Young artists commence PBO period with fun, properly-sung 'Dido'

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Megan Callahan, left, and Christopher Humbert Jr. in Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" at Palm Beach Opera on Saturday night at the Norton Museum of Art Sculpture Garden.

WEST PALM Seashore — The milestone 60th anniversary period of the Palm Seashore Opera opened Saturday night with a general performance of Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” presented by a cast assembled from the company’s Benenson Young Artist and Apprentice Artist courses.

The season claims to be just one of gratitude and appreciation, as Palm Beach Opera has emerged from the performance constraints of the pandemic much better than ever. Saturday evening’s functionality commenced soon after a heat reception at the Norton Museum of Artwork Sculpture Garden.

In a seating configuration greatest left to a wedding ceremony location, we twisted and turned, and bounced up and down, to capture a glimpse of the younger artists. The forged assembled ahead of a backdrop of projection screen and chamber orchestra, entire with period of time devices, conducted by Gregory Ritchey.

A best variety for this wonderful, outdoor space, Purcell’s otherworldly “Dido and Aeneas” can frequently be whichever the phase director can make of it. Below, director Drew Minter decided to complement lacking formal pillars of the opera with other vocal performs by Purcell.

Avery Boettcher, left, and Megan Callahan in Palm Beach Opera's production of "Dido and Aeneas."

Tenor Bergsvein Toverud instantly set the tone for this performance with a strong tone and precise diction, so that every phrase was obvious and recognized. With a prospective cannon of a voice lurking powering the demure parameters of a Purcell opera, Toverud is anyone we glance ahead to listening to far more from in the coming year.

And Megan Callahan is the Dido we need. She emerged in Act I with a loaded mezzo-soprano voice with total presence and one of a kind shade. Callahan is wonderfully mindful of nuance in her voice — withholding vibrato and applying a straight tone in accordance to the vocal strategy of the time period. The subtlety with which she shifts registers, a lush and sultry audio, convinced us that this was a sturdy Dido who was in manage of her future.

Avery Boettcher, as Belinda, and Alexandra Razskazoff, as the Next Female, ended up beautifully balanced and shiny in their interactions with Dido. Boettcher later on emerges with an emphatic aria, “Pursue my conquest, Like.” She presented a instant of splendor in her agile and charming soprano voice.