Adela Zaharia and Amitai Pati at Holy Trinity Cathedral - William Dart review

Somi Kim (piano), Amitai Pati (tenor) and Adela Zaharia (soprano) at the Holy Trinity Cathedral concert presented by Friends of Holy Trinity and the Auckland Opera Studio. Photo / Xander James

Even the notoriously unforgiving acoustics of Holy Trinity Cathedral could not dampen this spellbinding evening of glorious singing, presented through the laudable initiative of Frances Wilson and her Auckland Opera Studio.

Tenor Amitai Pati, back in town after a succession of overseas triumphs, brought with him Romanian soprano Adela Zaharia, currently a star of some magnitude on the European opera and concert hall circuits.

The first half of the programme was staunchly operatic and familiar. Pati impressed with his dashing versatility, combining strong singing with astutely sketched characters. Verdi’s Duke swaggered agreeably, Tchaikovsky’s Lensky was a slave to Slavic passion and Gounod’s Romeo elegantly lovelorn.

Zaharia’s consummate handling of Lucia’s fateful first act aria from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor showed an enviable melding of power and expressivity; an extract from La Traviata effortlessly caught the myriad emotions of Verdi’s tragic heroine.

Longer duets from Verdi and Gounod came across with real dramatic fire and presence. Somi Kim’s piano accompaniments fully justified Pati’s praise of her as the orchestra of the evening.

After the interval, a more eclectic mood took over as Zaharia evoked her native Romania with a moving song by Tiberiu Brediceanu.

Like Pati, she almost flaunted her many capabilities, following a capricious and beautifully observed number from a Spanish comic opera with a coquettish visit to Delibes’ maids of Cadiz. Poulenc’s world-weary Les Chemins de l’amour was rendered with the grace and delicacy of intimate cabaret.

Pati, too, drew on similar Spanish repertoire for one contribution, and melted hearts with a stirring Tosti ballad, even if Rossini’s La Danza did not quite dance as it should have in the ecclesiastical acoustics.

The two singers came together for a rapturous performance of Ernesto de Curtis’ popular Non ti scordar di me, after which Pati confirmed what many of us had been suspecting – that he and Zaharia were partners on and off stage.

After which, the final pages from act one of Puccini’s La Boheme proved to be a touching encore.