Baltimore Opera

"I know I'm not a perfect singer," says Robert Cantrell. "Who wants a perfect singer? All the great ones had their flaws." The Georgia-born bass-baritone gives a little laugh as he says that, the laugh of someone who doesn't take himself too seriously. But Cantrell does take his art very seriously, as audiences will be reminded Sunday when the Baltimore resident will be a soloist in the Handel Choir of Baltimore's performance of the exquisite Requiem by Maurice Durufle. For the better part of two decades, Cantrell, 44, has been a frequent and much-admired contributor to the region's musical life.

At its annual Swing Gala, Baltimore Opera Guild members savored a soft summer sunset at the Green Spring Valley Hunt Club. About 130 guests gathered on the club's patio for cocktails, then enjoyed dinner and dancing to Raggs and his All-Star Swing Society in the ballroom.The cultivated and casual crowd included event co-chairs Rosemary Eck and Laurie Russell; event committee members Sam Macfarlane, Nancy O'Donnell and Judith Stainrook; Michael Harrison, Baltimore Opera Company general director; Shirley Gerard, Gempro International VP and chief operating officer; Hugh Francis Hicks, director of the Mount Vernon Museum of Incandescent Lighting; Larry Brocato, Rouse Co. VP; Karyl Lynn Zietz, opera critic; and Nancy and Tom Stuehler, La Fontaine Bleu co-owners.

Charles Percell Richardson, conductor of the Baltimore School for the Arts chorus and a leading local tenor, died Thursday at home in the Mount Vernon section of Baltimore. He was 32.A cause of death has not been established. He had suffered a stroke nearly 18 months ago, but continued to teach.Mr. Richardson had sung with the Baltimore Opera Company and was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Chorus and the Concert Artists of Baltimore."He was a beautiful lyric tenor," said Tom Hall, music director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

Metropolitan Opera baritone Cornell MacNeil will receive the Voce d'Oro Lifetime Achievement Medallion from the Baltimore Opera in June, after he serves on the judges' panel for the opera's 33rd vocal competition.MacNeil is known as a Verdi baritone, with a wide range and the striking top notes necessary for dramatic roles such as Rigoletto and Macbeth He is also known for his Baron Scarpia, the villain in Puccini's "Tosca." He has sung at the Met since 1959.Other judges for the competition are conductor Christian Badea and soprano Licia Albanese, a previous Voce d'Oro medalist.

The dramatic power in the ampersand that connects "Cav & Pag," as Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" and Ruggiero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" are affectionately known, runs in only one direction. That was my conclusion Thursday evening in the Lyric Opera House when the Baltimore Opera Company reversed the usual order in its staging of this familiar double bill by beginning with "Pagliacci."There is historical precedent for this. The first time these pieces appeared together, the order was Leoncavallo followed by Mascagni.

Last week's column outlined the seasons of the area's opera companies. Here are some single operas hiding in the corners of the year to come.Other than "Samson et Dalila" at Washington Opera, French opera is largely neglected this season -- except by Washington Concert Opera, which will present an unstaged version of Ambroise Thomas' "Hamlet."Canadian baritone Russell Braun sings the title role (which the French pronounce "omelet"), and Ruth Ann Swenson (who sang Juliette for Baltimore Opera in 1997)

For a real oxymoron, consider that the first film of a complete opera was made during the silent era: "Der Rosenkavalier" in 1924. It was screened at a benefit in London, with composer Richard Strauss conducting its huge orchestra and all the singers in the pit of the Tivoli Theater.Nowadays, opera for the camera is fairly common -- not in theaters, maybe, but certainly on television. And, in fact, the "Opera on Film" series of the Maryland Arts Festival at Towson University is actually opera on video, projected on a theater-size screen.

The opera "Carmen," like the drama "Macbeth," has a well-earned reputation as an unlucky vehicle for the actors and singers who dare perform it.Superstitious actors often refer to the Shakespearean drama as simply "the Scottish play," afraid that mentioning its name could somehow summon the demons of misfortune.Writer Judith Green in an article in The Sun last week provided voluminous examples of how "Carmen" may be the musical counterpart of "Macbeth."On opening night of the Baltimore Opera Company's production of "Carmen" at the Lyric Theater several weeks ago, mezzo Irina Mishura fell as her spike heels slid out from under her on the raked stage.

Miriam Grace Hughes Gaylord: The date for graveside services for Miriam Grace Hughes Gaylord, a Baltimore homemaker and supporter of the arts, was reported incorrectly in Wednesday's editions of The Sun. Services will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 16 at Old Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton. The Sun regrets the error.Miriam Grace Gaylord, 87, homemaker, arts supporterMiriam Grace Gaylord, a homemaker and supporter of the arts, died Oct. 27 of a stroke at Keswick Multi-Care Center. She was 87.The former longtime Bolton Hill resident, who moved to Roland Park Place in 1995, was a subscriber to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Opera Company.

The Baltimore Opera has canceled its summer production of Aaron Copland's "The Tender Land," which was to have been given this month at the Gordon Center in Owings Mills.Spokeswoman Paula Martin said the cost of production has risen so dramatically that the company could not give the opera a quality presentation without greatly exceeding its budget.The opera will substitute two shorter productions: a new adaptation of Puccini's one-act comedy "Gianni Schicchi" for Artscape in downtown Baltimore this weekend; and a recital of favorite arias and Broadway songs by three singers at Glenelg Country School in Columbia later this month.

There's a gentleman who frequents Centerstage events in Baltimore and always wears a bright red "Arts Advocate" button. A year ago at a show there, I introduced myself to him by admiring it. I asked him if I qualified as an arts advocate, having driven my three children to assorted music and dance lessons over the past decade? He gave me the button. These days I wear it to bed and dream of a Maryland where the future of the arts is not in jeopardy. I have intensely personal reasons for my commitment to the arts.

The first time Placido Domingo stood on the stage of Baltimore's Lyric Opera House, he sang. When he returns on Tuesday, after 43 years, he won't open his mouth. Instead, the eminent Spanish-born singer, who has performed at all of the world's leading opera houses and who, with Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras, rocked the global market in 1990 as part of the storied Three Tenors phenomenon, will be on the podium. He will conduct Puccini's Turandot with soloists, orchestra and chorus of Washington National Opera.

Save opera, not Senator How many of us really have an interest concerning the fate of the Senator Theatre that has been bailed out numerous times and still can't make it? After all that's been said, it's just another movie house, and an obsolete one at that. Consider: No multi-complex, no stadium seating, no parking, no senior citizen discount, no credit card payment, no snacks, no etc., etc., and lastly, not many people interested in attending, at least when I've been there. The Baltimore Opera, on the other hand, is a unique jewel in Baltimore's crown along with the Inner Harbor, Aquarium, art museums, Fort McHenry and much more.

Baltimore needs an opera company it can believe in now that the venerable Baltimore Opera Company has closed up shop. For 58 seasons, the company's singers and musicians performed what has been called "the most extravagant art" - a lavish collage of symphonic music, theater and dance - with great panache and brio, to the delight of enthusiastic and intensely loyal local audiences. The roster of stars who have performed under its auspices reads like a Who's Who of 20th-century musical theater: sopranos Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto and Beverly Sills; tenors Placido Domingo and Carlo Bergonzi; baritone Thomas Hampson and bass-baritone James Morris.

Geraldine Weidemuller, a past Baltimore Opera Guild president, died of cancer April 12 at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Guilford resident was 91. Born Geraldine Wendler in Sewickley, Pa., she attended Sewickley Academy, Miss Thurston School for Girls and the Women's College of Pennsylvania. She moved to Baltimore in 1945 after her marriage to John E. Weidemuller, a construction firm owner. Mrs. Weidemuller was past president of the Baltimore Opera Guild and had been a national board member of Opera Guilds International.

Residents of Mount Washington and other nearby neighborhoods have known for years that the curtain might one day fall on Pimlico Race Course for good. But the prospect of razing the vast track property in favor of a shopping center is truly alarming ("Suitor wants to raze Pimlico," April 3). The recession has made it clear that we already have excess retail capacity. Any effort to build and lease a new shopping center at Pimlico would likely drag on for years and face considerable trouble attracting quality tenants.

Opera lover left with memories Regarding "Death of Baltimore Opera leaves void" (Commentary, March 22): I was 11 years old when my music teacher at P.S. 203, Alvina Macdonald, took us on a field trip. She had schooled us well in Verdian lore, explaining every scene and aria that we were about to hear. I remember getting off the bus and climbing many steps. I remember the conductor and the audience recognizing the great soprano Rosa Ponselle. And then I was transfixed. There were no subtitles then, so you had to know your libretto or you were lost.

POP MUSIC moe. moe., the critically well-received prog-rock band, has been around for about three decades. The band has been prolific in that time, turning out 17 albums. Its experimental but accessible approach to rock remains solid on the group's latest studio album, Sticks and Stones. The band performs at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place. Tickets are $25-$29.50. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com. Art Alexakis Art Alexakis performs an acoustic set Friday night at Hard Rock Cafe Baltimore, along with Adam Scott-Wakefield of local blues band Old Man Brown.

The news that came late last week from the Baltimore Opera Company wasn't unexpected. Ever since the organization sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, everyone knew that the next shoe could drop with the thud of Chapter 7 liquidation. Still, when it fell, somehow it seemed impossible. After nearly six decades (more if you count the precursor organization), the city's grand opera company is dead, waiting for its assets to be auctioned so that creditors can be paid a portion of what they are owed.

"I know I'm not a perfect singer," says Robert Cantrell. "Who wants a perfect singer? All the great ones had their flaws." The Georgia-born bass-baritone gives a little laugh as he says that, the laugh of someone who doesn't take himself too seriously. But Cantrell does take his art very seriously, as audiences will be reminded Sunday when the Baltimore resident will be a soloist in the Handel Choir of Baltimore's performance of the exquisite Requiem by Maurice Durufle. For the better part of two decades, Cantrell, 44, has been a frequent and much-admired contributor to the region's musical life.