Some opera's greatest hits and popular standards provided a rousing bill of fare for the Symphony of the Americas' Rosemary Duffy Larson Family Pops Series matinee on Sunday, February 12. at the Amaturo Theater. With its heavy dose of musical romance, the afternoon proved the perfect pre Valentine's Day musicale and was enthusiastically greeted by a large audience.
The opening brass chords of Verdi's Overture to La Forza del Destino rang out with strength. Maestro James Brooks-Bruzzese brought out the often obscured details of the string and wind writing and the big brass chorale was phrased eloquently. The pomp and ceremony of the Triumphal March from Aida was given full reign. Marco Navarette's oboe solo was particularly exquisite. Mozart's Overture to The Marriage of Figaro emerged sprightly, graceful and splendidly played.
Maestro Brooks-Bruzzese shared the podium with Italian conductor Alessandro Siciliani who led an exhilarating reading of the Overture to Semiramide by Rossini. From the fleet introduction, it was obvious that this performance would bring out the bubbly effervescence of Rossini's scoring. There was plenty of energy from the strings in Rossini's rollicking figurations. Marilyn Maingart's florid flute solo was a standout amongst especially fine playing by the entire wind section. Siciliani's finely terraced dynamics aided this excellent performance of Rossini's crowd pleasing showpiece.
With Siciliani conducting, Panamanian baritone Ricardo Velasquez brought personality and vocal brio aplenty to Largo al Factotum from Rossini's Barber of Seville. His big, booming and resonant voice was even more effective in Maria Grever's Jurame and Augustín Lara's Granada, two Latin standards, sung with idiomatic fervor. Mezzo-soprano Grethel Ortíz, a specialist in the music theater repertoire, offered a vociferous rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schönberg and a warm, dusky toned Memory from Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The real star of the afternoon was soprano Elizabeth Caballero. This South Florida based artist has sung widely at leading opera houses throughout Europe, South and North America. Her pure, clear soprano took wing in Pace, Pace mio Dio from La Forza del Destino, sung with passion and dramatic expressivity. With her rich vocalism, Caballero captured the true fervor of Un Bel Di from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. A terrific Puccini singer, Caballero concluded the program with a heartfelt, ringing Vissi d'arte from Tosca. Her soaring top tones were nothing short of thrilling.
Brooks-Bruzzese and the orchestra played a toe tapping medley as an encore, including such standards as April in Paris, Pennsylvania 6,500 (with the musicians calling out the number) and a big band frolic through Benny Goodman's Swing, Swing, Swing.
The Symphony of the Americas season continues with Classical Soul featuring vocalist Lillie McCloud and duo-pianists Sergio and Barbara Salani playing selections from Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals 7:45 p.m. March 7 at the Broward Center's Amaturo Theater in Ft. Lauderdale www.symphonyoftheamericas.org
