Review: Richard Tucker Gala Anoints Jamie Barton 2015 Prize Winner at Geffen Hall Concert

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual galas--celebrating each year's winner of the Tucker Award, American singers embarking on major careers--are known for two things. First, they are notoriously fun evenings of opera warhorses and, second, they are guessing games: Which of the singers scheduled to perform won't show up?

This year's gala, at the newly rechristened David Geffen Hall, fulfilled the first object delectably, as it celebrated mezzo Jamie Barton. As for the guessing game, well it was pretty much a bust--almost everyone appeared as scheduled, with only one, but very noticeable, exception.

Barton performed splendidly, though I wished she had chosen pieces that let her personality come through a little better. Her first aria, "Acerba volutta" from Cilea's ADRIANA LECOUVREUR, however, showed off her range, from fiery to velvety.

Later in the program, she paired with soprano Christine Goerke (who won the Tucker in 2001), in "E un anathema" from Ponchielli's LA GIOCONDA and the duo gave a good reason to revive this opera, which has fallen off the Met's radar for some time. It's a tough task keeping up with Goerke, who is a fireball these days, and this duet was no exception. She jumped into it, practically setting the stage on fire, but Barton gave her a run for her money. Goerke also gave a powerful "O don fatale" from Verdi's DON CARLO--though I wished that Barton had taken a crack at it, just to hear what she would have done with it.

The two singers were also featured in the concert's finale, "The Triumphal Scene" from Verdi's AIDA, which ended up being kind of a mess when baritone George Gagnidze--a memorable Scarpia at the Met--didn't show up and the organizers couldn't round up a replacement in time. So they simply truncated the scene to leave out his music--a necessary but unsatisfactory solution. I'm not sure what his problem was--he was the only one on the program with a single slot--but it certainly threw the finale into disarray.

The scene gave, however, a taste of what Goerke and Barton might do in the roles--including how they can overpower the wrong tenor in the role of Radames. The unfortunate tenor, here, was Andrea Bocelli--who was included in the program, I suppose, because of his audience appeal for the PBS broadcast in February, but was shown to poor effect.

It may be admirable that he has been able to carve out a substantial career and fan base despite his disability and lack of training, but compared to the rest of the singers, he was simply out of his league. Oh, he had the notes (or most of them) necessary for his scenes from LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and LA BOHEME, but not the technique to sing with sopranos Nadine Sierra and Renee Fleming, respectively. And he was simply drowned out by Goerke and Barton. It will be interesting to hear how the miracle of technology can remix his performances for the concert's broadcast.

Mezzo Isabel Leonard (Tucker winner 2013) showed why Angelina (aka Cinderella) in LA CENERENTOLA is one of her most popular roles, with "Nacqui all'affano...Non piu mesta," though I personally could have used a little more punch in her performance. Nadine Sierra was the wild card of the evening. She recently stepped into the role of Lucia on short notice at the San Francisco Opera and is about to make her Met debut as Gilda in the second cast of RIGOLETTO. She showed a lovely coloratura in "Va! Je t'ai pardonee" from Gounod's ROMEO ET JULIETTE, paired with Stephen Costello (a Tucker winner from 2009), who seems to do well only if he has the right partner. (I recall a wonderful scene from L'ELISIR D'AMORE with his ex-wife, Ailyn Perez.) He was in good voice here, with none of his frequent hang-dog expression. Sierra also gave a taste of her Lucia, with the "Sulla tomba...Verrano a te sull'aure" scene that she shared with Bocelli.

Actually, there was another wild card--but of a different kind: Angela Gheorghiu. As famous for her cancellations as for her singing, Gheorghiu gave a wonderful, spicy rendition of Catalani's most famous aria from LA WALLY, "Ebben, ne andro lontana" along with a plaintive, well sung "In quelle trine morbide," which I assume was an audition for future performances of the Met's new MANON LESCAUT.

Renee Fleming (Tucker winner in 1990) was in fine, relaxed form for the evening, with a expressive performance of another aria from ADRIANA, "Io son l'umile ancella." She almost made her duet with Bocelli work, apparently inspiring him to find something deeper than his wont in "O soave fanciulla" from LA BOHEME. She had a better partner in Piotr Beczala, in the ardent "Il se fait tard" from Gounod's FAUST. On his own, Beczala took on "Nessun dorma" from TURANDOT; while I don't think he's ready to do the whole role on stage, he made a strong impression with his fluent upper register, though the beginning lay a little low for him.

The audience pleaser of the evening--or, at least one of the top ones--was tenor Lawrence Brownlee (Tucker winner in 2006), who not only chose a lesser known aria worth hearing, "Terra amica...Cara! Deh attendimi!" from Rossini's ZELMIRA, but blew the roof off with his easy coloratura and soaring high notes.

Last but certainly not least, was the fine work of the New York Choral Society, under David Hayes, which had started the evening with "Ohe! Ohe presto" from Leoncavallo's I PAGLIACCI and finished with the truncated scene from AIDA. Members of the Met Orchestra kept the performance rolling along under Eugene Kohn, though Gheorghiu nearly tilted the balance with some odd cadences that Kohn had trouble keeping up with. We'll see how the broadcast handles that!

###

To post a comment, you must register and login.