Elizabeth – Sunday night I attended my first Richard Tucker Foundation Gala, but first we got warmed up with drinks at the Empire Hotel with about 30 students, donors and fans of a certain baritone. We arrived at Lincoln Center with our entourage and watched opera fans greeting one another and meeting favorite singers. Of course, we hadn’t received our tickets from Lincoln Center, no surprise given our history. But thankfully Avery Fisher easily issued us replacement tickets without a Stasi-like interrogation.
What was particularly fun was the enthusiasm of the crowd. They weren’t there for a particular opera, but because they love opera in general. Interestingly the Tucker Gala fell upon the same week as Comic Con NYC and this was like the Comic Con of opera. It was fun to see people geek out over seeing a singer either in attendance or singing at the Tucker Gala. It could only be better if people dressed up like their favorite characters a la Comic Con. THAT would be fun. The lobby of Avery Fisher packed with Siegfrieds, Rusalkas and Queens of the Night. Regardless, the lobby could not have been more packed.Once inside, Barry Tucker welcomed the crowd at Avery Fisher telling us about how awful the past week had been what with Ebola now in the US, ISIS continuing its violent spread in the Middle East and the stock market falling. He then added he had more bad news for us. Four singers had cancelled for that evening’s event. Most were felled by a cold or the flu. I felt bad for poor Barry Tucker. He was so charming and sweet and to hear the groans of the audience as he announced Stephen Costello, Marcello Giordani, Isabel Leonard and Anna Netrebko cancelled last minute made me worry for his safety. But he did have a lovely lengthy letter from Anna Netrebko that he read to us in which she apologized and stated she had underestimated the vocal demands of Lady Macbeth and therefore would not be appearing at the gala.
This many cancellations would cripple any other gala, but not here. Amazing how many quality singers there were accessible on such short notice. Paul Appleby and Alexandra Silber stepped in and it was still an evening of great singing. It wasn’t the tour de force operatic event I was expecting, but it was still pretty incredible.
Angela Meade was amazing, a total powerhouse voice. Jennifer Johnson Cano also has a gorgeous voice. I loved their duet together, from Esclarmonde. Pretty Yende was almost as amazing as when I first heard her in Le Comte Ory. In the cascades of Bellini’s “Qui la voce” from I PuritaniI could hear each note. Absolutely thrilling! She also sang an extra song, “I Feel Pretty” which got laughs. Emmanuel Villaume, the conductor, sang “Which, What, Where, Whom?” and that added some needed levity since Pretty didn’t seem especially enthusiastic about singing it. She appeared a bit stiff; perhaps she’s asked to sing that one a lot and the joke has worn thin.
Overall it was a fun event, and I imagine it would have been amazing had the cancelled singers showed up. My first Tucker Gala was a very nice concert and evening, but I’m not sure if it was a gala with a capital G.
Shawn – I have little to add to Elizabeth’s take on the Gala itself but I will say this – It’s always strange and awkward to enter anywhere with an entourage of nearly 30 people. It clogs up the revolving doors so you enter in little drips and dribbles of twos and threes. Which somewhat defeats the purpose of an entourage. Also for the record, the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala is no longer Black Tie. So we were a touch overdressed. Better than underdressed though I suppose.
Not to restate the obvious but Michael Fabiano was the star of the show. I randomly caught his star-making break-out New York appearance at Avery Fisher almost two years ago and he has just gotten better. I’m not sure why they didn’t add a piece for him to cover the gaps from the many cancellations instead of Joseph Calleja singing an extra two (or three?). Regardless Fabiano made the evening although Angela Meade and the lovely and talented Jennifer Johnson Cano were thrilling as well.
Shawn – I have little to add to Elizabeth’s take on the Gala itself but I will say this – It’s always strange and awkward to enter anywhere with an entourage of nearly 30 people. It clogs up the revolving doors so you enter in little drips and dribbles of twos and threes. Which somewhat defeats the purpose of an entourage. Also for the record, the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala is no longer Black Tie. So we were a touch overdressed. Better than underdressed though I suppose.I had heard Anna Netrebko had canceled before I entered the theatre and I really feared the audience was going to rip the seats out of the floor and throw them at the stage when Barry Tucker announced she would not be appearing. But they behaved themselves and were as enthusiastic and rowdy an audience as I have experienced at an event like this.
Speaking of the audience, there was an odd aspect to the Gala being recorded for broadcast that I had not noticed before. The house lights were raised almost full after every piece so that the cameras could catch the audience reactions. It was very jarring. There was a similar though even more odd moment right at the beginning of the Gala when the house and stage lights went completely dark, pitch black dark basically and they played audio of Richard Tucker singing. It was very strange sitting in the pitch dark with 2500 people listening to Tucker’s voice. On the PBS broadcast in January 2015, I assume they will see video an actual video of Tucker singing.
There was actual security at the gala as well. Not those jerks with the sticks the Met has. Actual security with ear-pieces and suits and everything. I assume they were added privately for the Gala. It was both comforting and strangely disconcerting to see.
Not to restate the obvious but Michael Fabiano was the star of the show. I randomly caught his star-making break-out New York appearance at Avery Fisher almost two years ago and he has just gotten better. I’m not sure why they didn’t add a piece for him to cover the gaps from the many cancellations instead of Joseph Calleja singing an extra two (or three?). Regardless Fabiano made the evening although Angela Meade and the lovely and talented Jennifer Johnson Cano were thrilling as well.
We did not have tickets for the after show dinner in the lobby and terrace of Avery Fisher so we headed to Shun Lee, which edges out Fiorello’s as the best restaurant in the Lincoln Center area in my opinion. Due to it being Comic Con NYC weekend, we saw two Iron Men, a Gandalf and a Batgirl on the short walk to 65thstreet. They smiled warmly at us. Had they asked I would have told them we were dressed as Bruce Wayne’s parents coming home from the opera. But they just smiled at us and kept walking, no doubt assuming we were dressed as Thomas and Martha Wayne anyway. Who else would we be?
– Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes
Related Links:
Haunted Memories: The Passenger at the Park Avenue Armory
An Operatic Exploration of Transgender: The Premiere of As One at BAM
"What was particularly fun was the enthusiasm of the crowd. They weren’t there for a particular opera, but because they love opera in general"
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This yearly event is NOT about opera. It's just a showcase for songbirds and canary fanciers.