COUNTERTENOR JAKUB JÓZEF ORLIŃSKY- IL MIO DILETTO

Aisslinn Nosky, Alexander Woods, Jakub Józef Orliński, Kyle Miller, Avi Stein, Ezra Seltzer, and Wen Yang

The thrill for us last night at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall lay not so much with the material but rather with the performance. Jakub Józef Orliński is one of those rare singers who could entrance us by singing the phonebook. We still recall his brilliant performance as the lead in Jonathan Dove's Flight which resulted in our opening up to contemporary opera.

Last night's program of sacred music would never have been our choice.  And yet.  And yet we found ourselves in rapt attention for two hours, our attention never wandering from the glorious sound of the countertenor's instrument, a sound we will focus on trying to describe for those of you who were not fortunate enough to secure a ticket for the oversold concert.

The tone is crystal clear and even throughout the register without any disconcerting breaks. It is brilliant and focused at the top, opening like a flower. At the lower register, it is substantial and more resonant than one would expect of this fach.

His technique is flawless. We paid quite a bit of attention to his embouchure which resulted in what amounted to a lesson. The capacious opening for the "ah" sound,  the pursing of the lips for the "oo" sound, the compactness for producing the "ee" sound without spreading, everything was perfect.

The breath control for producing the extravagant embellishments of the vocal line led to a marked precision in the volley of notes--something like a string of matched pearls.

The variety of colors produced a kind of chiaroscuro word painting that, combined with exquisite dynamic variation avoided the kind of tedium that we've often experienced with this type of music. Each work became a mini-drama, each one focused on a different aspect of the crucifixion of Jesus.

All the works on the program were composed around the turn of the 18th c. and the first half of it and suggested the high degree of innovation occurring in the Baroque period.

The opening piece was Antonio Vivaldi's Stabat Mater in F Minor. sung of course in Latin. Latin seems to have the same gorgeous vowels as Italian, the taste of which Mr. Orliński seemed to relish. What was different were a few endings "am","em", "et", "is",  and "um". Not a consonant was cheated. The legato produced a stream of sound that seemed to flow without end. The melismatic passages seemed to take flight. The dark tone of the work yielded to an exuberant "Amen" at the end

Nicola Fago's "Tam non splendet" was a more cheerful piece with lavish coloratura, especially in the ritornello. The third section was filled with tenderness with an exuberant "Alleluja" at the conclusion. The singer's vocal fireworks were echoed by the first violin.

The entire program, except for one short piece which was given its world premiere--(Gaetano Maria Shiassi's "A che si serbano" from Maria Vergine al Calvario) can be heard on Mr. Orliński's newly released CD Anima Sacra, comprising rediscovered 18th c. sacred arias and recorded with the Baroque ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro. 

In Schiassi's "L'agnelletta timidetta" from the same work, Mr. Stein accompanied on the organ. Both of Schiassi's pieces were sung in Italian.

Last night's program was accompanied by members of New York Baroque Incorporated-- violinists Aisslinn Nosky and Aleander Woods, violist Kyle Miller, cellist Ezra Seltzer, violonist Wen Yang, and harpsichordist Avi Stein who also played the organ. One could not have asked for a better setting for this jewel of a singer. There were times when Ms. Nosky's line followed the singer's or wove in and out--times of unutterable beauty.

There were three instrumental interludes; the first was the Trio Sonata in D Major by Arcangelo Corelli performed by the two violins, the cello, and the harpsichord. The second and third were portions of Franceso Durante's Concerto for Strings in G Minor. We have no idea why the work was broken up in such fashion and would have preferred to have heard it intact.

Mr. Orliński's artistry is equalled by his charming stage presence. He is at that stage in his professional career in which his overwhelming success on the world's stages has not yet been taken for granted. His enthusiasm for his music is absolutely contagious and we felt the audience take him into their collective heart. The standing ovation was well deserved.

The capstone for this glorious evening was his second encore--"Vedro con mio diletto" from Vivaldi's Il Giustino. We have lost count of the number of times we have listened to his performance online; to hear him perform it in person was astonishing. There is a simplicity and a virility that made it more enjoyable than that of Philippe Jaroussky which we like also but which struck us as a bit excessive in its ornamentation of the ritornello and also lacking in the warmth given to it by Mr. Orliński. It is interesting that the video we saw of Mr. Jaroussky was made about 10 years ago, just when Mr. Orliński began his vocal studies!

Dear reader, please listen to both videos on You Tube and let us know what you think!

(c) meche kroop

MORE POLISH SONGS PLEASE!

Michal Biel and Jakub Jozef Orlinski

The Polish songs we heard at Michal Biel's recital at Juilliard on Thursday were so outstandingly lovely that we wanted more. The review for that recital is just a few reviews behind this one but there is more to say about the songs. The performance took place in the gorgeous townhouse of the Kosciuszko Foundation (about which Development Officer Ewa Zadworna had some interesting anecdotes to share). Counter-tenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski shared descriptions about each of the Kurpian Songs of Karol Szymanowski. He is the first counter-tenor to perform them.

We were so frustrated searching for translations online but were told by Mr. O. that the dialect of these folk songs could not be accurately translated.  So...we just let the sounds engulf us and tease our ears. The first song, which we had described as sad, turned out to be a lament for lost love; the one we called lively was about a bird escaping a storm; the one we noted as somber was about a woman being married off to a man she doesn't love; the one we described as anxious was about a woman being seduced by a man on horseback.  So, it appears as if Mr. O. was preternaturally successful at conveying the meaning!

On our wish list is hearing this divine duo perform all twelve of them.

The Baird songs also stood up to a second hearing. We just learned they were written for the basso fach but what difference does that make when they sound so good in the counter-tenor range. Actually "Slodka milosci" utilized the bottom of Mr. O's register which is very mellow and appealing.

Another Polish offering was Pawel Lukaszewski's 1968 "Jesien" about autumn, decay, death, and rebirth. The prelude involved improvisation  by Mr. Biel. As one would expect, Mr. O. is so comfortable in his native language that he seems to be tasting the words as he sings them. He is a singer of great intelligence and musicality. Among the many honors and awards he has accrued was the 2015 Marcella Sembrich competition and the Met National Council Award.

The program also included works with which we are far more familiar. There were some sunny songs by the beloved Reynaldo Hahn who knew how to write a gorgeous melody for the voice. Mr. O. sang them in fine French. "A Chloris" has a baroque introduction on the piano which Mr. Biel enjoyed, and some interesting variations in dynamics of which Mr. O. made the most.

"L'heure exquise" with its gorgeous arpeggios was perhaps our favorite, but we were also taken with the lively "Fetes Galantes". Upward swoops (portamenti) were well handled.

The Schubert songs were not so sunny but impressed us because Mr. O. sang them so completely "on the breath" with complete connection. Consonants were crisply enunciated but no vowel got cheated. "Die Stadt" from Schwanengesang struck us as very ominous, enhanced by a slight change in vibrato.

No program would be complete without some Handel and "Agitato da fiere tempeste" from Riccardo I, Re d'Inghilterra offered all the coloratura fireworks that we want from Baroque opera and Mr. O. handled them with panache.

Two encores were called for: Purcell's "Strike the Viol" and Vivaldi's "Vedro con mio diletto" which decorates the romantic sentiment with a lovely trill.

(c) meche kroop

CATONE vs CESARE

Julia Dawson and John Holiday as Emilia and Caesar in Vivaldi's Catone in Utica (photo by Louis Forget)

Opera librettists often play fast and loose with history and Pietro Metastsio's libretto for Antonio Vivaldi's Catone in Utica is no exception.  Do we care?  Truthfully, not very much. But we did very much enjoy Maestro Ryan Brown's introductory lecture which enhanced our experience last night of Opera Lafayette's production at the perfectly suitable theater of John Jay College.

This seems to be our week for a side of education with our feast of entertainment. We learned that Metastasio, a highly celebrated Roman educated in the law, wrote two versions of the story--the first set by Leonardo Vinci which was a failure.  Romans of the early 18th c. were unhappy with his violation of the convention against showing death onstage. (Imagine all the wonderful Italian operas written in the 19th c. and how they would play out without the death scene!  Perish forbid!) Therefore, Cato's grisly self disembowelment could not be shown.

His second version (set by Vivaldi and several other composers) left the ending ambiguous or had Cato commit suicide offstage.  We did not see the version performed at Glimmerglass but last night's performance appeared to have an almost happy ending with Cato walking offstage--which ended the otherwise thrilling evening in a not quite satisfying manner.

It is always a special event when Opera Lafayette visits from our nation's capitol, usually bringing a delectable and overlooked French opera. This time they brought a largely forgotten Italian Baroque opera composed toward the end of Vivaldi's life. Of this prolific composer's oeuvre, barely twenty opera scores survived. In point of fact, the music for Act I was lost but the clever director Tazewell Thompson utilized the overture (borrowed from another Vivaldi opera) to introduce the characters onstage with some illustrative comments on the surtitle screen--a most successful ploy to replace a perhaps boring exposition.

The story concerns the intransigent and uncompromising Cato in opposition to the conquering Caesar who was here depicted, not as a tyrranical dictator, but as a swell fella, cheerful and ready to compromise. Metastasio invented a love story between Caesar and Cato's daughter which causes the rigid and unlikable Cato to disown his daughter in a most ugly fashion. Se non è vero, è ben trovato!

As to the music, Opera Lafayette achieved a stunning success, thanks to apt casting and the truly excellent Opera Lafayette Orchestra, the string section of which was called upon to limn the action with painterly color; Vivaldi himself was a gifted violinist.  Significant contributions came from the oboe which sang of nature,  the trumpets which blared of battle, and the valveless horns which referenced the wounded lion. The superb continuo, comprising Andrew Appel at the harpsichord, Loretta O'Sullivan on the cello, and Michael Leopold on the guitar and theorbo, supported the unusually expressive recitativi.

The singers all had superb voices and acting skills, making the far-fetched completely believable. We are very fond of the countertenor fach and it was quite a treat to hear two of them side by side and to hear the subtle differences.

The role of Cesare was performed by John Holiday whose tone is larger than most. His vocal colors varied widely from his legato love aria toward Cato's daughter Marzia to his whooping upward glissandi while threatening battle. Mr. Holiday is truly a stage animal.

In the smaller role of Fulvio, Caesar's lieutenant, Eric Jurenas exhibited a lighter sound that was pleasant to the ear.

There were three mezzo-sopranos in the cast.  Julia Dawson, well remembered from her major George London award last winter, put heart and soul into her portrayal of Emilia, the widow of Pompey, who is seeking revenge against Caesar. We have written about the many shades of sadness in Schubert's song cycles; here, Ms. Dawson created the many shades of anger. Her voice, like Mr. Holiday's, is a force of nature and she acts in such a visceral manner, using her entire body, that we were actually feeling it. Her handling of the fioritura was nothing short of dazzling.

Anna Reinhold's Marzia was a different kind of performance. Vivaldi did not give this character much to sing in the way of memorable arias but she was incredibly musical in the recitativi. Her voice is on the slender side and was overwhelmed by the orchestra when she was in the middle and lower part of her range. At the upper register she came through perfectly.

Marguerite Krull performed the pants role of the prince Arbace, an ally of Cato's, who was promised Marzia's hand. It was painful to watch her reject his advances, even as she occasionally seemed to lead him on. But, Marzia is in love with Caesar and will defy her father and the entire world to have him.

As the eponymous Cato, tenor Thomas Michael Allen gave an excellent portrayal of the stubborn holdout against Caesar, but the deck is stacked against him. Without substantial arias to show off, he was obliged to use the recitativi to convey both his higher quality of idealism and his negative quality of stubbornness.  His unsympathetic character was difficult to relate to but that seems to us to be the mark of a fine performance.

Costume Consultant Sara Jean Tosetti dressed all the characters in modern attire and the nearly bare stage (a simple metal throne for Cato and a few upturned sarcophagi) was sensitively lit by Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker--a simple wash of color on the back wall, corresponding to the mood of the scene.

Opera Lafayette will return in February with Emmanuel Chabrier's Une Education Manquée. We are filled with anticipation for another major success.

(c) meche kroop

CARNEVALE DI VENEZIA

Jakub Jozef Orlinski, Amaya Arberas and Il Giardino d'Amore

Yesterday we were transported to 17th and 18th c. Venice when we trekked out to the farthest reaches of Brooklyn to hear our favorite Spanish soprano singing arias of Händel and Vivaldi.  Our pleasure was magnified by also hearing some exciting arias performed by countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski and by the marvelous accompaniment provided by a stellar baroque chamber orchestra playing on original instruments or copies thereof.  The founder and leader of Il Giardino d'Amore is one Stefan Plewniak who speaks eloquently through his violin.

The always fascinating theorbo was played by Etienne Galletier while the other string instruments were played by Monika Boroni, Katarzyna Kalinowska, Kinga Augustyn, Magdalena Chmielowiec, and Katarzyna Cichon. The group opened the concert with Vivaldi's Autumn and closed with Vivaldi's Summer, perhaps not a normal progression of seasons but beautifully played.

In between we thrilled to some very fine baroque singing in which both singers distinguished themselves with perfectly precise handling of the fioritura. Our favorite piece by Ms. Arberas was the well known aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Händel's Rinaldo, made even more famous from it's use in the film Farinelli. It's a real tear-jerker and Ms. Arberas brought out every subtle nuance. 

We also enjoyed "Ombre vane ingiusti orrori" from Vivaldi's Griselda in which the eponymous Griselda bewails her fate. We remember this opera well from Santa Fe when Meredith Arwady sang the role of the unjustly rejected Griselda.

Händel's "Agitato da fiere tempeste" from Riccardo Primo Re d'Inghilterra was given a fine performance by Mr. Orlinski and the orchestra created a fine storm of wind and water. We particularly enjoyed his interpretation of Handel's "A dispetto d'un volto ingrato" from Tamerlano which called for a variety of dynamics and tempi.

This superb group of young musicians is based in Vienna but is presently on tour and how fortunate for us New Yorkers that they made Brooklyn one of their stops.

(c) meche kroop

THE DIVA NEXT DOOR

David Zobel and Joyce DiDonato (photo by Chris Lee)

A glamorous and revered superstar of the opera stage, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato revealed her mettle as a recitalist Tuesday night in Carnegie Hall.  All wrapped up in one woman are the engaging and communicative entertainer and the naturalness of the proverbial girl next store-- from Kansas no less.  With flawless technique and enough expressiveness for two artists, she wowed the audience with a program the theme of which was "A Journey Through Venice".  Accompanied by the excellent David Zobel at the piano, she exhibited a lovely liquid tone and superb phrasing in every selection.  

As a great fan of bel canto, we were thrilled to hear so much beautiful singing on one program. She opened the program with two arias from Antonio Vivaldi's opera Ercole su'l Termodonte, written in 1723 while the composer was in Venice.  "Onde chiare che sussurrate" was gloriously baroque and filled with trills in both piano and vocal line, all executed to perfection.  The text is one of anxious longing on the part of the Princess Ippolita and the rippling stream can be heard in the constant arpeggios in the piano.  The same character sings the aria "Amato ben" and we felt the aching longing when Ms. DiDonato stressed the appoggiatura before the final note. Although the plot is not of the ilk favored by today's fashion, if the other arias are halfway as good, we would love to see/hear the entire opera. 

The use of the microphone for speaking between songs was welcome because we wanted to hear every word Ms. DiDonato had to say as she related anecdotes about each set of songs.  Paul Verlaine's text for Cinq melodies de Venise is so lovely that it has been set by Debussy, Saint Saëns and Sokolov.  But Ms. DiDonato chose the setting by Gabriel Fauré for her program and we were delighted to be hearing it for the first time.  We are always reminded of the Fragonard paintings when we hear the lively slightly satirical "Mandoline". The peaceful quality of "En sourdine" was a lovely contrast.  We found "C'est l'extase" somewhat less languorous than the setting by Debussy but nonetheless quite lovely.

As many times as we have heard Rossini's "La regatta veneziana" we never tire of hearing the three distinct moods of Anzoleta and her feelings for Momolo, her gondolier lover.  She encourages him in the first song; in the second she is cheering him on and we feel her breathless excitement and anxiety; in the third song she is all warm and fuzzy, rewarding her Momolo for his win with kisses and compliments.  Ms. DiDonato made us feel as if we ourselves were watching the race.  Rossini composed this brief cycle in the Venetian dialect as part of his Péchés de vieillesse, long after he stopped writing operas.

In contrast to that cycle from his mature period, we heard an aria from his youthful opera Otello.  While we do no wish to take anything away from Verdi's masterpiece, we would love to see a production of Rossini's Otello, based on the gorgeous "Assisa al piè d'un salice…Deh, calma", known as the Willow Song.  There is a gorgeously melodic introduction by the piano followed by the sorrowful lament of the distracted Desdemona.  Even without an orchestra, the two artists brought the scene to dramatic life.  The piano becomes turbulent when Desdemona gets distracted by her grief and anxiety.

Compared with most 20th c. English composers we would have to grant Michael Head a lot of credit for his ability to write for the voice and to match the vocal line to both text and music.  His Three Songs of Venice were evocative and Ms. DiDonato sang the text with far better diction than that to which we are accustomed.  That quality can make or break a performance in a recital of art songs in which the words are so important.  Ms. DiDonato's artistry in word coloring added to the pleasure.

Still, for melody and singability, we must give the prize to Reynaldo Hahn, from an earlier generation.  We heard selections from Venezia sung in gorgeous Italian and were swooning.  The rippling rolling chords in the piano and the melismatic singing in "La barcheta" made this romantic tale our favorite.  We also enjoyed the much less romantic "L'avertimento" in which the poet warns his friends against a beautiful girl with the heart of a tiger and the irony of "Che pecà" in which a man expresses his ambivalence about getting over a frantic passion.  Ms. DiDonato's acting was incomparable.

Rossini's "Canzonetta Spagnuola" with its vocal fireworks and gradual accelerando made the perfect encore.  We were totally satisfied but--wait--there was one final encore "Non ti scordar di me" by Ernesto de Curtis. We felt sorry for the lone couple who were running to catch a train; we wouldn't have missed a single note of it.

ⓒ meche kroop