VOTING WITH OUR APPLAUSE

Warren Jones, Amy Owens, and Anthony Dean Griffey at George London Foundation Recital

We first heard the adorable coloratura soprano Amy Owens five years ago when she was an Apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera. She sang Zerbinetta's aria from Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and dazzled us with her high flying voice and presentation. Since then we have heard her at the George London Competition, with Steve Blier's New York Festival of Song, with New Amsteram Opera, and with On Site Opera. She excels at everything she does but we were particularly delighted to hear her reprise the role of Zerbinetta yesterday onstage at the Morgan Library. She absolutely owns that role! We wanted to hear it again right on the spot. 

Audiences let the artists know what they like best with their applause and we must say that the rest of the audience was as impressed as we were with her stage presence, acting, phrasing, and artistic use of her natural gift--a bright and clear instrument that is as flexible as it is sonorous.

The applause was not nearly as generous for Donald Waxman's Lovesongs for Soprano, Violin, and Piano. Ms. Owens used the detestable music stand, although she barely glanced at it. Perhaps the lack of musicality in the vocal line made it too difficult to commit to memory.

As is the case with post-Strauss art song, we found ourself listening more to Warren Jones' customary excellence at the piano and Cindy Wu's violin weaving through the piano part. We heard Ms. Owens' voice as just another instrument, a very pleasing instrument that was especially ethereal at the upper end of the register. Perhaps that is what Mr. Waxman intended but we prefer the human voice singing a melody.

The high tessitura of Darius Milhaud's Chansons de Ronsard presented no challenge to her. We enjoyed the sound of the French language and the way she used gesture to convey the various moods. 

Although Ms. Owens enjoys a wide variety of material, we feel singers do well to select works that highlight their special gifts. If we consider audience applause as votes, the Strauss won the day.

We had similar feelings for the performance of tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. We did not have the same opportunity to watch him "grow up". He was already famous when we heard him and we always associate him with the lead role in Britten's opera Peter Grimes.

Yesterday we enjoyed him best in a group of folk songs because of their melodic vocal lines. It was the first time we heard the strophic song "The Roving Gambler" and quickly decided that was our favorite. The situation of a man winning a woman away from her family of birth is one that is not tied to any epoch or ethnic group; it is something we can all relate to, one that evokes memories or anticipations. 

What struck us about Mr. Griffey's performance is how deeply he feels whatever he sings. One gets so caught up in the mood or the story he is telling that one almost forgets to notice the exquisite nature of his instrument. No matter how much labor went into polishing a performance it always feels spontaneous. That is no small gift!

We were less enchanted by Three Songs for Tenor, Cello, and Piano by Frank Bridge. We have on occasion enjoyed Bridge's songs but there was something about the poetry that dictated a vocal line of less than customary interest. We found ourselves listening more to the melodic line of David Heiss' cello as it wove through Mr. Warren's piano tapestry. 

That being said, Mr. Griffey's terrific timbre and expressive delivery made the most of what amounted to a monotonous vocal line. 

Mr. Griffey seemed to be personally invested in "Mitch's Aria" from André Previn's opera A Streetcar Named Desire, a Tennessee Williams play which never asked for music and never needed it. He also performed "Sam's Aria" from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah with great intensity.

Aside from the thrilling Strauss, our second favorite piece on the program was "The Song That Goes Like This" from Eric Idle's Spamalot. This clever duet is a meta-observation about songwriting and singing. The phrases are short and punchy; and they rhyme. Ms. Owens and Mr. Griffey gave it their all and the audience responded in kind.

The program ended with "You are Love" from Jerome Kern's Showboat. As far as music from the 20th c., we vote for American Musical Theater over pretentious "art song".

(c) meche kroop                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

LES BELLES ET LES BEAUX

Olivia Betzen and Sean Kroll

What an interesting concept to program a season whose theme was inspired by the writings of Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais! The excellent Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble generally comes up with a highly worthwhile summer season. The program is always a win-win situation. 

Young singers in the early stages of their careers get everything they need to advance to the next level.  They profit by coaching and collaboration, intense role preparation involving not only singing but dramatics, stage deportment, diction, and whatever else it takes to bridge the gap between academic training and flourishing career. All at no charge!

But the audience benefits as well.  One can purchase low-priced tickets and enjoy high-value entertainment.  Productions are often conceived with originality and flair. Take, for example, last nights concert which celebrated the characters created by Beaumarchais. For the rest of this week, we will be reviewing Paisiello's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Titus' Rosina. Something familiar, something unfamiliar, and something treasured since we started attending opera.

But the scenes and arias presented last night will not be heard again this season because they were selected to highlight the characters rather than the operas that we will be hearing. It was a broad ranging program which included some spoken dialogue from Beaumarchais' plays as well as music from the operas based on those plays.

We heard some fine voices that we will look forward to hearing more of for the next three nights. The results of the artists' hard work was quite evident. Everyone sang well and the diction, even in English, was well above average.

There were a few scenes that stood out. Chief among them was Jay Chacon's performance of "Ja för fan det" from Inger Wikstrom's Den Brottslige Moderne. We are completely unfamiliar with this opera but online search reveals only that it was composed in 1939 and the composer is a Swedish woman. It was a captivating performance and we will search further when the season ends and we have time. The aria was melodic and intense.  The vocal line followed the Swedish language in a way that contemporary American composers seem to be unable to achieve.

We also heard arias from Massenet's Chérubin which we have never seen performed. Elizabeth Bouk sang "Je suis gris" with high spirits and fine bright sound. Alessandra Altieri sang "Lorsque vous n'aurez rien à faire" from the same opera in fine French. But our personal favorite was the Spanish inflected "Vive amour" sung by Ashley Alden.

Selections were heard also from John Corigliano's  The Ghosts of Versailles. Christopher Lilley impressed with his powerful voice and cynical attitude in "The Aria of the Worm". He was equally repellent (dramatically) in "Bégearss and the Revolutionary Women".

From Rossini's version of the Barber of Seville, we heard "La calunnia" well sung by bass Michael Spaziani --cheek by jowl with Mozart's "In quegli anni" sung by Korland Simmons, a tenor with a nice ring to his voice. How interesting that the two composers conceived of the character of Don Basilio in such disparate fachs!.

We did not relate to Darius Milhaud's "La mère coupable"; this will not go down in our book as an opera we are dying to see!

But Rossini's magical sextet "Freddo ed immobile" always tickles us. The entire evening was directed by Desiree Alejandro with Jeremy Weissmann as pianist and music director.

We are very much looking forward to hearing all these excellent young artists for the next three nights. The performance space has excellent sight lines and acoustics. Check it out!  Nagelberg Theater at Baruch College. Very worth your while!

(c) meche kroop