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5Baritone Gustavo Castillo (who hails from Dudamel’s hometown, Barquisimeto) brought a dignified passion to his reading of parts of José Hernández’s poem “Martín Fierro,” which inspired “Estancia,” and his singing of its short vocal solos.
“As the Devil, baritone Gustavo Castillo cast a calculating and seductive presence, and sang with dark conviction in his brief solo turns. The duel itself featured the vocal combatants in a display of surging intensity. As Castillo sang with smooth tone and authority, Machado delivered his tongue-twisting text with precision and zeal, his character’s performance seeming to leave the Devil in the dust.“
“Perfectly paired, Venezuelans tenor Aquiles Machado and baritone Gustavo Castillo complemented each other with light and dark sides respectively. These two fully captivating voices ignited iery feelings.”
West Side Story, an unconventional choice for a festival that focuses on classical music and opera, but a great success, which has also been planned for a run of long sold out performances at the Summer Festival. Bartoli is Maria, in a role which has been tailored to fit her by stage director Philip Wm. McKinley. She is already on stage before the music begins, in a prologue that the director has created in order to show what Maria is doing twenty years after Tony’s death - she’s still working in the tailor shop, and when the working day is finished sets out to walk home in the neighborhood in which two decades before she found and lost the love of her life. In the street, she thinks and remembers. And there starts the music, with Bartoli on stage for the whole of the performance, among the memories of her youth. She is doubled by another, younger Maria, Michelle Veintimilla, who takes part in the action and the dialogue but does not sing - all the singing belongs to the older Maria’s memories, and is accordingly performed by Bartoli. This looks a little awkward during the duets, but in general it works and is compelling. Bartoli’s operatic voice is somewhat too heavy for musicals, and the vibrato may at moments sound inappropriate, but she sings with delicacy and tenderness, and the applause that met her rendition of Somewhere was fully deserved. As Tony, tenor Norman Reinhardt sounded more at ease with the lighter singing style and showcased his excellent vocal skills in the aria Maria. All other singers had a background in musicals and were great performers, especially Karen Olivo, ideally cast as Anita.
