‘Così’ almost catches fire at Merola

There were nerves, and miscues, as the young singers of the Merola Opera Program felt their way into Mozart’s demanding ensemble comedy.

[...] right in the middle of Act 1, the lights flashed, the sirens wailed, and the entire cast, crew and audience found themselves milling about on Oak Street waiting for the fire department to give the all-clear.

Director Ted Huffman hasn’t exactly opted for any of these, deciding instead to update the setting — the action is placed in a military hospital that looks to be about World War 1 vintage, with handsomely detailed sets by Marsha Ginsberg — and play the individual scenes for their respective expressive contents.

That didn’t make for a particularly incisive dramatic statement, but it did allow for the cast of six gifted young singers, under the music direction of Mark Morash, to show off their individual abilities.

Soprano Adelaide Boedecker, who was a memorable participant in Merola two summers ago, returned to give a sprightly, fine-tuned and vocally assured performance as Despina, the maid (now a member of the hospital’s custodial staff) who abets Alfonso’s Rube Goldberg scheme.

For sheer vocal heroism, the Fiordiligi of soprano Yelena Dyachek proved consistently impressive — never more so than “Per pietà, ben mio,” the vast Act 2 showcase that highlighted her remarkable combination of power, agility, stamina and expressive grandeur.

On the male side of the ledger, tenor Amitai Pati was a sonorous and affecting Ferrando, bringing urgency and lyricism to the Act 1 aria “Un’ aura amorosa” and making bright-toned contributions to the various ensembles.