Washington Classical Review

Anthony León sang the role of Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers with Washington Concert Opera. Photo: Coral von Zumwalt

Washington Concert Opera first came on the scene in 1987, with a maiden performance of The Pearl Fishers. After a revival in 2000, the company returned to Bizet’s gangly yet lovable opera Saturday evening. As a sign of the opera’s popularity, Lisner Auditorium was filled to the top row by a devoted audience. Take that, Timothée Chalamet.

Two friends, Zurga and Nadir, are reunited as Zurga is chosen as leader of his fishing community in Sri Lanka. They had fallen out over a woman, Léïla, with whom they both fell in love and who turns out to have come to the community to serve as priestess in the local temple. She and Nadir are caught violating her vow of chastity, but Zurga relents on executing them both when he discovers Léïla was also, just by chance, the girl who saved his life years before.

All four singers in the cast made praiseworthy Concert Opera debuts, with top notice going to Anthony León’s Nadir. The young American tenor, recipient of the Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2024, showed the most dulcet legato in his Act I aria “Je crois entendre encore.” The top notes, rendered in an elegant head voice, remained poignantly soft, and he stole the show.

As the other title character, Will Liverman made a potent Zurga, his pointed baritone capable of both merciful pliancy and biting rage. Heard last fall in Washington National Opera’s Marriage of Figaro, his resonant voice carried convincingly in Lisner’s acoustic. He deployed a honeyed legato in his big scene in the third act, and he reached thundering volume in his angry confrontation with Léïla in Act III. The beloved Act I friendship duet with Nadir, “Au fond du temple saint,” has rarely sounded this polished, balanced, and sincere.

Emily Pogorelc made a ravishing Léïla, entirely credible as the beautiful priestess with the mysterious and powerful voice. As heard at her noteworthy Vocal Arts DC recital in 2023, the American soprano easily handled the high end of the role, both at loud and soft dynamics. Only some rough edges and intonation issues in the coloratura marred her overall performance.

Bass Christian Simmons, a standout in Wolf Trap Opera’s Marriage of Figaro last summer, had a fine turn as Nourabad, the high priest who oversees Léïla. At first saintly, he turned vengeful when he discovered Nadir and his charge together. In that scene, the spiteful edge of his voice recalled his performance as the Devil in Damien Jeter’s new opera The Delta King’s Blues, premiered by IN Series last year.

Assistant conductor David Hanlon prepared the WCO Chorus, now numbering about forty voices, for the significant choral scenes. The group maintained their pitch level through the unaccompanied sections and generally sounded unified and in rhythm, although at the score’s loudest points the overall effect felt underpowered.

Likewise the quality of the WCO Orchestra proved variable from section to section. The strings did not always cohere in terms of ensemble and intonation, but the cello section had a fine melodic turn and the passage for solo string quartet proved an intimate and tender moment. Strong individual solos came from flutist Nicolette Oppelt, oboist Fatma Daglar, English horn player Joseph DeLuccio, and especially harpist Susan Robinson.

Artistic director Antony Walker kept the evening on track musically with his accustomed alert hand. With correcting gestures he made balance adjustments to keep the orchestra from overwhelming the texture, even smoothing over an occasional early instrumental entrance.

David Portillo, Amanda Forsythe, Amanda Woodbury, and Stephanie Doche star in Mozart’s Idomeneo 6 p.m. May 9. Next season WCO will present Haydn’s Armida, Massenet’s Don Quichotte, and Bellini’s Il Pirata. concertopera.org