SING FOR ME ARGENTINA!

Winners of the 13th Concurso Alejandro Cordero

On prior occasions we have visited the Americas Society to review young singers from the Instituto Superior de Arte, the training division of the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. This year we were already booked for the date of their concert, but thanks to the Consulate General of Argentina and their excellent cultural program, we were able to hear these fine singers in recital on a different date. 

We were on our way to Carnegie Hall and had just enough time to hear sopranos Romina Jofré,  Ivana Ledesma, and Marina Torres; mezzo-soprano Estefania Cap; and tenor Cristian Taleb. All were accompanied (and directed) by pianist Marcelo Ayub and joined by special guest baritone Mariano Gladic who rounded out the company. 

The artists were winners of the 13th Concurso Alejandro Cordero but they won our heart as well. The opening scene of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte is always enchanting, provided the voices are well balanced, which they were. This was a fine introduction to all of the singers except for Ms. Jofré who was introduced to us in the next selection.

"Je veux vivre" from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette is a showpiece for a coloratura soprano who can sparkle vocally and also convey the tragic heroine's youthful abandon. We particularly enjoyed Ms. Jofré's interpretation. She was equally excellent as Norina in "Quel guardo il cavaliere" from Donizetti's Don Pasquale demonstrating fine facility with the fioritura passages.

Later in the duet "Come s'en va contento" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore she was joined by Mr. Gladic in the role of Dulcamara.  Donizetti's melodies bounced from soprano to baritone to piano-- to excellent effect.

Mr. Gladic delighted us with "Votre toast" from Bizet's Carmen exhibiting a burnished baritonal sound. 

Tenor Cristian Taleb had a fine solo from Massenet's El Cid--"O souverain" was sung with fine French and fine feeling. He also sang a duet with Ms. Ledesma--"Toi! Vous!" from Massenet's Manon which was quite persuasive. Her voice and acting constituted an irresistible force meeting Mr. Taleb's almost immovable object.  Guess who won!

Mr. Taleb also had a duet with Ms. Torres--"Bimba dagli'occhi" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Mr. Taleb sang it with sincerity, not giving us a clue about Pinkerton's carelessness toward Cio Cio San's innocent love. Both singers had a good feeling for Puccini's phrasing and sustained the romantic mood. Ms. Torres impressed us with some beautifully floated notes.

Ms.Torres' soprano has enough weight to carry "Pace, pace" from Verdi's La Forza del Destino which was delivered with passion and depth of feeling. We enjoyed the variation of dynamics and an effectively rendered messa di voce. There were some lovely arpeggiated figures in the piano as well.

The program ended with Ms. Ledesma singing the beloved aria "Vilja, o Vilja" from Lehár's Die lustige Witwe, after which the entire cast joined in for "Ein flotter Ehestand" in which the flirtatious Count Danilo gets to flirt with all of the grisettes.

The singers were all superb but we have a minor complaint about the program. There was not a single song in Spanish!!! We were hoping to hear some zarzuela but that was not going to happen. Maybe next year!

© meche kroop

MORE FROM ARGENTINA

Natalia Suriano and Gonzalo Llanes Mena

Having just reviewed a recital of young singers from Argentina, we were very much in the mood to hear even more Argentinean music; so last night we showed up at the Consulate General of Argentina for a recital by two young artists from Argentina. This pair, unlike the visiting artists of the prior evening, are studying here in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.

The program was not operatic but rather composed of art songs and the audience comprised mainly Argentineans who were over the moon hearing songs of their homeland. If anyone but us was troubled by the singer's use of a music stand, one would never have known about it.

When the otherwise engaging tenor Gonzalo Llanes Mena looked at the audience we felt the connection that we so enjoy that makes a song come to life.  But every time he looked down at his score, that connection was broken. It was a short recital, just an hour, and we couldn't understand the reason for not memorizing the songs, since none of the works were modern or esoteric. Just sayin'!

Mr. LLanes Mena engaged the audience by explaining each song in his own inimitable and humorous style in charmingly accented English; this served to include audience members whose Spanish is less than fluent.

His sound is a sweet one but not a slight one, and he had the "garlic" to get across Tosti's "A vucchella", after explaining that Tosti loved all kind of women and this song about a dried-up flower was written about an elderly woman!

His German diction was fine in "Bist du bei mir", attributed to Bach but likely written by Stölzel; he certainly did not neglect the correct pronunciation of the "ch" sound. We wish we could say the same thing about his French diction in Reynaldo Hahn's "A Chloris" but we cannot; the even French line was nowhere to be found and several nasal vowels were mispronounced.

One cannot blame singers not born and raised in the USA for wanting to sing Broadway songs but they just sound peculiar to our ears when sung with a foreign accent.  We wonder what the native born French think of our American singers when they sing in French!  Actually, we don't wonder; we've been told that the French singing that we found acceptable was NOT music to French ears!

In any case, "Be My Love" (Brodzsky/Cahn) was on the program and our game tenor was joined by an excellent soprano, Anna Mayo, and they gave it their all. We do love good harmony and enjoyed the performance. Ms. Mayo has a brilliant voice and a smooth portamento that we admired.

Lerner and Loew's "On the Street Where You Live" was given a charming introduction and gave the superb collaborative pianist Natalia Suriano an elaborate piano arrangement into which she could sink her teeth, or rather her fingers.

It was no small delight that Ms. Suriano provided a piano solo of great distinction--selections from Enrique Granados' Escenas románticas. Our favorite of the three was the "Mazurca".  Perhaps it was only the rhythm that evoked our feeling but we would be surprised if Granados had not learned a great deal from Chopin's music.

Her playing of this melodic music was highly expressive and her fleet fingers met all the technical demands of the devilishly difficult "Lento con éxtasis".

The remainder of the program comprised popular songs of Argentina, likely from the 20th c. Our tenor sported a handsome poncho and ingratiatingly explained its usefulness. We particularly liked "Cuesta abajo" (Gardel/LePera), a tango from a film of the 1930's with the same title.

Suitable for this pre-Halloween week was "Zamba para la viuda", a ghost story which Mr. Llanes Mena explained for the audience.

We were fortunate to hear more from the songwriting team of Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera--the encore piece "Mi Buenos Aires Querido" in the tango rhythm for which that song writing team is famous. It was at this point that the packed house went wild with enthusiasm. We tried to imagine being an expat and hearing singers from the USA singing Broadway numbers.

No, there were no zarzuela arias but we left satisfied that we learned more about Argentinean song.

(c) meche kroop