As summer’s leisure gives way to busy fall months, Walnut Creek-based music organization Festival Opera continues its deep engagement with East Bay communities.
Their consistently popular, intimate “Salon Series” at the Piedmont Center for the Arts includes two remaining Sunday-afternoon programs, “American Song Cycles” this Sunday and “Bel Canto Forever” on Sept. 28. Zachary Gordin, Festival Opera’s general director, said in a mid-August interview that the “Salon Series” is an incredible opportunity to witness some of the Bay Area’s finest singers live and up-close.
He describes the artist-audience interactions as enthusiastic, sensational and “truly special.” This Sunday’s “American Song Cycles” program will feature two performances, “Portraits of Disquiet” and “At the Statue of Venus,” performed by soprano Carrie Hennessey and pianist Daniel Lockert. The Sept. 28 “Bel Canto Forever” program will feature Gordin, who is also a pianist, contralto Sara Couden and soprano Shawnette Sulker.
Sulker said in a separate interview that “The specific 19th century bel canto repertoire wasn’t chosen for the venue itself, but the intimacy provides a chance to feel what we’re singing without a layer of removal.
“The communication flows directly to the audience in a way it does not in a 3,000-seat concert hall. That energy is special. We still get to be theatrical, but our gestures and projection doesn’t have to be so grand.”
The Sept. 28 “Bel Canto” program’s duets and arias by Rossini, Bellini, Delibes and Meyerbeer will include gems such as a duet from Rossini’s “Semiramide,” “Nobles seigneurs” from Meyerbeer’s “Les Huguenots” (sung by Couden) and Bellini’s marvelous “Casta Diva” from “Norma,” which Sulker is pleased to perform.
“It’s a beautiful aria, with an essential story behind it,” Sulker says. “The priestess Norma is singing it to the moon. What’s interesting about Norma is that she is supposedly living a life of celibacy. The region is being invaded by foreign forces and she’s being asked about retaliating. She says her readings are saying it’s not an auspicious time and tells the community to cool their jets.
“But she’s actually having an affair with the invading leader. This person revered by her society (as pure) is secretly the lover of the people betraying them. It’s an iconic piece because people who’ve heard it in other contexts — commercials, restaurants, hotel lobbies — recognize it but have no idea it’s from an opera by Bellini.”
Sulker performs standard and contemporary classical works and seems to find that each informs the other. She says that collectively they elevate her artistic expression and have led to technical growth, such as greater fullness within her vocal range and increased legato. While constantly refining her voice as she builds the classical works in her repertoire, Sulker never seems to shy away from new opportunities.
“Every style of classical music as a genre that you sing informs the things you want to emphasize, the technical conventions you perform,” Sulker says. “Contemporary classical works have the least amount of rules. I appreciate doing Baroque for one concert, pop songs for another, then a recital with lieder and art songs. They draw on so many parts of your musicianship. Some artists stick to one thing, but I like the challenge of thinking in a different way.
“If it’s a staged work, what brings the character to life in that style of music? Are there trills that depend on technique tied to the time in which it was written? Modern things sometimes ask you to make weird sounds — screaming, guttural sounds — and read scores that are unusual and might look like a legend. You have to work out those nuts and bolts to navigate them without hurting your voice.”
Gordin says this versatility makes Sulker a complete, multitalented artist.
“It’s been wonderful, having worked closely with her for just about her entire professional singing life, seeing her voice and artistry gain beautiful depth and gravity,” he says. “This is unusual for most high sopranos; which is another testament to her dedication as an artist.”
About Couden, Gordin says that “In addition to possessing an important and rare voice, Sara’s the most down-to-earth, generous-with-the-occasional-flash-of-goofy person. Her performances are always full of musical and dramatic honesty (without) pretense, which beautifully underscores her excellence as a singer and musician.”
Sulker echoes Gordin’s enthusiasm and says, “I adore her voice. You hear her, and your brain goes, ‘What am I hearing? How does she make that sound?’ She’s a contralto with magnificent upper extension. She can sing in the upper range of a baritone and then be up in the high C’s.”
Gordin predicts the Rossini duet will best show off their combined talents.
“The two characters’ musical textures are well-served by singers who have a dynamic contrast in vocal color,” Gordin says. “Shawnette and Sara can play-up the contrast in (certain) moments and also meld timbre and provide shimmering beauty when they’re singing in close harmony.”
The Piedmont Center for the Arts is at 801 Magnolia Ave. in Piedmont, and Sunday’s program will start at 4 p.m. For tickets or more details online, visit festivalopera.org/salon-series.
Lou Fancher is a freelance writer. Reach her at lou@johnsonandfancher.com.