Anyone who believes that silence is golden has never seriously listened to opera.
On Tuesday, Jan 31, the Portland Opera’s Studio Artist series presents soprano Lindsay Ohse at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium. Over the course of a 90-minute recital, Ohse will sing her way through three sections of music, providing a unique and intimate vocal experience.
Anyone who believes that silence is golden has never seriously listened to opera.
On Tuesday, Jan 31, the Portland Opera’s Studio Artist series presents soprano Lindsay Ohse at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium. Over the course of a 90-minute recital, Ohse will sing her way through three sections of music, providing a unique and intimate vocal experience.
The recital will be split into sections by composer.
“We begin with some classic Mozart, continue with Rachmaninoff, who is mostly famous for his arias and love songs, and end with French composer Poulenc,” explained Clare Burovac, director of art for the Portland Opera.
Ohse, whose high feminine voice has earned her mostly romantic roles in her performances, is especially excited to sing Rachmaninoff.
“My voice likes to go all happy and smiley in the way that the Poulenc pieces are,” she said. “But the Rachmaninoff has all these full-length notes, and the music is dramatic and has darker themes than what I’m used to. Not to mention I’ve never sang in Russian!”
The Studio Artist program was established in 2005 as a way for young, aspiring opera singers to participate in solo recitals and showcase their abilities. Every year, over 300 applicants sign up, and only a handful are selected for an audition. This year, Ohse was one of four artists chosen to help create their own program with Music Director and Chorus Master Robert Ainsley.
“This is a way for young artists to dive into the art song repertoire. The singers work with Ainsley to produce a balanced program that brings out the best in them,” Burovac said. It’s an opportunity for the artist to communicate beautiful music with the audience. It’s just the audience, a piano and the singer.”
The program will be a blend of modern and classic pieces. While Ohse has shone on stage before in pieces such as The Queen of the Night and Le Nozze di Figaro, the upcoming recital is the first of its kind.
“The audience will feel like they’re on stage with Lindsay or alone in a room with her rather than just watching from a distant seat,” Burovac said. “She has had to memorize the entire 90 minutes of music with Ainsley, our piano player, so there is room for some mistakes, some improvisations. The experience will be better for it.”
Ohse graduated from Kansas University with a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and a Master’s in Operatic Music. As part of the Studio Artist program, she will take feature roles in the Portland Opera’s Galileo Galilei and Candide later in the year.
“Lindsay is a terrific soprano. We chose her because not only was her vocal technique perfect, she really blooms as a performer. She is very musical and has such a joy in her singing,” Burovac said. “You can’t help but smile when she sings.”
The recital’s program requires more of Lindsay than she has encountered before.
“I enjoy singing in every language, and I’ve done works in French, German and Italian often since most operatic pieces are written in those languages,” Ohse reflected. “However, you don’t hear many Russian opera songs, and that’s why Ainsley and I chose the Rachmaninoff.”
All three composers in the recital’s program were specifically chosen because they were specially composed for soprano voices such as Lindsay’s. For example, the arias, art songs and sacred hymns of Mozart in the first half of the concert are perfect for Ohse’s trilling high notes.
Rachmaninoff favors long, lush piano solos that flow into Poulenc’s signature style of sensual pieces, both of which fit perfectly with Ohse’s voice, according to press materials.
“Because of all the work Ohse and Ainsley have done in preparing this amazing program, it is going to be a lovely evening,” Burovac said. “This sounds kind of cheesy, but the audience will be able to see into the soul of the singer through the music.”
Although a $10 donation is suggested at the door, tickets are free and available through the Portland Opera website.
“I really hope that people come, especially because it’s free for everyone,” Ohse said. “The more people that come, the more people will get a chance to communicate with me as an artist.”
