Sandra López and Stuart Neill

On Friday, September 26, St. Hugh Catholic church presented the opening of the 2014-2015 St. Hugh-Steinway Concert Series.

This concert was a recital by husband and wife team tenor Stuart Neill and soprano Sandra L�pez accompanied by pianist and concert series director Roberto Berrocal. The evening's program featured a selection of arias and duets from famous Verismo Operas.

The concert began with a duet from Verdi's opera "Don Carlo" entitled "Io vengo a domandar grazia all mia Regina." This was followed by L�pez performing "Egli no riede ancora! Non so le tetre immagini" from "Il Corsaro" also by Verdi. This aria featured a spectacular cadenza at the end brilliantly executed by L�pez.

Neill followed with a strong rendition of "Celeste A�da" from Verdi's opera "A�da." Neill possesses a very strong, forceful and loud dramatic tenor voice which at times overwhelmed everything else on stage with him, including the piano, but was beautiful and exciting to hear.

Next came two arias from Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1 act opera "I Pagliacci." First L�pez treated us to a well performed "Qual fiamma avea nel guardo! Stridono lass�" and Neill followed with the famous "Vesti la giubba."

The first half of the concert closed with the "Cherry Duet" "Suzel, buon di" from Mascagni's "L'Amico Fritz." The second half of the program began with two arias from L�pez. First we were given the "Jewel Song," "Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir," from Gounod's "Faust" and "Tu che di gel sei cinta" from Puccini's "Turandot." These two arias showcased the beautiful and sparkling top of L�pez's and her ability to convey dramatic intensity with nothing more than her voice and her eyes.

Neill followed with one of the best known and most frequently performed tenor arias, "Nessun Dorma" also from "Turandot." Calaf, the role to which this aria belongs, is a role that can be sung by all but the lightest of the tenor voiced depending upon the size of the voices of the women cast around him in the roles of L�u and Turandot. Neill would easily be able to command the stage with the largest of the dramatic soprano voices cast around him and his rendition of this arias was the classic example of the Verismo Heroic Tenor.

The official program concluded with the "Parigi, o cara... A! Gran Dio! Moriri si giovine" duet from Verdi's "La Traviata." This was a fantastic number for L�pez but less so for Neill as he struggled to keep his massive voice within the confines of Verdi's music.

The audience was treated to four encore numbers, two by each singer. First Neill treated us to the classic Mario Lanza song "Be My Love," much to the delight of the audience. L�pez followed with the less well known "Love Is Where You Find It" written by Nacio Herb Brown for the 1948 film, "The Kissing Bandit." Neill then treated us to "Maria" from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story." The final encore, performed by L�pez, was "Romanza de Maria la O" from the Cuban Zarsuela "Maria la O" by Ernesto Lecuona.

L�pez and Neill make a charismatic couple and you can see genuine affection between them when they perform together. Unfortunately their voices don't blend as well as they do personally. Neill's very large tenor voice frequently completely overwhelms and obliterates L�pez smaller spinto soprano, which is an impressive sized voice in its own right.

They make great partners in life but less so on the concert stage. That is not to say that they are not both world class singers, they most certainly are, but L�pez really only was able to shine when she was on stage in a solo number or, as in the case of the "La Traviata" duet, when Neill is audibly holding himself back.

Roberto Berrocal, in his role as accompanist, proves once again that not only is he a talented concert pianist, but also he is a sensitive and in tune accompanist for singers. This is a role that not all pianists can do, but Berrocal performs it expertly.

This opening concert was another triumph for this relatively new concert series in beautiful Coconut Grove. If you haven't been to St. Hugh Catholic Church, the music is more than enough excuse to make the trip.

Sandra L�pez and Stuart Neill performed on Sept. 26 at St. Hugh Church, 6 Royal Road in Miami FL 33133. For tickets and information on future concerts, call 305-318-5008 or visit www.sthughconcerts.org.