HOW SWEET IT IS!

Lynnesha Crump, Sharon Sweet, Woo Young Yoon, Molly Burke, Spencer Hamlin, and Zaikuan Song

We almost always enjoy master classes. It is exciting to learn things we might not pick up on our own. We can feel personally satisfied with a singer's performance of an aria but when the master teacher makes some changes we hear the aria again and recognize what we may have missed the first time.

We are planning to attend as many Prelude to Performance master classes as possible this month to prepare ourself for the upcoming season at Hunter College--7/6-7/9. We love getting to know the singers better, to hear what they are capable of, and in what way they can improve their performance.

Legendary soprano Martina Arroyo knows how to select the very best master teachers. It was truly a coup to enlist another legendary soprano Sharon Sweet to teach these five impressive artists who are now headed for major careers--at least, that is our opinion! Some master teachers make nice and fall all over themselves complimenting the students and just tentatively offering some little change "to see if it works" for them.

Not so Ms. Sweet! With high spirits and great humor, she "calls 'em as she sees 'em". She is direct but never offensive. The best support one can give, after all is said and done, is honest feedback. All five of last night's students profited greatly from the work they did with Ms. Sweet. There was no "boilerplate" that was given to all.  Each singer got something special and unique.

Woo Young Yoon sang first with "La fleur que tu m'avais jetee" from Bizet's Carmen. His sweet ping-y lyric tenor grabbed us from the first note and held us captive 'til the end. But in the process of his highly individual instruction, he and we both learned something new that took the performance to a new level.

We had never heard the phrases "onset" and "offset" but they deal with the initiation of a phrase without "scooping" and the ending of a phrase without trailing off.  Also, there are places in the line where the singer must not take a large inhalation but rather permit a subtle release of the abdominal muscles. When one does take a full inhalation, think about the entire phrase. Ms. Sweet does not speak of "legato" but rather of singing a phrase horizontally, not vertically. We understood exactly what she meant.  Great advice!

Soprano Lynnesha Crump blew us away with "Senza mamma" from Puccini's Suor Angelica, one of the operas to be performed in July. Ms. Sweet asked her to create a backstory for Angelica and to portray the vulnerability of a woman who has just been shocked and grief stricken to learn that her illegitimate son has died, and also disappointed that the visit from La Principessa had a cold, rejecting, and strictly practical object. 

Ms. Crump was urged to get down on the floor and to feel her inner thoughts. We were blown away with twice the force! And there was a technical issue that we would hear again later--using the tongue to articulate, not the jaw.

Just imagine two fine tenors in the same class. Spencer Hamlin, who will be singing Renuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi during the July season, gave us a foretaste with "Avete torto...Firenze e come un albero fiorito". Mr. Hamlin possesses a fine squillo but sounded even better after his work with Ms. Sweet.

He was advised to take his time in the recit whilst scolding his squabbling family. There was a lot of emphasis on rhythm. Dotted 1/8 notes are not to be sung like triplets. Grace notes must be brought out. He was also urged to sing the aria with his hands in his pockets, acting solely with his face and his voice. We heard about the jaw again as well. And we heard some general tips about never clearing the throat or drinking water, both of which are abrasive to the vocal cords..

Zaikuan Song performed Leporello's "Catalogue Aria" from Mozart's Don Giovanni and was admonished to pay more attention to the rhythmic markings, i.e. singing the "ma" off the beat. It is necessary to count the beats carefully in Mozart! Also we heard a suggestion about double consonants which are best sung connected to the subsequent vowel. Mr. Song came prepared with his "catalog" in hand which the audience loved. Ms. Sweet urged him to act less with his body and more with his voice, for example in the repeating phrase "La piccina, la piccina, la piccina". Mr. Song (how well named he is!) has a wonderfully full bass and we are looking forward to hearing his Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen during the July season.

Last on the program was mezzo-soprano Molly Burke who performed "Acerba Volutta" from Francesco Cilea's verismo opera Adriana Lecouvreur. Her voice struck us as a force of nature with a future in Wagner. (Let us hope!) Her performance launched a valuable discussion of using the head voice, and of not being afraid of the passaggi. She was given vocal exercises to deal with the descent from pure head voice and taught how to move the same amount of air faster. The other great tip was to create space for the highest note in a phrase during the inhalation. The singer needs to start with the palate elevated.

There was one exercise that seemed helpful for all the singers--the lip trill. Singers can practice doing a phrase with the lip trill before adding the words.  They can learn thereby when and where they run out of breath.

Accompanist for the evening was Dan K. Kurland who was ready, willing, and very very able.

(c) meche kroop

MS.BOTTOMS IS THE TOPS

Jenni Seo and Amanda Lynn Bottoms (Dan K. Kurland at the piano)

We have written about mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms at least ten times in the past couple of years, predominantly about her appearances with Steven Blier's cabaret evenings, with a couple brief roles in a couple of operas, and a star turn as Carmen in a recent master class. She has always impressed us with her warm dusky soprano and elegant stage presence. But last night's recital at Juilliard, in honor of her Master of Music degree, showed us fresh aspects of her artistry.

Prior commitments kept us from enjoying the entire recital, but the hour we spent listening to Ms. Bottoms brought us joy and terror. Let us start with the terror because it was a very special terror.  How rare to hear a woman tackle Schubert's "Erlkonig"! How successfully she performed it!  Goethe's text is replete with supernatural horror but the work needs both a dramatically skilled singer and  aggressive hands on the piano.

Ms. Bottoms revealed herself to be a consummate storyteller, coloring her voice four different ways to bring to life each character. Moreover, her body language and facial expression were brought to bear on the individuation. When the titular character spoke, our blood ran cold, our hairs stood at attention, and we shivered.  Now that's a performance! Dan Kurland's vigorous piano added yet another dimension. We doubt we will hear the like again and we don't think we will ever forget those few minutes of horror.

Truth to tell, we did not comprehend Ms. Bottom's introduction to the set of three songs asserting that they were related. The first of the set was a beautifully sung piece by Dvorak about a broken heart; it brought Russalka's "Song to the Moon" to mind. The third of the set was "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" from Mahler's Ruckert-Lieder. It was also beautifully interpreted but we were still living in the Goethe and had been denied the release of applause!

A pair of songs by Brahms (Zwei Gesange, Op.91) were accompanied by the viola of Jenni Seo. The poor viola is largely overlooked and unfairly maligned. Ms. Seo was playing largely in the lower range of the instrument and it sounded like a less mellow cello. Our favorite was the lullaby "Geistliches Wiegenlied". The haunting oft-repeated motif ensures that the song will stay in one's ear for at least the remainder of the day. It was sung with appropriate tenderness.

Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis stand in a special place in our affection, especially "La Chevelure", the first and most romantic of the set. Ms. Bottoms sang it so wonderfully we wanted her to sing the rest, allowing her skill at coloring and phrasing to tell the entire story, but we will have to wait for that gift.

Instead we heard "La Fraicheur et le Feu" with the typical surreal text that Poulenc liked to set.

At this point we had to leave for the opera and missed the closing spirituals.

We had thought twice about racing up to Juilliard to experience just a part of a recital but we wouldn't have missed the experience for the world.

(c) meche kroop

MILES TO GO

Dan K. Kurland and Miles Mykkanen

Tenor Miles Mykkanen is mature beyond his years and versatile beyond belief. We have had the pleasure of hearing him sing and witnessing his compelling performances for several years now and are always astonished.  Yesterday he presented a recital at Juilliard as partial fulfillment of the requirements for his M.M. degree.  Importantly, it fulfilled all the requirements of audience engagement.

Our favorite parts of the program were the beginning and the end although there were delights aplenty in between. Ever since Lachlan Glen's perusal of all 600+ of Schubert's lieder output we have been more than usually excited when we see the name of this liedermeister on a program.

Mr. Mykkanen's three choices were perfect for his unique voice and style.  The lilting "Ganymed" is filled with rapture and left us with rapturous feelings. The tender "Der Vater mit dem Kind" was no less wonderful.  But it was the well-known "Erlkönig" that knocked our socks off.  The young artists at Juilliard have spoiled us for other performances with the intensity of their dramatic involvement but Mr. Mykkanen's performance was beyond.

He employed his impressive instrument with different colors for the narrator, the frightened child, the reassuring father and the deceitful Erlkönig. But he somehow managed to alter the colors from one verse to the next as the child becomes more terrified, the father in greater denial, and the Erlkönig nastier. This was the work of a true artist of the stage and Mr. Kurland's piano kept up with him every step of the way. We confess to being overwhelmed. We give credit to Goethe's poetry and Schubert's music, of course.

The following set, which Mr. Mykkanen thoughtfully introduced, comprised three selections from Benjamin Britten's Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo. These were written for Michelangelo's young male lover and Britten set them for his male partner, tenor Peter Pears. They were so passionately sung that one would think they were written for Mr. Mykkanen.

Having sung in such perfect German and Italian, Mr. Mykkanen moved on to French, also perfectly sung.  We heard Albert Roussel's "Sarabande", Gabriel Fauré's "Clair de lune" and Claude Debussy's "Le jet d'eau". French songs can sometimes sound a bit effete but not here!  Mr. Kurland's piano added to the magic with pictorializations of fountains and moonlight.

Mr. Mykkanen is one of the few singers whose English diction is likewise perfect. "Ain't it a pretty night" from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah was an unusual choice but made perfect sense as the longing Mr. Mykkanen experienced to move to New York City.

It was the closing set of Sondheim songs that best illustrated Mr. Mykkanen's versatility and the influence of Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song. When sung without amplification, we accept Mr. Sondheim as composer of 20th c. operas and his songs can stand next to those of the old masters of the 19th c. (Mr. Sondheim may see things differently).

We were treated to a few songs from Sunday in the Park with George--"Putting it Together" was a bit revised to indicate that the art of which Mr. Mykkanen sang was the art of making music, not painting. No harm was done!  "Finishing the Hat" and "Move On" were equally excellent.

We particularly enjoyed songs from Company--"The Little Things You Do Together" and Mr. Mykkanen's encore "Being Alive".

But there were two songs about children that captured our heart--"The Glamorous Life" from A Little Night Music in which Mr. Mykkanen was able to illustrate both the pride a child has in a famous mother and also the loneliness.  And then the cautionary "Children Will Listen" from Into the Woods.

Mr. Mykkanen, as versatile as he is, can look forward to a major career whether he chooses opera, recital or Broadway.  Everything he sings is golden and he knows how to get a song across.  Once you hear him he is unforgettable!

(c) meche kroop

COME TO THE CABARET

Front Row:  Alex McKissick and Miles Mykkanen  --  Back Row: Nicolette Mavroleon, Lacey Jo Benter, Angela Vallone, Elliott Carlton Hines, Dan K. Kurland, Michael Chiarello

The Juilliard Vocal Arts Department is not just about opera, just in case you didn't know.  The talented artists who call that department home are equally adept at contemporary music, and we don't mean those tedious unmusical settings of awful poetry.  We mean lively American songs that relate to contemporary experience, the kind of songs that singers of lesser talent perform with (yikes!) amplification.  Not these artists!  Their glorious and finely trained voices just sang it out.

The songs were well curated to reflect the kinds of things we are interested in--love, fulfilled and frustrated, and life in our wonderful city in all its glory and occasionally loathsome complexity.  The black box theater was bare except for a quartet of cafe tables, chairs and two step ladders.  Jeanne Slater can be credited with some mighty fine directing and choreography. 

The ensemble got the evening off to a rip-roaring start.  We loved the manner in which they performed Stephen Sondheim's "Another Hundred People" from Company; the energy level was through the roof and conveyed all the excitement of life in the Big Apple.  "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup" from John Kander and Fred Ebb's 70, Girls 70 likewise expressed the frantic nature of New York existence in a most charming way.

Tenors Miles Mykkanen and Alex McKissick were joined by baritone Elliott Carlton Hines for the delightful trio "One Track Mind" from Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia's Sweet Smell of Success.  Sopranos Nicolette Mavroleon and Angela Vallone joined voices with mezzo Lacey Jo Benter for a very funny rendition of "Forget About the Boy" from Thoroughly Modern Millie by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan.  The interactions were so well directed it felt like overhearing your friends.  What woman has not tried to console a broken-hearted BFF who was dumped by some guy!

The duets were equally inspired.  One could chuckle over the friendship between Mr. McKissick and Ms. Vallone as she tried to talk him out of making a fool of himself in "Coffee" from Joshua Salzman and Ryan Cunningham's I Love You Because.  The touching "What Do We Do It For?" from the same show was movingly performed by Ms. Benter and Mr. Mykkanen.

Solos were not neglected.  From Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights, Ms. Mavroleon used her excellent voice to sing "It Won't be Long Now" and Mr. Hines used his fine baritone to sing the romantic "When I First Saw You" from Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen's Dreamgirls.

On the funnier side, the marvelous Mr. Mykkanen was all over the stage with "The Life of the Party" from Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party.  He truly IS the life of the party and the ensemble joining him for "Wild, Wild Party" seemed totally organic as if his performance had roused them.

Mr. McKissick's fine solo was the defensive "What Do I Need with Love" from Thoroughly Modern Millie; Ms. Benter's solo told a wonderful story about what women face in "Expectations of a Man" by Joathan Reid Gealt, but her story had a twist at the end.  Ms. Vallone sang the moving and satisfying "A Way Back to Then" from Jeff Bowen's [title of show].

There were other ensemble pieces that we will cherish long after the evening has passed: "West End Avenue" from Stephen Schwartz' The Magic Show  which struck very close to home (so to speak) and Sondheim's "What More Do I Need" from Saturday Night.  And from his Merrily We Roll Along the song "Our Time" closed the evening in fine style.  For these impressive artists, it truly is "their time".

Excellent accompaniment was provided by Musical Director Dan K. Kurland at the piano with Michael Chiarello on bass and Andrew Funcheon on drums.  By the end of the show we were grinning from ear to ear and suffused with good feelings.  So superb was this show that it could be transplanted intact to Broadway.  Now why didn't someone think of that!

© meche kroop

LIEDER ARE FOR LOVERS

Our favorite hang

It is impossible to sit in Paul Hall at Juilliard during one of the liederabend without feeling grateful for the opportunity to hear the stars of tomorrow and being impressed by the quality of the talent.  These young artists are already performing professionally around the USA and abroad and/or recording.  We have them right here to enjoy and the recitals are free.  Take that, Cleveland!

Last night's program was bookended by barihunks.  Philip Stoddard, partnered by pianist Jung A. Bang opened with four selections from Mahler's Rückert-Lieder, performed with consummate sensitivity and musicality.  In "Ich atmet' einen linden Duft" one could sense the aroma in the air.  And just listen to what Mr. Stoddard did with the word "frühling"!  This delicacy was followed by the wry mood of "Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder" and the solitude of "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".  We were totally transported by the variety of moods.  The lovely Ms. Bang has an equally sensitive light touch on the keys.

Partnered by Kyung Hee Kim, soprano Lindsey Nakatani used her bright soprano to perform Walzer Gesänge by Alexander Zemlinsky, settings of poetry by Ferdinand Gregorovius which Ms. Nakatani translated herself.  These are songs with which we wish to become better acquainted.

We have heard Mr. Bielfield and his superb tenor several times before and it was exciting to see him grow in a new direction, performing two selections from Liszt's Tre Sonetti di Petrarca.  With excellent support from pianist Ari Livne he conveyed the anxiety and the passion of the poet in "Pace non trovo". 

Soprano Lilla Heinrich-Szász sang Sechs Lieder, Op. 48 of Edvard Grieg accompanied by Dan K. Kurland, a fine partnership if we ever heard one.  Many moods were expressed and we especially enjoyed the lighthearted "Lauf der Welt" and "Die verschwiegene Nachtigall" and the always lovely "Ein Traum".  Ms. Heinrich-Szász will have the stage to herself Saturday night at 8:30 and we will be there.

Soprano Lara Secord-Haid and pianist Art Williford sang four selections from Enrique Granados' Canciones Amatorias.  We always welcome the opportunity to hear Spanish songs and these were lovely.

Baritone Emmett O'Hanlon closed the program with some American songs, stepping out of the late 19th c. from whence came the other songs on the program.  Piano partner Lachlan Glen, well known from Schubert&Co's year long perusal of all of Schubert's 600+ songs, showed us a different aspect of his pianistic skills in the songs by Charles Ives which Mr. O'Hanlon sang with fine technique and depth of feeling.  The optimistic "He is there!" contrasted with the sad "In Flanders Fields".  In the former, flutist Daniel James added his silvery voice.  But it was in the final song that Mr. O'Hanlon was the most moving,  Lee Hoiby's setting of "Last Letter Home", an actual letter by Pfc. Jesse Givens who apparently lost his life in service to our country.  It was difficult to hold back the tears.

Let it be noted that the singers were all involved with their material and connected with the audience; they stepped forward away from the piano and used their entire bodies to convey the meaning of the song.  We have complained often about famous singers who hang onto the piano or who have not memorized the music and are so pleased to know that these young singers are not falling into those dreaded habits.

Mr. Stoddard's graduation recital will be April 8th at 8PM so if you missed his superb performance last night you will get another opportunity.

© meche kroop