A WINTER ROSE

Ken Noda and Hyesang Park

It was a cold and nasty late winter day outside, but inside the vast St. Michael's Church on the Upper West Side, Spring was in the air and in the ear. Ushering in the delights of the upcoming Spring was star soprano Hyesang Park with the incredibly sensitive accompaniment of Ken Noda. The occasion was a Neighborhood Concert produced by the Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall in partnership with St. Michael's church. The concert is part of the Marilyn Horne Legacy at Carnegie Hall, and the divine Ms. Horne was in the audience for this very special event.

We have reviewed Ms. Park over a half dozen times (all reviews archived) and fell all over ourselves the first time we heard her in 2013. But she just keeps getting better and better, even when there seems to be no room for improvement. Her instrument is bright but never shrill; her technique is flawless; but it is something else that draws the listener in, as if the fragrance of a rose slipped around your heart.  To hear her is to love her. Her voice is like a bell that summons one away from whatever dark place you may have been stuck in.

Perhaps the rose analogy came out of the gorgeous rose-colored gown she wore but there is no denying that her inner beauty, revealed when she modestly addressed the audience, informs everything she sings. We don't know of another singer who can close her eyes in rapture without losing contact with the audience. 

We have been most familiar with her bel canto roles and a Mozart concert aria.  Yesterday's recital revealed a number of other aspects to her versatility. Our companion, fluent in both French and German, agreed with our high opinion of Ms. Park's linguistic skills. We can attest to her authenticity in Spanish.

The program opened with Joaquin Rodrigo's Cuatro madrigales amatorios, four memorably tuneful songs of widely divergent moods; the mournful "Con que la lavare" and the teasing "De donde venis, amore?" were our two personal favorites. These songs are heard frequently on recital programs but Ms. Park made them fresh and new.

Also in Spanish were three selections from Enrique Granados' Canciones amatorias, with which we were unfamiliar. In these, Mr. Noda's collaborative piano was outstanding. He always impresses us with his profound involvement with the singer and the two of them made marvelous music together.

Clara Schumann's songs deserve to be on more recital programs and we were happy to hear five of them, all sung with superlative German diction and a remarkable depth of feeling. Mrs. Schumann's song output was certainly overshadowed by her husband's but she was no minor talent! Just hear her setting of "Liebst du um Schonheit", the Ruckert text that was famously set by Gustav Mahler!

We have often heard the vocalise of Heitor Villa-Lobos' Bachianas brasileiras No. 5. When Ms. Park sang it, our thought was "Angels can speak without words".  We cannot recall ever hearing the beautiful text about nightfall. Ms. Park handled the vocalise, the text, and the humming section with equal skill. We are not familiar with Portuguese but we shall assume that it was perfect.

Poulenc seemed to favor surrealistic texts to which we have trouble relating; however, Ms. Park's dramatic gifts allowed us the illusion that we understood! Now that is a strange phenomenon. She captured a sort of cabaret feeling to them without depriving them of their seriousness. We particularly enjoyed "Paganini" from Metamorphoses and the pictorial "C" from Deux poemes de Louis Aragon. The ironic "Fetes galantes" was performed at rapid-fire speed without missing a single syllable.

It is a courageous act for a Korean woman to sing Tosti songs, usually best sung by an Italian tenor breathing garlic into every phrase. We go on record here as saying that Ms. Park did them justice, even bringing something new to them. In "Aprile", she painted an aural picture of Spring along with Mr. Noda's lilting arpeggios. "L'ultima canzone" was so heartbreaking we could scarcely breathe. (We managed to make a one minute video which you can find on our Facebook page Voce di Meche.) The joyful "Marechiaro" was sung in accurate dialect.  We loved every moment.

Ms. Park closed the program with a lovely setting of the 23rd Psalm by N. Unyoung. Although religious music is not our favorite, the words are in Korean and Ms Park sang from the depths of her soul. It is clear from what place she derives spiritual sustenance, the more power to her.

As encore, she offered "O, mio babbino caro" from Giacomo Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. As the true artist she is, Ms. Park made this oft-heard aria completely her own.  She made the church her own.  She made the audience her own. This beautiful young woman is destined for stardom on the world's stages; and she deserves it!

(c) meche kroop

 

MORE MORLEY PLEASE

Erin Morley

We can still recall the first time we heard soprano Erin Morley in recital (just before we started writing about singers) and we were blown away by the purity of her voice and the warmth of her connection with the material and the audience.  Every time we have heard her we have been increasingly impressed.  Her groundbreaking performance at the Santa Fe Opera in the role of the eponymous "Rossignol" of Stravinsky's opera has led to our calling her by that name.

But we also recall with pleasure hearing her as Adellina Vocedoro-Gambalunghi in Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor, her "Marten alle Arten" at a Richard Tucker celebration, and also delivering fireworks in some Mozart concert arias at a Mostly Mozart night. And also singing a duet with Isabel Leonard on a beastly hot night in Central Park--"Oh, belle nuit" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman.

It was Olympia's aria from that same opera--"Les oiseaux dans la charmille"-- that knocked our socks off last night at the 19th annual Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital.  It was her first encore; her coloratura fireworks and charming dramatic skills brought the cheering audience at Alice Tully Hall to their collective feet for a prolonged and well deserved standing ovation.  Those skips and those trills left no doubt that Ms. Morley is a MAJOR talent and a splendid choice to receive this award.

A true Juilliard daughter, she earned her Masters Degree there and her Artists Diploma as well. The Lindemann Program and a number of prestigious awards brought her to the attention of the opera world and has resulted in worldwide fame. 

Working in perfect sync with the highly esteemed collaborative pianist Ken Noda, Ms. Morley planned a most unusual program based on different types of love. Instead of arranging the program by composer, she devoted each set to a different stage of love. Schubert's "Lied der Delphine" expresses unthinking adolescent infatuation in a charming fashion.

The section on erotic love comprised Joaquin Rodrigo's sprightly "De donde venis, amore?" and Enrique Granados' tender "El mirar de la maja" which blossomed into a passionate response from the beloved, granting Ms. Morley multiple opportunities for variations in color and dynamics. We also heard Brahms' provocative "Therese".

If the section on motherly love was particularly lovely, we attribute it to the fact that Ms. Morley has an adorable youngster (we can attest to this as her family joined her in Santa Fe when we reviewed her performances) and another on the way.  Dvorak's profound tribute to what passes from mother to daughter--"Songs My Mother Taught Me"-- was sung in Czech with Mr. Noda's piano contributing a Bohemian flavor.

Her delivery of Rachmaninoff's "Margaritki" allowed us to appreciate the symbolism of daisies as little girls, something that somehow had escaped our imagination heretofore. Mr. Noda's trills added to the vocal thrills. Especially symbolic (of pregnancy) was Schumann's "Der Himmel hat eine Trane geweint"; we may never hear those two songs the same way again. Ms. Morley's interpretation opened our ears and our heart--what all fine artistry should do!

For sheer pleasure we would exalt Strauss' "Amor". Ms. Morley's crystalline coloratura seems made for Strauss and, indeed, she will be heard at the Met as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Her high notes soar into the stratosphere and the embellishments are always incredibly exciting. Her rapport with the audience grew as she related how she identifies her child with the rascal Amor.

Unrequited love was explored in the next set, limning various ways a woman reacts to betrayal. We have always responded to Hugo Wolf's "Das verlassene Magdlein", a very sad song about a young woman just going through the motions of getting through another day. For the first time we noticed that during the piano interlude, when the subject recalls her dream of the prior night, the piano flips to major for a couple seconds. It was such a poignant moment.

Mozart's "Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte" is yet another favorite. In this song, the spunky heroine tries to extinguish the fire within by burning the man's love letters. All the passion and resolve were heard in Mozart's marvelous vocal line.

The grief of losing a love to death was the subject of the next set.  Our favorite here was Edvard Grieg's "Zur Rosenzeit", another instance where the symbolism became clearer for us. Goethe's text scans and rhymes magnificently and Ms. Morley sang it sensitively.

A set of songs on sacred love closed the recital. Ms. Morley has some happy memories of singing in the Salt Lake Children's Choir and gave pride of place to the song "Little Lamb", a setting of a William Blake text by choir director Ralph B. Woodward. This is a simple melody and Ms. Morley can handle simplicity just as well as fireworks. As a surprising bonus, every word was clear and we hardly ever find that in sung English.

We loved the intensity of Tchaikovsky's "Whether Day Dawns" and Mr. Noda's piano was powerful throughout, lending gravitas. But it was the final song by Strauss that we loved the most--the well known "Zueignung" sung with deep feeling and impressive artistry.

The recital did credit to Ms. Morley, to Mr. Noda and to Juilliard, from whence so much artistry emanates.

(c) meche kroop

WEST SIDE STORY COMES TO THE EAST SIDE

Christopher Cano, Dimitri Pittas, and Jennifer Johnson Cano

The final piece on the program of yesterday's George London recital was the duet from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano singing the role of Maria and tenor Dimitri Pittas singing the role of Tony in "Tonight". Stephen Sondheim's words perfectly expressed the rapture of new love and Bernstein's luscious melody felt just right played by the versatile pianist Christopher Cano.

There was no encore but this was the perfect number to send the audience out happily humming. Shall we sulk because this was the end of a season of glorious recitals presented at the Morgan Library by the George London Foundation? No! We prefer to exult over our memories of this terrific season and the exciting program already set for next season, which we will reveal at the end of our review.  Hang in there!

We have been writing about Ms. Cano for at least three years now. Her fame onstage is richly deserved and well-earned. She seems to have a splendid partnership with her husband Christopher; the two share an emotional connection with each other and with the music they choose. It is always a welcome event to hear them together in recital.

The roundness of tone and fine technique have been recognized and celebrated by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and the Richard Tucker Foundation, as well as the George London Foundation. But what makes us want to stand up and sing (her praises) is her gift for storytelling. The drama is operatic in scope and makes each song a deep emotional experience for the listener.

One of our favorite Hugo Wolf songs is "Der Feuerreiter" and this is the first time there was no doubt about the malicious intention of the subject of the song and his horrific end. Mr. Cano's piano joined Ms. Cano's voice in horrifying reciprocity. We liked the change of color in the final verse.

Another of our favorite Wolf songs is the sorrowful "Das Verlassene Mägdlein" which we just heard two days ago. The artistic couple took it at a very slow tempo, suitable to the depressed state of the abandoned girl. The lighthearted "Begegnung" allowed Mr. Cano to create quite a storm in the piano.

His magic fingers were able to bring the nightingale right into the theater in "La maja y el ruiseñor", a very fine song by Enrique Granados. Ms. Cano's Spanish was just as excellent as her German.

Jonathan Dove did well in his choice of text for Three Tennyson Songs, the settings of which were far more musical than most contemporary compositions. Ms. Cano's English diction and fine phrasing made excellent sense of the text.  Our personal favorite was "The Sailor-Boy" with its A-B-A-B rhyme scheme--an exuberant tale of a young man's thirst for adventure on the high seas.

In an interesting and probably coincidental bit of programming, tenor Dimiti Pittas had as his collaborative pianist his very own wife. If the name Leah Edwards sounds familiar to you, you may have been acquainted with her through the world of gymnastics, dance, Broadway, or opera. Yesterday she wore her pianist hat and we were most pleased with her stylish performance.

We have enjoyed Mr. Pittas onstage at The Metropolitan Opera and The Santa Fe Opera. We still remember his moving performance as Macduff in an otherwise distasteful production of Verdi's Macbeth. We wish we could say that we enjoyed him as much as a lieder singer.

Not every opera singer has the requisite skills for the art song. Mr. Pittas' approach failed to take into account the size and dry acoustics of the theater at The Morgan Library. He seemed to be pushing his voice to reach a non-existent family circle! Furthermore, there was a lack of subtlety in the coloration.

The Quatre chansons of Henri Duparc are mainly fragile things requiring a lighter touch.  Perhaps the best of the four was "Le manoir de Rosamonde" in which Ms. Edwards set the frantic mood in the piano and maintained the feeling of suspense throughout.

We were unable to understand Mr. Pittas' French; our Francophone companion was able to pinpoint the deficiencies in his French pronunciation--both of which could easily be corrected.  Like many Americans he overemphasized the "r" and failed to distinguish between "a" and "o". This would not matter much on the opera stage but does matter in lieder singing where the text is crucial.

His German was better than his French but the simple songs by Brahms also demanded a lighter touch. The gossamer delicacy of "Die Mainacht" was completely overwhelmed.

We promised to give you advance notice of next year's recitals so save the dates! On October 9th, Isabel Leonard will be joined by Jared Bybee and that recital should be a major treat. The George London Competition Finals will be held February 17th of 2017 and that is an event no opera lover should miss.

Fans of Paul Appleby (of which we count ourselves one) must wait until March 5th when he will share his program with relative newcomer Sarah Mesko. April 9th will bring us Amber Wagner and Reginald Smith, Jr.

We can barely contain our excitement over getting up close and personal with these superb artists.
The dates are already on our calendar. The singers that give us so much pleasure have all been recipients of awards from The George London Foundation for Singers. The funds have been well spent!

(c) meche kroop

LAS TRES ANNAS

Diane Lesser, Gustavo Ahualli, Anna Belén Gómez, Anna Tonna, Borja Mariño, and Anna de la Paz

Enrique Granados died tragically and prematurely a century ago; he spent the last months of his life right here in New York City, a time period which saw the premiere of his opera Goyescas at the Metropolitan Opera. (Bare Opera presented this work just a couple weeks ago and our review can be found by typing Goyescas in the search bar.)

The Hispanic Society of America presented a delightful evening of his music and dance in a program entitled "From Barcelona with Passion: Enrique Granados in New York". There is a strong connection--the society awarded him the Silver Medal; he donated an autographed manuscript of Goyescas to the Society's library; and he autographed a column in the great room of this magnificent building, which houses a most worthwhile art collection.

The program included a great deal of his music with which we were familiar, but presented the way Granados originally wrote it.  For example, the first of Doce tonadillas al estilo antiguo, "La maja de Goya", opens with a recitation accompanied by piano--a somewhat picaresque story (probably apocryphal) about the famous painter who knew how to appreciate female beauty. It was delivered dramatically with appropriate emphasis by mezzo-soprano Anna Tonno. We'd never heard it before.

With the exception on "El majo olvidado" which was sung by Argentinean baritone Gustavo Ahualli, the remainder of the tonadillas were sung by Ms. Tonno alternating with soprano Anna Belén Gómez. Both women have lovely voices and the ability to get across the emotional tone of the song. Singing without scores, they were able to make great contact with the audience.  Unfortunately Mr. Ahualli was on the book the entire evening, relying solely on his powerful instrument. We were surprised to learn that he sings opera because we did not feel a dramatic connection.

Our favorite part of this group was the light-hearted and satirically titled duet "Las currutacas modestas" sung by Ms. Belén Gómez and Ms. Tonna. We have never heard this sung as it was written and were delighted by the mellifluous harmonies and the flirtatious nature of the performance.

Ms. Tonna gave a superlative performance of "Callejeo", a song about a desperate maja who cannot find her majo.

We also enjoyed the contribution of the English Horn, played by Diane Lesser, which added greatly to the beauty of "La maja dolorosa, No. 1". Borja Mariño's piano was exceptionally fine throughout with much marcato and staccato playing that successfully imitated the guitar.

We also heard Canciones amatorias, of which our favorite was the lively "Iban al pinar", sung by Ms. Belén Gómez. Mr. Mariño's piano was particularly lovely in "Mañanica era".

His piano also stood out in "La boyra", excerpted from Four Songs for Male Voice. We wanted so much to experience a little more drama from Mr. Ahualli, especially in "Dia y noche de Diego ronda" which seemed to cry out for a show of personality.  Perhaps if he sang "off the book" he would be freer to be more expressive.

The presence of dancer Anna de la Paz was an unexpected treat. Her first number was "Danza de los ojos verdes" which Granados composed for the dancer Antonia Mercé, known as "La Argentina" because her parents were dancers on tour in Argentina when she was born. An interesting tidbit is that her costume was designed by Ignacio Zuolaga, a famous Spanish painter. This very dress was reproduced for Sra. de la Paz for tonight's performance. She danced with a fan, but for her second number, the "Intermezzo" from Goyescas, she employed castanets and percussive foot work which was thrilling to hear. She is a dancer of great grace and style!

As encore, the three singers performed Elegia eterna with its gorgeous melodies.

Due to the fact that Granados' death was a century ago, and his birth a century and a half ago, there will be many more celebrations of his oeuvre. Information can be obtained from the City University of New York Foundation for Iberian Music.

(c) meche kroop

OLE!

Sharon Isbin and Isabel Leonard

Last night at Zankel Hall, two world-renowned artists graced the stage and demonstrated all the magic of Spanish music.  If you came for emotion, you got it.  If you came for gorgeous sound, you got it.  If you came to feel the multi-cultural aspect of music from Spain, you got it.  If you came for glamour, you got it. 

As we have pointed out, Spain is geographically part of Europe. Almost. Sharing a border with the south of France, it juts out into the Atlantic, almost kissing Morocco. Spain is culturally its own, with strong influences from N. Africa dating back to the period of Moorish domination.

Much of the music coming out of Spain in the 19th and 20th c. bears echoes of flamenco.  It is surprising but much of the music we associate with guitar was originally written for the piano.

We have often written about zarzuela, the Spanish version of operetta, but last night's recital contained no arias, only art songs written by Spain's best composers. The recital was unique in that there was no collaborative piano, rather a collaborative guitar played by the world class guitarist Sharon Isbin who seemed to breathe in tandem with Ms. Leonard and whose solos astonished us with their virtuosity.

Nothing astonishes us about Isabel Leonard whose spectacular mezzo-soprano sheds magic on whatever she chooses to sing. We have often written about the rich overtones of her voice which lend it a most particular texture. Her stage presence is stunning but accessible and her phrasing always makes artistic sense.

She has a long intense involvement with Spanish music. Let us begin at the end when Ms. Leonard finally discarded the music stand which had impaired our connection for most of the evening.  More on that later.

Manuel de Falla wrote his Siete canciónes populares españolas in the early 20th c.  Ms. Leonard really connected with the audience and used her innate sense of drama to wring every ounce of color and change of mood from the seven songs. We particularly enjoyed the playful "Jota" in which Ms. Leonard conveyed the secret passion of the young lover; Ms. Isbin's guitar contributed the texture.

The intense "Polo" was so deeply felt that we experienced a pain in our very own heart. That's what a song should do for us!

In the remainder of the program, Ms. Leonard used a music stand, even for music which we know she knows well. Judging by the applause which interrupted every set after each and every song, the rest of the audience didn't care.  But we did.

This is our own personal bugaboo. When a singer breaks contact to look down or to turn the page, we feel the fine thread of attachment snap and we then retreat to reading the translation, instead of feeling the connection. The singer may very well be totally involved with the material but not with the audience.  We want to feel what they feel about the song and we lose it.

This deficit was experienced all through the marvelous and varied program. We love Federico Garcia Lorca's Canciónes españolas antiguas, settings of folk songs, strangely presented in two sets separated by two guitar solos. Ms. Leonard is a gifted storyteller and engaged the audience with her easy natural introductions. We particularly enjoyed "Romance de Don Boyso" and "Los mozos de Monléon" which allowed the artist room for a dramatic reading over the voice of the guitar.

Two selections from Xavier Montsalvatge's Canciónes negras, arranged by Ms. Isbin, were performed, of which our favorite was the tender lullaby "Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito" which our companion found to be racist. (Well, yes, but the De Falla songs are sexist--both products of their time and place and, in our opinion, beyond criticism).

A special treat was a composition by Joaquín Rodrigo. We have long loved his 1939 Concierto de Aranjuez but never knew that he extracted the Adagio and that his wife wrote text for it, a nostalgic piece of poetry in French. Victoria Kamhi was a Sephardic Jew, born in Turkey, and a pianist who gave up her career to assist her blind husband.  So, we don't know why it is in French but we loved Ms. Leonard's French diction.

A contemporary work by the American composer Richard Danielpour was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and saw its première on the program as well. The text is based on the poetry of Rumi, the 13th c. poet whose life story is filled with fascinating detail.

Writing in what was then the Persian Empire, presumably in Farsi, the poet wrote of love and spirituality. Raficq Abdulla's translation, while considered one of the finest, did nothing for us. Perhaps they are more interpretations than translations.  Perhaps they have lost much in the translation.

"Listen" seemed to be shoehorned into rhymed couplets and came across as doggerel which did not scan at all. Although we loved the music as played by Ms. Isbin, it seemed to us that it missed the eroticism of the second two selections--"This Night of Love" and "Your Beauty".

We did find the work far more listenable than most contemporary music, and Ms. Leonard's English diction lacked for nothing. The most musical part was when she sang on the syllable "La"; it probably would have sounded a lot better in Farsi! It is our opinion that before setting a text, a composer should think about whether the text needs music to enhance it!

We will not close without casting compliments on Ms. Isbin. We heard two late 19th c. masterpieces--Enrique Granados' "Andaluza" from his 12 danzas españolas and Isaac Albeniz' Asturias, arranged by Andres Segovia--written originally for piano. Ms. Isbin's powerfully rasqueadas instilled the pieces with flamenco flavor.

The familiar melodies are marked by strong bass notes with a fine filigree. We definitely were feeling the "gypsy soul" and recognized the guitarist as an artist who communicates what she herself is feeling. Her playing involved subtle changes of dynamics and technical mastery of the highest order.  In Francisco Tárrega's Recuerdos de la Alhambra, the tremolo in the right hand called forth the vision of the plashing fountains.

As encore, we heard the Mexican composer Agustín Lara's 1932 "Granada" which brought the audience to their collective feet. We felt magnificently entertained.

We cannot end without returning to our comment about glamour. If an artist mentions her designer we feel called upon to comment. Austin Scarlett provided one hit and one miss.  The beautiful Ms. Leonard sported a red strapless gown that spilled into a pool on the floor; it was breathtaking. The lovely Ms. Isbin had a gown that appeared matronly, unbecoming, and uncomfortable.

(c) meche kroop

MORE FROM ARGENTINA

Natalia Suriano and Gonzalo Llanes Mena

Having just reviewed a recital of young singers from Argentina, we were very much in the mood to hear even more Argentinean music; so last night we showed up at the Consulate General of Argentina for a recital by two young artists from Argentina. This pair, unlike the visiting artists of the prior evening, are studying here in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.

The program was not operatic but rather composed of art songs and the audience comprised mainly Argentineans who were over the moon hearing songs of their homeland. If anyone but us was troubled by the singer's use of a music stand, one would never have known about it.

When the otherwise engaging tenor Gonzalo Llanes Mena looked at the audience we felt the connection that we so enjoy that makes a song come to life.  But every time he looked down at his score, that connection was broken. It was a short recital, just an hour, and we couldn't understand the reason for not memorizing the songs, since none of the works were modern or esoteric. Just sayin'!

Mr. LLanes Mena engaged the audience by explaining each song in his own inimitable and humorous style in charmingly accented English; this served to include audience members whose Spanish is less than fluent.

His sound is a sweet one but not a slight one, and he had the "garlic" to get across Tosti's "A vucchella", after explaining that Tosti loved all kind of women and this song about a dried-up flower was written about an elderly woman!

His German diction was fine in "Bist du bei mir", attributed to Bach but likely written by Stölzel; he certainly did not neglect the correct pronunciation of the "ch" sound. We wish we could say the same thing about his French diction in Reynaldo Hahn's "A Chloris" but we cannot; the even French line was nowhere to be found and several nasal vowels were mispronounced.

One cannot blame singers not born and raised in the USA for wanting to sing Broadway songs but they just sound peculiar to our ears when sung with a foreign accent.  We wonder what the native born French think of our American singers when they sing in French!  Actually, we don't wonder; we've been told that the French singing that we found acceptable was NOT music to French ears!

In any case, "Be My Love" (Brodzsky/Cahn) was on the program and our game tenor was joined by an excellent soprano, Anna Mayo, and they gave it their all. We do love good harmony and enjoyed the performance. Ms. Mayo has a brilliant voice and a smooth portamento that we admired.

Lerner and Loew's "On the Street Where You Live" was given a charming introduction and gave the superb collaborative pianist Natalia Suriano an elaborate piano arrangement into which she could sink her teeth, or rather her fingers.

It was no small delight that Ms. Suriano provided a piano solo of great distinction--selections from Enrique Granados' Escenas románticas. Our favorite of the three was the "Mazurca".  Perhaps it was only the rhythm that evoked our feeling but we would be surprised if Granados had not learned a great deal from Chopin's music.

Her playing of this melodic music was highly expressive and her fleet fingers met all the technical demands of the devilishly difficult "Lento con éxtasis".

The remainder of the program comprised popular songs of Argentina, likely from the 20th c. Our tenor sported a handsome poncho and ingratiatingly explained its usefulness. We particularly liked "Cuesta abajo" (Gardel/LePera), a tango from a film of the 1930's with the same title.

Suitable for this pre-Halloween week was "Zamba para la viuda", a ghost story which Mr. Llanes Mena explained for the audience.

We were fortunate to hear more from the songwriting team of Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera--the encore piece "Mi Buenos Aires Querido" in the tango rhythm for which that song writing team is famous. It was at this point that the packed house went wild with enthusiasm. We tried to imagine being an expat and hearing singers from the USA singing Broadway numbers.

No, there were no zarzuela arias but we left satisfied that we learned more about Argentinean song.

(c) meche kroop

LETTERS FROM SPAIN

Theo Lebow, Michael Barrett, Corinne Winters and Alexey Lavrov with Steven Blier at the piano

We have just spent a couple hours reading Steven Blier's program notes from last night's New York Festival of Song recital Letters from Spain: A World of Song in Spanish Poetry. Mr. Blier's talents go way beyond playing the piano, arranging, translating, curating and coaching young singers.  He is also an educator and has generously shared the fruits of his research. We learned a great deal about Europe's fascination with Iberian poetry and the many composers who set diverse works to music, from the simplest folk melodies to the most elaborate compositional efforts.

We have simple taste and favor folk melodies that tickle the ear and stick in the brain. That being said, the entire program was worthwhile and the three singers, while not Spanish, did a superlative job of transmitting the Spanish flavor. It is not only Russian music that delves into suffering; they have plenty of competition from Spain in its cante jondo.

One of the most fascinating items on the program was the opening song "Todos duermen, corazón" which Robert Schumann set to music in its German translation--known as "In der Nacht". But Mr. Blier observed that the scansion of the original Spanish worked equally well with the music and that is what we heard; and that was what charmed us. Soprano Corinne Winters and tenor Theo Lebow joined voices in gorgeous harmony which alternated with overlapping melodies. Schumann's piano writing here sounded strangely baroque. We loved it!

Baritone Alexey Lavrov poured his passion into another Schumann song, this one in the German of Emanuel von Geibel--"Geständnis". Mr. Lavrov does passion very well as we learned in Tchaikovsky's "Don Juan's Serenade", a setting of text by Tolstoy. One can't go wrong with Tolstoy! Lest one conclude that Mr. Lavrov only sings passionate songs, a charming Shostakovich song "Little Stars" was given every ounce of humor called for, in what began life as a folk song.

This was by far our favorite Shostakovich song since the following ones struck us as a bit ponderous or filled with suffering. Nonetheless, the melismatic singing in "Farewell Granada!" was absolutely amazing.

Ms. Winters's singing was captivating. Her delivery is slightly on the side of restraint and we found her very much in tune with Hugo Wolf whose "Geh', Geliebter, geh' jetzt", is yet another adaptation of Spanish poetry by von Geibel. The singer in the song is bidding a reluctant farewell to her lover at dawn in order to avoid scandal. 

We also thrilled to her delivery of "Se equivocó la paloma" one of several songs by the Argentinian Carlos Guastavino, of whom we cannot hear enough. This song is a setting of text by the Spanish writer Rafael Alberti who fled Spain for Argentina. Mr. Blier, always wonderful at shedding light on the songs he curates, introduced the song by explaining that the dove in the song was not romantically deceived but politically deceived. 

Her performance of the next two Guastavino songs was no less wonderful--the austere "La palomita" and "Elegía" with its heraldic sound in the piano. Perhaps it was our imagination but we thought Ms. Winters sang it with an Argentinian accent! There was no mistaking the Catalonian dialect of "Elegía eterna" by the beloved Enrique Granados. In this song, every element of nature is in love with another element that favors yet another.  No love is requited. Ms. Winters sang it with deep feeling.

Mr. Lebow gave alternating delicacy and passion to Hugo Wolf's "Qué producirá mi Dios" evincing astute dynamic control. He also sang a set of songs drawn from William Bolcom's Canciones de Lorca. The dense piano writing required two pianos and four hands in "Alba" with Michael Barrett joining Mr. Blier. The piano writing in "Soneta de la dulce queja" was contrastingly spare. Mr. Lebow adapted his voice readily. We enjoyed the dance rhythm of "El poeta llega a la Habana".

"Zorongo", another poem by Garcia Lorca was set by Anton Garcia Abril, a 20th c. composer. Mr. Lavrov did justice to the passion and the tenderness as Lorca wrote of his love for a man--quite a risky situation in his time and place.

The Renaissance chant "Ay, trista vida corporal!" was sung a capella by Mr. Lebow to stunning effect. The melismatic parts revealed an Arabic influence.

The ensemble joined for the lighthearted tonadilla "El tripili" from an 18th c. zarzuela and for the beautiful encore "Anhelo", Guastavino's setting of a text by Domingo Zerpa. It was a simple folky tune and just our cup of ....sangria!

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THE DIVA FROM NEXT DOOR

Susan Graham (photo by Benjamin Ealovega)

What strikes one the most about mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is an unaffected quality that brings the audience closer than one would usually feel toward a major star of the opera world. One feels as if one could sit down over coffee and have a delightful personal chat.

Having revelled in Ms. Graham's public performances countless times (we will never forget her hilarious performance as the eponymous heroine of Offenbach's La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein at the Santa Fe Opera or her Octavian in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier) we were thrilled to our toes by the opportunity to hear her up close and personal for a most original program.

The circumstance was a benefit for Classical Action: Performing Arts Against Aids (an arm of Broadway Cares: Equity Fights Aids); Chris Kenney of that organization introduced Ms. Graham and told a bit about all the good things these organizations accomplish. This particular series was underwritten by the Michael Palm Foundation established in honor of Mr. Palm who supported the cause with private house concerts.

As to the program for the evening, what made it original was a concept devised by Ms. Graham and her irrepressible collaborative pianist Malcolm Martineau.  They wanted to present Robert Schumann's 1940 Frauenliebe und Leben (one of our favorite song cycles) but with variations, the variations being the interpolation of a variety of songs from the repertory which fit in with the various stages of a woman's life as represented in Schumann's cycle.

In her most engaging manner, Ms. Graham explained the work thoroughly for those in the audience who may not have been familiar with the cycle. She introduced a fact that was unknown to us--that the subject of Adelbert von Chamisso's 1830 poetry was, in fact, a governess who married "above her station". This seems to shed new light on her position of disbelief that the exalted man would fall for her.  As the Italians might put it..."Si non è vero è ben trovato".

We generally don't care for "concept" but in this case it worked well, thanks to Ms. Graham's heartfelt delivery and Mr. Martineau's seamless pianism.  The cycle begins with the wild excitement of a young girl over a presumably older man in "Seit ich ihn gesehen" which was well complimented by Edvard Grieg's charming "Møte", the excitement of which was felt in both piano and voice, without loss of phrasing or tonal quality.

"Er, der herrlichste von Allen", a paean to the beloved, was paired with John Dankworth's somewhat jazzy setting of the Shakespeare sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?".  The young woman's incredulity was expressed in "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben" matched with Grieg's "Jeg elske dig". Although we are unfamiliar with Swedish, Ms. Graham's delivery sounded convincingly Nordic.

And now came the fun part! In "Du Ring an meinem Finger" Ms. Graham let loose with her dynamic dramatic skills and told the tale just as we wished to hear it--and even more so in Mahler's charming "Rheinlegendchen" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. We were grinning from ear to ear as she mowed the wheat, cast the ring into the water, laid out the fish on the king's table, found the ring and put it on her finger. This was the ultimate delivery of one of our favorite songs that will always be remembered just as she performed it.

The wedding day song "Helft mir, ihr Schwestern" was followed by Ravel's "Tout Gai" from his Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques. As far as the honeymoon period, von Chamisso sort of left that out but Ms. Graham and Mr. Martineau filled in the sexual gap, so to speak, with two intensely erotic songs: Henri Duparc's "Phidylé" was given a shimmeringly subtle interpretation which was quite different from the other three times we heard it this week alone.  And Debussy's "La Chevelure" from Songs of Bilitis was performed better than we have ever heard it.

Now we return to the remainder of the Schumann cycle with "Süsser Freund, du blickest mich" in which the husband is made to realize (by voice and piano) that he is on his way to fatherhood. Tchaikovsky's lovely "Lullabye", which was new to us, paired well with "An meinem Herzen an meiner Brust" in which the woman is ecstatic over her new baby. (We wonder how Heidi Stober missed that one in last week's recital. See preceding review).

The cycle ends sadly when the man dies. There are no songs about married life!  She has a baby and he dies--hopefully not in childbirth. Wisely, that very sad song was withheld until the end with two other songs interposed. Hector Berlioz' "L'absence" from Les Nuits d'Été was a wise choice as it suggests perhaps a period of illness, and likewise Enrique Granados' "O muerte cruel" from Tonadillas en Estilo Antiguo which sort of prepares us for the shocking chord of the widow's anger in "Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan". Just hearing the color Ms. Graham gave to the word "lehr" was enough to make one weep. It is a complex song filled with emotions of bitterness and grief but ending with a postlude in the piano which reflects the melody heard at the beginning of the cycle, bringing the evening to a satisfying conclusion.

Lest the audience leave the recital in a state of deep depression, our artists gave us two delightful encores. Not to disappoint those of us who know of her fame in French, Ms. Graham sang Reynaldo Hahn's "À Chloris" with overwhelming beauty of tone and phrasing. Finishing off the evening with joy, we heard Artie Butler's "Here's to Life".  Indeed!

These two gifted and generous artists gave of themselves without reservation and that is exactly the spirit in which the audience received the gift.

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KISS THE COOKE!

Sasha Cooke (photo by Dario Acosta)

It's been over a year since we reviewed mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke at the Juilliard Vocal Arts Recital and a half-year since we reviewed her performance in As One at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She captivated us last night at Zankel Hall as part of the Julia Goldwurm Pure Voice Series.  Her performances are so fine that we hope we will not have to wait another 6 months to hear her again.  Of the many qualities that contribute to her success as a performer there is the likable and easy-going stage presence that leads us to feel that she is singing just for us.

There is that wonderfully textured tonal richness-- like a cup of espresso that makes one sit up and take notice.  There is that musicality by which each song is distinctive, made meaningful by phrasing, word coloring and variety of tempi and dynamics.  There is that deeply felt connection to the text, delivered without excess theatrics, that gives the impression that she is channeling the poet.

The fine program opened with Haydn's cantata Arianna a Naxos.  This work was a perfect choice for Ms. Cooke who negotiated the wide range of emotions without any hint of fussiness.  Rather she used her technique to serve the music without calling attention to herself.  The poor girl has been abandoned on Crete by her lover Theseus.  When she first awakes she is calling out for him with love in her voice. Only later does she realize she has been abandoned and she is consumed by anger at the betrayal.  At the conclusion she is desolate and wishes to die.  We are happy that Haydn used an Italian text.  The vowels were more than usually evocative.

Usually when we see a set of Liszt songs on a program, we expect intensity and perhaps even bombast.  But the four songs chosen by Ms. Cooke were gentle songs and we adored them.  "Wieder möcht ich dir begegnen" in a tuneful ABBA rhyming scheme expressed tenderness.  "Lasst mich ruhen" was likewise quiet with the piano of Julius Drake making clear the sound of the nightingale's songs.  Music to our ears! "Was Liebe sei" is a short song with a witty closing line perkily delivered by Ms. Cooke.  She used a generous amount of control to achieve the stillness required by "Des Tages laute Stimmen schweigen" with a peaceful decrescendo at the end.

We can never get enough of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.  The text, by Mahler himself, is filled with the sorrow of lost love, despite efforts to find peace in nature.  In fact, the joys of nature seem to mock the singer.  Mahler makes liberal use of folk melodies and interesting harmonies.  The melodies are often heard woven through his symphonies.  Ms. Cooke sang the cycle with great depth of feeling.

Having impressed us with her facility in Italian and German, Ms. Cooke also included on her program three tonadillas by Enrique Granados.  These charming Spanish songs were customarily sung between the acts of a zarzuela in the 18th c. But Granados composed these Tonadillas en un estilo antiguo at the turn of the 20th c. They are filled with spunky humor and passionate feeling.

It must be a great thrill for a singer to have a work composed just for her.  Carnegie Hall commissioned a work from prize-winning composer Kevin Puts and we wish we could say we enjoyed it.  We did not.  The music is interesting with strange harmonies and key progressions.  To Ms. Cooke's credit she sang off the book and with perfect diction.  But we did not find the poetry interesting enough to lend itself to musical treatment and the vocal line was not memorable.

The first time we heard Die Schöne Mullerin we walked out of the concert hall singing.  Likewise for Winterreise and the Mahler cycle we just heard.  We could not summon up a single phrase to repeat from the Puts cycle.  We are just suckers for melody!

Melody we got during the encores which were happily dedicated to Steven Blier, our favorite songmeister.  One we couldn't identify called "Ooh, la la" and a rather récherché arrangement of Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night".  And THAT's a melody!

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THE SINGER AND THE SONG

Theo Hoffman, Annie Rosen, Olivia Betzen, Miles Mykkanen

Sometimes the singer "makes" the song; he or she puts an interesting new spin on a song we never liked much or have grown tired of.  Sometimes the song "makes" the singer; it is so well written that it brings out the best in the one who sings it.  And sometimes both singer and song are perfectly matched.  Such is the case when recital wizard Steven Blier creates an evening of song for the New York Festival of Song, of which he is Artistic Director.  He always has an unusual theme in mind and always curates just the right songs and finds the right singers to bring them to life.

The theme of last night's recital was travel.  Composers who used texts describing adventures in other more exotic lands were given a hearing, for example Anton Rubinstein's setting of a text by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt "Gelb rollt mir zu Füssen" based on an Azerbaijani text describing Persia.  Now that's rather international in scope!

The recital was a culmination of a weeklong professional training residency at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and the five rising stars on the program appeared to have had a great deal of fun along with their prodigious efforts.  The joy they felt in singing was contagious; we comprised a happy audience.

Coming out on top of the collection of songs were those by Cole Porter and Noël Coward; the English language lends itself so well to humor!  The remarkable tenor Miles Mykkanen, who has acting chops to match his matchless voice, gave a performance of "The Kling-Kling Bird on the Divi-Divi Tree" that is unlikely to be equalled.  It beggars description.  You will just have to attend tonight's repeat performance at 7:00 and you will likely write us a thank you note for the recommendation.

The marvelous baritone Theo Hoffman, not to be outdone, gave an hilarious performance of Coward's "Uncle Harry", not missing a single opportunity to draw giggles from the audience.  Both of these versatile artists joined forces for Hoagy Carmichael's "Hong Kong Blues", while Mr. Blier accompanied them with some very jazzy riffs on the piano.

Mr. Hoffman showed his serious side in Carlos Guastavino's "Pampamapa, aire de Huella" which expresses the pain of exile.  He sang it in perfect Argentinian dialect with some admirable melismatic singing.  It was heartbreaking.

Soprano Olivia Betzen is new to us but we will be very happy to hear more of her.  Her performance of Georges Bizet's "Adieux de l'hôtesse arabe" (one of the few songs on the program with which we are familiar) was delivered with sensuality and a fine trill.  We also enjoyed her performance of Enrique Granados' "Callejeo"; we are always delighted with zarzuela and tonadillas.

Mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen, also new to us, was delightful in William Bolcom's "To My Old Addresses" in which Leann Osterkamp (who shared accompanying with Mr. Blier) got an opportunity to show off her skill at the piano.  Ms. Rosen was heart-wrenching in the desperate "J'attends un navire" by Kurt Weill.

The four singers and Ms. Osterkamp worked very well as an ensemble.  We particularly enjoyed Coward's "In a bar on the Piccolo Marina" for its raunchy English music hall humor.  In Wilhelm Stenhammar's "I seraillets have" their harmonies teased the ear with pleasure, as they also did in the encore, Frank Loesser's "Slow Boat to China".

In an all-too-brief 90 minutes we were transported to South America and Europe, Scandinavia, India, Asia and the Middle-East--all without fighting for space in an overhead compartment.  Viva NYFOS, and ....thanks for the memories.

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ISABEL-BEL-BELLA

Isabel Leonard

Vlad Iftinca

It was a very personal and satisfying recital last night at Zankel Hall when Isabel Leonard and Vlad Iftinca collaborated in a way that honored Ms. Leonard's Argentinian-American heritage.  As a tribute to her Argentinian mother, the first half of the program comprised Spanish songs, some familiar and some new to us-- and happy discoveries they were.

Ms. Leonard has been thrilling us with her marvelous mezzo instrument, her musicality and intimate presentation since her undergraduate days at Juilliard.  She manifests the qualities that we so admire in any singer of songs; she invites the members of the audience to join her on a very personal journey, following the advice of James Levine who once, in a master class, advised her to sing songs she loves.  She addressed the audience with brief anecdotes and made good eye contact; she moved about the stage with ease.  We were instantly won over by these qualities.

Mr. Iftinca, well known from his work with The Metropolitan Opera and from his coaching at the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program is a stylish pianist and preternaturally tuned in to his singer and supportive in every way.  Together they make a fine team and reportedly chose the program together.

The songs were well-chosen to demonstrate a range of emotions.  The order in which they were sung was atypical and not organized by composer so that the audience applauded after each and every one.  We heard songs by Manuel De Falla, Federico García Lorca, Enrique Granados, Frederic Mompou, Xavier Montsalvatge, and Joaquín Valverde Sanjuán--a veritable banquet.  We have been hearing more and more Spanish music this year and are glad for it.  Some of them can be labeled (if you must label) as folk songs or zarzuela but it doesn't matter.  When sung by an artist they are all "art songs".  We particularly enjoyed it when Ms. Leonard used her lovely body in a little dance, as in Sanjuán's "Clavelitos", revealing her delightful personality.

Each song offered new delights, a graceful portamento in García Lorca's "Los Pelegrinitos", a soaring vocal line in the loving "Gracia mía", the wild dance of Montsalvatge's "Canto negro", a thrilling vibrato in De Falla's  "Preludios".  Mr. Iftinca brought out every flavor of Spain, particularly in the folk melodies of García Lorca.  There were no projected titles and one didn't want to take one's eyes off the stage but the mood of each song came through clearly, even if one did not understand the Spanish.  The two artists moved easily from irony to joy, from flirtatiousness to pensiveness, from heartbreak to anxiety.

The second half of the program comprised American songs, a tribute to  Ms. Leonard's American father.  Again, we heard songs one might label "cabaret" or "popular" but in Mr. Iftinca's hands and with Ms. Leonard's voice, they are all art songs.  Our personal favorites were Jennifer Higdon's "Hop and Toe Dance" (a New York premiere), Ernest Charles' "When I have sung my songs", Adam Guettel's highly accessible "How can I lose you?" and, above all Cole Porter's "Where, Oh Where".  Two world premieres were on the program and Ms. Leonard introduced the composers Glen Roven and Ben Moore.

As if this banquet were not enough, we were treated to three encores:  Rossini's "Canzonetta Spagnuola" with its thrilling trills and fleet runs, an hilarious aria from Offenbach's La Périchole, and "There's a place for us" from Bernstein's West Side Story.  Each one was graced by Ms. Leonard's unique communicative skills.  It is a rare art to be able to immerse oneself in the song and yet to retain one's own identity.

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FROM SNOW TO GLOW

Susanna Phillips             Myra Huang                             

It's astonishing how a gifted artist can bring you to appreciate works you never enjoyed before!  We will come to that but let's begin at the end of the completely satisfying recital given at the perfectly intimate Weill Recital Hall.  Toward the end of the encore, Peter DeRose's "Deep Purple", Ms. Phillips lost control of her emotions and could barely finish, eyes swimming with tears.  Having established incredible rapport with the audience all evening and having explained that her grandfather had sung that song for her about her grandmother, it came as no surprise that the audience went right along on her journey.  The standing ovation from the audience, fugitives from the blizzard outside, exceeded the standing ovation she received after the final set of songs.

And what a set that was!  Ms. Phillips clearly enjoyed singing the selections from Do You Sing, Mr. Twain? by the late Gordon Myers.  Eight pithy aphorisms were rather simply set with the exception of the final one, "On Rules of Writing" an ironic piece extolling brevity but marked by florid pianism and vocalism exceeding that of the baroque and bel canto periods.  Ms. Phillips and her dazzling piano partner Myra Huang had a ball with this as did the audience.

In fine French style, the pair delighted us with four Chausson songs, each a delicate gem, all sad and nostalgic.  Equally fine were "Ellens Gesang I, II and III" by Schubert, settings from Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake, the final selection being the famous "Ave Maria".  These were followed by Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder, songs we have previously found rather inaccessible.  Ms. Phillips' and Ms. Huang's artistry managed to bring out melodic elements heretofore unnoticed and we were filled with delight and gratitude; we are looking forward to hearing them again.  We do wish, however, that Ms. Phillips would pay more attention to the final consonants in German.  The d's and t's were firmly enunciated but the final "en"s were sometimes lost which would drive a native German speaker a bit crazy.

Our two artists spent a great deal of time and effort on Olivier Messsiaen's  Poemes pour Mi, Book II.  They are obviously highly meaningful to the pair but were somewhat less enchanting to us, both in subject matter and musical values.  Those who read Voce di Meche regularly will recall how essential melody is to our ears.  Still, we were riveted by the sincerity of the performance and would be willing to give the songs a second hearing.  Indeed, there are many works that grow on one with successive exposures.

No such forbearance was needed for the set of songs by Enrique Granados!  We adore the sound and style of the Spanish language and the attention the composer gave to melody.  The performance was charming and during the final selection, Ms. Huang distinguished herself with some very vibrant piano playing.

Taken as a whole, the recital was finely structured--some well-known favorites, some lesser-known works by well-known composers, some challenging pieces, some accessible ones, and some we've never heard before.  We have observed Ms. Phillips' artistic growth for several year now and and have always enjoyed her performances on the opera stage.  Indeed, we are anticipating a splendid performance as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro in Santa Fe this summer.  But it was a special treat to see her on the recital stage, being her charming engaging self.

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UNDER COVER OF NIGHT

"Under Cover of Night" was the title and theme of last night's Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital, a theme we can well relate to since, by all accounts, we operate nocturnally.  Soprano Jennifer Zetlan chose this theme in connection with the lost sleep of her pregnancy and motherhood, wondering how the night affects us emotionally and behaviorally.  The night is given over to fantasy, to romance, to fears, melancholies, dreams, nightmares and terrors.  In our case, it is given over to writing.

And what a pleasure it is to write about this lovely, gracious and talented singer whose gifts were evident from the very first "Oh" of Handel's aria from Semele, "Oh, sleep, why dost thou leave me?" which was marked by a beautifully controlled crescendo.  This was only the beginning of a varied program that gave Ms. Zetlan the opportunity to show her skills in German, Russian and Spanish and to connect with her audience as well as her material.  Her piano partner David Shimoni always supported with appropriate technique and never overwhelmed the singer or the song.

The bulk of the program was give over to the late 19th c. which is our personal favorite.  Songs by Grieg, Brahms, Wolf, Debussy, Strauss, Granados and Rimsky-Korsakov were performed with poise and secure technique.  Each song was given its own particular interpretation that sounded nothing like the other songs.  Ms. Zetlan is a remarkable story-teller and we especially enjoyed the mini-operas written into Wolf's songs, both the humorous "Elfenlied" and the horror-filled "Die Geister am Mummelsee".  The melodic "Po nebu polunochi" by Rimsky-Korsakov was filled with spiritual awe.  Strauss' "Die Nacht" expressed the poet's anxiety about losing his loved one.

Ms. Zetlan is a champion of new music and was joined by the Attacca Quartet for Nico Muhly's Far Away Songs in their world premiere.  As encores, she sang Rachmaninoff's "Son" and Irving Berlin's "Yiddishe Nightingale" which left the audience grinning as they exited.  Nighttime never sounded so good!

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