Opera festival opener bodes well for upcoming 'Figaro'
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Baritone Andrew Wilkowske, right, pictured with pianist Emily Hampner at Thursday’s Opening Gala, will play Figaro in the Green Mountain Festival’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro.” spencerleonard.com photo |
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By Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff - Published: June 8, 2009
WAITSFIELD – A showcase of the stars of upcoming "The Marriage of Figaro" opened the fourth annual Green Mountain Opera Festival, Thursday at the Joslyn Round Barn. And if these young singers are as good in two weeks, when they present two performances of Mozart's comic masterpiece June 19 and 21 at the Barre Opera House, opera lovers are in for a treat. The Opening Gala revealed the festival's most consistently good singing to date.
That was made clear in the lovely "Sull'aria" from "The Marriage of Figaro," where sopranos Jennifer Aylmer as Susanna and Kate Mangiameli as the Countess Almaviva create a letter to ensnare the disbelieving Figaro and the philandering Count. This is one of the most lyrical and well-known duets in opera, and the two were well matched with contrasting yet complementing voices.
Aylmer, who just starred in Opera Boston's "Bartered Bride" and made her Met debut in 2005, is an earthy singer, with just the right amount of sweetness and lyricism to make her the perfect canny servant girl. Mangiameli, who has sung myriad roles throughout American regional opera, makes for an elegant Countess, with a rich low range rising to a brilliant high, all seamlessly. The two, who are often together in the opera, looked, acted and sang convincingly.
The Green Mountain Opera Festival will present Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" on Friday, June 19, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 21, at 3 p.m., at the Barre Opera House. Before then, public master classes and open rehearsals are open to the public with no admission charge, while several concerts require tickets, all of which are in Waitsfield.
Baritone Andrew Wilkowske, the production's Figaro and whom Opera News called "a lusty-voiced fellow, played another Mozart character, Papageno from "The Magic Flute," in the "Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa" duet with Aylmer singing Papagena. The performance rich warm and charming, while Wilkowske prove his vocal flexibility in two arias from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," singing the same role as in "The Marriage of Figaro."
One of the most dramatic moments of the evening was the Nedda-Silvia duet from "Pagliacci," with baritone Phillip Addis, who will play the Count, and soprano Susie Hellman, who is covering Susanna. Addis, who recently starred in the Opéra de Montréal's "Pearl Fishers," proved a strong presence with a rich – but never heavy – and deft baritone.
Hellman also combined her brilliant soprano and a very human warmth in "Ain't it a pretty night" from Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah." Bass Mark Freiman delivered a powerful and touching performance of the preacher Blitch's prayer of repentance from the same opera. Freiman, who sang Don Basilio in 2006's "The Barber of Seville," will play Dr. Bartolo in "The Marriage of Figaro."
Mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala, who will sing the role of the over-sexed boy Cherubino, offered a deeply sad passionate performance of "Maria la o" from the zarzuela of the same title. It wasn't anything like her upcoming role, but her clear and warm vocal line and deeply felt musicality bodes well.
Mezzo-soprano Katrina Corbeil, who will play Marcellina, sang the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen with a rich and sultry theatricality, working her wiles on the audience. Light-voiced tenor Brett Colby, who will play dual roles of Basilio and Curzio, was wonderfully funny in "Jour et nuit" from Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffman."
All the performances were ably accompanied by Emily Hamper on piano. Not only did all of the singers prove more than able, they seemed to particularly well-cast for "The Marriage of Figaro," theatrically, physically and vocally.