A love affair that brought La Boheme to Panama

By David Young

A love affair between an opera singer and a theater has proved a boon to Panama opera lovers. Without it we would not be blessed with a production  of La Boheme next week.

The affair started quietly enough and without warning. World traveled  operatic performer Irena Sylya was visiting the isthmus with her husband in search of a piece of land in the interior with the possibility of building  an “alternative health” retreat.

While in the city she took time to visit  the National Theater (Teatro Nacional) and was allowed to stand on the stage. What she saw before her sparked love at first sight.  

Here in the heart of Casco Viejo  she found  what she believes is one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world and, with a career performing  in many of the great theaters, her judgment is not to be trifled with.

From then on, the scales were weighted in favor of Panama as a location for her husband’s clinic, and  a burning desire to bring Opera to Panama.  From there it was a few short steps to a teaching post at the University of Panama, and the creating of the Opera Panama Foundation.

At the University she quickly realized that there was unexplored talent in the city, and the next step was the launching of her own school.

A visit to her home in Paitilla is like dropping in on an off Broadway workshop. And the world seems to be dropping by.

Students, musicians and visitors  pass through the living room, head for the kitchen for coffee, to a computer, to  the rehearsal room and the piano, grab a chair to read a libretto, each one intent on some designated role. Each one reflecting the passion that is the heart of opera.

For singers opera is walking a tight rope  matching voices to text and combining singing skills with acting ability transmitting a grand passion from the stage to the audience. 

For producers of  opera the tight rope stretches in many directions  and requires management skills for  financing, fundraising and  and administration as well as in depth knowledge of stage work, and the handling of large casts.

Irena has an abundance of practical experience to keep her from slipping off the rope and to fulfill her dream of building the Opera Foundation into  a permanent fixture on the Panamanian cultural scene, and of helping some of the country’s young talent onto the world stage.

Irena   grew up in the US in a a family operating a wholesale clothing business.  In the period between receiving her degree and her debut in Europe, she was president of a restaurant company which she helped grow into a multi-state chain with over 300 employees and she also had expanded into real estate ventures and at times represented fellow singers. All valuable tools in building and running a foundation in a country without an operatic tradition. 

 During   her own career she earned critical aclaim around the world and was described by  the Los Angeles Times as “truly fascinating both vocally and theatrically.”

While still in the United States, Irena was selected for the Acot award for dramatic interpretation for her performance as Magda  in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul.

She made her European debut in the Pergolesi Stabat Mater in Naples, where Il Mattino applauded her  “warm, rich tone in interpreting the role in all its shining nuances.”

As Turandot, in Vienna, Neue Merker found her “sure and uncompromising in her role of the ice princess.  Dramatic soprano, Irena Sylya, with her brilliant high notes and warm well-carrying lower register,  portrayed a Turandot we could truly experience as a real woman.”

Her performance of Kundry  in Parsifal, for the Bregenz International Richard Wagner Music Congress was highly praised by Kultur  Bregenz.

 “Ms. Sylya possesses a brilliantly shining dramatic voice, which easily soars over the orchestra. Her superb, dramatic interpretation of  “Kundry”  encompassed all the emotions from sinner to penitent.”

Her  international career includes performances of  Kostelnicka in Jenufa  in Tel-Aviv, Verdi’s Requiem in Kassel, Georgette in Puccini’s Il Tabarro for Texas Public Television.  She prepared her first Ortrud in Lohengrin with Sir Charles Mackerras for the San Francisco Opera. 

Her  “opera lineage” connected  her with icons of the musical world from her opera professor in graduate school who studied with Walter DuCloux a musician  in Toscannini’s orchestra which played at the first performance of La Boheme. 

Her greatest vocal mentor, Elena Nikolaidi sang operas from Richard Strauss with Strauss himself conducting. Her Wagnerian passion was fed by studying the roles with Astrid Varnayand her Italian repertoire has been enhanced by preparation with Paola Molinari, vocal coach to Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni.

The line continues to Panama, and the October presentation with international and local stars of Puccini’s La Boheme at the National Theatre October 11-14 … a love affair truly consummated.

A preview of La Boheme and its performers will appear in Newsroom later in the week.