PIANO 10 VOICE 2

Sally Matthews and Simon Lepper

Nothing pleases us more than discovering a singer we haven't heard before and we approached last night's recital at Weill Recital Hall with high anticipation, especially because the program of Sibelius, Grieg, Strauss, and Wagner comprised songs we know and love. Sadly, the evening left us feeling empty and disappointed, reluctant to sit down at the computer to write about it.

Appreciation of the human voice is a very individual thing and what sounds pleasing to one pair of ears may be unpleasant to another. Although the customary standing ovation with hoots and hollers at the conclusion was absent, there was generous applause and our post-recital chat with friends and colleagues revealed a modest degree of appreciation of certain aspects of the recital, but no one seemed thrilled.

We will get to the voice anon but let us start by saying that a seasoned performer who presents an entire recital buried in the score is cheating the audience of the intimate experience for which one attends a lieder recital in a small house.  Dear Reader, bear in mind that soprano Sally Matthews has apparently presented the very same program at Wigmore Hall in London! This was not a recital of new music with weird entrances and strange sounds. No, it was a recital of standard repertory that had been performed before.

Nor did the loathed music stand get set aside for the two encores. If we have one positive thing to say about the singer, it is that the lower tessitura of Britten's "The Salley Gardens" was more agreeable than the hard edges displayed during the rest of the program, an unpleasant sound that was at its worst at the top of the vocal register and was made even worse when the volume was increased.

Admittedly, our friend in the balcony found it not as painful to the ear drums as we did, as did the friend who sat next to us. The lower tessitura of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder was kinder to the ear. Pianissimo passages were less painful.

We have nothing to say about Ms. Matthews' Swedish. Her German was adequate and there were no omissions of the final "ch"; however at times, entire syllables were glossed over and we missed the crispness heard from German singers. Upward leaps in Wagner's "Schmerzen" were dynamically abrupt.

There was a sameness to the sound of every single song which added to the tedium. We don't believe that the singer lacked in connection to the material but she did lack in connection with the audience. She was either looking at the score or at some nonexistent family circle but never at the audience. We did not feel drawn into her world or the world of the song.

The best singing of the night came from the piano of Simon Lepper. When we feel alienated from a singer, we generally use the situation  as an opportunity to focus on the piano and Mr. Lepper did not disappoint. The variety we missed in the voice was amply revealed in the piano.

Fortunately, there were three instrumental selections from Edvard Grieg's Lyric Pieces: "Melodie" from  Op.38, No.3, "Melancholie" from Op.48, No.4, and "Arietta" from Op.12, No.1. All were lovely and evocative of different moods. We liked his soft hands as they caressed the keys.

We enjoyed the jaunty accompaniment to Grieg's "Lauf der Welt" which told the tale far better than the singer did.  In Strauss' Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Op.67, he captured the madness. Actually, the singer also captured the madness but was uncomfortably shrill.

Mr. Lepper's performance of Strauss' "Morgen!" was exquisite and we found ourselves wishing that he could continue without the voice. Similarly, for Wagner's "Im Treibhaus".

As impressed as we were with Mr. Lepper's piano, we wondered whether, in his role of coach, he had ever suggested to Ms. Matthews that she learn her program sufficiently to share it with the audience. It seems somewhat self-absorbed when a singer appears to be singing for herself and excludes the audience!

© meche kroop

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL

Bronwyn Schuman and Katerina Burton

We love big beautiful sopranos with big beautiful voices and were delighted to get a further hearing of Katerina Burton whom we so enjoyed as the housekeeper Mrs. Grose in Britten's Turn of the Screw. Since then we have heard and enjoyed her sizable soprano a few more times; yesterday we found ourself grabbing one last chance to hear her at her Graduate Diploma Degree recital before she departs for Opera Theater of St. Louis' Young Artist Program.

Every time we have heard her in recital she has performed songs of Joseph Marx, a choice which delights us. Yesterday she explained that the composer defied the atonal and serial innovations of his contemporaries (Berg and Schoenberg) to write tonal melodic music. This serves to explain why he never achieved the fame he merits and also why we like his songs so much!

Ms. Burton's instrument is rich and full with spacious resonance at the top and Marx's songs offer many opportunities to show it off. It would be difficult to pick a favorite but we particularly enjoyed the tender "Selige Nacht" as collaborative pianist Bronwyn Schuman joined in with gentle arpeggi. Both artists invested "Der bescheidene Schäfer" with charm. There was an immediacy to "Waldseligkeit" that we felt to be shared among the poet, the composer, the two artists, and the audience.

Equally thrilling for us was the set of songs by Jean Sibelius, sung in Swedish. We did not know that he composed over a hundred songs, having heard only a few of them. (This gives us something to look forward to!) The four selected by Ms. Burton were familiar to us, especially the passionate "Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte" and "Var det en dröm" in which the low notes didn't phase Ms. Burton at all. "De första kyssen" was beautifully phrased and "Soluppgång" made use of dynamic variety to great effect. 

Three 20th c. English songs on the program offered pleasures of varying degrees. We had not heard of British composer Michael Head but his strophic song "The Ships of Arcady" pleased us with its lovely melody, rhyme scheme, and repetitive motif. Ivor Gurney's "Sleep" lacked an interesting vocal line so we found our ears tuning in to the haunting piano writing, so well played by Ms. Schuman. Frank Bridge's "Love went a-Riding" is familiar to us and we always enjoy it.

The set of songs by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, settings of text by Fiona McLeod, failed to hold our attention in spite of the fine performance. Again, the lack of a compelling vocal line allowed our attention to wander to the piano.

On the other hand, two French songs compelled our attention by virtue of their melodiousness and Ms. Burton's fine French. Henri DuParc's "L'invitation au voyage" always carries us away to a land of fantasy and Reynaldo Hahn's "Si mes vers avaient des ailes" was sung with appropriate romantic delicacy.

The program closed on a high note with four songs by Rachmaninoff in which singer and collaborative pianist met in perfect partnership. "Ne poy, krasavitsa, pri mne" has always been one of our favorites. The Eastern melancholy touches our heart and the melismatic singing, like a glorious vocalise, weaves its way into our ears and enchants us. (We had the thought then that we'd love to hear Ms. Burton sing "Bachianas Brazilieras".)

"Son" introduces a gentle Russian melancholy over a dream of yearning, whereas the dream of "Zdes' khorosho" is a dream of solitude and communion. The evening ended joyfully with the seasonally appropriate "Vesenniye vody". The snows are melting, the streams are swollen, Spring is here!

Thank you Katerina for this fulfilling recital (and all the other ones as well) and best wishes in St. Louis! You are destined for success.

(c) meche kroop

YIN AND YANG

Johanna Rusanen, Maestro Kent Tritle, and Takaoki Onishi

What a well-balanced program we heard last night at Carnegie Hall! The first half was delicate, ethereal and feminine. The second half was powerful, riveting and masculine. The Oratorio Society of New York, with Maestro Kent Tritle at the helm, surely earned the standing ovation and any forthcoming accolades.

The first piece on the program was Part II of Hector Berlioz' Tristia, Op. 18 entitled "La mort d'Ophelie", which was sensitively conducted by Maestro David Rosenmeyer. Berlioz fell in love with the English actress who played Ophelia in Paris in 1827; she became his muse and initiated his life long love of Shakespeare. 

Who cares that they married and split up when we music lovers have reaped the benefits --Roméo et Juliette, Béatrice et Bénédict, and the lovely piece we enjoyed last night. 

Gertrude's lines from Act IV of Hamlet were adapted by Ernest Legouvé and Berlioz set the text as a solo song in 1842; it was arranged for a soprano/alto chorus in 1849. Last night, the female members of the Chorus and the Orchestra of the Oratorio Society of New York distinguished themselves with the clarity and delicacy of their performance. It was ethereal.

Maestro Tritle took over the podium to conduct Part III of Claude Debussy's Nocturnes, entitled "Sirènes". If we didn't know that the word means "mermaid" in English, we would have thought it meant "serene". This piece has nothing to do with an angry sea causing storms and shipwrecking sailors. This is a calm sea, as introduced by some lovely arpeggi on the harp.

In this piece, the all female chorus delivers a filmy tapestry of sound inspiring feelings of peace and calm. There were no words, just a blended vocalise of gorgeous harmonies. This was just what one needed to hear after a stressful day!

The second half of the program was quite different; we would call it exciting and demanding of both the singers and the audience. The sound of the Finnish language is strange to the ear and the text has a music of its own which Jean Sibelius matched and emphasized in his inimitable musical language.

Sibelius grew up in a country that had been ruled by Sweden since the Middle Ages and by Russia from 1809 onward. The time had come for Finland to fight for its independence and for the use of its own (very difficult) language, which is not related to the Scandinavian languages but somewhat related to Estonian.

A friendship with two brothers active in the Finnish nationalist movement, not to mention his romance with their sister, drew him into the movement. Finnish folklorist Elias Lönnrot had published a collection of folk stories in 1835 entitled Kalevala. In 1891, Sibelius returned from musical studies in Berlin and Vienna, determined to compose this five-movement symphonic and choral poem. It would be the first major composition in Finnish.

The Kalevala comprises 50 songs and the part which Sibelius set is called Kullervo Op. 7,  and begins at number 30. (We heard the first song sung by Meghan Kasanders at Alice Tully Hall and loved it.) It tells the story of a most unfortunate young man who endured a tragic childhood and wound up seducing a woman who turned out to be his long lost sister. He comes to a sad end, impaling himself on his own sword.

The role of Kullervo was sung by the brilliant baritone Takaoki Onishi who has made quite a name for himself since his days at Juilliard when we first started praising his thrilling instrument and the artistry with which he employs it. In this case, we can forgive the singer for his use of the music stand. Trying to read the language is sufficient challenge, but singing it???? In spite of the challenge Mr. Onishi sounded wonderful with his expansive round tones filling Carnegie Hall with overtones.

We will heap the same praise on soprano Johanna Rusanen who had the advantages of being a Finnish national and of having performed the work before. She has a sizable instrument that has an exciting ring to it and she sang the parts of the three resistant women Kullervo tries to seduce. As number three, she succumbs to his show of wealth.

The heavy lifting was done by the men of the Oratorio Society, augmented by a male contingent from the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus who blended in seamlessly. It falls to the chorus to tell the story. The text makes use of repetition reminding us that these stories were told and told again.

The introduction was symphonic, as was the event of the consummation of Kullervo's lust, and also the music for the battle. The music was varied but thematically connected, giving the work a feeling of unity. Sibelius' orchestration was inordinately colorful. Thrumming strings underscored the scene in which Kullervo and his sister tell of their origins and timpani revealed the portent of his discovery and his shame.

We wouldn't hesitate to hear more works like this. We cannot stop thinking about all the folk stories involving unrecognized family members. The Greeks had their Oedipus and the Norse had their Wälsung twins. 

We would also like to hear the other parts of the Berlioz and the Debussy. Perhaps the Oratorio Society of New York, now in their 146th year (!) could be persuaded to give us the "full Monty" next year!

(c) meche kroop

A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

Meghan Kasanders and Maestro Barbara Hannigan onstage at Alice Tully Hall

Yesterday we enjoyed three musical events, back to back, at Juilliard, having decided that music feeds the soul even more than food feeds the body. It was a truly glorious day and indicated the depth and breadth of talent at Juilliard.

We began with a recital by bass William Guanbo Su who, in addition to finalizing his Master of Music degree from Juilliard, just advanced in the Metropolitan Opera National Council competition and has been sharing his artistry all over the map. We have followed Mr. Su since his undergraduate days at Manhattan School of Music and will never forget his performances as the Badger and the Parson in Janacek's Vixen Sharp-Ears.

We noted his facility with languages in his graduation recital, as well as the unique qualities of his instrument. We have been there for numerous galas in which his artistry was recognized and honored with prizes. This is an artist destined for major success.

In yesterday's recital, we saw another side of his artistry which confirmed our belief that American musical theater, when sung by operatically trained voices without amplification, is the direct descendant of European opera. In the second half of the recital, Mr. Su sang "Stars" from Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Miserables and two selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. The performance was direct and communicative. We loved it!  We also enjoyed Eric Coates' "Bird Song at Eventide" from the early 20th c. Mr. Coates chose some lovely poetry which rhymed and scanned, thus being inspired to create a melodic vocal line. Richard Fu Yu's piano provided the birdsong.

Mr. Su has perfect English diction and made every word count. He also delighted the audience with his encore, sitting at the piano and accompanying himself as he sang a Mongolian folk song. We didn't know about his secret talent.

The communicative aspect that so delighted us in the second half of the program was impaired in the first half by the use of the detested music stand. No matter how hard a singer tries to communicate, the spell is broken when he glances down at the music. We are sure that Mr. Su's recent occupation with performing and competing was the cause but we couldn't help but feeling cheated out of our full enjoyment of our favorite two Bellini songs.

Truth to tell, we have never enjoyed Brahm's Vier ernste gesänge due to their unrelieved grimness but feel they were chosen to highlight Mr. Su's superb lower register. As far as Poulenc's cycle La Bestiare, he successfully met the challenge of the higher register but needed more variety. We found our attention wandering to the piano, as it does when the singer doesn't connect. We heard the variety we wanted in Mr. Yu's piano.

Because of the success of the second half of the recital, which was performed off the book, we left satisfied and ready for more music. It was my great good fortune to attend a vocal arts showcase directed by Jenny Lord. It is your misfortune that reviews are not permitted. Suffice it to say that the students involved introduced the several opera scenes and we were gloriously entertained. If you, dear reader, only knew how difficult it is not to review!

Coasting along on our musical high, we were treated to a marvelous concert by the Juilliard Orchestra, which responded brilliantly to the exciting double threat/double treat young conductor/soprano Barbara Hannigan. The concert grabbed our attention from the start and kept up momentum until the final note.

Richard Strauss' "Salome's Dance" from his opera Salome gets off to a frenzied start, well suited to Mo. Hannigan's energetic and poetic conducting style. The sensual Middle-Eastern melodies accompanying the dance were given to the flute and the percussion section provided the bombast. Although Mo. Hannigan did not shed any of her graceful chiffon attire, one could see that she was living through the dance. And the orchestra followed her lead.

Strauss' massive orchestra was reduced for Haydn's Symphony No. 96 in D Major, which stands as a lesson in the writing of a Classical symphony. The opening movement in Sonata-Allegro form introduced two contrasting themes, followed by an intricate development section in which one could still recognize the themes, prior to the recapitulation. A lilting Andante was followed by a charming Menuet in 6/8 time. The final sprightly movement--Vivace--was a perfect example of perpetuum mobile. When a long sweeping phrase occurred, Mo. Hannigan swept her arm in a long graceful arc.

Claude Debussy's "Syrinx" gave flutist Emma Resmini a chance to shine with pure tonal quality and lovely phrasing, not so different from the artistry of the singer.  In our mind's eye we visualized a mythical world of cavorting nymphs and satyrs. Without a break the Debussy led into what was, for us, the highlight of the evening.  Insert fanfare!

Soprano Meghan Kasanders sang in Finnish "Luonnotar", the opening verses of Jean Sibelius' tone poem based upon the Kalevala, a creation myth peculiar to that culture. As Ms. Kasanders neared the end, where the cracked shell of the seabird became the vault of heaven, her voice soared magnificently. Ms. Kasanders has always impressed us with the size of her voice and the manner in which she uses it.  What a treat that was! We were inspired to attend the upcoming Kulervo, performed by the Oratorio Society, wanting more of this glorious music.

We would have been content to have ended it at that glorious moment but there was one more piece on the program, Béla Bartok's Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin. This is a raucous and dissonant piece of music with a few graceful passages interspersed which were steeped in Oriental eroticism. Guess which parts we favored!

And so our long day and evening came to a glorious end with a renewed appreciation for Juilliard's glories.

(c) meche kroop

HONORED BY JUILLIARD

Chris Reynolds and Natalia Kutateladze

Chris Reynolds and Felicia Moore

Last night we attended the Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital at Alice Tully Hall. Voice teachers nominate singers to audition for this honor and the competition is keen. One of the judges happened to be Jennifer Zetlan, a Juilliard alumna whom we just reviewed last night in On Site Opera's Morning Star.  

Each singer chose her own program and both were accompanied by the talented collaborative pianist Chris Reynolds.

The ravishing mezzo-soprano Natalia Kutateladze opened her half of the program with a chanson by Jules Massenet; The text by Louis Pierre Gabriel Bernard Morel-Retz, entitled "Amoureuses" was highly romantic and Ms. Kutateladze performed it in perfect French with spot-on phrasing.

A set of songs by Tchaikovsky showed how they sound at their very best, sung by someone so comfortable in the language that the songs are more inhabited than performed. Although we do not speak or understand Russian, we were able to appreciate the marvelous marriage of music and text.

"None but the Lonely Heart" is a setting of a Russian translation of Goethe's text "Nur wer die sehnsucht kennt" from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, a text so potent that it appealed to a list of composers longer than the text. We mostly know it as one of the Mignon songs.

"Was I Not a Blade of Grass in the Field?" struck us with the sadness of a young woman married off to a man she does not love. She compares herself to a blade of grass that was mowed down.

Tolstoy's text "Amidst the Din of the Ball" motivated Tchaikovsky to write a most marvelous and memorable melody. A man sees a woman at a ball and thinks he has fallen in love with her.

With all that gorgeous melody, we still think the Pushkin text "Don't Sing to Me, My Beauty" is our favorite Russian song. Rachmaninoff gave it a haunting melody that could make anyone homesick. Each and every one of these Russian songs was sung with artistry and deep emotional commitment.

The final set on the program comprised Manuel de Falla's Siete canciones populares españolas.  The advantage for us was that we understand Spanish and thus were able to appreciate Ms. Kutateladze's skill for word coloration and the creation of a mood. We adore this cycle, the first song of which gives us an ironic metaphor for men's negative attitude towards women's sexual expression. "El Paño Moruno" describes a cloth that has lost its value because of a stain.

The same judgmental attitude appears in "Seguidilla murciana", only this time the metaphor is a coin that has passed from hand to hand so much that it has become blurry and no one will accept it!

"Asturiana" is a song of deep sorrow and the search for consolation in nature, whereas "Nana" is a tender lullaby. "Canción" tells of lost love in a mournful way, whilst "Polo" tells of lost love in an angry bitter way.

It was a revelation to hear Ms. Kutateladze create the right mood for each song and to color each important word in a way that extracted every ounce of significance. With her gorgeous instrument, vital stage presence, intense involvement, and consummate musicianship, this is an artist to watch, one destined for stardom. Watch for her in the upcoming Juilliard Opera next month.

Soprano Felicia Moore walks onstage with such presence that one knows in advance that one is in for a treat.  Of course, having heard her many times before, we have advance knowledge. We can tell when a singer loves to sing!

One doesn't get enough Sibelius at song recitals so we were happy that Ms. Moore decided to invest so much energy into learning to sing in Swedish. From Five Songs, Op. 37, she sang one we'd never heard "Soluppgång", and two we know and love.

"Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings mote" tells of a girl who hides the signs of a lovers' meeting from her mother until she suffers from her lover's abandonment.  "Var det en dröm" is a song of nostalgia in which the poet recalls his lost love as a dream. Ms. Moore invested each song with depth and meaning.

Her gleaming instrument was put to good use in songs from Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. We particularly loved the way collaborative pianist Chris Reynolds created a meditative mood for "Im Treibhaus" in which Wesendonck uses the metaphor of plants in a hothouse to represent the feelings of someone who is far from their homeland. We speculated that she herself was away from home but we were wrong.  She was German through and through.

In "Stehe still!",  Mr. Reynolds hands created the pianistic equivalent of a perpetual motion machine, indicating the rushing of time. Ms. Moore responded in beautiful partnership. By the fourth verse, things have calmed down and both artists responded with lyricism to the concept of souls sinking into each other.

"Traume" recreates the evanescent world of dreams in a highly poetic way and gave Ms. Moore another opportunity to create a sound world of delicacy.

Her program ended with selections from Aaron Copland's Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. We confess to no great love for poet or composer, which didn't stop us from appreciating Ms. Moore's superb performance. There were little touches that lent a high degree of artistry such as the enhanced vibrato on the final word of "Nature, the Gentlest Mother" and the way she left the final note of "The Chariot" hanging in the air.

The cutest song was the most timely--"Dear March, Come In!" a cute sentiment that made us want to like Dickinson more than we do.  It is just a fact that each of us has his/her taste and ours leans toward any language but English and any period prior to (but including) Richard Strauss!

That being said, Copland wrote some very interesting figures for the piano part of "Nature, the Gentlest Mother", and Mr. Reynolds' smashing piano technique and interpretive artistry brought them out.

Like nearly all the singers coming out of Juilliard Vocal Arts Department, Ms. Moore evinces those Juilliard qualities--presence, dramatic skills, expressive vocal technique, fine phrasing, and linguistic skills.  There must be something in the water!

(c) meche kroop