VOCAL ELEGANCE AND FIRE AT THE 222'S RECITAL APRIL 26

The opera series at Healdsburg’s 222 Gallery closed its season April 26 in a splendid program given by virtuoso soprano Chelsea Hollow with pianist Taylor Chan.

It was a smallish audience for this eclectic program of art songs and cabaret pieces, yet Ms. Hollow sang the vocal pyro techniques as if she were in Carnegie Hall. Costumed fetchingly in trousers, blouse, vest and top hat, she emceed the program as an erudite and enthusiastic teacher/club host.

Performed straight through with no intermission, the program was divided into five sets entitled Entering the Tavern, Nightlife Shenanigans, Nostalgic and Silly, Sloppy and Bizarre, and Closing Time. The titles provided a witty framework for this musically rich and adventurous deep dive exploring the night scene, its people and places.

Included in the impressive evening were established art song gems by Debussy (the gorgeous soaring “Apparition”), Ravel (the murderously difficult “Fire” aria), Piaf (“La vie en rose”!), Weill (“Youkali”), and selected songs from cycles by Schoenberg (Brettl Lied), Libby Larsen (Cowboy Songs) and Florence Price (Four Encore Songs). She closed the recital with Dvořák’s most famous aria from the Opera Rusalka: “Song to the Moon”. These standards were alternated with outstanding new works by Nicolàs Lell Benavides, Michael Emer, Madeleine Dring, Eric Choate, Jeff Harris and Akshaya Avril Tucker.

A talented and sensitive musician, actress and storyteller as well as singer, Ms. Hollow is the master of her elegant coloratura soprano and she knows exactly what it can do. She sings and acts energetically and powerfully but also effortlessly, never forcing, never at the expense of sweetness, focus, pitch or expression. And a couple of the pieces were technically extremely demanding. Ravel’s incredible “Fire Aria” from his eccentric Opera L’enfant et les sortilèges, was the astonishing high point of the evening, both literally and figuratively.

A lovely pause for the singer’s high wire act featured Ms. Chan playing two calming, low-key pieces: “Nocturne With No Moon” from the film 1900 by the Italian film score giant Ennio Morricone, and Schumann’s well-known and beloved “Träumerei” from his Op. 15 Kinderszenen piano pieces. Ms. Chan plays with controlled emotion and deeply grounded musicality which not only gives her performance a certain magnetic quality as soloist, but also pairs perfectly with Ms. Hollow’s extroverted and exuberant performing style.

This recital was a spectacular closer for what has been a truly impressive lineup of Bay Area talent in this season’s Opera Series at the 222. Subbing for Series producer Caroline Altman was host Aja Gianola.