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!
