Although it’s cold outside, the Brooklyn-based Regina Opera chased away the winter blues at its Winter Gala Concert, held on Sunday, February 2nd, in the auditorium of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy, at 5902 6th Avenue, where the company’s artists sang from a selection of famous operatic pieces.
For two hours, attendees were exposed to operatic culture from many famous composers, such as Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Bach and Tchaikovsky, and their most iconic operas such as Carmen, La Traviata and La Bohème, to name a few.
After the introduction from producer Francine Garber-Cohen, the Winter Gala Concert formally began as sopranos Nicole Magallón and tenor José Heredia sang in a duet of “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. A showcase of powerful vocals and even acting, a performance not in English, still shows human emotion.
Soprano Rachel Hippert conducted another piece from Verdi in her rendition of “Pace, Pace” from La Forza del Destino. Hippert’s performance was genuinely heartrending, as her operatic singing demonstrated the character’s situation of despair and loss.
Though there were also some comedic elements, as seen in Puccini’s legendary La Bohème’s Quartet Act 3 as Hippert (Mimi) and Heredia (Rodolfo) were trying to determine their relationship’s future somberly while Magallón (Musetta) and baritone Eliam Ramos (Marcello) are spazzing out in their own drama.
Although not all the performances had vocals, they were by no means less impactful. Violist Mikhail Parkhomovsky played selections from Tchaikovsky and Paganini, among others.
After an intermission, flutists Richard Paratley and Susan Carlson got the audience back to an operatic mood with their rendition of Puccini’s “The Humming Chorus” from Madama Butterfly. Special mention goes to pianist Catherine Miller; though in the background, she was always heard with each performance.
Sopranos Kristina Terwilliger had the unique privilege of singing the only English song in the lineup, “Willow Song” from Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe, powerful and captivating, easily grabbing the audience’s attention and hearts.
Ramos ended the evening with a performance of “The Toreador Song” from Carmen, which quite symbolically represents the entire night, triumphant.
Although only one performance was in English, one was still able to grasp the raw emotion being performed by the musical artists, not only by their body language but also by their expressive tone, including the music accompanying it.
“The opportunities that Regina Opera gives me to sing with them is always such a pleasure, said Magallón. “I thought the performance was fantastic today. It was amazing hearing everybody … I think today was one of the better performances I’ve ever participated in.”
