Review: Whanganui audience delighted by New Zealand Opera School afternoon recital

Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono and Katherine Winitana wowed the audience with O Soave Fanciulla from La Boheme. Photo / John Wansbrough

NZ Opera School Afternoon Recital
Prince Edward Auditorium
Reviewed by Lin Ferguson

The first public event of the 2022 New Zealand Opera School was a triumph and a huge relief for all.

You could practically hear the great sigh of satisfaction ripple through the audience as the performers arrived on stage with broad grins ready, to put it crudely, sing their socks off.

And sing they did with a passion and excitement – excitement to be on stage again after months shutdown through the Covid lockdown, particularly in Auckland.

What a treat it was.

The four singers, Katherine Winitana (soprano), Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono (tenor), Hannah Ashford-Beck (soprano), Sam Downes (baritone), and accompanist Ben Kubiak, are the Dame Malvina Major Foundation NZ Opera Studio Artists.

As Kubiak said, it felt like dusting off the cobwebs.

"We are so grateful the opera school has gone ahead ... these days you can take nothing for granted so moments like these are very special," he said.

In the true spirit of musical entertainment, these singers performed a bracket of well-known songs from musicals including West Side Story, remembering with love the superb composer Stephen Sondheim who died recently.

Downes sang an emotional Some Enchanted Evening and before leaving the stage told the audience he would be reprising the song at his wedding in three weeks.

Winitana was glorious with her rendition of Summertime and Ashford-Beck inspired giggling throughout the audience with her song of the oyster ... it was fun and she was very funny.

Bringing the house down for all the ardent opera lovers was the ever spectacular duet from the close of the first act of Verdi's La Boheme O Soave Fanciulla sung by Katherine Winitana and Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono.

This audience all but swooned as these two sang this glorious well-known duet with all the nuances of love and great passion.

And Kubiak's accompaniment was a veritable orchestra.

A delighted and much-soothed audience left Prince Edward Auditorium at Whanganui Collegiate School on Wednesday knowing once again the NZ Opera School had returned and was in great shape.