Adler Fellows in all their diverse styles
singers showed up, to glorious effect.
Cohen put his extraordinary vocal sonority — muscular, sleek and full of enchanting colors — to use in a dramatic aria from Handel’s “Admeto,” then returned after intermission for a pinpoint account of the showcase “Di tanti palpiti” from Rossini’s “Tancredi.”
Cambidge and van Schoonhoven distinguished themselves first individually — in excerpts from Strauss’ rarely heard “Die Ägyptische Helena” and Wagner’s “Parsifal,” respectively — and then together, bringing the evening to a close with a sumptuous traversal of the love duet from Act 2 of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” The path to Wagnerian mastery is long and arduous, and these two are clearly well on their way.
Yet some of the concert’s most ravishing singing came in the familiar repertoire, beginning with soprano Natalie Image’s performance of “Regnava nel silenzio” from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” a thrilling display of tonal lushness and agility. Mezzosoprano Ashley Dixon, who supported her in that scene, returned for a darkly arresting account of Marguerite’s “D’amour l’ardente flamme” from “The Damnation of Faust” by Berlioz, and the two wound up their evening with glittering passagework in parallel during an exquisite excerpt from Donizetti’s “Siege of Calais.”
The men, meanwhile, were holding up their end as well. Pati ran through arias by Flotow and Lehár with a blend of freshness and lyricism, as well as a showman’s flair. Bassbaritone Christian Pursell and baritone Andrew Manea brought vocal heft and rhetorical urgency, separately and together, to music by Rossini, Bellini and Verdi.
Helping things along was the superb musical leadership of conductor Christopher Franklin, an American working in Europe who debuted with the company last year in Puccini’s “Turandot.” The conducting for these events can sometimes be faceless at best, but Franklin established his presence out of the gate leading the Opera Orchestra in a magnificent rendition of the overture to Verdi’s “Un Giorno di Regno,” and made vivid contributions to the proceedings throughout. Let’s hope we get to hear more from him.