Gala for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation

14 November 2010

Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York

Programme

Operatic arias, ensembles and scenes by Georges Bizet (Carmen), Francesco Cilea (L’arlesiana), Ruperto Chapi (Las hijas del Zebedeo), Gaetano Donizetti (L’elisir d’amore, Lucrezia Borgia), George Friedrich Handel (Xerxes), Emmerich Kálmán (Die Csárdásfürstin), Franz Lehár (Giuditta), Jules Massenet (Don Quichotte, Hérodiade, Manon), Amilcare Ponchielli (La gioconda), Giacomo Puccini (Turandot, La rondine, Manon Lescaut), Richard Rodgers (South Pacific) & Giuseppe Verdi (Rigoletto)

Featuring

Paul Appleby (Prunier)
Pavol Breslik (Nemorino)
Ferruccio Furlanetto (Sancho Panza, Emile)
Tom Fox (Barnaba)
Elina Garanca (Luisa, Carmen)
Susan Graham (Xerxes)
Marcello Giordani (Calaf, Des Grieux, Enzo)
Jennifer Johnson (Maddalena)
Brandon Jovanovich (Ottavio, Don Jose)
Simon Keenlyside (Herod, Rigoletto)
Mariusz Kwiecien (withdrew because of illness)
Željko Lučiċ (withdrew because of illness)
Angela Meade (Lucrecia Borgia, Magda)
Anna Netrebko (Sylvia, Manon)
Lisettle Oropesa (Gilda, Lisette)
Christophoros Stamboglis (Alvise)
James Valenti (Federico, Ruggiero, Duke)
Deborah Voigt (Manon Lescaut, Gioconda)
Wendy White (Laura)
The New York Choral Society
John Daly Goodwin (Music Director)
Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Marco Armiliato (Conductor)

Photos with thanks to www.richardtucker.org

What the critics say

Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 15.11.2010

When Opera Stars Show Their Frisky Side

The great Brooklyn-born tenor Richard Tucker died in 1975, and by the end of that year a foundation bearing his name was up and running. Since then the foundation, which fosters the careers of emerging singers, has earned the good will of major artists, who contribute their services to an annual gala concert.

Sometimes these galas have been marathons, a little much of a good thing. But the 35th-anniversary Richard Tucker Gala on Sunday night at Avery Fisher Hall, though offering 18 selections performed by 16 singers, was quick paced, just under two hours without intermission. Among the stars taking part were Anna Netrebko, Deborah Voigt, Elina Garanca, Marcello Giordani and Simon Keenlyside. Marco Armiliato conducted members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society, bringing style and stamina to diverse works from opera, operetta and Spanish zarzuela.

The foundation’s major prize is the annual Richard Tucker Award: $30,000 given to an artist judged to be on the threshold of an international career. The 2010 winner is the American tenor James Valenti, who made an impressive Met debut early this year as Alfredo in Verdi’s “Traviata,” holding his own against the intense Violetta of Angela Gheorghiu. Mr. Valenti opened the Sunday program with “È la storia solita del pastore,” the lover’s lament from “L’Arlesiana” by Cilea. He shaped the poignant opening phrases with tenderness, building inexorably to the aria’s impassioned final outbursts. He was also strong in two quartets later in the evening: from Act IV of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” (joined by the soprano Lisette Oropesa, the mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson and Mr. Keenlyside), and from Puccini’s “Rondine” (with Ms. Oropesa, the soprano Angela Meade and the tenor Paul Appleby)

The Tucker gala is not an occasion to offer detailed vocal critiques of the artists who participate. Coming out to sing an aria cold is not easy. And many performers use the occasion to try something unusual or to have fun. Ms. Netrebko, for one, performed an aria from Emmerich Kalman’s German operetta “The Gypsy Princess.” Looking glamorous in a bright blue gown, Ms. Netrebko threw herself into this song of farewell from a cabaret singer to her fans in Budapest as she embarks on an American tour. Her voice soared over the chorus as she sang, shimmied and twirled in circles. She was just as uninhibited in a richly expressive duet from Massenet’s “Manon” with Mr. Giordani. When the frantic lovers embraced at the end, Ms. Netrebko, in character, planted a long kiss on her willing tenor.

Also stepping outside his comfort zone was the Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto, now in rehearsal at the Met (along with Mr. Keenlyside) for the new production of Verdi’s “Don Carlo” that is to open on Monday. His second offering here was “This Nearly Was Mine” from “South Pacific.” He gave a movingly restrained performance, the expression of a character more defeated than embittered by the loss of a dream romance. Ms. Voigt, gearing up for the Met centennial production of Puccini’s “Fanciulla del West” next month, brought burnished sound and despair to “Sola, perduta, abbandonata” from Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.”

Ms. Oropesa was exquisite in “Caro nome” from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” And Ms. Meade, the powerhouse young singer for whom the Met has notable plans down the road, stopped the show with an aria from Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia,” tossing off the coloratura runs and slicing through the chorus and orchestra with her gleaming phrases.

Ms. Garanca and the tenor Brandon Jovanovich, currently in Bizet’s “Carmen” at the Met, sang the extended final scene from that opera, in which the unhinged, jilted Don José kills the defiant, belittling Carmen. They sounded and looked great. Pavol Breslik, now in Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte” at the Met, brought his appealing lyric tenor to “Una furtiva lagrima“ from Donizetti’s “Elisir d’Amore.”

Introducing the program, Barry Tucker, the tenor’s son and president of the foundation, asked, “What would a Richard Tucker Gala be without cancellations?” This one had two: the baritones Mariusz Kwiecien and Zeljko Lucic withdrew because of illness.

But there was a surprise guest. Mr. Armiliato said that as he was walking down Broadway on Saturday, he was tapped on the shoulder by a colleague, a great singer, whom he immediately invited to participate. It was the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who won cheers from the gala audience even before she sang, beautifully, Handel’s well-known “Ombra mai fu.”

Sarah B Roberts, sarahbsadventures.com, 15.11.2010

Last night the 35th annual Tucker Gala concert came and went far too quickly.   It’s an annual concert to raise money for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.  The Foundation, named after the great American tenor, was founded as a “non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great American tenor through the support and advancement of the careers of talented American opera singers by bringing opera into the community.”  Each year the Richard Tucker Music Foundation awards cash prizes to individual U.S. born singers. There is no application process, only nomination. This year’s winner is tenor James Valenti.

Each year, as soon as the date is announced, I mark my calendar and when invitation arrives, I run to the post office to mail my check for tickets.   It is,  hands down, my favorite concert event each year.   This year international opera stars Pavol Breslik, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Elina Garanca, Marcello Giordani, Brandon Jovanovich, Simon Keenlyside, Angela Meade, Anna Netrebko, Lisette Oropesa, Deborah Voight , Christophoros Stromboglis, Paul Appleby, Jennifer Johnson, Tom Fox and Wendy White joined James Valenti, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York Choral Society under the baton of Maestro Marco Armiliato. My favorite mezzo-soprano Susan Graham made a surprise performance!

This concert is a time for the singers to show off and have fun.  I think the singers are having just as much fun as the audience is in Avery Fisher Hall.   It’s an opportunity to hear the “greatest hits,” as Sally says.  Singers are paired for duets, who probably wouldn’t appear together in an opera.  As well, arias are performed from operas that might not make it to the stage in New York.   This year’s program was no exception.  Highlights for me were Elina Garanca’s “Carcelaras” from Las hijas del Zebedeo, Simon Keenlyside’s “Vision fugitive” from Herodiade, Angela Meade’s “Era desso il figlio mio” from Lucrezia Borgia, Anna Netrebko’s “Heia in den Bergen” from Die Csardasfurstin (complete with such exuberant choreography that her up-do tumbled!), Deborah Voigt’s “Sola, perduta, abbadndonata” from Manon Lescaut, and Susan Graham’s “Ombra mai fu” from Serse.   The thrilling last number of the evening was Finale of Act III of La gioconda featuring Deborah Voigt, Wendy White, Marcello Giordani, Christophoros Stromboglis, Tom Fox and the Choral Society.
As usual, all of the women looked gorgeous in their gowns (and Susan looking sensational in a very chic pantsuit), opera hunks were abundant and Maestro Marco is still the cutest conductor around. I think Angela Meade received the loudest, most enthusiastic response and frankly, an encore would have been welcome.    Sally managed to stay away from any skirmishes with grumpy old ladies this year, but I fell into a fit of giggles when the gentleman behind me snorted in laughter right as Deborah was about to sing her very serious aria – let’s just say I was in a precarious state and the fact that next to me Kari was having a hard time keeping it together as well didn’t help matters.

Unfortunately, this year’s concert was not filmed for broadcast as it has been in previous years.   I will have to settle for biding my time for another 12 months for this fabulous annual event to come around again.

Arlene Judith Klotzko,Classical Musik Network.com, 16.11.2010

James Levine has said of Richard Tucker: “There is no question that he was one of the great singers, with a fabulous voice, sensationally endless energy and commitment and a tremendous technical know-how. There are few people one imagines will go on forever. In a sense, Richard Tucker will.”

And he does – in memory, on recordings, on YouTube (for a new generation to discover), and in a very tangible way that surely would have delighted him, as the inspiration for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. The Foundation, headed by his son, Barry Tucker, and now in its thirty-fifth year, supports promising young American singers. The roster of recipients for its main prize, the Richard Tucker Award, features many singers who have gone on to establish major careers. These include Aprile Milo, Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, Stephanie Blythe, Lawrence Brownlee, Deborah Voigt, and Patricia Racette.

This year’s winner, the tenor, James Valenti, made a successful Metropolitan Opera debut last season as Alfredo in La Traviata. Valenti played a prominent role in the gala. He sang one aria, “E la storia solita del pastore,” with a lovely vocal line, blooming top notes, and excellent dynamic control; he also joined in two ensembles. Another recent Tucker Award winner, Brandon Jovanovich, sang an aria, “Freunde! Das Leben ist lebenswert” from Giuditta as well as the final scene of Carmen, along with his current co-star at the Met, Elina Garanca. Earlier in the evening, Ms. Garanca had sung a fiery and passionate zarzuela, “Carcelaras.”

Most of the singers who appeared last night are either singing at the Met or rehearsing for productions that will debut within the next month. Before the program began, Barry Tucker offered his effusive thanks to Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, for allowing performers under contract at the Met to appear in a fundraising event across Lincoln Center Plaza. Gelb had rescinded a policy, put into effect during the Joseph Volpe administration, which forbade anyone under contract at the Met from participating in the Tucker gala, an event that is vital to opera in America in general and to the Metropolitan Opera in particular. Those Volpe years must have been trying times for the Foundation. How wonderful it is that this misbegotten policy is now behind us.

The program for the evening featured eighteen arias and ensembles, sung without a break over a two-hour period. As is common in galas as well as operas (particularly as we enter the winter season), there were illnesses and resultant cancellations. Mariusz Kwiecien and Zeljko Lucic sent their regrets. There was one surprise guest, mezzo soprano Susan Graham, who sang a beautifully phrased, velvet-toned, and impeccably vocalized “Ombra mai fù.”

Ferruccio Furlanetto and Simon Keenlyside are about to open in the Met’s new production of Don Carlo. They took time out from a very busy rehearsal period to participate in the gala. Furlanetto, who has been performing in South Pacific in Vienna, sang the most despondent version of “This Nearly Was Mine” I have ever heard. As a portrait of the pathos of missed opportunity it was extraordinary, although Furlanetto’s unpredictable and at times glacial tempi seemed to try the patience of even the always good humored Marco Armiliato.

Keenlyside, ever the singing actor, managed to convey an entire characterization in one aria, the hypnotic and ecstatic “Vision fugitive” from Massenet’s Hérodiade. Recalling his riveting performance as Hamlet last season at the Met, where he drenched himself in red wine as a surrogate for blood, he brought along a glass of red liquid as a surrogate for wine. Perhaps it was the real thing; who knows? In any event, it was meant to be the drink described in the first line of the text. With his beautifully colored voice, impeccable phrasing, clear French diction, and blazing dramatic intensity, Keenlyside sang as a man possessed. His performance was a psychological and musical tour de force.

Another sort of force – an irresistible one – was Anna Netrebko. No one resisted; she had the audience in the palm of her hand. In her first selection, the cabaret singer Sylvia’s farewell to her countrymen before embarking on a tour to America, from Kálmán’s Die Csárdásfürstin, Netrebko turned in an animated, ebullient performance. She was a whirlwind of activity – conducting the chorus, clapping, dancing, and twirling so fast that she lost her jewelry. She had fun and so did the audience, which roared its approval. In her second appearance, Netrebko sang the St. Sulpice scene from Manon with Marcello Giordani. Here, Manon is a woman on a mission – to prevent her former lover from taking his vows. As the Richard Tucker Foundation’s Director Peter Carwell puts it in his always informative and charming, and often tongue- in-cheek program notes, “she pleads with him to remember his past love for her, body part by body part.” Netrebko certainly took the words to heart as she commenced a physical as well as musical assault on her tenor. The duet ended with a kiss that would win first place if there were a Guinness Book of World Records category for the longest opera kiss. If Netrebko did not have the personality she has, let alone the vocal goods, it might have all been rather cheap, even and vulgar. But she has vocal goods aplenty along with her outsized personality. So it all worked. But tenor Marcello Giordiani, who held his own vocally with his bright soaring top notes, did look rather bemused.

Because of the cancellations, there must have been a reconfiguration of the program. An insert informed us that the young Greek bass, Christophoros Stamboglis, had been added to the roster. He sang the role of Alvise in the last piece on the program, the gripping act three finale of La gioconda. As soon as we heard his marvelously resonant, sepulchral bass voice, projected with unforced power, it became clear that the Tucker award winners were not the only opera stars in the making. Without sacrificing vocal beauty, Stamboglis made Alvise (the head of the inquisition in Venice) a truly terrifying presence. Even in the midst of a good-sized ensemble, including a large chorus and Giordani’s bright, powerful tenor, he was a vocal standout. Aside from being a principal bass with the Greek National Opera, Stamboglis has sung at the Met and Covent Garden, and at the latter, to great acclaim. I expect that we will be hearing a lot more from him.