Farm Fresh

First-flight schools reveal high talent

by Peter Burwasser

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Published: Jan 23, 2008

Opera concerts, in which singers perform selections from different works absent costume or scenery, have become a mainstay of the Academy of Vocal Arts season. They are something of a guilty pleasure, as you get only chunks of opera and not complete dramas, but in the case of a first-flight school such as AVA, they are a useful way to assess the current crop of talent. As is almost always the case, the level proved to be consistently high, and even included some standouts at last Friday's evening of Verdi and Puccini.

Soprano Takesha Méshe Kizart is a fourth-year student now, and in the role of Amelia from Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, her poise and natural theatrical ease were impressive. Her voice is of a kind, with a focused tonality and exquisite control. In another Verdi selection, the second act of La forza del destino, the soprano was third-year student Angela Meade, who, in contrast, threw out a bigger sound with somewhat more abandon, but great joy. And in the final selection, from Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Joyce El-Khoury, now in her second year but already making a strong impression, could not quite overcome her own sweet nature and fully inhabit the vain character of Manon. These were three terrific singers, with Kizart the one best-prepared to step onto a larger stage.

The male singers showed off a similar range of abilities. Baritone Octavio Moreno brought fire and menace to the role of Renato in Un ballo. Michael Fabiano, as Manon's lover Des Grieux, possesses a classically ringing tenor, although he managed the remarkable feat of chewing up the scenery when none was there. The most impressive fella may have been baritone Jeremy Paul Milner, a second-year student, in the part of Geronte in Manon Lescaut. His voice is a true velvet fog (R.I.P., Mel), but very supple as well. Watch out for this one.

Music director Christofer Macatsoris, leading the fine AVA Opera Orchestra onstage, seemed to be having a ball, but his apparent ease of nature did not preclude his usual dynamically shaded and robustly imagined music-making.

(p_burwasser@citypaper.net)

Grand Passions

Jan. 18, Academy of Vocal Arts at the Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., avaopera.org.

 

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