BRAVA GERDA LISSNER

 Arlene Shrut, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Yeongtaek Yang, Matthew Cairns, Tatev Baroyan, Karoline Podolak, Shelen Hughes, Rosario Armas, Gemma Nha, and Anna Kelly

Thanks to the generosity of philanthropist Gerda Lissner, several generations of opera singers have been supported in their artistic growth. In addition, citizens of Planet Opera were gifted a thrilling evening of impressive singing at Zankel Hall.  Out of 300 presumably worthy applicants, ten winners were selected to perform and were the fortunate recipients of 95 thousand dollars. No, Dear Reader, you will not learn their ranking here. That is the difficult and unenviable task of the judges. Our "task" is to share our impressions.

It is particularly rewarding for us to witness the success of singers we have followed throughout their conservatory years; it is astonishing to catch up with the dramatic artistic growth of those who left New York City and haven't been heard by us for some time; it is exciting to discover artists who are new to us. It is also a delight to experience the gracious hosting of Midge Woolsey who made up for the lack of titles and translations by giving a brief synopsis of each selection. And finally, it is always a pleasure to see how pianist Arlene Shrut manages to switch genres and styles with ease, giving the young singers the collaboration and accompaniment they deserve.

It seemed to us that the audience comprised people who know and love opera, lieder, art song and zarzuela, all of which were represented in the award categories.  No one distracted other audience members. Everyone listened with rapt attention and applauded generously and enthusiastically--and never at inopportune times. 

Speaking of applause, it made us deliriously happy to hear the audience going wild over the zarzuela selection sung with consummately professional style by mezzo-soprano Rosario Armas. Regular readers know how highly we value this art form and how we always jump at the chance to attend a performance.  The selection that Ms. Armas chose was from Chapi's humorous Las Hijas del Zebedeo. Every gesture was on point and Ms. Armas used her rich expressive voice to create a character.

In a similarly light-hearted mood, soprano Shelén Hughes charmed us with a selection from Victor Herbert's operetta "Mlle. Modiste" which we sadly missed when Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live! presented it. It is a fine achievement when a singer is so secure in her technique and so well rehearsed that the performance seems spontaneous and very much "of the moment".

A coloratura soprano named Caroline Podolak gave a stunning performance of "Glitter and Be Gay" from Leonard Bernstein's Candide, giving the song just the right amount of humor as Cunegonde alternates between the shame of her status (which you all know) and the pleasure of receiving expensive jewelry. The high tessitura presented no challenge for her and the vocal effects were sensational. To add to the performance, this beautiful blond looked the part.

Similarly, mezzo-soprano Maire Therese Carmack looked and sounded exactly the way one would wish for the daughter of Wotan as she performed "Du bist der Lenz" from the first act of Wagner's Die Walküre. The entire setting of the Otto Schenk version (the only one that made sense to us) appeared in our mind's eye--always a sign of a great performance.

Soprano Tatev Baroyan gave a lovely and affecting performance as Liu, singing "Tu, che di gel sei cinta" from Puccini's Turandot. Mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly employed a sweet tone and personal charm in a Joseph Marx lied entitled "Jugend und Alter".  Soprano Gemma Nha performed Joowon Kim's "Like the Wind That Met with Lotus" with a haunting feeling and ringing top notes.

And now, let us get to the men. Guest artist counter-tenor Anthony Ross Costanzo delivered an inspiring "speechlet" about Orfeo and the power of music and then involved the audience in his performance of a scene from 

Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (in which he is starring at The Metropolitan Opera) which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Counter-tenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen was definitely not overshadowed by Mr. Costanzo's fame and performed two Händel arias, a deeply felt "Stille Amare" from Tolomeo and the spirited "Empio, dirò , tu sei" from Giulio Cesare in Egitto in which he dazzled us with fiery fioritura.

Yeongtaek Yang used his gorgeous baritone instrument to create a highly involving introduction to Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, bringing Tonio to vivid life. It felt so real that we nearly forgot where we were and were waiting for the opera to begin!

Tenor Matthew Cairns has a sizable voice with an interesting texture and fine French diction that he brought to "Ô Paradis sorti de l'onde" from Meyerbeer's L'Africaine.

What a wonderful evening--a gathering of the tribe joining to celebrate young artists. May they all achieve the professional success that they deserve!

© meche kroop

2023 GEORGE AND NORA LONDON FOUNDATION COMPETITION FINALS

 

Pianist Maestro Michael Fennelly, Foundation President John H. Hauser, and finalists in the 2023 Competition

The gracious presence of the late Nora London was greatly missed but we received a warm welcome from John H. Hauser, President of the George and Nora London Foundation. The prizes awarded in this competition are generous and the winners generally go on to great careers. The twelve finalists were of the very highest caliber and the judging must have been extremely difficult. We were glad not to have been among them! We love this competition because all finalists walk away with great honor as well as financial benefit.

If you must know which five of the twelve received the greatest honor, you must look on the foundation's website. We are sure it made a difference to the competitors but to our ears, they were all winners. There seemed to be more large voices this year and also a preponderance of sopranos and tenors with a lone mezzo-soprano, a sole bass-baritone, and a singular counter-tenor.

Regardless of who won the major prizes, several performances suited our taste to the point of lingering in our memory. That they just happen to be three beautiful young women "should" be considered irrelevant but it surely doesn't hurt one's career to be as appealing to the eye as to the ear.

Karoline Podolak put a smile on our face with a spirited performance of "Je suis Titania" from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon. There was charm and expressiveness in spades, utilized to underscore the fioritura which was cleanly delivered. It was altogether enchanting.

No less enchanting was the bright soprano of Erika Bakoff who performed "A vos jeux amis" from Thomas' Hamlet. It seems curious that we have heard very little of Thomas' works and here we got to hear two on the same program. We got to realize how well he writes for young light sopranos! Along with the lovely vocal line, we appreciated a terrific trill and a smoothly descending scale passage.

The role of Sophie in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier must impress the audience in the same fashion as Sophie herself is impressed by the attention paid her by Count Rofrano as he delivers the silver rose. In this case, Elena Villalon succeeded in conveying innocence and wonder with a sweet coloration to the voice and the assumption of a modest demeanor. It was a completely convincing characterization.

We have been hearing quite a bit of "Aleko's Cavatina" from the Rachmaninoff opera that we have never seen in its entirety. Poor Aleko sings of his despair, his Gypsy wife having fallen for a young man of her own people.  Somehow we were reminded of old King Philips's aria "Ella giammai m'amo" from Verdi's Don Carlo in which the singer must generate sympathy for a murderous man. At this task, bass-baritone William Socolof succeeded admirably  with a carefully modulated performance, generous tone, and exemplary Russian.

Contrasting with the lowest voice in the competition was the highest male voice, that of counter-tenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen who performed "Inumano Fratel...Stille Amare" from Händel's Tolomeo in which the eponymous title character believes he has drunk poison and cannot make it through the da capo. Mr. Cohen dazzled with his mastery of this rare fach and it's vocal fireworks. If our opinion inspires you, you can hear his video for yourself on YouTube.

It is always interesting in a competition to be introduced to an aria with which one is unfamiliar but it is an entirely different story when a young singer tackles a very familiar aria. We feel the satisfaction one feels with the familiar but we are looking for something original or different in which the singer tells us something new about the character. Tenor Matthew Cairns took on "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from Bizet's Carmen and he did so with full tone and a lovely vocal quality. We particularly admired the dynamic variety and a smooth decrescendo.

Tenor Joseph Sacchi has a large powerful instrument just right for the role of Max in Weber's Die Freischütz. "Durch die Walder, durch die Auen" was performed in clearly enunciated German, augmented by meaningful gesture.

We always enjoy arias more when we understand the words and tenor Jordan Loyd delivered "Inutile regrets" from the final act of Berlioz' Les Troyens in fine French. He employed his fine vibrato to express Énée's despair in an emotional performance.

Another highly emotional performance was that of tenor Ricardo Garcia who put 110% into his portrayal of Lensky facing death in Tchaikovky's Eugene Onegin. The vocal line was lovely and the gestures were Russian in their extravagance.

The only mezzo-soprano on the program, Olivia Johnson gave an expressive performance of "O ma lyre immortelle" from Gounod's Sapho. (The program listed the composer as Massenet and indeed Massenet did write a piece of that name almost a half-century later but we are quite sure that what we heard was from the Gounod.)

The only Puccini aria on the program was from Edgar, about which we know little. Amber Monroe has a sizable soprano with an expressive vibrato put to good use in "Addio mio dolce Amore" sung by the faithful Fidelia.

Perhaps it was the stress of singing first but having heard tenor Alexander McKissic several times in the past, we didn't think we were hearing him at his best in "Se all'impero amici dei" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, sung by the merciful titular character. He sounded best in the pianissimi passages with a lovely legato but as the volume increased his tone sounded rough which did not suit Tito's character. We found ourselves wishing he had not been first on the program.

Splendid accompanying in all these varied styles was provided by Maestro Michael Fennelly.

© meche kroop

SIMPLY SIMAN

Binna Han and Siman Chung

We have entered the golden age of the countertenor. We have heard two excellent members of this fach sing the "Refugee's aria" from Jonathan Dove's Flight (one of the very few contemporary operas we enjoyed) and both Jakub Jozef Orlinski and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen were superb in the role. We profoundly regret missing Mr. Chung's performance of this role with Mannes Opera but, judging by last night's recital at the National Opera Center, we are sure he was superb.

The recital was part of Opera America's Emerging Artist Recital Series and presented Mr. Chung as the Opera Index 2015 Arthur E. Walters Memorial Award Winner.  Opera Index is a nonprofit volunteer organization whose mission it is to advocate for opera and support young artists. They have been holding competitions for over 30 years, the winners of which look like a "Who's Who" of the opera world.

Mr. Chung's recital flew by in a brief 60 minutes but gave the packed house a solid opportunity to assess his prodigious artistry. We enjoyed him the most when he played to his strengths and his strengths lay most securely in the repertory written for his fach. Well, actually, the roles we speak of were written for castrati and it is very fortunate that that barbaric practice is long gone! 

But the role of Farnace in Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto was written for alto castrato and Mr. Chung's  performance was just fine and marked by superb control of dynamics and a seamless production of sound that transitioned well to the low notes.

Even better was his performance of two Handel arias. The first, "Dove sei, amato bene" from Rodelinda is an aria of longing, and was written for the character Bertarido, originally sung by a soprano castrato. We loved the embellishments in the ritornello, the sensitive decrescendo and the ear-tickling trill.

Countertenors are often asked to sing angry arias (think "Furibondo spira il vento") and Mr. Chung's performance of "Crude furie degli orridi abissi" from Handel's Serse was also written for soprano castrato but is today most often performed by  mezzo-sopranos. We enjoyed the vocal pyrotechnics.

Similarly, music by Henry Purcell was finely sung. Purcell wrote music for John Dryden's play Oedipus and his "Music for a while" rivals Schubert's "An die Musik" as a paean to what we think of as the highest art form. Mr. Chung exhibited a lovely vibrato and interesting overtones.

Purcell's 1692 masque The Fairy Queen provided two wonderful songs perfect for Mr. Chung's many talents. Our personal favorite was "If music be the food of love". The elaborate embellishments were thrilling and we were happy to hear sufficient variety in the repetitions.  Happily, his English was perfectly enunciated and we were not obliged to look at the titles, although it is always nice to have them just in case.

In an entirely different vein, Mr. Chung offered three songs by Ernest Chausson, bringing us into an entirely different century. His French was flawless and, again we understood every word. We have never heard these songs sung by a countertenor and they sounded lovely. Our favorite was the very sad "Le temps des lilas" from Poeme de l'amour et de la mer. His tone was exquisite, the colors impressive, and the depth of feeling quite moving.

From Sept Melodies, Op.2 we heard "Le colibri" and "Les papillons".  His tone suited the delicacy of the language and music. Mr. Chung's superlative collaborative pianist was Binna Han and she captured the fluttering of wings in the piano part.

A pair of songs by Roger Quilter were well sung but the writing, in our opinion, lacks the poetry of Chausson's writing.

There was also a trio of songs by Brahms which did not thrill us, and we do love our Brahms. It is only our opinion but we think Mr. Chung sounds infinitely better in songs written with a certain voice type in mind. Additionally, his German was not nearly as accomplished as his French. For every crisp consonant there was one that was glossed over. His encore, Strauss' "Zueignung" was given plenty of passion and better enunciation but it just wasn't up to the excellence of the rest of the recital.

We first became acquainted with this fach in a student production at Manhattan School of Music starring Anthony Roth Costanzo in Lukas Foss' Griffelkin.  That must have been 8 or 9 years ago and we have loved the sound ever since. And now we have so many fine countertenors. This gives us the opportunity to appreciate music that has lain dormant for centuries; additionally it gives stimulus to contemporary composers (although we may not appreciate the latter as much). As Jane Marsh said in her master class a couple days ago "If you lay the tracks the train will come".

(c) meche kroop

MET NATIONAL COUNCIL FINALS

2017 Finalists in Met National Council Competition (photo by Fay Fox)

In our eyes and to our ears, these are all winners. Several of them have been followed by us for some time and garnered our appreciation for their growth as artists. Others were new to us at the Semi-Finals.  Of course readers can readily learn which six of the nine semi-finalists the judges chose, but you won't learn that here. Our aim is to share our experience of the actual performances and that is exactly what we will do. Frankly, it felt quite uncomfortable to call six out of nine "winners". The other three are anything but "losers". Some of the nine artists are fully stage-ready.

We have heard tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven perform Peter Grimes' "Mad Scene" from the Britten opera at least twice before we heard it today but this was the first time we heard it with full orchestra. It was disturbing in a very good way; we felt such sympathy for the character's distress; this was a man pushed to the limits.  It was a shattering performance. Mr. van Schoonhoven also performed Rienzi's prayer from the Wagner opera and we could see some Siegfried in his future.

Another artist who is complete in his stage-worthiness is countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, whom we have heard on a couple occasions. His penetrating sound falls nicely on the ear and his dramatic interpretation of the lost refugee from Jonathan Dove's Flight  was chilling and also disturbing. It is significant that these two young singers made such an impression on us, since we have never had much interest in English language opera. It reminds us of a great chef who can cook a dish you usually won't eat and you wind up loving it!  Mr. Cohen's other selection was from Handel's Rodelinda and his plangent quality was enhanced by an affecting messa di voce and some stunning embellishments in the ritornello.

Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey has a very centered stage presence that allows her beautiful voice to reach out unencumbered by flashy theatrics. She controlled the dynamics and the dramatics equally well in "Parto, parto" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. She built the aria from a quiet place and let loose with a stunning crescendo on "Guardami, guardami".  Her perfect technique carried through in her performance of "Da chas nastal" from Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans, making us put this opera on our wish list. She brought this aria to a fiery climax.

Ms. Hankey will be singing this Thursday at the Juilliard Vocal Arts recital along with bass-baritone Cody Quattlebaum who impressed us yesterday with his ability to create compelling characters. He was a fine Figaro, ready to match wits with the Count Almaviva in "Se vuol ballare" from the Mozart opera Nozze di Figaro; he exhibited devilish glee in "Vous qui faites l'endormie" from Gounod's Faust. Along with his superb vocal gift, Mr. Quattlebaum's command of the stage and dramatic ability have always impressed us, and we are looking forward to Thursday's recital which you will surely read about here.

Soprano Vanessa Vasquez always turns in a meaningful performance and lets us see the world through her character's eyes. With beautiful tone, she disappeared into Cio-Cio San, wishfully seeing Pinkerton's ship pulling into the harbor in "Un bel di" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Her scene from Act I of Verdi's La Traviata was so intense that the audience erupted into applause prematurely. She was unperturbed and shone in the cabaletta.

Soprano Kirsten MacKinnon gave an emotional performance of "Otchego eto prezhde ne znala" ("Why haven't I known this before") from Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, an aria which we have only heard once--onstage at the Met. She sang with lovely tone and a keen control of dynamics. Her second aria was "Ah, je ris de me voir" from Faust and generated considerable excitement, both vocally and dramatically.

Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez performed "Il est doux, il est bon" from Massenet's Herodiade. Her splendid soprano instrument has a fine vibrato and we heard some gorgeous notes at the top of the register. The second aria she chose is not well known but we were fortunate enough to have heard New York City Opera's production of Daniel Catan's compelling opera Florencia en el Amazonas. We thought she did justice (and then some) to "Cristobal, Es esta luz la muerte?"

Soprano Natalie Image has a voice much larger than her petite frame would suggest. She exhibited a nicely focused sound and a winning flirtatious personality in the Snow Maiden's Aria from the Rimsky-Korsakov opera--another opera that is unknown to us but which is also going on our wish list. Ms. Image has the talent for getting a song across, as she also did in her other selection "O luce di quest'anima" from Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix with its dazzling coloratura. We always enjoy a good trill!

Tenor Richard Smagur performed two selections in French with a solid technique. We heard "La fleur que tu m'avais jetee" from Bizet's Carmen and "Pourquoi me reveiller" from Massenet's Werther, which we just heard at the Met with Isabel Leonard and Vittorio Grigolo. Mr. Smagur is like a finely cut gem that needs some polishing to reveal its beauty. The polishing we hope he receives consists of loosening up physically so that his body goes along with the wonderful feeling in his voice.  We want convincing characterizations on the opera stage.

The nine gifted singers we heard were culled from 1200 applicants in 42 cities around the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Gracious and gorgeous superstar Renee Fleming was hostess for the evening and paid tribute to all the volunteers who donate time and funding to make the Met National Council Auditions happen. They surely deserve the credit and the nine finalists who climbed the ladder of selection are destined for fine careers. We wish them all well. The average audience member never realizes just how hard these young artists work to achieve these dizzying heights.

While waiting for the judges to make their decision, we were treated to performances by three winners from ten years ago. Tenor Michael Fabiano sang "Oh! fede negar potesssi...Quando le sere al placido", Rodolfo's lament from Verdi's Luisa Miller.

Soprano Amber Wagner, who will perform a recital at the Morgan Library next Sunday under the auspices of the George London Foundation, sang "Es gibt ein Reich". Her generous instrument seems made for Strauss and we hope we will get more of it next week.

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is simply a force of nature and her unique and powerful instrument always astonishes us. She sounds like no one else; we hope it is not sacrilege to say that we think of a chocolate stout filling our mouth and dizzying our head. She performed an intoxicating version of "Acerba volutta, dolce tortura", sung in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur by the jealous Princess de Bouillon. WOW!

What an incredible afternoon, thanks to the Metropolitan National Council! Let us also credit Nicola Luisotti for his superb conducting.

(c)