Florentine Opera Delivers 'Con Amore' with Love (and Gusto)

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On Feb. 8, 9 and 10, the Florentine Opera and its quartet of Studio Artists treated audiences to some mood-setting music just in time for Valentine’s Day via their cabaret-style concert, “Con Amore.” Soprano Nicole Heinen, mezzo-soprano Briana Moynihan, tenor Nicholas Huff and baritone Nathaniel Hill sang and danced their way through dozens of songs having to do, in one way or another, with affairs of the heart—all accompanied by Ruben Piirainen at the piano and, on special numbers, by the highly talented Jamie Breiwick Quartet.

In the concert’s first half, songs of love in several forms—romantic, platonic, that between child and parent and love lost—took center stage. The stage was set with instrumentalists at the back (I wished they’d have been somewhat closer), and the vocalists set in pairs at tables and chairs stage left and right; they came front-and-center for each number. Best was Hill’s searing Non t’amo più. The Jamie Breiwick Quartet launched into a delightful jazz performance in both halves of the concert. In the first half, it preceded a seven-song, love-infused trip through the fabulous Cole Porter songbook.

The second half of the concert continued the interweaving of American classics, Hollywood, Broadway, pop music and opera. Voices were in fine form and appropriately restrained, given the more intimate setting of the charming Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall. The ensemble numbers were the best; these included Since I Fell for You, I Could Write a Book (a personal favorite), My Funny Valentine and The Glory of Love. It was all, as Porter might say, quite de-lovely.