COC Vocal Series: Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, April 28, 2016.
The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and the Atelier lyrique of Opera de Montreal, the two largest young artist programs in Canada, have a very interesting exchange program. For one week each season, young singers from each opera company travel to the other studio to receive coaching. At the end of the week, a joint recital is given in each venue. It gives opera fans the opportunity to hear young voices they would otherwise not have the opportunity to hear. I’ve always enjoyed these events, and the concert today was no exception.
Singers participating from OdeM were sopranos Cécile Muhire and Magali Simard-Galdès, mezzo Alexandra Beley, and tenor Pasquale D’Alessio. They were joined by COC tenor Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure and baritone Iain MacNeil. Jennifer Szeto and Heyjin Kwon were the collaborative pianists. Each singer spoke briefly to the audience, introducing themselves and saying a few words about each piece, a good little exercise of public speaking, a skill that’ll come in handy down the road.
Kicking off the proceedings was soprano Cecile Muhire, singing Adina’s aria from L’elisir d’amore. She has a lyric soprano with a nice, rich timbre, very suited to Adina. It must have been a little nerve-wracking to go first, as her opening phrases were a bit unsteady, with a prominent vibrato. But she soon settled down and delivered a lovely “Prendi, per me sei libero.”
She was joined by COC tenor Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure in the extended duet from L’elisir that followed. He’s, of course, familiar to COC audiences the last two season. He has a sweet and warm lyric tenor ideal in the lighter Italian roles. He’s also a really good actor with an endearing stage persona – his Basilio in the Ensemble Nozze was very funny. Nemorino is a role tailor-made for his voice. In this scene where Nemorino drinks the elixir, Fortier-Lazure has excellent comic timing. He also went up the stairs during the aria, something that I saw for the very first time just a few days ago in the Clementine Margaine recital. Fortier-Lazure is sounding really great these days; his tenor has grown in volume, secure throughout the range, while retaining its warm timbre. He has also developed an irrepressible stage personality. Someone offer this man a contract for Nemorino — he’s ready!
Next up was mezzo Alexandra Beley in the Act One aria of Joan of Arc from Maid of Orleans. This is one of those zwischenfach roles that can be sung by either a soprano or a mezzo. Beley is a high mezzo with a rich timbre and an impressive top register, and she sang this very demanding aria beautifully. Tall and slim, she’s perfect in the trouser roles – I can see her as Octavian or the Komponist in a few years.
Pasquale D’Alessio has a compact lyric tenor suitable for the lighter lyric repertoire such as Fenton and Pedrillo. It’s not a very big or rich sound, but it has a nice timbre. He gave a fine rendition of “Una furtiva lagrima.” Later on in the program, when he was paired with the much bigger and more robust voice of baritone Iain MacNeil in the famous Pearl Fishers Duet, D’Alessio tried to force a bit to make a bigger sound, especially near the end. He did better in the trio from La fille du Regiment. I have to say I am very impressed with Iain MacNeil, who is sounding the best I’ve heard him in his time in the Ensemble. Whatever the COC coaches are doing with all the baritones, it’s working wonders!
The Marie in the La fille trio was Magali Simard-Galdès, who has a lyric-coloratura with an excellent sense of pitch and an easy top. She, MacNeil and D’Alessio were terrific in “Tous les trois reunis,” a really fun piece. Simard-Galdes also has the agility for the vocal fireworks in “O luce di quest’anima,” a showstopper from Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, an opera that’s almost never staged. Through it all, Jennifer Szeto and Hyejin Kwon took turns at the piano, and both offered rock solid support.
With the formal part of the recital over, the audience was treated to a surprise encore — the beautiful Barcarolle from Les contes d’Hoffmann. Nicklausse was Alexandra Beley and Magali Simard-Galdes took on Giulietta — a rare instance this low soprano role was sung by a coloratura! No matter — they did wonderfully. The audience gave the performers a well-deserved standing ovation. It’s clear that each of these young artists has the talent and the voice necessary to succeed. I wish them the very best for the future.
#LUDWIGVAN
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