Daniel McGrew, Theo Hoffman, Steve Blier, Bénédicte Jourdois, Nicoletta Berry, and Erin Wagner
We approach an evening with Steven Blier with high expectations and an open mind. We know we will hear a satisfying mixture of the familiar and the strange, the old and the new, the accessible and the puzzling, the serious and the frivolous. We know we will hear excellent young voices and charming narration by Mr. Blier himself. We know that the audience will exceed in numbers that of most vocal events and that individually there will be rapt attention. This is why we strive to hear every well-curated performance by New York Festival of Song.
Accompaniment was provided by Mr. Blier alternating with Bénédicte Jourdois who also shared the narration. One bit we found particularly interesting was the story of singer-songwriter Barbara who performed her song "Göttingen" in the eponymous German city. She had been a Jewish refugee hiding in France during WWII and sang to mark the passing of two decades during which time Germany and France had recovered from their previous enmity. The song was performed by the much celebrated mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner and tenor Daniel McGrew in perfect harmony which reflected the harmony between two nations. Both singers are much admired regulars at NYFOS concerts.
The format of the concert was a tour of France introduced by the most appropriate "Nous avons fait un beau voyage" from Reynaldo Hahn's cheery operetta Ciboulette. By a strange and lovely coincidence, joining baritone Theo Hoffman was the adorable soprano Nicolette Berry whom we first heard six years ago at Manhattan School of Music, singing the title role of the opera in a scenes class taught by Catherine Malfitano!
Onto the sturdy shoulders of Ms. Wagner fell the task of representing the West of France with some Poulenc settings of text by Max Jacob. Ms. Wagner's artistry made dramatic sense of poetry we found rather obscure. The finely wrought vibrato and centeredness of Mr. McGrew made his performance of the mournful "C" particularly affecting. We were to hear more of Poulenc later on in the program.
We were delighted to move to the North of France because we got to hear a charming duet by Michel Legrand entitled "Chanson des jumelles" in which Ms. Berry and Ms. Wagner portrayed twin sisters, doubling each other's gestures. The lyrics were sung in French and in English and seemed altogether delightful except for one brief phrase that probably lost something in translation and sounded a bit disturbing. We will have to consult an expert on that issue!
Poulenc's complex pianistic ripples, played by Ms. Jourdois, made a fine support for Mr. Hoffman's immersion in the desolation of "Fagnes de Wallonie", also by Poulenc. Apollinaire's text came across most vividly.
The Eastern part of France (bordering Germany, of course) included the aforementioned "Göttingen" and a tragic song from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn entitled "Zu Strassburg auf Der Schanz". The story was convincingly told by Mr. Hoffman; a soldier taken prisoner hears the sound of an Alphorn, feels homesick, and tries to escape, only to be captured and turned over to a firing squad. (Now part of France, this area employs a strange dialect comprising some French and some German, which we could just about understand when we visited some years ago.) Mahler's score is written in 4/4 march time and one could hear drum rolls which were well executed by Ms. Jourdois.
It was time to move on to the South of France! Here was yet another strange dialect. Joseph Canteloube arranged some traditional folk poems and called the work Chants d'Auvergne. Ms. Berry performed two of them and we wanted to hear more. Apparently we prefer real stories about real people to abstract poetry! In "Lo fiolaire" a young girl who spins wool bribes a young shepherd to tend the sheep in exchange for a kiss or two. In "Brezairola" a woman tries to lull a baby to sleep. The dialect contained some strange sounds and we were thoroughly charmed by the performance.
Our tour wound up in Paris and our favorite songs were those with humor. It was good to know that Poulenc could write something cheerful (pre-war apparently) and Ms. Wagner brought lightness to Apollinaire's text about visiting the City of Light-- "Voyage à Paris".
Mr. McGrew let loose with a humorous performance of Serge Gainsbourg's "Le poinçonneur des Lilas", the lament of a very bored ticket taker at the railroad. Ending with a similar theme of the tedium of the workingman, Joseph Kosma's setting of a Jacques Prévert poem tells the tale of a taxi driver who dreams of all his many stops--"La cauchemar du chauffeur de taxi". Our multi-talented cast of four had a great time with this concluding number, ending the program on a high note. We are still smiling!
© meche kroop
No comments:
Post a Comment