Metro Lyric OperaM

   The Metro Lyric Opera company, one of the Jersey Shore's oldest musical traditions. Now in its 44th year the company preforms three operas a summer and has already done Verdi's La Traviatta and Rossini's Barber of Seville this year. Tosca, by Puccini will be preformed on August 9th.
   The Metro Lyric was founded and is currently run by Era Tognoli. Born in  Italy, Madame Tognoli sang at the old Metropolitan Opera house at the age of 17. She is not paid for the position and does it out of love for opera and a desire to bring it to the community.
   In the seventies, the Metro Lyric did workshops in Thompson Park. They founded what is now Thompson's Music Barn. The company still presents opera workshops and educational programs free of charge to the public.
   The operas are currently conducted by the world reknowned Anton Coppola who conducts for the San Francisco and New York City Opera companies as well. Maestro Coppola has also conducted scores for the movies Godfather III and
Dracula, and has recently composed an opera about Sacco and Vanzetti.
   The Metro Lyric attracts singers from the world’s best opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera House, the New York City Opera, La Scala and the Bolshoi. This year’s principle singers have included  Metropolitan Opera singers Kelly Hogan, Charles Reid, and Richard Hobson in La Traviatta, and Ronald Naldi and Ercole Bertolini in Barber of Seville. The upcoming Tosca will feature Kishna Davis of the New York City Opera and Edwardo Villa and Mark Rucker of the Metropolitan Opera. The chorus positions, however, are open to anyone and are usually filled by Monmouth County locals and Madame Tognoli's students.
   The Metro Lyric Opera performs at the Paramount in Asbury Park, and further information can be found at www.metrolyricopera.org

Performers from the 2002 production of “Lucia de Lavermoor”

 

Rock Night
(cont from page 10)M

   Closing out the evening was Bella and the Bottom Feeders, who opened their set with a faithful cover of Hole's "Celebrity Skin". Subsequent covers, like "What's Going On?" by 4-Non Blondes, were equally faithful and well-performed.
   They put the perfect cap on the evening with their skillful, self- described "all-girl riot rock," right down to an actual, lay-down-on-the-
floor-and-play guitar solo from Jeri, the guitarist.  The other band members were Ilana (backup vocals), Lisa (drums), Lunar (bass,) and Shannon, the vocalist who carried on the trend of energy from the singers for each band that evening.
  Lunar mentioned that she maintains a web site called njbands.org, but the band itself also has a web site at www.bottomfeeders
rock.com.
   And so, with a final rocking performance by the fourth of four rocking acts, the Rock Night at the Saint drew to its proper, rock-filled conclusion. A good time was had by all.  And I hope you yourself will choose to accept rock into your life.
   Rock.
   -Adam Taliercio