Slate of local sopranos sends spirits soaring

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This article was published 10/11/2020 (2103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the wittiest hit tunes from the Great American Songbook is lyricist Johnny Mercer’s Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, penned to Harold Arlen’s zippy melody — essentially an anthem about making lemonade out of life’s lemons that invariably come our way. In a time when arts organizations around the globe have been awash in sour citrus fruit owing to the pandemic, Manitoba Opera took Mercer’s advice with its season-opener of The Sopranos of Winnipeg, a uniquely made-in-Manitoba program showcasing the wonderful talent we have right here in our own back yard.

The one-night-only program, held Saturday night and performed exclusively via livestream, featured a powerhouse lineup of seven internationally acclaimed artists with their roots firmly planted in Prairie loam: Andriana Chuchman, Lara Ciekiewicz, Tracy Dahl, Monica Huisman, Andrea Lett, Lara Secord-Haid and Lida Szkwarek.

The slickly paced, 75-minute show (no intermission) was held in lieu of the company’s cancelled production of Sweeney Todd, yet another casualty of the pandemic.

The soloists, who took turns performing diverse arias ranging from opera classics to more contemporary, gritty fare, were accompanied by a physically distanced, 40-piece Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra led by Tadeusz Biernacki. They got the party started with the sprightly overture to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, with the intermezzo from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana as a mid-show palate cleanser and a lively finale in the form of the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

All singers wore masks during their entrances/exits, and were surrounded by tall Plexiglas shields to avoid transmission of any potentially virus-carrying droplets. The musicians and their maestro all wore masks throughout the show except, naturally, the WSO wind and brass players, with additional protection in place for them.

Canada’s premier colouratura soprano Tracy Dahl is undeniably one of the greatest singers to have ever come out of Winnipeg. The internationally renowned vocalist and 2017 Order of Canada recipient threw sparks during her Je suis Titania la blonde, from Thomas’ Mignon, with her effervescent voice still going strong decades after her 1982 MO debut as Barbarina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Her joyful solo teemed with quicksilver runs and ringing top notes heard all over the world, with hundreds of listeners tuning in from across Canada, the United States and Europe. Her lightly executed trills earned cheers and applause from the onstage musicians.

Monica Huisman delivered a searing interpretation of Song to the Moon, from Dvorak’s “fairy-tale opera,” Rusalka, sung for her beloved mother, who has attended every one of her performances since her 2000 MO debut in Hansel and Gretel. The singer’s deeply moving performance was filled with aching tenderness, underscored by her luminous vocals and innate lyricis, surely leaving many audience members in tears.

Eight months after her planned MO debut as Micaëla in Carmen was scotched by the pandemic, Lida Szkwarek’s confident, animated delivery of There will be a storm tonight, a.k.a. the Storm Aria, from John Estacio’s Filumena showed off her well-rounded, burnished tones (albeit subsumed by the orchestra in her lowest range), with her solo capped by a climactic, dramatically intense finish.

Andriana Chuchman is another artist from this community — and there are many — whom local audiences have seen maturing into a world-class singer, hailed for her radiant performances, including at New York City’s fabled Metropolitan Opera. Her poised performance of Deh vieni non tardar (also from The Marriage of Figaro), sung with warm sincerity and a boundless voice that caresses the ear with shimmering beauty, did not disappoint.

Another wonderful soprano of note is Lara Ciekiewicz, who reprised her plaintive aria, The trees on the mountain, sung in Appalachian dialect, from Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. Once again, the singer cast a spell with her lyrical phrasing and ability to shade her uppermost notes with a rainbow spectrum of tonal colour. Her strong acting skills took the audience right back to this very same stage in November 2019 — now a lifetime ago — when she mesmerized in the title role of the MO’s last fully staged production.

Lara Secord-Haid, a rising Canadian star who last appeared here in 2017 as Sophie in MO’s Werther, performed Verdi’s Sempre libera from La Traviata, singing of freedom and joy as its ill-fated heroine Violetta. Secord-Haid’s soaring soprano voice, underscored by impeccable breath control and expansive phrasing, is always a pleasure to hear.

The program opened with Andrea Lett, who charmed in one of her signature arias, The Doll Song, from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman. Dressed in 1950s prom attire that heightened her characterization as a life-sized doll, Lett infused her solo with plenty of personality and pluck, as well as her flawless colouratura passages and spot-on intonation.

In the “before times,” there might have been more stage banter, à la the late, great Stuart Hamilton, who customarily hosted the MO’s annual opera recitals. There might have been more personalized Winnipeg stories and opera lore, and possibly a duo, trio, or larger ensemble number to add variety to the overall mix.

Hearing essentially the same vocal type on a single program results in a certain homogeneity, though it does offer a celebration of bel canto. It also became abundantly clear that the nefarious character of “COVID-19” is never far away, making a cameo appearance Saturday night when all seven vocalists took their final group curtain call in masks — wise and necessary, but a startling image nonetheless.

Perhaps Johnny Mercer offers the best antidote of all, when he advises, “You’ve gotta spread joy up to the maximum.” Mostly, this commendable and proudly local recital did just that. However, it could have pushed even further in that regard. Despite the all-too-real challenges of presenting art during a pandemic, “maximal joy” will always be a welcome and appreciated side player at any show — just the ticket during these difficult, perilous times.

holly.harris@shaw.ca