The review was written by Tom Purdom and published in the Broad Street Review. Some choice tidbits to whet your appetite for the whole thing:
[…] one of Lyric Fest’s most varied and entertaining programs, complete with an after-concert mingle that included birthday cake and champagne in the Academy of Vocal Arts reception room.
The event included two spectacular young talents— soprano Meagan Miller and tenor Zach Borichevsky. Miller owns the kind of voice that made me sit up and take notice […] It’s a strong voice that’s pure throughout its range, and she wields it with the sure touch of an artist who understands the full range of emotions demanded by opera. […] Borichevsky displayed the same virtues when he joined her in the Puccini excerpt. In other pieces, he proved he can move between the power demanded by opera and the quieter, nuanced style required by art song.
[…] The third guest vocalist, Randall Scarlata, contributed the kind of performances that have made him a mainstay of the Philadelphia vocal scene. […] Scarlata delivered the first section with imposing authority […] he captured the intense high drama […]
[…] soprano Randi Marrazzo had a good time with the comic lyrics from Victor Herbert’s “Baghdad,” […] Marrazzo contributed the long melody line of a French chanson by the Venezuelan composer Reynaldo Hahn, and a moving performance of the song Irving Berlin wrote on the loss of his first wife […]
[…] Suzanne DuPlantis presented one of the afternoon’s big surprises: A John Cage song that set a passage from James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. […] stunningly haunting […] DuPlantis’s dark, knowledgeable delivery added the final touch. […]
The third Lyric Fest founder, pianist Laura Ward, again contributed accompaniments that surrounded the vocalists with atmosphere and instrumental color. […]