La Bella Notte hits high a note

Laurels for Laura

Published On: March 02, 2010

Before any talented performers sang a note at the Nashville Opera Guild fundraiser, La Bella Notte, an old Johnny Mercer song was playing on the built-in iPod (that's the brain, for all you readers born after 1989).

Laura is the face in the misty light

Footsteps that you hear down

the hall

The laugh that floats on a summer night

That you can never quite recall

And you see Laura on a train that is passing through

Those eyes how familiar they seem

She gave your very first kiss to you

That was Laura but she's only

a dream

She gave your very first kiss to you

That was Laura

But she's only a dream

This charmingly enigmatic soundtrack began at first sight of event chairs Laura Bearden and Laura Niewold. Of course, they are waaay too young to even know this song, but isn't it a fitting overture for "their" evening? Performing dramatic songs to the great delight of listeners is Nashville Opera's raison d'être.

The red-toned and harlequin-shadowed ballroom at Loews Vanderbilt provided a warmly vibrant backdrop for this night of fine dining, great conversation, scooping up valuable auction items and jewelry, enjoying the company of friends and of course, superb entertainment.

The artistic fingerprints of Opera execs and spouses Carol Penterman and John Hoomes were indelibly imprinted on the evening, with a program that proved for the 16th year in a row, opera might be grand, but it ain't stuffy. The arias delighting guests between the sumptuous four-course meal were from Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Gilbert and Sullivan, Bizet, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.

One aria, "Madima, il catalogo e questo" from Mozart's Don Giovanni, provided a clue why Nashville Opera fans are passionate about the organization and the art form. It's simple: appreciation of opera is not a passive pursuit. Studying the libretto or being somewhat aware of what is being sung in a foreign language (or in some cases, at least reading the superscripts) greatly enhances the experience. And pursuing those answers is a large part of the fun. Minimal homework revealed this particular Mozart aria is called the "catalog aria" because the singer is performing a melodic recitation of—how delightfully naughty—his sexual conquests. (FYI: there were 2,056!!)

Like some other potentially fanatical pursuits such as solving crossword puzzles, taking trumps in Bridge or staying up all night to read to the end of a novel, loving opera requires a little mental work on the part of the listener. It's well worth it.

Speaking of loving opera, the Francis Robinson Award recipient is the warm-hearted, hard-working and vivacious June Greer Bogle. Named in honor or the famed Nashville-born impresario, this is the highest recognition honor bestowed by the Nashville Opera.

To hear June tell it, she just happened to be there when there was work to be done. But the cognoscenti know that June's humility is just one pleasing personality trait of this visionary and leader who has magnificently served the Opera and the Nashville. She was stunning in her red gown with charming husband Boyd at her side. June was surrounded all night by a bevy of Bogles, Greers and well-wishers who wished they were kin.

As always, master of ceremonies Bill Whetsell charmed partygoers, as did Honorary Chair Crystal Gayle, whose performance of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," set creative minds a wondering: "What kind of opera could be written to showcase her still-extraordinary, but not-heard-in-Nashville-as-much-as-we-would-like voice?"

The evening ended with its signature finale, La Bella Notte, a song from a vintage Disney animated feature, Lady and The Tramp. Remember the scene where Tramp takes Lady on a date? They both slurp up one strand of spaghetti until their lips meet in their very first kiss. The scene is sentimental, warm-hearted, touching and melodic, with the waiter singing "La Bella Notte." Somehow, it's even more fun to hear this crowd belt it out in Nashville on a cold January night. MLT

—photographs by

brooke rainey