NCCO and Ailyn Peréz

* Notes *
Dazzling soprano Ailyn Peréz (pictured left, photograph by Paul Marc Mitchell) replaced Susanna Phillips in New Century Chamber Orchestra's 2015-2016 season opener last night in Berkeley, traveling to the Bay Area between her performances of La Bohème at La Scala and the world premiere of Jake Heggie's Great Scott in Dallas. The program, which will be performed in Palo Alto, San Francisco, and San Rafael in the following days, features Russian composers and Jennifer Higdon.

Peréz, dressed in a sparkly silver gown with matching heels, sang a limpid Vocalise by Rachmaninoff, every note vivid and beautifully colored. Her voice is exceedingly bright. The performance of the Letter Aria from Eugene Onegin was similarly evocative and NCCO sounded full and lush, especially for such a small string ensemble.

Lead by the inimitable Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, NCCO is a well-oiled machine that plays with a lot of fire. The concert also included Pärt's stately Trisagion, some Jennifer Hidgon pieces that went from dramatic to serene and back again, and Shostakovich's Elegy and Polka, the former played with elegant grace and the latter with sardonic verve. The encore of Schnittke's Polka was great fun.

 * Tattling * 
Lots of talking in the second half from the man in L 101.