LOVE, LOVE, AND NOTHING BUT...

Gina Perregrino, Devony Smith, Erik Van Heyningen, Danny Zelibor, and Philippe L"Espérance
surrounding Steven Blier at the piano

Is there anything to say about love that has not yet been said?  Is there anything to sing about love that has not yet been sung?  If there were, Steven Blier would have uncovered it and included it in his fulfilling program last night at Merkin Hall for New York Festival of Song. "Love at the Crossroads" was the title of the program which was organized into four parts to reflect the many stages of love. Mr. Blier related that his inspiration for the program was Mozart's opera Così fan tutte which we just reviewed three days ago.

The first "movement" of this Symphony of Love illuminated the early stages of what psychologists call "limerance". Infatuation is a state most people long for when they don't have it, suffer beautifully from when they achieve it, and get depressed over when they lose it or it transmogrifies into another state, as it must.

To express the glories of falling in love, Mr. Blier chose five songs in French by Camille Saint-Saëns, Ernest Chausson, Gabriel Fauré, and Édouard Lalo. The lovely lyrical lines could not have been given better voice than they were by soprano Devony Smith (well remembered from a Utopia Opera production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia), mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino whom we followed from Manhattan School of Music to Santa Fe Opera, tenor Philippe L'Espérance (our favorite Prince Charming), and bass-baritone Erik van Heyningen whom we have enjoyed countless times at Juilliard and with Mise-en-Scène Opera. We always enjoy concerts more when we know the artists.

Collaborative Pianist Danny Zelibor is new to us but we loved the way he supported the line of each singer and shared pianistic duties with Mr. Blier.

Getting back to the program, the entire set in French was filled with joy and wonder but our very favorite was Fauré's "Madrigal" performed by the ensemble. The wise and knowing text by Armand Silvestre dealt with one of the "puzzlements" of love--why we pursue those who shun us and shun those who love us.

The second "movement" comprised songs in English from Broadway shows. Mr. Blier's title was The Honeymoon's Over and the songs dealt with the reality of two people with different priorities and values coming to terms with disappointed expectations. 

Stephen Sondheim is a master of setting short punchy phrases to memorable tunes. Mr. Blier's witty description was "spitting Sondheim acid". We particularly enjoyed "Country House" from his Follies; it was both funny and painful to listen to a couple who are just not getting what they want from each other. It was like being a fly on the wall of a therapist's office. Ms. Smith and Mr. L'Espérance captured all the thwarted attempts to connect and did so musically and dramatically. This splendid song never made it to Broadway.

The third "movement" (a Scherzo) covered the subject of philandering--sowing wild oats, as it were. Ms. Smith and Ms. Perregrino were hilarious in "Modest Maid" singing about archery, bitchery, witchery, butchery, and lechery. Who knew that Marc Blitzstein had such a sense of humor!

Similarly, Mr. L'Espérance and Mr. van Heyningen put a gay spin on "The Tennis Song" from Cy Coleman's City of Angels. There were at least a dozen double entendre moments that tickled our funny bone and the two men mined every giggle they could from the risqué material.

Additionally, Mr. Van Heyningen led the ensemble in Ed Kleban's "Do It Yourself", another naughty but very clever ditty. All of these songs were new to us and throughly delightful. English lends itself so well to comedy.

There was an instrumental interlude by Brahms--his Waltz in G#minor played on two pianos by four hands. This is another piece we had never heard before and we could not imagine it in four better hands than those of Mr. Blier and Mr. Zelibor. How interesting it was to hear a smooth segué into Richard Strauß' song "Freundliche Vision" so warmly performed by Mr. L'Espérance with his beautiful tone.

The finale of this Symphony of Love was one of reconciliation. Readers will recall how much we love German lieder and we heard Schubert's "Licht und Liebe, Nachtgesang" sung by Ms. Smith and Mr. L'Espérance; Brahms' "Es rauschet das Wasser" from Vier Duette with Goethe's gorgeous text begging to be read aloud and set to music (so gorgeously sung by Ms. Perregrino and Mr. L'Espérance); and Schubert's "Die Geselligkeit" in which the ensemble of four voices rose in concert to extol the pleasures of companionship.

Nothing more was needed than to close the program with Manuel Oltra's setting of Federico Garcia Lorca's "Eco". Although we always enjoy the manner in which Mr. Blier's curates songs for New York Festival of Song, we enjoyed this program more than any other. When the last note of "Eco" died down, we wanted to hear the entire program again from the top!

(c) meche kroop

ART SONG WANTED! DEAD OR ALIVE?

Nils Neubert and Robert Brandt

 Art Song recitals are a tough sell these days and one wonders why this perfect marriage of poetry, piano, and voice has fallen out of favor with the musical audiences of today. It seems as if a celebrity singer can fill up Carnegie Hall; but the true artistry of this genre is best enjoyed in an intimate venue.

Frank Daykin and Thomas

New York City has a number of organizations devoted to the survival of the art song and chief among them is The Art Song Preservation Society which is in the middle of its annual festival.  We love their motto--"Where Music Speaks & Words Sing". Headed by singer/pianist/educator/arts administrator Blair Boone-Migura, ASPS provides opportunities for education and performance for both emerging and established composers, singers, and accompanists. They are also involved in community outreach, mentoring, and an internet-radio podcast.

This week there will be daily master classes at 2:00 PM held at Manhattan School of Music; the master teachers are some of the best in the field.  Although not available in the daytime, we are mostly excited about the Friday evening recital of Latin American Art Song.  And anyone free next Saturday at 1:00 can enjoy the finals of the Mary Trueman Art Song Vocal Competition; an added bonus is the opportunity to vote for your favorite competitor.

We have just returned from a delightful recital in which two seasoned recitalists presented both solos and duets of this genre, accompanied by two veteran and legendary collaborative pianists who are both "poets of the piano". This complement allowed for the hearing of rarely heard duets and four-handed piano pieces.

The program opened with tenor Nils Neubert joining forces with baritone Robert Brandt for three duets by Brahms, none of which we have heard before. The sound fell sweetly on the ear with great attention paid to crisp consonants, lovely phrasing, and a perfect balance between the two voices. We do love German lieder with the same affection which Italian holds for us in the area of opera. Furthermore, the composers of 19th c. Germany astutely chose fine poetry to set.

We are pleased to share with our readers that the early 20th c. English songs held no terrors for our 19th c. ears. We heard a selection of songs by Gerald Finzi, Herbert Howells, and John Ireland, all distinguished by their wise choices of text and their astute use of our mother tongue to amplify this text.  Of course, one can never go wrong with Shakespeare, whose iambic pentameter lends itself to musical setting. We wish contemporary composers would choose better text to set!

These songs were given a fine performance by the mellow voiced Mr. Brandt, accompanied by Frank Daykin, who brought out the subtleties of the piano score, especially the sound of the nightingale in Howells' "King David". In Finzi's flirtatious "O Mistress mine", we enjoyed Mr. Brandt's lovely pianissimo in the last verse.  The philosophical "Fear no more the heat o' the sun" from the Bard's Cymbeline, and Ireland's nostalgic "The Salley Gardens" were followed by the frisky "It was a lover and his lass" from As You Like It. Mr. Brandt colored each song according to its text and his English diction was particularly well defined.  Not a word was lost.

Mr. Neubert also had his turn as a soloist and we enjoyed his performance of Quatre Melodies de Claude Debussy, settings of text by Paul Verlaine. Thomas Grubb's piano was the ideal partner; Mr. Grubb is renowned for writing the popular Singing in French, a manual of French Diction and French Vocal Repertoire. "C'est l'extase langoureuse" was given an appropriately languid reading. In "Il pleure dans mon coeur", we enjoyed the rippling piano, quite different from the rolling waves of "La mer est plus belle".

The two singers joined forces for two duets by Gabriel Fauré that were new to us. The lovely French lines involved the two voices echoing one another, not only in the textual lines but on the pleasing sound of "ah". The audience favorite seems to have been the jolly "Tarantelle". Mr. Grubb was truly in his element.

Besides this banquet of vocal music, we were treated to some four-handed piano.  We heard a sonata for four hands by Francis Poulenc--lively and somewhat dissonant. The program closed with Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye, written in 1908-1910. Mr. Daykin, known for his widely used Encyclopedia of French Art Song: Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, gave a droll introduction to this work by Ravel, here at his picturesque best in programmatic music written for the children of his friends, who were unable to learn the piece!

We particularly enjoyed "Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête" in which Mr. Daykin expressed Belle's beauty in the lyrical part played in the upper register, whilst the rumbling of the Beast was taken by Mr. Grubb at the lower end of the register. Both themes were transmogrified over the course of the movement.

The audience clamored for an encore but there was none.  Still, we left feeling completely fulfilled.

(c) meche kroop