BWW Reviews: Met Recital in Central Park is a Tour of the High Cs (and Higher)

When last heard on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, mezzo Isabel Leonard and soprano Erin Morley were a couple of nuns on their way to the guillotine in LES DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES. This time around, the two women--along with tenor Stephen Costello--kicked off the Met's Summer Recital Series at SummerStage in Central Park, and it was the audience that lost its head.

Sweltering evening, cool performances

The charming program of opera warhorses--plus a couple of Spanish songs and some Broadway standards--showed off the American singers' considerable assets, and despite sweltering temperatures, they hardly seemed to break a sweat. While it's a challenge to gauge the size of a singer's voice through the amplification in a venue like SummerStage, it was nonetheless easy to hear how secure the three young artists were in the program. For me, there were a couple of standouts.

Costello was 'King of the high Cs' for the evening, with a delightful rendition of Donizetti's "Ah! Mes amis" from LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT. Unfortunately, the sound system at SummerStage isn't designed for nuance, but his ardent performances of "Salut! Demeure chaste et pure" from Gounod's FAUST and "Questa o quella" from Verdi's RIGOLETTO seemed to be models of their kind.

Out of the park

The evening's knockout performance was delivered by Morley: "Les oiseaux dans la charmille"--better known as the doll Olympia's aria from LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN by Offenbach. In the evening's only bit of staging, she was wheeled out on a dolly and set up to perform. And perform she did; the stratosphere held no fears for her. (Were those high E's or G's I heard?) She also made strong impressions in an excerpt ("Sulla tomba...") from Donizetti's LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (with Costello) and in "Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren," the presentation of the rose scene, from Strauss's DER ROSENKAVALIER (with Leonard).

A lush performance

Leonard's increasingly exasperated "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA showed off her wonderful bel canto chops and sense of humor. But my favorite solo was her lush performance of "Canción de cuna para dormir un negrito (Lullaby to a black child)." One of the relatively unfamiliar Cinco Canciones Negras, the song presented an evocative portrait of the West Indies by the Catalan composer Montsalvatge.

The singers had impeccable support from Bradley Moore, one of the Met's assistant conductors, at the piano. He was a willing foil, particularly during Leonard's delightful performance of "Tu n'es pas beau, tu n'es pas riche" ("You're not handsome, you're not rich") from Offenbach's LA PÉRICHOLE.

Was there anything I would have changed? It's nitpicking, but I would have liked a less opera-ish sound from the women in the Bernstein-Sondheim WEST SIDE STORY selections--"Tonight," "One Hand, One Heart" and "I Feel Pretty"--though Costello was just right. Never mind. It was a fine evening and great to hear that "The Metropolitan Opera: The Next Generation" is in good hands.

The concert will be repeated Friday July 19 at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Photo (right to left): soprano Erin Morley, mezzo Isabel Leonard, tenor Stephen Costello and conductor/pianist Bradley Moore.

Photo: Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera

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