A star-studded 60th for Merola
In 1957, just four years after San Francisco Opera founder Gaetano Merola collapsed and died while conducting “Madama Butterfly” in Stern Grove, the company established the Merola Opera Program to honor his name and legacy. Six decades later, this intensive and invaluable training program continues to be one of the nation’s most prolific shapers of young operatic talent.
The extent of that record could be glimpsed, even if only fleetingly, during the anniversary gala concert held on Sunday, June 11, at the Herbst Theatre. A small sampling of the many hundreds of artists that have come through Merola gathered onstage to sing a series of well-chosen arias and duets, while many more — from such star alumni as Patricia Racette and Thomas Hampson to up-and-comers just a year or two out of the program — sent greetings and tributes by video.
The result was a feel-good celebration of a cultural treasure that certainly deserves celebration. It is no exaggeration to say that the foundations laid during summer after summer of education — providing everything from vocal and language training to the sheer power of industry networking — have had a lasting impact on the American
operatic landscape.
And you could see the shape of some of that impact on Sunday — in the testimonials from Merolini past and present, in the range and excellence of the music-making, and in the sense the evening provided of a long and unbroken history of accomplishment. (Two members of the very first crop of Merola participants, Donna Petersen and Margot Blum Schevill, were announced as present.)
Even the opening selection, the Barcarolle from Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann,” seemed designed to emphasize the program’s ongoing influence. The two principal singers were luminaries of the operatic world who had got their start in Merola — soprano Deborah Voigt, who also provided a few genial opening and closing remarks, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick — but the choral music was supplied by the members of this summer’s program, secreted throughout the audience.
After that ingenious opening salvo, the evening proceeded through 90 minutes of handsomely delivered excerpts, with John Churchwell and Mark Morash acting as tag-team piano accompanists.
Zajick returned later on to deliver a powerhouse account of “Voi lo sapete” from Mascagni’s “Cavalleria rusticana,” and Voigt hammed it up with mezzosoprano Catherine Cook in a diva-themed retrofit of “Anything You Can Do” from “Annie Get Your Gun.”
The two male leads of the Opera’s current “Rigoletto” production, baritone Quinn Kelsey and tenor Pene Pati, lavished their gifts on selections from, respectively, Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier” and Mascagni’s “L’amico Fritz” (the latter in tandem with soprano Julie Adams). Issachah Savage, a 2013 participant who has since seen his star rise elsewhere, unleashed his formidable tenor in music by Wagner, Saint-Saëns and Verdi.
Yet perhaps the evening’s most delightful moment was the return of soprano Tracy Dahl, whose pinpoint coloratura and silvery tone has not been heard at the War Memorial Opera House since (checks the archives) 1999. But there she was again, romping through “Je suis Titania” from Ambroise Thomas’ “Mignon” with all her wellremembered accuracy and pixieish charm intact. You couldn’t listen to her sing and not feel glad that Merola had given a talent like hers its start.