San Francisco Opera Merola Grand Finale thrills with arias and ensembles by future headliners

Merola Grand Finale/San Francisco Opera/Maya Lahyani as Carmen/Brian Jagde as Don Jose/Photo: Kristen Loken Anstey

Merola's Maya Lahyani as Carmen captivates Brian Jagde as Don Jose.

Merola’s Grand Finale was over all too soon, much like this summer or a summer romance. Aleksey Bogdanov the elegant and mysterious host sang Tonio from Pagliacci, beginning the evening in his Carnival mask and promising a night of not only elegance but revelry and mischief. No longer was he the bearded Jewish rabbi and marriage broker of L’Amico Fritz.

From Cosi to Mignon with Ellie; Questions in the press room

Vittoria d’Aste-Surcouf told me as I sipped my Chandon in the press room that the singers do not choose their own song.

Vittoria says Sheri Greenawald and Mark Morash design the program. They design each concert around the individual strengths of each singer. Merola is a training program, whose sole purpose is to nurture these wonderful young artists.

They do choose their own wardrobe, with the costume department scanning. What would they want to sing, though, that had been an initial question when the summer began, regardless of their current range?

I had also asked where all the money went as the Merolini had been selling out and now they filled the opera house not just Cowell Theater. They do get a small stipend and have no living expenses and all. Vittoria says Money is recycled back into the performances for next year….NOT into Merola.

Also somebody is paying for the press room renovation. Paint smears in reds and browns stained the walls. There was no furniture so the press stood. Vittoria says San Francisco Opera (an organization actually independent from Merola) is remodeling the press room (this was stated in signs on the wall of the press room).

I had asked Vittoria if she had seen Ellie Jarrett’s cobalt blue gown. She looked dazzling with her long dark Victorian hair as she had in Cosi fan Tutte. However. Tonight. No more maiden innocence and hijinks/character tests by mischievous lovers. This time she gave me goosebumps with her Mignon, singing of her suffering as she watched her beloved in love with another only to be told by him later that he was suffering too. This was suffering for grownups.

San Francsico Opera/Merola Summer Program/Grand Finale/Pagliacci by Leoncavallo/Aleksey Bodanov foreground/Lori Guilbeau left/Susannah Biller, second from left/Evan Boyer and Ellie Jarrett right/Photo: Kristen Loken Anstey

Pictured above right with Ellie Jarrett in the blue gown, that would be Lothario.

From La Boheme to Mignon and Falstaff with Evan

Evan Boyer, looking as smooth, handsome and surreal as a gentleman in an art deco painting. He could have been Charles Boyer. He would return for the wedding finale of the Verdian farce, Falstaff.

Ellie his mate seemed so sophisticated, the southern lady, compared to the slapstick girl she started out as in Cosi fan Tutte, the one who dove under the blue sheet used as the ocean in an ostrich-like head in the sand burial. It seemed as spontaneous as a tantrum. They both seem to move between romantic farce and the highbrow suffering of the sophisticated.

From La Boheme to La Cenerentla with Michael

Ellie would return as not the suffering socialite but Cinderella with a broom in La Cenerentola. The pairing seemed reminiscent of the Met’s casting this spring as Michael Sumuel sang Alidoro in this Rossini bel canto piece. Michael and his muscles in La Boheme had been a "casting change".

San Francisco Opera/Merola Grand Finale/Michael Sumuel as Alidoro in La Cenerentola/Ellie Jarrett as Cenerentola/Photo: Kristen Loken Anstey

From maid to maiden with Caitlin and Paul

Similarly Rossini would have appreciated the Rosina of Caitlin Mathes in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Paul Scholten as Figaro. A luscious tone, somehow prettier than when she sang as the opportunistic maid with a male monkey on her back in Cosi fan Tutte.

Take off the cuffs--Captivation by Maya or Brian?

Maya Lahyani tormented Brian Jagde’s Don Jose in Carmen, pictured at the top of this article. It's pronounced jade. He had been full of affection and tenderness with Lori Guilbeau in La Boheme in the Schwabacher debut concert. That's Lori standing to the left in the photo above from Pagliacci, along with Susannah Biller, seated and Aleksey Bogdanov.

Torn by the death of Mimi in La Boheme after Mimi returns to Rodolfo (Brian Jagde) on her death bed, he cried out her name after she died. In contrast Brian at the end of the summer is torn but it’s a question of will the gypsy Carmen be his if he takes off her handcuffs. Seems he was the one held captive.

Maya like Ellie wore her gown well, a sexy backless black slinky thing to match her character, her long black hair flowing. Maya projected a defiant toughness with her Carmen that seemed to be the only trace of her Israeli military background, where she had sung in a special musical unit. She’s sung in every condition even with her audience running out of the room on a moment’s notice.

Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! From praying to preying with Nathaniel and Sara

In contrast Sara Gartland’s Gilda seemed every bit the sheltered ingénue to Nathaniel Peake’s rake of a duke in Rigoletto. Gilda seemed consistent with Sara’s wholesome Suzel in the old fashioned charmer L’Amico Fritz, which Merola staged earlier in the summer with it’s Cherry Duet. Nathaniel Peake however lost his old fashioned patriarchal benevolence. No longer is he the gentleman landlord who falls in love with his wholesome and virginal wine country tenant.

His character still goes for a virgin but it’s a wolf salivating over a piece of raw meat, circling his prey. His commanding voice filled the opera house as the duke in disguise as a poor student, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. However. The seducer gets interrupted by the arrival home of Rigoletto, the girl’s protective father, the court jester. The duke demanded to know who would dare interfere with his seduction of the innocent Gilda as they bid adieu, adieu, adieu, adieu . . . and the looming duke plants a serious kiss on his pony-tailed victim. He was magnificent.

Sara let her soaring high notes fly again in the finale from Falstaff, another Verdi piece but a farce with no tragic turn. This time the jester gets his come-uppance but the world is full of fools . . . Sara’s clarion soprano was indeed a high note in an altogether uplifting evening.

On becoming a martyr with Margaret

There will always be room for a martyr in opera, but what a repetoire.

Margaret Gawrysiak had played a humble if malleable Giovanna, going from her sun-glassed big-star comic entry from La Italiana di Algieri in the opening concert. It made me think Dawn French in the Vicar of Dibley, the British sitcom. However. Margaret also took a dramatic turn, cross in hand, performing a solo from Tchaikovsky’s Joan of Arc.

Yohan and Eleazar go solo

Both Yohan Yi and Eleazar Rodriguez made elegant and sophisticated solos, having played the comedians to much acclaim. They had been part of the goofy ensemble with Margaret’s wife making a comeback bigtime in Algiers. Yohan did Mustafa proud. This time they each had solos rather than being paired as they were in the scene from Algiers and in L'Amico.

Smooth operators John and Lara. What's that ticking?

As for comedians building on their Cosi fan Tutte escapades, John Chest and Lara Ciekiewicz paired up again. They kicked it up a notch for a little Straussian fun from Die Fledermaus. I’m still not sure who won.

San Francisco Opera/Merola Grand Finale/John Chest as Eisenstein/Lara Ciekiewicz as Rosalinde/Die Fledermaus/Photo: Kristen Loken Anstey

John seemed to be the one being tricked this time; Lara’s character ending up not with just a locket with her beloved’s picture but something worth more than sentimental value, the gold pocket watch.

The countertenor Ryan takes a stand

Speaking of high notes, Ryan Belongie sang with determination and bowtie undone “I will have her” in his countertenor solo. Elaborating on the emotionally tortured husband of Orfeo ed Euriice perhaps but no longer the timid mute Toby hiding in a fortune teller’s chest as in The Medium. He sang Arsamene from Xerxes by Handel.

I enjoyed the diversity of the Merolini as a whole, seeing their personalities emerge over the summer and feeling a familiarity. Yohan Yi I had spied in Peet’s before the evening began and almost whipped out my camera. I decided to give him some respect though as it was before the performance not after.

Bravi!

I noticed the orchestra seemed to overpower one singer but as a whole the audience seemed supportive and appreciative. I heard the shout of Bravi, plural, for the first time, right behind me, right as the second half started.

Greg and Kate's Wagnerian reprise

Gregory Carroll and Kate Crist reprised their roles from Der fliegende Hollander and the opening concert, with just the two of them this time. Similarly Greg hit some spectacular notes in the ensemble performing Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg. Stunning. A pair of heartbreakers those two.

San Francisco Opera/Merola Grand Finale/Die Meistersinger by Wagner/Suzanne Hendrix left as Magdalena/Alex Mansoori as David, second from left/Aleksey Bogdanov as Sachs, center/Kate Crist as Eva, right/Gregory Carroll as Walther, right/Photo: Kristen Loken Anstey

Pictured above from Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Wagner, Suzanne Hendrix as Magdalena, Alex Mansoori as David; Aleksey Bogdanov as Sachs; Kate Crist as Eva, Gregory Carroll as Walther.

A lesson in contrasts with Susannah and Benjamin

The spunky, elegant and petite Susannah Biller performed as Hero in Beatrice et Benedict by Berlioz and I think she’s the one that almost got drowned out by the orchestra. In contrast Benjamin LeClair towered in the opening numbers including his Osmin from The Abduction from the Seraglio. I wonder if he can muster the malevolence to play an assassin in Un Ballo or even Rigoletto, as did Jeremy Galyon the Adler Fellow that went on to debut at the Met this year.

Once you go mezzo with Suzanne . . .

Suzanne Hendrix, pictured above left, filled the house with her rich and velvety mezzo. She sang a variety of songs including Cornelia, her solo from Giulio Cesare by Handel; Magdalena from the Die Meistersinger ensemble; and Ursule from Beatrice et Benedict by Berlioz. She had said in the Q & A panel as the summer started, once you go mezzo you never go back.

Well done Merolini and also welcome home to Josh Kosman. He just returned from the Ring Cycle in Seattle, leaving me with a great sense of anticipation as I fly out Tuesday morning with my friend and his short attention span.

Ho Jo To Ho!

For more info: www.SFOpera.com

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