Summary
Planning to close its 25th season with two performances of Verdi's Requiem, the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus wound up facing last-minute complications when soprano soloist Kallen Esperian was stricken with laryngitis late in rehearsals. Finding a proper substitute was a challenge. Despite its liturgical antecedents, the Requiem is as demanding as any Verdi opera; as the saying goes, it doesn't sing itself. When Santa Fe Opera general director Charles MacKay secured Christine Brewer as Esperian's replacement, the group sigh of relief must have been heard in Silver City.
It was a real coup. Brewer is internationally famous, yet she is also down-to-earth and always ready to do her best. Her incoming plane was held up, so the May 2 evening performance started late, with everyone doubtless running on bare nerves. By the time of the May 3 matinee I attended, things were calmer, but excitement was still in the air.See the full content of this document
Extract
Pasa Reviews Outstanding Stand-In
Instrumentally the Requiem is hard, though not quite as daunting as many standard symphonic works. The orchestra is there t...
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