Musically, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me, one way and another, with a Met movie, a couple of concerts and a vocal master-class to attend. Here's a quick round up.

This was one of the most satisfying performances of Messiah, both musically and emotionally, I have ever had the joy of hearing. The orchestra itself was, naturally, splendid and gave of its very best. The soprano soloists were Rachelle Durkin, who I had not heard before, but who impressed on this occasion, and the ever-delightful Angela Niederloh. Tenor Brendan Tuohy who, after a very successful stint with Portland Opera's Studio Artists' Program is now continuing to hone his skills at Houston Grand Opera, returned to Portland for these performances and showed just how his voice and delivery are improving in leaps and bounds. I can think of no reason he should not have a stellar career. He is vocally very strong, immensely personable and physically is a very imposing presence. In the operatic world, where tenors seem generally to be on the short side, being a robust 6'4" is a very definite advantage! Bass Matt Boehler brought a splendid richness to his solos - though I cannot for the life of me understand why he felt it necessary to include weird pronunciations of perfectly normal English words in The Trumpet Shall Sound. I am sure there must have been some good historical reasoning behind it but I found it most distracting.

The line-up of soloists was completed by 11 year old Michael Kepler Meo. He was drafted in to sing short passages in Part 1, passages normally undertaken by a woman soprano rather than a boy soprano. This change of tonal colour was a delightful surprise and worked enormously well. Those of you who saw Portland Opera's production of The Turn of The Screw last season will remember Michael in the role of Miles, one in which he excelled. He is an extraordinary young man whose future career I shall watch with great interest. The Oregonian included a very interesting article about him which you can find here.

The choral work was provided by the professional choir Cappella Romana, who turned in a performance it would be hard (and churlish) to fault.

Portland Baroque Orchestra is normally, as I am sure you know, the exclusive bailiwick of Monica Huggett but on this occasion Portland Opera's Robert Ainsley conducted the performance from the harpsichord. I do hope you realise what a gem Portland has in Maestro Ainsley. His scholarship, enthusiasm and musicality are of the very highest order and I urge you to take every possible opportunity to see him that you can while he is still with us here. Bravo, Maestro! That was a Messiah to remember with pleasure for a long time.

The picture at the head of this post does not, as some of you may have thought, show Maestro Ainsley in his work clothes, but the legendary Clayton Moore.

From another performance entirely, here is a video of some Trappist monks performing the Halleluja Chorus.

That has a real Monty Python look to it, doesn't it? It was actually a high school performance. I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Well, what an unexpected treat this was! I had heard some not-very-flattering things about this production but left the theatre in a state almost of euphoria. I really do not know this opera very well. Okay, I'll admit, the only bits I know are the Doll Aria and the Barcarrole. I was amazed at just how much really good music there is in this opera. Joseph Calleja is making his Hoffmann debut in this production and each time I hear him I am more thrilled by his voice. He has a very quick vibrato, which some people find disturbing, but from the first time I heard him he has reminded me of Jussi Bjoerling - a comparison I do not make lightly, as Bjoerling remains my all-time favourite tenor. The role of Olympia was performed exquisitely by the diminutive Kathleen Kim. In both vocal quality and size she reminded me very much of Tracy Dahl, who performed the role of Madame Mao in Portland Opera's production of Nixon in China. In the case of both of them one is left asking oneself "How on earth does a voice of that size manage to come from such a tiny frame?" Olympia is a true colaratura role with a couple of high E's. They held no fear for Ms Kim. Alan Held played all three villain roles and was just as nasty as one could wish. Anna Netrebko played the roles of Antonia and Stella. I am usually no fan of Netrebko but these roles, while small, seemed to suit her very well. She looked just a tad pregnant to me. I wonder.... The star of the show, as far as I was concerned, was mezzo Kate Lindsey who played Hoffmann's muse throughout the opera - a very taxing role. I loved her voice but what astonished me was her very presence. She is on stage throughout almost the entire opera. For much of the time she doesn't have much to do and yet still my eyes were drawn to wherever she was on stage. Take formal notice - she is my new opera crush. It's going to be interesting to see how I cope with that when I see Elina Garanca in Carmen in a few weeks. Ms Garanca makes my heart beat faster, just thinking of her!

The only unhappy note in the whole transmission was the appearance of Maestro James Levine. He conducted with his usual intensity but there is no getting around it, he looks ill.

I'll bet you didn't know that Shirley Temple sung the role of Lucia, did you?

You may continue to rely on Operaman to keep you informed of such gems.

You may recall that I wrote a few weeks ago about PYP's season-opening concert and how impressed I had been and that I was looking forward to their Boxing Day concert. I said wild horses wouldn't keep me away - and they didn't. And what a fun time I had! From the opening work to the final note, a large and enthusiastic crowd in the Schnitzer Concert Hall were treated to wonderful music-making by engaged and talented youngsters. But before they got to play, a very large orchestra of PYP alums gave a rousing performance of Rossini's Overture to William Tell. It is easy to forget that before we reach the part that makes us all think "A fiery horse with the speed of light. A cloud of dust and a heart Hi Yo Silver - awaaaaaay!" there is some very beautiful music in that overture. It makes me feel that it's something of a shame that the opera itself is six hours long and so no one ever mounts a production. After stirring performances by the youngest players, then the wind ensemble and the Conservatoire Orchestra, conductor Davis Hattner led the Philharmonic choir in a performance of some of Bizet's Carmen and also a couple of extracts from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. For these, the orchestra was joined by bass-baritone Richard Zeller. Before singing the toreadore's song, Richard told the audience how this appearance was, for him, the fulfillment of a dream that he has had for 30 years. Zeller's mahogany-rich voice, humour and natural modesty make him a performer of rare quality and on Saturday night it showed. His toreador was larger than life and every bit the ladies man we have come to expect and elicited big cheers from the crowd. In a dramatic change of pace he then sang Billy Bigelow's Soliloquy from Carousel, and let us see Bigelow for the flawed charmer he is. In a deserved encore, Zeller treated us to Old Man River from Showboat. It brought the audience to its feet. It was very noticeable that while Richard Zeller was the star of this part of the evening he took every opportunity to applaud and encourage the young musicians playing with him. I expect they will have fond memories of that for many years. I think Zeller will, too. And so will I. The Waltz, also from Carousel, ended the formal part of the concert before Maestro Hattner and the orchestra left us with another brief excerpt from Carmen.

In a very short time I have become a huge fan of Portland Youth Philharmonic. They perform with commitment and skill and an amazing degree of musicality inculcated in them by a conductor who knows how to have them give their best at every moment and who will settle for nothing less. In a few months they will be performing Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony. Now that's gonna be a trip!

As you know, this blog has been appearing here on a regular basis once per week. Over the next few weeks I am planning to add a mid-week supplement. I cannot tell you that it will appear on a specific day but I am going to try to add a second weekly post, even if it is no more than an amusing video I have stumbled across. So, you should start checking back her on a Thursday or Friday and see what I have for you. Later this week I will tell you about the vocal master class I mentioned at the top of this post. If enough of you do in fact check back then I will keep it up. That a deal? In the mean time - have a happy and productive week!