Monterey Herald
Monterey, California

August 8, 2005

Review of the August 6 "Master Class Showcase"
by Nathalie Plotkin

The Virginia Best Adams Vocal Master Classes have been a unique and treasurable supplement to the Carmel Bach Festival for the past twenty one years. It has added greater depth and musical enrichment, as well as providing a noteworthy and distinctive educational dimension to the Festival. The Saturday Afternoon Showcase Concert of Baroque Arias in Sunset Center is a major audience attraction during the final day of the Festival and this year that was again true.

David Gordon, Director and self-styled "Ringmaster" of the Master Classes receives applications and chooses from talented young professionals who wished to study with and be coached by Festival solo artists. Also, Carmel is the only place in North America where young singers are awarded a cash stipend to do so in a professional environment.

The program presented by the four very talented and professionally accomplished participants was a particularly appealing one. More than half of the music was worked on in class so that the final results could be all the more appreciated by those who audited the sessions.

From what we heard at the concert, Gordon and Festival vocal soloists Kendra Colton, Benjamin Butterfield and Michael Dean are to be praised for the results of their instruction.

This year, in a departure from the usual emphasis on the vocal writing of J.S. Bach, the program mostly featured another aspect of Baroque composition. Opera and oratorio arias by Bach,s exact contemporary Georg Frideric Handel were a refreshing and appealing change of pace for the audience and the singers.

Soprano Jacqueline Horner produced bright flexible vocalism, a fine interpretive ability and great charm as she performed a varied set of selections. The aria "As When the Dove" from Handel,s "Acis and Galatea" was sung with an elegant smooth delivery and with captivating expression. In class she was advised to pay attention to every detail and to make the contrast implied by the text which she did very adeptly.

An aria from Bach,s "Coffee Cantata" BWV 211, was a humorously expressed delight. She delivered a playful sweetness and brought sparkling life and charm to her projection. In class, she responded to the idea of finding different ways to say the same thing.

Mezzo soprano Sonia Gariaeff led off with an aria from Handel,s opera "Ariodante" which had been heard in class where she was advised to make a theatrical entrance, then become more joyful as well as more articulate in coloratura passages. In concert, she brought out a spirited, joyous, agile delivery. She colored her voice for the drama of the text and was technically a polished artist.

A favorite Bach cantata aria "Bleibe Doch" BWV 11 was delivered with rich, tender, reflective tone. When it was performed in class, she was asked to more clearly bring meaning to the text.

Tenor Brigham Timpson brought flawlessly prepared material to class and in general, the various coaches appeared to be trying to separate him from his careful vocal reproductions of the printed music. He was highly responsive and accepting of suggestions and, as a result, his bright lyric voice quickly became a purveyor of musical artistry. When he sang "Where,er You Walk" from the oratorio "Semele" he had an attractive expressive sound and also colored dynamics very appealingly. In "Love Sound the Alarm" from "Acis and Galatea" he sang lightly and with fine diction

Bass-baritone Robert Samels reflected the greatest growth during the sessions. The music for his wide ranging voice had him doing vocal acrobatics and he learned to handle them smoothly and confidently.

An aria from Handel,s little known opera "Sosarme" was delivered with well outlined smoothness and resonance. The aria "Nasce al Bosco" from the opera "Ezio" is a virtuoso showpiece and Samels, incorporating class suggestions, revealed a fine resonant agile voice that projected assurance and ease as he maneuvered through demanding coloratura skips and scales. It made a fine summation of his musical development.

Oboist Neil Tatman who provided very fine back ups for many of the arias, was joined by Patricia Ahern and Alice Yang, violins; Meg Eldridge and Alissa Smith, violas; Allen Whear, cello and Bruce Moyer, double bass.

Michael Beattie who provided sterling keyboard support for the class sessions, was at the harpsichord and organ for the concert.

Congratulations to all for a most enjoyable, well chosen, professionally performed and highly successful program.
Copyright 2005 Monterey Herald