July 1, 2011

July 1, 2011 (Friday at St. Paul's. Northport)

"Caro mio ben"
Giuseppe Giordani
Cheryl Savitt Spielmann, soprano

"Adio fiorito asil"
Madama Butterfly
Maurizio Casa, tenor

"Ave Maria"
Bach/Gounod
Frances Fascetti, mezzo soprano

"Vissi d'arte"
Tosca
Giacomo Puccini
Lauren Haber, soprano

"Magische tone"
Konig von Saba
Karl Goldmark
Robert Murphy, tenor

"Die Nacht"
op. 10 #3
Richard Strauss
Jeanny Schwartz, mezzo soprano

"Una furtiva lagrima"
L'elisir d'amore
Gaetano Donizetti
Vicent Ricciardi

"Se come voi"
Le Villi
Giacomo Puccini
Jung-hwa Park, soprano

"Sempre libera"
La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi
Barbara Divis, soprano

intermission

"Without a Song"
Vincent Youmans
Bruce Solomon, tenor

"Adieu, notre petit table"
Manon
Jules Massanet
Samantha Williams, soprano

"Take, o take those lips away"
op. 37 #2
Amy Beach
Robert Murphy, tenor

"Pursue" (Mandarin song)
Liu Xue An
Jeanny Schwartz, mezzo soprano

"Amor ti vieta"
Fedora
Umberto Giordano
Alex Sheerin, tenor

"Si, mi chiamano Mimi"
La Boheme
Giacomo Puccini
Lauren Haber, soprano

"Be my love"
Nicholas Brodzsky
Vincent Ricciardi, tenor

"Io son l'umile ancella"
Adriana LeCouvreur
Francesco Cilea
Cheryl Savitt Spielmann, soprano

"Love duet"
Madama Butterfly
Giacomo Puccini
Barbara Divis, soprano and Maurizio Casa, tenor

"God bless America"
Irving Berlin
Barbara Divis, soprano and audience

Our Opera patrons were joyful as they streamed in to fill the seats of a rather balmy evening that commemorated a seventh anniversary for Opera Night. No one complained about the warm weather, but rather they scurried in to get the much coveted good seats (to which there are many). Indeed the weather played second fiddle (I couldn't resist) to the lovely interpretive "gems of the piano repertoire" that Isabella regaled us during our chamber half hour. What was to follow was a presentation by gifted artisans of the music world who help us define the magic and mystery of opera. We know now that music lifts us up from the mundane machinations of life. Being more than mere entertainment, opera tranports us from our seats to a world of beauty. We allow ourselves this indulgence because we understand that artists suffer for their art, as musicians suffer for their music, and we become a part of the experience. It is at this nexus (of audience and singer) that communality surfaces and becomes graspable. This is why the first Friday of each month is surely a wonderful amalgam of singer, patron, music, drama, and above all joy.