"Opera's Greatest Hits" to a fault, the San Francisco Symphony's Summer
in the City (nee SFS Pops) concert tonight served up two voices making
the trip to Davies Hall worthwhile.

The return of former SF Opera Center Adler Fellow James Westman fulfilled
high expectations.  An eminently "musical singer" from his student days
on, Westman has been steadily developing a voice that may be dubbed a
"high baritone" in other throats, but sounds a "luminous baritone" in
his case.  Westman's diction, projection, voice production are all clear
and appealing; the sky is the limit for him.

Well-known as Westman is here, Erin Wall came new, unknown...  and
terrific.  The soprano from Vancouver is very young, with a very big
voice.  Standing on the stage with a full-size orchestra around her, in
the voice-unfriendly barn of Davies Hall, Wall sang up a storm, but not
by being loud.

Solid, foursquare, and pleasant as her appearance, Wall's voice is on
the money, and the ease with which she handles Puccini ("Gianni Schicchi"),
Kalman "Countess Maritza"), and "La Traviata" today is clearly promising
for even heavier Verdi roles and who knows what else in the future.

For phrasing and interpretation, she is well on her way, with obvious
space for improvement, especially in singing the music, rather than being
The Singer.  Her youth and the famously sensible Canadian environment
should take care of that...  although her upcoming New York City appearances
may counteract progress, especially if she tarries long in that un-Canadian
city.

Also on the program: another former Merola singer, Mexican tenor Arturo
Chacon-Cruz, didn't make a good impression.  Beyond a small range of
comfort in the middle, the voiced sounded dry and forced.

Peter Grunberg conducted supportively for the singers, in a restrained
and effective fashion in the orchestral numbers.  He directed a
non-histrionic Cavalleria Rusticana" Intermezzo, and a notably un-bumpy
"William Tell" Overture, the music graced by the performances of cellists
Peter Wyrick and Margaret Tait.

About the program: it's understood that "La donna e mobile," the "Toreador
Song," "Au fond du temple saint," etc.  are the staple of a pops (sorry,
*summer*) concert, but wouldn't it make sense to sneak in one or two
arias or orchestral excerpts not from the top of the hit parade?

Besides those brand-new to opera, there were quite a few marginal or
beginning opera fans in the nearly full hall - for both groups, hearing
something from outside the realm of advertising background music might
have been a supportable idea.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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