United States Summers at Severance [3]: A Night at the Opera – Various: Latonia Moore (soprano), Russell Thomas (tenor), Blossom Festival Chorus (chorus director: Lisa Wong), The Cleveland Orchestra / John Fiore (conductor). Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 13.8.2026. (MSJ)
This night of operatic favorites struck a nice balance between crowd pleasers and less obvious choices, providing ample opportunities for everyone involved to shine. The first half of the program trekked through the central European part of the traditional repertory while the second half moved south of the Alps for a spirited romp through Italian favorites. Both halves delivered popular hits and intriguing detours through less commonly heard byways. Only one encore was offered but we in the crowd would happily have stayed all night.
The central star in this constellation of brilliant moments proved to be Latonia Moore whom we have heard previously in Cleveland in more restrained concert works. Clearly in her happy place with this operatic material, Moore turned on the star power and deployed her sumptuous voice with high drama and absolute authority. Whether navigating the volatile emotions of the final scene of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, spinning out the lyrical line of ‘Marietta’s Lied’ from Korngold’s Die tote Stadt or coyly teasing in ‘Or lasciami al lavoro’ from Puccini’s Tosca, Moore radiated true diva presence. More importantly, she justified it with vocals that ranged from a dramatically dusky low range to a creamy mid-range to searing high notes. She conveyed the turbulent emotions of ‘Son giunta’ from Verdi’s La forza del destino with emotional sweep, interacting with expressive interjections from Lisa Wong’s immaculately prepared Blossom Festival Chorus.
Russell Thomas pulled off an impressive feat by substituting for this concert on short notice after the tenor originally scheduled, Brandon Jovanovich, canceled due to illness. Not only did Thomas take over the program unchanged, he did so while artfully playing ‘straight man’ to Moore’s dramatic characterizations, allowing her room to play off his reactions. It was wonderful to hear Russell, who was introduced to us earlier this summer in another dramatic substitution when he stepped in for a concert that would have featured the late, great Limmie Pulliam. (Russell has done so well at saving the day in Cleveland perhaps the city’s Guardians baseball team should try him as a closing pitcher!) As ever, Russell displayed poise and intensity in his selections, ranging from the agonized human losing the water sprite Rusalka to the mellifluous ‘Yours is my heart alone’ from Lehár’s The Land of Smiles to that delicious duet from Tosca with Moore.
The chorus also had star moments with an energetic romp through the ‘Anvil Chorus’ from Verdi’s Il trovatore and a heart-warming expansive surge in ‘Va pensiero’ from the same composer’s Nabucco. They were also part of the concert-closing encore, the drinking song ‘Libiamo’ from the party scene in Verdi’s La traviata which proved a joyful romp for everyone involved.
Conductor John Fiore led the orchestral selections with dramatic sensibility. The concert had opened with Otto Nicolai’s tuneful overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor and included the ecstatic ‘Nachtstück’ from Franz Schreker’s rarely heard Der ferne Klang. This nocturne is surprisingly long for an operatic interlude and it arguably meanders a bit, but the orchestra savored the chance to explore its wondrous textures and the rarity of the piece made it very much worth hearing. Similarly beguiling – though much more fleeting – was the string-driven intermezzo from Giordano’s Fedora. The orchestral highlight of the night was a dramatically crisp performance of the overture to Verdi’s La forza del destino where Fiore leaned into phrases, driving the urgency of the music. Section leaders Jessica Sindell (flute), Geoffrey Rathbun (oboe) and Daniel McElway (clarinet) united to give a movingly human voice to the forlorn second theme while McElway’s following solo led the performance toward a thrilling dash for the double bars. The near-capacity Severance crowd delighted in the entire program and gave a long and enthusiastic ovation at the end.
Mark Sebastian Jordan
Featured Image: Latonia Moore sings ‘Marietta’s Lied’ with John Fiore and the Cleveland Orchestra © Yevhen Gulenko/TCO
Nicolai – Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
Dvořák – Final Scene from Act III of Rusalka, Op.114
Schreker – ‘Nachtstück’ from Der ferne Klang
Korngold – ‘Marietta’s Lied’ from Die tote Stadt, Op.12
Lehár – ‘Yours is my heart alone’ from The Land of Smiles
Verdi – Overture, ‘Son giunta’ from La forza del destino; ‘Anvil Chorus’ from Il trovatore; ‘Va pensiero’ from Nabucco
Giordano – Intermezzo from Fedora
Puccini – ‘Or lasciami al lavoro’ from Tosca; ‘Nessun dorma’ from Turandot
Encore: Verdi – ‘Libiamo’ from La traviata