Tenor Victor Cardamone

SANTA ROSA'S MAJESTICAL MAGIC FLUTE IN WEILL

The Santa Rosa Symphony scored a triumph April 15 in Weill Hall with its concert presentation of Mozart’s final opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), completed and premiered only months prior to the composer’s death in December of 1791.

The collaboration with Mozart’s librettist and fellow Freemason, T. A. Schikanader, resulted in an opera of universal musical and theatrical appeal which has withstood the march of time, happily surviving cuts, updates, and endless staging reinventions to this day. Opera is not really the correct term for The Magic Flute however as it is technically a Singspiel (literally a “sing-play”), which means that there is spoken dialogue rather than sung recitative in between the musical numbers.

In this performance the music was sung by a cast of both established and emerging Bay Area professionals in German, with English surtitles projected above the orchestra, while the story was presented in English in an updated mix of narration, dialogue and dance by actors from the Santa Rosa High School Magnet Program ArtQuest. The chorus numbers were performed quite professionally by the ArtQuest a capella choir and concert choir. Although several musical numbers and whole scenes were edited out for this student-friendly version, the concert still lasted two and a quarter hours. It was special to see at this performance was how many young people were in the audience, perhaps likely there in support of their siblings and friends, but they were there and quite obviously enjoyed the show.

The Santa Rosa Symphony gave an excellent reading of the romping score under the enthusiastic yet firm hand and very brisk (occasionally a little too brisk) tempos of conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong. The strings were lovely, woodwinds expressive, and brass solid. An unfortunate musical misstep was the substitution of a regular Glockenspiel for the requisite Keyboard Glockenspiel (or a Celeste) to serve as Papageno’s magic bells. My sympathies went out to the percussionist struggling with the mallets, when those sections could have been so easily accomplished with a keyboard instrument. The rest of the evening sparkled and soared. This was a musical feast and Mr. Lecce-Chong was the executive chef.

The Symphony engaged a first-rate cast of emerging Bay Area professional singers for the project, and all the supporting singers were credited as being San Francisco Conservatory of Music students. Even though this was a concert performance, with the now-ubiquitous iPads in hand, they didn’t distract as much as open scores. All the arias were sung without music, and iPads were only glanced at discreetly, giving the singers ample opportunity to interact with one another.

Tenor Victor Cardamone as Prince Tamino presented a gorgeous and sizable high lyric tenor, singing with a penetrating heroic quality and chiaroscuro that bodes well for his future success. He sang the demanding opening aria “Dies Bildness ist bezaubernd schön” with ease, tenderness and sympathy.

Kirk Eichelberger as Sarastro filled Weill Hall with an authoritative bass-baritone of sonorous beauty and power, sustained lines and precise declamation. I was sorry that “O Isis und Osiris” was cut, but “In diesen heil’gen Hallen” gave him plenty of opportunity to display his considerable vocal and dramatic gifts. Coloratura soprano Shawnette Sulker is well-known in the Bay Area, and as Queen of the Night she brought a regal presence to the stage. She dazzled the house with her vocal agility and perfectly placed high F’s, tossing them off like nothing, to the audience’s roar of approval.

Ellen Leslie’s Pamina was vocally assured and expressive. Her Act II aria “Ach, ich fühls” had sympathetic tone and color, and lovely high notes. She presented the character not just as the obvious damsel-in-distress, but also strong and self-possessed. No weak and bullied chattel princess here. Baritone Efraín Solis gave an enjoyable and endearing performance as Papageno (the woeful bird catcher in perpetual search of his “Papagena”.). Although most of his role fell to cuts, both “Der Vogelfänger Bin Ich Ja” and his “Suicide Aria” in the finale of Act II gave a clear view of how well-suited his resonant voice and sympathetic and funny personality are to the role. His whistle-playing was also perfect.

Hyesoo Kim, as Papagena, although listed as a conservatory student, gave a standout performance in her cameo role, which for this concert consisted solely of the final duet with Papageno. She has a stunning quicksilver voice which literally danced through the duet, with all its patter.

The Queen of the Night’s backup power trio are referred to as simply “The Three Ladies”, and were Erika Thelen, Taylor See and Hope Nelson, and powerhouses they were. For this performance they also functioned as the “Three Child-Spirits” at the opera’s end, who save both Pamina and Papageno from killing themselves. They were all individually strong, yet balanced well as a group and sang some of the opera’s most memorable music with marvelous energy, crispness and good blend, although Ms. Thelan’s vibrato tended to sound driven, muddling her pitch. When she sang more lightly as the first Child-Spirit, the vibrato smoothed out and the pitch was pristine.

Rounding out the cast were tenor Jackson Allen as Sarastro’s slave Monostatos and First Armored Man, and bass-baritone Joe Hack as The Speaker and Second Armored Man. Both gave vocally solid performances.

Providing the story and a bit of connecting dialogue were a handful of six spunky and engaging ArtQuest Theatre Arts Narrators: Xavian Dominguez, Melody Decker, Cameron Sundberg, Zern Mackenzie, Jewel Harmony Ramos, and Levi Klouse. They were well prepared and obviously enjoyed themselves. The ArtQuest Dance Company provided a graceful visual element for Tamino and Pamina’s final trial of Fire and Water. The highly disciplined chorus was comprised of ArtQuest’s a Capella Choir and Concert Choir for a total of forty-six student singers.

A word about ArtQuest as described on its website: “ArtQuest is a public school magnet program for the Visual and Performing Arts at Santa Rosa High School. The passion, commitment and discipline of the Arts is connected to the energy of academic learning. Students imagine meaningful concepts, develop strong technical skills, and critically assess their work and the work of others.”

It would be nearly impossible to praise this program and its instructors too much, and they are Katie Loomis, Program Coordinator; Marla Tusa, Vocal Music; Lea Brown, Dance; Jereme Anglin, Theatre Arts; Tim Decker, Instrumental Music; Jason Pedri, Video Arts; Lauren Frost, Digital Arts, Brooke Delello, Visual Fine Arts; and John Sappington, Photography.

This ambitious concert was performed at a level one would expect from a conservatory of music.