At the first intermission, my wife smiled and said that you could always count on Washington Concert Opera being a class act – full orchestra, full chorus, world-class singers, and dramatic impact even without being fully staged. You can also rest assured that the season’s selections made by Artistic Director and Conductor Antony Walker will be filled with great arias and great music. Thus, the performance of Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers (Les Pêcheurs de Perle, 1863) was pro forma, highly enjoyable and impactful. If you are new to WCO, I’d guess that it knocked your socks off; knowingly, I had mine tied on. This was the opera performed in 1987 by WCO in its first-ever performance. An opera critic once told me that concert opera was candy for opera fans. At age 39, WCO remains one of the best tickets in opera.
Emily Pogorelc as Lëila in WCO’s performance of The Pearl Fishers. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
If you thought The Pearl Fishers’ libretto was great storytelling, skip this paragraph and the next one. I claim that The Pearl Fishers can be, and always has been, criticized for flawed storytelling, with inconsistencies and a lack of dramatic impact, making staging difficult, which makes concert opera a safe harbor for its great music and vocals. Part of this opera’s problem is also a strength: it has two high drama stories going on at the same time: 1) rebuilding and betraying a life-long friendship, and 2) the mortal threats two lovers faced to be together. The Fishers’ librettists, reportedly, did a rushed job, and a 24-year-old Bizet didn’t have the experience or authority to rein them in the way a Verdi or Puccini would have. That said, the critics who heap criticism on the libretto also recommend attending the opera, heaping praise on the music and vocals. Almost twelve years later, Carmen premiered, assuring Bizet’s place in the hall of fame for great composers.
Will Liverman as Zurga. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
A short synopsis of The Pearl Fishers, with spoilers: The people of a village in exotic ancient Ceylon proclaim Zurga their ruler. Just then, Nadir returns to his home village and reunites with Zurga, his closest friend for most of his life, a friendship that had been broken when they fell in love with the same woman, a virgin priestess named Lëila. They pledge their lifelong support for each other. Later that day, high priestess Nourabad brings a veiled Leila into the village to ward off danger for the pearl divers’ harvest. Zurga does not recognize Lëila and tells her that if she remains chaste and prays for the divers, she will be rewarded; if she breaks her vows, she will be killed. In fact, Nadir had returned to the village because of rumors she would appear there; he is still in love, and Zurga’s jealousy still simmered. Of course, Nadir and Lëila reunite, setting aside his friendship and her oath; they are discovered, and the villagers demand blood; the conflicted but spurned Zurga agrees. Up pops a plot device: Lëila had saved Zurga’s life as a child. Once he realizes she is Lêila, driven by his passion for her and the debt he owes her, Zurga sets fire to the village as a distraction, frees the two lovers, and is left to face the villagers’ wrath. Although, I enjoyed it, I had problems; that said, if the intended message of the opera was that true love and honoring a good deed make us do crazy things, like betraying a friend, violating an oath, and setting fire to your neighbors’ homes with some of them inside, The Pearl Fishers’ libretto succeeded.
Anthony León as Nadir and Emily Pogorelc as Leïla. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
Bizet’s emotionally packed music was beautifully delivered by the Washington Concert Orchestra led by Maestro Antony Walker; he is deft at keeping music balanced and the singers and the music connected. If you like melody, you like Bizet. My son once told me that Carmen had too many hit tunes to be called opera. The Pearl Fishers has its share of beautiful, heart rendering arias, and my favorite male duet in all of opera, “Au fond du temple saint”; have a listen to several versions on YouTube and pick a favorite (I have always felt the power in the sung duet was too strong for the scene of two friends reconciling, maybe a better fit supporting liberté, égalité, and fraternité in “Les Misérables”, instead of just fraternité?). The music features several passages with lead instruments conveying the emotion, including harp and flute, played expertly. The music is characterized by pleasing melodies and grand harmonies. The melody in ‘Au fond’ is used several times in the opera, a unifying element. The WCO Chorus, led by Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master David Hanlon, were prominently featured in the opera, describing the ongoing action and conveying the villagers’ emotions. The forty-member chorus, equally divided between male and female singers, sang with appropriate power and beautiful harmony, and made me dislike them because of how blood thirsty they became.
Christian Simmons as Nourabad and Emily Pogorelc as Leïla. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
WCO offers semi-staging light with the singers moving away from the music stands to interact with each other. This group was an outstanding group of singers and actors. Let’s start with the lone female in the opera, soprano Emily Pogorelc, who is now appearing at major opera houses internationally and whose lyric coloratura voice is a perfect match for the role of Lëila. Her first vocal demonstrated the smooth high register of her voice and singing. A couple of her coloratura flourishes, while appealing did not sound perfect to me, but overall, she was excellent. The fierceness of her singing in a confrontation with Zurga also made me sit up and take notice of her dramatic power. In fact, I had heard her once before in Washington National Opera’s 2018 Candide; my report stated of her performance then: “Coloratura soprano Emily Pogorelc delivered the show stopping aria “Glitter and Be Gay” with both panache and feminine power; the audience erupted with applause and from there the train regained its momentum.” She is definitely a soprano to look for again.
Will Liverman as Zurga and Anthony León as Nadir with Anthony Walker conducting the Washington Concert Opera Orchestra. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
Zurga was sung by baritone Will Liverman, well known to DC, who was a winner of the Marian Anderson Award; he is a former Wolf Trap Opera Filene Artist and currently serves as Wolf Trap Opera’s Artist-in-Residence. He has had starring appearances with Washington National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Metropolitan Opera, as well as prestigious opera companies in Europe. The beautiful timber and power of his voice were on elegant display as Zurga, both as the principled village leader, conflicted friend, and jealous suitor with anger issues. Nadir was played by young tenor Anthony León, winner of first prize in the 2022 Operalia international competition and the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition; his young career is off to a spectacular beginning. He sang beautifully in show-stopper duet “Au fond du temple saint” as did Will Liverman. For me, tenor León’s voice is a shade light for the role, but he more than made up for that with the clarity and precision of his singing and the stunning beauty achieved as his voice blended with Mr. Liverman’s. He also demonstrated that beauty and purity of tone in his individual arias, clearly announcing his arrival into star status. He knocked even my tied down socks off. The fourth member of the WCO cast was bass-baritone Christian Simmons, also well known to DC audiences; he is a recent graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist Program, and has appeared in several WNO productions. His young career has gotten off to a strong start in both US and European opera houses. He sang well and provided a credible high priest as Nourabad.
The cast, orechestra, and chorus for WCO’s The Pearl Fishers receive a standing ovation. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio; courtesy of Washington Concert Opera.
The real message of The Pearl Fishers that evening was a reminder that Washington Concert Opera continues to present gorgeous singing and music, and regardless of how you view the plot, at least the soprano didn’t die. So, we thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to their next performance. A review of WCO’s first-ever production stated, “One approached this project with all kinds of trepidations. It is a real pleasure to report that it is a success and that it very much deserves to survive and flourish. We need it.” Still true today.
The Fan Experience: Washington Concert Opera scheduled performance of The Pearl Fishers on March 14 in Lisner Auditorium. The opera was semi-staged and sung in French. Supertitles in English were shown overhead. The performance lasted two hours and fifty minutes with two intermissions.
WCO has one opera remaining for this season; Mozart’s Idomeneo will be performed on Saturday, May 9, at 6 pm in Lisner Auditorium. WCO has also announced three productions for next season: Haydn’s Armida, September 24; Massenet’s Don Quichotte, March 14; and Bellini’s Il Pirata, May 2.
In my experience, all the seats in Lisner Auditorium are fine for viewing and hearing the performance, though the sound is probably better towards the center of the auditorium. The seats in Lisner Auditorium were relatively recently upgraded with more legroom for the orchestra section and more comfort for all. However, be aware, the terrace seats above the first row continue to have limited legroom. Parking on the street around the auditorium is catch-as-catch-can; be sure to read the signs! There is a convenient underground pay parking lot on H Street across from Lisner. You can pay with a credit card at stations after you return from the performance or on exit from the lot. Beverages, but not snacks, are offered for sale at bars upstairs and downstairs in Lisner. More attendance info can be found at this link.