<<  -- 3 --  Maria Nockin    IMPORTANT REVELATIONS

After the intermission, the four Adler Fellows returned with a scene from Act III of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème that perfectly fit their youthful exuberance and dazzling talents. Not only can they sing these roles, they showed that they understand characterization and work at making their portrayals live on stage. Watching them and listening to their fresh voices must have made many an older audience member feel young again.

Zajick returned with a powerful, emotion-packed rendition of Joan's Aria from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Orleanskaya deva (The Maid of Orleans), the role she is currently portraying at San Francisco Opera. That was not an easy selection to follow, but when Sean Panikkar sang MacDuff's Aria 'Ah, la paterna mano' from Verdi's Macbeth with smooth, well-controlled legato, the young tenor let the audience know that he is quite worthy of being on the same stage as the mezzo icon.

Jones and Brancoveanu responded with a passionate rendition of the Silvio and Nedda duet from Ruggiero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci. The final scene from Verdi's Il trovatore, sung by Van den Heever, Zajick, Panikkar and Brancoveanu, was a fitting finale to this memorable concert. We had already been aware of the prodigious abilities of Zajick, but the performances of the Adler fellows were important revelations and the applause at the end of the evening was thunderous.