TWO PLUS TWO EQUALS 100%

Jason Wirth, Abigail Raiford, Sophia Baete, and Winnie Zheng

Thanks to the wise choices of the judges at last year's Opera Index Competition  an audience of opera cognoscenti  were swept away by a tidal wave of talent, as impressive in its way as the blue wave that swept across the United State. We were not alone in recognizing the wealth of talent onstage at. the American Opera Center. We have rarely seen an audience so involved.

Soprano Abigail Raiford, accompanied by our much admired Jason Wirth presented a "tag team" recital with mezzo-soprano Sophia Baete, accompanied by Winnie Zheng, a most sensitive collaborative pianist who is new to us. The concert was introduced by Opera Index President Jane Shaulis who announced that Opera Index has been able to award $100,000 this year to advance the careers of young opera singers. If the concert we enjoyed so much is representative of the effects of these awards, the funds have been well deserved and well spent. 

Each singer and her accompanist sang a set of two or three songs and left the stage to the other with her respective accompanist. Both collaborations struck us as being especially well matched. Both singers had that special connection with the audience that took their performances to a level at which comment about technique would seem superfluous. What struck us was that each singer seemed to channel the words of the poet/librettist and also seemed to feel the. particular quality of the musical composition in their respective bodies. No doubt, an enormous amount of work is involved in giving the impression of spontaneity!

So let us bypass discussions of phrasing, ease with tessitura, perfect use of vibrato, and linguistic excellence; instead, let us try to describe some special moments in this generous and thoughtful program. This will be difficult because each song was special in some way but let us rise to the challenge.

First, let us tell you the special thrill of hearing an aria that has always left us cold that we now understood for the first time. "Must the winter come so soon" from Barber's Vanessa  is the perfect example. We rarely have anything positive to say about operas in English, but Ms. Baete's involvement with the character's complexity made us care what happens to her.

Similarly, Ms. Raiford's interpretation of Mozart's "Abendempfindung" touched our heart deeply, recalling a tragic loss  that seemed so unfair at the time and yet, hearing the artist's interpretation, seemed to us a means of connection and transcendence that felt healing. A set of songs in French by Milhaud, Duparc, and Debussy projected a feeling of calm as if we were transported to some lovely outdoor setting.

Ms. Baete impressed us with her storytelling and emotional breadth and depth in her delivery of Manuel de Falla's Siete Canciones. This cycle touches on a wide range of emotions--slyness, irony, gentle sorrow, deep pain, tenderness, and the conspiratorial joy of a secret love. We were particularly impressed that Ms. Baete was not afraid to make an "ugly" sound in portraying the pain of a rejected lover in "Polo".  All of these emotion were transmitted so that we experienced waves of feeling.

 Venturing far from opera and art song, Sondheim's witty lyrics were no challenge for Ms. Raiford who portrayed a very conflicted modern day Cinderella in "On the Steps of the Palace" from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. And Ms. Baete delighted the audience with a Patsy Cline country song entitled "Back in Baby's Arns". It was, as they say, a "hoot and a holler".

We could go on and on describing a succession of highlights in this very diverse program, but let us not fail to mention the duet. Regular readers recall how much we love harmony. Probably in the top three of female duets is the "Barcarolle" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman. Ms. Raiford made a fine Giulieta and Ms. Baete gave us a very "knowing" Nicklausse. We were enchanted.

In fifteen years more or less, we have reviewed hundreds of vocal recitals. A few were torture to sit through, most have been enjoyable, a few have been superior. It would be fair to say that, aside from a couple recitals of Schubert's song cycles, we have not heard a better one. Bravissimi to the two lovely ladies and to their collaborative pianists who were supportive every step of the way through all styles of music.

© meche kroop