REGIS COLLEGE
WESTON, MA
NOVEMBER 4, 2006
Anthony Kearns sang his final concert of the Fall 2006 tour, last night at
Regis College, in Weston, Mass. It was a benefit for the John F.X. Gaquin
Fund at Boston Latin School. Boston Latin School is the oldest public
school in the country, founded in 1635, the year before Harvard. Last night's
Mistress of Ceremonies was Ms. Cornelia Kelly, the school's first female
headmaster in the its 371-year history. She spoke beautifully about the
school, and about how thrilled she and the school were, to be presenting
Anthony Kearns and Patrick Healy. It's such a pleasure to meet a woman
who shatters the corporate "glass ceiling", especially one who has such
good taste in tenors!
It was the best concert of the tour. Anthony seemed finally in good health,
and his voice rang out brilliantly. He opened the concert with Schubert's
lovely lied, "Standchen", and the smoothness and beauty of his voice,
so essential to Schubert's lieder, were very much in evidence. "Standchen"
means Serenade in German, and it was truly a beautiful serenade to his
audience. Aside from one other "surprise", the songlist remained the
same, but as usual, the Italian songs, "Mattinata", which was glorious,
and brought the house down, and "O Sole Mio" which again thrilled the
audience, were very much appreciated. The song which began the
second half..."Vienna Mine", was a perfect jewel, and brought bravos
from the captivated crowd. Also as usual, Anthony had a great success
with the humorous songs, such as "Kitty of Coleraine" and "Off to
Philadelphia." He has sharpened his comic timing, and injected
some facial expressions, which add much to the performance. The
"surprise" I mentioned earlier, was the inclusion of a new aria to the
concert. Perhaps in preparation for his upcoming Mozart concert, at
the National Concert Hall in Dublin, he sang a beautiful "Bildnesarie"
from The Magic Flute. The aria (literally the "picture" aria) takes place
when the tenor, Tamino, sees a picture of the soprano Pamina, and falls
in love with her. He has never met her, but he feels something for her.
It's a very difficult aria, and combines heavier notes with the flowing
legato that one may find in Mozart. It's a masterpiece, one of the most
famous of all tenor arias, and Anthony sang it wonderfully, proving that
he has the makings of a great Mozart Tenor, a distinction not given to
many. He ended the concert with a superb "Because You're Mine",
totally eclipsing Mario Lanza.
Patrick Healy was as usual a real crowd pleaser, with a story about
his housekeeper, the Tosca story, which gets funnier each time he
tells it, mistakes in church bulletins, which the audience adored,
and a rip-roaring Modern Major General. I really listened , and I could
honestly understand every word! I think Patrick Healy is a "modern
major miracle!"
After the concert we had one of the loveliest receptions I've been to,
with wonderful food and drink, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and
some huge chocolate-covered strawberries among the desserts. For
this marvelous repast, thanks must go to the Gaquin family, especially
Betsy, and her husband, Jerry Bello, who worked tirelessly to present
a successful evening. Betsy has in the past, presented Anthony in
concert at Fontbonne Academy. Anthony and Patrick stayed for a
long time, signed everything, posed for pictures, and were their usual
gracious selves. It was a great evening, a fitting ending to the fall tour.
Anthony triumphed over his pesky cold, and as Shakespeare said.."
all's well that ends well." And the tour ended very, very well, indeed.
Berta Calechman
With promotor Betsy Bello.
