Two excellent singers, Nadine Sierra and Fairly Yende, sing from opera, zarzuela and musicals at Teatro Actual – Seen and Heard Worldwide

Spain Numerous: Nadine Sierra, Fairly Yende (sopranos). Teatro Actual Orchestra / Pablo Mielgo (conductor). Teatro Actual, Madrid, 25.4.2024. (JMI)

Rossini – Overture to The Barber of Seville
Bellini – ‘Ah! Non credea mirarti’ from La sonnambula (Yende); ‘Si, fino all’ore estreme’ from Norma (Sierra, Yende)
Verdi – ‘È strano! . . . Sempre libera’ from La traviata (Sierra)
Offenbach – ‘Les oiseaux dans la charmille’ from Les contes d’Hoffman (Yende)
Gounod – ‘Ah! Je veux vivre’ from Roméo et Juliette (Sierra)
Delibes – ‘Sous le dôme épais’ from Lakmé (Sierra, Yende)
Chapí – Prelude to El tambor de granaderos
Giménez – ‘Me llaman la primorosa’ from El barbero de Sevilla (Sierra); ‘Sierras de Granada’, ‘La tarántula e un bicho mu malo’ from La Tempranica (Yende)
Velázquez – ‘Bésame mucho’ (Sierra)
Bernstein – Overture to Candide; ‘I Really feel Fairly’ from West Aspect Story (Sierra, Yende)
Herbert – ‘Artwork Is Calling for Me’ from The Enchantress (Yende)

The Teatro Actual affords quite a few concert events yearly. Most frequently, these are operas in live performance, though the theatre additionally hosts recitals with glorious singers. That was the case right here, and the occasion featured two sopranos, American Nadine Sierra and South African Fairly Yende.

For me, the principle draw was the presence of Nadine Sierra, who has grow to be one of the crucial vital sopranos right now. Her latest triumphs embody La traviata in Paris, Juliette in Gounod’s opera on the Metropolitan Opera and, at Covent Backyard, an excellent Lucia di Lammermoor. Fairly Yende can also be an excellent soprano, her newest successes coming in Munich and Frankfurt as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare.

This live performance had two components: the primary was devoted to opera, whereas the second featured songs from zarzuela and musicals.

In her first particular person quantity, Nadine Sierra sang the aria and cabaletta from La traviata which was good and emotional. Her interpretation of ‘Je veux vivre’ from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette was additionally spectacular. She opened the second a part of the recital with a romanza, ‘Me llaman la primorosa’, from the zarzuela El barbero de Sevilla, the place she gave a powerful exhibition of fiato, approach and sympathy. She continued with the well-known ‘Bésame mucho’ to which, for my part, her voice is much less suited, falling brief within the low notes.

Fairly Yende ranges from gentle soprano to mezzo-soprano. She opened with the large scene from Bellini’s La sonnambula, which she sang effectively although not brilliantly, and he or she gave a vivid rendition, vocally and dramatically, of Olympia’s aria from Les contes d’ Hoffmann. Within the second a part of the live performance, she did a romanza from La Tempranica, ‘Sierras de Granada’, adopted by ‘La tarantula’ from the identical zarzuela. (Her Spanish was considerably unintelligible to me.) She ended her particular person recitals with a enjoyable, well-sung ‘Artwork Is Calling for Me’ from the musical The Enchantress.

The singers supplied some duets the place Fairly Yende did the mezzo-soprano components, for which her voice will not be the best-suited though she may very well be heard with out issues. They began with a duet from Norma, the place Nadine Sierra shone, and gave a high quality efficiency of ‘Sous le dôme épais’ from Lakmé. Within the second half, they sang a enjoyable and properly performed ‘I Really feel Fairly’ from West Aspect Story. Their encore – which was loved by the audiences – was a medley of songs from the flicks together with ‘As Time Goes By’ (Casablanca), ‘Moon River’ (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), ‘The Means We Had been’ (from the movie of the identical title) and ‘Someplace Over the Rainbow’ (The Wizard of Oz).

Pablo Mielgo oversaw the musical course with the Teatro Actual Orchestra and made a optimistic impression on me, particularly in his interpretation of the overture from Bernstein’s Candide.

José M. Irurzun