We were enchanted by the first half of the program which represented various stages of a woman's life, apparently inspired by Adelbert von Chamisso's text which was set by Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe (Frauenliebe und Leben). We would never hold one above the other; each composer invested the text with different shades of emotion, within his compositional style.
Both sopranos served the music well, as did collaborative pianist Lara Saldanha. We have been hearing Elizaveta Kozlova quite a bit recently whereas Victoria Falcone has been off our radar screen since 2017 when we loved her performance in Janaçek's Cunning Little Vixen at Manhattan School of Music. It is always rewarding to hear singers remembered from their conservatory years. This part of Act I was called Enchanted and we were indeed enchanted, especially by the sopranos opening and closing the set with a Schumann duet.
Separating Enchanted from Betrothal Ms. Saldanha delighted our ears with Clara Schumann's Fier Flüchtige Stücke, no. 3.
The Betrothal section also focused mainly on the Schumann and Loewe settings. The fine singers were soprano Jennifer Gliere, well remembered for a stunning Violetta about 8 years ago in Amore Opera's production of La Traviata, and mezzo-soprano Valerie Filloux who performed so well just last year with Dell'Arte. We couldn't help noticing that the young narrator of the von Chamisso text was so much calmer in "Ich kann nicht fassen, nicht glauben" than the one portrayed by Schumann. We were also glad to hear a lied by Clara Schumann, a setting of a Rückert text which was later set by Richard Strauss--"Liebst du um Schönheit". The fine accompaniment was performed by David Stech.
The third section, also accompanied by Mr. Stech, was entitled Motherhood, and was performed by sopranos Nina Riley (new to us) and Jenny Ribeiro whom we reviewed at least a decade ago as a fine Susanna and an even finer Rosina, surprising us with her take on a role usually assigned to a mezzo-soprano. Augmenting the most welcome excerpts from the Schumann and Loewe cycles, were two duets, one by Mendelssohn ("Volkslied") and one by Richard Strauss ("Muttertanderlei") which never fails to amuse us with two mothers boasting about their respective offspring.
The final section of Act I was entitled Departed with Ms. Filloux returning, joined by soprano Barbee Monk accompanied by Ms .Saldanha. The two lovely ladies opened with a Brahms duet "Klänge 1" and closed in perfect harmony with Maestro Chris Fecteau's arrangement of the tragic "Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan", weaving together Schumann and Loewe, whose compositional voices joined as successfully as the voices of the two singers had.
It is always a pleasure to hear Maestro Fecteau at the piano but we cannot express the same enthusiasm for Act II as we did for Act I. Perhaps it is unfair to try to appreciate contemporary compositions when one has just swooned over the 19th century greats. Three female composers from New York City were given voice--Martha Sullivan, Valerie Saalbach, and Ellen Mandel.
Forgive us Dear Reader if we seem somewhat vague but try as we might, we could not keep our 19th century-tuned ears involved in the compositions, one of which was a setting of text by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. However, we did appreciate hearing some new voices. The soprano of Andrea Chinedu Nwoke is an astounding instrument, full of power but also luscious in its overtones We were not surprised to learn that she has a past in the mezzo-soprano fach.
We were also happy to get another hearing of soprano Antonina Ermolenko, who we remember for having sung some delightful Ukrainian songs perhaps two years ago. We were also glad to get a further hearing of Clara Lisle. She was a bright light in a regrettable 2018 production of Eugene Onegin which we are glad she survived! She closed the program with Ellen Mandel's setting of a text by Seamus Heaney entitled "Sleep". Our opera singer companion thought the program should have ended with a more rousing finale but we actually enjoyed the soothing quietude.
The second half of the program involved a dancer of the Modern Ballet persuasion which involves a lot of floor work and is not to our taste. We are great fans of virtuoso classical ballet which commands our full attention, especially when it brings Tchaikovsky's music to visual life. What we saw was more a distraction in its abstractness and did not appear to add anything to the music. We are quite sure however that there were many in the audience who found pleasure in it. We are just rather particular in our taste.
We cannot close without praising the titles which were projected in full view of everyone in the audience, and sufficient in size and illumination. This seems rather basic but we recently had an experience where the text was tiny and obliterated by the set for most of the time, and washed out by the lighting.
Dell'Arte has two more events in store that we are looking forward to and you should too. The Italienische Liederbuch will be presented on 6/19 and 6/21. Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito will be performed on 6/18, 20, and 22.
©meche kroop
