Dmytro Popov and Julia Novikova celebrate Opera

Classical review by C.Wall / Photos by Joe Knodt

A married couple trilling love songs under the horseshoe arches of the Holy Trinity: the Philharmonic Society’s annual Celebration of Opera. I was a little concerned by Julia Novikova’s opening to Rusalka’s “Song to the Moon”, swamped by the piano accompaniment, until it became clear that she was building the aria in character.

Dmytro Popov replied with the same opera’s “Prince’s Aria”, projecting self-confidence in every bar, a magnificent tenor with a troubling personality.   Novikova was more winsome in a melodious “O mio babbino caro”, and Popov gentler, though still assertive, in “Recóndita Armonía”.

Guillermo García Calvo, until then the piano accompanist, broke the singing with the songlike Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 32 No. 5, dry but shimmering. Novikova followed Leoncavallo’s “Mattinata”, adding a soprano joy to a song frequently performed by a tenor, before joining Popov in a warm duet of “Non ti scordar di me” by de Curtis.

“Dein ist mein ganzes Herz”, from Lehár’s “Land of Smiles”, and “Strahlender Mond”, from Künnecke’s “Cousin from Nowhere”, demonstrated what both singers could do with operetta: Popov soft and expansive; Novikova graceful and open-hearted.  “Maria” from Westside Story may be a flexible vehicle for an operatic tenor, but the way Popov varied even the name’s pronunciation was stylistically unsettling. Novikova reinterpreted “I Could Have Danced All Night”, another Broadway standard, broad though guileless.

We heard another Italian standard, “Torna a Surriento”, Petrov strong and restrained, and a beautiful Argentinian, Gustavino’s “La rosa y el sauce”, Novikova touchingly contained. Gnattali’s “Negaceando”, a piano solo, was a free-flowing taste of Brazil and jazz. The final duet and usual encore — Westside’s “Tonight” and the “Merry Widow” dance — were acted through, the singers showing an effortless feel for each other’s aural and physical space.

As primary sponsor, the Ministry of Culture sees the Opera Night as a calendar fixture, and over the years we’ve seen some variety in the programme. There wasn’t too much opera this night, though the operatic quality of our performers more than justified the billing.