Wexford Festival: Gala Concert
National Opera House (O’Reilly Theatre) 27/10/24
Carmen Santoro, Rebecca Warren, Nate Ben-Horin, Frasier Hickland, Declan Murphy, Doireann O’Carroll, Giorgio D’Alonzo, Luca Capoferri, Pantasilena Jaho, Aoife Moran, (pianists); Giorgio Caoduro (baritone); Benoit Joseph Meier (tenor); Rory Musgrave (baritone); Rory Dunne (baritone); Ava Dodd (soprano); Carolyn Holt (mezzo); Matteo Loi (baritone); Mariano Orozco (bass-baritone); Gillen Munguia (tenor); Ioana Pipelea (soprano); Giuseppe Tola (baritone); Alberto Robert (tenor); Matteo Mancini (baritone); Paola Leoci (soprano);.Dane Suarez (tenor); Hannah O’Brien (soprano).
The ‘Wexford Factory’ is a two-year programme of mentoring, professional development and financial support that helps emerging theatrical (mainly vocal and répétiteur pianistic) talent to establish careers in the world of opera. The ‘Gala Concert’ at the Wexford Festival is a one-off late-start event at the main theatre of the National Opera House, timed on or immediately after the clocks go back (so not at the end of the Festival), principally showcasing the Factory emerging talent (and other young Festival performers) in an eclectic “basket of goodies” crowd-pleasing programme. This year it was on the night of 27th October. A single piano was the sole instrumentation. The O’Reilly Theatre was packed; the ‘Wexford buzz’ was audible and the festive atmosphere palpable. The show was compered by Artistic Director of WFO and founder of the Wexford Factory, Rosetta Cucchi, and RTÉ radio and television personality, Marty Whelan.
Italian baritone Giorgio Caoduro (whose stuttering Tartaglia had contributed so much to the humour in ‘Le Maschere’) opened the festivities with a skilfully and attractively ornamented rendition of ‘Una voce m’ha colpito’ from Rossini’s early one-act farce, ‘L'inganno felice’, accompanied by celebrated vocal coach Carmen Santoro. As he left the stage to enthusiastic applause, he was threatened by two ‘gendarmes’ brandishing ‘truncheons’, one of which was a petit pain French bread (prompting the response: “C’mon, it wasn’t that bad!”). Accompanied by Rebecca Warren, French-Swiss tenor Benoît-Joseph Meier (a hilariously libidinous Arlecchino in ‘Le Maschere’) and Irish baritone Rory Musgrave (the wily Graziano in ‘Le Maschere’ and a sleazy ‘Doctor’ Dulcamara in ‘The Elixir of Love) performed the ‘Gendarmes Duet’ in English from Offenbach’s ‘Geneviève de Brabant’ with characterful swagger. Next up, Irish bass-baritone Rory Dunne (governor of Tilbury Fort and also a Justice of the Peace in ‘The Critic’) sang ‘If I Ever Leave You’ from Lerner & Loewe’s musical ‘Camelot’. This was followed by Irish soprano Ava Dodd (wonderfully comedic love-heroine Tilburina in ‘The Critic’) in ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ from Harold Arlen’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Both were accompanied by Nate Ben-Horin. It was lovely to hear these musical numbers performed stylishly with proper operatic messa di voce. A change of gear in the form of six-handed piano and some choreography ensued, in the form of a suite of numbers from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, played by 3 Factory pianists, Frasier Hickland, Declan Murphy and Doireann O’Carroll, while a troupe of 6 dancers, led by choreographer Luisa Baldinetti (seen earlier in the week in the hilarious ‘Le convenienze’). Irish mezzo Carolyn Holt (hilarious as Justice’s Lady and infatuated Second Niece in ‘The Critic’) joined for the ‘Seguidilla’, which was absolutely delicious, prompting enthusiastic applause.
Staying delicious, a sequence of operatic goodies with established artistes started with a Donizetti duet that had me recalling Scottish Opera’s superb ‘Don Pasquale’ of this season. ‘Cheti, cheti immantinente’, where Pasquale and his doctor Malatesta apparently plot to catch out the ‘wife’ of his nightmares in a secret assignation (whereas, in fact, it is Pasquale himself who is walking into a trap of Malatesta’s devising), features some impossibly fast patter-singing. Sardinian baritone Matteo Loi (the hapless composer in the hilarious ‘Le Convenzione’) as the wily Malatesta and Argentinian bass-baritone Mariano Orozco (the thwarted Pantalone in ‘Le Maschere’) as Pasquale, accompanied by Giorgio D’Alonzo (Music Director for Puccini: Man of the Theatre), delivered a topflight virtuosic performance. Superb. Three popular numbers from Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ followed. Italian tenor Gillen Munguia (a resourceful Bringhella in ‘Le Maschere’) delivered Rodolfo’s ‘Che gelida manina’ with tenderness and passion, accompanied by Luca Capoferri (Music Director and pianist for the community production of ‘The Elixir of Love’). Gillen’s delightful Columbina in the Mascagni, Romanian-Irish soprano Ioana Pipelea, was a sweet and delicate Mimi in ‘Si, mi chiamono Mimi’, accompanied by Pantasilena Jaho (pianist for ‘Puccini: Man of the Theatre’). Gorgeous. Gillen and Luca returned with Sicilian baritone Giuseppe Toia as Marcello for a heartrending performance of the Act 4 duet ‘O Mimì, tu più non torni’. The sequence closed with two numbers from Rossini’s ‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’. Mexican tenor Alberto Robert (the comically miscast German tenor in ‘Le convenienze’) stylishly sang Almaviva’s Act 1 cavatina, ‘Ecco, ridente in cielo’, accompanied by Aoife Moran. Italian baritone Matteo Mancini (the decidedly dodgy Captain Spavento in ‘Le Maschere’) delivered the spirited evergreen ‘Largo al factotum’ with Giorgio D’Alonzo back at the piano, to great acclaim from the audience.
Back to Donizetti to start the home stretch. Rosetta Cucchi introduced Italian soprano Paola Leoci (Seconda Donna Luigia in ‘Le convenienze’) as “reminds me so much of her teacher Maria Grazia Pani, whom I consider the world’s greatest soprano”. Wow. Paola sang ‘O luce di quest'anima’ from ‘Linda di Chamounix’. Fabulous coloratura. Then, American tenor Dane Suarez joined Ava Dodd, Carolyn Holt and Rory Dunne for the quartet of the Duca, Maddalena, Gilda and Rigoletto ‘Un dì, si ben rammentomi / Bella figlia dell' amore’ from Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’, accompanied by Carmen Santoro. This was superb. Irish soprano Hannah O’Brien (Confidante and besotted First Niece in ‘The Critic’) then revealed some (hitherto unknown to me, at any rate) Jonathan Dove, the aria ‘Tiara, Tiara’ from his operetta ‘The Enchanted Pig’, a bride-to-be’s rant of dissatisfaction as nothing is good enough for her ‘perfect wedding’. Fabulously characterful and with perfect comedic delivery, it was expertly accompanied by Giorgio D’Alonzo. Dane Suarez returned to conclude the printed programme with Agustín Lara’s popular song ‘Granada’, sung in Spanish and accompanied by Luca Capoferri. A real crowd=pleaser.
As an encore, all the vocalists and dancers returned to the stage for a performance of the ‘Brindisi’ from ‘La Traviata’, the solo lines shared among the vocalists, with all joining in for the chorus and, of course, dancing. This elicited a standing ovation from the audience, bringing my attendance at this years Wexford Festival to a festive close.
The eagle-eyed reader may have spotted that only 7 of the initially promised 8 reports have materialised. Unfortunately, a mid-afternoon performance of Pagliacci took place while I, though the ticket was in my pocket and easily checkable, was sat in my car typing a review of ‘Le convenienze’, believing the start time to be later. Entirely my own fault. My first Wexford Festival has been a blast, though, and I hope I’ll have many more. It is pretty special. An army of local volunteers make the visitor welcome and everything run smoothly. The venues add to the experience. The commitment to excellence in performance, developing careers and reviving forgotten repertoire is unique and irresistible. And there is something genuine and unforced about the infectiously festive atmosphere which, let’s face it, is what every festival ought to have. Full marks from me.