Part commencement ceremony and part season finale, The Future Is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert packed Herbst Theatre last week for an evening of opera arias and scenes designed to dazzle friends, family and enthusiastic supporters of the esteemed multi-year residency given to young artists by the San Francisco Opera. Founded in 1977 and later named for SFO's former General Director Kurt Herbert Adler, the Fellowship Program provides participants, selected from the Merola Opera Program, an advanced training for the opera big leagues, and working experience performing supporting roles in mainstage productions. It is an internationally recognized system that has launched some world-class careers, and at the local level alone, offers fresh hope for the future of the art.
2016 Adler Fellows have proven exceptionally promising, racking up impressive stage portrayals along with successful recitals and appearances at the San Francisco Opera Center. For the gala, Resident Conductor Jordi Bernacer led the SFO Orchestra in a long but swift-moving concert that showcased the range and remarkable vocal talents of the current crop. The strings of the Orchestra are giving their own concert this week (Thurs., Dec. 8, Taube Atrium Theater), and they demonstrated their ability well, along with the rest of the accomplished crew. Concertmaster Kay Stern received a deserved ovation before they even played a note.
The Act III Prelude to Wagner's Lohengrin filled the newly acoustically improved Herbst with a sense of grandeur that might have placed a little too much pressure on bass-baritone Matthew Stump as the first singer on the bill. Continuing the big Wagnerian mood, he offered a rather generalized portrayal of the composer's agonized "Flying Dutchman." Slightly constricted at times but warm of tone and appealing, Stump moved through the difficult assignment to a satisfying close.
Coming from the 2015 Merola program, New Zealand Soprano Amina Edris has demonstrated her bright and attractive singing skills throughout her first year as an Adler Fellow. Her opening aria from Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable weighed a bit too heavily on her, but she and Stump both performed better as the night progressed and initial nerves were calmed. Edris has a knack for comedy and coloratura that amazes even as she flirts, and she got plenty of opportunity to show herself to best advantage in the second half.
The first scene of the evening was taken from Leoncavallo's verismo opera Pagliacci. Second-year Fellow baritone Edward Nelson and first-year soprano Toni Marie Palmertree nailed it with a fully-fleshed, vocally radiant performance that started with a fight and ended with a passionate embrace. Both singers went on to kind of steal the show with their remarkable abilities, but this wasn't meant to be a competition, and there were plenty of equally stellar moments to come from other participants.
First-year Fellow bass-baritone Brad Walker lightened the mood with an aria for Count Almaviva from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro . His sardonic look and pleasing tone fit the part perfectly. Walker, Nelson and Edris also appeared in a delightful trio recital at the Opera Center earlier this year, more evidence of their fantastic range.
Soprano Julie Adams, a second-year Fellow, has performed on the mainstage most recently as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and she has also appeared in The Makropulos Case, Jenufa and The Magic Flute. Her first aria for the gala was an exquisite rendition of the lovely Glueck das mir verblieb (Marietta's Lied ) from Die Tote Stadt by Erich Korngold. Adams would change from the glamor of her first character to the bruised and defeated country girl of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah later, pairing with Brad Walker for an extended excerpt that was as disturbing as it was dramatically convincing.
Chinese mezzo-soprano Nian Wang (2014 Merola, second-year Fellow) sang a duet with Samoan-born New Zealander tenor Pene Pati (first-year Fellow) from Bellini's Romeo and Juliet opera, I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Obviously comfortable in "pants roles," Ms. Wang stayed in her suit and tie for her second appearance in the program as the title character in Handel's Serse . Her full tone with a clear edge suited both parts perfectly. As Romeo, she was ardent; as the emperor Xerxes, she was ferocious.
Pene Pati startled us with his big clarion sound. He actually bears comparison to the young Pavarotti, and his stage presence is also endearing. His thrilling second aria from Verdi's Luisa Miller won a huge and well-deserved ovation.
Sporting a new beard, bass Anthony Reed (second-year) offered two impressive solo contributions with arias from Richard Strauss and Rimsky-Korsakov. In the first number he had us wondering just how low he could go and still remain audible, and in the second, how flexible and lyrical a dark register can be. He was triumphant in both cases.
Reed coupled with Edward Nelson for a scene from Britten's Billy Budd. His brief, kindly interchange with the condemned title character was deeply and unexpectedly moving. Unexpected in the sense that we didn't know we would be so moved. We didn't really think we would tear up at a gala, but it was a testament to the singers' convincing acting. Wow, if the SFO revives Billy Budd, they had better check Nelson's future schedule.
Latvian mezzo-soprano Zanda Svede is a third-year Adler Fellow consistently making good on her promise both here and throughout the US. I was most recently impressed by her excellent Suzuki in the SFO Butterfly . Her scene from Massenet's Cleopatre, with Matthew Stump as her Marc-Antoine, was wonderful. There is a clear purity about her voice that makes her a natural for the repertoire. More than a few listeners hope new SFO General Director Matthew Shilvock takes notice of the interest. Svede also sang a Russian aria from Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky. As the Old Believer Marfa, she also made us long for more.
Characteristic of the entire ensemble, Zanda Svede proves the inestimable worth of the Adler Fellowship Program. The Gala could have been called New Hope for the Future.