OPERA AS EVENT

The cast of Dido and Aeneas in the Catacombs of Green-Wood Cemetery
(photo by Kevin Condon)

On the front cover of the program for Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, producer Andrew Ousley (of Death of Classical and Unisom Media) expressed his feelings about death and remembrance as eloquently as one could have imagined, giving us a clue about his regular musical presentations in crypts and catacombs. More appropriate than macabre, these radical stagings leave us feeling that life is finite and music is one of the best means of celebrating it.

The conclusion of Purcell's opera would be familiar to most opera goers. Queen Dido of Carthage kills herself but asks her handmaiden Belinda to "remember me but forget my fate". It is arguably one of the best Baroque arias in the canon. Here it was movingly sung by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack whose prodigious vocal chops are matched by dramatic ones. Belinda was portrayed by soprano Molly Quinn whose instrument is a finely focused one that reaches to the stratosphere and tickles the ceiling. Their overtones bounced around the walls of the catacombs of Green-wood Cemetery where 120 guests were privileged to share a unique collective experience.

Purcell composed the one-act opera for performance at a girl's school in the 1680's with libretto by Nahum Tate, based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. We have seen it at least four times in the past two years and every time certain liberties have been taken. In this iteration, director Alek Shrader (best known for his terrific tenor) has incorporated additional text by Christopher Marlowe and introduced the character of Iarbas (the low resonant tones of Paul Greene-Dennis) whose attentions toward Dido are consistently rejected.

We have noticed a tendency, in the last few versions we have seen, to portray Dido as a strong independent woman, not a victim of Aeneas' abandonment. Here Aeneas was finely performed by Paul La Rosa. It is interesting how stories evolve with the times!  

The unfortunate Trojan Prince Aeneas is led astray by a Sorceress (Vanessa Cariddi) and her two witches (Erin Moll and Alyssa Martin) who reminded us of nothing more or less than Macbeth's "weird sisters". We never find out why they have it in for Dido but they do. They employ base trickery to fool Aeneas into believing that the gods want him to go to Italy and establish Rome. And they do this with intensely valid vocalism.

Dido's sister Anna was sung by the excellent Brooke Larimer and the cast was rounded out by Marc Molomot and Kannan Vasudevan as Trojans accompanying Aeneas.

The musical values were undeniably magnificent with these gorgeous voices accompanied by expressive music. Leading from the harpsichord was Music Director Elliot Figg. Adding to the string quartet was the haunting viola da gamba.

Dancer/choreographer Liana Kleinman added some graceful modern dance to the mix.

Production values contributed a great deal to the overall effect. The catacombs themselves provided the setting with the action taking place at one end of a long tunnel; entrances and exits occurred through side doors which led to crypts occupied by the deceased of various families from the 19th c. There was a small raised platform for the performers and Tláloc López-Watermann's evocative lighting was perfect. Fay Eva's costume design was also perfect with Dido wearing a slender red gown contrasting with Belinda's white one. The three witches wore black with suitably terrifying makeup by Ivey Ray. They created a stunning stage picture.

With such splendid musical and production values, it is sad that so few people will have the privilege of witnessing this stunning sold-out event. It is also a shame that the long narrow space does not lend itself to good sight lines. We see no way around this dilemma. The tenebrous space creates a mood like no other and the acoustics are beyond wonderful.

Mr. Ousley's events are always greater than the sum of their parts, the parts in this case including a pre-opera whiskey tasting and a post-opera torch lit stroll down from the heights of the cemetery. Lest you, dear reader, imagine that my enthusiasm for the evening was colored by inebriation, rest assured that we left our share for the angels.

(c) meche kroop

LET'S GET CANDIDE

Leonard Bernstein's Candide at Santa Fe Opera (photo by Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera)

If you think you've seen and heard Candide, guess again. If you want to experience this brilliant work in all its glory, you'd do well to get yourself to Santa Fe, New Mexico for one of the two final performances of the season.

The success of this production rests on many shoulders. We scarcely know where to begin but Maestro Harry Bicket's superb conducting resulted in applause almost as vociferous as that received by the presence in the audience of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg!  The light-hearted music composed by Bernstein seemed to underscore the dark humor of the book, based on the satirical 18th c. novella written by Voltaire. As in Mozart's music, a melody in a major key may drift momentarily into a minor key; Bicket's attention to these shifts made for a poignant listening experience.

The scholarship of dramaturg Matthew Epstein, Senior Artistic Advisor at Santa Fe Opera, must have involved some intense activity in choosing which scenes and dialogue to include and what to leave out. The work itself began its life in the middle of the 20th c. and was not successful. It took many decades and the inclusion and later exclusion of a parade of lyricists to ensure its ultimate success. The version we saw last night, one of four extant iterations, is the Old Vic version, an expansion for the Scottish Opera of the Hal Prince/Hugh Wheeler version.

This is an exception to the maxim that "too many cooks spoil the broth". Voltaire's novella provides enough material for a variety of treatments. We will not get into a discussion of Candide's fluid identity. We will call it an opera as long as it is presented unamplified. Although we heard this version recently at Carnegie Hall with a fine cast and all the original music, the voices were badly amplified and we missed all the clever lyrics. Last night, the talented cast was quite intelligible and were supported by excellent titles, in case one missed a word.

In this story of innocence betrayed and reality accepted, we are exposed to countless trials and tribulations; we witness the heroes of the story pursuing their ideals and surviving their hardships. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the public has such affection for the work.

The literary work upon which it is based is Voltaire's 1759 novella, a satiric attack on war, religious persecution, and the positivist philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz who claimed that whatever happens in this world is divinely ordered and for the best.

What we didn't know was that one of the episodes is based upon true events. In Lisbon, the horrendous death toll of an earthquake resulted in religious persecutions meant to "appease God". Well!  If that doesn't sound like some contemporary stuff going on in the Middle East we will eat the score for breakfast!

If anyone doesn't know the story, it involves the picaresque adventures of an innocent youth named Candide and his beloved Cousin Cunegonde who were tutored by one Dr. Pangloss, a stand-in for Leibniz. The two survive the horrors of war, shipwrecks, deceits and betrayals, as well as the aforementioned auto-da-fe;  they get continually separated and reunited more than once until at the end they decide to have a quiet life with modest pleasures.

Director Laurent Pelly conceived the work in almost cartoon style with highly exaggerated gestures; although we personally did not care for this style, the audience loved it; we do admit that it made the somber end more impactful--kinda like a punch in the gut. There were quite a few moist eyes to be seen and sniffles to be heard.

Pelly's costume designs for the principals were as colorful and sweet as candy. The excellent chorus, comprising Santa Fe Opera Apprentices led by the always wonderful Susanne Sheston, sang clearly, and were dressed in period costumes executed in fabric that emulated printed words on a page. Chantal Thomas' set design was minimalistic but also reflected the work's literary origins. Projections by 59 Productions augmented the simple set.

As the eponymous Candide, tenor Alek Shrader was given several more arias than were assigned to the character in either the Broadway version or the New York City Opera version (both of which we enjoyed). He was convincing in his portrayal and his light tenor was musical throughout; we particularly enjoyed "It must be so".

Soprano Brenda Rae sang and acted up a storm. Cunegonde was never an innocent and Ms. Rae's delivery of "Glitter and Be Gay", one of our favorite coloratura arias, had just the right edge of irony to it.

Jarrett Ott, one of our favorite baritones, has become a regular at Santa Fe Opera; we loved his performance in the role of Maximilian to which he brought his own style ,substance, and wit.

It was very satisfying to witness mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino, well remembered from Manhattan School of Music and International Vocal Arts Institute, fulfilling the promise we observed over the past six years. Her performance of Paquette was as on-point dramatically as it was vocally.

As The Old Lady, mezzo-soprano Helene Schneiderman tackled this wonderful role with gusto. There were no flaws in her portrayal but there was something about the performance that begged for more presence.  Perhaps it was the costume which failed to limn the character. 

In the customary doubling of roles as the storyteller Voltaire and the character of the indestructible Doctor Pangloss we heard Santa Fe Opera regular Kevin Burdette, whose resonant bass rang out with authority. We didn't even recognize him in the roles of Martin and the slave/valet Cacambo.

Anthony Robin Schneider appeared as the Grand Inquisitor, and also as the Baron with only his face showing through a hole in his portrait. Similarly, Kathleen Reveille's brief appearance as the Baroness was also as a face in her portrait. This same technique was used when The Old Lady arrived in Spain and sang "I am easily assimilated" with her head appearing atop a parade of costumes painted on a board each with different Spanish costumes. In the latter case it was merely distracting

With a couple roles apiece, bass-baritone Erik van Heyningen and tenor Abraham Bretón impressed as the two rivals for Cunegonde's sexual favors; the former portrayed the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris whilst the latter took the role of Don Issachar the Jew.

Tenor Richard Troxell also sang several roles and was so successfully costumed that we didn't recognize him.

It was an altogether stunning Santa Fe Opera premiere and we recommend it highly--not only for Bernstein's magnificent music (Oh how we loved the fugue-like quartet for Candide, Cunegonde, Maximilian, and Paquette!) and the clever lyrics, but also for the highly resonant stance of Voltaire against religious excess, silly philosophies, war, and greed.

(c) meche kroop

EAR CANDY EYE CANDY

Anna Christy as Morgana in Handel's Alcina (photo by Ken Howard)

We love our Handel operas with their melodies tumbling out "time-signature over final barline". To hear a perfectly cast group of singers and the perfect orchestra under one (semi-outdoor) roof is a matchless experience. Last night, Harry Bicket, renowned conductor of Early Music, led a spirited reading of Handel's Alcina, one marked by clarity and precision without any loss of emotional range.

Ariosto's 16th c. epic Orlando Furioso visited an 8th c. realm of sorcery and knighthood; it was the source material for many future theatrical works, including Handel's 1735 opera, one that achieved instant success in that epoch and which is given frequent productions in our era. We have reviewed Alcina at least three times in as many years. (All archived).

The story concerns the knight Ruggiero who has fallen under the spell of the beautiful and seductive sorceress Alcina who turns men into animals and rocks when she tires of them. His fiancee Bradamante who, in the Ariosto poem is always rescuing her fiance from some peril or other, has come to the magic island with Melisso, Ruggiero's former tutor, disguised as her brother Ricciardo. The pair must break Alcina's spell. Of course, they succeed.  But not before a lot of deception, betrayal, and some gender bending fun, as Alcina's sister Morgana falls in lust with "Ricciardo".

The singers were uniformly superb and highly invested in their assigned characterizations. As the eponymous sorceress, soprano Elza van den Heever employed her powerful pipes to limn the wide-ranging emotions of the titular character. She is in turn loving, seductive, manipulative, vengeful, defeated, and vulnerable. 

As her sister Morgana, Anna Christy fulfilled the demands of the high-lying tessitura with crystalline clarity and an undeniable facility with the coloratura passages. She imbued the character with plenty of humor in counterpoint with the serious mien of Alcina.

One could not have asked for a better Ruggiero than mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy who must sing accurately whilst wandering around the stage in a state of confusion and bewilderment. We enjoyed her performance so thoroughly that we are arranging to attend a solo recital next week  presented by Performance Santa Fe. It is never taken for granted that a trouser role will be performed with such believability.

As his abandoned lover Bradamante, the marvelous mezzo Daniela Mack must be convincing in the gender bending role of Ricciardo, her very own brother, such that her revelation to Ruggiero as his beloved can delight the audience as well as astonishing Ruggiero. Her dramatic performance equalled the success of her vocal performance.

On her quest to liberate Ruggiero from the clutches of Alcina, she has assumed this disguise and is traveling accompanied by the tutor Melisso; the role was splendidly sung by bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, whose powerful and resonant sound was blissfully interposed among that wealth of female voices.

Tenor Alek Shrader's lovely sound was similarly welcome as he brought to life the character of Oronte, Alcina's general. Oronte is the lover of Morgana and when Morgana falls for the disguised Bradamante, he gets cast off and only reunites with her at the end when she pleads for forgiveness.

It is said that there are no small roles, and soprano Jacquelyn Stucker's winning and convincing performance as Oberto, a young boy looking for his father on Alcina's enchanted island, won a huge and well-deserved round of applause from us and the rest of the house. We felt sad for her character who never found his father!

We were particularly overwhelmed by the music of Act II when there were fewer distracting high jinx onstage. Bradamante's aria was followed by one of Ruggiero's in response. The famous "Verdi prati" in which Ruggiero bids farewell to the enchanted island, always moves us to tears. Alcina's expression of despair over her loss of power was similarly affecting.

If melodies sound familiar, it is because Handel never thought twice about recycling arias from other operas. His inventiveness comes into play in his accurate characterizations and in his liberal and creative use of ornamentation in the ritornelli. As a matter of fact, one of director David Alden's touches that we most enjoyed was his having the singer deliver an aria with the A-B-A sections performed from three different vantage points.

His direction, from our point of view, was "too much of a muchness". Handel's operas seem to lend themselves to wild adaptations (see our prior reviews) and there seems to be a tendency to not trust the music to entertain a modern audience without an elaborate "concept". Perhaps the directors are right because the operas are long and the plots often confusing. We observed that the audience loved the onstage high jinx and laughed out loud.

Mr. Alden's concept was that of replacing the enchanted island with an abandoned theater and Ruggiero's enchantment that of someone escaping a mundane reality. We couldn't avoid thinking of Wagner's Tannhauser in which the eponymous knight is held captive by the goddess Venus in the Venusberg. Duty vs. desire is a common theme in opera.

But we haven't seen so much humping and jumping onstage in quite some time and found it distracting and excessive. The beasts (Alcina's ex-lovers) were portrayed by some truly excellent break-dancers (choreographed by Beate Vollack) whom we would have enjoyed at another time and place in which we could have given them our full attention. There was continual shtick that we found unnecessary and did not appreciate the moments that made no dramatic sense.

Updating an opera requires that the dramatic sense be maintained; it doesn't work for us if the story is "shoe-horned" into a concept. Taken moment by moment there were a number of valid images.  For example, when Alcina loses her power, the symbolic fuschia gloves fall to the floor.  But when dozens of them rain down from above it seemed to be overkill.  And why was Morgana pushing a baby carriage? And were the rows of people sitting back to back and jiggling up and down supposed to be on a train?  So many moments didn't make sense to us. We felt as if high vocal art was competing with low sight gags.

The setting (Gideon Davey) had something like a baroque proscenium on the left and a painting of a huge wave (like a Japanese woodcut) on the right.  From time to time a wall with seven doors descended. People rushed in and out as frequently as in a French farce.  Mr. Davey's costumes leaned toward contemporary streetwear with Morgana and Oronte dressed as theater ushers. At one point Morgana was dressed like Bette Midler.  

Oh well, the music was great! Handel's music will live on and Mr. Alden's concept will vanish.

(c) meche kroop

HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTES

Anna Christy and Alek Shrader in Fille du Regiment at the Santa Fe Opera (photo by Ken Howard)

Santa Fe Opera's production of Gaetano Donizetti's Fille du Regiment hit all the right notes, and Alek Shrader in the role of Tonio hit all the high notes, the ones we heard him sing some years ago when he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council award. His warm and funny performance was matched by Anna Christy, appealing as the tomboy Marie who counted an entire regiment as her collective father.

Ned Canty's direction was delightful, milking every ounce of humor from the story without overlooking the brief periods of melancholy. Physical humor was much in evidence with Mr. Shrader portraying Tonio as a bumbling hick who can't keep from tripping over his own feet.  Mr. Shrader's instrument is not a large one but he uses it well and is a marvelously appealing performer. But the major share of humor came from the hilarious performance of bass Kevin Burdette whose Sergeant Sulpice outdid any of the comedy greats of the silent film epoch.

Mr. Canty not only emphasized the humor but also the pathos by including plentiful spoken dialogue; this served to illuminate the circumstances of the characters in a way previously shortchanged. We felt we really got to know the characters and to care about them.

Ms. Christy's skill at bel canto singing is impressive. Her instrument has a sweet childlike quality and a great deal of tonal clarity. The fioritura was dazzling in its accuracy and organic in its relationship to the text and the emotions. The colors in her voice changed in the sad "Il faut partir" at the end of Act I, eliciting ample sympathy for her plight.

 

Mr. Shrader is also capable of coloring his voice and although  "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fete" is the opera's hit tune with it's nine high C's, we enjoyed his "Depuis l'instant, dans mes bras" in Act I and his persuasive Hail Mary pass for Marie's hand in Act II.

As the Marquise of Berkenfeld, a name which Sulpice persisted in amusingly mispronouncing, mezzo-soprano Phyllis Pancella was haughty at first in "Pour une femme de mon nom" but became warm and likable by the end when she relents and accepts her daughter's marriage to Tonio instead of to the favored aristocrat.

Apprentice bass Calvin Griffin again impressed us with his voice and dramatic abilities as he portrayed Hortensius, the Marquise's Major-domo--typically contemptuous of the French army but indulgent toward the Marquise.  His scene at the chateau, where Sulpice is spending months recovering from a battle injury, had us in stitches as he sank into passive-aggressive behavior involving a wine bottle.

Once again we were thrilled by the performance of the apprentices in the chorus, under the direction of Susanne Sheston. The women enacted the Tyrolean  citizens praying for deliverance from the French in Act I and in Act II the guests at the Chateau who were amusingly announced by Hortensius. The men portraying the regiment of French soldiers sounded marvelous in their regimental song.

In the pit Maestra Speranza Scappucci led a spirited performance of Donizetti's tuneful music. Much of the overture was in march time but there were plenty of lyrical moments and the conducting kept up the pace. 

The opera takes place during the Napoleonic wars but there appears to be no bloodshed and the French regiment seems particularly kind to the Tyroliean natives whose land they are occupying. The praying natives have nothing to fear!

Scenic and Costume Design by Allen Moyer was delightful. In Act I, the villagers have erected a monumental pile of furniture as a barrier and in Act II, the Marquise's chateau is on a revolving stage which showed the front of the chateau and also the room behind the door where Marie gets her very funny singing lesson.  The Marquise has been trying to overcome Marie's rustic and tomboyish nature to make an aristocratic lady out of her. The efforts are doomed to failure because the influence of her army upbringing has been just too strong. This is symbolized by her breaking into the regimental songs (encouraged by Sulpice) during her singing lesson.

The soldiers' uniforms are exactly what one would wish for--colorful and accurate to the 1830's. The Marquise's costume is in the newer Empire style, whereas the elderly Duchess of Krakenthorp (a spoken role portrayed by a bewigged and powdered Judith Christin) is dressed in the style of the late 18th c., revealing just how elderly and old-fashioned she is.

Donizetti tossed off this "trifle" (HA!) in a very short period of time; it had its premiere in 1840 and we are still loving the story and the characters and the music nearly two centuries later. Contemporary composers labor for years over operas that we see once and forget about. What's wrong with this picture?

(c) meche kroop

BEHOLD THE DON

Zachary Nelson, Alek Shrader, Brenda Rae and Andrew Shore (photo by Ken Howard)

One doesn't need to be a music scholar to enjoy Donizetti's music.  All one needs to win over the audience is a group of stellar bel canto singers who can animate his abundant melodies and provide the embellishments we so dearly adore. Such was the case last night at the Santa Fe Opera when a quartet of masters of the genre provided two and a half hours of unending vocal delights in a production of Don Pasquale.  Arias, duets and ensembles tumbled over each other like rushing waters over stones creating bubbles and effervescence to tickle the ears of the audience.

Consider British baritone Andrew Shore who inhabited the role of the eponymous hero, an "aging" man approaching seventy who methinks wants an heir and just maybe a playmate.  He falls victim to the machinations of the wily Dr. Malatesta who proposes his "sister" Sophronia, fresh out of a convent, shy and modest, dedicated to sewing, cooking and embroidery.

What we in the audience know, and Don Pasquale does not, is that Sophronia is really Norina, the young widow loved by his nephew Ernesto.  The Don is peeved with Ernesto who has refused to marry the wealthy widow chosen by himself.  By way of retaliation, Don Pasquale means to disinherit his slacker nephew and find his own wife. What is interesting about the character created by Mr. Shore is that he evokes our compassion.  He is not a doddering old fool but just more than a bit gullible.  His generous voice is never used solely for effect and he easily rises above the over-the-top stage business he is required to perform.  This is an artist at work, or rather, at play.

As the conniving Dr. Malatesta, baritone Zachary Nelson, a former member of the Apprentice Program who rose to stardom within the year, justified our early faith in his talent.  His fine voice was employed with great style and his acting skills were no less than Mr. Shore's.

Brenda Rae, so admired last year as Violetta, showed a completely different side of herself as the strong and manipulative Norina who will get what she wants by any means, fair or foul.  Her dazzling soprano was taken to dizzying heights with florid displays of bel canto technique, always used to build character.  She has trills that thrill and executed the plethora of runs with pinpoint accuracy.

Tenor Alek Shrader, whom we so heartily enjoyed four years ago as Albert Herring, possesses not only a gorgeous instrument but a real flair for comedy.  In Act II, his solo aria made a huge impression even as it began offstage.  He has lovely phrasing and no fear of high notes which he performs effortlessly,  Those of us who witnessed his winning Tonio at the Metropolitan Opera National Council  were not surprised.  This astounding young man was made for Donizetti.

Corrado Rovaris led the orchestra through Donizetti's sprightly music.  From the opening theme played on the cello we knew we were in good hands.  Melodies were beautifully articulated.

With such fine musical values and four superb voices such as these, we could have closed our eyes and happily shut out the unattractive sets by Chantal Thomas and the equally boring costumes of Laurent Pelly who also directed the production.  Having seen several of Mr. Pelly's productions, we can not consider ourself a fan.  Onto this delightful period piece, so largely attuned to Italian dramatic history and commedia dell'arte, he has imposed a concept that clashed with the story and did nothing to illuminate the characters.

He has set the production in some vaguely modernist  period and indeterminate land in which there would be nothing unusual about a man in his 60's seeking a trophy wife and in which we do not speak of horses, carriages and stables.  He has directed the show with a superfluity of shtick, or should we say slapshtick.  Don Pasquale wields his cane as a violin bow.  Why?  Norina is shown smoking, drinking, and vomiting in contempt over the romantic novel she is reading and from which she is supposed to be deriving inspiration.  Ernesto is depicted as a toddler with "the terrible twos", having a tantrum on the floor.  In a lengthy scene of his departure from his uncle's house he is shown struggling with suitcases that open and spill out his clothes, a scene suggestive of Abbott and Costello.  When Malatesta visits Norina to set up the nasty plot, he pockets her underclothes and a shoe.  Again, why?  To what end?

The four principals gamely followed through on the direction and it was only their fine voices that allowed them to rise above the ridiculous direction.  But that ridiculous direction distracted from the music and made us dislike the characters and to not care what happens to them.  We want to love Ernesto and Norina!  We want them to triumph over adversity, even if Uncle gets a painful lesson.  Instead, we found our sympathies tilted toward Uncle.

The set appeared suitable for farce with wildly uneven doors through which characters entered and departed as if in the game of Whack-a-Mole.  That is, when they were not walking through walls that weren't there.  In Act II, the set was turned upside down to symbolize....well, you can guess the obvious can't you?

Strangely, the audience laughed constantly and seemed to be having a grand old time--even when poor Mr. Shrader was obliged to climb a precarious ladder to hang a paper moon over the garden which, in Mr. Pelly's world, doesn't even have a plant.

So, we give the singers and musicians all A's and Mr. Pelly's production a big fat F for failure.

Let us add that the chorus of Apprentice Singers performed admirably and Calvin Griffin made a fine Notary.

To all those who admire Brenda Rae as much as we do, she is giving a recital this afternoon at 4:00 for Performance Santa Fe at St. John's United Methodist Church.  We will be there with review to follow.

(c) meche kroop

ALEK SHRADER FIVE YEARS LATER

Keun-A Lee

Alek Shrader

We well recall the 2007 Metropolitan Nation Council Auditions when tenor Alek Shrader won after dazzling the judges and astonishing the audience with his aria from Fille du Regiment.  It's almost exactly five years down the road and he still astonishes.  Last night's performance at Weill Recital Hall could be described in one word as operatic.

With the extraordinarily gifted piano partner Keun-A Lee, a program was planned that had something for everyone and allowed Mr. Shrader to show off his skills in five languages.   The opener was Rossini's frisky "La danza"; Mr. Shrader exploded onto the stage without waiting for welcoming applause and launched the song with an abundance of gesture and dancing about the stage, illuminating the exultation and excitement as we have never before heard.  One had no doubt which ladies he found attractive and which one was dull.  This was followed by Bellini's deeply sad "La Ricordanza" in which Mr. Shrader's attention to the long arching phrases made the suffering particularly poignant.  When he exults, he truly exults and when he suffers, he truly suffers.  He appeared to lose himself in the mood of each song.

The set of bel canto songs was followed by three of Gabriel Fauré's gems; we especially liked the way Mr. Shrader pulled in his oars and illuminated the delicate phrases of "Lydia".  Next he sang Richard Strauss' Vier Lieder; he was so persuasive in "Cäcilie" that we were prepared to incline our heart, come to him and live with him, as the words of the song suggest.  But, it was in the delicate "Morgen" that he pulled back on the high octane delivery and made the most impression.  It was at this point that we realized how his intensity may get in his own way at times and that some subtlety can be a welcome relief.  Less may indeed be more.

Ms. Lee had a perfect opportunity to show her stuff at this juncture when she began Joaquín Turina's Poema en forma de canciones with the haunting "Dedicatoria".  We enjoyed Mr. Shrader's "Los dos miedos" and "Las locas por amor" the best and it seemed likely that he enjoyed performing them the most as well.  Actually he seems most comfortable in Spanish and we were most receptive to the language having just attended two consecutive events by Opera Hispanica.

Vicente Martín y Soler's "Oh ciel!" from La Cosa Rara gave the artist an opportunity to have his way with fioritura and what a way it was!  Then he moved on to perform the world premiere of Iain Bell's The Undying Splendour, settings of tragic texts by John William Streets about World War I.  The writing was spare as suited the text.  Next we heard three witty/silly songs by Virgil Thomson and, to close the program Ms. Lee performed a lovely piano solo by Ethelbert Nevin and was joined by Mr. Shrader for some of Nevin's Victorian parlor songs that were simple and direct.  The final one "Nocturne" was particularly charming; a white rose climbing the trellis under a lady's window is seen by the poet (Thomas Bailey Aldrich) as a bold lover daring to climb Romeo's ladder.  What a charming metaphor!

As encore, we got "If You've Only Got a Moustache" a humorous song by Stephen Foster, performed with both artists sporting bushy fake moustaches. This brought the evening to a rousing end.

We have often be disappointed by singers who "park and bark".  No one would accuse Mr. Shrader of this flaw.  If anything we would like to see him "kick it down a notch".  His acting adds greatly to the song delivery but there is entirely too much grimacing and excessive "indicating".  For example, during the Thomson song "Was this face the cause?" he found it necessary to count on his fingers the "nine bad" and "yet one good in ten".  It reminded us of signing for the hearing impaired.  It seems churlish to be nit-picking after such a fine recital but we would also like to see Mr. Shrader lower his gaze and allow the audience to connect with him; for the entire evening he seemed to be singing to the Family Circle, of which the Weill Recital Hall has none.  Please let us know if your experience was similar to ours.

(c) meche kroop