Baritone Andrew Fernando & Soprano Rachelle Gerodias @ Philamlife Theater August 18

GERODIAS, FERNANDO IN GREAT PAGLIACCI DUET AUGUST 18

Soprano Rachelle Gerodias who will sing Liu in a 2008 Vienna production of Turandot opposite the Calaf of tenor Otoniel Gonzaga will join baritone Andrew Fernando in a special recital on Saturday, August 18, 2007 at the Philamlife Theater with pianist Mary Anne Espina.

Fernando and Espina will resume the 2007 Great Performance Series sponsored by the Philippine American Life Insurance Company on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.
Both Fernando and Gerodias were also the acclaimed lead singers in the last production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“It’s great to sing again with Rachelle,” said Fernando who was hailed a “major presence” in the world premiere of the opera “Pocahontas” in Virginia, USA. “We had such good rapport in Eugene Onegin I can hardly wait to work with her again,” he added.

In the August 18 Fernando recital, Gerodias will sing Nedda’s aria from Pagliacci and will do a duet from the same opera with Fernando.

Described by the Los Angeles Times as “the young singer to watch,” Fernando has just wrapped up a title role in Rigoletto in California and has played the part of Zweiter Soldat in the Hong Kong Arts Festival production of Salome by Strauss.

Of his title role in Rigoletto, an American critic noted: “Andrew Fernando offer compelling performances. The Filipino baritone who plays the title role conveys anguish and anger with his voice.”

Also described by the Irvine World News as “stunningly moving” and by the Los Angeles Weekly as a “show-stealer with high bravado” in the rendition of a Goethe ballad, Fernando has appeared with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Symphony, the Philippine Philharmonic and the Bangkok Symphony.

Fernando’s August 18 program includes selected lieder songs by Schumann, Broadway songs by Jerome Kern, Romberg and Hammerstein and arias and duets from Pagliacci, Pearl Fishers and Carmen.

Fernando with pianist Espina will also be heard in Bacolod City Friday, September 7 at the L’ Fisher Hotel Ballroom.

For inquiries, please call (02) 900-7023, (02) 497-2971 or cell 0906-5104270.