Brian Holman and Julio Mascaro
A tenor voice can be "a thing of beauty and a joy forever", to borrow a phrase from Keats. The fact that it is often not is a pain in the throat, at least to our throat which closes up every time a tenor presses for volume and emits a harsh sound. The voice of tenor Julio Mascaro is of the first type, a voice one could listen to forever, a voice that lingers in the ear long after the concert ends. The total silence during the performance can be taken as evidence that we were not alone in our rapturous attention.
At Friday night's recital at Opera America, Mr. Mascaro's interpretations were so well calibrated to the emotional content of his selections, one might have gotten lost in the effect. It took a great deal of effort to note the fine technical points that underlay the vocal performance. We were impressed by the stunning messa di voce, the delicately floated high notes, and some final decrescendos that trailed off into fine filaments of sound hanging in the air. Climaxes were achieved without bombastic shouting. German and French were as successfully pronounced as Mr. Mascaro's native Spanish.
And now, let us say more about the well-curated program, the first half of which was sung in Spanish. Could one have chosen two better Mexican songs than Manuel Ponce's "Estrellita" and Maria Grever's "Te quiero, dijiste"? Let us mention that a wonderful way to connect with the audience is to tell them something interesting about a song. Some people in the audience might have been surprised to know the true and sad story of the Grever song which we would be happy to share with you someday.
From the cycle Cinco canciones populares Argentinas by Manuel Ponce, we heard the lament "Triste", followed by a more modern work by Jaime León Fierro entitled "Letra para cantar al son del arpa" which provided a grand opportunity for collaborative pianist Brian Holman to show his stuff. As we have written before, Hispanic composers never fell for serialism and atonality. There is always a lovely melody to enchant the ear.
To close the set, we heard a passionate rendition of "No puede ser" from the zarzuela -La tabernera del puerto by Spaniard Pablo Sorozabal. This is arguably one of the top ten zarzuela arias and a most affecting cry of a hopeful lover. We were inspired to read the very complex plot of the zarzuela and are happy to share with you the fact that the singer of the aria, young Leandro, does get the girl.
The second part of the program revealed Mr. Mascaro's operatic artistry and linguistic skills. We heard "Vainemant ma bien aimée" from Edouard Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys followed by "Lonely House" from Kurt Weill' Street Scene. Italian passion was brought to the forefront in Tosti's "Vorrei morire".
If we have heard a better Nemorino than the one brought to life by Mr. Mascaro we cannot remember it. "Una furtive lagrima" can be considered a turning point ("the worm turns") in Donizetti's charming L'elisir d'amore. Nemorino is one of our favorite male characters in opera because he achieves emotional growth during the opera and we love cheering him on in his quest to win Adina.
"Ich baue ganz auf deine Stärke" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail was sung in perfect German and in true Mozartian style.
The evening ended with a unique and highly personal event which profited from an introduction. Mr. Mascaro's maternal grandfather, José Ernesto Monzón, was a well known artist in Guatemala and our singer brought onstage his late grandfather's guitar before sharing three of his songs with the audience. They say a playwright shouldn't bring a gun onstage unless he plans to have one of his characters shoot another. So, Dear Reader, we were waiting for Mr. Mascaro or Mr. Holman to play said guitar. Sadly, this was not the case.
All is forgiven, however, because the songs are delightful. "Canto a mi Guatemala" was filled with patriotic fervor and was followed by the charming "Muñequito" and the highly rhythmic "La Sanjuanerita". Dear Reader, do yourself a favor and listen to this on YouTube. You are sure to be as charmed as we were!
© meche kroop
