Hailed as “opera’s most in-demand singer” by Town and Country, the two-time Grammy-winning Isabel Leonard makes her Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra subscription concert debut February 7–8, singing the role of “l’enfant” (“The Child”) in Ravel’s fairy-tale opera L’enfant et les sortilèges. Before college I had been singing musical theater and with the jazz band as well…. “I ended up fully entrenched in classical music, really, once I began at Juilliard.
Ballet dancers added flair to the dance scene in the tavern (choreographed by Jeff Rebudal).“I always sang, since I was a child,” says Isabel Leonard.
The children's chorus (directed by Christopher Eanes) performed with polish and charm. Aaron Blake and Sumner Thompson added a light touch as Remendado and Dancairo.Īs cigarette girls, soldiers and smugglers, the chorus, prepared by Henri Venanzi, consistently sang with character. Okulitch was an irresistible Escamillo, who made a swaggering entrance in "The Toreador Song." Nathan Stark was fine as Zuniga, and his fight in the tavern with Don José was impressive.Īlexandra Schoeny and Elizabeth Pojanowski, as Carmen's friends Frasquita and Mercedes, provided one of the opera's liveliest scenes as they read their fortunes in the cards. Her air, "Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante," sung against the horns of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was deeply moving. She was a natural actress, and sang with expressive beauty whenever she was onstage. The soprano Mitchell shone in the role of Micaela, the peasant girl who loves Don José. He poured out his heart in the "Flower Song," one of the opera's most stirring moments. Here, she sang with palpable emotion as she turned over the ace of spades that predicted her fate.īurden, a terrific lyric tenor, reprised his 2009 role of Don José, and sang with a range of emotion, from passion to full-blown desperation. Her finest moment was her third act cantilena.
Rishoi, who studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, possesses a rich mezzo, particularly in her lower range, which unfortunately could not always be heard on Thursday. In the final act, as Carmen stood emotionless while Don José confronted her, it was hard to care whether she lived or died. Under Gauthier's direction, one didn't see the gypsy who casts a spell on men, brawls with other women and seduces Don José.
At the center is Carmen, a complex woman who is sexy, dangerous and intoxicating to men. The energy picked up in the bullring scene, with its pageantry, dancing and brilliant singing by the chorus.
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