An inspiring Requiem for one who inspired many

Iride Pilla (1904-1997) -- known to all as "Miss Pilla" -- was an operatic soprano, a major Boston voice teacher for more than six decades, and an inspiration for the founding of Boston Bel Canto Opera.

To celebrate Miss Pilla's 100th birthday, the company presented a performance of the Verdi Requiem with soloists including one of her most prominent pupils, soprano Joanna Porackova, who has recently been singing Wagner's Isolde in France and who will take on the title role in Strauss's "Elektra" in Germany next year.

Conductor Thomas Carlo Bo presided over an effective, largely idiomatic performance. He knows the piece and the style, and he kept everyone on the same page. The Masterworks Chorale, prepared by conductor laureate Allen Lannom, sang with feeling. The orchestra, which included some of Boston's most prominent freelancers, did itself proud, and the sound of the brass was thrilling.

All the soloists had something to offer. Bass George Corde, from the Metropolitan Opera, provided warm, solid singing. Mezzo Angeliki Theoharis boasts distinctive timbre, steadiness of tone, and considerable power. Alan Schneider's tenor is an appealing, lyrical instrument; he sings with taste and natural expression.

It took Porackova a while to stabilize her tone; in her quest for the power to carry her through the most heroic roles, she has sacrificed some of her bel canto virtues and dynamic flexibility. Much of her work was more impressive than beautiful, but quieter passages in the middle and lower part of her voice revealed the warmth and luster we remember, and it is hard to resist a singer giving

her all, as Porackova invariably does. The afternoon opened with a "concertino" of old-fashioned songs, parlor ballads, and sacred and operatic selections from the repertoire of Miss Pilla. The singers, soprano Elizabeth Ann Johnson and tenor Joseph Holmes, knew what they needed to do and accomplished it often enough, with the sterling support at the piano of Bradley Pennington, protege of Miss Pilla and founder of Boston Bel Canto Opera.

Boston Bel Canto Opera
Thomas Carlo Bo, conductor
At: Jordan Hall, Sunday afternoon