So Thursday lunchtime I went to see Karoline Podolak and Wesley Harrison supported by Mattia Senesi and Brian Cho in the RBA. It was a “schmaltzy” programme (Wesley’s description not mine!). The whole thing consisted of arias and duets from La Traviata, The Barber of Seville and Don Pasquale with a bit of Lehar and a final Prayer chucked in.
It was the sort of rep that if it came up on University Challenge any opera goer would be hitting the buzzer in under two seconds! And it’s all lovely of course. It was beautifully sung by two beautiful people with two excellent pianists. They sing beautifully separately and wonderfully together and Karoline’s coloratura is spectacular. It’s rep that fits them like a glove at this stage of their careers and I’m not going to bore you with a blow by blow account. It was unalloyed, undemanding enjoyment made all the better by being in the RBA on a sunny day!
Photo credfit: Karen E. Reeves.
Tuesday’s RBA concert with members of the Ensemble Studio was themed around composer rivalries though not the really toxic ones. No Mozart/Salieri or Wagner/Meyerbeer here! The most convincing as a rivalry was the first; Berlioz vs Rossini. So Queen Hezumuryango sang “Le spectre de la rose” with some sensitive handling of the text and a pretty fiery “Cruda sorte” from L’Italiana in Algeri with plenty of emotion. I definitely like her voice more when she’s going for drama as she’s got plenty of power and expressiveness.
operaramblings 