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OperaNotes Review
CAMI Hall, New York, NY
May 16, 2004
By Charlene Frank
Ed Rosen presents
Sunday Afternoon Opera
Performers:
Cheryl Evans: soprano
Andrew Drost: tenor
Christopher Jackson: tenor
Zarub Ninua: baritone
Olga Lomteva: mezzo-soprano
There should be lots of afternoons like this in New York City. There should be a place where the talented and not yet discovered should be able to go to perform, show how talented they are, and maybe, just maybe someone will be in the audience who is able to hold out their hand to help them up a step. At the very least, they will find more people who want to hear them perform, so they will be able to do what they want to do more often, perform. Ed Rosen is trying to make this happen.
CAMI Hall, sometimes called "Carnegie Junior" is on W. 57th Street, across from Carnegie Hall. It has hosted some of the biggest opera stars ever; Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi, Marian Anderson, Jussi Bjoerling just to name a few, and yesterday it hosted some future stars.
The afternoon started with the prologue from Pagliacci sung by superb baritone, Zurab Ninua, from Tblisi. His voice was powerful and colorful and should be in a room much bigger than CAMI. Although his rendition of the prologue was very well done, when Mr. Ninua sang in Russian, Yeletsky's aria from Pique Dame and a Georgian Song, it was absolutely beautiful.
Christopher Jackson and Olga Lomteva opened with Mon Coeur from Samson et Dalila, and although Ms. Lomteva's voice is an excellent mezzo and perfect for that song, this is a song about passion and seduction. I understand that this is a concert and not an opera, but there still should have been some sign of passion on the stage when singing this most seductive of arias. She has the voice, next she has to feel the song. She did however, step into the feelings when she sang Pauline's aria from Pique Dame.
Andrew Drost was at his best the Act 3 Duet from I Puritani with Cheryl Evans. He hit his notes every time, but because I've seen Mr. Drost perform before, I know he can show more emotion when he sings. It wasn't until this duet that he moved on stage and stepped in the character, turning himself from a very good singer into an excellent opera performer. He can be the whole thing.
Two of the many high points of the afternoon included Cheryl Evans. The first being Der Holle Rache from The Magic Flute. Although she was not in costume and make-up, Ms. Evans became the Queen of the Night on that small stage right in front of the entire audience, and they loved it. The second high point was her duet from La Traviata with Mr. Ninua. He stepped into the role of Germont, and she into Violetta, and I felt tears come to my eyes at Violetta's sadness. She is an exceptional soprano, and he an exceptional baritone.
I hope we see lots more of this in this city so full of talent. Hat's off to you Ed Rosen, I hope this dream of yours comes true. How wonderful it would be for all of us.