Peter Dugan, Kara Dugan, John Brancy, Mark Dover, and Steven Blier at the Piano
Hunan nature being what it is, we tend to take for granted some of the most wonderful aspects of our lives. New York Festival of Song might fall into that category except for the fact that every iteration has a different theme and a different cast. One can always count on what amounts to a bride's costume--"Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue".
Wednesday night at Merkin Hall (NYFOS' customary venue) a full house of NYFOS fans had the privilege of hearing two superb singers, a talented clarinetist, and two prodigious pianists. Steven Blier was joined by Peter Dugan, renowned for his hosting of NPR's "From the Top", playing two pianos face en face. The other half of the music power couple is marvelous mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan who impressed us with the effective and graceful use of her body in telling us a story. And this program involved a great deal of storytelling. Making up the quintet of artistry was the brilliant baritone John Brancy.
The theme of the evening was devoted to fantasy and magic and comprised a generous selection of German lieder (our favorite part), Scandinavian art song, British songs, and some American cabaret. The four artists seemed so comfortable together that we were left with the impression that the program was a collaborative effort. Both Mrs. Dugan and Mr. Brancy have impressive careers in vocal repertoire of all periods and every type.
It is the field of German lied that resonates with us the most and we have been humming the melodies constantly since the concert. They represent the perfect marriage of text and tune, making them so memorable. The texts comprise poetry by Heinrich Heine, Joseph von Eichendorff, and Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty; they seems to hold hands with the music, so to speak, and rest in our brain.
Mrs. Dugan did an admirable job of telling stories in Mendelssohn's ambiguous "Neue Liebe" and the somewhat friskier "Hexenlied", giving it a light touch. What a contrast she gave to Robert Schumann's lighthearted and rhythmic "Aus alten Märchen" versus Clara Schumann's suspenseful "Waldesgespräch" sung as a duet with Mr. Brancy. We don't think we have ever heard it done that way and we loved the heightened drama between the cocky hunter and the tempting witch who trapped him in her forrest.
Mr. Brancy carried Schuman's rhythmic "Aus alten Märchen winkt es" with a great deal of charm and his "Auf Eine Burg" with contrasting solemnity. Interspersed between the songs, we had the opportunity to hear the almost human voice of Mark Dover's clarinet in Schumann's' "Fantasiestücke #1 and #3", accompanied by Mr. Dugan's piano. Let us not fail to mention that the program was introduced by Mr. Blier and Mr. Dugan performing Mendelssohn's "Elfen-Marsch" which would be recognized by anyone from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream for which the composer wrote the incidental music, which is anything but incidental to our ears!
Nothing that followed would be as rewarding to that part of the brain until Mr. Brancy performed Wolseley Charles' early 20th century. comedic song "The Green-eyed Dragon" which shared the same text-to-tune partnership that we love. The composer used Greatrex Newman's text to excellent advantage with rhythmic short punchy phrases, reminding us of Stephen Sondheim.
There were other interesting parts of the program, interesting but nothing that stuck in our brain as deeply. We never heard Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Vocalise" before and the texture of three voices (one of them the clarinet) was haunting.
Rebecca Clarke's "The Seal Man' is a spooky tale well told by Mrs. Dugan matched by some very unusual figures in Mr. Dugan's piano. Similarly, Jean Sibelius' "Under Strandens Granar" allowed him to invest the piano part with a great deal of color whilst Mr. Brancy told the equally spooky tale with great variety of tempo and dynamics.
Sorry to say but when the microphones came out, our ears seemed to close and some jazzy songs did not do much for us, although the rest of the audience seemed thrilled. We never knew a clarinet could shreak so painfully but, well, that's how we heard it.
What especially delighted us about the evening was seeing the Dugans and Mr. Brancy "up close and personal". It seems both very near and also very distant, that time when they began their illustrious careers and we began writing about them. Regular readers remember what pleasure it is for us to witness the success of young artists. And these three are having remarkable careers.
We wish we had been there at the beginning of NYFOS which is now celebrating their 37th year!
© meche kroop
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