Rathier has been singing about as long as he's been speaking. He performed his first opera at the age of 6, has sung for Pope John Paul II in Rome twice, and currently performs with the Ocean State Lyric Opera Company
Drink, drink, drink, to eyes that are bright as stars when they're shining on me...
Among the three singers is Ron Rathier, assistant to the director of the Center for Latin American Studies. Rathier has worked a full day at Brown and is now spending his evening rehearsing in the mansion at 88 Meeting St. for a benefit concert which will be performed at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, at the facility. The group, Friends of the Music Mansion, is organizing the concert to help maintain and renovate this space dedicated to supporting community music groups and clubs.
The concert is billed as "Three Tenors of Rhode Island." Rathier says, "We couldn't call it `Three Tenors' for fear of copyright infringement." The concert is packed with 20 songs, an opera-and-Broadway lover's banquet of tenor solos, from Verdi and Puccini to Gershwin and Rogers & Hammerstein. The finale is a trio rendition of "O Sole Mio," in which each tenor gets to show off - with a little humor.
This is the trio's first rehearsal and yet they blend and play off each other like old singing buddies. Joining Rathier are virtuoso tenors Noel Velasco and Brad Logan, expertly accompanied on the piano by Steve Martorella. It is clearly a labor of love as the three break into laughter and trade quips during and after their ensembles.
Rathier is now practicing one of his solos for the concert, the show-stopping "Hear My Prayer" from the Broadway hit "Les Miserables." The sky-high last note floats featherlike to the ceiling as Rathier puts his heart into every word. "That's my favorite `pop' song," he says during a break. His favorite operatic aria is "Una Fortiva Lagrima," a ballad from Donizetti's "L'Elisir D'Amore." "It's a very romantic song," says Rathier. "At the end is the line, `If I die, let me die of love.'"
One of the toughest songs for Rathier, and one that will not be in the concert, is from Wagner's "Die Meistersinger." "It's 28 pages long. It's David's aria, and he's trying to teach someone else what to do to be a master singer. Every vocal exercise is there - you have to trill like a bird, and sing down low ... and it's all in German."
After hearing him sing in impeccable Italian and French, to hear Rathier's thick Rhode Island accent is a bit of a jolt. He grew up in North Providence and has been singing about as long as he's been speaking. He performed his first opera at the age of 6, has sung for Pope John Paul II in Rome twice, and currently performs with the Ocean State Lyric Opera Company. He studied voice in Austria and has performed concert tours in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Italy. He sings just about every weekend in churches throughout the state and moonlights once a month, every third Monday night, at Pappa Razzi's restaurant in Garden City, Cranston. "It's a lot of fun - and good food. I get a lot of requests - I know what most people want. My repertoire is up to 75 solos, plus duets. Thank God they don't ask for Schönberg."
Rathier says he sings bits and pieces of arias throughout his workday - usually when no one is around. "I have songs in my head all day, and I'm always learning new music," he says. He tries to maintain a balance with his family and his demanding singing schedule. "Sometimes they miss me - lately I've tried to be there more. I've got an 11-year-old and a 2-year-old - and my wife likes to sing once in a while, too."
It's time for Rathier to rush off and practice another trio: "Gotta go - I've gotta do `Stout-Hearted Men.'" Music calls. - Linda J. P. Mahdesian