TRIPLE THREAT

Scott Rednour and Xiaoming Tian at Elabash Recital Hall

It's been over two years since we reviewed Xiaoming Tian's Masters Degree Recital at Manhattan School of Music when we made some puns about the English meaning of his name.  We wound up inventing our own name for him...Triply Talented Tian. The reason was that he ended the recital singing a highly heartfelt song whilst accompanying himself on the piano. It was a colleague of his who told us that Mr. Tian composed the song himself!

Now that Mr. Tian is enrolled in the Ph.D./D.M.A. Program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, perhaps he is no longer so gripped with modesty because he announced himself as the composer when he performed the same incredible feat last night as an encore to his excellent recital. Although the words were not printed in the program,  the artist supplied us with the text, 

It is a lovely text, filled with nostalgia and references to elements of nature. The sounds of sung Mandarin rose and fell with the music in perfect partnership and delighted the ear. Mandarin is a musical language to start with and lovely to listen to.The song "Don't Cast Away" began with delicacy but became vigorous at the climax. His piano writing is melodic and included some wonderful arpeggi.

One of the things we most admire about Mr. Tian (aside from his compositional and pianistic skills) is his musicality. The phrasing is always apt and his control of dynamics excellent. Added to this is a facility with languages.

It seems as if singers, for whom English is a second language, have better English diction than native English speakers. Since the Masters recital, Mr. Tian's English diction has improved to the point that every word of the Barber songs was clearly enunciated. English will never be our favorite language for singing but it was a pleasure to hear it so well sung.

His French is also excellent and we were very glad to hear his Ravel once more. We just wrote about Don Quichotte a Dulcinee a few days ago but last night's performance took us back to the earlier graduation recital and gave us an opportunity to measure his artistic growth. We would call this cycle his "signature".

He invested "Chanson romanesque" with sweetness, "Chanson epique" with devotional piety, and "Chanson a boire" (our favorite) with flights of extravagant melismatic singing.

He has equal skills with German, evincing a fine vibrato in the vowels with no cheating of the consonants. We were happy to hear our favorites--"Die Nacht", "Allerseelen", and "Zueignung" from Op. 10 of 1885 composed when Strauss was only 20 years old! (What's YOUR 20-year-old doing with his time?) From the 1894 Op. 27 we enjoyed "Morgen!" with it's lovely piano interlude and "Heimliche Aufforderung". These are Strauss' most romantic and passionate songs, of which we never tire.

Fortunately, Mr. Tian chose some of Rachmaninov's best songs, of which we prefer "Do Not Sing To Me My Beauty" because of its melancholy text and haunting vocal line.  "In the Silence of the Secret Night" is another winner and "Christ is Risen" recalled the despairing condition of the world today. Mr. Tian has a flair for Russian, as we recall when we heard him sing Eugene Onegin,

Rounding out the program were two lovely songs in Mandarin by Qing Zhu about the Yangtze River, one a personal revelation of longing and the other about an historical event. We suspect that the extensive program notes were a product of Mr. Tian's scholarship.

Mr. Tian studies with Robert White who was in the audience and whose pleasure seemed on par with our own.  Accompanist for the recital was Scott Rednour.

(c) meche kroop

DIVINE DUO

Jared Bybee and Isabel Leonard

Readers will recall in what high esteem we hold the George London Foundation for Singers for their support of young artists. Their excellent series of recitals at The Morgan Library and Museum draws a large and enthusiastic audience who enjoy the music and the opportunity to mingle with the artists after the recital. The annual competition holds its finals on February 17th of 2017 and that will be one of the highlights of the season.

Yesterday's recital joined the talents of acclaimed mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, whose talent lights up every venue in which she sings, and rising star baritone Jared Bybee whose artistry garnered him an Encouragement Award last season from the George London Foundation.

We have been  thrilling to Ms. Leonard's artistry since she was an undergraduate at Juilliard. We have heard and enjoyed Mr. Bybee in a number of competitions and also at the Santa Fe Opera.  So we were really looking forward to this recital.  Actually it managed to exceed our high expectations!

Perhaps it's the Argentinean genes that are responsible for Ms. Leonard's exquisite connection with Latin American music but when she feels it, we feel it. She performed four Spanish songs in different moods and varied colors. We were most affected by Manuel de Falla's "Oracion de las madres que tienen sus hijos en brazos"; if there is a more poignant anti-war song we have yet to hear it.

Ms. Leonard's performance of the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen made this old chestnut fresh again. There was so much going on in the introduction that we experienced the character in a new way--less arrogant and flashy--and more teasingly seductive.

Bellini must also be a favorite as evidenced by Adalgisa's aria "Sgombra è la sacra selva...Deh! Proteggimi, o Dio!" from Norma. Ms. Leonard manages to walk the fine line between reserve and exhibitionism. Every gesture appears spontaneous but must have been carefully considered. There is no excess; nothing is wasted. Tonal quality, language, phrasing, stage presence--everything is perfect.

We were likewise thrilled with Mr. Bybee's performance, particularly with the depth and breadth of his tone and his linguistic skills. He performed Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée in the most perfect French (we understand he studied with Classic Lyric Arts in France). He was effective without showy dramatics, using an admirable economy of gesture.

His phrasing worked well but what impressed us the most was his use of dynamic variety.  One might say that he captured the spirit of each song--the reverence of "Chanson romanesque", the passion of "Chanson épique", and the humor of "Chanson à boire".

We were happy to hear yet more French from him in "Vision fugitive" from Massenet's Hérodiade, in which Hérode is transported by his vision of Salomé. We too were transported.

Mr. Bybee also sang selections from Voices from World War II--a cycle composed by Gene Scheer who had not been born until over a decade after the war ended. Nonetheless he wrote the lyrics himself. The music was more melodic than most contemporary music and the lines rhymed, although the scanning was awkward in places.

Nonetheless, it was given an affecting performance by Mr. Bybee whose English diction is so fine that we missed not a single word. As a woman, we were more affected by the aforementioned de Falla song. Mother love sings better than battle stories! Perhaps the song that made best use of our spiky English language was the jazzy "At Howard Hawks' House".

If you are bringing two terrific talents together, you can expect some delightful duets. From Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, we heard the wonderful teasing "Il core vi dono" in which Guglielmo wins the heart of Dorabella. Our heart was won by the charm of the scene.

Still more Mozart, also of a teasing nature, was heard in "Crudel! Perche finora" from Le Nozze di Figaro in which the clever Susana fools the not-too-clever Count Almaviva about a subsequent rendezvous. We must say that Ms. Leonard is very very good at teasing!  In both these duets the two artists related extraordinarily well, both vocally and dramatically.

Each artist generously offered an encore. Mr. Bybee chose Salvatore Cardillo's "Cor 'ngrato" (Caterí! Caterí!) which he sang in authentic Neapolitan dialect. Just as Ms. Leonard comes by her facility with Spanish genetically, Mr. Bybee comes by his the same way.

Ms. Leonard's encore was "Someone to Watch Over Me", composed by the brothers Gershwin for the 1926 musical Oh, Kay! This team definitely knew how to use the English language and Ms. Leonard gave it a sincere reading that reinforces our belief that Broadway music, when done well, is truly America's best shot at the genre of "art song". Every phrase was sung for meaning, not for "effect".

The audience absolutely insisted on more and more we got! We rarely get tearful at a recital but this performance of "If I Loved You" from the 1945 musical Carousel turned on the waterworks. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were another writing pair who captured the American idiom perfectly.

It is many hours later but the mood has lingered. We always enjoy recitals but this one touched us deeply.  And that's a good thing! Why get angry about politics when one can be deeply moved by good music!

(c) meche kroop

Joe Eletto and Bretton Brown

With a stunning synergy between singer and collaborative pianist, fast-rising baritone Joe Eletto and piano wizard Bretton Brown presented a ravishing recital last night at Juilliard. Mr. Eletto is getting his Masters of Music degree and the recital was evidence of hard work layered onto innate talent.

The quality that struck us most about Mr. Eletto is his ability to mine each song for the gold of personal and idiosyncratic interpretation. Sometimes we hear a song so many times that our ears get fatigued and we don't really hear it.  A fresh interpretation that gets us to hear the song anew is always welcome.

Let us take, for example, our favorite song of Robert Schumann's Liededrkreis, composed ten years after his famous year of prodigious songwriting. "Waldesgespräch" tells the story of a man riding through the woods late at night and encountering a witch--the "hexe Loreley". We have always heard it sung as if the man were a lecher and Loreley getting her revenge.  Mr. Eletto portrayed the man as an innocent and Loreley as a very nasty witch preying on men.  A fresh approach!

Mr. Eletto doesn't just sing a song.  He appears to live it. From the same cycle he actually appeared to be keeping a secret in "Die Stille". The entire cycle was filled with meaning and drama, just what we wanted from an 18th c. Romantic composer who availed himself of the best poetry around--in this case by Joseph Eichendorff. To add to the pleasure, Mr. Brown brought out the sound of the wind in the treetops in  "Schöne Fremde".

We could spill a lot of ink on each of these marvelous songs but there were other delights on the program which had a theme--an exploration of the manifestations of love. Mr. Eletto generously provided program notes comprising biographies of the composers and the poets as well as information on the particular cycles on the program.

He opened the program with a trio of selections from Mendelssohn's Sechs Gesänge. In the rather cheerful "Es lauschte das Laub so dunkelgrün" he brought out the sadness of the third stanza and similarly revealed all the moods of the letter-writer in "Die Liebende schreibt".

In Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, he acted up a storm although it never felt like acting; it felt as if he were spontaneously living it, and living it in consistently fine French, for which he has great facility. The devotion of "Chanson Romanesque" was followed by the prayerful "Chanson épique" and the rowdy "Chanson á boire" in which Mr. Brown's piano played a most important part.

Obsessive love was represented by Liszt's Tre Sonetti del Petrarca in which the 14th c. poet expresses undying and unrequited love for the mysterious Laura. In "Pace non trovo" Mr. Eletto seemed to experience more fire and ice than Cherubino does in "Non so più".

The celebrated contemporary composer John Musto wrote a cycle of songs entitled Viva Sweet Love in which he set two songs by e.e.cummings and three by James Laughlin.  We liked all five poems but did not think the music, while interesting, did much to add to the poetry which, to our way of thinking, did not require music. But he wrote them and Mr. Eletto sang them well. Perhaps our favorite was "As is the Sea Marvelous" written by Cummings, as was "Sweet Spring".

By the lesser known Laughlin, we preferred  "You came as a thought" which, while brief, seemed meaningful. "Rome: In the Café" told an interesting story whereas the lengthier "Sweet Spring" didn't have much to say.

With all of the intense drama onstage and all the profound emotions experienced, we did not fail to notice Mr. Eletto's vocal gifts.  His resonant baritone never called attention to itself but was always used to serve the music.  His phrasing was so natural that it seemed just part of his breathing. This gifted artist should go far!

(c) meche kroop

HONORS TO ALL

Daniel Fung, Önay Köse, Emmett O'Hanlon

The three Juilliard artists performing at the Vocal Arts Honors Recital last night at Alice Tully Hall are all deserving of the honors bestowed.  Bass Önay Köse stepped in for the unfortunately indisposed soprano Hyesang Park and turned in a fine performance; baritone Emmett O'Hanlon is just a compelling stage animal; pianist Daniel Fung, who played for both, gave superlative support.  Both singers were nominated by their respective teachers to audition for a panel of judges; they chose their own material.

Mr. Köse opened the program with Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Michelangelo by Hugo Wolf.  Mr. Köse employed his sturdy bass in these profoundly philosophical songs with a large sound that filled the hall with vibrations; but he is also capable of delicacy when called for by the text.  His resonant voice reminded us of stout or porter--dark, rich, heavy in texture.  His German diction left nothing to be desired.

From Modest Mussorgsky, he selected three of the Songs and Dances of Death which we heard him perform almost a year ago.  We especially liked what he did with "Lullaby"; he colored the soothing words of Death with gentleness to relieve a suffering child; he colored the mother's voice very differently, showing her panic.  (We recently heard a famous bass sing these songs and were disappointed that he had missed that opportunity.)  We do not recall Mr. Köse using a music stand last year and hope he will not use one the next time.  Our best guess is that it had something to do with his last minute substitution.

In "Trepak", Mr. Fung had his opportunity to show off some very fine pianistic technique.

Baritone Emmett O'Hanlon seemed delighted to present the second and lighter half of the evening and captivated the audience with a full measure of stage presence.  Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée is frequently done but we never tire of its variety and charm.  Mr. O'Hanlon used his body and gestures to complement his fine voice; he definitely knows how to get a song across.  The audience was already chortling before he opened his mouth for the wonderful "Chanson à Boire".

From Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel, Mr. O'Hanlon chose two, of which our favorite was "The Roadside Fire".  It seems as if the lovely text by Robert Louis Stevenson with its rhymed couplets inspired some fine melodic writing.  It's a pleasure to report that Mr. O'Hanlon's English was just as intelligible as his French was in the Ravel.

Lee Hoiby's "Last Letter Home" has a most moving text, enough to convince anyone to be a pacifist.  But we fail to see that Mr. Hoiby's music made it any more moving.  On the other hand, Mr. O'Hanlon's delivery was magnificently intense.

Three Strauss songs closed the program: the beloved "Allerseelen", the soul-stirring "Die Nacht" and "Lied an meinen Sohn" which was new to us.  German diction and phrasing were admirable. In the last song, Mr. Fung created quite a storm in the piano, just as he earlier created  an atmosphere of gemütlichkeit in "The Roadside Fire".

© meche kroop

NOTHIN' CHANCY 'BOUT BRANCY

Peter Dugan, Wallis Giunta, John Brancy

In John Brancy's voyage through Juilliard we have heard him sing the old, the new, the borrowed and the blue; we have even heard him sing Icelandic poetry.  We have never been anything less than thrilled with the authenticity of his performance, not to mention the mature burnished timbre of his baritone voice.

At his graduation recital last night, we were filled with joy for his success but felt twinges of sadness that this six-year voyage is coming to an end.  Mr. Brancy sings from the heart and throws his entire being into every word, every note and every gesture.  He is a consummate storyteller.

The opening story was Britten's tall tale about The Crocodile; Mr. Brancy's delightful sense of humor got the audience giggling.  In an entirely different mood, Kurt Weill's "A dirge for two veterans", a setting of a poem by Walt Whitman about a father and son fallen in battle, gave the artist an opportunity to evoke feelings of grief amplified by a sustained high note.  It also gave collaborative pianist Peter Dugan the opportunity to create drum sounds on the piano, an impressive feat.

We delighted in Mr. Brancy's performance of Ravel's Don Quichotte a Dulcinée which permitted him to create the many faces of Don Quichotte; the idealistic in "Chanson romanesque", the prayerful in "Chanson épique" and the bibulous  in "Chanson à boire".  No matter how many times we have heard these songs they always delight us.  Mr. Dugan created a wonderful contrast in the first song--between Mr. Brancy's long legato vocal lines and the syncopated Spanish rhythms in the piano.  In the second song, Mr. B. gave us an exquisite messa di voce in the final "Amen".

His German was impeccable in Wolf's Morike lieder; no translations were necessary.  We particularly enjoyed "Nimmersatte liebe".

A special added attraction of the evening was the presence of Mr. Brancy's sweetheart, mezzo Wallis Giunta, who joined him for some wonderful duets.  The pair were in perfect harmony in Ralph Vaughn Williams setting of Shakespeare's text "It was a lover and his lass".  But Schumann's "Ich bin dein baum" was the one that touched us most deeply; it is about the mutual dependency of the gardener (Mr. B.) and the fruit-bearing tree (Ms. G.)  Ms. G's pleasing vibrato somehow made us think of a peach tree.  But....the best was yet to come.  Henri Duparc set a text by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier entitled "La Fuite" in which a woman tries to persuade her lover to run away with her in spite of his objections.  She's the romantic and he's the realist.  The acting was so on point that it seemed like a scene in an opera waiting to be written.

Mr. B's dark timbre is very well suited to Russian and we loved what he did with Rachmaninov's "In the silence of the mysterious night"; there was a delicate decrescendo at the end.  Our disappointment at not hearing the Czech language in Cunning Little Vixen was lifted by hearing Dvořák's "My heart is often in pain"; certain motives reminded us of his "Song to the Moon"--absolutely ravishing with its unique sonorities.

After two beautiful Bellini songs with their long vocal phrases and typical arpeggiation in the piano, off came the jacket, out came the stool and Mr. B. enchanted us with his stirring performance of "The Soliloquy" from Carousel.  As if that were not enough, as encore Mr. B. called Ms. G. back onstage for Daniel Hunt's "All the Way".  Never has a pop song sounded so good to our ears!  And it gave Mr. Dugan an opportunity to improvise some great jazzy riffs on the piano.

Mr. Brancy faces future fame and we will feel rather smug telling his fans "I remember him when..."

© meche kroop

SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL AT JUILLIARD

Takaoki Onishi and Dimitri Dover

A good recital shows the artist off to his/her best advantage and comprises, with certain exceptions, a variety of styles, moods and languages.  A GREAT recital does all the above with finely honed artistry.  Such was the case last night at Juilliard when a capacity crowd was treated to a memorable recital, as is so often the case at Juilliard.  One tends to run out of superlatives.  As they say, "You had to be there!"

We have seen both artists perform before and are always impressed by their musicianship and total involvement.  Last night seemed like a culmination although Mr. Onishi has been accepted in the Artists Diploma Program and we are glad of it since it will provide a further opportunity to hear this stunning young baritone.  He has a large voice that sets the very molecules of air to vibrating but this generous sound is under complete control.  His tone is consistent throughout the register.  In spite of the fact that none of the languages are his first language, he makes absolute sense out of all the poetry.

He began the program with four songs by Respighi that we never before found very interesting since the poetry is rather spare.  But Mr. Onishi's artistry brought out subtleties that we'd never before heard, such as the exquisite diminuendo in "Nebbie".  Mr. Dover's artistry contributed a great deal as he elucidated the descending chords, emphasizing the sadness and loneliness.  In "Pioggia" his pianism so realized the falling rain that we nearly reached for an umbrella.

Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen is a song cycle much beloved by us and what a treat it was to hear it sung with such depth of feeling. The abundant melodies are familiar from Mahler's symphonies.  The composer himself wrote the poetry and it is heartbreaking.  A young man's beloved has married another and he is filled with despair, then anger, then regret and resignation.  Finally he finds peace under a linden tree.  This gives the singer an opportunity and a challenge to convey all these mood swings with word coloring.  Mr. Onishi rose to the challenge and left us stunned.  His intense involvement with the work made us hope that he has not had such a heartbreak in his own life and that it was "only" artistry.

We also enjoyed the stylish way he performed Ravel's songs from Don Quichotte à Dulcinée.  He sang "Chanson romanesque" with impressive nobility, "Chanson épique" with earnestness and "Chanson à boire" with a lively sense of fun.

He closed the program with three songs by Rachmaninoff.  If we preferred "Vesennije vody" it was only because it was more familiar to our ear.  Mr. Dover's piano conveyed the rushing of the water.  How appropriate to end the recital with a reference to Spring!

But fortunately for the audience Mr. Onishi graciously provided two encores.  Since most of the program was on the sad side, it made perfect sense for this fine artist to share his humorous side with Tartaglia's aria from Mascagni's "Le Maschere" in which the stuttering commedia del'arte player cannot quite sing out what he wants to say.  The second aria was a lovely strophic Japanese folk song that made everyone feel relaxed after the high-wire breath holding of the rest of the evening.

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