Review: Festival Napa Valley Opens With a Recital Among the Vineyards

On Friday evening, in a mercifully shaded meadow at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, the South African soprano Pretty Yende was finishing the final notes of “É Strano,” from La traviata. If you know the aria, you know its demanding final runs and challenging final notes. And, if you were present on Friday, you also know that Yende nailed it, immediately winning over the crowd and sparking the first standing ovation of the night.

Such world-class talent in a casual, accessible environment is what Festival Napa Valley, now in its 19th year, seems to do best.

For this reviewer, it was also a welcome contrast. The last time I’d visited the festival was for a handful of high-ticket concerts at Castello di Amorosa, the ornate $42 million castle north of St. Helena, with Reneé Fleming and Joshua Bell. Friday’s opening night performance, meanwhile, took place in a grassy field with food trucks, and general admission tickets were just $35.

Worth just about any ticket price was Yende, whose timbre and control of dynamics is matched only by her ability to inhabit a song’s lyrics and convey its emotional weight. In a lavish white and purple floral gown, she opened Friday’s set with a stunning “Regnava nel silenzio” from Lucia di Lammermoor and kept the quality high throughout. (Personal highlight: her “O mio babbino caro,” from Gianni Schicchi.)

The Chilean-born tenor Jonathan Tetelman, more outwardly theatrical, routinely gestured with his hands to rizz up the crowd with a round, confident tone. In duets with Yende, this made for incredible chemistry between the two. I couldn’t have been the only one that anticipated, as they drew near at several points, that they’d actually kiss each other.

Before its thrilling finale, Tetelman led a sing-along during “Nessun dorma” from Turandot, in keeping with the casual, fun ambiance. (Earlier, he’d appeared off-stage, and off-mic, singing in the grass.) A series of duets brought the night to a close just as the sun dipped behind the hills, capping a day that had earlier reached a high of 104 degrees.

Opening the evening was a world premiere by Yang Bao, the New York-based composer. With the thirtysomething Bao at the piano, and with animated conductor Carlo Montanaro leading Festival Orchestra Napa, Sol introduced simple chord progressions while layers of melodies cyclically stacked on top of each other. With arpeggios galore and commercial appeal, Sol felt like a film soundtrack, perhaps for a scene where two lovers separate — and then one, seized with guilt over what could have been, races through crowds of people to reunite and make amends.

At its conclusion, Maria Manetti Shrem approached the stage to offer Bao her appreciation; minutes later, she was onstage presenting Yende and Tetelman with the 2024 Manetti Shrem Opera Prize. Manetti Shrem, a donor to institutions including KQED, was not the only high-profile philanthropist at the performance: shortly afterward, festival cofounder Charles Letourneau pointed out Gordon Getty, sitting in the ninth row. (Getty, who like Manetti Shrem is a major donor to the festival, appears as a poet and a composer in this year’s schedule.)

And yet I felt that, had I arrived in cutoffs, sneakers and a T-shirt, I wouldn’t be out of place. This commingling between the two worlds – a bridge, even? – continues with upscale patron events at Castello di Amorosa alongside numerous free performances, concerts for young people and an inexpensive Sophia Loren film series.

Before Friday’s performance, cofounder Richard Walker quipped that before a name change, when the festival used to be called Festival del Sole, “People thought we were a fish festival.” But I’ve actually been to a fish festival, and on Friday, you know what? The vibes, as they say, weren’t too far off.

Festival Napa Valley continues through Sunday, July 21, at various venues around Napa County. Full festival schedule and information here.