Loft Opera / Reviews
Past Production Reviews
10Peter Scott Drackley as MacDuff brings the performance to an awestruck standstill with his exquisitely sung Act IV aria. He cuts a fine figure throughout the performance, with an intense stage presence
As Macduff, tenor Peter Scott Drackley won massive ovations after his heart-rendering performance of the famed “O figli, o figli miei… A la paterna mano,” his pianissimo singing full of an intimate pathos so necessary to render the pain and suffering otherwise lacking in this opera. He retained a reserved and gentle legato line throughout the opening of the aria, letting his voice build to the orchestral and vocal explosion that takes place halfway through. This allowed the audience to take the emotional journey with him from pain to anguish to eventually blood lust... for the murder of his family
I believe that the evening’s success truly hinged on the charisma and talent of the four young lovers. As Fiordiligi and Dorabella, Megan Pachecano and Sarah Nelson Craft were excellent, believable within their roles, while remaining vocally reliable. Despite the cognitive dissonance I felt about their setting and situation, both singers were able to build fully realized characters. [...] Pachecano and Craft’s fluid, robust singing. [...] the pliant and luminous Craft and Pachecano.
As is also generally the case at LoftOpera, casting was both offbeat and deeply satisfying. Megan Pachecano as sensible sister Fiordiligi sang the difficult virtuoso music with a light, tart soprano, complementing the warmly romantic vocalism of Sarah Nelson Craft as the younger Dorabella.
For Lucrezia’s outraged entrance in the next scene, soprano Joanna Parisi overturned a table more recklessly than even Teresa Giudice might dare. In fact, Ms. Parisi gave a superhuman performance in every sense of the word, lurching recklessly and even falling flat on her face several times in those skyscraper Louboutins. Under the circumstances it’s remarkable she could sing at all, but the miracle was that she sang so well, in a big, vibrant spinto with confident flexibility and a rich, earthy chest register.
