Summer Opera Extravaganza Recap by Andy Anderson

SUMMER OPERA EXTRAVAGANZA

a word from Andy Anderson...

June ended with a bang at

St. John’s in the Village on

Tuesday night!

Vira + Friends had its

Summer Opera Extravaganza

at 7:30pm,

ending the night with a

celebration of

vocal excellence and community.

The concert started with fireworks.

Soprano Brooke Schooley greeted the audience with an

explosive cadenza, kicking off into audience-favorite

"Chacun le Sait" from Donizetti’s La fille du regiment.

Packed with high notes and vocal gymnastics,

it was a great “welcome in.”

Isaiah Musik-Ayala took the stage for the next piece.

Bass voices come in many shapes and sizes, but

Isaiah filled the room with a resonant, rich sound that had

both clarity and depth.

He sang “O Isis und Osiris” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte,

an iconic bass aria that rumbles the floor with the low notes,

followed by the contrasting, dramatic selection from the

Czech opera Rusalka.

One must recognize the virtuosic piano accompaniment, and the

masterful painting of the piece by pianist David Sytkowski.

The two pieces displayed a range of texture and color that

kept the audience at the edge of our seats.

Schooley returned with the vocal marathon that is

“Großmächtige Prinzessin," a 13 minute long undertaking that

many sopranos run from like their lives depend on it.

She narrated the action of the opera in between long

stretches of singing, giving the audience the full story.

After another incredible number from Musik-Ayala,

Vira Slywotzky finally joined him and

took the stage!

The two immediately engaged in a hilarious banter,

setting the scene for Arthur Sullivan’s

“Welcome joy! adieu to sadness!”

The wordiness of the piece matched with the

comical facial expressions and adorable character choices

made the duet a fantastic way to bring

levity to the drama that is a night of opera.

After a hauntingly beautiful performance of

"The Black Swan” by Schooley and Slywotzky,

Slywotzky delivered a devastating, brutally intense performance of

“I’m not crying for him” from Menotti’s The Consul.

Her ability to create a scene, and to

pull emotions from the listeners is always outstanding, and

this was no exception.

The rich quality of her voice filled the hall,

flooding the space with the raw tragedy of the piece.

Portraying a mother who lost everything,

Slywotzky brought the story to life in the way only Slywotzky can.

Musik-Ayala brought some levity after, with a hilarious Basilio.

His characterization was light, funny, and fully realized.

This brought us to the end, when Schooley and Slywotzky delivered the

active, energetic, and excitable

“Serbami ognor” from Rossini’s Semiramide.

An underrated opera and selection, in this writer’s opinion.

The lively piece brought the house down as a grand finale,

wrapping up what was truly a spectacular Summer Opera Extravagaza.

Thank you for writing, Andy!