I wish I felt like writing a whole lot today, but I'm just a little taken aback by my experience at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Pacific Northwest Region. Having attended the District round, I was expecting a little more quality from the Regional level. Unfortunately, the singing was subpar with the exception of three singers. The format of the auditions require a second, third, and fourth place with a single first place winner selected to compete in the MONC semi-finals in New York. Yesterday saw a rare event—the selection of two first prize winners. Both of them were overwhelmingly the best singers there. The audience knew it, the judges knew it, and hell… I'm sure they knew it, too.

But the true winner, in my book, was soprano Angela Meade, who lives in Los Angeles now but grew up in the Northwest. Now, it's not everyday that someone chooses "Casta Diva" for serious study and performance, much less for an audition, where there are so many factors for failure. But at the District level, after having heard her first two measures, I knew Angela would be headed for New York. Here is her performance yesterday:

MP3 Download Angela Meade singing "Casta Diva… Ah! bello a me ritorna."
Zipped MP3 [128 kbps] | 7.19 MB

Oh, right. She sings the cabaletta. Wait, I'm sorry. She sings the F*CK out of the cabaletta. The little flub is (I imagine) just a little timing glitch with accompanist, who is the on-hand accompanist for those singers who don't bring their own. Still, I don't think I need to say much about Ms. Meade's work. All the turns, the glissandi, the re-iterations of the A's on top, a true messa di voce tossed in where appropriate. The vocal line is spun seamlessly and effortlessly (one lady in the row behind me asked, "How does she just stand there without working at all and that amazing sound pours out?" Well, dear, that's how it's supposed to be done!). The glorious high C at the end shook even the most uninitated listener to the core; and the foyer and smoking alcove outside were abuzz. This is fine singing, at any level. For it to be coming from a 27-year-old is proof that mature singing doesn't necessarily come with advanced age. My long-lost cousin Giuditta Pasta debuted at age 17.

For her second selection, the judges chose for Angela the Queen of the Night's first Aria in The Magic Flute. I wondered if the judges chose "O zitt're nicht" simply to compare the sound and style to the way the other Queen's aria, "Der hölle Rache," was sung by another contestant. The difference was, of course, remarkable. Where the other was tinny, constricted, uneven, and inflexible, Meade brought absolute beauty and power in each of the three sections of her aria. The recitative is delivered with clarity and absolute grace; listen to "Du bist unschuldig, weise, fromm" ("You are innocent, wise, pious.")—the meaning of each word married to and reflected in the sound of the voice. The "Zum Leiden" and "Du wirst" sections are stunning for the evenness of the voice throughout the entire range. At 1:47 in the recording, you can hear the voice swell gently, preparing for the descent into a perfectly-placed chest note, where the meaning of "Bösewicht" ("scoundrel") is found. The soft singing from 2:26 to 3:05 is exquisite. I'll let the coloratura section speak for itself. Angela has a large voice, but it is absolutely fluid, accurate, and exciting. This is how I imagine this music was sung originally—with full body and full throat.

+ Download Angela Meade singing "O zitt're nicht… Zum Leiden."
Zipped MP3 [128 kbps] | 4.48 MB

The crowd thought they'd been wowed by the Bellini, but they went absolutely bananas after this. The judges must've recognized the expectional performance because they called her back out from the wings to ask her to offer a section of the Faust Jewel Song. A third selection? That sort of thing rarely happens, but I think everyone wanted to hear more. Ms. Meade begins, per the judge's request, at "Achevons la métamorphose."

MP3 Download Angela Meade singing "Ah… je ris de me voir" (excerpt).
Zipped MP3 [128 kbps] | 2.19 MB

Oh look! Real trills! Not flutters, not tremolos. Joyous singing, joyous onstage comportment. And a joyous fag screaming his head off at the end of each of her selections [you've heard, I'm sure]. I don't blame him; my heart was racing at the end, too. I haven't been so excited by singing in a long time. I hope we'll be hearing much more from Angela in the future. It's about time "coloratura soprano" started really meaning something thrilling, rather than being an excuse for shrill tops notes, whiny middle notes, absent low notes and whole lot of onstage antics. I think Meade opened some ears and eyes yesterday. This is the beginning of a beautiful thing.