In the event, I was wrong. The three leading singers were excellent. Since the opera is difficult to produce for today's audiences and has been mishandled by so many larger companies, Manhattan's success is the more amazing. The principal singers uniformly commendable. Clear, uncomplicated voalilsm created the illusion that supertitles were unneccessary.
Critics tend to shy away from student productions unless they are very, very good.
A great credit to the Manhattan School. The Manhattan School production was superb. Most jazz faculties are unable to field such an impressive roster of talent, not only extremely capable of explaning the nuts, bolts and intricacies of jazz, but able to perform on a high level, each in his or her own right. David Gilbert led the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra through Giannini's bright, brisk score with animation and a sure command of the idiom.