ESTER LIBERATRICE

 

Salvo Vitale and Jessica Gould

(photo by Harold Levine)

March 8, 2026 by Guest Reviewer Joan Greenberg

Ester Liberatrice Del Popolo Ebreo

An Opera composed  by Italian Composer Alessandro Stradella, with a libretto by Lelio Orsini (1673)

Let us not bury the lead.  Salon Sanctuary Concerts delivered!

Founded in 2009, its stated mission is to  “present special projects that view history through the prism of music which endeavor to encourage understanding among people of different faiths through the performance of sacred repertoire in houses of worship open to all.”

The world needs more Esters and more wonderful concerts like the one delivered last Sunday at the Museum at Eldridge Street located on the lower East Side of New York City. The audience included adults and children and the sanctuary level was filled to capacity.

The musicians and singers were all stellar…. Not only the principals, but the chorus as well with strong harmonies and effective presentation. We believed that they were all distraught townspeople terrified of looming genocide.

It was a lovely surprise that Stradella’s  treatment of an oft told Purim story felt new and inviting, even though the composition created and the libretto written in the 17th Century.

Presumably because the venue did not have the ability to project supertitles above or adjacent to the stage [or display  “Met Titles” on the back of audience seats]  English translation sheets of the lyrics were available to audience members who were not fluent in Italian. We indeed found the translations by Martin Morell and Jessica Gould extremely  helpful.

Even the building came through.  The acoustics were  music friendly with not a hint of synthetic reverberation or amplification in the air, and the human and non-human musical instruments blended and enhanced each other.  

It should be noted that the museum is housed in the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue, built circa 1887. The building is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) synagogues in the United States. After twenty years and approximately twenty million dollars, it was beautifully restored, to be a religious sanctuary (as opposed to a theatre or an opera house).   We mention this to point out two unique viewing factors:   (i) the musicians (and their beautiful Baroque instruments) were staged front and center at eye level with the audience and immediately below the pulpit; and (ii) except for the balcony and center aisle seats, there were some viewing challenges.  On the other hand, the limited performance space resulted in some creative staging in that heretofore mentioned center aisle, to which some had much better views than others. So, that could be something to try to improve on in the future.

It was a lovely surprise that Stradella treatment of an oft told Purim story felt new and inviting, even though composition created and the libretto written in the 17^th Century.

Whilst the concert clearly felt collaborative, some performers had more screen time, so to speak, which we would like to highlight.

Jessica Gould’s Ester,  through her intensity of voice and emotional actions, brought us along on Ester’s journey from fear, to responsibility, and most critical to her ultimate actions, bravery.  There was something electric watching and hearing her go from frightened to formidable.

We have been fortunate to have experienced the vocal clarity and range  of Mezzo-Soprano Kinneret Ely before. Consistent with her past performances Ms. Ely’s commitment to  character was front and center.  Therefore, we should not have been surprised  with her ability to make us believe, that she was Mardocheo, a prominent male figure in the biblical Book of Ester and capable of thwarting Haman’s evil plot. The character is pivotal in motivating Ester to take the action that makes the story of Ester inspiring….. and (coincidentally?) appropriate during International Women’s Month.

Sonia Tedla  as Speranza Celeste with her agile soprano did indeed give the townspeople heavenly hope.

Paul Max Tipton  as Haman had a thankless role. From the outset one wants to hate him despite his dignified bass-baritone. 

Salvo Vitale  as Assuero, with his deep base and general appeal made the relationship with Ester somewhat exciting.

We looked forward to Mathew Curran’s  Testo,  perhaps because his beautiful bass nicely summed up the events which just transpired, particularly in Act I.

We will end as we began.   Salon Sanctuary Concerts’ presentation of  Ester Liberatrice Del Popolo Ebreo delivered!

Principals:

*Jessica Gould (Soprano)as Ester [Queen Esther]

Sonia Tedla (Soprano) as Speranza Celeste [Heavenly Hope]

Kinneret Ely (Mezzo-Soprano)as Mardocheo [ Modechai]

Paul Max Tipton (Bass-Baritone)  as Aman [Haman]

Salvo Vitale (Bass) as Assuero   [King Ahasuerus]

Mathew Curran (Bass) as Testo  [Narator]

Chorus:

(Members of the New Consort Vocal Ensemble)

Elisse Albian

Christina Kay

Emerson Sieverts

Brian Mummert

Musicians:

Members of the Baroch Orchestral Ensemble, Camerata Grimani

Ian Jones and Kiyoun Jang on Violin;

Andrea Damiani on Theorbo

Adam Young on Viola da Gamba

Cameron Khan on Harpsichord

Notes:

1- “Ester Liberatrice Del Popolo Ebreo” is an opera composed by Italian Composer Alessandro Stradella

His source material is the Jewish Holiday of Purim which is based upon the Book of Esther.

It tells the story of a Jewish woman who becomes Queen of Persia and saves her people from genocide. 

Set in Susa, Esther and her cousin Mardocheo, thwart a plot by the villain Haman to destroy the Jews, resulting in Haman's downfall and the establishment of the feast of Purim to commemorate the victory. 

2- Background story:

King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) “removes” his wife Queen Vashti because she refuses to honor his wishes (to attend a banquet and display her beauty), thus setting a bad precedent for all husbands.  Thereafter, the King holds a beauty pageant to find a new queen. Esther, hiding her Jewish identity, is chosen.

3- Haman’s Plot: 

Mardocheo, Ester's cousin, refuses to bow to Haman, a high official. Enraged,  Haman convinces King Ahaseuerus to sign a decree to annihilate all Jews in the empire (the first decree).

Mardocheo, hopes that Ester as the new Queen will intervene. Despite the danger (entering the King's presence without being called was a death sentence), Esther resolves to go, saying, "If I perish, I perish".

4- Ironic Reversal: 

Ester hosts another banquet for the King and Haman. She reveals Haman’s plot, and the King decrees that Haman be executed on the very stake he built for Mardocheo  (the second decree).

5- Victory and Celebration: 

While the first decree could not be revoked, the King allows the Jews to defend themselves. The Jews triumph over their enemies, and Mardocheo is promoted to high office. 

6- Providence: 

Though God is never explicitly mentioned, his providence is shown through coincidences and the protection of the Jewish people.

7- Courage and Identity: 

Esther risks her life to honor her identity and protect her community.

8- Purim: 

The story explains the origins of the Jewish festival of Purim. 

9- Modern Day Ironies and Coincidences:

Today Purim is celebrated with colorful costumes, festivities and food.

One of the foods “Hamantaschen” which is primarily a triangular pastry usually filled with either jams, poppy seeds, or chocolate.   The shape is intended to resemble the hat worn by Haman.

10- We tried to honor the Italian versions of the biblical characters names, and did so for the most part, except for “Haman”.  Amantaschen as a pastry name just does not work.

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ALMA Y CORAZON

 John Henderson, Roberto Colon, Celeste Morales, Kimberly Sandoval, and Joe Sacchi

(Photo by José Salazar)

If you want to see a smile light up our face, just sing to us in Spanish. And if you want to see us melt into our seat, give it to us sung by Mexican singers. Although we won't complain if the singers hail from Argentina (or anywhere else in Latin America) there is something about the Mexican way of speaking that carries over into the singing--no sé, pero me encanta! A fine Mexican voice goes straight from the ear to the heart.

Yesterday we had the thrill of hearing soprano Celeste Morales and mezzo-soprano Kimberly Sandoval, two lovely ladies with dramatic instincts to match their vocal artistry. All intellectual judgments disappeared as we abandoned ourself to the beauty of the Spanish language which marries so well with the kind of melodic vocal line that soothes our soul. About those dramatic instincts, that total immersion in the passion of the song was exactly what we were missing the other night at an otherwise engaging vocal recital.

These two singers are storytellers; if they rehearsed their gestures we were completely fooled because every facial expression and body movement seemed organic and spontaneous. Technique faded into the background and it seemed to us as if each word begged to be caressed by the mouth.

We always love duets and Ms. Morales and Ms. Sandoval evinced superb rapport in Fernando Maldonado's "Volver, volver".  The poet expresses his yearning for a lost love and one didn't need a translation to feel it. The soprano part has a very low tessitura but that was no stumbling block for Ms. Morales.

This sizable voice lent itself magnificently to "Canción del amor triste" by Ernesto Lecuona, a Cuban composer from the 20th century who wrote with the same passion and Latin color as did Maldonado. Ms. Morales' control of dynamics lent variety to the sad emotional color of the lyrics. This artist is also capable of bringing lightness and humor when called for, as in "Chiquitita la novia" by the Spanish composer Fernando Obradors. 

Ms. Sandoval is no less expressive. Although she manages somehow to connect with the audience and convey the emotional content of the song, we believe she would do well to abandon the music stand which she apparently does not need. Perhaps it is a form of security blanket but it does hamper the connection with the audience. 

Nevertheless, we enjoyed her performance of two songs from Manuel de Falla's Siete canciones populares Españolas. We adore this cycle of folk songs! "Jota" is a rather cheerful song about two secret lovers; it formed a contrast with the despairing lament of an abandoned lover in "Asturiana". It is hard to refrain from weeping along with the simple text, vivid imagery, and poignant music.

It is remarkable that all this melodic music was composed in the 20th century when European music was degenerating into atonalism.

The second half of the program was devoted to American music , the kind of music which we have neglected because it is usually performed with lamentable amplification. Here, we were able to appreciate memorable melodies that responded to the lyrics.  Several songs by Jason Robert Brown  encouraged us to learn more about the shows with which we are unfamiliar--Parade, The Last Five, and Songs of the New World. We also wish to explore  Waitress by Sara Bareilles. For the latter, our two lovely ladies were joined by countertenor Roberto Colon.

Of this group of songs we will first get ourself familiar with Parade because the dramatic scene created by Ms. Morales and tenor Joe Sacchi looked interesting.

The concert ended with an encore that brought us back to familiar territory--two selections from West Side Story written 70 years ago by the two greatest composers of 20th century America, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. "A Boy Like That" and "Somewhere" drew this marvelous recital to a close. Although it was a generous recital, it left us wanting more--which is a good thing.

Excellent piano accompaniment was performed by John Henderson who opened the program with a Toccatina by Ramon Noble, reminding us that we were in a church, feeling grateful that they provided a venue for young artists to perform.

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TO THE SEA

 Nathan Romporti, Shiyu Zhuo, Anna Maria Vacca, Will Kim, and Luis Villarreal

We always look forward to the novel evenings of art song curated by Artistic Director of New York Festival of Song Steven Blier, who shares pianistic duties with Bénédicte Jourdois and Luis Villareal. Last night's theme was songs of the sea. We mention the pianists first because for the first half of last night's program at Merkin Hall, our attention was focused mainly on the accompaniment. This left us wondering. Did the Scandinavian composers write better for the piano than they did for the voice? Were the Scandinavian and Russian languages a bit of a stretch for the four singers?

In Rachmaninoff's "The Storm" we were captivated by Ms. Jourdois' passionate evocation of the turbulent storm, and in Tchaikovsky's "In the Garden" we were introduced to the fine musicianship of Mr. Villarreal who painted the verses in many colors.

Among the selection of songs in German, we greatly preferred the Brahms--"Die Meere", the melody and harmonies of which reminded us of Liebeslieder Walzer. Tenor Nathan Romporti and baritone Will Kim harmonized beautifully whilst Mr. Blier accompanied. Schubert has written so many songs about the sea and arguably "Auf dem See" may not be the best of them, but Mr. Blier is fond of introducing his audience to lesser known works.

Moving on to the Spanish language, Mr. Blier accompanied mezzo-soprano Anna Maria Vacca in the lovely "Mañanita de San Juan"  (from Jesus Guridi's Seis canciones castellanas)  with gentle dreamy figures in the piano. 

Mr. Romporti's tenor was particularly well suited to Reynaldo Hahn's "La barcheta" with its lovely melody and lulling barcarolle rhythm. And at this point in the concert, we realized what had been missing. We had been missing dramatic interpretation! Storytelling! Stock gestures bore us silly but when the body language interprets the text we feel involved. This Hahn song is very romantic and we felt it.

Pauline Viardot's "Havanaise" was given a winning performance by soprano Shiyu Zhuo, accompanied by Mr. Blier. This is a spirited strophic piece with increasing variety from one rendition of the simple folksy text to the next. The embellishments put Viardot firmly in the bel canto camp and Ms.Zuo rose to the occasion with stunning technique.

Adding to our delight was a performance of a duet from Pablo Sorozábal's zarzuela "La tabernera del Puerto"  by Ms. Zhuo and Mr. Romporti. The duet told a charming story of an importunate suitor and a rejecting woman. The two artists did a fine job of bringing the scene to life.

Three late-life songs by Rossini brought the evening to a delightful close.  We felt a bit disoriented listening to "La regatta veneziana", a duet charmingly sung by Ms. Zhuo and Ms. Vacca. We are familiar with a three-song cycle by Rossini with the same title but the melody was different and the gondolier being cheered on was not Momolo but Tonio!  And it was sung in Italian, not Venetian dialect. It took some investigation but we got ourself straightened out. 

This song was a setting of text by Conte Carlo Pepoli and used a more bel canto style than the later folksy tripartite cycle. Conte Pepoli was a Bolognese aristocrat and poet who wrote the libretto for Bellini's I puritani. (If you have seen that opera, you may have decided that he was a better poet than librettist.) Like Verdi, Pepoli was active in the Italian nationalist movement. Rossini's cycle in Venetian dialect came later. We consider ourself enlightened and have decided that there is room in our heart for both!

As usual, the audience demanded an encore and our four excellent singers delivered with a fine arrangement of "Moon River", written in 1962 by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Audrey Hepburn sang it in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Here's a fun fact Dear Reader. The studio wanted to cut the song but Ms. Hepburn fought to have it left in.  For complete transparency, although we write every phrase by ourself, we are not above consulting AI for fun facts like the aforementioned!

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LAS MALDICIONES

 Soprano Sasha Gutiérrez, Maestro Jorge Parodi, members of the Arya String Quartet, and Rodolfo Zanetti

National Sawdust seemed just the right venue for the premiere of Rodolfo Zanetti's song cycle. The stage is shallow and wide and the seating arrangement permits everyone to have clear visual access to the performers. One would not want to have missed the intense expressiveness of soprano Sasha Gutiérrez, nor the interesting fingering of Mr. Zanetti's bandoneon. The four lovely ladies of the Arya String Quartet provided visual interest and we enjoyed being able to distinguish who was doing the bowing and who was doing the plucking in Mr. Zanetti's interesting score. Furthermore, Maestro Jorge Parodi eschewed the baton in favor of eloquent hands, each finger expressing a mood or color or emphasis. We thought of these fingers as a corps de ballet, sometimes performing in unison and at other times, with one standing out as soloist. What an interesting performance!

Produced by Opera Hispanica, in collaboration with New York City Opera, Las Maldiciones comprises fifteen sections. With only a couple sections as solely instrumental, the voice of Ms. Gutiérrez carried the evening. And what a voice that is! We have enjoyed her performances for several years and can only say that her artistry has grown with time.

Addressing the work as a whole, we were reminded of Schubert's Winterreise in that the theme is a monochromatic one. Winterreise is all about grief whereas  Las Maldiciones is about rage. Both are about suffering. In the Schubert, the suffering is turned inward. In the Zanetti, the suffering is turned against the cause of the suffering, presumably a man who has disappointed the singer romantically. 

However there is a major difference that has resulted in the enduring popularity of the Schubert. Schubert told a story in which the words paint a picture that we can create in our mind's eye. Every song is different. Each of his twenty-four songs has a memorable melody and a varied piano part. Two centuries later, a male singer of reputation will consider the work a challenging summit to be climbed, a capstone to a career, an attempt to create 24 shades of grief. Schubert accomplished this through two artists, a singer and a piano.

By contrast, in the Zanetti cycle, our ears did not pick up 24 shades of rage not even 15 in spite of the fact that the four members of the string quartet gave full expression to the written parts and that the composer's bandoneon produced some fascinating sounds. The members of the Arya String Quartet (violinists Melisa Atoyan and Rebecca Racusin, violist Laura Sahin, and cellist Molly Von Gutzeit) alternated in legato and staccato parts, lending aural interest alongside Mr. Zanetti's bandoneon.

However the text was devoid of variety and it was only through the artistry of Ms. Gutiérrez, both her facial expression and vocal coloration, that we perceived enough variety to hold our interest.  We couldn't help wondering what Mr. Zanetti had in mind when he wrote the text. In the 12th section, "Maldición Cuarta", we were enchanted by the musicality of the Spanish text and musical phrasing that put it way above the other sections. We found ourselves waiting for some transformation of the heroine. She found peace through rage? Perhaps there is something within Latin American culture that we missed but we didn't feel any growth or transformation.

That being said, we were glad we experienced it due to the excellent performances. However we are still waiting for a contemporary work that will take our breath away, one that tells a story by means of melody and linguistic beauty. We have a feeling that it will probably be in the Spanish language.

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AN AUTHENTIC SUOR ANGELICA

 Vita Koreneva and Rachel Hippert

Perhaps the most accurate phrase to express our opinion of Regina Opera's production of Puccini's Suor Angelica would be "well worth the trip". Admittedly it is a long way from Manhattan but where else can a hard core opera lover go to see a production that makes sense by virtue of faithfulness to time and place. We are sick and tired of productions that are shoehorned into some narcissistic director's "concept"!

Suor Angelica is imbued with the values of late 19th - early 20th century Italy. Girls who got pregnant were considered a shame upon their families' reputation and were consigned to the convent as punishment for their sins. Nowadays in the United States, single women who want a child barely think twice about deliberately achieving the state of motherhood. The opera does not translate well. 

Here we have Director Helen Van Tine not only giving us the real McCoy but also appending an original moment that touched us deeply, even though we are of a pagan nature. We hesitate to tell you about it because we would like you, Dear Reader, to attend one of the several upcoming performances and experience the moment for yourself. It must be said that singers make the best directors and in a perfect world we would banish all the self-important directors and send them back to Europe or Hollywood or wherever they came from.

So now that you know how highly we regard Regina Opera, let us tell you some specifics. The opera has been cast with a rotating cast of talented young singers, all of whom threw themselves into their roles with enthusiastic intent. The cast we saw at the dress rehearsal included soprano Rachel Hippert as the eponymous Suor Angelica and mezzo-soprano Vita Koreneva as La Principessa. The latter was of particular interest because, by subtle gestures, she permitted us to see a more well rounded character than we have previously seen.

We have been primed by prior productions to hate this woman who has banished her niece to a convent and only visited her after years of neglect. But what Ms. Koroneva showed us was a woman who was obliged to hide her sorrow out of duty to her aristocratic family and society. As she leaves the convent with the legal papers she brought for Angelica's signature, you could see her ambivalence in her glance and posture. We felt sorry for the character who must ensure the successful marriage of her other niece. This evoked the same feelings in us as when Germont Père in Verdi's La Traviata is well portrayed so that we can experience his softer side.  Now that's artistry!

Ms. Hippert also demonstrated the anguish of her character in "Senza Mamma" --the conflict between wanting to join her son in heaven and the guilt experienced by wanting to take her own life. We were allowed to experience her ambivalence without judging. This made the ending very satisfying. We confess that we were so taken with the storytelling aspect that we focused less on the voices, only remembering that all of the voices were better than adequate for their roles. This is an ensemble opera with a large cast all of whom were fine.. Due to the costuming it was difficult to tell the roles apart except for Sister Genovieffa who sang of missing the lambs that she used to tend; Margaux Frohlich made an impression with a very sweetly colored soprano.

There wasn't much opportunity for originality in the costuming but Marcia C. Kresge did well by La Principessa, giving the character a very believable regal Italianate appearance.

An English language translation of Giovacchino Forzano's libretto was projected very legibly and without glitch so we would like to commend Linda Cantoni.

Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley conducted his fine orchestra with sensitivity and subtlety, never overpowering the voices. In an unusual move, instead of filling out the evening with one or both of the other operas in Puccini's Il Trittico, Mo. Wiley programmed two concerti, each featuring a member of the orchestra. We enjoyed Nathan McKinstry's trumpet in a Haydn Concerto and. Anna Lien in a Harp concerto by Händel.  This programming decision allowed the full impact of the opera to sink in without the distraction of the violent Il Tabarro or the humorous Gianni Schicchi.

Before ending, we would like to share a bit of information that we never knew until we researched it. One of the earliest performances of Suor Angelica took place in the Tuscan convent to which Puccini's sister belonged. He played the score on the piano and sang all the roles himself; it was reported that all the nuns wept. Perhaps you will weep too when you see it...and we truly hope that you do. All subsequent performances will take place at 3:00PM this weekend and next.  Don't miss it!

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LONDON COMPETITION FINALS

Korin Thomas-Smith, Nicholas Newton, Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha, John Arida, John H. Hauser, Tiffany  Choe, Adia Evans, and Anna Thompson

The George and Nora London Foundation Competition is one we look forward to every year. We get to see a group of talented young singers, many of whom are new to us.  We may become fans of theirs and follow their careers with great pleasure. We still remember the year that Nadine Sierra won; we recall having a delightful conversation with her whilst waiting for the judges to do their thing. We called her "the diva next door" in our review. Her star has risen!

This year, we were again on the outlook for a winning performance and we witnessed a few. First among them was that of soprano Tiffany Choe whose performance of "Senza mamma" from Puccini's Suor Angelica brought tears to our eyes. We don't recall ever being so moved by this aria in spite of at least a dozen hearings. When a performance is this powerful we forget to note the phrasing, the diction, the resonance, or any other technical details. The most important aspect of a vocal performance, in our opinion, is the communication of the intent of the composer and the meaning of the text.

Contrasting with that tragic offering was the comedy of "Come un ape ne giorni d'Aprile" from Rossini's La Cenerentola. In this aria, the Prince and his servant Dandini have exchanged roles and Dandini is very much overplaying the role of a prince and having the time of his life. Baritone Korin Thomas-Smith has great stage presence and was clearly enjoying himself which allows us, as members of the audienc, to enjoy along with him.  His connection with the character was equivalent to that of the lovely Ms. Choe.

In Rachmaninoff's opera Aleko, the eponymous "hero" sings a cavatina in which he engages in a bit of introspection before murdering his unfaithful wife and her lover. Although we have never seen the opera, we have heard one of our favorite young singers perform this aria on a few occasions, giving us the opportunity to appreciate the performance of Nicholas Newton, whose textured bass-baritone and tortured demeanor connected us to the character and held our interest. John Arida's piano introduction established an air of portent.

In Strauss' comedy Ariadne auf Naxos, Ariadne delivers the very serious aria "Es gibt ein Reich" in contrast with some rather comical elements occurring simultaneously. Soprano Adia Evans employed an imposing stage presence and powerful instrument to create a formidable character.

Soprano Anna Thompson created a lovely Thaïs in "Dis-moi que je suis belle" from the Massenet opera but we wanted her to reveal more of the character's vanity and insecurity. The listener should not be reminded of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust who is also looking in the mirror!

Lately we have been hearing a lot of "Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen" and actually had the opportunity to coach it. We found nothing missing in the vocalism of baritone Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha but we missed the feeling of nostalgic reminiscing which could best be conveyed with the eyes.  We did like the pianissimo ending.

Mezzo Grace Ryan exhibited some lovely colors in the lower register in her performance of "Sgombra è la sacra selva" from Bellini's Norma. However, we longed to hear a bit of Adalgisa's ambivalence and guilt.

Tenor Matthew Sink gave a full-throated and powerful performance of "Mein lieber Schwan" from Wagner's Lohengrin. His delivery would benefit from the replacement of stock gestures with some more specific movement and expression.

Jennifer Robinson has a lovely instrument, well suited to coloratura roles like Amina in La Sonnambula; we found her "Care compagne" appealing. The contrast between Bellini's lengthy legato lines and the vocal fireworks of the cabaletta was well executed.

We are completely unfamiliar with Danielpour's Margaret Garner, so when mezzo-soprano Maiya Williams sang "Margaret's Lullaby" we had nothing to base our opinion on. In spite of some lovely pianissimi and gentle coloring, we were not tempted to hear any more of this opera. We were, however, interested in reading about it and it seems to have a compelling story about the African-American slave experience. But given the choice we would prefer the lullaby "Summertime" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Opera of the 21st century has not delighted our ears.

Much credit for the success of the program must be given to collaborative pianist John Arida whose playing is always in support of the singer.

Before ending we would like to express a few thoughts. Moving the competition from the Morgan Library to Merkin Hall enhanced the intimacy of the event. However, we do not like the idea of giving large awards to half the competitors and small encouragement grants to the rest. It reminds me of the Laffont Competition at The Metropolitan Opera. We would prefer a more traditional approach, one more graduated.

And finally, we will likely expose ourself to criticism on this point but we would like to see female competitors dress down a bit. Bare skin, exposed breasts, long slits in the skirts, spangles, and glitter all distract from the performance. Male competitors don't have to deal with this issue and we find it much easier to focus on the voice. 

We close with fond memories of Nora London whose gracious and welcoming manner cannot be duplicated. That being said we are grateful to John H. Hauser, President and Executive Director of the Foundation, for keeping the torch lit and fulfilling the mission of supporting young opera singers in their uphill climb to success.

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CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH JOSEPH PARRISH

 Joseph Parrish, Baritone

Neither snow nor frigid temperatures could dissuade us from attending a brilliant recital at Baruch Performing Art Center, featuring the notable artist Joseph Parrish who, on this occasion, was accompanied by the fine collaborative pianist Amir Farid. Apparently there were a lot of people who felt the same way. We couldn't help wondering how many knew of his artistry from the many competitions he has won, how many from the various recitals he has given around town, how many from his year with Young Concert Artists (not known for honoring singers),  how many from his regular appearances with Festival of Song, or from his appearances with orchestras.

Although Mr. Parrish's star has been on the rise for the past four years, we remember him from his time at Juilliard Vocal Arts Department. There are just a few singers whose innate gifts appear very early in their careers and mark them for stardom. Some of those will develop those gifts and achieve fame, like Mr. Parrish. Others catch fire and burn out for diverse reasons and are forgotten. If you, Dear Reader, are curious about how his artistry struck us over the past few years, we invite you to enter his name in the search bar which will lead you to at least a dozen reviews.

This gifted young man could captivate us singing the proverbial phone book, if one could still find that relic of years gone by. He has introduced us to music we didn't expect to like and to composers we had not heard of before.  He leads. We follow. Even Russian arias have been relieved of their ponderous aspect by means of his prodigious artistry.

The concert he just gave at Baruch PAC was as enlightening as it was entertaining. The program was performed in sections with the songs in each segment belonging to certain categories:  setting of work songs of the period of enslavement, love songs, art songs, spirituals, and songs of hope.

What always strikes us about Mr. Parrish's performance is his ability to engage the audience. We are not the only one who willingly follows where he leads. One experiences the drama of the poet's text and the emotions of the composer's music with Mr. Parrish serving as a self-effacing channel. The engaging personality he shows when addressing the audience takes a back seat as soon as the music begins and the storytelling takes over. Gestures are economical, motivated, and meaningful. Vocal coloration lends meaning to every word. It all seems organic but is probably the consequence of diligent preparation.

As much as we enjoyed the art songs of the early 20th century and those of the Harlem Renaissance, what we particularly enjoyed was the set of work songs that opened the program. Mr. Parrish created art out of these songs by means of dynamic variation and word coloration; another "technique" he employed was emphasis on the consonants. Somehow, this delivery went straight to the gut, especially in the opening song "Water Boy" which was set by Avery Robinson. Hall Johnson's setting of Langston Hughes text "Dusty Road" was marked by a chord sequence in the piano that reminded us of gospel music (about which we will have more to say later). "A Corn Song", Harry T. Burleigh's setting of text by Paul Laurence Dunbar, ended with a finely spun out pianissimo.

Personally we prefer music that touches the heart to songs that are text based. We heard some songs with a political message and some with jazz-inflected piano accompaniment. We heard some romantic songs by Burleigh that we have heard Mr. Parrish sing on prior occasions; the texts by James Weldon Johnson. were replete with turn of the 20th century tenderness toward women. (Just contrasting that with the aggressive hostility of today's rap music causes us pain and produces nostalgia for times gone by.)

Although we have no interest in religion, we were deeply touched by the set of spirituals. We attribute this to the artist's deeply felt religious conviction, having come from a line of pastors. Moses Hogan's setting of "Were You There" gave Mr. Parrish the opportunity to color the word "tremble" in multiple ways that filled us with awe. We were similarly affected by Hall Johnson's "City Called Heaven" when Mr. Parrish sang "I am a pilgrim of sorrow". Even now, a day after the concert, we are feeling pangs in our chest. We were grateful for the rhythmic relief of a foot-stomping rendition of "You Can Tell the World" by Margaret Bonds which ended with a full-throated powerful note.

The program ended on an optimistic note with Damien Sneed's setting of Langston Hughes' "I Dream a World".   The program was scarcely more than an hour and we hoped Mr. Parrish would accompany himself on the piano, as he often does, for a final parting song but this was not on the menu. Nonetheless, we left satisfied and inspired to learn about the Harlem Renaissance which was never discussed in our history classes! Apparently, it ended with the Great Depression but paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement. How thrilling that a program of music so artfully delivered would stimulate some learning. Opening doors is what it's all about!

© meche kroop