work, Mr. Tramm often used his soloists as vocal buffers between choral works. But the concert began with soprano Lorraine Ernest and the chorus letting fly with the opening scene from Bellini’s *bel canto masterpiece La sonnambula. It was a surefire opener, with clear rhythms driving along and the soprano soloist soaring overhead.

Tramm supplied more moments of subdued power than Slade. The “Voyagers’ Chorus” from Mozart’s Idomeneo simply floated along on the air. The “Chorus of Scottish Refugees” from Macbeth was deeply emotional, and the final “Easter Hymn” from Cavalleria built to its climax from the softest of beginnings. All three were powerful evocations of grandeur.

In short, both choruses and their conductors played to their innate strengths and thus provided first rate performances.

For the most part the soloists were at the same level. Both soprano Veronica Mitina and mezzo-soprano Sonia Gariaeff shone for the Princeton Pro Musica, the former for her Senta and the latter for her Carmen. Both had full, powerful voices and interpretive skills to match.

For Coro Lirico sopranos Lorraine Ernest and Nancy Mion were also superb. Baritone Kenneth Overton also shone.

Ms. Ernest proved to be a coloratura of striking ability. After she sang the final high note of the now sadly neglected “Indian Bell Song” from Delibes’ Lakme, there was a roar of applause. But leading up to that was a display of vocal acrobatics which was not only audacious, but in tune. She received cheers.

Nancy Mion was also agile as she sang the ever-popular “Jewel Song” from Faust. I was not overly fond of her trill-like vibrato, but this is a set-piece aria in which trill work. She certainly put the song across.

Gloria Diamond sang only the soprano solo in the “Easter Hymn”, but she made the most of it, soaring over the full chorus in the climactic moments.

Overton was as big a hit as Ernest. His big, warm voice used a wide *dynamic range. Whether he was singing “A per sempre” from I Puritani or “I Got Plenty of Nuttin’” from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, his musical line and connection with the audience were great assets. He also received cheers.

There were, however, some problems in both concerts. For the Princeton Pro Musica there was bass Richard Ziebarth. It did not bode well when he was overmatched by the orchestra in the “Toreador’s Song” and did not sing in tune. But one could optimistically say that it is for a high baritone, and he was listed as a bass. One waited for his Hans Sachs, though taking note that his was given nothing from Holländer. Sadly, he was even more overmatched by the orchestra and even more out of tune in Sachs’ final monolog. Perhaps his personal grandeur would surface in roles requiring less raw power.

For the Coro Lirico the problem lay with the tenor soloist Theodore Chletsos. To be sure, he had a fine vocal quality, heft to his voice which he never pushed into ugliness, and musicality. But he seemed to be suffering from “junk” on his vocal chords which prevented him from keeping pitch when he went for his high Cs. The pitch varied, not by slipping but by suddenly “clicking” to a new pitch with a rough sound. This was clearly not his normal voice in that range, so we await another chance to hear him when his equipment is in top order. Some singers would have canceled, but Chletsos sang well when in the *staff, and so did not wholly disappoint.

Both groups supplied encores for their cheering fans. Princeton Pro Musica sang the opening of Act II of Die Fledermaus with great verve and gusto. Coro Lirico in a much different vein sang the “Humming Chorus” from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the only work by that composer in either concert.

Both groups included Verdi’s “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” (“Va pensiero”) from Nabucco, Pro Musica as part of its Verdi set, and Coro Lirico as its final encore. It has become a symbol of the operatic spirit, partly because of its life-altering genesis, bringing the despairing and depressed Verdi back from the brink after the loss of his family. Of course it also stood for regaining freedom from oppression and thus became the unofficial “national anthem” of the Italian nationalists. It continues to bear that message of freedom, even in a world in which the path toward that goal is quite confused. No matter the age or the time, its theme of being transported to a better place through music is message both choruses wanted to preach, and did so effectively.

“Grandeur” was the theme, and grand both concerts were.

---

Return to CNJS Home Page | Return to Reviews Table of Contents