THE LOVES OF A POET

Nathaniel  LaNasa and Xiaoming Tian at Elabash Recital Hall

What does it take to hold an audience spellbound for a half hour?  You could easily answer that question if you attended the recital yesterday of baritone Xiaoming Tian working in harmonious collaboration with pianist Nathaniel LaNasa.  Not only were we held spellbound but we scarcely breathed. Mr. Tian, presently finishing up his Ph.D. and Doctorate of Music at The Graduate Center of City University of New York, took us on a journey involving the present moment colored by memories of lost love.  There was a lot of catharsis going on!

It is important for a recitalist to choose good material, songs that he can inhabit or wear (like the stylish suit he chose). Perhaps it was just great acting, but it seemed as if Mr. Tian was living through the panoply of emotions contained in Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe, Op. 48. Composed in 1840, the cycle comprises a selection of text from Heinrich Heine's 1823 Lyrisches Intermezzo, reordered to suit the composer's vision.

So, the raw materials are all there, with Schumann's memorably melodic vocal lines, his intuitive connection with the text, and Heine's remarkable poetry. (If only we had such poetry today to inspire contemporary composers!) The piano writing expands upon the mood of the text, comments upon it, and occasionally expresses what the poet cannot say in words.

Given these ingredients, it takes a consummate artist to let the text and music speak/sing for themselves. Mr. Tian is such an artist. He is free of excess and does not bombard the audience with special effects.  Rather, he creates a mood that draws the audience in.

We are never able to select our favorite song from among the sixteen but there is one that we always pay attention to because the singer can perform it any number of ways.  That song is "Ich grolle nicht" in which the poet begins by denying his anger at the woman who abandoned him.  By the end of the song his fury emerges. Many singers begin with irony but Mr. Tian began quietly and let the rage build up to a terrifying explosion. We were enthralled.

The slow tempo of "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen" provided expansive room for an emotional introspection.  Mr. LaNasa made sure we could hear the murmuring of the consoling flowers.

"Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" was notable for Mr. Tian's storytelling gifts. In this case, he was more generous with his gestures to illustrate the confusing nature of the text.

Leaving aside Mr. Tian's interpretive gifts, we cannot end without commenting on the velvety tone of his instrument, the richness of the timbre, the musicality of his phrasing, and the accuracy of his German. Diphthongs were perfect and consonants were crisp.

We first heard this fine artist in 2014 at a Classic Lyric Arts Gala and have heard his magnificent Masters of Music recital at Manhattan School of Music, and another recital at The Graduate Center of City University of New York. He has never disappointed us.  He is a young artist to watch!

We hope the artists will forgive us for departing after the Schumann.  We were rather emotional and wanted to preserve the melancholy mood and to process our memories.  That's just how powerful the experience was!

(c) meche kroop

FROM CELLAR TO SANCTUARY

Katelan Terrell, Michal Biel, Marie Engle and Äneas Humm in Songs from the Cellar

Before we tell you about one of the best art song recitals we have ever seen, we have some exciting news about the venue, shared by Alessandro Pittorino, Executive Director of Arts at Blessed Sacrament Church. 

The church has acquired a magnificent Steinway piano in the sanctuary so that recitals can be held there instead of in the cozy cellar. We had no beefs about the cellar but the acoustics in the sanctuary are undeniably better. And the piano has a particularly fine sound, especially as played by our two collaborative pianists Katelan Terrell and Michal Biel.

We have heard Robert Schumann's song cycles more times than we can count but we cannot recall hearing them performed better. The program began with mezzo-soprano Marie Engle, who sounds like eine engel, performing Frauenliebe und -Leben in partnership with Ms. Terrell. Perhaps it is our imagination, but having two women performing the cycle added a new dimension and kinda sorta made up for the fact that the text, written in 1830 by Adelbert von Chamisso and then set within the decade by Robert Schumann, involved men!

We do not know whether this was the poet's interpretation of a woman's life and loves or whether this was culturally accurate but the content would have us believe that a woman's life begins when she meets her future husband and ends when he dies! Nothing happens in between childbirth and widowhood!

In order to enjoy the many pleasures of the cycle, one has to set aside our contemporary view of female equality and self-fulfillment. The middle of the 20th c. seems just as remote as the 19th c.  Just ask your mothers and grandmothers!

The pleasures of the cycle are the perfect union of text and music and the marriage of vocal line to piano accompaniment. Last night, the extra pleasure was experiencing the many moods of the subject which our performing artists conveyed with consummate communicative skill.

"Seit ich ihn gesehen" is filled with wonder, bordering on awe. "Er, der Herrlichste von allen" is replete with excitement as the girl idealizes her beloved. In "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben", she is overwhelmed by being the chosen one. In "Du Ring an meinem Finger" she expresses her exalted intent (like Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier) to devote herself fully to her husband; the ring symbolizes the husband-to-be. 

In "Helft mir, ihr Schwestern", the piano provides a wedding march for the girl's special day. In "Süßer Freund" she becomes more solemn as she hints to her husband that she is pregnant. We were enjoying Ms. Engle's word coloring all along but there was something special she did with "lust". The tempo increased as did the woman's heartbeat.  Yes, she has gone from girl to woman.

Her excitement over nursing her infant in "An meinem Herzen" seemed ecstatic--almost delirious.  And then....hubby dies. The terrible chord in the piano announces the shock and the woman experiences that frightening mixture of grief and anger that is so common in loss. Ms. Engle's coloring of the word "leer" (empty) gave us cold chills with its subtle alteration of vibrato. The piano postlude recalls the first time the woman laid eyes upon the man. 

We were left shaken, no longer scoffing at the archaic nature of the text. This was completely due to the intense involvement of Ms. Engle and Ms. Terrell. We might add that Ms. Engle's German was perfect and so clearly enunciated that we didn't miss a word. Titles were superfluous.

The second half of the program comprised a performance of Schumann's Dichterliebe, the likes of which we have never heard. Swiss baritone Äneas Humm came to our attention through the German Forum when he was but 20 years old and already famous in Europe. We loved his voice and communicative skills 3 years ago but we have noted an impressive development in the texture of his voice after just one year at Juilliard, where he studies with Edith Wien. His voice filled the sanctuary with overtones.

We have reviewed Dichterliebe half a dozen times within the year and three times within the past month!  We have not tired of it because each singer has offered a different interpretation. This is one of the distinguishing features of a great work of art. Mr. Humm's very personal interpretation was fully in the present. This was not a reflective summation of a love affair gone wrong. Mr. Humm seemed to be experiencing the events in the moment. Mr. Biel's piano supported that interpretation.

In "Im wonderschönen Monat Mai", the poet suffers from limerence but Michal Biel's piano hinted at a less sanguine reality. The vocal line trailed off unresolved and we began to hear some anxiety in "Aus meinen Tränen sprießen". The subject idealizes his beloved with intense excitement in "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne".

We loved the change of color with which Mr. Humm invested the voice of the beloved as she professes her love in the phrase "Ich liebe dich".  This is how the subject wants to hear it!

Things got dark in "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome" when the subject became serious, spooked out by seeing the beloved's face in an inappropriate place (a portrait of the Virgin in the cathedral). The dark colors of Mr. Humm's lower register struck deep.

"Ich grolle nicht" is the song of the cycle in which we have heard the most variety. The subject seems to be keeping a stiff upper lip but the piano lets us hear the depth of his suffering. Mr. Humm artistically portrayed the melange of anger, bitterness, and pain.

"Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen" involved unadulterated bitterness with Mr. Biel's piano adding much emotional tone. His piano gave us brief respite in the gentle "Hör ich das Liedchen klingen" before the renewed bitterness and irony of "Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" which was introduced by a jaunty piano tune.

Another highlight of the cycle was "Ich hab' im Traum geweinet" which began with a capella voice and was then punctuated by portentous chords. We also loved the twist at the end of "Allnächtlich im Traume".

Mr. Biel's descending arpeggi in "Die alten, bösen Lieder" served to highlight the subject's attempt to find closure by sinking a coffin filled with his old love songs into the waters of the Rhein. Was this just adolescent hyperbole?

We have read that the poet Heinrich Heine was satirizing Romanticism but we are not sure. That is what is so special about Schumann's setting and the singer's interpretive skills. That is the reason why we can hear this cycle several times in a month and not get bored!

Mr. Humm and Mr. Biel took us on an exhaustive emotional journey through joy and excitement to anger, bitterness, and despair, with a final acceptance. Fortunately we were not to be left in gloom.  Oh, no. There was a perfectly upbeat duet in which Schumann set a charming folksong "Wenn ich ein vöglein wär" performed by the two singers and piano four-hands. Somehow we were reminded of Brahms, which is always a good association.

"Songs from the Cellar" has gotten off to an impressive start, with all the artists coming from Juilliard. Ms. Terrell and Mr. Biel are the Co-coordinators of this art song series. The two have come a long way in one short season by providing top quality entertainment and artistry for the Upper West Side Community. We have watched with great pleasure the growth of the audience. We don't know yet whether they will change the name of the series to "Songs from the Sanctuary". It doesn't matter what they call it; it is worth your while.

We can barely wait for the Autumn season and promise to keep you informed.

(c) meche kroop

 

THE MELODY LINGERS ON

Melody Fader and Richard Cox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melody Fader's parents made the perfect choice when they named their daughter.  Not only is she a superb musician but she leans toward composers who love melody. This is an artist after our own heart.

Every time we attend a liederabend at Juilliard and witness a singer and collaborative pianist who work very well together, we wonder whether they will stay together as a performing unit.  Yesterday's concert of Melody and Company Chamber Series at West End Collegiate Church gave us an answer to that question.

Ms. Fader and tenor Richard Cox attended Juilliard at the same time--he in the Vocal Arts Department and she in the Collaborative Piano Department. They did indeed perform together and had discussed performing Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe together some day.  Well, yesterday was that day!  And we were delighted to have been included as a member of the audience.

Ms. Fader's audience has been growing exponentially as word gets around of her excellent recitals around the New York area and abroad. She is renowned as a soloist, collaborative pianist, chamber musician, and recording artist. She also plays for a number of ballet companies. The size of the crowd greatly exceeded the number of programs printed but Mr. Cox's German diction was so crisp that we missed not a single word.

Mr. Cox has been the recipient of awards from many of our favorite foundations, including Opera Index, The George London Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and others.

Dichterliebe is a cycle of songs that plumbs the depths and heights of romantic love. Schumann selected 16 from Heinrich Heine's group of 65 poems. The initial ones express hope and anticipation of fulfillment but as the cycle continues, bitter disappointment emerges until the poet requires an enormous casket in which to bury the songs and his sorrow.

Ms. Fader was the perfect partner for Mr. Cox's plangent instrument. They used a variety of color and a sympathy of phrasing to elicit an entire spectrum of emotions from tenderness to grief to bitterness, irony and despair. We particularly enjoyed the "hurdy-gurdy" feeling of "Das ist ein Floten und Geigen" and the irony of "Ein Jungling liebt ein Madchen".

Our only quibble concerns the use of the detested (by us) music stand. Yes, we do realize that singers may be preparing more than one concert or role at the same time but we still find it a disruption in the artist-audience connection.

The other half of the program was Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat Major performed by Ms. Fader and the Momenta Quartet which comprises violinists Emilie-Anne Gendron and Alex Shiozaki, violist Stephanie Griffin and cellist Michael Haas. They have a lovely warm sound perfectly suited to Schumann.

The allegro movement began with a brief introduction and moved into a glorious opening theme in the piano, quickly picked up by the violins and then the cello.  There were moments when Ms. Fader's piano produced a volley of rushing notes, generating quite a bit of excitement. The development section was inexhaustible in its invention. There seemed to be a brief and forceful motif occurring between themes. There was a wonderful sense of completion when the opening themes were recapitulated.

The leisurely march which followed reminded us of a funeral march. The key was minor, the melody plaintive and haunting, and the occasional dissonance arresting. There was a sweet central section before the first theme returned with passion and an angry outpouring from the viola.

The scherzo was one of perpetual motion with ascending and descending scales as Ms. Fader's fingers literally flew up and down the keys. The final movement kept up the pace until the very end with spirited forward motion and some interesting piano work at the lower end of the keyboard.

The work is one of our three favorite piano quintets, the others belonging to Brahms and Dvorak. We were delighted to hear it up close and personal with such a fine group of musicians.

GERMAN AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE SUNG

Henry Meyer-Oertel, Aeneas Humm, Magda Gartner, Babette Hierholzer

It was a special evening.  It was a VERY special evening. It was a most rewarding lieder recital given by the German Forum at the lovely home of German Consul General Brita Wagener, 42 stories above the congested streets of midtown Manhattan. 

There are two very special qualities to appreciate about the German Forum. One is the valuable performance opportunities they provide for German speaking young artists; the other is the valuable entertainment and stimulation they provide for their members and guests. Membership comes at a modest cost and the socializing before and after the recital is always gemütlich, whether one is German or not.

Last night's recital brought back two gifted artists whom we reviewed last February (review archived); we were thrilled for the chance to hear them again. The program comprised both lieder and opera duets.

Mezzo-soprano Magda Gartner opened the program with Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben, a highly dramatic song cycle he composed in 1840, just ten years after Adelbert von Chamisso wrote the poetry. We don't care that the poetry has been criticized for taking the position that a woman's life revolves around a man. This was written in the 19th c. and such was often the case. Listening to the text gives us insight into "a woman's love and life".  Indeed!

But listening to the music provides emotional content which amplifies our experience. Schumann's writing conveys many aspects of love, as it grows from childlike adoration to mature acceptance of the responsibilities of love, the satisfaction of motherhood, and eventually to the pain of loss.

It is up to the singer and collaborative pianist to show what the poet tells. Each time we hear this cycle we hear something new, as one tends to do with great music. Last night, Babette Hierholzer, Artistic Director of the German Forum,  accompanied mezzo-soprano Magda Gartner in a fine performance of the cycle.

Ms. Gartner's voice has a lovely caramel-toned timbre that she employs well with apt phrasing and lots of feeling. The frivolity of an infatuated young girl gave way to the serious consideration of the responsibilities of marriage. The ambivalent joys of the wedding day yielded to the unambivalent joys of motherhood. A new roundness of tone crept into Ms. Gartner's voice.  The hollow barrenness of widowhood in the final song was relieved by the postlude in the piano which reflected back to the beginning joy.

Ms. Gartner has a firm hand on all these colors; we sense that she is on the right track with her interpretation and that she will continue to develop even more subtleties of coloration.

We were as excited to hear an undiscovered lied as Ms. Gartner had been to find the score--in a flohmarkt, of all places!  Composer Robert Fischhof (1856-1918) came from a Viennese family with musical talent on both sides. He studied with Bruckner and Liszt, but his voice is his own. 

Ms. Gartner committed herself completely to his "Stark wie der Tod" which challenged the very bottom of her register but did not defeat it. The sentiments of poet Theodor Salzburg-Falkenstein came across beautifully and the vocal line swelled to a glorious climax.  We wanted more from this all-but-forgotten composer!

Taking over for the second half of the program was baritone Aeneas Humm, a youth of twenty years with a mature instrument that belies his tender years. Already famous in the German speaking world, his talent has been recognized and celebrated abroad. Here in New York City, this is only our second time hearing him but it surely won't be the last.

He chose to perform selections from Schumann's Dichterliebe, a cycle of songs about a poet's love, with text by Heinrich Heine. This cycle also requires many changes of vocal color as the poet moves from hopefulness to ecstasy and adoration of the beloved. Mr. Humm colored his voice darkly for the lower register of "Im Rhein, im schönen Strome" and conveyed all the bitterness in the ironic "Ich grolle nicht". In "Aus alten Märchen" he captured the dreamlike essence of a fantasy and changed abruptly when the poet confronts his reality.

It was such a pleasure to hear German sung by native born Germans without having to worry about diction!  But Mr. Humm also gave us a lovely song in fine French--"Le Fugitif" by contemporary Berlin composer Alexander Liebermann, whose work we so admired in last February's recital. The setting of text by Paul de Roux was rapturously rendered by composer, pianist and singer.

Next on the generous program were three duets by Mendelssohn, written originally for two sopranos. Settings of texts by Heinrich Heine, they allowed the two singers to adjust their voices to one another and blend in 19th c. harmony. Our favorite was the gentle "Abendlied", a contrast with the final song "Wasserfahrt", a propulsive song in which a sailor deals with the loss of love.

We were fortunate to have two encores--duets by Mozart--quite fitting since Mostly Mozart has just begun at Lincoln Center (reviewed yesterday). In "Il core vi dono" from Cosi fan tutte, Dorabella and Guglielmo pledge their love.  In "La ci darem la mano", from Don Giovanni, the eponymous hero succeeds in luring Zerlina to his castello.

Mr. Humm is returning to Europe and we hope we won't have to wait to long for his return.  Ms. Gartner however will be performing in the upcoming Dell'Arte season and we are looking forward to hearing her next month.  And so should you!

© meche kroop

BECZALA AND KATZ AT ZANKEL HALL

Piotr Beczala (photo by Johannes Ifkovits)

He dazzled us as Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky's Iolante at the Metropolitan Opera last season and he seemed to dazzle the audience last night at Zankel Hall in his New York recital debut. Sadly, we were not dazzled. There is a great difference between opera and art song. One of the cardinal rules of a song recital is engaging the audience. There are no sets and costumes to help the singer along.

Although this marvelous tenor seemed very much connected to the songs he chose, he failed to connect very well with us and that may be attributed to his use of the music stand for the entire recital, even for the encore. Perhaps he was anxious or too busy to commit the works to memory, but we found the constant glancing down and turning of pages distracting; it left us feeling that we were witnessing a rehearsal, not a performance.

We have lost interest in song recitals held at Stern Auditorium because of the difficulty of achieving intimacy in such a large space; we decided to focus on the vocal series held at Zankel Hall and the even more intimate Weill Recital Hall. At a song recital, we are not at all interested in the fame of the singer; we want to feel what the composer felt when he set the text; we want to feel what the singer feels when he sings it.

That being said, the program was well chosen and we got to hear songs in Polish by a composer with whom we were unfamiliar. Mieczyslaw Karlowicz was a contemporary of Rachmaninoff and his work exhibits the same sort of lush melodic invention. They seemed to us like "popular" music (we mean that in the most positive way) in that they are incredibly accessible. One wants to sing along! But who but a Polish artist could negotiate those mouthfuls of consonants!

The poor composer died young and has yet to achieve great renown abroad. We hope Mr. Beczala's performance will change all that. We want to hear them again.  And yet again. They are romantic in nature and replete with the melancholy so extant in music from Poland, whose history has not been a cheerful one.

Dvorák's Gypsy Songs remain among our favorite song cycles and hearing them in Czech is a special thrill. We recently reviewed such a performance by Jamie Barton whose voice touched our heart and made our feet want to dance. Last night we had no such reaction.  Neither Mr. Beczala nor his collaborative pianist Martin Katz evoked the wild gypsy spirit which can embrace both joyful abandon and deep sorrow.

Sergei Rachmaninoff's songs are always a treat and we got to hear a quartet of them with "Sing not to me, beautiful maiden" (please forgive us for not giving you the Russian!) evoking the deep feeling of estrangement that we identify with "In der fremde" from Schumann's Liederkreis Op. 39. Once, we had this feeling listening to a Bhutanese folksong and inquired about the meaning; yes indeed, it was about a man separated from his family!

The first half of the program was the performance of Schumann's Dichterliebe, Op. 48, a loose chronicle of a love affair gone wrong, for unknown reasons. The songs have great variety of rhythm and dynamics and offer the singer an opportunity to express a variety of moods.

There is a beautiful moment of suspension between the tender opening song "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai" and the following "Aus meinen Tränen spriessen". Mr. Beczala captured the rapturous excitement of "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne" in which the words tumble out right on top of each other.

In terms of vocal production, Mr. Beczala sounded secure in the middle and lower registers but sounded strained in the upper register. His German diction was good enough to be understood but fell short of perfection.

We would like to share our observations about his collaborative pianist Martin Katz. Because we were feeling less than totally involved with the voice, we paid more attention to the piano. We have often experienced Mr. Katz as being heavy handed, having nearly drowned out baritone Jesse Blumberg when they performed Schubert's Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin.

Last night his touch was a bit lighter and we could appreciate just how fine a pianist he is. In the ponderous "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome" he played the Bach-like chorale in a manner that evoked the cathedral in Köln. In "Und wüsten's die Blumen, die kleinen", his piano sang of the poet's agitation while Mr. Beczala sang the descending scale passages.

Similarly, he produced a haunting hurdy-gurdy sound in "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen". In "Hör ich das Liedchen Klangen", the quiet song grew into grand grief. In "Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen", the piano goes for a false jolly sound while the vocal line expresses suffering. We also enjoyed the harplike arpeggios of "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen" and "Die alten, bösen Lieder".

As encore, Mr. Beczala made an effort to connect with his American audience by singing the oft recorded "Bless This House", written in 1927 by May Brahe with lyrics by Helen Taylor. It seemed to us a strange choice but the audience seemed to appreciate it.

(c) meche kroop

MUSIC FOR MOTHERS...AND OTHERS

Gyu Yeon Shim, Rachael Braunstein, Jimin Lee, Margaret Newcomb, Paull-Anthony Keightley

Whether any mothers of these five promising artists were in the audience we do not know.  But if they were, we are quite sure they would have been proud of their offspring who are finishing up their year at Manhattan School of Music--some graduating and others finishing their first post-graduate year, two of them familiar to us and three of them new.  We were happy to be a maternal stand-in.

Collaborative pianist Jimin Lee demonstrated consummate expressiveness in her playing and admirable flexibility working with diverse materials and singers with varied styles.  It was a program designed, we believe, to show off these qualities.

Mr. Keightley (does that rhyme with knightly?) whose Papageno we so greatly admired, showed a very different side of himself in Schumann's profound song cycle Dichterliebe.  His German diction was just about perfect and allowed us to give his performance our full attention, instead of looking at translations.  But Mr. Keightley's attention was divided between his score and his audience.  It would not be honest to deny that this was distracting.  We are sure there was a good reason for it but we have criticized some very famous singers for this misdemeanor.  Granted, it is NOT a felony!

He has a fine baritone and uses it well.  We particularly enjoyed the livelier songs like "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne" and "Aus alten Märchen winkt es".  Both baritone and piano shared a lovely crescendo and decrescendo in "Ich hab' in Traum geweinet".  The sense of drama in "Die alten, bösen Lieder" was in fine contrast with a lovely pianissimo.

It is too early to assign a singer to a particular category but, at this point, we will offer an opinion that Mr. K. belongs on the opera stage where his larger-than-life personality and agility can achieve full expression.  Perhaps grim material is too restraining.

Soprano Gyu Yeon Shim had only three songs to touch our heart and she succeeded.  She sang Amy Marcy Cheney Beach's Three Browning Songs, op. 44.  She has a light and well-focused soprano with a pleasing vibrato and sings without visible effort.  We were especially fond of "I send my heart up to thee!"

Mezzo Rachael Braunstein sang Three Songs, op.45 by Samuel Barber with a rich sound and fine diction.  We favored "A green lowland of pianos" in which she captured all the surreal humor that the poet (Czeslaw Milosz) had in mind.  We believe Milosz' verse was based on that of the Polish Jerzy Harasymowicz.

Closing the program was soprano Margaret Newcomb who pleases us every time she performs.  She sang selections from Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins.  She succeeded in bringing out the drama of the two Anna's by employing different voices.  She did particularly well acting out the seductiveness of "Pride" with a louche appearing Mr. Keightley.  We would someday love to hear her sing the entire roster of Sins--and we would especially love it if she sang Brecht's original text in German.  We are not sure whose translation was used but we felt a disjunction between the words and the musical phrasing.  This is so often the case and begs for presentation in the original language to avoid such awkwardness.

It was a fine recital and we look forward to future hearings of these promising artists.

© meche kroop

JOHN + MARIO = MAGIC

Mario Antonio Marra and John Brancy

When the judges of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition chose baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra as their 2013 winners they chose extraordinarily well.  This pair made magic yesterday in their recital at the National Opera Center.  When Mr. Brancy performs Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe at Carnegie Hall (no doubt he will have that opportunity), we will sit there smugly knowing that we heard it in the intimate environment that the work demands.

Mr. Brancy is a born storyteller and sings from a place deep within; he sings in an expressive manner that never panders to the audience but rather invites the audience to join him on his profound inward journey.  Unlike Schubert's song cycles, Dichterliebe is an inner journey.  There is no leierman, no miller, no brook, no frost on the window.  There is just the singer and his tale of a love lost, indeed lost rather early in the cycle. 

The remainder of the cycle relates the varying emotions he feels as he works through the loss; we experience with him the stages of anger, grief, bitterness, despair and ultimately acceptance as he confines his old songs to an hyperbolic coffin given a burial at sea.  Mr. Brancy and Mr. Marra plumbed every emotional depth leaving us feeling emotionally wrung out but artistically satisfied.

We welcomed the respite of intermission to restore our equanimity.  Three songs by Dvořák followed and we recalled an evening at Juilliard when we spent an evening listening to and growing accustomed to the sound of the difficult Czech language.  The effort spent in learning to sing in Czech yielded a big bonus for the listener since the songs are beyond lovely.

The first two were settings of Greek poems about mothers and sons.  In the first, a woman is learning of her son's successes in destroying Turkish pashas and armies and the second related the tale of a shepherd who disobeys his mother's advice and plays his pipes for the Nereids.  A third song entitled "Cypresses" was about the pains of love and had some gorgeous melodies typical of the composer's nationalistic bent.

Following this we heard the premiere of Force, an impressive work commissioned by Gary Portadin--a collaboration between composer Chris Kapica, poet Robert Corsini and Mr. Brancy.  In a universe of ugly and meaningless contemporary poetry which has been set to equally ugly and meaningless music, this work shines as brightly as Jupiter in the night sky.  The theme of man overcoming a mechanistic world and achieving identity through creative self-definition is a worthwhile subject for exploration.  Mr. Corsini's poetry rhymes (!) and scans (!!) and Mr. Kapica's music expresses and augments the ideas both the mechanistic ones and the spiritual ones, challenging the listener without hurting the ears.  Mr. Brancy's performance seemed to come from a very profound place.

The program concluded with three 20th c. American songs that were given the same attention and respect as lieder.  In each case Mr. Marra played with the songs in his own superb arrangements that tickled the ear.  In Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You" Mr. Brancy's beautiful baritone caressed each word as Mr. Marra's digits caressed the keys of the piano.  We heard some truly gorgeous floated top notes.

Jerome Kern's "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" was given a jazzy treatment by Mr. Marra in beautiful counterpoint to Mr. Brancy's sincerity.  Cole Porter's "Night and Day" offered a fine sense of fun with twinkles in the eyes. 

As an encore, Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer" was sung in tribute to Marilyn Horne.  How many times we have listened to her sing this treasure on You Tube!  It was the perfect end to a magical recital.  We will fall into bed with some beautiful dreams of a well-spent evening.

© meche kroop

TEUTONIC LOVE FEST

Helmut Deutsch and Jonas Kaufmann

Lieder recitals are a tough sell but you'd never have known it last night when rock-star tenor Jonas Kaufmann gave a stunning recital with collaborative pianist Helmut Deutsch.  They held the capacity audience spellbound for two hours and six (yes, SIX!) encores.  Not a whisper was heard, nor forbidden electronic device; even coughs were stifled.  The only sound made by the audience was a bit of program shuffling on two occasions when the printed program did not accurately reflect what was being performed onstage.

You will hear no complaints from us that the program was almost entirely 19th c. German; it was a study in depth, not breadth.  Mr. Kaufmann is a brilliant interpreter, employing his gorgeous instrument to convey the depth of feeling in each song.  He is in complete control of dynamics with the most exquisite messa di voce one could wish for.  His phrasing is elegant and he is in possession of the uncanny skill of coloring his words the way a painter layers paint on canvas.

The first half of the program was all Schumann.  We have written before about Schumann's "year of song writing" as his feelings for Clara were finally permitted consummation.  We don't believe we have heard Zwölf Gedichte, Op. 35 before last night but we would happily hear them again.  The poet Justinus Kerner was an optimist and the songs are mainly sunny in nature.  But our favorite was "Stille Tränen" in which Mr. Kaufmann floated his high notes as if they were balloons filled with helium.

Dichterliebe, Op. 48, composed the same year, 1840, made use of the darker poetry of Heinrich Heine and describes the course of a failed love affair, permitting Mr. Kaufmann to render moods from the initial hopefulness of "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai" to the concluding resolution of "Die alten, bösen Lieder" in which the poet dramatically buries his dreams in a huge coffin which endures a burial at sea.

We are far more familiar with this cycle and have our personal favorites:  "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne" is filled with excitement; "Ich grolle nicht" is bitter and ironic; "Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" has a cynical flavor; "Ich hab' im Traum geweinet" is filled with sorrow.  All of these moods and more were captured and embraced by Mr. Kaufmann.

The second half of the program was given over to Wagner and Liszt.  Richard Wagner's 1857 Wesendonck Lieder, Op. 91 with their chromatic harmonies and melodic motives (to be heard in Tristan and Isolde) were performed with incredible sensuality.

Franz Liszt's Tre sonetti di Petrarca, composed in the 1840's to texts by Petrarch, are bursting with passion.  In "Pace non trovo" we were vastly impressed by that beautiful messa di voce and those wild upward skips.

The audience showed the artists a lot of love at the conclusion of the recital and the artists returned the love with a series of six encores.  No one wanted to leave!  It is a rare event in a hall the size of Carnegie Hall to feel such an intimate connection with an artist.  Before the final encore, in a touching moment, Mr. Kaufmann got down on one knee to express his gratitude for the accolades he was receiving.  But ultimately, it was the audience that showed their gratitude for his performance with an endless standing ovation.

© meche kroop