HUMMing ALONG

Benedicte Jourdois and Äneas Humm

It was a little over three years ago that we first heard the then-20-year-old Swiss baritone Äneas Humm. He was already famous in Europe and was invited here by the German Forum who presented him in recital. We were astonished to hear someone so young and so gifted.

Yesterday Mr. Humm completed three years of study with Edith Wiens at Juilliard, earning his Master of Music degree. He arrived as a finely cut gem and Juilliard provided the polish. His voice has expanded in the lower register and rounded out in the midrange.

Most Swiss are adept with several languages and Mr. Humm is no exception. Although German is the one spoken in his hometown Zürich, he sounds terrific in French as well. But he also sang in Hungarian!

Our initial hearing of Mr. Humm involved some Grieg and introduced us to the songs of the prolific  early 20th c. composer Othmar Schoeck who happily avoided atonality and wrote some lovely songs. Both would appear on yesterday's program.

The program opened with Cantata#4 De Profundis by the 17th c. composer Nicolaus Bruhns, composed and sung in Latin. He was accompanied by Caitlyn Koester's harpsichord, violinists Chiara Stauffer and Naomi Dumas, and cellist Madleine Renée Bouïssou. The lowlying tessitura seemed not to daunt Mr. Humm, nor did the alternation of legato and staccato. We particularly enjoyed the melismatic singing which took on the character of a vocalise.

Mr. Humm's attention to dynamics and appropriate gesture marked the entire program. There was a set of three songs by Edvard Grieg from Op. 48, our favorite of which was the familiar and charming "Lauf der Welt" which was perfectly suited to Mr. Humm's personality. Otherwise we heard a finely rendered crescendo .

The Schoeck songs were deeply felt and beautifully played by collaborative pianist Benedicte Jourdois, whose playing has always given us great pleasure. She seems to breathe with the singer, providing a perfect partnership. In the Fauré songs which followed, Mr. Humm was nominally "on the book" which seemed unnecessary to us since he knew the material. This generally leads us to focus more on the piano and we were rewarded with some gorgeous arpeggi in "En Sourdine".

Four short folksongs by Bartok would have been enjoyed more had their been translations.

The recital closed with Schubert songs, at which Mr. Humm excels. We loved Ms. Jourdois' rhythmic accompaniment in "Der Wanderer an den Mond" and the rocking accompaniment to "Der Jüngling an der Quelle". "Im Abendrot" came across as a devotional prayer and we simply swooned. Ms. Jourdois' slow chords enhanced the exquisite effect of Mr. Humm's tender pianissimo singing.

There was an encore, to our delight--Schubert's "Wanderers Nachtlied". Since travel is in Mr. Humm's immediate future, we can understand his choices! He is heading for the Weimar Opernhaus where he will perform a variety of roles. The one we would most like to see is his Papageno which will give plenty of leeway for him to express his engaging personality as well as his fine voice.

We hope he will return before too long!

(c) meche kroop

ANOTHER JUILLIARD LIEDERABEND

Äneas Humm and Tomomi Sato

A liederabend at Juilliard is such a consistently fine experience that one is at risk for taking them for granted. Since we have been reviewing them, we have watched the audience grow as fast as asparagus; one can barely secure a seat these days. That is understandable because New Yorkers can listen to the stars of tomorrow without cost. Many of them have performed already around the world and are at Juilliard to acquire a final polish.

Take Swiss baritone Äneas Humm for example. We first heard Mr. Humm through The German Forum a few years ago whilst he was still an undergraduate  and immediately recognized his artistry. He has had quite a career in Europe and  recently recorded an excellent CD. He is now under the tutelage of Edith Wiens, as were so many of the excellent singers heard last night. We reviewed a recital of her students last week.

Last night, accompanied by the lovely collaborative pianist Tomomi Sato, he treated us to a set of lieder which took on new luster when sung by a native German speaker. Two lieder by Hugo Wolf  ("Verschwiegene Liebe" and "Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen") stretched his instrument to the lowest part of the register. We preferred "Nimmersatte Liebe" which allowed Mr. Humm to express his lively personality.

Following were a pair of lieder by Viktor Ullmann whose early 20th c. works merit a wider hearing. "Vorausbestimmung" and "Betrunken" are colorful songs about intoxication and we are reminded how much singers enjoy songs about inebriation.  As do audience members! Mr. Humm had a swell time with these colorful songs and so did we. Ms. Sato was particularly fine in the last one, attacking the wild accompaniment with gusto.

We have been particularly aware of the artistry of soprano Felicia Moore who impresses us more and more each time we hear her. She absolutely commands the stage with a secure and welcoming stage presence, drawing us in with her magnificent instrument and connection with the material. She seemed to know exactly what she was singing about and when we returned home and looked at the translations we noticed that she had translated the songs herself. We wish all singers did so!

In "L'invitation au voyage" we enjoyed the expansive soaring top of her voice and the artistry with which she employed vocal coloration. The word "volupté " gave us goose bumps. In "La vie antérieure" she captured all the elusive nostalgia of the Baudelaire text which was matched by the passionate pianism of the always excellent Adam Rothenberg.  "Phidylé" moved from languid affection to passion.  In the entire set, the French was beyond reproach.

Georgian Mezzo-soprano Natalia Kutateladze performed that glorious Spanish cycle by Manuel de Falla--Siete Canciones Populares Españolas--a cycle of which we never tire. Ms. Kutateladze imbued the songs with her own intense personality which amplified the intensity of the songs. After the ironic cautionary tales "El paño moruno" and "Seguidilla murciana" came our very favorite--"Asturianas" which she colored with appropriately deep sorrow.  The combination of the text, the music, and her interpretation had a profound emotional effect.

Happily the charm of "Jota" cheered us up. We couldn't figure out why the lullaby "Nana" seemed so sad but mining works for their subtext keeps a work interesting and we were captivated. "Canción" was so filled with pain, as was "Polo" that we had to sit still for a while to collect ourself. This is artistry at work. It is a compliment to collaborative pianist Cameron Richardson-Eames to say that he kept up with her.

Some of our favorite Strauss songs were offered by soprano Rebecca Pedersen and pianist Candace Chien. Ms. Pedersen warmed up with "Allerseelen" and reached more of her potential with "Cäcilie" which she had fortunately translated herself. We are quite sure that was responsible for an increased sense of involvement. We liked the way she brought out the climactic moments and we related to the heartfelt nature of "Befreit". Her German was a bit four square and will benefit from more work on phrasing.

Mezzo-soprano Khady Gueye was accompanied by Rosa Li on the piano and, just from the point of view of our very own idiosyncratic taste, we hope to hear her sing something we like in the future. We have never warmed to the songs of Charles Ives and find the vocal lines uninteresting, causing our attention to rest on the accompaniment. Ms. Li has lovely soft hands and we enjoyed listening, especially in "Tom Sails Away" in which she evoked the mysterious nature of memory.

In "Feldeinsamkeit", we wanted crisper enunciation of the German consonants, as we did in the two Schönberg songs which followed--"Erwartung" and "Erhebung". These songs are not our favorites either but they did serve to bring out the texture of Ms. Gueye's instrument.

We can scarcely wait for the next liederabend.  No taking things for granted at this end!

(c) meche kroop

A PRE-VALENTINE TREAT FROM THE GERMAN FORUM

Michael Hey, Magda Gartner, Babette Hierholzer, Äneas Humm, Alexander Liebermann, and Henry Meyer-Oertel

Those who love German culture (count us in!) should be aware of the exciting events programmed by the German Forum, of which Henry Meyer-Oertel is President and Babette Hierholzer is Artistic Director. This worthwhile organization gives young German-speaking artists the opportunity to perform in New York City. We have attended several of their events and have always enjoyed them immensely.

Last night we were introduced to two excellent new singers, a highly talented organist, a 20th c. Swiss composer, and a contemporary composer whose work we actually loved (surprise!); we also enjoyed a lovely cocktail hour with German delicacies. Food for the spirit and food for the body!

Most astonishing of all is the 20-year-old lyric baritone Äneas Humm whose talent surpasses his youth by a huge factor. It is a beautiful instrument with lovely overtones; the manner in which he employs it indicates a great deal of serious study. A Züricher, he is already well known in Europe.  Last night was his New York debut.

He showed vocal expressiveness in two songs by Edvard Grieg and a trio of songs by the 20th c. Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck, a composer to whom we were thrilled to be introduced. Having gone online to amend our ignorance we discovered that he wrote several hundred songs. We can only hope that other singers will avail themselves of this vast collection. The three we heard were lovely, with our favorite being the melodic "Nachklang" with text by von Eichendorff.

Mr. Humm gave a tender performance of "O du mein holder Abendstern", from Wagner's Tannhaüser, exhibiting fine dynamic variety and coloring. Babette Hierholzer accompanied him beautifully on the piano. From Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, he sang "Come Paride vezzoso" with substantial control of the phrases at the lower end of the register and a nice facility with the fioritura. He made a very good attempt at portraying the arrogant Belcore but his gentle nature kept poking through.

He also sang a pair of songs by the prolific Viktor Ullmann who died tragically during the Holocaust. This is another composer who merits more attention from singers. Mr. Humm sang two songs from The Songbook of Hafis, translated from Farsi and dealing with the jolly and tragic aspects of alcoholism.

As if this were not enough, we heard the world premier of "Le Fugitif" by the gifted young composer Alexander Liebermann. Readers may recall how much dissatisfaction we have expressed with contemporary songwriting and will be surprised to learn that we loved this song, not only the piano writing but the satisfying melodic vocal line. The French text was beautifully sung by Mr. Humm. We want to hear more from Mr. Liebermann!

French seemed to be the language of choice for mezzo-soprano Magda Gartner who excelled in her "Seguidilla" from Bizet's Carmen and also in "Nobles seigneurs" from Giacomo Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. Her French was superb.

We enjoyed "Sei wir wieder gut" from Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and also two arias in Italian from this tri-lingual artist. She graciously introduced us to two of Mozart's ladies going off the deep end. We heard Donna Elvira's "Ah! Fuggi il traditor!" from Don Giovanni which showed off her bright upper register and then Dorabella's difficult aria "Smanie implacabili" from Cosi fan tutte, in which she captured the character's adolescent angst.

We do not consider ourself to be a fan of organ music but we were definitely dazzled by the artistry of Michael Hey who is establishing an impressive career since graduating from Juilliard last year.  He "let out all the stops" (sorry about that) in Léon Boëllmann's "Toccata" from Suite Gothique and in Max Reger's "Phantasy on chorale" which reminded us of Phantom of the Opera.  

He also gave a nuanced reading of J.S. Bach's "Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele".

We always enjoy Ms. Hierholzer's collaboration, giving each artist a fine partnership and being particularly attuned to the varying demands of the music.

This was an almost overwhelming recital, stuffed with delectable goodies. We always enjoy discovering new music and new artists. We are feeling grateful to the German Forum for providing this experience.

(c) meche kroop