The Opera Tattler

Merola Grand Finale 2024

* Notes *
This year's Merola Grand Finale was held last night at San Francisco Opera. It is always interesting to hear singers on the main stage with the full orchestra, conducted here by Steven White.

The set was from Tristan und Isolde, which opens next month. There were lighting effects and two stagehands would move a bench about in between numbers.I'm not sure how effective director Anna Theodosakis work was, especially with this bench, but it was amusing.

There were often exaggerated mannered movements in the comedic scenes like soprano Moriah Natasha Berry and baritone Olivier Zerouali in "Pronta io son" from Donizetti's  Don Pasquale  or  bass-baritone Donghoon Kang, bass-baritone Benjamin Sokol, and tenor Angelo Silva in "Pappataci! Che mai sento?" from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algieri (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken). The singing in this duet and trio was great, all very charming and light. I particularly liked how sweet tenor Silva was.

The more weighty pieces were most impressive. The quartet "Mir ist so wunderbar" from Fidelio was absolutely lovely. Soprano Hannah Cho is a dainty and hopefully Marzellina, bass-baritone Donghoon Kang sounds very warm as Rocco, and tenor Nathan Bryon held his own. But best of all was soprano Mary Hoskins as Leonora, whose voice is clear and utterly effortless. I also really liked hearing mezzo-soprano Simone Genga (Adalgisa) and soprano Lydia Grindatto (Norma) sing together in "Mira, o Norma...Si fino all'ore estreme."

There were some more unusual pieces selected, including "Lord, take this wanting from me" from Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Now and at the hour of our death from Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, and "Longing for Diamond Mountain" a song in Korean by Young Sun Choi. Baritone Justice Yates did well in the Blanchard, as did soprano Elizabeth Hanje in the Heggie, I definitely would like to hear both these singers again. It was fun to hear the three Korean singers, soprano Hannah Cho, baritone Hyungyin Son, and bass-baritone Donghoun Kang sing in their native language.

Also impressive was soprano Alexa Frankian and tenor Giorgi Guliashvili (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) in "Tvoyo mol? an'e peponyatno?" from Iolanta.The singing was powerful and moving.

Our ending piece which has all the Merolini on stage was Noel Coward's "I'll see you again" from the 1929 operetta Bitter Sweet.

*Tattling * 
As with last year in lieu of an overture we had talking. The new Executive Director of Merola Sean Waugh wpoke first, and three current Adler Fellows (Olivia Smith, Arianna Rodriguez, and Caroline Corrales).

The audience was quiet and engaged. I was surrounded by blogger friends who all are very well-behaved. The main thing I noticed was that people really want to look at their programs even though it's very dark in the hall during the performance. On the aisles there are lights illuminating the row letter, and many people that could would use this to see where we were in the sequence of the concert.

Merola's Don Giovanni

* Notes *
Patricia Racette's production of Don Giovanni (end of Act I pictured left, photograph by Kristen Loken) opened at Merola Opera Program last night in San Francisco. There was lots of very strong singing and the direction felt very human and sensible.

Set in 1950s Rome, the stage featured lots of screens and levels that could be accessed by stairs. The staging made it so that people could easily hide or exit, making everything flow very naturally. The costumes were all very attractive and the opera does work perfectly fine in this new setting. I was a bit confused what happened at the end of Act I, it seems that Don Giovanni and Leporello were surrounded and beaten and it is unclear how they escaped.

Stefano Sarzani seemed to have a lot of problems keeping the orchestra together, the musicians are very exposed in this music. It make me feel a little seasick. On the plus side, the orchestra hardly ever overwhelmed the very loud and powerful singing.

Soprano Moriah Berry and bass-baritone Justice Yates make for a very adorable Zerlina and Masetto. Berry has some interesting texture to her voice, which is robust and seems to emanate very clearly  from her face rather than her chest. Yates  is likewise at a high volume, I liked how his low notes and high notes all seemed to resonate equally. Bass-baritone Benjamin R. Sokol seemed also sturdy as the Commendatore, he did seem to be backstage for his vocal appearances in Act II, so it wasn't always easy to gauge the quality of his sound. Bass-baritone Donghoon Kang makes for a funny and pleasant Leporello, he was great in the Catelogue aria, very endearing.

Tenor Michael John Butler is plaintive as  Don Ottavio, his "Dalla sua Pace" very sweet. He did not sing "Il mio tesoro." Soprano Lydia Grindatto has a metallic but dark sound as Donna Anna, that has a roundness that is never harsh. Soprano Viviana Aurelia Goodwin was more incisive as Donna Elvira, but not shrill either. Her "Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata" was beautiful. Baritone Hyungjin Son is a charming Don Giovanni, he ingratiates himself in a convincing way. His voice is resonant from top to bottom, he sounded great in the Champagne aria and in the duet "Là ci darem la mano."

* Tattling *
There was little to no electronic noise, nor was there much talking or whispering. However, someone in the center section distinctly sang along with the tenor aria in Act I.

Merola Grand Finale 2023

* Notes *
The Merola Grand Finale (participants pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) was held Saturday night on the main stage of the War Memorial Opera House. It was great to hear the singers with the full orchestra conducted by Kelly Kuo.

The set looked to be a scene from Il Trovatore, which opens the San Francisco Opera season next month and consisted of a tilted grey concrete structure with rows of windows. The background was illuminated with different colored lights depending on the piece. I enjoyed the direction from Tania Arazi Coambs, there were lots of arm gestures, dancing, and the like. It was especially effective for the sextet "Siete voi...Questo è un nodo avviluppato" from Rossini's La Cenerentola.

There were many charming moments in this concert. It was great to hear "Ai capricci della sorte" from L'Italiana in Algeri also by Rossini, though the patter was not completely effortless, mezzo-soprano Cecelia Steffen McKinley as Isabella and bass-baritone Finn Sagal as Taddeo sang nicely and clearly can act. I felt the text was obvious and did not need to look at the supertitles to know what was happening.

There were some interesting choices as far as repertoire, I liked the contrast of the duet "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles with the one from Gregory Spears' Fellow Travelers "I should take you to Bermuda." Both have to do with with love and feature a tenor and a baritone, though in Bizet the two characters are romantically interested in the same woman rather than each other. Tenor Sahel Salam has a reedy sound that works well for Nadir and tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr. (pictured with baritone Cameron Rolling, photograph by Kristen Loken) has an effective voice for Timothy Laughlin. Sampson's sound has very pleasing resonances and was equally lovely in his duet in the second half of the performance, "In un coupé... O Mimì tu più non torni" from La Bohème.

It does seem that many of the Merolini have exceedingly powerful voices. We started the performance with soprano Georgiana Adams singing "Dich teure Halle" from Tannhäuser, and her icy sound is very strong. When she came back for "Sola, sola in bui loco" as Donna Anna, her voice was most prominent, though soprano Simona Genga was also pretty loud as Donna Elvira. After the intermission we heard these two in "Die selige Morgentraum...Selig, wie die Sonne" with Adams as Eva and Genga as Magdalene, both were impressive. Genga also had a memorable turn in "Carceleras" from Ruperto Chapi's zarzuela Las hijas del Zebedeo.

Mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis exuded a certain dignity as Margaret Garner in "A quality of love," from the opera by Richard Danielpour. Lewis showed her dramatic range as Luce in "Sing for your supper" along with soprano Juliette Chauvet as Adriana and Joanne Evans as Luciana (pictured from left to right Chauvet, Evans, and Lewis, photograph by Kristen Loken). This trio from The Boys of Syracuse by Rodgers and Hart could not be more different in tone from Margaret Garner.

The evening ended with "Overhead the moon is beaming" from the 1924 operetta The Student Prince. The piece featured tenor Sahel Salam as the Prince, along with Natalie Lewis, Joanne Evans, and Finn Sagal. It was very entertaining and all of the Merolini joined them as the chorus.

*Tattling * 
Instead of an overture to kick off the performance, current Adler Fellow Moisés Salazar addressed the audience about how being in the Merola Opera Program changed his life.

The audience was fairly quiet but I did hear a cellphone ring during the duet from L'Italiana. There was also some light talking but nothing terribly egregious.

Merola's Metamorphosis Recital

* Notes *
The Merola held a recital entitled Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth last night at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Curated by Carrie-Ann Matheson and Nicholas Phan (pictured, photograph from Kristen Loken), this evening of art song featured a variety of composers, pianists, and of course, very strong singing from the new batch of Merola participants.

The recital began with tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr. (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) singing "Ah Love but a day" by Amy Beach. Sampson has a very powerful, rich voice and exceedingly clear diction. Later in the first half he sang Schumann's "Frühlings Ankunft," which was very pretty and Florence Price's "The Poet and his Song," which he sang with irrepressible joy that made the audience burst into applause although we were asked to only applaud for each section of the themed songs. Sampson showed a lot of charisma in Hugo Wolf's "Storchenbotschaft," he told the story clearly and conveyed the text well.

We heard bass-baritone Finn Sagal sing Samuel Barber's "Invocation to youth," which was robust. He has a good stage presence, my companion for the performance indicated that Sagal seemed like he would be great in musical theater, and in fact he ended the performance with Sondheim's "I know things now," Little Red Riding Hood's song from Into the Woods. He did particularly well though with Errolyn Wallen's "What shall I sing?" and it was adorable to see how much the other two singers sitting on stage with him were into Sagal's rendition.

It was wonderful to hear soprano Juliette Chauvet (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) sing Messaien's "Resurrection," her crystalline sound seemed perfect for this song. It was obvious that she is a native French speaker, even to my non-Francophone ears. I also liked hearing her duet with mezzo-soprano Joanne Evans, Chausson's "Le réveil."

Mezzo-soprano Simona Genga has an interesting, dramatic voice, very different than Evans. She seemed equally comfortable singing Jocelyn Morelock's "Somewhere Along the Line" and Schubert's "Die junge Nonne." The resonances of her sound were particularly pronounced in Alma Mahler's "Die Stille Stadt."

The baritones Cameron Rolling and Samuel Kidd were also distinct. Rolling has a pleasant, round tone, I especially liked his "Frühlingsglaube" and Kidd is lighter, with a brassy bright sound.

*Tattling * 
There was a lot of program rustling, even though everything was on a single page for each half. I also heard a watch alarm for 9pm, right after Alma Mahler's "Erntelied."

Merola Grand Finale 2022

* Notes *
The Merola Grand Finale (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) returned to the War Memorial Opera House last night for the first time since 2019. It was a joy to hear all these talented singers in person and in the opera house.

The stage was simple, basically three white screens and different colored lights for the various scenes. Only the duet "Vogliatemi bene" from Act I of Madama Butterfly had some static projections that looked like raindrops or petals. Matthew J. Schultz's stage direction had appeal, it was direct and unfussy.

I liked how mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz as Kitty Oppenheimer interacted with bass-baritone William Socolof in their aria "Am I in your Light?" (from Dr. Atomic) though he did not sing. It made sense to have Socolof play J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Printz did very well with both singing and acting. Also interesting was Schultz's choice to have the Card Trio from Carmen start with only Frasquita and Mercédès onstage, and then have Carmen join only later.

While there were many strong arias, such as countertenor Cody Bowers singing "D'un sventurato amante...Pena tiranna" from Handel's Amadigi di Gaula and bass-baritone Le Bu in Verdi's "O tu Palermo," the most impressive were the duets. Singers were well-matched and sang pieces nicely suited to their abilities. "Listen, Mary, trust me!" from Highway 1, U.S.A. by William Grant Still was sweeping and beautiful when sung by soprano Adia Evans and baritone Scott Lee. Soprano Maggie Kinabrew as a spunky Adina with bass-baritone Seungyun Kim as a very silly Dulcamara were charming in "Quanto amore!" Strongest of all in the first half of the evening though was undoubtedly soprano Amanda Batista and tenor Moisés Salazar in "Vogliatemi bene," the raw power yet total ease of their voices was arresting. They blended their sounds nicely as well.

In the second half, I found soprano Ariana Rodriguez and tenor Chance Jonas-O'Toole very adorable in "Tornami a dir che m'ami" from Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Rodriguez has some lovely resonances to her voice and Jonas-O'Toole is distinctive, warm and woodwind-like. Also notable was the Puccini duet from La bohème "Dunque è proprio finita" with soprano Adia Evans and tenor Daniel Luis Espinal which was vivid and very loud. As I'm a ridiculous fan of Gounod's Faust, I was very glad to hear soprano Chelsea Lehnea and bass-baritone Seungyun Kim sing "Alerte! Alerte!" with tenor Moisés Salazar acting the part of the title character.

*Tattling * 
It was fun seeing all the supporters of Merola that we've missed in the last two years, even if it was behind masks.

There was a bit of light talking on occasion, and someone's hearing aids made a lot of squeaky sounds during the performance. I must say I wasn't too annoyed by it, as I had sort of forgotten this could be an issue after all these months of pandemic precautions and staying inside. In a way I'm grateful to be able to even hear those high-pitched sounds still.

Merola's 2022 Participants

Sopranos
Amanda Batista, Manchester, New Jersey
Adia Evans, Baltimore, Maryland
Maggie Kinabrew, West Hartford, Connecticut
Chelsea Lehnea, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Celeste Morales, San Antonio, Texas
Olivia Prendergast, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ashley Marie Robillard, Norton, Massachusetts
Arianna Rodriguez, Fairfax, Virginia
Olivia Smith, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada

Mezzo-Sopranos
Veena Akama-Makia, Little Rock, Arkansas
Nikola Adele Printz, Oakland, California
Maggie Reneé, Los Angeles, California
Erin Wagner, El Paso, Texas

Tenors
Daniel Luis Espinal, Sarasota, Florida
Chance Jonas-O'Toole, Dallas, Texas
Jonghyun Park, Seoul, South Korea
Sahel Salam, Houston, Texas
Moisés Salazar, Santa Ana, California

Countertenor
Cody Bowers, Newnan, Georgia

Baritones
Andres Cascante, San José, Costa Rica
Scott Lee, Statesville, North Carolina

Bass-Baritones
Le Bu, Yancheng, China
SeungYun Kim, Cheongju, South Korea
William Socolof, White Plains, New York

Bass
Edwin Jhamaal Davis, Utica, Mississippi

Apprentice Coaches
Shawn Chang, Taipei, Taiwan
Juan José Lázaro, New York, New York
Yang Lin, Shanghai, China
Artyom Pak, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Deborah Robertson, Springfield, Missouri

Apprentice Stage Director
Matthew J. Schulz, Waverly, Iowa

The Merola Opera Program announced participants for 2022 today. The group looks to be very diverse, and even includes a pianist from Central Asia.

The 2022 season includes six performances including a recital entitled "A Celebration of American Song" on July 9, the Schwabacher Summer Concert on July 14 and 16, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte on August 4 and 6, and the Merola Grand Finale on August 20.

Official Site | Press Release

Merola's Home for the Holidays

* Notes *
San Francisco Opera's training program, Merola, held another virtual recital for the holidays via Vimeo with pianist James Harp, soprano Amber R. Monroe, tenor Edward Graves, and bass Kevin Thompson. I watched right when it was released last Sunday with my small children and it proved to be the perfect bit of Christmas cheer.

The recital was held at National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., and it was nice that this year the performers, at least, were together. The evening began with Graves singing "Comfort Ye / Ev'ry Valley" from Händel's Messiah. His voice is clear and warm, and has a certain lovely yearning to it. Graves is a new Adler for next year, and it will be exciting to hear him more soon. Later in the performance he sang "Una furtiva lagrima" from L'Elisir d'Amore, and this seemed to be exactly in his wheelhouse, as was the plaintive "Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz" from Das Land des Lächelns by Lehár.

Monroe sang "Quando me’n vo" from La bohème and it is obvious that she'd be a charming Musetta with her soaring, icy notes. She also sang a dramatic "Meine Lippen sie küssen so heiß" from Giuditta by Lehár.

My children liked Thompson most, I think they are overly fond of Kern's Showboat, and were pleased to hear him sing "Ol' Man River." My 4-year-old daughter also thought his rendition of  "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was very funny. Personally I preferred "Ecco il mondo" from Boito's Mefistofele, it showed off the range of his voice.

The performance ended with a very pretty version of "O Holy Night" that featured all the singers accompanied by the pianist.

*Tattling * 
Virtual recitals have come far in the last year, and there was little to tattle about.

Raehann Bryce-Davis' Merola Recital

* Notes *
Last Sunday the Merola Opera Program held a virtual recital of luminous mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis (pictured) accompanied by pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliers over Vimeo. The concise, direct performance showcased Bryce-Davis' beautiful voice and lovely warmth as an artist.

The recital began with four pieces in German. Bryce-Davis has a well-supported sound that seems ideal for the drama required for these songs. I particularly loved hearing Robert Schumann's "Die Lotosblume," sung with tenderness and delicacy.

The middle part of the performance included songs in English by African-American composers. These were moving, especially the world premiere of "I Am Not an Angry Black Woman" by Maria Thompson Corley. The way Bryce-Davis channeled the pain and dignity of this song is very effective.

The afternoon ended with the joyful music of Peter Ashbourne, singing three pieces based on Jamaican folk songs. If you missed the recital, it is available on demand until November 30, tickets are available by calling (415) 936-2311.

* Tattling * 
The first Peter Ashbourne song, "Banyan Tree," seemed to get slightly out-of-sync as far as the sound and image, this was unsettling.

Merola's Back Home: Through the Stage Door

* Notes *
Last month the Merola Opera Program filmed a series of pieces featuring the 2021 participants in the Herbst Theatre under the title Back Home: Through the Stage Door. Directed by David Paul, the 17 vignettes established a lovely warmth and intimacy.

The banter between bass-baritone Andrew Dwan (Presto) and tenor Gabriel Hernandez (Lacouf) in "Avec vous, vieux Lacouf" from Les mamelles de Tirésias was truly charming, they sang around pianist Anna Smigelskaya and had great chemistry.

I have a soft spot for local mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz and was so glad to hear them sing Sesto in "Son nata a lagrimar" from Giulio Cesare with fellow mezzo Jesse Mashburn as Cornelia. Printz also sang in two Mozart pieces "Ah, perdona al primo affetto" from La clemenza di Tito and "Pria di partir, oh Dio!" from Idomeneo, basically all my favorite repertoire.

Other highlights for me were soprano Catherine Goode being super creepy as the Lady with a Hand Mirror in Argento's Postcard from Morocco and soprano Celeste Morales singing Florence B. Price's "Hold fast to dreams." The latter gave me goosebumps, Morales has a beautiful, clear tone.

The finale of "Contessa perdono... Questo giorno di tormenti" from Le nozze di Figaro (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) was rousing. Baritone Laureano Quant is a fine Count, and soprano Mikayla Sager a very sympathetic Countess.

Tattling * 
My spouse caught me watching the end of this video on our television and noted that I even do standing room at home.

Merola Grand Finale 2021

* Notes *
The Merola Grand Finale took place in person on July 31, with a filmed version released to donors on August 20. Directed by Merola Stage Director Audrey Chait, the performance at the Bandshell in Golden Gate Park looked and sounded delightful.

The recital featured five singers accompanied by two of the apprentice coaches on piano. Each piece was introduced by Ms. Chait, who seems personable and looked very sprightly in a bright red suit. I liked her stage direction which employed simple props such as a parasol or broom, it wasn't clunky or too elaborate.

My favorite singers are definitely the mezzo-sopranos. Right away Gabrielle Beteag (Ino) and Jesse Mashburn (Athamas) had my attention with the duet "You've undone me" from Händel's Semele. Mashburn's voice has a rich sweetness, and Beteag's is a touch darker but also wonderfully warm. Chait had them get uncomfortably close to each other at points, which was dramatically effective.

Mashburn was also great with bass-baritone Andrew Dwan (pictured with pianist Shiyu Tan, photograph by Kristen Loken) in "Ai capricci della sorte" from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri. Dwan is a good actor with a clear presence and good facial expressions.

Tenor Victor Cardamone may have been less charismatic, but his voice is beautiful, very strong and clear when singing "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles with Dwan. I was less keen on the soprano, Catherine Goode, whose "Glitter and Be Gay" started off with an incisive shrillness but grew more bird-like as she continued. I did like her as Frasquita in "Mêlons! Coupons!" with the two mezzos.

The last piece of the recital was "Ah, sweet mystery of life" from Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta, an operetta from 1910 that was made into a film in 1935. It brought me to tears for some reason, all the singers participated as pianist Anna Smigelskaya played, even pianist Shiyu Tan joined in the singing at the very end. Somehow it was unexpected but also apt, and I enjoyed the scattering of dark red rose petals that occurred three times throughout the song.

Tattling * 
Since this performance occurred outdoors, the singers all had discreet microphones attached to their heads.

What the Heart Desires Recital

* Notes *
Merola, San Francisco Opera's summer training program, had a first in-person performance (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) on July 3, with a filmed version released to donors on July 16. Curated by African American mezzo-soprano Ronnita Miller and Asian American tenor Nicholas Phan, the program -- titled "What the Heart Desires" -- features works by women and composers of color.

The recital consisted of six singers accompanied by the apprentice coaches on piano. Nearly all the songs were in English. The new crop of Merolini all have very powerful, clean voices.

Especially impressive is tenor Edward Graves, his soaring notes in Henry Thacker Burleigh's "Among the Fuchsias" were imposing and his rendition of Undine Smith Moore's "I want to die while you love me" was stirring. I also liked hearing baritone Laureano Quant again, he was in the program two years ago, and was the only low voice of the group here. He sang a piece he wrote himself, "Ahora hablo de gaitas," Mohammed Fairouz's "After The Revels," and Viet Cuong's O Do Not Love Too Long."

Mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Beteag had much appeal in Ian Cusson's "Where There's A Wall," and pianist Shiyu Tan did will with all the percussive effects the piece requires. Soprano Celeste Morales both opened and closed the performance with vigor, beginning with Robert Owens' "Havana Dreams" and ending the afternoon with Maria Grever's "Jurame."

Tattling * 
It was great to hear so many different composers that don't normally get programed. That said, a few of the pieces did not do it for me, the text of Chen Yi's "Bright Moonlight" sounded like a word salad while Stacy Garrop's "What Can One Woman Do?" whose text is from Eleanor Roosevelt was rather declamatory as opposed to lyrical.

Merola's 2021 Participants

Sopranos
Emily Blair, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Catherine Goode, Friendswood, Texas
Magdalena Kuźma, New York, New York
Celeste Morales, San Antonio, Texas
Ashley Marie Robillard, Norton, Massachusetts
Mikayla Sager, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Johanna Will, Dresden, Germany

Mezzo-Sopranos
Gabrielle Barkidjija, River Forest, Illinois
Gabrielle Beteag, Atlanta, Georgia
Jesse Mashburn, Hartselle, Alabama
Nikola Printz, Novato, California

Tenors
Victor Cardamone, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Gabriel Hernandez, Tampa, Florida
Philippe L'Esperance, Grafton, Massachusetts
Tianchi Zhang, Huainan, Anhui, China

Baritones
Thomas Lynch, Lynbrook, New York
Samson McCrady, Tucson, Arizona
Laureano Quant, Barranquilla, Colombia

Bass-Baritones
Ben Brady, Denver, Colorado
Andrew Dwan, Mountain View, California

Apprentice Coaches
Erica Xiaoyan Guo, Tianjin, China
Yang Lin, Shanghai, China
Anna Smigelskaya, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Shiyu Tan, Changsha, Hunan, China
Marika Yasuda, Williamsburg, Virginia

Apprentice Stage Director
Audrey Chait, Menlo Park, California

The Merola Opera Program announced participants for 2021, most of whom were to be in the program last year. The program has a new artistic director, Carrie-Ann Matheson (pictured) and new general manager, Markus Beam.

The 2021 season includes three performances including a recital featuring black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and female composers on July 3, a digital format production from film director David Paul on July 30, and the Merola Grand Finale on July 31. Details for the locations of these performances is still to be determined.

Official Site | Press Release

Anything for Love and Honor Recital

* Notes *
The San Francisco Opera training program Merola successfully held a virtual recital last Sunday using Vimeo. Featuring tenor Issachah Savage (pictured), a Merola alum from 2013, the beautiful singing was entirely in German.

The recital was entitled "Anything for Love and Honor" and included arias and songs by Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf, and Richard Wagner. Savage and his piano accompanist Laurie Rogers started off strong with "Allmächt'ger Vater" from Wagner's Rienzi. Savage has a bright, focused tone and clear diction. Rogers gets a lot of colors out of the piano, and is an impressive stand-in for a whole orchestra.

Savage went on to sing three pieces by Strauss and three selections from Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch. His voice is powerful and open. I particularly liked the bouncy and dance-like "Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen." The two most memorable offerings were certainly at the end, both showstoppers from Wagner operas. His renditions of "Winterstürme" from Die Walküre and "Nur eine Waffe taugt" from Parsifal piqued my curiosity about hearing Savage sing a whole opera by Wagner. He's scheduled for LA Opera's Tannhäuser in October, and hopefully the Covid pandemic will be contained enough for us to be back at indoor performances by then.

Tattling * 
There were a few crackles and pops in the Vimeo live transmission of this performance, but it was nothing like the first attempt with this virtual venue back in February with Karen Slack's recital.

Savage wore some dapper blue shoes for his recital, and Rogers matched with a sparkly blue cardigan.

Of Thee I Sing! Songs of Love and Justice Recital

* Notes *
The Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera tried to hold a virtual recital back at the beginning of February using Vimeo. Featuring soprano Karen Slack (pictured, photograph by Scott Grieder) with pianist Mary Pinto, the weather in Philadelphia interrupted the performance several times and ultimately they had to rerecord the recital for on demand viewing.

Entitled "Of Thee I Sing! Songs of Love and Justice" the recital was entirely made up of songs in English, many either composed by African Americans, such as H. Leslie Adams and Adolphus Hailstork or with texts by or about African Americans. Langston Hughes' "Kids Who Die" set to music by Scott Gendel is viscerally disturbing and made me squirm in my seat.

Slack's voice is crystalline, every note perfectly clean and strong. Her rendition of Undine Smith Moore's "Love Let The Wind Cry… How I Adore Thee" was utterly lovely, her soaring high notes showed no strain. I also found H.T. Burleigh's "Lovely, Dark, and Lonely One" particularly beautiful. Pinto's accompaniment was restrained and supportive but sufficiently lush as well.

Tattling * 
Since this was not a live event, the recording is quite smooth and without technical glitches.

Pinto wore two different black dress shoes, a stiletto on her left foot and a more blocky heel on her right.

Very Merola Christmas Virtual Recital

* Notes *
Merola, San Francisco Opera's training program, held a third virtual recital yesterday afternoon via Zoom with pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg, soprano Maria Valdes, mezzo-soprano Alice Chung, tenor Casey Candebat, and bass-baritone Christian Pursell. It was a lovely 50 minutes of wide-ranging music from these musicians that live all over the country.

Candebat and Chung began the performance with a warm rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" accompanied by Greenberg. They were video edited to be in the same scene by Pursell, who did this work for the whole recital in addition to his contribution as a bass-baritone. Greenberg did the introductions for the rest of the pieces, starting with Pursell singing "Sibilar gli angui d'Aletto" from Händel's Rinaldo, with a bit of Messiah interpolated in before the da capo. It was a bit startling to hear the English text pop up in the middle, but Pursell sang robustly. Valdes joined him for the beautiful duet from Die Zauberflöte "Bei Männern," after she sang "O Holy Night" as a solo. Her voice is very clean and has a precise delicacy.

Chung sang "Mon Coeur S’ouvre à ta voix" from Samson et Dalila. Her rich tones and the depths of her voice are evident even over Zoom. Candabat gave a vivid performance of "Ch'ella mi creda" from La fanciulla del West. The encores were Greenberg playing "La campanella" by Liszt and "Carol of the Bells." It was impressive how bell-like the piano and the voice can sound.

Tattling * 
There were a few small glitches in the sound every now and again. Candabat joked that we don't want the virtual recitals to be too good, or else no one will get back to the theater in person.

I cried during  the Mozart duet, I so miss going to the opera house. Seeing The Magic Flute at the Met last year seems so remote from now, when we can't even go to the drive in to see Tosca because of the huge spike in Covid cases and subsequent safer at home order.