The four tenors of the COC Ensemble Studio at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. March 29, 2016.
Allow me to steal this little meme from Superman. I think if he were in the audience at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre today, he would not only have forgiven me, but he would also have cheered alongside the overflowing, 250+ crowd of opera lovers. Everybody loves a tenor. And when it’s not one but four of them lending their collective voices to a program of operatic chestnuts and Neapolitan Songs, the several members of the audience, primarily female, could be forgiven for being a touch delirious…
The tenor voice has always been a bit of a special breed. The great Aussie diva/Met soprano Frances Alda titled her memoir Men, Women and Tenors — need I say more? And when you have four really good tenors who are members of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, there’s reason to celebrate. With two to graduate imminently, now’s the time to have a concert. And what’s a tenor’s concert without the warhorses, particularly of the Italian variety? In the best of times, there’s a lineup for these free noon-hour concerts. I was told that the lineup today went from the main entrance all the way south to Richmond Street.
The four singers were Andrew Haji, Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure, Charles Sy and Aaron Sheppard, and the two pianists were Jennifer Szeto and Hyejin Kwon. Charles Sy kicked off the proceedings with “La donna e mobile” from Rigoletto. He sang with his customary warmth and ingratiating sound, an excellent start to the concert. Then it was Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure’s turn. J-P, as his friends and colleagues call him, has what is called a tenore di grazia, a compact sized, warm, sweet sound that’s perfect as Nemorino and the lighter Italian repertoire. For his solo, he chose the famous Tosti song “Non t’amo piu,” which he sang with sweet, plangent tone and great expression, complete with a rather unexpected high option, sung in head voice. Bravo!
Then it was Andrew Haji’s turn to shine. He certainly has received the most accolades of the four, including the “Triple Crown” at the ‘s- Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition in the Netherlands. He was an endearing Alfredo in La traviata at the COC last fall, and will take on Rodolfo in La boheme this June at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Tamino in Die Zauberfloete at the COC next season. Haji has developed by leaps and bounds since his early Rob Ford: The Opera days. He chose Nemorino’s aria, “Una furtive largima,” His lyric tenor sounded absolutely gorgeous, totally even and secure throughout its range. He did not rush, taking his time to give the words their full measure at the end of the aria. I predict great things for this singer.
The last of the four solos was sung by Aaron Sheppard. He is in his first year in the Ensemble, has a pleasing, naturally produced, modest-sized, soft-grained tenor. Today, he chose to sing “La barcheta,” (The Little Boat) one of six songs in the lovely cycle, Venezia by Venezuelan composer Reynaldo Hahn. It’s about a pair of lovers in a boat on a moonlit night in Venice. Sheppard sang the whole song affectingly in a nice, plangent mezza voce. The last solo was by Charles Sy, in that showstopper “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” from Lehar’s Land of Smiles. Often sung as an encore, it requires a full lyric sound and a generous spirit, both amply supplied by Sy. His warm timbre and ample top did justice to this most beautiful of Viennese bon-bons. His last high note, attacked three times, was very well done, making up for the rather abrupt end to the top note in “La donna e mobile” earlier. Throughout these five selections, pianist Jennifer Szeto was the rock in terms of total support, always attentive and making small adjustments to be in synch with the singers.
The final group was three extremely popular Neapolitan Songs, with Hyejin Kwon at the piano. It began with “Core ‘n grato”, sometimes called “Catari, catari.” Perhaps it was a bit tentative in the beginning – after all, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre doesn’t have the ambience of Little Italy! But miraculously after a few minutes, it caught fire. All four guys really got into it, starting with “Funiculi, funicula” which is one of those fun songs anyway – pun intended! Okay, I don’t speak Italian, let alone Neapolitan dialect, but an Italian friend at the concert said the diction of the singers were excellent – Kudos to their language coach! The last of the three was “La Danza,” with the long piano introduction played flawlessly by Hyejin Kwon. The text is even more challenging in this piece but the four tenors were amply able to wrap their tongues around the enormous number of words at breakneck speed while not sacrificing beauty of tone.
With the formal part of the program done, the audience showed their appreciation with a well-deserved standing ovation. Anything else? Well, the obligatory “O solo mio” of course, the Neapolitan Song to end all Neapolitan Songs, followed by the Puccini warhorse, “Nessun dorma.” The Four Tenors have to follow the tradition set by The Three Tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras) in their 1990 Rome concert in celebration of the World Cup. Our four guys were in two rival groups, going in for some highly competitive singing. By then, they were totally relaxed and having fun, like the audience. It was hilarious to see them trying to top each other with interpolated high notes. As to be expected, the audience went wild at the end. I love Schubert and Mahler and Hugo Wolf, but I’ll be honest – at the end of the day, there’s nothing like a tenor shindig with an Italian menu…
#LUDWIGVAN
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