Washington Classical Review

Leah Hawkins sang Verdi arias with the Apollo Orchestra Sunday in Silver Spring.

Leah Hawkins is becoming a star, which means you normally can’t hear her in a small hall for free. Fortunately, the rising soprano visited the Montgomery College Performing Arts Center in Silver Spring on Sunday afternoon, singing three Verdi arias and one show-stopping encore with the Apollo Orchestra led by principal conductor David Chan.

Hawkins came to local notice from her work in the Cafritz Young Artists Program at the Washington National Opera, where she was especially memorable in the premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up. Since then, she has performed on increasingly important stages, and amassed a shelfful of awards, notably the Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Beverly Sills Artist Award.

Hawkins has all the vocal gifts anyone could want: thrillingly clear top notes, as in the high B-flat at the end of “Pace, pace, mio Dio!” from La forza del destino; strong, rich low notes in the “Ave Maria” from Otello; beautiful tone at every dynamic level, from battle cry to whisper; breath control that made it all sound natural enough to be someone’s actual internal monologue. She scaled her voice appropriately for the 500-seat hall, projecting without overpowering the space. Yet her keen sense of drama stood out on Sunday, as she instantly evoked the worlds of three heroines in desperate straits.

Hawkins’ “Ritorna vincitor!” from Aida coruscated with emotion, limning Aida’s desperation and anger and building steadily to the final line, “Spezzami il cor, fammi morir!” (“Break my heart or let me die!”), sung with flawless tone and overwhelming intensity. (She recently made her role debut as Aida with Arizona Opera.) The prayer of the “Ave Maria” drew a supplicating, breathy tone from Hawkins, which nevertheless projected clearly; as Desdemona becomes increasingly impassioned, she ramped up the intensity to a finish on another spectacular high note. 

She began “Pace, pace, mio Dio!” with a crescendo and decrescendo on the opening note that sounded amazing and vividly limned the heroine’s equivocal plea for peace. She followed the emotional journey through to that last desperate B-flat, on the final syllable of “Maledizione!”

Chan spent 25 years as the concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra before turning to conducting, and he clearly knows both Verdi’s operatic output and how to support a singer. One moment in “Pace, pace, mio Dio!” stood out, in which he and harpist Cara Fleck followed Hawkins’ rhythmic shadings with supple flexibility. 

After some intonation problems in the Prelude to Aida, the orchestra sounded alert and polished; their crisp performance of the prelude to La forza helped foreshadow the musical drama in Hawkins’ aria, with its recurring motives.

The three arias felt like a complete set, but Hawkins, Chan, and the orchestra had an encore up their sleeves: “Over the Rainbow,” Harold Arlen’s standard from The Wizard of Oz, felt like a beam of light after the dark adrima of the Verdi arias. Hawkins took a spacious tempo and sang with full operatic vibrato, but moved ahead and behind the beat like a jazz singer, subtle and expressive. She maintained a quiet intensity throughout, her understatement wringing the heartbreak from the final question, “Why, oh why, can’t I?” The orchestra threatened to drown her out in the early going, but matched her glowing tone during the song proper.

After intermission, Chan and the Apollonians gave a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 that lacked the polish of their Verdi performances. In the first movement, the horns frequently overpowered the rest of the ensemble, as well as making a few early entrances. Principal Brad Tatum redeemed the section in the second movement with a gorgeous rendition of the opening horn solo, radiant and reflective.

The third and fourth movements both had their moments but likewise fell prey to brief ensemble disarray and uneven intonation in the cellos. Yet nothing could erase the memory of that first half, with Hawkins commanding and Chan and the orchestra shining in support.

The Apollo Orchestra opens its 2025-26 season with Frank Huang performing Korngold’s Violin Concerto October 5, 2025. ApolloOrchestra.com