Opera Night at the Symphony
by
Lyn Bronson
Soprano Tracy Dahl
[The review below will appear in the Salinas
Californian on Monday, February 18, 2008]
The Monterey Symphony pulled a switcheroo on us last night
at Sherwood Hall. We were supposed to be hearing as a major work on the program
Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik’s Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia
Sacra), a work written in 1963 and highly praised by the late Leopold
Stokowski. Allegedly, because of the difficulty of finding additional musicians
needed to perform this large score, a last minute decision was made to replace
the Panufnik with Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. Thus it was, that although
advertised on the Symphony’s web site and in local newspapers, guest conductor
Marko Letonja pulled a rabbit out of his hat and whipped together a very decent
performance of the Beethoven at very short notice.
Since the Fourth Symphony is less often performed than his
others, it is easy to underestimate its quality and its significance, but
Maestro Letonja put a positive spin on it and infused it with considerable
vitality and charm. The Allegro ma non
troppo final movement was especially effective on this occasion and was a
big hit with the audience.
The second half of the program was “opera night at the
symphony” as we heard three instrumental selections from operas by Bellini,
Puccini and Verdi and three arias by acclaimed coloratura soprano Tracy Dahl.
The Bellini Sinfonia from
I Capuletti e I Montecchi (another
version of the Romeo and Juliet story) was mostly flash and dash, although with
some lovely horn and flute obbligatos, and Ms. Dahl’s aria,
Oh Quante volte, showed that she has
an expressive voice capable of endearing subtlety in quiet moments and enormous
power in climaxes. Her cadenza was a knockout! The instrumental
Intermezzo from Puccini’s
Manon Lescaut was a beautifully
expressive performance (with a lovely opening cello solo) and Ms. Dahl’s
performance of the beloved
aria from La Bohème, Quando me’n vo, tugged at the heartstrings. The concert
ended with two selections from Verdi’s La
Traviata, the stirring Prelude to Act 1 and a final aria by Ms Dahl the
lovely Ah fors’e lui. Responding to
the enthusiastic applause, we were given one lovely encore,
O mio babbino caro from
Gianni Schicchi.
This program will be broadcast on KUSP 88/9 FM on Sunday,
March 9, 2008, at 11:00 am.
