MARGO GARRETT MASTER CLASS AT CARNEGIE HALL

Margo Garrett, Madeline Skettedahl, and Dorothy Gal

Last night, the second of three master classes was held with esteemed collaborative pianist Margo Garrett providing invaluable instruction to singer and pianist alike. The master classes, if you didn't already know, are part of The Song Continues 2017 at Carnegie Hall, a series of events through which Marilyn Horne does everything humanly possible to advance the art of the song recital.  Young singers and collaborative pianists get an opportunity to perform for a standing room only crowd of lieder lovers and to receive advanced instruction that will take them to the next level.

Last night we heard tenor Ricardo "Ricky" Garcia tackle the very difficult Schubert setting of Goethe's text "Erlkonig". What makes the song difficult is that the singer must assume several voices--that of the narrator, that of the father, that of his child, and that of the evil Erl King. Much of the momentum of the father's mad ride is supplied by the piano-- in this case, by Nathan Raskin. Ms.Garrett pointed out that the Germans love stories, especially supernatural ones!

We sensed that Mr. Garcia wanted to convey the different voices but was not totally successful, except for his appropriately colored baritonal father.  After some coaching, he was able to make the narrator less passionate and more even. The child needed a lighter but frightened sound, while the Erl King needed a measure of seductiveness. The father needed to be more tender and legato.

An interesting method of practicing this was given--the singer can sing all the lines of one of the characters in succession in order to master the build up of intensity for that particular character.  After establishing the vocal arc of each particular character, then the entire piece can be put together. This makes perfect sense and is a point we will be thinking of every time we hear a song with more than one voice.

It was a lovely dramatic experience to hear soprano Caitleen Kahn perform a satirical and allegorical song by Dmitri Shostakovich entitled "Misunderstanding".  It was the story of a rake who mistakes a woman's recitation of erotic poetry for an invitation to intimacy. Ms. Kahn is a born storyteller and had a very clear understanding of the background of the song's composition and the text as well.

She was coached to use her voice and face as well as gestures to convey the sense. Pianist Zalman Kelber got some valuable tips about achieving a less obvious doubling of the vocal line. An equally valuable tip for the singer was to practice singing into the piano (with the lid raised high, of course) with the piano playing octaves above and below. These are the "pearls" that only a master of coaching would know!

Bass-baritone Ted Pickell performed "Wenn ich mit Menschen und mit Engelszungen redete" from Brahm's Vier ernste Gesange, accompanied by Katelan Terrell. Mr. Pickell has a marvelous instrument to work with but needed coaching in putting some feeling into the text. Ms. Garrett suggested that he focus on the loving feelings. We were not feelin' it! To us it just sounded like preaching, which, of course, it is--Paul preaching to the Corinthians.

Ms. Terrell needed to lighten up on the keys and Mr. Pickell needed more color, more contrast between verses, and more attention paid to the consonants, particularly the double ones.

The evening ended with soprano Dorothy Gal, whom we have heard and enjoyed in French and Italian songs. She sang Hugo Wolf's "Geh, Geliebter, geh jetzt!" in which a woman urges her beloved to leave before he is discovered.  Clearly she doesn't want him to leave! The song is notoriously difficult with its syncopated rhythms and off-kilter entrances for the singer. This gave Ms. Garrett an opportunity to bring up a most interesting concept.

This is the issue of whether the pianist leads the singer or vice versa. In this case, the pianist must be led by the singer's entrances. Collaborative pianist Madeline Sletterdahl was instructed to emphasize the left hand over the right one.

Ms. Gal was given advice to be clearer with the consonants. We had a piece of advice for her ourself. We would like her to complement her lovely voice with some meaningful gestures. She seemed not to know what to do with her arms and hands and the gestures that were made seemed not to connect with the text. That addition would make her performance perfect.

There will be one more master class tonight--Dame Felicity Lott. We will be there with thirsty ears!

(c) meche kroop

CHANSON FROM MANNES--AND A SPECIAL TREAT

Faustine de Mones, Jiin Jung, Dorothy Gal, and Brianna Han

Last night at Mannes School of Music we heard An Evening of French Music, performed by Voice Major and Collaborative Piano Students. We are familiar with evenings coached by Christina Stanescu who directs the Collaborative Piano Department at Mannes. The performances are always topnotch. The recital began with a singing of "La Marseillaise"!

Soprano Faustine de Mones is a native speaker of French while soprano Dorothy Gal is not. A native speaker of French might have been able to tell the difference; we could not. We have been listening to Ms. Gal for some time since she has studied at Glenn Morton's French immersion program L'Art du Chant Francais. She just keeps getting better and better.

She sang Debussy's "Beau Soir" with fine diction and lovely phrasing; the warmth of her instrument lent a special flavor to the text. She continued with Duparc's "Chanson Triste" during which we noticed the fine arpeggios of collaborative pianist Brianna Han who has a light touch on the keys, just right for delicate French chansons.

Moving from chanson to aria, the pair performed "Allons, il le faut...Adieu, notre petite table" from Massenet's Manon, an aria filled with regret and misgivings.  No misgivings about the performance however!  Quite lovely, especially when Ms. Gal's singing became more expansive. Additionally, the aria offered her the opportunity to express the feelings by means of dynamic variation.

While Ms. Gal is a rather self-contained artist, Ms. de Mones is quite expressive. She opened with Trois poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin, set by Poulenc. The text is a bit more obscure but we enjoyed the suggestive conclusion of "Le garçon de Liège". Ms. de Mones also chose an aria from Manon--"Je suis encore tout étourdie" from Act I.  In this aria, Manon is still an innocent girl on her way to the convent and our singer succeeded in conveying the excitement of her first trip. This young lady has a lively personality and a winning onstage presence. Jiin Jung was her fine piano partner.

Tenor John Ramseyer (who left before the group photo) has a fine vibrato that lends an interesting texture to his voice. He kept up the long delicate line of Duparc's Phidylé right until the climax on "ton meilleur baiser"when he opened up his voice. We further enjoyed "Adieu, Mignon" from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon, an opera based on Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre, which also inspired settings by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, and Wolf. Mr. Ramseyer conveyed the sensitivity of a tender farewell.

And what was the special treat we alluded to in the title? The famous Thomas Grubb, educator, coach, collaborative pianist, and author of Singing in French: a Manual of French Diction and French Vocal Repertoire, performed L'histoire de Babar le petit elephant; he gave a dramatic reading of the text by Jean de Brunhoff, punctuated and enhanced by Poulenc's piano interludes. If we want to talk about impeccable French, this was it. His delivery was spellbinding.

We didn't always see the connection between the text and the music but definitely preferred the more lyrical interludes when Babar rode on his mother's back, when he was adopted by the old lady, when he remembered his mother, when he hosted his cousins, and when he bid farewell to the old lady. We also liked the dance music for his wedding and the peaceful music at the end when night fell.

Mr. Grubb's illustrious presence can be credited to the Art Song Preservation Society which is aptly named. Artists and audiences alike are well served by their activities.

(c) meche kroop

MORE IVAI

Rainer Armbrust, Jelena Banković, Gina Perregrino, Antonina Chekhovskaya, Christopher Georgetti, Dorothy Gal, Zayra Ruiz, and Sandra Hamaoui

Having greatly enjoyed the evening of arias presented by the International Vocal Arts Institute last Thursday (scroll down if you missed it) we were eager to hear how the talented young artists would fare with an evening of lieder and mélodies. Although many of the necessary skills overlap, the requirements for the latter differ from the former. 

In opera, an artist can succeed on the basis of a beautiful voice and good technique. For lieder, a deeply personal understanding of the text and the ability to draw the audience in are minimum requirements. The ability to access one's own feelings and communicate them to the audience so that they share the feelings are what distinguishes a great lieder singer. We have seen/heard some major stars of the opera world fail to achieve this difficult task.

We take pleasure in reporting that the students in the IVAI Summer Institute showed great promise in this challenging art form. Since the text achieves prominence in these works, the singer must be scrupulous in diction. These young artists appear to have benefited from the daily coaching sessions, with only an occasional avoidance of the final "ch" in German to detract from otherwise excellent diction.

Again, we were very impressed with soprano Sandra  Hamaoui (the Juliette of last Thursday) who performed "Absence" from Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été. Her well-focused voice was under fine dynamic control and the heartfelt communication of longing entranced us. We were so drawn in that we forgot where we were!

From the same cycle, soprano Jelena Banković sang "Villanelle" with piquant personality and high spirits. What a contrast from her performance as the tortured maiden in "Gretchen am Spinnrade" earlier in the program; she began seated and as the song built to a stunning climax she rose from her chair and then collapsed in despair at the end.  Simply riveting!

We have not heard mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino sing in some time and was delighted to hear her sing "Le spectre de la rose". Her French phrasing was scented with the perfume of the spirit of the rose. Very fragrant indeed!

Soprano Dorothy Gal made more of an impression than she had the other night when she breathed life into "L'île inconnue" just as the poet speaks of filling the sails of a boat.

Another singer who made more of an impression last night was baritone Lawson Anderson who limned the sorrowful colors of Hugo Wolf's "Verborgenheit" and provided necessary variety by means of dynamic control.

We had never heard soprano Aine Hakamatsuka before but she sang one of our favorite Wolf songs--"Das verlassene Mägdelein". She completely captured the daily tedium and vague unhappiness of the young woman and on "plötzlich" all the colors changed when she recalled the masculine source of her misery and flashes of anger emerged.  So powerful!  The far more cheerful "Er ist's" allowed her to exhibit completely different vocal colors.

Mezzo-soprano Georgia Burashko did some fine work in Schumann's "In der Fremde", the challenging opening song of his Liederkreis with it's lonely feeling and changes of key. (Strangely the translation provided was for the other "In der fremde" which is song #8.)  In a totally different mood was "Waldegespräch" in which she captured the sense of menace; we hoped to hear a bit more contrast of color between the voices of the man and the Lorelei and a clearer  "ch" at the end of the words. 

In "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube", light tenor Mattheus Coura showed all the impetuosity of a young man who idolizes his girl, perhaps in the way that Schumann worshipped his Clara.  It felt delightfully spontaneous.

Tenor Christopher Eaglin possesses a heavier instrument and his songs were wisely chosen.  He sang "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome" and then "Ich grolle nicht", both also from Schumann's Liederkreis. He sure knows how to sustain a tone to the end of the phrase.

There was only one bass-baritone on the program and he is a born storyteller. He sang Schumann's "Die beiden Grenadiere" with fine diction and expressiveness of voice, face, and gesture. Vocal coloring sustained interest throughout.

Several more young artists were on the excellent program--sopranos Yulan Piao, Antonina Chekhovskaya (reviewed last Thursday), and Kimberly Merrill, mezzo Zayra Ruiz (reviewed last Thursday), and tenors Zachary Rubens and Christopher Georgetti. All impressed us and merit further hearings.

Accompaniment was excellent and provided by Rainer Armbrust whose piano postlude in "Er ist's" was dazzling.  the effective staging was done by Joshua Major who had several singers seated onstage at once, listening raptly to whomever was singing. It produced a more dramatic effect than one usually experiences at a lieder recital but, paradoxically felt casual, as if we were at a musicale in Schumann's parlor.

There will be a final recital on Wednesday and we regret that we have a prior engagement. We urge you to go hear these fine young artists.

(c) meche kroop

SYNERGY

Students at Classic Lyric Arts

We have spilled plenty of (electronic) ink touting the glories of the total immersion summer programs of Classic Lyric Arts.  Ten lucky emerging artists get the chance to study in a small town in France for nearly a month under the tutelage of master teacher Michel Sénéchal.  They are immersed in the language and culture and return home transformed by the experience, having reached a new level of proficiency. They are not just singing in French; they are making the French language sing.

Twenty equally fortunate young artists receive similar training in Italy in the Emilia-Romagna region, imbibing pasta and wine along with the grand historical tradition conveyed by master teacher Ubaldo Fabbri.

We have heard and thrilled to the results but never had a clear picture of what this intense training looked and sounded like.  Last night's program at Opera America remedied that lack.  The result of an inspired collaboration between Artistic Director Glenn Morton and film maker August Ventura (two endlessly positive and creative men whom we are privileged to call friends) we were finally able to appreciate not just the outcome but the process of learning.

Mr. Ventura gave an inspired talk about Mr. Morton's vision, comparing it to that of the Roman god Janus in that he is able to relate to opera's glorious past and also to project into the future what is necessary to protect that patrimony.  He showed the three short films he created in which the audience could glimpse snatches of lessons from the great masters and coaches.  Mr. Ventura's point about the importance of preservation of a nation's past from apathy and from the danger of destruction by outside forces was very well taken.

But the proof of the pudding, so to speak, is in the singing and several former and present students delighted the audience by demonstrating the facility they gained during their residencies abroad.

Accompanied by the lyrical arpeggios of alumna Laetitia Ruccolo, soprano Dorothy Gal sang Antonia's aria "Elle a fui, la tourterelle" from Offenbach's Contes d'Hoffman in fine French style with the long lyric lines that we so love.  Yes indeed, she "made the French sing" with some lovely word coloring.

Soprano Nadia Petrella knocked our proverbial socks off with the eerie first act aria "Regnava nel silenzio" from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.  The feelings seemed to come from deep within and anticipated Lucia's instability of character. She fearlessly  attacked the high notes. This was exactly the way we want this aria to be sung. Michael Stewart was her able accompanist and they worked beautifully together.

Jia-Jun Hong gave a passionate and spot-on performance of the Marcello song "Il mio bel foco", accompanied by Fabio Bezuti. Mr. Hong was seen in the film as one of a group of Chinese singers who attended the Italian program.  How pleased we were to learn that Italian opera is held in high regard in China!  The students were incredibly enthusiastic about the training they received.

The fine tenor Vincent Festa delivered "É serbato a questo acciaro" from Bellini's I Capuleti ei Montecchi.  The performance was filled with "garlic" and we loved the way he handled the upward skips.  The cantabile and the cabaletta were equally impressive, as was Ms. Ruccolo's piano.

From Verdi's Ernani, baritone Baejoon Lee sang "Oh de' verd'anni miei", accompanied by Mr. Bezuti.  It is a fine sturdy sound and we will look forward to hearing more of Mr. Lee after his summer in Italy. A good Verdi baritone is always welcome.

As a special treat, Mr. Morton took to the piano bench to accompany two international stars, romantic tenor Leonardo Caimi and soprano Donata D'Annunzio Lombardi, on the CLA staff in a coaching capacity.

Mr. Caimi employed his marvelous sound with its generous amplitude and passionate spirit for Cardillo's "Core 'ngrato".  His style and fine legato phrasing made us feel as if we were Italian for those few minutes.

Ms. Lombardi achieved the same effect in Tosti's "Amour, amour" but in this case we were seeing France through Italian eyes.  It is easy to see why she is famous as an interpreter of Tosti's songs.  We have also witnessed her coaching at a prior event and her skills are remarkable.

We refer you to www.classiclyricarts.org where you too may see film clips of this outstanding program.

(c) meche kroop