The Schwabacher Summer Concert

The Schwabacher Summer Concert is an annual event that has aspiring opera professionals perform operatic scenes accompanied by a full orchestra. Created by the Merola Opera Program, which is a summer bootcamp for a couple of dozen young artists, the Schwabacher is usually a slapdash affair that features a few promising singers surrounded by others that are not quite ready for prime time. This year's outing from director Omer Ben Seadia at the SF Conservatory of Music, however, featured the strongest vocal roster and best staging that I have ever encountered at these concerts. The evening started with bass-baritone Justice Yates and baritone Gabriel Natal Báez in a silly scene from an early Donizetti comic opera, Il camponello, that was a delight. In particular, the young Puerto Rican baritone, Natal Báez, sang with a strong, richly warm voice that was a major highlight in all three of his appearances. (All production photos are by Kristen Loken.)

The first half of the program was a Donizetti-thon, with Il camponello followed by two scenes from the composer's Roberto Devereux. Donizetti's dramatic operas tend to be virtuoso vocal showcases, usually revived for operatic superstars, and there was a fear that the young singers would be overmatched. However, they all came through triumphantly, including mezzo-soprano Ruby Dibble as Sara, Roberto's beloved who has married the Duke of Nottingham on the orders of Queen Elizabeth.

Tristan Tournaud as the jealous Roberto has a pretty tenor voice that blended nicely with Dibble's fluent performance.

This was followed by a couple of scenes from Anna Bolena with a magnificent performance by Charlotte Siegel as the doomed queen who has to deal with former lover Percy, sung by tenor Jin Yu, and her lovesick page Smeton, beautifully sung by Anna Maria Vacca (not pictured).

The scene culminated in the arrival of Enrico (Henry VIII) who has everyone arrested before their eventual execution.

After intermission, the program veered away from Donizetti into Puccini's Suor Angelica with mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak as The Princess being horrible to her niece, the pathetic Suor Angelica sung by soprano Alexa Frankian. This was an audience favorite (not pictured), but I preferred what followed: soprano Ariana Cossette as Leonora and mezzo-soprano Anna Maria Vacca singing the difficult aria/duet from Act I of Verdi's Il Trovatore (pictured).

The concert ended with Act II of Donizetti's comedy Don Pasquale, with the title role sung in a gorgeously resounding bass by John Mburu, accompanied by a nice performance from baritone Joeavian Rivera.

The antic direction by Elio Bucky helped to ameliorate the sadistic, unfunny story of a group of conspirators out to torture a rich, pompous old fool, and though soprano Chea Kang was never quite convincing as a phony innocent from the convent, she was thoroughly in her element as a hellraising whirlwind, and she sang the role as if it was written for her.

The orchestra, seated onstage behind the singers, was led by conductor William Long and they sounded lively and lovely in the all-Italian music. Special mention should also go to Galen Till, credited as the "Formalwear Coordinator." The Schwabacher concerts over the years usually had a mishmash of formal dresses and tuxedos that often clashed with the characters they were playing, but this year everyone was garbed in complementary but differentiated black clothing that looked good on everyone. Congratulations to everyone involved.