The Opera Tattler

* Notes *
The 2025 class of Merola is quite strong. The Grand Finale for the program was held last night at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Conducted by Maestro Kelly Kuo, the lively orchestra was not always perfectly synchronized with the singers, but for the most part everyone sounded great.

The set was perhaps for The Monkey King, as there are screens for vertical titles. Most of the action happened downstage right behind the orchestra. Elio Bucky’s direction was very funny, the choreography exaggerated and there were so many laughs throughout.

The ensembles were strong, especially “Don Basilio!… Cosa veggo! Buona sera, mio signore” from Il barbiere di Siviglia (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken). Baritone Joeavian Rivera has a nice, light tone for Figaro, mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach likewise sounded very pretty as Rosina. Tenor Minghao Liu was completely charming as Almaviva and bass-baritone Justice Yates was a fine Bartolo. Bass-baritone Wanchun Liang was humorous as Basilio. The motivation of money was featured prominently, and Basilio comes back for a dropped pouch, which makes his return make more sense.

The ensemble from Falstaff, “Alice! Meg! Nannetta!,” was likewise hilarious. So many pretty and strong female voices. Including mezzo-soprano Meg Brilleslyper (Meg), soprano Alexa Frankian (Alice), soprano Chea Kang (Nanetta), and mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak (Quickly).

The most beautiful music was certainly the duet “Madre! Mia vita… Son nata a lagrimar” from Giulio Cesare with mezzo-sopranos Sadie Cheslak and Ariana Maubach. Both sounded so pure and lovely. The duet from Don Pasquale (“Don Pasquale… Cheti, cheti immantinente”) was a good counterpoint in the second half, baritone Joeavian Rivera and bass John Mburu had a nice quick patter.

There was the inclusion of art song and numbers from more contemporary pieces such as” Lonely House” and “Old Man River.” Both of these particular pieces were great, tenor Tristan Tournaud convinced in the Weill and as did bass John Mburu in the Kern.

The biggest problem I had with the performance was the use of microphones. Soprano Charlotte Siegel and bass-baritone Justice Yates sang "Wheels of a Dream" from Flaherty/McNally's Ragtime. The amplification was jarring.

There were some star turns as far as arias go. Bass-baritone Wanchun Liang was nearly heroic as the scheming Gianni Schicchi in “Era equal la voce.” Mezzo-soprano Meg Brilleslyper was sassy and charming in “Qui j’aime les militaires” from La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein. Best of all was tenor Minghao Liu who really showed off in “Ah, mes amis… Pour mon ame” from La fille du régiment. His full range is so smooth without any breaks, and he sings his high notes with a ridiculous ease.

*Tattling * 
For the third year running instead of an overture we had talking, this time from Executive Director of Merola Sean Waugh and Director of Membership & Engagement Alek Shrader.

The audience was quiet and engaged. I did note one person in the middle of Row H of the orchestra level that spoke at full volume, but it appeared to at least be about the performance.