UNA VOZ UN MUNDO

Danza Familia Latina

The people of Guatemala, a country we visited and loved, has suffered some dreadful blows in June and July, from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes. So many worthy organizations have come to the rescue.  Last night, Una Voz, Un Mundo, an organization devoted to humanitarian aid, arts advocacy, and the celebration of cultural diversity, presented a concert in support of the People of Guatemala.

There was something for everyone on the program, from lively colorful folk dancing to zarzuela (YAY!) and opera, not to mention jazz saxophone, and classical piano. There was also some amplified shrieking that hurt our tender ears but on that we will not dwell.

Both accompanist and soloist, Abdiel Vázquez delighted us with "Chopin's D-flat Major Nocturne", followed by a welcome medley of Gershwin tunes.

He accompanied three singers that we greatly enjoyed. Soprano Teresa Castillo put a great deal of her own flirtatious personality into "Carceleras" from Ruperto Chapí's zarzuela-- Las Hijas del Zebedeo. Her bright sound and pleasing vibrato were especially lovely in the vocalise portion. There was another song in Spanish the title of which we did not get, since the program was incomplete.  But it seemed to be about the jungle and the shade--selva y sombra.

We don't hear Spanish music as often as we would wish and hoped that more of the program would be in that beautiful language. We had most of our desires met.

After a fine performance of "Anzoleta avanti la regata" from Rossini's La regata veneziana, the excellent mezzo-soprano Kat Liu delighted us with two Spanish songs by Federico Garcia Lorca--the haunting "Las Morillas de Jaën" and "Los Cuatro Muleros".

Tenor Mario Arévalo, Founder and Artistic Director of Una Voz, Un Mundo, put his powerful voice to good use, first in Carlos Guastavino's melancholy "La Rosa y el Sauce", and then in "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Franz Lehar's Das Land des Lächelns. 

He joined Ms. Castillo for the duet "Tonight" from Bernstein's West Side Story which was, for unknown reasons, as cruelly amplified as the performance of the screaming pop singer. Such attractive and well trained voices do not require amplification which distorted the natural sound of their voices.

There was some jazz saxophone music played by Thomas A. Giles on an alto sax; we liked the piece by Astor Piazzolla but have no idea who arranged it for saxophone; there was an interesting contemporary piece by Antonio Truyols involving tapping on the instrument and rhythmic breathing.

We also heard some original jazz piano music played by Francis Hon entitled "Morningstar"--all of which was quite nice. There was also a poetry reading.  

We would call this a highly entertaining and eclectic evening. We are reminded of a benefit performance given some years ago for the Chilean earthquake which was organized by our friend Kala Maxym, an event which launched our career writing about opera!

Instead of whining about how tragic something is or praying for people, it is a far better thing to do something concrete. All of the artists involved volunteered for this concert and this makes us very very happy and proud of the music community.

(c) meche kroop

SALON DE LA VOIX

Nathaniel LaNasa and Helaine Liebman at the National Opera Center\

The inauguration of a new vocal series is music to our ears both literally and figuratively.  Shall we say "fig/lit"? As so many talented singers are doing these days, young artists are not waiting around to be cast but are casting themselves in starring roles. We heartily approve of this trend.

Ms. Liebman's idea is to update the concert experience and to encourage music lovers to attend with an informal approach.  One helps oneself to a glass of wine, one meets and chats with the artists, one listens, learns, and enjoys.  One is even encouraged to ask questions and to submit suggestions for future recitals of which we hope there will be many.

In place of titles and libretti, Ms. Liebman introduced each song in an engaging fashion. We felt as if we were invited to a friend's home for a party with entertainment. And what entertainment it was! In a beautifully balanced program, we heard opera, art song, and cabaret--all serving to demonstrate the versatility of this excellent young soprano. Last year she performed a fine Micaëla for Amore Opera and we also heard her several months ago in ARE Opera's Gianni Schicchi. It was about time for us to see another side of her artistry.

The program opened with Ilia's aria from Mozart's Idomeneo--"Padre, germani, addio". Ms. Liebman conveyed all the ambivalence of the Trojan princess who has lost everything and is now a captive of the Greeks whom she hates, except for Idamante, the son of Idomeneo. With a bright resonant sound and the subtle use of expressive dynamics, we learned everything we needed to know about the character.

Four songs by Franz Liszt allowed the artist to show off her fine French. The texts were all by Victor Hugo and all were about love, but the moods were different.  Ms. Liebman employed a warm vibrato for "S'il est un charmant gazon" and the delicacy of Mr. LaNasa's piano augmented the romantic feeling. 

"Oh! Quand je dors" has an exquisite melody and builds to a thrilling climax.  Here, Mr. LaNasa's piano made much of some lovely arpeggi. "Comment, disent-ils" was delivered with charm and personality. Plus, there was a trill to thrill. "Enfant, si j'etais roi" had a different expansive mood and an insistent accompaniment on the piano.

How does one choose Schubert songs to perform from his oeuvre of over 600 lieder? Actually, it doesn't matter much because one cannot go too far wrong with anything Schubert wrote.  We found the three selections we heard a good "tasting menu". "An die Musik" was sung with earnest simplicity. The sentiment requires no embroidery.

"Gretchen am Spinnrade" in which Mr. LaNasa's piano gave us the obsessive background of the text as well as the relentless spinning wheel, allowed Ms. Liebman some moments of erotic rapture as she imagined Faust's kiss. This had us wishing that Schubert had written an entire opera based on the Faust legend.

In "Die junge Nonne", we were given a very clear character study and we knew exactly why this troubled young woman chose a cloistered life.

The Kurt Weill song from Street Scene seemed like a cabaret song.  We understood every word of "What Good Would the Moon Be" and enjoyed the melody.  This was not so for two selections from Daughters of Britannia by Iain Bell.  We could only catch a word here and there. The sounds were interesting and we liked the propulsive piano writing and some interesting figuration but the heroines are part of British history and so unknown to us that we really didn't care about them.

We won't mind if we never hear those songs again but the Rachmaninoff that followed was enchanting. We cannot believe that we used to think that Russian was an ugly language!  The more Russian songs we hear the better we love the sound. "Z'des khorosho" was particularly lovely.

"Siren" had a repetitive figure in the right hand of the piano that resonated particularly strongly with us.  But our personal favorite was (and probably always will be) "Ne poy krasavitsa pri mne" in which the text expresses nostalgia for a love left behind, accompanied by the most haunting melody. There is a vocalise in this song that always gets us right in the heart! We love the way the melody in the voice alternates with the melody in the piano.

"Ditja, kak cvetok ti prekrana" is Rachmaninoff's setting of a translation of the tender Heinrich Heine poem "Du bist wie eine blume" which was set by Robert Schumann and about a hundred other composers.  The program ended with the very timely "Vesenniye vody" or "Spring Waters" as we know it. This song was bursting with excitement as the snow melted and the streams produced white water.

We even got an encore, "Someone to Watch Over Me" by George and Ira Gershwin from their 1926 musical Oh, Kay! We love to hear American musical theater treated with the same care as lieder and chansons. It was the perfect end to a beautiful recital.

Watch our FB page (Voce di Meche) and we will let you know about the next installment of Salon de la Voix which we believe will take place in June in Brooklyn. You won't want to miss it!

(c) meche kroop

DIVINE DUO

Jared Bybee and Isabel Leonard

Readers will recall in what high esteem we hold the George London Foundation for Singers for their support of young artists. Their excellent series of recitals at The Morgan Library and Museum draws a large and enthusiastic audience who enjoy the music and the opportunity to mingle with the artists after the recital. The annual competition holds its finals on February 17th of 2017 and that will be one of the highlights of the season.

Yesterday's recital joined the talents of acclaimed mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, whose talent lights up every venue in which she sings, and rising star baritone Jared Bybee whose artistry garnered him an Encouragement Award last season from the George London Foundation.

We have been  thrilling to Ms. Leonard's artistry since she was an undergraduate at Juilliard. We have heard and enjoyed Mr. Bybee in a number of competitions and also at the Santa Fe Opera.  So we were really looking forward to this recital.  Actually it managed to exceed our high expectations!

Perhaps it's the Argentinean genes that are responsible for Ms. Leonard's exquisite connection with Latin American music but when she feels it, we feel it. She performed four Spanish songs in different moods and varied colors. We were most affected by Manuel de Falla's "Oracion de las madres que tienen sus hijos en brazos"; if there is a more poignant anti-war song we have yet to hear it.

Ms. Leonard's performance of the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen made this old chestnut fresh again. There was so much going on in the introduction that we experienced the character in a new way--less arrogant and flashy--and more teasingly seductive.

Bellini must also be a favorite as evidenced by Adalgisa's aria "Sgombra è la sacra selva...Deh! Proteggimi, o Dio!" from Norma. Ms. Leonard manages to walk the fine line between reserve and exhibitionism. Every gesture appears spontaneous but must have been carefully considered. There is no excess; nothing is wasted. Tonal quality, language, phrasing, stage presence--everything is perfect.

We were likewise thrilled with Mr. Bybee's performance, particularly with the depth and breadth of his tone and his linguistic skills. He performed Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée in the most perfect French (we understand he studied with Classic Lyric Arts in France). He was effective without showy dramatics, using an admirable economy of gesture.

His phrasing worked well but what impressed us the most was his use of dynamic variety.  One might say that he captured the spirit of each song--the reverence of "Chanson romanesque", the passion of "Chanson épique", and the humor of "Chanson à boire".

We were happy to hear yet more French from him in "Vision fugitive" from Massenet's Hérodiade, in which Hérode is transported by his vision of Salomé. We too were transported.

Mr. Bybee also sang selections from Voices from World War II--a cycle composed by Gene Scheer who had not been born until over a decade after the war ended. Nonetheless he wrote the lyrics himself. The music was more melodic than most contemporary music and the lines rhymed, although the scanning was awkward in places.

Nonetheless, it was given an affecting performance by Mr. Bybee whose English diction is so fine that we missed not a single word. As a woman, we were more affected by the aforementioned de Falla song. Mother love sings better than battle stories! Perhaps the song that made best use of our spiky English language was the jazzy "At Howard Hawks' House".

If you are bringing two terrific talents together, you can expect some delightful duets. From Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, we heard the wonderful teasing "Il core vi dono" in which Guglielmo wins the heart of Dorabella. Our heart was won by the charm of the scene.

Still more Mozart, also of a teasing nature, was heard in "Crudel! Perche finora" from Le Nozze di Figaro in which the clever Susana fools the not-too-clever Count Almaviva about a subsequent rendezvous. We must say that Ms. Leonard is very very good at teasing!  In both these duets the two artists related extraordinarily well, both vocally and dramatically.

Each artist generously offered an encore. Mr. Bybee chose Salvatore Cardillo's "Cor 'ngrato" (Caterí! Caterí!) which he sang in authentic Neapolitan dialect. Just as Ms. Leonard comes by her facility with Spanish genetically, Mr. Bybee comes by his the same way.

Ms. Leonard's encore was "Someone to Watch Over Me", composed by the brothers Gershwin for the 1926 musical Oh, Kay! This team definitely knew how to use the English language and Ms. Leonard gave it a sincere reading that reinforces our belief that Broadway music, when done well, is truly America's best shot at the genre of "art song". Every phrase was sung for meaning, not for "effect".

The audience absolutely insisted on more and more we got! We rarely get tearful at a recital but this performance of "If I Loved You" from the 1945 musical Carousel turned on the waterworks. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were another writing pair who captured the American idiom perfectly.

It is many hours later but the mood has lingered. We always enjoy recitals but this one touched us deeply.  And that's a good thing! Why get angry about politics when one can be deeply moved by good music!

(c) meche kroop

AMERICAN FINE ARTS FESTIVAL

Carmine M. Alfiero and Marisan Corsino

We just spent over 2 1/2 hours (without intermission) listening to budding artists at Weill Recital Hall in a winner's recital produced by the American Fine Arts Festival, now in their twelfth year of providing performance opportunities by means of audition.

This is our first experience with AFAF and we are unable to find much information on their website and there is almost nothing in their program. Consequently we can say little about the performers, particularly since there were errors in the programming, not to mention misspelling of names. The young woman given the task of verbally announcing such changes was inaudible, even from the front row.  Never mind.  Let's get to the performances.

There were two standouts in the vocal area. Mezzo soprano Marisan Corsino, winner of the Russian Seasons Competition, demonstrated skills in both art song and opera. In what sounded to us like excellent Russian, she sang "The Soldier's Wife" by Rachmaninoff, a tale filled with grief. Ms. Corsino is a self-contained artist and used the colors of her voice, rather than gesture.  In Polina's aria from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, she employed her entire register all the way down to a deep affecting bottom.

Soprano Becca Conviser is a very different sort of singer, making ample use of facial expression and gesture. She has a big voice and tackled "Dich Teure Halle" from Richard Wagner's Tannhaüser. It was a rousing success. She also performed "Tutte nel cor vi sento" from Mozart's Idomeneo and did just fine negotiating the tortuous skips up from the very bottom to the upper register.

We also liked Shubhangi Amitkumar Das' coloratura in Händel's "Rejoice Greatly O Daughter of Zion", which she followed up with Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera.

There were several other singers on the program, most of them not really performance-ready. We do understand that such recitals as these are meant to provide such experience but there are certain basics that should had been taught, even how to smile at the audience and how to take a bow. These youngsters rushed on and off the stage. There was nothing in the program to tell what age group they belonged to but we suspect that most were far younger than they appeared. Lavish gowns and high heels lead an audience member to expect a more polished performance. Furthermore, the pieces chosen (by whom??) for them to sing were often beyond their capabilities.

There were lots of instrumentalists on the program (over two dozen budding artists and their accompanists) and some of them were quite wonderful. It seems as if the voice is the most difficult instrument to master, since some of the instrumentalists were quite young and yet quite accomplished. The program opened with Lauren Elizabeth Kim playing Four Tales by Medtner. She appeared to be under 10 years of age but played with admirable assurance.

Young violinist Rhys Evans played "Sicilienne and Rigaudon" by Fritz Kreisler.  Not only did he play beautifully but we suspect that his accompanist was his sister. She had a touching rapport with him. We wished the program had been more explicit.

Natalie Lin delighted us with her cello performance of selections from Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococco Theme.  Julia Angelov was poised on the violin, playing part 3 of  Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. 

Jacob Katz excelled in a couple of Chopin's challenging Etudes. Evangeline Gao tacked Liszt's Etude No. 3 and played beautifully.  Evgeni Petrichev drew some wonderful colors from an Etude by Rachmaninoff. We also heard a guest artist from Russia--Nikita Galaktionov--who polished off a pair of Etudes by Scriabin and won our heart with Prelude #2 by Gershwin, filling it with jazzy styling.

Finally we wish to call attention to a pianist from Russia who captured all the anxiety of Prokofiev's Sonata #3 in A minor, and managed to come up smiling. No one else smiled all evening; these youngsters were all so serious! It was heartwarming to witness one who enjoyed performing.

(c) meche kroop

TRIPLE THE PLEASURE

Bryan Wagorn, Nadine Sierra, and Anthony Roth Costanzo

We get warm fuzzy feelings when we witness the meteoric rise of artists we've noted and admired since their student years. Such was the case yesterday when The George London Foundation for Singers presented two of their winners from 2010 at The Morgan Library. This series is consistently wonderful and The Morgan Library space is just the right size for vocal recitals.

We had not even begun writing about the vocal arts when we first heard soprano Nadine Sierra and counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.  It was even before they won their prizes in 2010.  But we knew enough about singing to have recognized their respective gifts and to have predicted the major careers that they have earned.

Maestro Wagorn has played for the best in the business and was the perfect choice as collaborative pianist; he is unfailingly in tune with the singers and matches their moods and the feeling tone of the text and music.

If you read through to the end you will learn about the wildest craziest encore we have ever heard.  But let's begin at the beginning. Ms. Sierra, appearing like a Greek goddess, sang a pair of songs that Franz Schubert wrote in 1825 for a play with a very complicated Shakespearean plot, entitled Lacrimas.  Typical of Schubert they are lavish with melody and Ms. Sierra caressed every word in an expressive but unaffected manor. "Lied des Florio" was replete with sadness while "Lied der Delphine" was in a more cheerful vein.  Both were lovely.

Mr. Costanzo followed with three of Henri Duparc's jewels.  Mr. Wagorn's rippling arpeggios and Mr. Costanzo's superlative French diction contributed to their overall success.  He floats his high notes like mist in the moonlight and can spin out a final note until it is a silken thread.  His breath control is non pareil and allows him to achieve wide dynamic variety.  His word coloring is painterly.

"Chanson triste" achieved a hopeful mood behind the melancholy.  "L'invitation au voyage" brought us to foreign shores, with the final word "volupté" leaving us stunned. Never mind that we just heard it the day before; he made it fresh.  In the terrific "Phidylé" we heard an astonishing messa di voce, one that had us holding our breath.

Ms. Sierra absolutely commanded the stage in her selection of songs by Joaquin Turina and Mr. Wagorn matched her Iberian charm, note for note. "Cuando tan hermosa os miro" and "Si con mis deseos" are love songs while "Al val de Fuente Ovejuna" is a charming tale, sung with charm, about a shy maiden hiding from an importuning man.

The first part of the program ended splendidly with a duet from Händel's Rodelinda, "Io t'abraccio".  The text refers to the pain of parting and the two singers were indeed spatially separated. We lack words to describe the deliciousness of the harmony and the way Baroque technique was used to indicate sobbing. By the end, we ourselves were close to sobbing.

Mr. Costanzo opened the second half of the program with what he does best. Even those who don't quite "get" the counter-tenor fach would have been brought to their knees by "Rompo i lacci" from Handel's Flavio. The wild flights of fioritura presented no obstacle to this intrepid artist, a master of the Baroque style.  Händel knew how to write for the voice and his arias have many sections of various moods and tempi. The slow section could have broken hearts but the fury of revenge in the fast sections could make you weak in the knees.

Ms. Sierra began her aria "Arpa gentil" from Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims from offstage to the sound of a harp produced by Mr. Wagorn's delicate arpeggios on the piano. She has mastered the Bel Canto style and made her embellishments as meaningful as they were perfectly precise.

We even enjoyed her English in a quartet of songs by Ned Rorem.  Our favorites were the sweet "In a gondola" which describes two different types of kissing and "Song for a girl" in which a 14-year-old girl sings of her innocence and how she expects to become more devious as she gets older.  Ms. Sierra sang them truthfully and with deep feeling.

Five songs by Franz Liszt were performed by Mr. Costanzo.  Our favorite was the peaceful "Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh" but we must say we prefer our favorite counter-tenor in the more fiery operatic material.

The recital ended with a brilliant duet in Latin--two selections from Giovanni Batista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater in which the harmonies were a touch more dissonant than those of Händel and even more interesting.  The second feature that captured our attention was the fact that the two singers were singing different lines. It was nothing short of astonishing.

And now we get to the best part....the encores.  Ms. Sierra won everyone's hearts with "O, mio babbino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. Only the most cold-hearted father could have resisted her importuning! This aria seems to have been written just for her!

Mr. Costanzo chose for his encore....drum roll please...."Summertime" from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. In an engaging introduction, he told the audience that the biggest obstacle to becoming a counter-tenor was a psychological one and that his parents were both psychologists.  When the first song he wanted to sing as a child was "Summertime" they encouraged him. This story made us smile.  A lot.  And we'd have to say we have never heard that aria sung like that before. And likely never will again.

And now, the crazy wild encore you have been waiting to hear about...the two artists sang "La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni--with Ms. Sierra singing the Don and Mr. Costanzo singing Zerlina.  Such gender bending is fun but it also forces us to look at gender roles and expectations in a fresh way.  We were not alone in having our funny bone tickled.

(c) meche kroop