Wednesday’s recital in the RBA was given by UoT Opera.  It consisted of a series of arias/scenes drawn from the operas of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven creatively staged by Mabel Wonnacott.  It was lively and a lot of fun and the vocal standard was very high, especially for so early in the academic year.

We started with the rousing “Nettuno s’onori” from Idomeneo with singers appearing from all over levels 3 and 4 of the Four Seasons Centre.  There was a very cute version of “Bei männern” from soprano Zyion Stephens and baritone Joshua Gibson followed by some excellent clowning from Delaney Dam and Enquan Yu in the notary scene from Haydn’s Lo speziale.  There was proper singing too here from Katie Kirkpatrick and Mena Lukic.

There was more really pleasing Mozart from Brooke Zarubin, Taline Yeremian, Zylion Stephens, Camille Labonté, Christian Matta and Joshua Gibson before the one Beethooven piece on the programme; the Act 1 quartet from Fidelio.  Some excellent ensemble work here from Brooke Zarubin, Sloane Ryan, Enquan Yu and Omar Hilaloğlu.

La clemenza di Tito tends to get neglected in this kind of show so it was good to see a couple of numbers; “Come ti piace imponi” from Katie Kirkpatrick and Delaney Dam and “Se al volto mai ti senti” from Sloane Ryan, Grace Ronan and Mena Lukic.  Haydn’s hilarious Il mondo della luna is even more neglected so it was great to see a charming “Un certo ruscelletto” from Taline Yeremian and Chriustian Matta and the Finale, another exuberant large ensemble number to conclude.

Fine work from Helen Becqué and Christine Bae at the piano.  Overall the programme seems in great shape this year with pretty much all the vocal bases covered.

Photo: Karen E. Reeves