Baritone Keith Phares’ performance of Gantry makes me wish I’d seen the show: his charisma comes through the speakers. It’s a grand, grandstanding performance, whether he’s plotting, seducing, or preaching. Frank Kelley[’s]…hysterical aria at the end of the first act, in which he laughs maniacally while plotting revenge against Gantry, is a show-stopper—and a marvelous coup-de-theatre from Aldridge. Sister Sharon Falconer…is sung by mezzo-soprano Patricia Risley. The character is as pure as snow and clearly obsessed, and Risley makes us believe her; she believes every word she preaches.

William Boggs leads this ensemble-filled, busy work with love and discernible glee; the work has great energy and so does the performance. The Florentine Opera Company and Milwaukee Symphony are excellent. I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but I can recommend it very highly. © 2012 ClassicsToday.com Read complete review

It seems that the musical inspiration flowed at its richest in the second act—but it may also be that I had assimilated the idiom more completely. Anyway the Broadway-style marching music of the next scene with wonderful rapport between solo voices and chorus is totally captivating. Frank’s long aria that follows (CD 2 tr. 4) is another highlight, as is the trio (CD 2 tr 5). As a matter of fact this opera is a pleasure to hear from beginning to end.

None of the singers were known to me but they are all first class in every respect and deeply involved. Garfein and Aldridge explicitly wrote this opera for ‘American singing-actors, who know how to internalize, then deliver, their own yeasty language, and how to sing many different kinds of American music’ (Richard Dyer again). This is graphically brought over to the listener even without the visual impression. The chorus and orchestra are excellent. William Boggs knows the score inside out…The recording can’t be faulted and I can heartily endorse the opinion of a man after the premiere turning to his wife, saying: ‘This is better than any Broadway show’. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review

Hay una línea que encierra el espíritu de esta ópera. “Their singing comes to haunt me”, canta Frank en el II Acto: el poder perturbador del canto, el sentimiento religioso que vive en el encanto de la música. Aldridge se sumerge en el tumulto evangélico de comienzos del siglo XX, recreando un universo fascinante de coros espirituales, gospel y música popular. En la mejor tradición de Copland y Gershwin, consigue captar la esencia del momento histórico sin emborronar su propia voz compositiva. Con un hilo melódico de tonalidad luminosa, va cosiendo con maestría el material musical a la acción, desplegada con ritmo y contraste en 14 cinematográficas escenas, de la intimidad de las arias a la espectacularidad de los conjuntos. Una partitura sinfónica que busca, más que innovar, conectar con el público con una naturalidad que oculta su complejidad. El único peligro de esta arqueología musical es que termina por debilitar, al distanciarlo, la potencia de un tema que con otro tratamiento habría tenido una punzante actualidad.

Pero la clave de Elmer Gantry son sus palpitantes personajes, delineados con extremo detalle a través de números cerrados. La gracia campechana y oportunista de Elmer; la fe sincera e imperfecta de Frank, en su preciosa aria; la envidia de Eddie, caricaturizada en el carismático número cómico que cierra el I Acto, y el aura mística de la predicadora Sharon, un papel todavía encantado por Lorraine Hunt, para quien fueron escritos los primeros borradores en los 90 (hay grabación).

William Boggs dirige con energía una orquesta y un coro que consiguen hacer justicia a la limpieza melódica de la partitura. Keit Phares, barítono lírico de impostación ligera, consigue transmitir, con personalidad y una inmejorable dicción, los pliegues del extrovertido Elmer. Un detallista y conmovedor Vale Rideout y un divertido Frank Kelley, veterano tenor de carácter, completan el sólido trío masculino, por encima de sus colegas femeninas. Buen testimonio de una ópera que merece un recorrido mayor. © 2012 Ritmo

…Elmer Gantry…is an honest and finely assembled piece that makes a strong case for itself. The same cannot necessarily be said for many American operas of the last decades with higher profiles. © 2012 Opera Today Read complete review

Aldridge and Garfein have accomplished here what opera rarely achieves: taking a dated US cultural relic and making it relevant again.

To read the complete review, please visit Gramophone online.