2004 Season Opera Theatre of the Rockies

A Night At the Opera

It was a songfest Saturday night when about 65 singers from Martile Rowland’s Opera Theatre of the Rockies joined the Colorado Springs Philharmonic for two of opera’s most famous second acts — from Bizet’s “Carmen” and Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus.”

Adding to the attraction was Christopher Wilkins, the popular former music director of the Colorado Springs Symphony. The result was one of the season’s largest and most enthusiastic audiences.
If you don’t know “Carmen,” it’s a nearly ideal introduction to opera — and Act II is a treasure trove, from the stirring “Gypsy Song” with which it begins to the hymn to freedom with which it ends. In between is the famous “Toreador Song,” a virtuoso quintet and Don Jose’s exquisite “Flower Song.”
As Carmen, soprano Sarah Barber showed off a luscious legato and sensuous phrasing...

The other laurels went to tenor Daniel Fosha’s ardent, lyrical interpretation of the “Flower Song,” and baritone Peter Tuff, who sang the “Toreador Song” with properly massive amounts of swagger and testosterone. The chorus looked small, but sang with a huge and energetic sound.
... Wilkins was as sensitive a partner as a singer could hope for, adjusting tempos and pausing to let the music breathe. Clarinetist Ramon Kireilis and bassoonist Clark Wilson provided excellent solo work in the orchestral introduction...

Simpson showed off her bright tone and seemingly effortless technique in the Csardas (which means, basically, a slow part followed by a fast part), and Sha Appenzeller and Magee gave a moving performance of the duet from Act IV of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” — following a tradition of interpolating other operas’ arias into “Die Fledermaus.”

The highlight, however, was Martile Rowland’s performance of Butterfly’s aria from Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly.” It’s a rare treat to hear Rowland these days, as she concentrates on teaching and producing — but it’s as much of a treat as ever. Her voice is still big, warm and infinitely expressive.

Mark Arnest, The Gazette

Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro

...Susanna is the catalyst for the opera’s action and an almost omnipresent character. With her calm but charismatic stage presence and smooth, agile voice, the delightful Judeth Shay Burns makes everything seem easy.

She and Spencer Neill’s brash, confident Figaro make a great couple, although you know who will be calling the shots in their marriage — and that Figaro never will suspect it isn’t him. Neill’s voice is so warm and authoritative...
As the Countess Almaviva, Katherine Adam shows off a strong, passionate soprano in two of the opera’s most ravishing arias. She gets stronger as the night goes on.

John Fulton’s Count Almaviva is a person born to privilege but lacking outstanding qualifications. Fulton’s dark baritone is perfect for expressing the count’s feelings, which mostly are jealousy and rage. An even better bit of casting is Sarah Leuwerke as Cherubino, the pubescent page who’s somehow at the center of so much amorous trouble. Cherubino is supposed to be adorable — unless you’re the count — and no one could be more adorable than the freshvoiced, broadly comic Leuwerke.

Steven LaCosse’s direction is calculated to turn everyone into opera fans. It’s silly, inventive and dense: There’s not a quiet moment on stage.

In front of the stage, conductor James Albritten and a super-energetic chamber orchestra make magic out of Mozart’s dazzling score ... The string section is one of the finest heard in Colorado Springs...

Mark Arnest, The Gazette

All of this rambling leads me to a bald-faced pitch for a remarkable musical event going on in town this week -- Opera Theatre of the Rockies' production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Olympics of singing. I know little of opera, but I know great singing when I hear it and there is not a weak voice among this entire, huge cast. After attending dress rehearsal of Figaro on Tuesday night, I couldn't erase the sounds of those voices from my head.

Figaro is funny and bawdy, laced with broad physical comedy. It's vigorous and quick and light-footed. Hearing these singers follow Mozart's melodious lines for three hours is like watching Vassar Clements fiddle while walking and talking at the same time, all night long.

Go to Figaro even if you think you hate opera. You don't. Close your eyes and listen to these voices soar above an entire orchestra's accompaniment, then weave into the orchestration, becoming part of it.

I can't imagine how it must feel to sing like that to open your mouth and have the voice of God, or Mozart, come out. These people work harder and exert more energy than most of us experience in a month. This is joy at work.

Listening to Figaro, I remembered why I love to sing. Maybe you will too.