The Observer, November 16, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 11
CIM's A Celebration of Opera delights with variety
David Bamberger's yearly presentation of opera scenes featuring CIM students offered an array of 200 years of musical repertoire and the finest talent from the school. The performances, which ran Nov. 7 through 10, were held in Kulas Hall of the Cleveland Institute of Music and conducted by Harry Davidson, an alumnus of Case. A total of 15 scenes from 10 operas were heard in a lively and engaging format, complete with announcers, glittering costumes, humorous supertitles, and semi-staged selections whose action often took place in the aisles of the hall itself. Ranging from impressive to stunning, the collaborative effort was an example of the high musical and artistic standards of the CIM vocal and opera departments.
On Friday night, the three-hour program began with a reading of Otto Nicolai's Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor, and immediately highlighted the flexibility of the CIM Orchestra. A scene from Rossini's Cinderella followed, with Chelsea Coyne in the title role, featuring brilliantly virtuosic coloratura passages and humorous exchanges with the choruses. In Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, Elisa Rochelle Singer's passionate portrayal of the joy of impending rescue was amusingly contrasted with Marcel Worrell Miller's talent for comedic humor as Pedrillo. Some of the finest playing from the orchestra was heard in the introduction to the Act I Quartet from Beethoven's Fidelio, a highly effective unfolding of the character's emotions, here featuring the warmly-matched voices of Crystal E. Robinett, Deborah Frontczac, Jermaine Jackson, and Richard Ollarsaba. Three scenes from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro rounded out the first half of the program, balancing focused ensembles with effective staging.
Music director and conductor Harry Davidson spoke of the thrill of working with the combined student forces: "The challenges of the project are a benefit to everybody involved. This is a uniquely demanding program with a great variety of styles and our vocal talents. The orchestra here benefits greatly from being on stage, as opposed to being in the pit, and the integration plays a synergetic role in our performance," he explained. "I'm loving this orchestra more than ever."
The four scenes presented in the second half provided an increasingly stunning effort from the singers in longer selections. Charpentier's extroverted Louise featured a radiant Hayley Malone in the title role, and notable solos from Kristof Pfeiffer as Julien, singing from the audience with guitar accompaniment, and Natasha Ospina in a richly rendered portrayal of Janine.
Two numbers followed to showcase the virtuosic vocal talents of Caroline Kuehn, as a convincingly dynamic and fluent Frau Fluth, and Amy Irvine, as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in a performance that defied belief in its expressive range and brilliant agility, drawing the loudest ovations of the evening.
Most impressive was the musical conclusion, in the sumptuous late-romantic harmonies and passionate languor of the trio and finale from Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Presented in an intensely introspective manner, Natasha Ospina's portrayal of the Marschallin was a clear highlight in its melancholic timbre and uncanny projection, in the most emotionally impactful performance of the evening. No less impressive were Irene Roberts as Octavian, Heather Engebretson as Sophie, and Richard Ollarsaba as Faninal, who concluded the successful evening with grace and conviction.
One of the finest CIM opera department productions in recent years, A Celebration of Opera brought to light a promising array of young talent, and is but an example of the many ongoing projects in the collaboration between the vocal and instrumental departments of the school.
