ll Trovatore, Opera San Jose, Feb. 22 2013

Since both Silas Elash and Nicole Birkland had been indisposed on the evening of our first Il Trovatore, on Feb. 14, we decided to take a chance that both were completely recovered and bought tickets for the final performance of the opening night cast. Luck was with us; the opening night cast performed, with no substitutions.

Manrico, the troubador: Alexander Boyer

Leonora, with whom he is in love: Cecelia Violetta Lopez

Count di Luna, mortal foe of Manrico: Zachary Altman

Azucena, the baby-burner: Nicole Birkland 

Ferrando, the captain of the guard: Silas Elash 

Conductor: David Rohrbaugh

Director: Brad Dalton

It is such a treat to hear Silas Elash sing! Even though he got off to a bit of a rocky start, his voice of authority soon filled the California Theatre with wonderful sound. Nicole Birkland handled the role of Azucena well, though it wasn’t the knock-your-socks-off kind of performance implied by the review of the opening night. That accolade fell to Cecelia Violetta Lopez, who was in her element that night, unleashing a wonderful Leonora. I’ll be looking forward to hearing more of her. Definitely a beta.

And we will get to hear more of Silas Elash, too. We have it on good authority that even though he won’t be a “resident artist” next year, he will continue to sing for the company as a guest artist. Hooray!