Tomas Singers,
Habanera's first prize winners in 2010, were invited to perform in the festival.
To a midnineteenth-century theatergoer--in France, Brazil, or the United States--the word tango had an immediate association with Cuba, being a close relative of the
habanera. It would be only at the turn of the century that the Argentine variant would take the world by storm (Nazareth did publish an Argentine tango in 1917, titled Nove de Julho).
Snedeker has offered a version of the famous
Habanera, arranged either for five horns, or for four horns with tuba.
The
Habanera Factory LLC, $8,631.32, Revenue, 14-2-00130-1, 1/17/14.
The performance will include all the famous arias (including the fiery "
Habanera") and choruses, but minus the recitatives.
Singing the
Habanera, Vardanean was playful, but the brisk tempo prevented the characteristic lingering seductive phrases from being expressed fully.
Among the popular pieces are the
Habanera, with its sensual rhythms, and the stirring Toreador's Song.
The tracks are "Beethoven's Five Finger Play", "It Takes Some Friends", "Truck Stop", "Have You Seen the Trampoline?", "Johnny Cuckoo", "Bagpipes", "The Onomatopoeia Pizzeria", "I Was Born a Horn", "Bananas", "
Habanera La La La", "Bounces Abundant", "I Changed My Mind", "Two for Tea", "Foot Notes", and "Living Inside of a Jar".
Yvonne Fontane (mezzo soprano) sang
Habanera from Carmen, and after the interval Pierce and Hayes impressed with the Pearl Fishers duet, then Fontane gave a superb performance of Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix from Samson and Delila VERDICT: PAUL MARSTON