ESPANA ALLA ROSSINI

Anna Tonna, Elaine Rinaldi, and Elisabet Torras Aguilera

Although we are in a studio in the theater district of Manhattan, it is not difficult to imagine that we are attending a musical soiree in the home of a wealthy Madrileno patron of the arts in 1830. The music, the singing, the dancing, and the effective costuming all contributed to the delightful illusion.

Gioachino Rossini lived from 1792 until 1868 and composed 40 operas in a period of 19 years, arguably the most famous of which is Il Barbiere di Siviglia. But he also composed many wonderful songs and he loved the mezzo-soprano fach. According to Simon Saad, the knowledgable lecturer who introduce4 Ms. Tonno's program, Rossini had strong ties to Spain, both through his banker/friend and through his Madrilena wife Isabella Colbran. In point of fact, he only visited Spain once in 1831 but had strong feelings for the country that helped form the backbone of vocal technique in that period.

Ms. Tonna chose seven of his finest songs for her showcase program this afternoon, and if you are tempted by our description, you will be happy to learn that the program will be repeated tomorrow Monday, January 9th, at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo at 6:00PM.

The first song on the program, "La passeggiata", dedicated to a Spanish queen, is filled with lavish embellishments which perfectly suited Ms. Tonna's coloratura technique, including a very fine trill. We loved the alternation between lyrical measures and staccato ones.

The second song "A Granada" was also dedicated to a Spanish queen, and was also in waltz time, but with lyrics of a more serious nature.

For "Canzonetta Spagnola", Ms. Tonna was joined by the fine Spanish dancer Elisabet Torras Aguilera. The text for this song was written by Signora Rossini (Ms. Colbran) and the rhythms are particular dance-worthy. When most people think of Spanish dance, they think of flamenco but it is evident that Spanish dance makes use of European ballet footwork but with a somewhat different use of the arms and the accompaniment of castanets. It was a pleasure to watch.

"La promessa", again in waltz rhythm, was dedicated to the wife of Rossini's banker friend, and is one of our personal favorites. Ms. Tonna got to show off her facility with wide skips in the melody and to utilize dynamic variety.

"L'invito", in Bolero rhythm, employed a text by the very same Count Carlo Pepoli who wrote the libretto for Bellini's I Puritani.  "Sorzico" in Basque rhythm, utilizied a text by Metastasio and the octave skips were deftly handled by Ms. Tonna.

The final work on the all-too-brief program was "Nizza, je puis san peine", the only work on the program sung in French. Ms. Tonna was joined once more by Ms. Aguilera who responded to  the lively Tirana rhythm with a freer style. There was some pretty fancy footwork and some familiar pirouettes, along with the customary crisp castanets.

We have reviewed Ms. Tonna on a number of prior occasions and have always loved her expressiveness and beautiful voice. For this showcase, her effective accompanist was Elaine Rinaldi.

If you are unable to make the Monday performance, all is not lost! There is a recording entitled "Espana alla Rossini" which contains even more material than this showcase.  Enjoy!

(c) meche kroop

LARISA MARTINEZ AND FRIENDS

Larisa Martinez and Suchan Kim

We have enjoyed the operatic performances of versatile soprano Larisa Martinez for the past two years-- a winsome Barbarina in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, the larger than life Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème,  Fire in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, and Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. So it was no small thrill to experience an entire evening of her performances at the old world townhouse of the Kosciuszko Foundation, presented by the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York.

The program was wisely designed to show off Ms. Martinez' many assets but also included the artistry of splendid baritone Suchan Kim, whose Mozart we have heard and appreciated, and four cellists, with the superb accompanist Laetitia Ruccolo at the piano.  As if this were not enough we also got to see some fine Spanish dancing from Elisabet Torras Aguilera.

Ms. Martinez appears to have it all--a beautiful and stylish appearance, a warm stage presence, fine technique, and a most attractive sound with just the right amount of vibrato. We enjoyed her most in the operatic works, virtually swooning over "Eccomi...Oh Quante Volte" from the aforementioned Bellini, in which the doomed Giulietta despairs of the marriage planned for her and longs for the distant Romeo.

Bellini's long lovely phrases were exquisitely rendered. The fioritura was florid and delivered in ringing tones. High notes were beautifully spun out and dynamics used effectively for emotional impact.

Two duets with Mr. Kim were extraordinary from both vocal and dramatic standpoints. From among many possibilities of soprano-baritone duets, the choices were perfect. In "La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Mr. Kim was a sly seducer and Ms. Martinez an ultimately compliant Zerlina.

Mr. Kim has a substantial sound and fine phrasing and easily switched gears to become the unfortunate Rigoletto patiently listening to Gilda's recitation of her seduction/rape by the Duke. He clearly showed Rigoletto's inner turmoil while he attempted to comfort his beloved daughter.  It was a real heart breaker and Ms. Martinez switched easily from the minx in the previous scene to the betrayed young woman in the second.

We experience Ms. Martinez as more of an opera singer but that doesn't mean there was any fault in her lieder singing. We might have preferred a less operatic sound for Brahms' simple folksong "Botschaft", but we enjoyed hearing Clara Schumann's "Liebst du um Schonheit" and were better able to put Strauss' setting  out of our ears than we were the first time we heard it.

But the best lied was the meditative "Nacht und Träume", one of Schubert's finest, as she eased up on power and volume, respecting the lovely text.

Hugo Wolf's "Erstes Liebeslied Eines Mädchens" has its frisky double entendres and Ms. Martinez captured them with a sly smile.

We had just heard mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard sing the 15th c. Spanish folksong "Las Morillas de Jaen" and it was great to hear it once again. The graceful dancer Elisabet Torras Aguilera added her terpsichorean skills, casting aside the castanets she used in Isaac Albeniz' "Sevilla" in favor of a fan, which only Spanish women know how to employ so effectively. She also danced through the cute Obradors song "Chiquitita la novia".

Following the dancing, four cellists made their entrance and proceeded to play "Fugue #1" from Bach's The Art of the Fugue. Elad Kabilio was reviewed last week but Grace Ho, Oded Hadar and Caleb van der Swaagh were new to us.  We have never heard four cellos in ensemble but Mr. Kablio did a fine job of arranging; the variety of tone was impressive with bowing and plucking bringing out the different voices.

The four cellists remained to accompany Ms. Martinez as she sang more of Villa Lobos' "Bachianas #5" than we have ever heard before. We still prefer the vocalise section which allowed us to focus on the singer's purity of tone.

As encore we heard a selection called "La Petenera" from Moreno Torroba's 1928 zarzuela La Marchenera. Those who read us will recall how fondly we think of zarzuela.  Again, our greedy ears want to hear the entire work!