As promised at and by the fundraiser concert of Russian art songs and arias in January, Bel Cantanti’s opera gala this year was a celebration of Russian opera, with longer excerpts and staging. Narration by Robin McGinness punctuated the evening, providing exposition for the three different operas that were excerpted. Not every break between scenes had exposition, though, and sometimes the audience seemed unsure whether to applaud, because it wasn’t always clear whether the scene was continuing and whether there would be more exposition.
The performance started off strong with the Queen of Spades excerpts. A duet from Hannah Wardell and Nina Mutalifu showed off their delicious, rich, velvety voices together. This part of the program also featured the first appearance of the Four Seasons Dancers, with beautiful choreography by Elena Jones amplified by their glittering costumes, at times looking like they were floating across the stage, not just moving. Anastasia Sidorova started the dance and immediately brought so much light, joy and warmth as she entered the stage and enjoined everyone.
Wardell reprised her “Polina’s Romance” from the January concert, and something about this performance really brought her acting to the audience so that I got her characterization more so than the previous performance. In a similar vein, Nina Mutalifu seemed to have upped her game and owned the stage like the gorgeous lead soprano she is.
Enter Ryan Lustgarten, the tenor for the evening. He sounded amazing, and in his duet with Mutalifu it struck me how everyone kept acting even while using music stands. A professional approach, to be sure, and never should we expect anything less, but still impressive to see. Here, too, I savored how much the flute and cello were adding to the sound with the piano. All instrumentalists played these scenes so well and expressively, staying with the singers the entire time without the need for a conductor, the mark of a truly cohesive ensemble. Not only that, but the instruments combined with the singers brought to the forefront how romantic and passionate Tchaikovsky’s music is. It’s enough to make one believe in love.
One of the voices on this concert that had not sung the concert in January was bass Andrew Payne. His rendition of Prince Yeletsky’s aria was so wonderfully sincere and endearing, and credit must also be given to Reba Winstead’s supertitles, as the translation helped the audience connect on another level while eliminating the language barrier for those who do not know Russian.
The next opera to be excerpted was Anton Rubinstein’s Demon. As part of the background projections, a terrifying painting of the demon was chosen to set the mood, to great effect. Appropriately, Rob McGinness as the Demon entered in most dramatic fashion through the audience. Dressed all in black, including a cape and hood, one couldn’t help but recall the Phantom terrorizing the opera house in The Phantom of the Opera. Again, the drama worked, and it helped that the painting in the background resembled McGinness a little bit. But more than that, it’s clear that McGinness was born to play this role both vocally and with his acting ability. This is a complicated character that fundamentally wants the human experience of being loved, but because he is a Demon, in order to know true love he must repent, and he will not. Enter Valerie FIlloux, looking and sounding every bit like the Angel she was playing. With an impressive chest register and nicely narrow vibrato, this mezzo-soprano provided a foil for the Demon. Likewise, soprano Esther Tonea was well-matched to play these scenes with McGinness. “Don’t cry, my child,” the Demon tells her as he tries to win her over. Some of the best acting of the night occurred here, too, as Tonea listened and reacted to what he was saying, not even needing to sing as she said everything her character was thinking with her face and body. At first she wonders who the Demon is, again, making me wonder whether Andrew Lloyd Webber got inspiration for Phantom from this, as the Demon starts out as an unseen admirer of Tonea’s character Tamara. In the end, Tamara proves to be a wholly likeable character, unrelenting and secure in the face of a demon, not giving in to his desire for her. The excerpts of this opera ended with duets between McGinness, Tonea, and FIlloux, and I can only commend all three soloists and the instrumental ensemble for incredible dynamic balance.
After a brief intermission, the audience was treated to excerpts from Borodin’s Prince Igor. I loved Filloux’s voice in the role of the Polovotsian Girl here, and Sidorova as Konchakovna displayed a beautiful low register and even color throughout the voice. Musically and staging-wise, I felt there needed to be a better transition between her cavatina and the previous number, but Lustgarten as Vladimir smoothed it over when he went into his gorgeous falsetto at the end of his aria that followed. His duet with Sidorova had great singing, too, but it needed staging and intimacy work.
After Konchakovna and Vladimir’s duet, Payne completed the singing for the evening with Prince Igor’s aria. Here I loved the sentiment of him singing to his wife, and it must also be said that removing the music stand was a game-changer in terms of his acting intention coming through to the audience.
This final part of the program closed with the famous Polovotsian Dances, leaving the audience with memories of bright colors, beautiful movement, and general positivity at a time when it is very much needed.
All in all, this was an enjoyable concert that would provide a good introduction to Russian opera to anyone unfamiliar, with good singing and, perhaps even more importantly, commitment from everyone involved. Mainly, I was left wondering why I had to settle for seeing only part of each opera. I would adore seeing a full production of any of these operas from Bel Cantanti, especially Demon. Let us hope that we are given that gift in future seasons.
Maggie Ramsey
Bel Cantanti Opera Company: Princes, Queens, and Demons: Russian Opera Gala
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Excerpts from The Queen of Spades; Anton Rubinstein – Excerpts from Demon; Alexander Borodin – Excerpts from Prince Igor
Esther Tonea, Nina Mutalifu – Soprano; Anastasia Sidorova, Hannah Wardell, Valerie Filloux – Mezzo-Soprano; Ryan Lustgarten – Tenor; Robin McGinness – Baritone; Andrew Payne – Bass; Four Seasons Dancers
Igor Zubkovsky – Cello; Kathryn Farenish – Flute; Tatiana Loisha – Piano; Anna Nizhegorodtseva – Organ
Elena Jones – Choreographer; Brydon Wall – Lighting Designer; Reba Winstead – Supertitles
Bender JCC of Greater Washington, Rockville, MD, February 28, 2026
Top image: The Four Seasons Dancers
All photos by Evgeny Sidorov