Both Oktoberfest and opera got their due with Beer and Baritones at Biersch on October 15. The Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant provided the venue and vittles – and three exciting young baritones offered full-throated, accomplished singing along with the beer.
Phillip Harris communicated vocal joy, whether presenting the signature baritone aria from Don Pasquale, Mozart’s Magic Flute tune, or Broadway’s If Ever I Would Leave You. Douglas Campbell brought his years of Broadway success to the mix with a haunting piece from Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, a popular aria from Faust, and the showpiece Soliloquy from Carousel. Geoffrey DiGiorgio tickled the ear with Figaro’s famous entrance song from The Barber of Seville, tickled the funny bone with If I Were a Rich Man, and touched the heart with Il Trovatore’s wondrous baritone solo.
With Jack Gaughan at the piano, General Director Jim Sohre at the podium, and a Drinking Song or two thrown in, the event was filled with musical Gemütlichkeit.
