Soloist in RUSSELL THOMAS AT THE COLBURN

LOS ANGELES OPERA

“More often than not when a tenor is said to ‘wear his heart on his sleeve,’ it’s a backhanded compliment. But in the case of tenor Russell Thomas, an openly gay man, the term is not just a compliment; it’s a bold declaration of his sincerity and artistic identity.

Thomas’s powerful tenor voice and emotional honesty were on display Saturday at Zipper Hall in a recital presented by Los Angeles Opera and accompanied by members of the LA Opera Orchestra.

The more rhapsodic half of Thomas’s program was devoted to performances of Adolphus Hailstork’s Four Romantic Love Songs and H. Leslie Adams’s Nightsongs. The more melodically and emotionally complex half featured a trio of world premiere works commissioned by Thomas: To Harlem With Love by Dave Ragland, Annunciation by Damien Geter, and Love and Light by Jasmine Barnes. All three works were composed in 2022.

The tonal and emotional spectrum of the two parts could not have been more polar. Presented in a new arrangement for string quintet by Hailstork, Four Romantic Love Songs (to texts by Paul Laurence Dunbar) begins with “My Heart to Thy Heart,” a vocally expansive ode. Softening the mood, Thomas crooned “Invitation to Love” as a nocturne, while “Longing” and “Good-Night” were infused with melodies reminiscent of an English or Irish ballad.

Adams’s Nightsongs (to the poems of Langston Hughes) reflects a deeply rooted connection to African American heritage. “Prayer” is distinctly influenced by Black spirituals, a realm in which Thomas, having spent much of his youth singing in church, feels totally comfortable. He is a tenor whose middle and lower register are rich and deeply resonant.

The first of the three premieres, To Harlem With Love, could almost have been drawn from the realm of operetta with its sweeping romantic melodies and poetry of trysts in shadowy places.

Then came Geter’s Annunciation, to an exceedingly homoerotic text by Joshua Banbury. It was here that Thomas exhibited the level of vocal emotionality and expressive freedom he had discussed in his interview [with The Advocate]. This was a love song inspired by lust and sweat: graphic, honest, and passionate.

It was refreshing. It was engaging. It was exciting.”
– Jim Farber, San Francisco Classical Voice