Herrera’s haunting rendition of “Los pájaros perdidos” (“The Lost Birds”) quivered with the sad longing of the narrator who loves lost birds knowing she herself is a broken bird searching for a love that eludes her.
Her burnt umber mezzo-soprano flashes with coppery brilliance on high and plunges into earthy open chest tones below. Herrera, born in the Canary Islands, has been a Met Carmen, Maddalena and Herodias and proved herself the more finished and artistic singer. His major memory lapse in the latter half of “Preludio para el año 3001” was a serious setback because it was the last piece in the Oblivion program intended to provide the climactic final statement. In Italian opera, Feulien’s phrasing has lacked rhythmic precision and vocal pointing-he sounds better singing in his first language Spanish the music of his native land Argentina. The darkly handsome Feulien seemed the blander of the two singers with a smooth dark sound that operated at the same loud dynamic level with too few shifts into soft introspective tones.
Both singers have rich voices and vibrant stage presences. The vocal pieces included not only “Oblivion” but “Canto de noche y llovizna”, “Melancólica Buenos Aires”, “La misma pena”, “Los pájaros perdidos”, “Preludio para el año 3001” and “Libertango” sung by the Argentinian-American baritone Gustavo Feulien and the Spanish mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera. Opera Hispánica conductor and artistic director Jorge Parodi wove together orchestral and vocal pieces from Oblivion with other tangos by Piazzolla.
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