 |
 |
 |
 |
Opera Under the Stars
An evening of music from opera, operetta, and Broadway musicals in the Lubber Run Park Amphitheatre. Featuring Lara Colby (soprano), Amanda Gosier (soprano), Douglas Bowles (tenor), and Gene Galvin (bass), with pianist Kate Lewis.
The following review appeared in the Washington Post on August 6, 2007.
The Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia stripped opera down to its essentials during its performance on a steamy Friday night: not scenery, not costumes, but wonderful music. Sopranos Lara Colby and Amanda Gosier, tenor Douglas Bowles and bass-baritone Eugene Galvin romped and emoted through 14 arias and duets at Lubber Run Park Amphitheatre in Arlington, mixing classical opera with a bit of operetta and a few show tunes.
Lehar's "The Merry Widow" brought out the best in the sopranos, with Gosier floating lovely high notes in "Vilja" and Colby presenting a meltingly romantic version of the famous waltz -- both arias sung in English. Gosier also brought real feeling to "Summertime" from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," and Colby neatly characterized Musetta's waltz, "Quando me'n vo," from "La Boheme."
Bowles hammed it up deliciously in "A Tenor, All Singers Above" from Gilbert and Sullivan's unjustly neglected "Utopia Ltd." And his duet with Colby of "Only a Rose" from Rudolf Friml's "The Vagabond King" was a delightful exercise in syrupy sentimentality.
Galvin's powerful voice was at its warmest in "Some Enchanted Evening" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific." And "La ci Ddarem la mano" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" gave him and Colby a chance to be light and flirtatious.
Pianist Kate Lewis provided enthusiastic support throughout. A chorus of nocturnal insects added to the charm of what could have been called, in a nod to a frolic by the late Ingmar Bergman, "Smiles of a Summer Night."