Review: Heralding the new at Palm Beach Opera

The Palm Beach Opera opened its 61st season on Saturday with a young artists' showcase at its newly constructed Cornelia T. Bailey Opera Center in West Palm Beach.

The Opera Center, at 1800 S. Australian Ave., features new rehearsal facilities and expanded offices for the PBO staff. It will be home base for the opera's day-to-day operations, as well as its programs such as the Benenson Young Artist Program, in which budding singers perform onstage and in other events during a five-month residency in the area.

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According to General and Artistic Director David Walker, Saturday evening’s performance marked Palm Beach Opera’s inaugural Resident Artist Showcase and the first public event of the season, at the new Opera Center. It was a wonderful opening gesture to showcase the “behind the scenes” training and development of the singers within the Young Artist Program, he said.

Better still was to see the uses of the Opera Center and the solid community investment in the Palm Beach Opera organization. However, the traditional full-production opening performances of the Resident Artist Program were missed.

Saturday evening’s format was a typical education scenario for an opera workshop course: extracted opera scenes with minimalist staging. Resident Stage Director Paul Curran invited the audience to look at “progress through process,” in the evening’s performances.

Alexandra Razskazoff, a confident and powerful soprano, held her own in very physical scenes. She developed her character's intent and emotional journey within the short time span of each scene, and demonstrated chemistry with each of her scene partners, though sometimes unrequited.

Edward Bland progressed through exquisite diction and warm balance in his baritone voice. His bright contrast to Razskazoff in their shared scenes paired wonderfully as he matched her note for note in the duet.

Mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly was divine in her scene as Cendrillon. She communicated a strong, but coquettish character, and with the presence of mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Brown as Le Prince Charmant, both produced a solid scene with perfect chemistry and beautiful voices. Brown’s mellow tones and versatility in how she moved as Le Prince on stage provided perfect counterpoint to Kelly, who glided in a large skirt, appropriate for a princess. This version of Massenet’s “Cendrillon” could be a full production, but only if Kelly and Brown are the leads.

Sejin Park expertly plays the evil brother, Enrico, in Act II, scene 1, from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” commanding the stage and using every corner to brood over his beverage. Park has a crisp baritone voice with powerful punches in the phrasing. He had an uncanny ability to find the best coloring of his voice to support soprano Amber Norelai in the duet. The blending of voices was truly charming, and Norelai shined in the bel canto.

Tenor Devin Eatmon is a bright presence, with seamless vocal technique performing in a scene from Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” Baritone Eric Delagrange played a crafty and maniacal Dr. Miracle with Faustian flair, while Alexandra Razskazoff processed a difficult character development with ease and high notes for days.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Opera opens season with young artists' showcase