If a staged opera is a traditional meal, with an amuse-bouche of an overture, a few appetizers of introduction to set up the drama, some meaty bits in the middle and as a palate cleanser, a tragic ending, then the Merola Grand Finale is an all-you-can-eat buffet: the highest quality items, for sure, not a $7.99 Vegas buffet. But we were confronted to the same dilemma: which singers to pick to highlight in a review? Which arias did we like better? Our plate would be full before we could list half of them. Unlike in a regular opera, there were no less intense moments, no lower points to give more perspective to the high notes. All the arias were vehicles to display the singers's abilities (aka. hot dogging), and all of them were up to the task.

One would expect that the format, a sequence of arias not unlike that of Opera in the Park (Sept 10th, it's coming up), would become a bit predictable after a while. One would be wrong: even with a bare set (one bench, one couch in front of a black curtain) and no costumes (everyone was dressed as for their prom) they managed to infuse life in the staging, and elicit laughs from the audience. One of them was drawn when they acknowledged the minimalist set by swapping the bench and the couch during intermission. A new decor! Amazing what a little switcheroo can do.

Picture of Noah Stewart and Jamie Chamberlin by Terrence McCarthy, SF Opera.

The selection of airs kept things lively as well: some Italian opera, some French, some operette, some modern stuff, some dramatic, some comic. And the singers would keep us on the edge of our seat anyway, so talented they are. The Merola program will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, and each year it selects some worthy young singers and offers them a summer internship of sorts: 11 weeks of learning with the best teachers and coaches the SF opera has to offer. The Grand Finale wraps everything up before sending the kids back home. A few will be invited to join the ranks of Adler fellows, which is like grad school for opera singers.

We have to say that most singers were technically very sound, and those we liked had an extra je ne sais quoi, a deeper emotional connection to the material. Tenor Noah Stewart projected with clarity and accuracy in pitch, but also brought out some very powerful emotions in a solo moment in his aria from Verdi's Luisa Miller.

Baritone David Lara has an undeniable presence on stage. He does not push his baritone's voice, he does not feel he has to overdo it to impress, but we were hit by his charisma. He sung a mischievous Figaro, and was such a little scoundrel he played fast and loose with the tempo. But he uses his good looks and his deep voice to charm, and charm us he did. In a second piece, he sung the role of a fly, and was as convincing in that role.

His partner in the Fly duet (from Offenbach's Orphee en Enfer), Jamie Chamberlin, seemed as comfortable on the stage. She was as much fun, and as brilliant. She already seduced us in Transformations, and she confirmed all the good impression she made then.

The warm voice of mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert reminded us why we praised her earlier, and her duet partner, Caryn Marlowe, seemed more at ease in their delightfully tender duet than in the campy role of Eliseta.

The concert was an opportunity to make the acquaintance of singers who were not in the two previous Merola performances. Two in particular impressed us: Marc Webster's bass had depth and richness and texture in the lowest of the lowest registers, where most other singers seem to fade. He seemed a bit shy in his solo aria (Sarastro's in the magic flute), but his voice really stood out in crowd of Kurt Weill's ice cream sextet, a catchy piece about an ice cream cone.

And Heidi Melton sung her Verdi aria with clarity, agility and effortless power. So deft was she, that the audience broke into applause in the middle of the aria, a feat only she achieved on Saturday night.

All the singers must thank Richard Buckley for the conducting of the SF Opera orchestra. He was a conductor very involved with the singers, locked into eye contact with them, steering and cheering them along. Noah Stewart actually acknowledged Buckley's assist during his bow, after Buckley carried him out of the rhythmic intricacies of his piece. Yet, even though he was mostly looking outward of the pit, the orchestra sounded assertive and incisive, cohesive and precise. The instrumental opening of the concert, Berlioz's overture to Beatrice et Benedict, a tricky, fast paced piece with blasts of brass section towards the end, was a little masterpiece of sound balance. Buckley was a big part of the smooth evening we thoroughly enjoyed.

The evening concluded with all Merola participants and the current Adler fellows, led on the stage by Sean Pannikar, singing the ending of Berstein's Candide as an homage to James Schwabacher, one of the co-founder of the Merola program. "We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good/ We do the best we know." Man, these kids are too humble, they are good. "We'll plant our food and chop our wood/ And make our garden grow." They were the flowers in the garden that Schwabacher built, and they were beautiful.

As the Merola program concludes, we can get ready for the SF Opera season, which opens on September, 8th with their opening gala and Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.