mellysblog

Remember my concert at Weill Hall the other night, I forgot to mention that there was a benefit show same time/different theater starring Janeane Garafolo, Patti Lupone and Seth McFarland…. Kind of amazing, huh? This did not help my indifference to the performance one little bit. But we got two reviews: here's a short clip from Musical America

Framing the instrumental offerings were excerpts from two of the better known operas by Carl Heinrich Graun, Kapellmeister of the Berlin opera and a master of opera seria and the galant style. From “Cleopatra e Cesare” there was the sweetly expressive “Se c’abbandoni” and the expansive, virtuosic “Tra le procelle,” based on the familiar metaphor of a storm at sea, as well as an exquisite duet sung by sopranos Nacole Palmer and Jamet Pittman. From Graun’s“Montezuma” came the minor-key pathos of “Erra quell nobil core” and Fernando Cortez’s raging in “Sì, per la rea congiura.” Fox is fortunate to have singers — Melissa Hughes, Palmer, Pittman, Scott Dispensa, Oliver Mercer — capable of giving creditable accounts of these difficult arias. Also heard were some rousing choruses. Fox’s conducting showed a sure feeling for the elegance and drama of the music.

Dude spelled my name wrong, but whatevs. Rousing choruses??? Really?