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Ten years ago, in April of 2000, Anthony Kearns stepped on the stage
of Mechanics Hall, and made his American solo concert debut.
The headline of the review in the Worcester Telegram Gazette, was
"Kearns Magnificent in U.S.Solo Debut." Today, on the tenth anniversary
of that telling occasion, Mr. Kearns was back on the stage of Mechanics
Hall, again with Patrick Healy. A lot has changed for all of us, in ten
years. But one thing has not changed. The headline for this afternoon's
concert should remain almost the same....."Kearns Magnificent in
Tenth Anniversary Concert."

This concert was performed to jointly benefit Mechanics Hall, and
Children's Friend, Inc., which is the oldest child and family service
agency in central Massachusetts.

When I reported on last week's wonderful concert at the
Villa Roma, I said I had never heard Anthony sing better. I've
already had to amend that statement. Today's concert was even
better, if that's possible. The accoustics in Mechanics Hall are
a dream. It's a wonderful hall, and there are no dead spots. So
the large audience was able to hear every beautifully placed note,
from pianissimo to triple forte. It was a thrilling experience.

The program was basically the same one as last week, with a
few prominent exceptions. Once again, Anthony began with
"Vienna Mine." And again, his voice was clear and clean.
No warm up needed. The audience shouldn't have to sit
through a performer's warm up. But sometimes we do. With
Anthony Kearns, there is no warm up time. He's ready with his
best, right from the start. We did not hear "The Lord's Prayer,"
but rather the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria." At the risk of sounding
redundant, it was gorgeously sung. When I spoke about last week's
concert, I inadvertently left out two of my very favorite pieces,
which Anthony sings with exquisite delicacy. "Sweet Vale of
Avoca" is a paeon to the lovely area of County Wicklow, where
two rivers meet--the Avoca, and the Avonmore. It's one of
Thomas Moore's most beautiful melodies, and always
deserves hearing. The other song I neglected to mention
was "So Deep Is The Night" based on a Chopin Etude, Op.10 #3.
It was marvelously sung. And as always, Anthony's diction
was perfect, so we could hear the wonderful lyrics. This
afternoon, Anthony also added "She Mov'd Through the Fair," a
traditional Irish folksong, also sung by the beloved John McCormack.
I was absolutely delighted when he began the aria, "Gern hab'Ich die
Frau'n gekusst" from the operetta "Paganini," by Franz Lehar,
another piece he hasn't sung in awhile. He added the English
verses which make it better known as "Girls Were Made to
Love and Kiss." Written for, and made famous by the great
tenor Richard Tauber, Anthony Kearns could without a doubt
have given Tauber a run for his money. (If Tauber were alive,
and could still run.) "McBreen's Heifer" a funny patter song,
was again a crowd pleaser, and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables"
was hauntingly sung. I love it more each time I hear it. "Estrellita"
was a perfect gem of a song, in the vocal cords of Anthony Kearns.

All too soon, "Danny Boy" made his appearance, as the end of
the concert was approaching. And after tumultuous applause,
Anthony sang an all-stops-out "Granada," which again brought
the audience to its feet. For anyone who still wasn't convinced
of the richness and power of Kearns' voice, the brilliant, plangent
top notes of this piece should remove any lingering doubt. The
cheering crowd wouldn't let him go, so he sang the beautiful,
nostalgic "I'll See You Again," by Noel Coward. Anthony Kearns'
voice spans many genres of song, from an 18th century Italian
song, to a Spanish song written in the early part of the 20th
century, to a piece from a musical written in 1929, and back
to an operatic aria written in 1851. As his final encore, he
gave the audience an almost flawless "La Donna e Mobile"
from Verdi's "Rigoletto." The song was magnificently sung,
from it's lilting opening to the note-perfect cadenza which
ends the aria on a high B natural. And this after singing
a complete 2-hour concert...........................

But even a great concert sung by a great singer, would suffer
without a perfect partner. Patrick Healy is that man. All the
immortal singers had their own accompanists, who usually
traveled with them. John McCormack had Edwin Schneider..
singers like Nicolai Gedda and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf had
Gerald Moore and Geoffrey Parsons, the creme de la creme
of accompanists. Renee Fleming frequently has Hartmut Holl.
Patrick Healy is not only an accompanist par excellence, he's
a composer, arranger, raconteur, and (as Anthony says) an
excellent dancer! Every time I hear both men sing "Friendship,"
the duet about two tenors, which Patrick wrote, I'm reminded of
Mr. Healy's brilliance. At today's concert he also sang
"The Spinning Wheel," and "The Dear Little Girl with the
Hint of a Brogue" He had a couple of new stories, with which
he regaled the audience, including a brand new one about a
chorus member who runs amok in Giordano's opera "Andrea
Chenier," which was hilarious. I'd say Patrick Healy was the
wind beneath Anthony's wings. I can think of no higher compliment.

Given that Anthony has a supremely solid vocal technique,
and takes good care of his voice, I expect to be back at Mechanics
Hall again, in another ten years, honoring the twentieth anniversary
of his American debut. But he'll probably have to take time
off from his roles at the Metropolitan Opera, to come back to Worcester!

Berta Calechman