Lincoln Center debut
August 3, 4, 2018
David Geffen Hall, New York, NY, USA
Mostly Mozart Festival
Christian Zacharias, Conductor and Piano
Rosa Feola, Soprano
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K.503
Zacharias
Mozart: concert aria "Ch’io mi scordi di te…Non temer, amato bene", K.505
Feola, Zacharias
Mozart: concert aria "Bella mia fiamma…Resta, o cara", K. 528
Feola
Mozart: Symphony No. 38 (“Prague”), K.504
Photos (link to Rosa's Facebook page)
Reviews:
"The Italian soprano sang with the kind of poise that felt like an earthy inhabitation of the character—in this aria [“Ch’io mi scordi di te”] a lover lamenting her broken heart. Feola’s easy luster, excellent vibrato, and clear, natural articulation were impressive and enjoyable [...] The second half opened with “Bella mia fiamma,” [...] which she filled with lovely, elegant, substantial singing. One could hear her at low dynamic levels, where she had a penetrating, haunting quality. Her musical emphasis on the repeated phrases for “o cara” and “addio per sempre” was artful and quite touching."
George Grella, "New York Classical Review"
"Regardless of what got them to the theater, most must have been entranced by the soprano’s radiant voice and intense dramatic involvement in a pair of Mozart’s most intense yet sublime works for soprano. [...] [In “Ch’io mi scordi di te”] Feola and Zacharias revealed an intense chemistry as his dulcet playing perfectly mirrored her unusually slow and nuanced response to Giambattista Varesco’s poignant text. In both that aria and K. 528 which followed after intermission, Feola showed particular, even relevatory, care for the texts. One can sometimes forget that these two works aren’t—like many of the concert arias are–vehicles for vocal display created to be “inserted” into already existing operas by other composers. In the Feola-Zacharias performances the performers took to heart that this pair are truly scenas, ten-minute mini-dramas. In “Bella mia fiamma” the male hero Titano takes leave of his beloved as he faces death. Whereas some performers may adopt a subdued stage deportment to perform these works, Feola gestured freely, living these dire predicaments. [...] Her rich, full voice gleamed with vibrant life and handled the few coloratura flourishes well [...] The vital top shone particularly in two added high notes toward the end of “Bella mia fiamma,” startlingly effective ornaments I’d never heard before."
Christopher Corwin, "parterre box"
"[...] ‘Ch’io mi scordi di te?’. If the piano obbligato is essential, executed flawlessly by Zacharias, the soprano holds the center of attention. Rosa Feola sang the lover’s lament with the perfect balance of sophistication and passion – magnificent and also heartbreaking. [...] The deeply emotional ‘Bella mia fiamma’ [...] Feola, fiery and ardent as the male hero, sang a sumptuous and tremendously moving rendition of Michele Sarcone’s text, intensified by Mozart’s music."
Susan Stempleski, "The Classical Source"
"Feola has a beautiful voice, free and light on the top and velvety on the bottom. She sang her Mozart fearlessly. She did not handle him with sugar tongs but with confidence and appreciation. [… “Bella mia fiamma . . . Resta, o cara.”] She put the most beautiful double-m in “fiamma.” And she sang the whole aria beautifully. […] and I want to stress how beautiful this singing was (in addition to the other things singing must be). Mozart would have sighed with pleasure."
Jay Nordlinger, "The New Criterion"
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