David Cho

Eric Petrinowitsch
Wind Symphony Band - 6th
6 May 2016
Feastful Fun for Friends and Family
An array of many of the different classic opera songs? Allen Philharmonic
Orchestra & Symphony Choruss Production, A Night At The Opera: Its In English, Yall
was a peculiar concert showcased at the First United Methodist Church of Allen that
played a number of songs from famous Operas including Overture from the Marriage
of Figaro and Toreador Song from Carmen. Although the pitches of the singers
constantly went off with the wind and string instruments and the musicians often had
timing issues in starts and release , the praiseworthy musicality of the singers and
instrumentalists along with the humorous acting style of the cast made the opera recital
enjoyable for friends and families alike.
The singers intonation constantly kept going out of tune. Each song was very
hard to listen to because it was a common occurrence to hear dissonance where there
was not to be any. In the Flower Duet, Moira Greyland-Peat and Shirley White-Stevens
had a hard time singing together in pitch, and it became difficult to listen to the constant
instances of hearing dissonant melodies.
In contrast to the tuning, the musicality of each of the songs were played and
sung exceptionally well by the musicians. The melodies in each piece brought out the
moods of the scenes accordingly. In the Pilgrims Persecution scene, Orffs O
Fortuna is sung bitterly by a flustered group of pilgrims seeking freedom from

harassment and persecution by the Dutch. Subsequently, in the Pilgrims Journey, the
pilgrims get together and sing zealous, powerful chords from Verdis Anvil Chorus to
express their hope and joy on their voyage to establish their own colony. The cast does
well to sing in unison and in balance with each other and the instruments. Clarinetist
Brent Buemi, executed his role fantastically by playing his clarinet with a carefree,
frivolous tone, exhibiting the traits of happy ignorance.
Another issue that was hard not to ignore was a confusion in starts and releases.
It was odd to hear the percussionist not be able to be in sync with the singers, and there
were split seconds in which the audience could hear the performers going off beat with
one another. In songs such as Bess, You Is My Woman Now, the ending note of the
piece sung by the singers often did not end together, and there were often awkward
split-seconds of hearing a single performer sing.
A Night At The Opera is a concert recital that can be appreciated by families and
friends throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and season. Despite the production
suffering occasional pitch and timing errors, Allen Philharmonic Orchestra & Symphony
Choruss Opera should be lauded for its musically inclined singers and instrumentalists.
Director Rusty King created a gift of entertainment for audiences across the City of Allen
that reminded audiences of the classic songs that are forgotten today.