SO MUCH ICE. SO MANY TEARS

David Tayloe

Last night at the National Opera Center we were held in rapt attention as tenor David Tayloe gave a superlative performance of Schubert's Winterreise. It just so happens that the artist's favorite song cycle is our own favorite as well. There is no piece of vocal music to which we would rather listen and none which stands up as well to repeated hearings. There is always something new to discover. 

At the very height of his songwriting powers, Schubert took the 24 poems of Wilhelm Müller, describing a young man's descent into madness, and made magic with his melodies and harmonies. Mr. Tayloe made even more magic as he sang them.

We are not literary critics so all we can say is that the text rhymes and scans, which we consider basic minimum requirements. Making good use of metaphor and symbolism, the poems narrate the journey of a young man, rejected in love, who wanders a snowy icy landscape, . As a young man's story, we love to hear it sung by a young man.

The hero is drowning in misery and self-pity and yet we never condescend to him. Who has not suffered the loss of love! Schubert, Müller and Tayloe took the specific and made it universal so we could all share the sorrow in its many colors--nostalgia, bitterness, grief, longing, false hope, despair, isolation, and hopelessness.  

Schubert's writing is magnificently varied and intense, giving each of the 24 verses a different mood, by virtue of changes of key, rhythm, tonality and color. Many of the songs can stand alone and would be a fine addition to any recital.  But the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

There are personal and symbolic relationships to various man-made, natural, and super-natural elements which Mr. Tayloe, aided by the superb piano partnership of Alan Johnson, made quite clear--the weathervane, the signpost, the crow, the frozen brook, the linden tree, the frost--all are painted in vivid colors.

It is a formidable task to learn the 80 or so minutes of music and there are many singers who wouldn't consider approaching it.  Yet Mr. Tayloe not only approached it but he mastered it, giving himself over to the text and the music. He took the journey and he invited us to come along. No doubt the studying and rehearsing took a great deal of time and effort but he made it feel spontaneous.  Quite an achievement!

Mr. Tayloe's technique was terrific but could easily go unnoticed as one tended to focus on the emotional content.  Still, we noticed that his German diction was fine, and the quality of his instrument sweet with a touch of the Irish tenor in it. At times the suspenseful quality was enhanced by a bit of rubato which left phrases suspended in mid-air. Finally, we appreciate that his voice was perfectly scaled to the size and acoustic qualities of the hall. It is an intimate cycle and it felt exactly right.

(c) meche kroop

WHO IS SILVIE?

Nathaniel LaNasa and Silvie Jensen

Silvie Jensen is a versatile mezzo-soprano who has made quite a name for herself in many genres: opera, lieder, oratorio, and commissioned new works.  We were fortunate to be invited to enjoy her artistry in a private recital at Norton Hall--up close and intimate as lieder recitals are best enjoyed (and should always be, were it not for financial considerations).

The first half of the program was devoted to Schubert, and if there was ever a better composer of lieder we cannot think of one.  His setting of Franz Schober's "An die Musik", which opened the program, is the perfect tribute to the musical arts and an expression of the poet's gratitude.  Ms. Jensen sang it with consummate depth of feeling and communicative skills such that we were reminded of our own gratitude.

We are accustomed to hearing Die Winterreise sung by men and rarely hear it performed by a woman although there is a recording of it sung by Christa Ludwig.  Last night we heard Ms. Jensen sing several selections from it and pushed aside any judgments and just listened to the music.  Her artistry was such that we completely forgot the risk she was taking. Accompanied by the fine piano partner Nathaniel LaNasa, we were swept away to the lonely wintry landscape through which the poet plods, trying to escape from the despair of a broken heart.

Count on Schubert to limn a dozen shades of grief.  In "Gute Nacht", we hear the poet's disappointment as he sets out on his journey.  The song is strophic but our two artists made each verse sound new.  In "Der Lindenbaum" the gentle opening yields to the forceful pianistic and vocal depiction of "die kalten Winde" which chilled us, even in the warm room.

Both artists are experts at coloring the words.  The self-pity of "Wasserflut", the nostalgia of "Auf dem Flüsse", the false cheer of the dreamer in "Frühlingstraum", the menace of "Die Krähe", the morbidity of "Das Wirtshaus", and the mysterious resolve of "Der Leiermann" were all communicated.  Even in the repeated notes of "Der Wegweiser", there was not a hint of tedium.

We must add that Ms. Jensen's German diction was flawless and permitted us to pay full attention to the performance and none whatsoever to the translations.  Her French was just as fine in a cycle of songs by Poulenc entitled La Fraicheur et le Feu.

Although we do not understand Czech, we loved the sound of it and the delightful folk melodies of Bohuslav Martinu who wrote in the same time period as Poulenc.  We particularly enjoyed the charming "Touha" with its frisky piano part, as well as the lament "Smutny Mily".  We would love a second hearing of these songs.

Finally, Ms. Jensen and Mr. LaNasa performed selections from Britten's settings of folk songs.  We always love hearing the tale of "The Brisk Young Widow" and "The Salley Gardens" in which the poetry by W.B. Yeats inspired a lovely vocal line.

We were completely satisfied by this recital; but there was an encore that added a special thrill.  We never would have foreseen the smoky seductive timbre with which this cool Nordic beauty invested the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen.  Let us just say WOW and be done with it.

Although we understand that rehearsal time was short, we found the teamwork to be impressive.  Both Ms. Jensen and Mr. LaNasa are excellent interpreters and matched each other beautifully in their phrasing and dynamics.  We would gladly hear the two of them tackle the entire cycle of  Die Winterreise.  Perhaps next Winter?

© meche kroop

SOME TRIPS LOOK BETTER ON PAPER

Baritone Ulrich Hartung

We hate to write a poor review of a sincere attempt but after suffering through an hour plus of the slow tortuous murder of Schubert's masterpiece "Die Winterreise" we have no choice but to warn you against Sunday afternoon's repeat performance.  We can scarcely imagine what the good folks at New York City Liederkranz had in mind in supporting this presentation by The German Society of the City of New York.  The program notes that this is a New York Concert Opera Production.  An internet search reveals that the singer, Ulrich Hartung, is the conductor of this organization which supports putting the conductor and musicians right onstage.  Right.

The lengthy program notes reveal that Maestro Hartung wrote a dissertation in his salad days, analyzing the original order of Wilhelm Müller's poems which was altered by Herr Schubert.  This is undoubtedly of interest to scholars but of little value in the appreciation of this profoundly moving cycle.

We are not even complaining about the prosaic photographic projections by Adryan Hartung (probably a family member) which seemed to be multiple views of Central Park.  They were inoffensive and barely distracting.

We have no quarrel with Stefan Kozinski's orchestration of the work because it gave us something to listen to as we tried to close our ears to the gravel-voiced Mr. Hartung whose phrasing and intonation were equally deplorable.  If he was ever a singer he is not one now.  We cannot even praise his diction since it sounded as if he, like Demosthenes, had a mouth full of pebbles.  Final consonants were often missing. To make matters worse, his stage presence involved a lot of distracting flapping of the arms  which appeared to be an attempt to show that he felt the music deeply.  Who are we to say that he didn't? 

We exempt the wonderful pianist Juan Pablo Horcasitas who also conducted the ensemble in a most unusual orchestration.  Eric Lemmon played the viola and Lenae Harris played the cello.  There were a number of wind instruments providing some coloration to the elements of nature mentioned in the text; the versatile Shelly Bauer played clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and saxophone; Lis Rubard played a very recalcitrant Flügelhorn and French Horn.

We reviewed a number of "Winterreise"s this year that ranged from good to extraordinary.  This was the first that was truly egregious.  When the singer picked up the saxophone for "Der Leiermann" we wanted to crawl under our chair. The next time we take a winter's journey we want to take it with a fine singer.  This is one trip where we could say "I wish I'd stayed home".

© meche kroop

THEO CON BRIO

Cristina Stanescu and Theo Lebow

It was a dark and stormy night.  It was the perfect night for Schubert's Die Winterreise, a journey we have made and enjoyed dozens of times; but we'd never made the journey with Theo Lebow and Cristina Stanescu.  Could anything new be wrung from this well-worn but beloved 1827 song cycle?  A resounding "YES" is the answer.

Mr. Lebow has a sweet and youthful tenor, perfect for expressing the intense drama of a youth dealing with a lost love.  His interpretation was fearless as he plumbed the depths of despair and unrelenting isolation with interludes of brief false hope. The wanderer he limned bordered on psychosis.  For all Mr. Lebow's immersion in the text, he never lost sight of the music.  His superb technique with its fine phrasing and exquisite dynamic control were never obvious but used to serve the music.  His gestures were apt but never overdone.

In Cristina Stanescu, Mr. Lebow found the perfect piano partner.  Although the current season is Spring, it was obvious that the two artists spent a long winter working together.  They seemed to breathe in and out at the same time.  Her pianism reflected every one of the allegorical elements of nature mentioned in the text--dogs barking, streams running, trees rustling, crows cawing and the mail coach passing; we even heard the last leaf quivering and about to fall from the tree.  Rhythms were crisp and clean.  There were times when she stretched a pause for a split second and we held our breath.

It seemed as if our artists were channeling Schubert and the poet Wilhelm Müller.  Had they been in the audience we are sure they would have wept as we did; it was impossible not to connect with past losses and sorrows.  This is not a performance we will soon forget and neither will the capacity audience who braved the rain to attend.  The two artists well deserved the prolonged standing ovation.  Bravi!!!

© meche kroop