FRINGE REVIEW: Volare Tenors Make Beautiful Popera Together
It is said that “Popera” began in 1911 when Caruso strode into a Milan studio and recorded an aria for ordinary people. The art form came into flower again most recently when the Three Tenors sang to some 800 million people from Rome’s Baths of Caracalla on July 7, 1990.
Current popular groups that record under that rubric are Amici, Celtic Women, and Il Divo. To that you can add a western Canadian trio called Volare Tenors, who have been concertizing, recording and generally entertaining Canadian audiences. The three: Laren Steppler with his crystalline high tenor, Kaden Forsberg, a tenor with a bit of a vocal basement register, and Taylor Fawcett – he of the pure tone and and liquid delivery, are classically trained and have been recognized by reviewers for “seamlessly blending styles to create a program that has something for everyone.”
Just a cursory look at their program will give you an idea of how wide their repertoire is. As soon as they start to sing you’ll recognize their vocal training has been classic and comprehensive although, in this concert, they tend to lean toward the “pop” part of the word “Popera.”
The trio joke about putting together “a boy band” and taking it on the road – but it’s certainly more than that. Anyone longing for that heart stopping final note in Nessun Dorma will not experience that here – although at one point Fawcett pulled off an impressive high “D”. The group lists a number of operatic works in their repertoire; the only time they came close is when they joked about singing opera and broke into O Sole Mio.
So you won’t get Il Divo. What you will experience will be an afternoon (or evening) of full-bodied heart-felt singing delivered by a polished trio of pros. The lyrics are trippingly clear, the stirring notes are hit and the genuine emotions wave across the stage and out into the audience. In fact, I noted their singing was so “true” that on several occasions the chords actually “rang.”
Occasionally they accompany themselves on guitars but the (recorded) arrangements (piano/bass/drums/woodwinds/brass) are lush and enveloping.
The trio begins right off with a popera classic, Volare. (It also gave them their name). Each steps into the spotlight for a solo in songs ranging from Panis Angelicus to Gabriel’s Oboe.
Standouts included Steven Schwartz’s I Have Been Changed for Good... from Wicked, which makes good use of their (local) training in musical theatre and an epic seven minute rendition of Celine Dion’s It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.
The whole concert is a journey down paths that will invoke many memories. Sure, garden variety hits have come and gone over the years on the hit parade, but the trio have cannily chosen non-perishable pop classics that have the ability to live on. Songs like Baby I’m Amazed By You, Unchained Melody and the rousing anthem Stand By Me.
The three are likeable fellows – which is good because there’s a lot of joking around and banter. What the boys have put together is a Fringe entertainment – an effective and entertaining hour of words and music.
VOLARE TENORS: A Popera Cabaret runs at the Auditorium of La Cite at the 2021 Edmonton Fringe Festival. There will be concerts through Friday.
