On June 7, the plaza of the Los Angeles Music Center was filled with the strains of Mariachi music as patrons arrived and sat down at the tables for a bite of supper before entering the theaters that surround the open space. Singers and instrumentalists came from the LA Opera Mariachi Project, Mariachi Voz de America, and the Mariachi Conservatory Ensemble Class. This being the twenty-first century, both men and women were represented in almost all categories. At 7:30 the program began inside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with the Opera Orchestra playing the prelude to La Verbena de la Paloma (The Festival of Our Lady of the Dove) by Tom·s BretÛn. The conductor for this and most of the other selections on the program was Spaniard Jordi Bernacer. Later he brought the authentic sounds of Spain to the Intermezzo from Reveriano Soutullo and Juan Vert’s La Leyenda del beso (The Legend of the Kiss).
The tenor that the audience most wanted to hear, Pl·cido Domingo, opened the vocal program with “Junto al puente de la peÒa” (Next to the rock bridge) from La CanciÛn del Olvido (The song of Oblivion) by JosÈ Serrano. He sounded rested and his voice soared majestically over the orchestra. He also sang selections from Soutullo and Vert’s La del soto del parral (The vineyard) and Maravilla (Wonder). With Uruguayan soprano Maria Antunez, Domingo sang the Pasodoble from Pablo Soroz·bal’s La del manojo de rosas, (The Rose Bouquet) and “ En mi tierra extremeÒa” (In my land Extremadura) from Federico Morena Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda. A mezzo-soprano with a smooth, dulce de leche sound, Antunez sang the Carceleras from Ruperto ChapÌ’s Las hijas de Zebedeo (The daughters of Zebedee) as her solo for the evening.
Domingo invited Pepe Aguilar’s Mariachi el Zacatecano to participate in this program and together they sang JosÈ Alfredo Jimenez’s Ella, which was the only selection not translated in the surtitles. However, you don’t have to know the language to appreciate great music. It just stands on its own. Joshua Guerrero, a tenor with a substantial voice from the Domingo Thornton Young Artist Program, gave a melodious rendition of “De este apacible rincÛn de Madrid” (From this peaceful corner of Madrid), another aria from Luisa Fernanda. After the intermission, he sang “La roca fria del Calvario” (The cold rock of Calvary) from JosÈ Serrano’s La Dolorosa with a great deal of passion and fire. His is a voice we will want to hear soon again.
Former Domingo Thornton Program member, Met Auditions, and Operalia winner Janai Brugger sang another selection from La del manojo de rosas, “No corte m·s que una rosa” (Don’t cut more than one rose) with sterling silver tones. Hers is a truly beautiful soprano. She looked vivacious in her bright red silk gown when she rendered another solo, the rousing “De EspaÒa vengo” (I come from Spain) from Pablo Luna’s El niÒo judio. (The Jewish boy) An expressive artist from whom we can expect a major career, she sang duets with both Domingo and Guerrero.
Domingo also brought two singers from Spain: coloratura soprano Auxiliadora Toledano and tenor Antonio V·zquez. Toledano sang the aria “Me llaman la primorosa” (They call me the exquisite) from El Barbero de Sevilla, a zarzuela by GerÛnimo GimÈnez and Miguel Nieto. She had an authentic coloratura timbre, but unfortunately, no trill. V·squez sang one of the best-known Zarzuela arias, “No puede ser” (It cannot be), from Soroz·bal’s La Tabernera del Puerto (The port tavern keeper) with wonderfully authentic style but a smaller voice than we would have heard from Maestro Domingo, who conducted that single piece.
The applause at the end of the program rolled across the auditorium like thunder and you knew that this audience would not go home without encores. Brugger sang an aria from Gonzalo Roig’s zarzuela, Cecilia Valdez and Antunez sang the Romanza from Ernesto Lecuona’s Maria la O. The most interesting new singer that evening was Joshua Guerrero who finished his appearance with Mexican composer Maria Grever’s song, Jurame (Promise me). Domingo topped the evening off singing Consuelo Vel·zquez’s BÈssame Mucho (Kiss me a lot) with the audience joining him, and a final song that always fits his voice perfectly, AgustÌn Lara’s Granada.
Maria Nockin
image=http://www.operatoday.com/MGs6512.gif
image_description=Jordi Bernacer conducts the LA Opera Orchestra with (front row, left to right) Maria Antunez, Auxiliadora Toledano, Janai Brugger, Placido Domingo, Joshua Guerrero and Antonio Vazquez. (Photo: Robert Millard)
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product_title=An Evening of Zarzuela and Latin American Music at Los Angeles Opera
product_by=A review by Maria Nockin
product_id=Above: Jordi Bernacer conducts the LA Opera Orchestra with (front row, left to right) Maria Antunez, Auxiliadora Toledano, Janai Brugger, Placido Domingo, Joshua Guerrero and Antonio Vazquez. (Photo: Robert Millard)