TRIUMPHANT LOVE

Anna Smigelskaya and Carolina López Moreno

Two remarkable artists performed a recital of art songs, the likes of which we have not heard in a long while. Could a graduation recital at Manhattan School of Music surpass so many given at Carnegie Hall by famous singers? Yes, it could and it did!

Although some credit for the magnitude of our pleasure could be given to the astute choice of material, we have a sense that these two lovely ladies working together in sublime harmony could have pleased us with any program they chose.

We first were exposed to the gifts of soprano Carolina López Moreno in 2018 in a Talents of the World competition when we enjoyed her Juliette and her Violetta--two very different heroines, both successfully realized. Her Manhattan School of Music performance as the lead in Nino Rota's rarely heard one-act opera I Due Timidi was another feather in her artistic cap. In 2019 we had yet another chance to enjoy her artistry at a Classic Lyric Arts salon at which she performed Leïla in a duet.

However, art song is completely different from opera and it's a rare artist who can do justice to both forms of vocal artistry. Both Ms. Moreno and her collaborative pianist Anna Smigelskaya have plenty of stage presence and the audience was engaged from the beginning.

The program opened with three charming songs from Rossini's Soirées musicales. In the first song "La promessa" we could immediately identify a lovely legato that persevered throughout the smooth upward leaps, some graceful portamenti, a variety of dynamics, some clear staccato passages, and a sincerity of emotion. Ms. Smigelskaya underscored the vocal line with some lilting arpeggi.

"L'invito" manifested a seductive invitation with some well-executed turns, all laid over a gorgeous carpet of sound in the piano. In "Pastorella delle alpi", the singer created a welcoming character, reveling in some melismatic arpeggi. We enjoyed the brief shift to a minor key. To say we were enchanted would be an understatement.

We would have been content to enjoy more of the same for the remainder of the evening but it was time to move on to some lieder from Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch, somewhat in keeping with the first set if not linguistically at least culturally. We are delighted to report that Ms. Moreno's German is perfect, but one would expect that since she grew up in Germany.

The flirtatious "Du denkst mit einem Fädchen mich zu fangen" has a cute twist at the end as the woman turns the tables on a man. Not all of von Heyse's poetry portrays an elusive woman. The singer in "O wär dein Haus durchsichtig" is completely devoted to her beloved. The poor girl in "Mein Liebster singt am Haus im Mondenscheine" is being serenaded by her sweetheart but cannot respond because of a watchful mother. Like any histrionic teenager she is "crying tears of blood"! Ms. Smigelskaya's piano was filled with longing in a minor key.

Three songs in English followed and we were astonished by the perfect enunciation that made every word clear, even at the upper end of the register. Samuel Barber's setting of James Agee's "Sure on this shining night" was followed by Charles T. Griffes' setting of Sydney Lanier's "Evening Song", filled with exaltation. Our favorite of this set was Frank Bridge's "Love went a-riding", a setting of Mary Elisabeth Coleridge's charming text, filled with wonder.

Debussy's setting of Paul Bourget's Two Romances evinced long lyrical lines in the Gallic tradition of mélodie; the singing was delicate in "L'âme évaporée" and "Les cloches", as was Ms. Smigelskaya's delicate accompaniment.

Spanish was next on the program, to our delight. Who could not succumb to the eroticism of "Del cabello mas sutil" from Fernando Obradors' Canciones clásicas españolas! In the central section, Ms. Moreno began humming and opened up her voice to a captivating vocalise, whilst Ms. Smigelskaya produced ripples of arpeggi in the piano.

Following the serious passion of that song was the charmingly silly folk song "Chiquitita la novia" which opened and closed with a flamenco inflected vocalise. There was a powerful high note to bring the song to an end.

The "dessert" of this tasty meal was in Russian and we heard three of our favorite songs by Rachmaninoff from his Twelve Romances. "Zdes' khorosho" or "How fair this spot" transported us to a special place and was marked by expressive dynamics. "Jeshchjo v poljakh belejet sneg" or "Spring Waters" is filled with the ecstacy of the arrival of Spring after a long winter.

Still, our favorite was and always will be the melancholic "Ne poy, krasavica" or "Do not sing to me" which speaks of longing for what is gone and never fails to touch our heart. All of these emotions were limned by our two artists in tandem.

The audience demanded an encore and we got the impression that none was prepared because the duo performed a welcome repeat of "Love went a-riding".

We are noted for being nit-picky but this was one recital of which we would not have changed a single note. From technique to story-telling, everything achieve a rare perfection. We hope that the two artists will stay together because their rapport was matchless. We foresee a great future for them.

We are not alone in our admiration. There have been countless awards, scholarships, and much recognition as well as plenty of engagements. What excites us most in her future is a debut as Violetta. If anyone can portray the three phases of our favorite heroine it is she. It is said that Violetta requires three different singers but one versatile soprano like Ms. Moreno will likely fulfill all the requirements.

© meche kroop

L'ART DU CHANT FRANÇAIS

Mark Markham and Stéphane Sénéchal

Presented by the Art Song Preservation Society (founded and directed by Blair Boone-Migura), was a brilliant recital by French tenor Stéphane Sénéchal and collaborative pianist Mark Markham. The recital was part of a 10-day festival

of master classes and recitals held at the Manhattan School of Music, an annual event.

This was a very special recital and one marked by the revelation of true French technique passed down from father Michel (the legendary late character tenor who knew Francis Poulenc) to son. What an experience to hear French music sung by a tenor of great artistry--to hear it as it is meant to be sung. One could consider the recital to be a lesson in the art of singing French mélodies.

The composers represented on the program comprised many of the greats of the 19th and early 20th c.--Reynaldo Hahn, Henri Duparc, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc, Gabriel Fauré, Charles Gounod, and even Jacques Offenbach who contributed the encore piece.

Instead of performing a set by each composer, Mr. Sénéchal mixed them up and seemed to stick with one theme for each set. For example the first set comprised songs dealing with love and romance. Who can do that better than the French! We confess to being hypnotized.

Reynaldo Hahn's "À Chloris" is very familiar to us but we have never heard it sung with such intense feeling, achieved with delicacy and refinement. A lovely pianissimo cresendoed to a passionate fortissimo. This tenor makes his dynamic changes count by using them sparingly.

In Henri Duparc's "Extase" his coloration reflected the underlying Wagnerian harmonic shifts, something that we've heard about but never actually heard. Claude Debussy's "Zéphyr" was downright erotic; Gabriel Fauré's "Après un rêve" offered an opportunity for melismatic singing that reinforced the coloration of the word at the end of a phrase--"mirage", "lumière", "mensonges" and "mystérieuse".

A second set of mélodies seemed to focus on loss. Most of Fauré's works are little gems but "La Chanson du pêcheur" took its time to develop the theme of loss of the beloved by means of death. In Théophile Gautier's poem, the fisherman ends each verse of lament with the intention of going to sea. We wondered if "going to sea" was a metaphor. Mr. Markham's piano was particularly effective in adding to the despair.

There were even more treasures in the second half of the program; we particularly enjoyed Fauré's "Ici-bas" which filled us with sorrow as the artists concluded with an affecting decrescendo, tapering off to a fine filament of sound hanging in the air. In Duparc's "Lamento" the chords in the piano underscored the mournful sentiment.

There were also several songs by Poulenc on the program. The texts he chose seem obscure to us and less direct. Although he is not our favorite French composer, we will say that we enjoyed his pieces more yesterday than we ever have.  It's just that irony is not our favorite; we prefer music that evokes emotions, not ideas. We don't listen to music in order to think, to puzzle out the intent. We listen to feel.

Fortunately, the final work on the program relieved all that sorrow and left us feeling cheerful. It was Charles Gounod's "Viens! Les gazons sont verts!" in which a youth wants his beloved to wake up and enjoy la belle nature with him. As if that were not enough, there was an encore from Jacques Offenbach's operetta La Périchole in which Piquillo complains about his wife's behavior.

Thinking about the recital and why it was so exceptional, our conclusion is that Mr. Sénéchal doesn't "perform". Instead, it seems as if he is improvising. We suppose that every facial expression and gesture has been considered but it doesn't appear that way. There is a spontaneity that feels as if he is inhabiting the world of the song and sharing it with his audience, drawing us into a world.  He is a consummate storyteller. Mr. Markham was with him every step of the way. It was a landmark recital.

(c) meche kroop

YIN AND YANG

Johanna Rusanen, Maestro Kent Tritle, and Takaoki Onishi

What a well-balanced program we heard last night at Carnegie Hall! The first half was delicate, ethereal and feminine. The second half was powerful, riveting and masculine. The Oratorio Society of New York, with Maestro Kent Tritle at the helm, surely earned the standing ovation and any forthcoming accolades.

The first piece on the program was Part II of Hector Berlioz' Tristia, Op. 18 entitled "La mort d'Ophelie", which was sensitively conducted by Maestro David Rosenmeyer. Berlioz fell in love with the English actress who played Ophelia in Paris in 1827; she became his muse and initiated his life long love of Shakespeare. 

Who cares that they married and split up when we music lovers have reaped the benefits --Roméo et Juliette, Béatrice et Bénédict, and the lovely piece we enjoyed last night. 

Gertrude's lines from Act IV of Hamlet were adapted by Ernest Legouvé and Berlioz set the text as a solo song in 1842; it was arranged for a soprano/alto chorus in 1849. Last night, the female members of the Chorus and the Orchestra of the Oratorio Society of New York distinguished themselves with the clarity and delicacy of their performance. It was ethereal.

Maestro Tritle took over the podium to conduct Part III of Claude Debussy's Nocturnes, entitled "Sirènes". If we didn't know that the word means "mermaid" in English, we would have thought it meant "serene". This piece has nothing to do with an angry sea causing storms and shipwrecking sailors. This is a calm sea, as introduced by some lovely arpeggi on the harp.

In this piece, the all female chorus delivers a filmy tapestry of sound inspiring feelings of peace and calm. There were no words, just a blended vocalise of gorgeous harmonies. This was just what one needed to hear after a stressful day!

The second half of the program was quite different; we would call it exciting and demanding of both the singers and the audience. The sound of the Finnish language is strange to the ear and the text has a music of its own which Jean Sibelius matched and emphasized in his inimitable musical language.

Sibelius grew up in a country that had been ruled by Sweden since the Middle Ages and by Russia from 1809 onward. The time had come for Finland to fight for its independence and for the use of its own (very difficult) language, which is not related to the Scandinavian languages but somewhat related to Estonian.

A friendship with two brothers active in the Finnish nationalist movement, not to mention his romance with their sister, drew him into the movement. Finnish folklorist Elias Lönnrot had published a collection of folk stories in 1835 entitled Kalevala. In 1891, Sibelius returned from musical studies in Berlin and Vienna, determined to compose this five-movement symphonic and choral poem. It would be the first major composition in Finnish.

The Kalevala comprises 50 songs and the part which Sibelius set is called Kullervo Op. 7,  and begins at number 30. (We heard the first song sung by Meghan Kasanders at Alice Tully Hall and loved it.) It tells the story of a most unfortunate young man who endured a tragic childhood and wound up seducing a woman who turned out to be his long lost sister. He comes to a sad end, impaling himself on his own sword.

The role of Kullervo was sung by the brilliant baritone Takaoki Onishi who has made quite a name for himself since his days at Juilliard when we first started praising his thrilling instrument and the artistry with which he employs it. In this case, we can forgive the singer for his use of the music stand. Trying to read the language is sufficient challenge, but singing it???? In spite of the challenge Mr. Onishi sounded wonderful with his expansive round tones filling Carnegie Hall with overtones.

We will heap the same praise on soprano Johanna Rusanen who had the advantages of being a Finnish national and of having performed the work before. She has a sizable instrument that has an exciting ring to it and she sang the parts of the three resistant women Kullervo tries to seduce. As number three, she succumbs to his show of wealth.

The heavy lifting was done by the men of the Oratorio Society, augmented by a male contingent from the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus who blended in seamlessly. It falls to the chorus to tell the story. The text makes use of repetition reminding us that these stories were told and told again.

The introduction was symphonic, as was the event of the consummation of Kullervo's lust, and also the music for the battle. The music was varied but thematically connected, giving the work a feeling of unity. Sibelius' orchestration was inordinately colorful. Thrumming strings underscored the scene in which Kullervo and his sister tell of their origins and timpani revealed the portent of his discovery and his shame.

We wouldn't hesitate to hear more works like this. We cannot stop thinking about all the folk stories involving unrecognized family members. The Greeks had their Oedipus and the Norse had their Wälsung twins. 

We would also like to hear the other parts of the Berlioz and the Debussy. Perhaps the Oratorio Society of New York, now in their 146th year (!) could be persuaded to give us the "full Monty" next year!

(c) meche kroop

HYESANG SANG

Brian Zeger and Hyesang Park

Hyesang sang and oh how she sang! Up and coming soprano Hyesang Park gave a transporting recital last night at Alice Tully Hall.  This was the 21st Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital, established originally with a gift from the Alice Tully Foundation to promote exceptionally talented Juilliard singers on the threshold of a professional career.  This recital had been postponed due to illness and, in the intervening period, this incredibly talented artist has crossed the threshold with engagements all over Europe.  It was a recital well worth the wait.

Ms. Park illuminates everything she sings with her crystalline instrument and her engaging stage presence. There are a couple of interesting qualities which set her apart. One is the self-effacing manner in which she invites the audience into the songworld. The other is the way she sets up the song with an intense but brief period of introspection. You can almost feel the emotional wheels turning.

There is another aspect worth mentioning. Ms. Park's taste in fashion is as keen as her taste in programming. No fashion show could have dazzled the eye more successfully. In the first half of the program this beautiful young lady wore a dress of midnight blue with tiny scintillating "stars"; we called it "celestial". After the intermission she appeared in a gown that recalled a blooming flower.  We know that it's the voice that counts but it doesn't hurt to delight the eye at the same time!

And now, as to the music!  It was a totally satisfying recital with piano collaboration provided by the estimable Brian Zeger who doesn't need our encomia. His playing is always supportive and there is no whiff of "showmanship". He certainly knows how to avail himself of the acoustics of Alice Tully Hall and ended many songs in a trailed off decrescendo that left the final note hanging in the air whilst we held our breath.

Ms. Park knows how to work her prodigious skills such that they become art. Every song was given her full involvement. Phrasing always honored the intent of poet and composer. Exquisite control of dynamics lent variety and she used every color on her vocal palette.

The program opened with five songs by Clara Schumann whose modest oeuvre we wish would appear on more programs. We particularly enjoyed hearing how originally she set the familiar "Liebst du um Schönheit", the Rückert text which was later set so differently by Gustav Mahler. We have heard it before but as it grows in familiarity, we increasingly appreciate Schumann's peaceful version. 

Not so peaceful was Rückert's "Er ist gekommen in Sturm und Regen" in which both artists created a storm of passion. Yet, our favorite was "Die stille Lotosblume" (text by Emanuel Geibel) with its meditation on mortality, symbolized by the singing swan.

A set of four songs by Gabriel Fauré brought yet further delights. We loved the Gallic sweetness of "Nell" (text by Leconte de Lisle) and the meditative quality of "Au bord de l'eau" (text by Sully Prudhomme). These songs were new to us but the two with text by Paul Verlaine are well known--"Mandoline" and "Clair de lune".  With a great artist like Ms. Park, an aural portrait is painted, one that reminds us of paintings by Fragonard.

Reynaldo Hahn composed around the turn of the 20th c. but his compositional style often looks backward, as in our favorite "À Chloris" with its baroque turns. We found Ms. Parks' French to be quite lovely.

After intermission we were gifted with three Korean songs. We never realized how "singable" this language is. We generally love folk songs for their simplicity and melodiousness. Our favorite of this group was the first --"Milyang Arirang" and Ms. Park gave it some passionate cries and highly expressive gestures. "Bird Song" was highly rhythmic and "Song of Loom" was interesting for the rippling figures in the right hand of the piano, with the left hand crossing over. It certainly suggested weaving to us.

There were also many songs about mothers by varied composers. How pleased we were to hear Ms. Park sing in Spanish! It seems to us that Spanish composers of the 20th c. remained free of many of the 20th c. "advances" that we deplore. We particularly enjoyed Obradors' "Con amores, la mi madre" and Montsalvatge's "Canción de cuna para dormir" which is particularly evocative of time (1940's)and place (Cuba). 

Turina's Poema en forma de canciones gave Mr. Zeger an opportunity to shine solo in the extended opening "Dedicatoria", after which Ms. Park delighted us with three ironic songs "Nunca olvida", "Cantares" which began and ended with a stunning vocalise, "Los dos miedos", and "Las locas por amor". Her acting really put the songs across!

We don't want to leave out Claude Debussy's evocative "Nuit d'étoiles" in which Mr. Zeger's piano created the twinkling of the stars. The text by Théodore de Banville was presented in Rondo fashion with the artists shedding new light on the "refrain" each time it recurred.

After such a generous program, we weren't expecting an encore but we got not one but two. The first was in Korean and the second was "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi. No one could have refused Lauretta's imploring!

(c) meche kroop

ANY FRIEND OF VIRA IS A FRIEND OF MINE

David Sytkowski, Elizabeth Pojanowski, Samuel Schultz, and Vira Slywotzky

A new vocal series is something to get excited about! We enjoyed Vira & Friends Sing the Classics so much that we have already put the next recital on our calendar and so should you; it will be at 5:30 on September 15th at the same location--Scorca Hall of the National Opera Center.

Two things impressed us right away in addition to the singing. Firstly, the programming was given over almost totally to story telling. Each singer performed at least one cycle each of which was like a mini-opera.

The second thing that impressed us was hearing an excellent collaborative pianist whom we'd never heard before. David Sytkowski doesn't play much in New York so we consider ourselves fortunate to have heard him, bringing out so many subtleties of the accompaniment whilst supporting the singers with sensitivity and generosity. We appreciate the lid being on the long stick for maximum tone.

Soprano Vira Slywotzky-- whom we have reviewed so many times with 5BMF, Mirror Visions Ensemble, Light Opera of New York, and Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live--welcomed the audience and got things started with a trio of songs by Stefano Donaudy from Arie di Stile Antico.

Donaudy was a contemporary of Giacomo Puccini who looked forward in time and moved opera into the 20th c. whilst Donaudy often looked back into the Baroque. Ms. Slywotzky has a lively and inimitable personality that serves her well in song interpretation. There were no titles or translations but the singers introduced the songs of their choice and told the audience what the song was about--a reasonable alternative.  

"Sorge il sol! Che fai tu?" was performed with appropriate gaiety. "Sento nel core" was filled with Baroque sensibility and a pleasing excitement. In "Vorrei poterti odiare", Mr. Sytkowski's frisky piano and Ms. Slywotzky's exaggeratedly rolled "r"s limned the ambivalence of the song's text.

In Debussy's Trois Chansons de Bilitis, we heard a somewhat different interpretation than we heard the last time. That is what is so great about art, that it can be interpreted in many ways. The last time we heard this cycle, the woman was giving us snapshots of three stages of her life with the third song interpreted as one of a late stage breaking-up love affair with all the magic gone.  Ms. Slywotzky's interpretation was far more sanguine with the man showing the woman what she was longing for through a shard of ice.

Her final selection was Schubert's setting of von Collin's horrific "Der Zwerg", the story of which we have always detested. But she told the tale well, in spite of being "on the book". Her dramatic abilities are keen and just a touch more differentiation of color among the narrator, the young Queen, and the murderous dwarf would have pushed the performance into a higher level. We kept thinking of the four voices necessary for Schubert's "Erlkonig".  We hope she will perform the song again without the music stand.

We had only heard mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Pojanowski once before in Greg Kallor's The Tell-tale Heart. It is difficult for us to evaluate a singer's vocal artistry in contemporary works, especially sung in English. We only recall her theatrical flair. But listening to her singing Rossini's late-life cycle La Regata Veneziana enabled us to appreciate her voice as well as her dramatic skills.

We got to hear Anzoleta's anticipation of her lover's competition in the regatta, her wild excitement during it, and her pride and satisfaction in Momolo's winning.  All this in Venetian dialect! It was a splendid performance of an old favorite of ours and of mezzo-sopranos everywhere.  Where would mezzos be without Rossini!

We were slightly less enthusiastic about her performance of five excerpts from Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und -Leben. For one thing, we missed our favorite songs. For another, we were distracted by the singer's inconsistency with the "ch" sound. At times it was correctly pronounced; at other times it was almost omitted, and occasionally it was too 'hard'. This flaw is so common in American singers but it shouldn't be! There are always some of us in the audience who are German speakers and who will notice the lapse.

We understand that this cycle has personal meaning for Ms. Pojanowski who has lived through courtship, marriage, and motherhood and we wanted so much to be drawn in but the German got in our way. We also like to hear more change in color from the starstruck adolescent in "Seit ich ihn gesehen" to the mother in "An meinem Herzen". Perhaps if the singer had performed the entire cycle straight through to widowhood we might have heard this evolution.

The third singer on the program was mellow-voiced baritone Samuel Schultz, heretofore unknown to us. We have heard Ravel's cycle Don Quichotte à Dulcinée several times this year and love the opportunity it gives the baritone to show three separate emotions. He is the ardent lover, then the virtuous devoté of the saints, and finally, the bibulous knight in his cups. Show us a singer who doesn't love to play drunk or an actor who doesn't love a good death scene!

We found Mr. Schultz' French adequate, as we did Ms. Slywotzky's in the Debussy, but our native French-speaking companion thought somewhat less of their linguistic skills.

Speaking of which, Mr. Schultz' English was totally comprehensible in the final set of songs--and that's rare. What we heard did nothing to improve our opinion of contemporary composers' ability to write for the voice. We believe that their choice of text is largely at fault.

Erich Korngold's setting of Margaret Kennedy's "Tomorrow" was just gloomy. These two icons of the 20th c. were contemporaries. Although Mr. Schultz gave clarity to each word, we found our mind wandering.

In Everyone Sang, a song cycle by the living composer David Conte, we were happy to focus on Mr. Sytkowski's performance of Mr. Conte's lovely writing for the piano, but the vocal line and the text struck us as typically uninspiring, in spite of the fact that the singer was coached by the composer. Perhaps 19th c. composers just knew how to select text that would "sing".

Let it be noted however that the sizable audience applauded mightily and seemed not to share our indifference.

Vira & Friends merits financial support and if you are a fan of art song recitals, you might want to see the website for updates. www.viraslywotzky.com/engagements.  Or email to info@viraslywotzky.com.

(c) meche kroop

HOLIDAY IN THE CRYPT

Countertenor John Holiday

This will be the fifth time we reviewed countertenor John Holiday and his artistry just keeps on growing. The very first time we heard him was over five years ago at Lachlan Glen's year-long survey of Franz Schubert's 600+ songs. We noted the sweetness of his voice. Later that year we had a lot more to say about his performance in the title role of Handel's Radamisto, noting his artistry in the legato lines and his fireworks in the fioritura.

In 2015 we swooned over his rather good natured Cesare in Vivaldi's Catone in Utica, presented by Opera Lafayette. And in 2016, we loved his performance in Huang Ro's Paradise Interrupted, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

Last night we heard new aspects of his artistry in an all-too-short (but nonetheless satisfying) recital in the Crypt of the Church of the Intercession, a bit spooky in atmosphere but with incredible acoustics. The recital was part of the sold-out Unison Media series, curated by Andrew Ousley who has managed to come up with several unusual recitals.  Keep reading, dear reader, and we will tell you what he has up his musical sleeve for the summer and fall.

But first look at what Mr. Holiday had up his sleeve! He baited his hook with some delicious Italian and French favorites so that by the time he got to music that was somewhat outside our sphere of devotion, we were hooked and it was too late to protest that it wasn't "our kind of music".  Obviously, everything Mr. Holiday performed was dear to his heart; the communication from his heart to those of the audience members was so effective that people spontaneously burst into applause after every single song.

He began with "Frondi tenere e belle...Ombra mai fu" from Handel's Serse. We've heard so many singers try to do justice to this gorgeous paean to nature but Mr. Holiday simply nailed it.  His high pitched instrument is never effete but full and rich. We speculate that the famous castrati back in the day were so widely praised because they sounded like this. Thankfully, Mr. Holiday's sacrifices for his art did not extend that far!

There followed a series of songs in French, from the wistful "Romance" of Claude Debussy, to the ennui of Poulenc's "Hôtel", and three familiar songs of Reynaldo Hahn--"Si mes vers avaient des ailes", "Offrande", and "À Chloris". We loved the way Mr. Holiday can spin out a pianissimo like a silken thread, even at the top of his register. The overtones bounced around the room like pingpong balls.

When an artist is this good we are willing to follow him anywhere and we were surprised at how much we enjoyed Margaret Bonds' mid 20th c. setting of Langston Hughes' text. The phrases are short and the composer matched melody to text better than any other composer we have heard who set Hughes' text. "Minstrel Man", "Dream Variations", and the forceful "I, too am American" affected us deeply.

Theodore Morrison was commissioned by countertenor David Daniels to write a song cycle and we felt privileged to hear his setting of text by James Joyce. The music was blissfully accessible without a whiff of "the academy" to make our eyes roll. Our favorite was the final song "I hear an army charging upon the land" in which Mr. Holiday gave us some very powerful singing and some delicious melismatic singing. We believe that this is the same Theodore Morrison who composed the opera Oscar which we heard in Santa Fe a few years ago.

We also heard Hall Johnson's arrangement of the spiritual "I'm Gonter Tell God All O' My Troubles" in which Mr. Holiday bent the tone as if it were putty in his hands.

Pianist Kevin J. Miller did a fine job as Mr. Holiday's partner for the aforementioned  part of the program; for the remaining part, Mr. Neeki Bey took over and seemed to be an expert at jazz improvisation.

At this point, the piano scores disappeared from the piano and a snazzy fedora appeared on Mr. Holiday's head. Although jazz is not our thing, we found much to enjoy except for the first piece--a jazz arrangement of "Summertime" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. That opera is sacred to us and we didn't want it messed with!

The following standards were all enjoyable with the bluesy "Round Midnight" being our hands down favorite. There was a time when we did like jazz, before we fell in love with opera, and we are quite sure that we listened to recordings of this song by Sarah Vaughn and perhaps also by Ella Fitzgerald. What a surprise to learn that Thelonious Monk wrote it when he was 18.

We admired Mr. Holiday's word painting in Karl Suessdorf's "Moonlight in Vermont" and tapped our toe to Fats Waller's jaunty "Ain't Misbehavin". Mr. Bey had a piano solo in this and in the following lively Nat King Cole song "Straighten Up and Fly Right" which way played in a medley with "My Funny Valentine", sung at a slow tempo with a swoop up to the highest register.

There was more to come by way of encores. Mr. Bey abdicated the piano and Mr. Holiday sat down and let loose with "Amazing Grace" and "This Little Light of Mine". We are sure everyone in the audience left feeling lighter than when they arrived. Standing ovations do give us that impression!

We promised to tell you what Mr. Ousley and Unison Media have in store. Perhaps motivated by the success of The Crypt Sessions, they are planning a series in the catacombs of Greenwood Cemetery! The first entry will be in June and the series is already half sold out! So be a chooser, not a loser and stake your claim now.  See www.deathofclassical.com (really!) for details.

(c) meche kroop

THE SINGER'S SINGER

Donald Sulzen and Anna Caterina Antonacci (photo by Sarah Shatz)

Zankel Hall made a fine home for an unusual recital by "the singer's singer" Anna Caterina Antonacci and the collaborative pianist who partners her well, measure by measure, phrase by phrase. The recital was presented by New York City Opera and the excitement began at the end when impressario and General Director Michael Capasso got down on his knee (we kid you not) to present flowers to Ms. Antonacci.  Now that is something we have never seen before, but exactly right when one encounters royalty!

There were so many opera lovers wanting to hear Ms. Antonacci that we had to wait for the second night to get tickets. The recital was eagerly awaited; we don't believe Ms. Antonacci has performed in New York City since 2013 when she gave an outstanding performance of baroque music for Lincoln Center's White Light Festival. That was quite a show involving unusual staging, scenery, and costuming (review archived and available through the search bar).  Last night's recital was also unusual, but unusual in a different way.

We begin by saying that our taste in music was best met by the encores. The brief piece by Girolamo Frescobaldi entitled   "Se l'aura spira" thrilled us to the bone and lingers in our ears like the early 17th c. jewel that it is.

The second encore astonished us by making the familiar fresh. Ms. Antonacci sang the "Habanera" from Carmen as an intimate chanson rather than an operatic aria. One must recognize Ms. Antonacci as an idiosyncratic artist who will put her individual stamp on things!

The program itself held surprises for us. Most impressive was Francis Poulenc's major concert aria "La Dame de Monte Carlo" which is almost an entire opera in and of itself, or at the very least, a character study of a depressed widow, addicted to gambling. and down on her luck. No longer young and loved, she plans on drowning herself in the Mediterranean. Ms. Antonacci brought out every nuance of despair and bitterness.

There were further contributions from Poulenc on the program--Le Travail du Peintre is a cycle of songs, settings of text by Paul Éluard who created verbal descriptions of the famous painters of the early 20th c.  Poulenc created the musical portraits and Ms. Antonacci gave us an aural tour which reminded us conceptually, but not musically, of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Perhaps it is only coincidence that we favored the magic realism of Marc Chagall as we visualized the huge murals at the entrance to The Metropolitan Opera!

Another surprise was the nearly perfect English with which Ms. Antonacci sang Benjamin Britten's On this Island. We are not wild about W.H. Auden's text nor Mr. Britten's music but we definitely enjoyed the artist's ironic delivery of "As it is, plenty". This is a difficult text to make sense of, but she succeeded.

"Nocturne" , from the same cycle, began meditatively, grew in emphasis and power, and ended in a quiet postlude.

The program also comprised Debussy's lovely settings of Paul Verlaine's evocative text, of which our favorite was the sensuous "C'est l'extase langoureuse" in which Ms. Antonacci seemed to savor every word.  This made a nice contrast to the opening "Mandoline", a frisky affair.

We have heard a great deal about Nadia Boulanger as a composition teacher to many 20th c. composers, but had never heard her own vocal compositions. "Versailles" struck us as ethereal but we preferred the melody of "Cantique", with text by Maurice Maeterlinck.  "Elle a vendu mon coeur" , text by Camille Mauclair, is an affecting tale of betrayed love and consequent bitterness.

With so much French on the program, we were happy to hear some Italian. Ottorino Respighi's Deità Silvane gave Mr. Sulzen a chance to shine with some rippling figures in "Crepuscolo". However, we found the marriage of text and music most impressive in "Acqua".

We are happy indeed that New York City Opera is bringing us more than opera! We have feasted on music today and are replete.

(c) meche kroop

THE ARTISTRY OF SANDRA HAMAOUI

Thomas Muraco and Sandra Hamaoui

We believe that the first time we heard soprano Sandra Hamaoui perform, it was two years ago with the International Vocal Arts Institute and we were more than usually impressed with her crystalline voice, her warm stage presence, her musicality, and her superb French. We heard her again last summer in an IVAI production of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and found her to be even better. We were there when she received an award from Opera Index and also for the Metropolitan Opera National Council. It is not difficult to recognize a superstar in the making and here is one to illuminate the stage.

Last night she appeared as the winner of the Mary Trueman Art Song Vocal Competition, selected from 150 applicants. This is the first year in which the Art Song Preservation Society of New York (Founded and Directed by Blair Boone-Migura) partnered with the Manhattan School of Music for a Spring Into Art Song Festival, which we hope will be an annual event. There was a week of master classes and two recitals but this was the only event we were able to attend.

ASPS and MSM share common goals--those of promoting the art song repertoire and giving opportunities to young artists for education and performance. We all think we know what "art song" is but it helps to be reminded that it is a marriage of poetry to voice and instrumental music. The singer interprets the text and the collaborating instrumentalist interprets the music. Our enjoyment is increased when the voice is a beautiful one and the poetry meaningful.

At last night's recital, Maestro Muraco's artistry married well with that of Ms. Hamaoui. The larger part of the program was French and the language appears to have been imbibed with Ms. Hamaoui's (French) mother's milk. We tend to overlook so many of the shortcomings we've noticed in non-native-French-speakers, as long as we understand the words; but hearing the language sung as it is meant to be is very special indeed.

French art song (chanson) can sometimes sound effete when the singer tries too hard to maintain the long lyrical vocal line while avoiding undue emphasis.  There was not a moment last night in which we perceived this flaw. Ms. Hamaoui has a way of slipping gently into a phrase and ending it with grace. This phrasing appears to be due to exquisite breath control. Final "e's" are evident but evaporate the way Emanuel Villaume taught in a master class we attended.

There is a modesty bordering on self-effacement by which this young singer enters a song and inhabits it. She seems to be visualizing whatever the text describes and we seem to be experiencing the moment through her eyes. Her gestures are spare but always meaningful; there is never any "semaphoring" of the arms.  The voice is well placed and the upward skips well negotiated, never interrupting the line.

These fine qualities were evident throughout the French sets, especially that of Debussy, of which our favorite was "Pierrot" in which Ms. Hamaoui's charm was readily matched by Maestro Muraco's. There were three sets of songs by Poulenc, several settings of texts by Louise Lalanne and Louise de Vilmorin. We don't always grasp poetry but in "Paganini", we could comprehend the many imaginative ways of perceiving a violin.

A set of songs by Rachmaninoff brought out different qualities, i.e. a more expansive and passionate style suited to the rhythms of the Russian language and the intensity of the texts. We did not see the translations until later so we tried to guess what each song was about, or, at least, the emotion of the song. It is testament to the artistry onstage that we were correct in our guesses. 

It is interesting that we of the audience have learned the names of operas and songs whether they be in Italian, French, or German. This never happens in Russian so that any given song appears to have several names, depending upon the translator. So whether we call the song "It's so beautiful" or "It's good to be here", we can revel in the artists' depiction of wonder.

We particularly enjoyed "The Bird Cherry Tree" for its ardent appreciation and "Fountain" for the gorgeous piano of Maestro Muraco and Ms. Hamaoui's dynamic artistry. Her voice began limning the delicate cloud in pianissimo but grew in intensity as the fountain reached its "sacred height" and then returned to delicacy as it "fell back to earth".

Our notes for "At night in my garden" read "a plaint in a minor key". When we read the translation it was about a weeping willow crying bitter tears! Our notes for the final song "A-oo" read "anxious despair"; the song is about someone searching the wilderness for a loved one.  How effectively these two artists conveyed the emotions!

Since the 93-year-old Ned Rorem was being honored, we feel obliged to mention the set of his songs. Gertrude Stein's brief and punchy rhymed couplets in "I Am Rose" inspired a song we enjoyed. Robert Silliman Hillyer's "Early in the Morning" painted a lovely picture of Paris and we could almost taste the croissants. The other songs did not thrill us, but readers will recall that contemporary English poetry and American art songs rarely please us.  That being said, Ms. Hamaoui could sing a laundry list and give us pleasure!

The encore, Poulenc's "Les Chemins de l'Amour" was dedicated to Mr. Blair Boone-Migura and his husband.  It was performed at their wedding. We have no reservations about this song--the melody is unforgettable, the poetry accessible, and the performance delightful!

(c) meche kroop

LOOKING AT LOVE

Haodong Wu, Mary Rose Go, Rachel Selan, and Jing Yang

Most art songs seem to be about love. The poet writes something meaningful to him/herself; the composer can add another layer by virtue of the type of music she/he composes; the singer adds yet another layer according to the way he/she feels about the song; and finally, the listener brings her/his own experience which cannot help but affect the listening experience.

Last night we heard a "thinking woman's" recital at the National Opera Center, presented by Cantanti Project (the 3-year-old company that presented the highly original Orlando in February--review archived). Although most of the small opera companies about which we write have as their goals presenting opera in new ways for new audiences and providing performance opportunities for singers, each one seems to find its own niche.

Cantanti Project, according to its Artistic Director and Co-Founder Joyce Yin, aims to present recitals which pair two singers, each with her own repertoire, intertwining the two to explore one subject in depth and in a larger context. Singers submit their recital proposals individually. Last night's subject was love; songs about love were viewed through the lens of feminism, in its broadest sense.

The thoughtfulness of each singer was evident, not only in their choice of repertoire and their performance, but also in their eloquent essays which addressed their feelings about love. Coloratura soprano Mary Rose Go organized her program around The Practice of Love. In her essay she addressed the concept of women being conditioned to make love central to their lives. Since men are not socialized in the same manner, it is women who seem to make the sacrifices in marriage, an unequal partnership.

The world of romantic fantasy, obsession, and unhealthy attachment seemed to Ms. Go to ripple through Richard Strauss' Sechs Lieder, Op. 68. The answer to this unhealthy anxiety seems to be self-knowledge, reality and faith. These thoughts stayed in our mind as we listened to the six songs and we heard them in a new way.

Of course, there is nothing that delights us as much as "Amor" and Ms. Go's lively coloratura and expressiveness brought that blind rascal child right into the room! Haodong Wu's piano joined forces with Ms. Go to create a marvelous portrait.

The offering that she chose to close the program was the optimistic "Morgen", a great choice. But that was followed with Amy Beach's "Ah! Love but a day" which expresses the fear of love's fickle nature. We wish they had been performed the other way around.

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Selan chose as her topic Lost Love. As many times as we have heard Claude Debussy's Les Chansons de Bilitis, we never tire of it and always hear something new. It took a few hearings for us to realize that the three songs in the cycle describe three phases of love, all happening to the same woman. The innocence of "La Flute de Pan" and the sensuality of "La Chevelure" delight us; the last song "Le Tombeau des Naiades" always makes us sad about the decay of romance. Ms. Selan made clear the indifference of the man and the disappointment of the woman.

Jing Yang was her splendid collaborative pianist who had just the right touch for Debussy.

Ms. Selan also performed one of our favorite cycles, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; we cannot recall a woman performing this in recital although there are probably some recordings by women. The poet despairs over a lost love and tries to find consolation in nature. The melodies are aching and the harmonies disturbing.  We loved it.

We did not love Libby Larsen's Love after 1950. That period seems more remote than the 19th c.! Somehow we cannot relate to depilatory cream, razors, and bristly hair curlers as subjects for art song. It was funny to have a sort of rock and roll piano accompaniment to the song "Big Sister Says" but it sounded like anything but an art song. Ms. Larsen's particular experience did not generalize into something to which we could relate.

How interesting that neither singer thought of Schumann's Frauenliebe und leben.

That being said, it was good to have two women composers on the program!

(c) meche kroop

HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTES

Brenda Rae (photo by Kristin Hoebermann)

This is the sixth time we have reviewed the stunning soprano Brenda Rae (all reviews archived and searchable) and have never had a single negative opinion. Whether in recital or onstage as a scintillating or tragic heroine of an opera, she dazzles with her gentle charm, expressiveness, and compelling voice. It is never easy to definite in words what makes a vocal instrument uniquely affecting and we also acknowledge that everyone's ears hear things a bit differently.  Still, we have to say that Ms. Rae's voice has a special timbre that is exciting to hear. 

Last night at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, we heard Ms. Rae perform a recital with her highly tuned-in piano partner In Sun Suh. The choice of material and its expressive delivery drew us in until the music engulfed us.  It was at times an almost out-of-body experience.

Several songs on the program recalled to us the excellent recital she performed in Santa Fe, also with Ms. Suh. We have not changed our minds on this point: Ms. Rae and Richard Strauss were made for each other. Ms. Rae's obvious affection for the songs mirrored Strauss' affection for the soprano fach. 

Over years of paying attention in master classes, we have heard time and again the advice not to give it all away at the start. It was the subtle initiation Ms. Rae gave to "Die Nacht" that brought that to mind. The delicacy of her approach made the onset of dusk and the anxiety of losing one's lover all too clear. The vocal coloring was impressive. This would not be the first time we made note of her pianissimo! There was plenty of spell-binding without grandstanding.

Other songs revealed the excitement she brings to her expansive upper register with its tingly vibrato. For in "Befreit", accompanied by some gorgeous arpeggios in the piano,  she allowed her voice to expand to fill the emotion. Anxiety about loss can be quiet but the real loss of this song required passion and that we got.  Ms. Rae seems to be able to sustain the vocal tone and the emotional tone without apparent effort.

"Muttertanderlei" gave Ms. Rae the chance to have some fun, portraying a proud mother given to melismatic flights of maternal delight in her perfect child.  Continuing with the lighthearted mood, we heard a charming performance of "Schlagende Herzen" with its appreciation for young love.

Franz Liszt set texts of both German and French and Ms. Rae continued on a roll, as one might say. In"Comment disaient-ils" she colored her voice differently for the questioner and the female authority who responds succinctly and accurately.

In "Wie singt die Lerche schon", we loved the rising phrases of the vocal line against the rippling piano. "Oh! quand je dors", with its text by Victor Hugo, is one of Liszt's most expressive creations and last night we heard it anew.

Mozart's aria "Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio" was written to be interpolated into an opera by Pasquale Anfossi (not a rare practice at that time) . The opera was entitled Il Curioso Indiscreto; the plot concerns a woman rejecting the advances of a man, unaware that he has been sent by her intended to test her faithfulness. She is weakening and, in an impassioned cabaletta she requests divine relief from her suffering.

The tessitura for this aria is in the stratosphere but presented no challenge to our star soprano. She generated a lot of heat with her vocal fireworks and thrilled with her trill.

We heard a quartet of Debussy songs, our favorite of which was "Rondel chinois" with its orientalist flavor and a gorgeous vocalise for Ms. Rae to enjoy, and enjoy she did.  As did we! In "Pierrot" we liked the harsh way in which Ms. Suh rendered the appropriated French folk song. About Ms. Suh's playing, let us just say that we admire her soft hands and the quiet support she gave to Ms. Rae. This was the only moment when harshness was called for.

The program ended with five songs by the prolific Schubert. We were most interested in the Iberian inflected "Aus Diego Manazares" (also called "Ilmerine"), a short but pithy lament of longing in which the insistent piano imitates the guitar and the syncopated rhythms remind one of flamenco.

We always love to hear Schubert's strophic song "Du bist die Ruh"and were caught in a web of tranquility by the tender delivery of the artists.  The final song "Lied der Delphine" swelled with youthful passion and all its extravagance.

We were totally satisfied but joined the other greedy members of the audience in demanding an encore. Strauss' "Amor" is the perfect encore piece.  If the character Amor's wings caught fire it must have been from the vocal fireworks, so blazingly provided by Ms. Rae. This is a perfect encore piece for Ms. Rae. We have heard her sing it before. Which leads us to ask the question...why impair your wonderful interpretation with the use of a music stand when you know the piece so well? We hope Ms. Rae will keep that perfect encore piece polished and ready to go without the music stand.

(c) meche kroop

JOY AND MORE JOY IN SINGING

Jason Wirth and Marie Marquis

Joy in Singing has been celebrating art song for six decades, supporting young singers with master classes and competitions and bringing emerging artists to the public by means of recitals. The big news is that this non-profit foundation, founded by Winifred Cecil, is expanding its activities and will have master classes open to the public, additional SongSalon evenings in private homes (program directed by Maria Fattore), and increased educational and community outreach. Song lovers take note and keep yourself informed by visiting their website-- www.joyinsinging.org. Start thinking about what you may take from them and also what you might have to contribute.

We have been privileged to attend several of their events and are always thrilled to hear artists that we might have otherwise not heard, artists of exemplary quality.  Last night at Merkin Concert Hall we had exposure to two artists that we actually had heard before but we heard them in a new light.  Soprano Marie Marquis was seen and heard this past Halloween as part of Heartbeat Opera's concert of Mozart in drag (Queens of the Night), the review of which can be read by scrolling down a month's worth of reviews. Collaborative pianist Jason Wirth conducted Dido and Aeneas from the harpsichord for Utopia Opera, the review of which is also archived.  Both of these companies are among our favorites.

Ms. Marquis lacks nothing. Not only is she a major vocal talent but she has the beauty and poise to grace any stage. Her self presentation is that of a confident young woman with a natural elegance but no pretensions. Her presence is a warm and engaging one; she makes ample use of her expressive face but reserves her gestures for emotional moments that count.

It is difficult for us to get a good feel for a singer's instrument when they sing contemporary music in English so let us jump right to the encore, a song we know well and always love--Hugo Wolf's "Auch kleine Dinge", sung in fine German and with the requisite charm.  We could not have asked for a better performance.

The final set on the program comprised some highly passionate songs of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Six Romances, Op.38, the very last of his output of 85 songs. Rachmaninoff was at the top of his form here, offering powerful writing for piano and sensitive writing for the voice. Ms. Marquis and Mr. Wirth interpreted these masterpieces quite beautifully. "At Night in my Garden" has spare writing for the piano and evocative writing for the voice with the minor key giving it a mournful feel.

In contrast, "To Her", a song of yearning for an absent beloved, enjoyed lavish writing for the piano. The final song "A-oo"
has the same theme and the intense longing was conveyed by both voice and piano.

Two of the songs involved more cheerful coloration--the familiar "Daisies" with its rapid piano figures and "Ratcatcher" which gives the piano some frisky syncopated rhythms as it portrays the romantic piper.  "Dream" was appropriately ethereal and gave Ms. Marquis an opportunity for a short but lovely portamento close to the end.

Francis Poulenc's cycle La Courte Paille is filled with whimsy. "Le Sommeil", a gentle lullaby, was sung with consummate sweetness and "Quelle Aventure" conveys the wonder of childhood with wide leaps that Ms. Marquis negotiated with finesse.  Our favorites, however, were "Les Anges Musiciens" with its beautiful imagery and the clever "Le Carafon", which made us just want to say "AWWWW". "Lune d'Avril" expresses an anti-war sentiment and Mr. Wirth's piano went from forceful to peaceful.

Dominick Argento set texts from the Elizabethan era for his Six Elizabethan Songs and we think the poetry should have been left alone. The rhythm of the English language seems to dictate a vocal line that is not particularly melodic.  Clearly Ms. Marquis chose these songs because she loves to sing them but we did not love the listening experience.

Neither did we care for the French Renaissance poetry set by Wilhelm Killmayer in his Les Blasons Anatomiques du Corps Feminin, but we loved the sound of the old French and the way Ms. Marquis sang it. Just as we are very unhappy when a poor singer maims a song we love, so we can be made happy when a good singer shows us something worthwhile in a song we don't love!

Another of Mr. Killmayer's compositions made an appearance on the program--yet another setting of Heinrich Heine's famous poem "Die Loreley". Was he trying to outdo Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann whose settings capture different essences of this German fairytale? We do not know, but several dozen other composers have also tried their hand at it. We failed to see what Killmayer's attempt achieved.

John Masefield's "The Seal Man" reads like an interesting scary story but not exactly poetry and not offering much for composer Rebecca Clarke to add. The words get lost at the upper register which is a problem for almost all writing in English. In this genre, we far preferred Claude Debussy's setting of Leconte de Lisle's poem "Les Elfes". Ms. Marquis' facility with French--not just the pronunciation but the rhythm of the phrasing--ensured a more delightful experience of the macabre.

(c) meche kroop

DEBUSSY AND THE MOON

Maya Lahyani, Ben Laude, and Elad Kabilio

In six seasons, Elad Kabilio's MUSIC TALKS has become a most important feature of the music scene in New York City. If you have ever listened to chamber music in a large hall, feeling removed from the action and baffled by the academic language of the program notes, you will appreciate the unlimited pleasures of sitting in a casual and comfortable environment within a few feet of the performers and experiencing all the intimacy the composer intended.

We seem to be in the middle of a movement to bring good music to a new audience, an audience comprising people who love music--not just people who buy tickets to see someone with a "big name" or people who want something to do on a Saturday night.

We are not sure where this trend began but several years ago we attended several series of Rob Kapilow's WHAT MAKES IT GREAT? in which Maestro Kapilow took apart a beloved piece of music to teach us why it is great.

Mr. Kabilio is similarly an educator but he is also a fine musician with a great touch on the cello; he clearly adores performing and communicates this enthusiasm to his loyal followers. Every single show we have attended has taught us something about music and gotten us to hear it with fresh ears.

Now Mr. Kabilio has found just the right performance space with great acoustics and flexible seating, a place where one can feel right at home and relaxed in a way that fosters better listening, not note-taking.

Last night we learned a great deal about Debussy, a composer we have enjoyed but sort of taken for granted.  That has changed. We have been made aware of Debussy's place at the beginning of the 20th c., as part of a movement to connect with real people and life as it is lived, a movement seen in the visual arts among the Impressionists and in opera among the verismo composers.

The first piece performed by Mr. Kabilio and the versatile pianist Benjamin Laude (who also writes about music) was a Scherzo for Cello and Piano dating back to Debussy's student days (1882). The work is filled with enthusiasm and playfulness as the simple melody is tossed back and forth between the two instruments. There is much staccato playing on the piano and pizzicato playing on the cello. At this point, the young composer still had one foot in Romanticism.

The second offering was a piano solo from Preludes Book 1 of 1910 which was clearly inspired by Impressionism and by the wealth of new colors and rhythms Paris had been exposed to from the 1889 World's Fair.

From Preludes Book 2, composed shortly after, we heard "Brouillards", a subjective depiction of thick London fog in which the white keys are used to depict the image with the black keys used to illustrate the obscuring fog. The overall effect was one of anxiety. The pianism of Mr. Laude was outstanding.

These points were illustrated before the performance so that we in the audience would know what to listen for.  This pedagogical strategy was most effective!  Even understanding how a spacious feeling can be conveyed by intervals of an octave or fifths was helpful.

A waltz from 1910 was discussed in terms of nostalgia for the past vs. mocking of the past. Just listen to the delicious schmaltziness of the right hand and the subtle irony in the left! Another subtlety we would have missed!

This was all gravy to us, since it was mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani's performance of Trois Chansons de Bilitis that attracted us to attend this event. From her intense performance we learned something that went beyond words. We were familiar with the history of the poetry--poet Pierre Louÿs invented the fiction that his poetry was from Ancient Greece and written by a woman named Bilitis.

Debussy selected three out of 140 poems to set. They are snapshots taken from three periods in a woman's life. (We are reminded of Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben). In "La flûte de Pan" Ms. Lahyani conveyed the innocence of a young girl's first flirtation. The piano writing is in the Lydian Mode giving the work a mythic feel.

In "La chevelure", the sensual colors of her voice let us know that this woman was embarking on a serious romantic adventure. The chromaticism of the piano writing suggests the sensuality of the woman's cascading hair.

 In "Le tombeau des Naïades", there was the disillusionment that is felt when a man mocks his partner's dreams. It took Ms. Lahyani's consummate vocalism and dramatism to show us all this and we wondered why we'd never heard it before. We loved the way she colored her voice when the man was speaking. We were moved to tears by the universality of disillusionment springing from this very particular event. Major wow!

But the major wows were not over!  Oh, no! An original event occurred that left us wide-eyed in wonder. Israeli actor/dancer/mime Ido Rozenberg created a piece choreographed to the final selection on the program, Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor from 1915.  The character of Pierrot from commedia dell'arte was, at that time, somewhat of a cliché; Arnold Schoenberg had already written Pierrot Lunaire three years earlier. But from the pen of Debussy and the artistry of Mr. Rozenberg, everything seemed new and fresh.

In the Prologue, Pierrot contemplates the moon, for whom il est tombé amoureux.  Part II is a sérénade, in which the besotted but untalented Pierrot tries to win her love. Mr. Kabilio's cello is obliged to imitate some bad lute-playing. The finale is written in a pentatonic scale and shows Pierrot's disappointment and frustration.

To the best of our knowledge, this work has never before been performed with a dancer.  Leave it to Mr. Kabilio to come up with fresh ideas that help us hear music differently.

We have already cleared our calendar to attend the next Music Talks on November 30th. We have thrilled to soprano Larisa Martinez and the quartet of cellos that join her; but we hear this program of Bach in Brazil will be a new one.

(c) meche kroop