Stars shine at opera’s 50th birthday party

Manitoba Opera partied like it was 1972 as it marked its auspicious 50th anniversary season with a galaxy of internationally renowned opera stars. The 150-minute program (including intermission) equally served as testament to Manitoba’s legacy as “the singing province,” that has birthed so many stellar voices, including many taking the stage Saturday night.

Founded in 1969 by Justice Kerr Twaddle, Manitoba Opera flourished under its inaugural artistic director, the legendary Irving Guttman, with the company now helmed by general director/CEO Larry Desrochers. Hailed as “the father of opera in Western Canada,” Guttman directed a concert version of Verdi’s Il Trovatore in 1972 with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra then led by Piero Gamba.

The first half of Saturday night’s program re-created that experience for the mixed generation audience of 1,250, with fans loudly whooping and cheering throughout the evening co-hosted by soprano Monica Huisman and tenor James McLennan. Maestro Tyrone Paterson, who has notably conducted 28 Manitoba Opera productions since 2005, led the onstage WSO with his customary finesse and flair.

Birthday parties usually involve gifts, and listeners were presented with their first taste of Bulgarian-born mezzo-soprano Nadia Krasteva notably marking her Canadian debut. Internationally acclaimed for her compelling roles around the globe, the powerhouse vocalist is one of those singers who takes your breath away, as she commanded the stage during each one of her four appearances.

She immediately displayed her smoky vocals and well-rounded tones during her first solo as Roma woman Azucena in Verdi’s Stride la vampa! spitting out her words as she recounted her harrowing tale of her mother burning at the stake. With her chest voice seeming to rip out of her guts, she needed no sets, costumes or props, as she lured listeners into her story that chilled to the bone.

The dynamo later proved her chameleonic versatility during the evening’s second half comprised of opera’s “greatest hits,” with her assured solo of Olga’s Aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. It is hoped this force of nature will return to this stage again — and soon.

There were two showstoppers — literally. Newfoundland-based tenor David Pomeroy brought the house down with his scorched earth performance of Puccini’s Nessun dorma, just as he did during Manitoba Opera’s gala concert in April 2022.

The second came with Winnipeg’s own Lara Ciekiewicz, who reprised her haunting solo, The trees on the mountains, in the title role from Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah staged here in March 2019. This beloved singer pierced our hearts as she whisked us to the smoky mountains of Appalachia, her crystal clear soprano and artfully controlled dynamic palette fuelling her exquisite, goose-bump inducing artistry.

Another world-class singer hailing from our fair city is Metropolitan Opera star Andriana Chuchman. The radiant soprano likewise enthralled during her aria Ah! Je veux vivre from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, her pitch-perfect intonation and nimble vocals tossing off her effervescent colouratura passages like child’s play.

Winnipeg-born, now Toronto-based baritone Gregory Dahl brought his booming vocals to the stage as Count di Luna in Verdi’s Tutto e deserto/Il balen del suo sorriso, later serving as solid ballast to Japanese soprano Hiromi Omura during their duet Mira, di acerbe lagrime from Il Trovatore, as well as closing the show with Puccini’s Te deum.

Omura, who exudes graciousness and dazzled as Cio-Cio San in Manitoba Opera’s 2017 production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly reprised her aria Un bel di that quickly became another evening highlight, her prismatic characterization equal parts strength and delicate fragility.

The 42-voice strong Manitoba Opera Chorus superbly prepared by Tadeusz Biernacki, notably celebrating his 40th year as chorus master, has always served as steadfast backbone for this company. The ensemble positioned on upstage risers sang their hearts out during Verdi’s Vedi! Le fosche, a.k.a. the Anvil chorus, as well as Che interminable from Donizetti’s Don Paquale, among others.

Despite these stunning performances, the overall program often felt chasmic, with the stronger, second half more celebratory courtesy of personal anecdotes and fun facts culled from Manitoba Opera’s illustrious history shared by Huisman and McLennan. We want to hear those stories about a four-year old Huisman watching her mother sing in the chorus from the loge, or Dahl’s penchant for backstage pranks, which create those all-critical points of emotional connection and spontaneity in the way Manitobans adore.

This arguably “head over heart’ choice to give the limelight to Verdi, rather than focus on the company itself, and even more importantly, its legions of artists who have spread their wings on this stage invariably sapped the joy of the evening. So did the relatively lengthy, scripted introductions to each selection during the first half that interrupted the night’s musical flow and often felt like work as we were tasked to keep up with the tangles of the plot. It would have sufficed, and still have honoured the past to offer a few “less-are-more” highlights from Il Trovatore, rather than this whirlwind, Cole’s Notes version.

However, a party’s still a party, and despite no encore (Verdi’s joyous Libiamo ne’ lieti calici, a.k.a. the Drinking Song from La Traviata springs to mind as an ideal choice and toast to the future), the enthusiastic audience leapt to its feet at the end to cheer their beloved opera company into its next half century.

Holly.harris@shaw.ca

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