JUILLIARD HONORS BERNSTEIN AT CARNEGIE HALL

Onstage at Carnegie Hall:  Ryan McKinny, Aubrey Allicock, Paul Appleby, Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Naomi Louisa O'Connell, and Meghan Kasanders

It's aways gratifying to see a woman on the podium and last night's celebration of the Bernstein centennial put the renowned Marin Alsop up there to conduct an interesting program, which will be followed by a symposium today in Paul Hall at Juilliard from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. Maestro Alsop (a Juilliard alumna) is not only a fine conductor, judging by the sound of the always excellent Juilliard Orchestra, but a guiding light to the singers, as expressed by the singers themselves. Her presence on the podium was the right choice since she was one of Bernstein's best known pupils.

The part of the program we wish to focus on is Bernstein's Songfest, a compilation of a dozen songs, each from a different poet. Our enjoyment of the songs lay more in the performances than in the songs themselves. Our appreciation for "modern" poetry and the kind of music it inspires is somewhat deficient but our appreciation for a good delivery is unmatched. It seems to us that the training at Juilliard helps a singer to make sense of even the nonsensical. For this, we credit Steven Blier who has coached these singers (all students or alumni of Juilliard) for his New York Festival of Song. Last year at NYFOS we hear this Bernstein cycle reduced for piano by John Musto.

Unlike his tuneful and rhythmic music for Candide and West Side Story, many of the texts Bernstein set appear uninteresting on the page and don't seem to want to be set to music.  There were a few exceptions.

The 17th c. American poet Ann Bradstreet wrote an encomium to her spouse "To My Dear and Loving Husband", the rhyme scheme and rhythm of which inspired Bernstein to write our favorite selection of the dozen. Sung by soprano Meghan Kasanders and mezzo-sopranos Naomi Louisa O'Connell and Amanda Lynn Bottoms, the many layers of love and adoration filled our heart with joy, and maybe even a touch of envy for such all-encompassing adoration. This is a song we want to hear again and again.

Another song we enjoyed was the Edna St. Vincent Millay sonnet "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed".  Although Ms. Millay belongs clearly to the 20th c. the sonnet rhymes and scans and was a worthy candidate for setting. To hear it performed by Ms. Bottoms was an emotional experience, reminding one of the pain of loss. The metaphor of a lonely winter tree from which all the birds have flown was powerful.

Gertrude Stein's "Storyette H. M." although written in Stein's customary repetitive manner, made sense through the dramatic performance by Ms. Kasanders as the one who was left and bass Ryann McKinny as the one who was leaving. What an effective couple they made!

Ms. Kasanders had a strong solo in "A Julia de Burgos" which was sung in Spanish and invested with Latin rhythms as well.

The versatile tenor Paul Appleby has a way of interpreting contemporary American songs that sets him apart. We have no idea what Gregory Corso's "Zizi's Lament" meant by "laughing sickness", but no matter; the delivery was filled with humor and Bernstein employed a sinuously exotic melody to suggest  the Middle East. Bernstein's orchestration provided plenty of "laughing figures".

Mr. McKinny performed Walt Whitman's "To What You Said" against a background of plaintive strings. Ms. O'Connell performed Conrad Aiken's lament "Music I Heard with You" accompanied by a gorgeous harp solo. Their splendid voices fell beautifully on the ear.

We couldn't call the duet of baritone Aubrey Allicock and Ms. Bottoms "color blind" but that's a good thing in our opinion.  Mr. Allicock performed Langston Hughes "I, Too, Sing America" interweaved with Ms. Bottoms performance of June Jordan's "Okay 'Negroes'" was affecting. What was going through our head was the progress toward true equality that the poets could not imagine. Of course there is more work to be done in this area but progress is encouraging.

Mr. Allicock's solo "The Pennycandystore Beyond the El" tried to make something musical of the Lawrence Ferlinghetti text and succeeded beyond our expectations.

The ensemble of six sounded especially fine together, even in the odd Frank O'Hara text "To the Poem". Even odder was "if you can't eat you got to" with some wonderful sounds emanating from the tuba. Closing the set was Edgar Allan Poe's lengthy paean to the spirit "Israfel" who produces heavenly music, much like Orpheus.

We think of these six singers as incarnations of Orpheus!

(c) meche kroop

NYFOS does BERNSTEIN

Justin Austin, Miles Mykkanen, Annie Rosen, Steven Blier, Michael Barrett, Chelsea Shepherd, Lucia Bradford, and Adrian Rosas

A fortuitous confluence of anniversaries led to a special evening with New York Festival of Song. Of course, every evening with Steve Blier and friends is special, but the fact that NYFOS is celebrating their 30th anniversary and it is also the centenary of Leonard Bernstein's birth, ensured an evening that was even more special.

We took advantage of the opportunity to assess Bernstein's contributions to the vocal canon, unenlightened as we are, and unburdened by Mr. Blier's worshipful adoration or Mr. Barrett's close association as assistant conductor to the maestro. Our opinions are our own and completely based on our own personal taste.

The first half of the program delighted us no end. It comprised mainly Broadway type material which seems to us a truly American art form and a far worthier contributor to song literature than the so-called art songs that we heard in the second half of the program.

It occurs to us that the contributions of a good lyricist who knows how to manipulate the English language is a better stimulation to a composer than poetry which doesn't ask to be set to music. Take for example Bernstein's West Side Story, for which Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. We have no idea which came first, the lyrics or the music, but the pairing is perfect.

We were fortunate to have heard three exceptional excerpts from the score. Tenor Miles Mykkanen, whose star is on the rise, gave a dramatically expressive and vocally stunning performance of "Something's Coming". We just heard him sing the role of Tony a week ago with Heartbeat Opera (review archived) and we would say he owns the role and puts his unique stamp on it.

Soprano Chelsea Shephard was joined by mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen for "A Boy Like That/ I Have a Love" and the two female voices sounded terrific.  All that was needed was a little sazon to take it to the next level.

The quintet was powerful and was amplified by the two percussionists on hand for the evening--Barry Centanni and Taylor Goodson.

In a very close tie with West Side Story for our favorite Bernstein musical is Candide.  Truth to tell, we always think of these two as operas but the designation could be debated. We are inclined to call something an opera if we love it! We have seen Candide on Broadway and in opera houses and we don't care where we see it or what it is called.  We just love everything about it--the characters, the humor, the music, the witty lyrics (many lyricists were involved) and Bernstein's gorgeous music.

"You Were Dead, You Know" is a character-revealing duet and the performances by Ms. Shephard as the worldly wise Cunegonde and Mr. Mykkanen as the eponymous innocent Candide were nothing short of spectacular.

We would have been happy to spend the rest of the evening with more songs from those two works but we also heard "The Story of My Life" from the 1953  Wonderful Town for which Comden and Green wrote the lyrics. Poor intellectual and unloved Ruth was portrayed by the artistic and lovable Ms. Rosen as a character study of a disappointed woman.

From On the Town, a musical derived from a Jerome Robbins ballet, we heard a song that was cut from the show--"Ain't Got No Tears Left" performed with deep feeling for the blues by mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford (in her NYFOS debut) who knows how to bend a note. There was a major assist from the percussionists.

In his later years, Bernstein wrote a show that failed, in spite of a libretto by Alan J. Lerner. Several worthy songs from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue survived, of which our favorite was "We Must Have a Ball" in which President James Buchanan aims to distract the populace from the truly awful condition of our nation by throwing a ball.  (Plus ca change, etc.).  Bass-baritone Adrian Rosas was perfectly cast as POTUS and effectively employed his generous instrument and astute dramatic sense.

From the same show, silky-voiced baritone Justin Austin sang "Seena", the tale of a childhood friendship becoming an adult romance. We enjoyed his delicate messa di voce.

Mr. Mykkanen turned grave for "Take Care of This House" and his voice soared like an eagle in the upper register.

"Prelude/Love Duet" from Arias and Barcarolles was sung by Mr. Austin and Ms. Rosen.  We found the overlapping dialogue just plain confusing and impossible to follow.

The second half of the program was devoted to Bernstein's 1977 Songfest, which was originally commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra for the bicentennial celebration in 1976.  It was not completed in time but had a successful premiere a year later at the Kennedy Center.

We can admire the project to include a dozen American voices and to express each in a different musical style, but the work was, with a couple exceptions,  not to our taste, although we did appreciate some fine performances. John Musto reduced the score for two pianos and two percussionists.

Mr. Austin's relaxed manner was perfect for "The Pennycandystore Beyond the El" with text by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It was just another case of a text we might enjoy reading but to which the music added nothing.

There were two songs that we did enjoy and would want to hear again--both with texts by women. In "A Julia de Burgos" there was a great advantage by way of the Spanish text which falls far more gently on the ear than English. Ms. Shephard sang it beautifully, contrasting two manifestations of womanhood.

The second one we related to was a real discovery for us. Anne Bradstreet was the first published female American composer--even before there was a USA!  Dating back to 17th c. colonial America, she wrote a text in praise of her husband and set it to lovely tuneful music. Perhaps we enjoyed it so much because the text rhymes and scans. All three women sang together in overlapping voices and we found the aural overtones just thrilling.

The overlapping voices in "I Too Sing America/Okay Negroes" did not thrill because two different texts were being sung at once. We liked Langston Hughes text which was finely sung by Mr. Austin with a depth of feeling. But the angry text by June Jordan from a later period of the 20th c. did not appeal, although Ms. Bradford sang it well.

Mr. Mykkanen can make anything sound meaningful, even Gregory Corso's "Zizi's Lament" for which the setting was pleasingly exotic.

There was an encore which we could not identify which involved the entire wonderful cast humming.  Hmmmmmmm!

(c) meche kroop