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This has been a very good season for Chicago Lyric Opera as far as casting. Last night David and I heard another splendid cast perform Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.
The gorgeous score was conducted by Emmanuel Villaume and the Chicago Opera Chorus again stole the show in their various scenes.
Romeo was sung by tenor Eric Cutter. What a great voice! His singing was simply stunning, tossing off high notes like it was nothing at all. A tenor to be reckoned with!
Susanna Phillips sang the part of Juliette. She has a very beautiful voice with one small flaw. On her highest notes she does not allow the voice to follow through. The highest notes tend to lose energy and vibration and straighten out. If any of my readers have this same problem, here is my solution: first, be sure you take a proper breath leading up to the note, second, when you get there, allow the air to move through the note, and third, as you leave the note, allow a puff of soundless air to escape. Your high note will have focus, energy, and beauty. When you do not follow these three rules, the high note may straighten out, the vocal cords will close as you leave the note, and the note will sound a little tight and uncomfortable. I treat this problem in one of my books on singing. I call it 'Now that I'm up here, how do I get off???' Free voice lesson!
Christian Van Horn was the excellent Friar Lawrence, singing with a rich basso voice that covered the entire range beautifully.
The rest of the cast sang very well and the one set production worked.
This was my last opera of the season at Lyric and it has been a fine season. Almost all of the singers we heard were top level, the hall itself works beautifully, and the orchestra never drowns out the singers.
Met Opera take notice!
Tonight David and I saw a concert by Music of the Baroque. It was conducted by Jane Glover. This woman never makes a gesture that does not have musical meaning. It is as if she has completely digested whatever work she is conducting and transmits it through her hands and fingers directly into the minds and instruments of her orchestra. If I didn't know better, I would say it is magic.
Well, maybe it is. I have never seen a conductor express a score as beautifully as this woman. She is the very best.
Tonight she led the orchestra in Concerto Grosso in C Major (Alexander's Feast), and the Symphony No. 34 in C Major by Mozart. The orchestra follows her slightest gesture with apparent delight, producing fabulous music. The music dances in her hands.
The soloist tonight was soprano Susanna Phillips- or 'Diva! Susanna Phillips', as she was billed in the program.
I don't think so.
The voice was not particularly beautiful. Her coloratura worked well in the higher registers but disappeared when she went into the middle and lower parts of her voice. She had high notes, but they were often pushed and sometimes off pitch. She let out one yelp at the end of the Mozart Concert aria that made me jump. The audience seemed to feel that she was wonderful, so I guess I'm just a picky old voice teacher.
She opened with several arias and recitatives from Giulio Cesare of Handel. Then sang the Scena di Berenice by Haydn, ending with the Concert aria "Bella mi fiamma' of Mozart. That's where the yelp happened.
I had worked the Berenice with Lorraine years ago and she performed it with the Boston Symphony. The work was just in too low a tessitura for Ms. Phillips. She couldn't begin to bring it off. Lorraine was a Mezzo-soprano and Ms. Phillips is a soprano. Two very different voices, both in range and musical ability. There was no contest.
I wish I could convince lady singers to stop wearing strapless gowns when then perform. They are very beautiful, but with the corseting required to hold the dress up, they make it impossible to get a low breath. I think that this may have had something to do with her vocal problems tonight. Get a dress that flows and allows you to take a deep singing breath. Trust me, you will sing a lot more easily and beautifully.
She also changed dresses for the second part of the program, both very pretty. Both very tight in the waist. One fuschia and one blue. I thought sopranos only changed gowns in mid-concert when the voice had fled. Oh well...
But the night was really Jane Glover's. She is simply the best!
