TOASTING TOSTI WITH DONATA D'ANNUNZIO LOMBARDI

Seok Jong Baek and Donata D'Annunzio Lombardi

This was a master class like no other. Italian soprano Donata D'Annunzio Lombardi spent three hours coaching nine young singers in a class devoted to songs by Francesco Paolo Tosti to commemorate the centennial year of his death. Each singer prepared a song (some familiar and some lesser known) and Ms. Lombardi proceeded to use her unique knowledge of anatomy to transform each singer.  Had you been there you would not scoff at this extravagant assertion.

She uses various stances and poses to bypass the throat tension that she observes in American singers (although she admits that American singers are far more expressive than their Italian counterparts). This made us wonder whether the English language itself produces this throat tension; we must ask Ms. Lombardi!

The wildest claim she made is that tenors come in two varieties--"the hitchhiker" and "the communist".  The former holds the fingers down with the thumb sticking out, like Carreras; the latter holds his hands in a fist like Pavarotti. She avers that the thumb is connected with the intellect and the index finger with the front of the body. She wants the singer to use the back of the body--the rear attachment of the diaphragm, the musculature of the spine, and the tentorium of the brain at the back of the skull.

To our great surprise, we noticed an amazing difference when the singer touched his thumb to the pinkie, which is connected to the back of the body!

She stressed the importance of flexibility and spring and had many of the students stand on a bent leg while flexing and extending the other leg.  This too made a difference!  So did leaning over to one side. The spine provides an anchor for the sound. 

The bent over posture mimics that of Early Man--a natural sound emerges in these positions.  And we always believed that singers must stand erect with shoulders down and back to open the chest.  Now we know there is a better but counter-intuitive way. Rounding the shoulders like Maria Callas opens the length of the spine. Breathing must come through the back! 

There were also various exercises to free up the vocal chords and spaces in the head. Students were instructed to hold their lips or bite down on one side, lest the orbicular muscles block the larynx.

So much of this advice goes against the way American singers have been taught but if you had been there, you would have heard the evidence with your own ears!

The singers comprised sopranos Angela Candela, Elizabeth Perez, and Vivian Yau (the latter two heard at the CLA Gala), tenors Ganson Salmon, Chul Young Kim, Michael St. Peter, and HyunHo Cho, and baritones Sunyeop Hwang and Seok Jong Baek. Each one made a major leap forward.

Glenn Morton (Founder of Classic Lyric Arts, teacher, and coach) was the accompanist for the class which was held at Mannes School of Music.

(c) meche kroop

A RAINBOW OF SONG

Atsuko Nieda and Antonio Signorello

It was a short recital at The National Opera Center but all the bases were covered in terms of repertory for an Italian tenor.  Accompanied by pianist Atsuko Nieda, Antonio Signorello, who hails from Catania in Sicily, appeared under the auspices of New York Lyric Opera Theatre. Elizabeth Heuermann is the General/Artistic Director of this organization and we have enjoyed her creative directing on a number of occasions as well as her vocal performances. (The last time we heard her was in the role of Adele in Die Fledermaus.)

We hope she was not responsible for Mr. Signorello's changing scarves for each aria and canzone. Every color of the rainbow was represented and perhaps the color was meant to relate to the lyrics, but we found this bit of stage business to be quite distracting.

We loved the well-chosen program which included arias by Puccini and Verdi (what's not to love!) and canzone by Tosti, Cardillo, and Cali. We enjoyed the use of rubato in "L'ultima canzone" with its lovely vocalise at the end, and "A vucchella", both by Tosti. We would have called Cardillo's "Core 'ngrato" our favorite until we heard a song new to us--Cali's "E vui durmiti ancora", or Mattinata Siciliana.  We ourselves must have been asleep to have overlooked this gem.  Many thanks to Mr. Signorello for introducing us!

There were two curiosities on the program--from Meyerbeer's L'africaine, which we have never seen, we heard "O paradis", sung in French.  And from Franz Lehar's 1929 operetta Das Land des Lächelns we heard "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz"--in Italian! Well, that was really something!

From the world of opera, we heard arias from Verdi's La forza del destino and from Puccini's La fanciula del West and Manon Lescaut. We found Mr. Signorello's delivery to involve more "grandstanding" than that to which we are accustomed. "Money notes" were held just a bit too long with some distracting grimaces.

On a positive note, we always admire an Italianate sound and Mr. Signorello has an embouchure that any American singer would do well to emulate.  He has a darker sound than we had anticipated and he has plenty of depth in the lower register.

We had heard him sing previously ("Vesti la giubba") and he was sufficiently intense at that time. We believe he would do well to "pull it back a notch". A variety of color and intensity would be welcome. So...more color in the sound and less in the fabric!

(c) meche kroop

KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR

Sophia Muñoz and James Edgar Knight

Tenor James Edgar Knight strode onstage clearly eager to delight the audience and delight he did. No shining armor on this knight but rather a suave velvet jacket and bowtie; sporting a David Niven moustache, he looked rather debonair. He and his glamorous collaborative pianist Sophia Muñoz made an elegant pair.

His love of singing was infectious. He made the effort to translate all the texts--French, German, Italian, and Russian--into English.  This clearly showed in the singing which was full of commitment and connection. Further, he demonstrated comfort with different types of material from lied to Broadway; we definitely heard the Steven Blier influence.

He began the program with our three favorite Duparc songs. He sang "L'invitation au voyage" with a powerful round sound, painting a picture that was more than usually visible to the mind's eye. We loved the way he swelled into a full crescendo. "Le manoir de Rosemonde" was filled with excitement and urgency.  In "Phidylé" he brought it down several notches and emphasized the delicacy of the text. One could not tear away one's eyes or ears.

The same connection with the material was evident in the five songs of Richard Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. But, sadly, the connection with the audience was impaired by the use of a music stand.  Violinist Basma Edrees and cellist Talya Buckbinder joined Ms. Muñoz for the gorgeous accompaniment. Our personal favorite is always "Im Treibhaus" with its pattern of four ascending notes reminding us of Tristan und Isolde. 

Mr. Knight won our heart with "On the Street Where You Live" from Frederick Loewe's My Fair Lady. He sang it with romantic fervor and involvement.

We also greatly enjoyed the trio of Tosti songs. Although not the possessor of an Italianate timbre, Mr. Knight could never be accused of lacking Italian passion. "L'ultima canzone", Ideale", and "Non t'amo più" were equally stirring-- but the first offering has that melismatic vocalise at the end that drove us wild.

The program closed with three Rachmaninoff songs which Mr. Knight sang "on the book" which again interfered with total audience connection. In "Do not sing, my beauty" he floated his high notes ethereally and the piano accompaniment was more than usually stirring.  The seasonally appropriate "Spring Waters" was luscious.

It was the encore that engaged us the most. We are convinced that Mr. Knight was channeling Richard Tauber for whom "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" was written by Franz Lehár; it was for the 1929 operetta Das Land des Lächelns.  Fritz Löhner-Beda wrote the romantic lyrics that scan and rhyme and go perfectly with the music. It was just the right end to the recital which was given to fulfill the requirements for a Master of Music Degree from Juilliard.

This reminds us to mention that Manhattan School of Music is presenting that very operetta this weekend, conducted by the wonderful Jorge Parodi. We will be there of course and happy to hear the song once more.

(c) meche kroop