Review: Plenty of High Notes at Unusually Low-Key Richard Tucker Awards Gala

An historic recording of golden age tenor Richard Tucker singing “Sound an Alarm” from Handel’s JUDAS MACCABEUS” set the tone for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s Gala concert at Carnegie Hall. There was wonderful singing ahead of us—but of a certain kind.

Like many other classical organizations, the Tucker Foundation, has found that, as Charles Dickens said in “A Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, the worst of times.” The “best” is for the quality of the singers that the foundation has supported through varying kinds of grants. The “worst”? Money from the usual donor pool is in shorter supply than usual, which meant a less elaborate evening, with no winner of the grand award, which soprano Angel Blue won most recently, in 2022. (Blue was scheduled to appear but did not due to illness [along with Matthew Polenzani].)

Nonetheless, the show went on, with many familiar faces from the Metropolitan Opera, along with some newer artists that provided some pleasant surprises.

The concert was scheduled to start with soprano Blue in “D'amor sull'ali rosee” from Verdi’s IL TROVATORE, but rather than have someone else step into her shoes, the number was simply scratched. In its place was the next aria on the program—a rousing account of “Largo al factotum” from Rossini’s IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA by the young baritone, Sean Michael Plumb. Plumb made his Met debut in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS in a jaunty portrayal of the Harlequin and was a winner of a Tucker Foundation grant.

Plumb turned up again in the program in a pair of duets that showed off differing aspects of his voice: the charming “Pronto io son” from Donizetti’s DON PASQUALE opposite soprano Liv Redpath and the famous “Au fond du temple saint” from PECHEURS DE PERLES paired with tenor Stephen Costello.

Redpath made her Met debut in the first night of this season’s BALLO IN MASCHERA, as the page, Oscar, where her voice (I recall) was light and peppy. The Met must have booked her before her voice bulked up a bit, because it sounded much larger here and I noted in the program notes that she’s making her Covent Garden debut in the title role of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, which is hardly soubrette territory these days. She was delightful in the Donizetti.

As for tenor Costello, a Tucker winner from 2009, besides his memorable pairing with Plumb in “Temple saint” (where he stepped in for the ailing Polenzani), he performed a notably dramatic “Deserto in terra” from a lesser known Donizetti, “DON SEBASTIANO.” As his contribution to the encores, there was a schmaltzy ‘Neapolitan’ folk song, “Core ‘ngrato,” (also known as “Catari, Catari”) that was actually written in America by Italian-born Salvatore Cardillo and was a favorite of Pavarotti and many other tenors (yes, even Kaufmann).

Two singers who happily had more than a little stage time were soprano Federica Lombardi and tenor Ben Bliss, who were last seen together at the Met in the van Hove production of Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI, she as Dona Anna, he as Don Ottavio. The soprano did a bang-up job of “Piangete voi” from Donizetti’s ANNA BOLENA, along with a charming, lively version of Jeronimo Gimenez’s “Me llaman la primorosa” from the zarzuela version of BARBER OF SEVILLE.

Lombardi, who has an engaging, glamorous presence, was a vibrant Violetta to tenor Bliss’s urgent Alfredo in “Parigi o cara,” from LA TRAVIATA. Both were very much at home in the music, as if they were ready to step in to the Met’s production at any moment.

Bliss took on another Verdi aria, “Parmi veder le lagrime” (with cabaletta) from RIGOLETTO, and did a fine, heartfelt job. For something totally different (as one of those given an encore place), Bliss sang a breezy rendition of Ray Charles’s “Hallelujah, I love her so.”

The others in the encore list were soprano Ailyn Perez (Tucker Award 2012) and baritone Quinn Kelsey. Perez’s choice was one of Manuel Ponce’s lush songs, “Estrellita,” which she gave a luscious performance. Earlier in the program, she did a ravishing “Un bel di” from a MADAMA BUTTERFLY.

Kelsey had the last of the encores, which showed that he’s more than the reigning American Verdi baritone: A lovely version of “If ever I would leave you” from Lerner & Loewe’s “Camelot.” Previously, he’d done Verdi proud, with an exciting “Pieta, rispetto, amore” from MACBETH and a fervent “Udiste…Mira, di acerbe lagrime” duet with soprano Angela Meade.

Earlier on, Meade did a fine job with that favorite encore of sopranos everywhere: the poignant “Ebben ne andro lontana,” which was a kind of theme song from the French film, “Diva.”

Oh, there was one more person on the program, the distinctive bass Soloman Howard, who did a stellar job of the famed bass aria, “Il lacerato spirito,” from SIMON BOCCANEGRA. If you haven’t heard of him, well, he’s still on the way up, on the roster at the Met and major international opera companies, including Covent Garden. At this point, however, he may be most well known for proposing to Ailyn Perez during curtain calls for TOSCA (she in the title role, he as Angelotti) at the San Francisco Opera two years ago.

Pianists Bryan Wagorn and Howard Watkins, both assistant conductors at the Met, did exemplary work accompanying the performers in their varied selections.

The evening ended with another memorable recording from Richard Tucker: The Rodgers & Hammerstein classic from “Carousel,” “You’ll never walk alone.” It was an exciting performance, yet it was somehow one more reminder that the Foundation seems well-rooted in the past (in its repertoire if, clearly, not the singers), when the future of opera appears to be heading in another direction.

Photo: Dario Acosta

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