LIEDERABEND A LA RUSSE

Mary-Elizabeth  O'Neill, Jessine Johnson, James Edgar Knight, Fan Jia, and Sophia Kaminski

A recital this special does credit not only to the artists but to the coach; so let us acknowledge Gina Levinson right at the beginning. It has taken us longer to appreciate Russian song than songs in the languages that we speak and understand. It never struck us as a particularly beautiful language, but from the hearts, voices and hands of these young Juilliard artists it was suffused with beauty.

The dramatic skills were notable all around and each singer used gesture and body language to get the text across, without ever losing vocal artistry.  Each collaborative pianist conveyed the intention of the composer to paint vivid pictures that dazzled the mind's eye.

A particular knockout was mezzo-soprano Mary-Elizabeth O'Neill who conveyed us to a 19th c. nursery with a little girl and her doll, a nanny, a hobby horse, a naughty cat, and an even naughtier little boy. We wonder if Modest Mussorgsky, who wrote his own text, was writing from his own experience.

But there was no doubt that Ms. O'Neill was very much in touch with the text herself and we were not surprised to learn that she did her own translations. Readers must know by now that we are not a fan of "park and bark" and love it when a singer uses her entire body to get a song across. The image of Ms. O'Neill galloping around the stage on her imaginary hobby horse is one that we will not soon forget.

The colors of her voice were manipulated to distinguish between the nanny and the child and later the child and his mother. All this was accomplished without losing tone or phrasing. Kathryn Felt at the piano joined in the fun and left us smiling until our cheeks hurt.

Gorgeously melodic songs by Tchaikovsky, of the same generation as Mussorgsky, appeared twice on the program. What a surprise to learn that the lovely soprano Sophia Kaminski is still an undergraduate. She clearly demonstrated how Tchaikovsky's melodies followed the rhythm of the language and her clear bright voice floated on the surface of the melody with a fine and pleasing vibrato.

In the strophic song "Was I not like the grass in the field?" she brought out the plaintive lament of a young girl married off to an old man she did not love.  It was heartbreaking. In the rhythmic"A Gypsy Song" she had the opportunity to show a more light-hearted side as a young woman who has no problem bidding adieu to her most recent lover. Her collaborative pianist William Kelley was particularly fine in this song.

Baritone Fan Jia, accompanied by Hea Youn Chung, was equally impressive in another set of Tchaikovsky songs. He began the set with the beautiful "No, only he who has known".  Although the text is attributed to one Lev Mey, we are sure they were Goethe's words from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, which were also set by Schubert and Beethoven.

Mr. Jia sang it beautifully with plenty of the requisite pathos and longing. There is a tender texture to his instrument that makes it most powerful when his sings pianissimo. He was accompanied by Hea Youn Chung and the pair made quite an impression with these lovely songs. Our second favorite was "Believe it not, my friend" with text by Tolstoy. We do believe that our affection for 19th c. composers has much to do with their choice of text to set.

James Edgar Knight performed some fine songs by Rachmaninoff who composed a generation after the aforementioned composers. His songs are wildly passionate and Mr. Knight used his tenor in a manner that emphasized this passion. Our favorite was the popular "Do not sing, my beauty, to me", the haunting melody referencing Russian suffering. Ava Nazar is always a fine and sensitive accompanist, here bringing out the pathos.

It was a bit of a relief to hear the more wistful "A Dream" in which Mr. Knight brought it down a notch. The hopeful and seasonable "Spring Waters" ended the set.  Mr. Knight seems to taste the words he sings, which we love.  We would love his performances even more if he relaxed his high notes a bit. His voice is very powerful!

The program closed with a set of songs by Shostakovich from Satires. The impressive soprano Jessine Johnson explained that Shostakovich composed them during the postwar economic depression of the 20th c. The playfulness on the surface is actually ironic.

The music is more modern than the earlier music we prefer but Ms. Johnson sang the songs with clarity, style and involvement, which brought us into the music.  We particularly liked the irony of a "better future" in "Descendants".  Her accompanist HoJae Lee was particularly fine in that song.

Every visit to Juilliard presents fresh delights for the ear and this recital yesterday was a real winner. Hearing this superb music sung and played by these gifted young artists has brought us to a newer and more profound appreciation of Russian song. Our companion at the recital, completely new to vocal recitals, has become a fan of the art song. And that's saying something!

(c) meche kroop

BEAUTIFUL AND BIG

Siyi Fang and Jessine Johnson

We hear so many young sopranos with beautiful voices and tons of talent that we wonder whether sufficient roles will be available for them.  But once in awhile we hear one of those big beautiful young women with big beautiful voices, voices that are less common and possibly more in demand.  Such was the case yesterday evening at Juilliard when we heard soprano Jessine Johnson who seems to have the potential for Wagnerian and Verdian roles.

She chose wisely for her opening aria--"Non mi dir" from Mozart's Don Giovanni.  Her sizable voice has a nice gleam to it without a hint of harshness.  She attacked the high notes as fearlessly as the daunting coloratura passages, demonstrating considerable flexibility.  It was all there--the good Italian, the legato phrasing, the variety of dynamics and color, the facility with the flights of embellishments.

We were already wondering what she would do with the Wagner songs which closed the program and we were not at all disappointed.  We greatly enjoyed three selections from Fünf Gedichte von Mathilde Wesendonk.  Both she and her superb collaborative pianist Siyi Fang made the most of the rising four-note scale passage (familiar from Tristan und Isolde) in "Im Treibhaus"; the lower tessitura was well handled. There was sufficient urgency in "Stehe Still" with its glorious piano writing. "Träume" was no less terrific.

Encores are not generally performed in graduation recitals but the thunderous applause generated a thrilling rendition of "Dich Teure Halle" from Tannhäuser, resulting in still more accolades.

What we really appreciated in Ms. Johnson's German was her crisp enunciation of the consonants, accomplished without sacrificing the value of the vowels. Many young singers, even those giving professional recitals, have demonstrated discomfort with the final "ch", a pet peeve of ours.  Not so here!

Let us not neglect what came between the Mozart and the Wagner.  We heard two light-hearted chansons by Debussy from his Quatre Chansons de Jeunesses.  In "Pantomime" the mood was frisky until the final tender verse, given its full emotional value by both Ms. Johnson and Ms. Fang.

We also heard four songs by Robert Schumann, three of them which were full of threat and menace ("Warnung", "Muttertraum", and "Der Soldat") and one in a lighter vein "Mein schöner Stern"--a consoling contrast to the darkness.

As far as the Libby Larsen cycle Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII, we found the texts sufficiently interesting to read up on Tudor history. But as many times as we have heard the cycle, we have not succeeded in finding the vocal line sufficiently interesting, even though Ms. Johnson sang it well.  The piano score is interesting but neither the piano writing nor the vocal line seemed to illuminate the words, which can easily stand alone as historical documents.  But they are not poetry!  We find no pleasure in musical settings of prose.

This recital was given to fulfill one of the requirements for receiving a Master of Music Degree from Juilliard but it was totally worthwhile as an evening's entertainment.  We foresee a fine future for both artists.

(c) meche kroop

MORE BUDS ON THE VOCAL ARTS BRANCH OF THE JUILLIARD TREE

Alex McKissick, Nicolette Mavroleon

Kurt Kanazawa, Virginie Verrez, Laura Levoir, Jessine Johnson

Lachlan Glen, Theo Hoffman, Leann Osterkamp, Mary-Elizabeth O'Neill

A week of recitals at Juilliard have left us reeling with pleasure. There wasn't a mediocre singer in the bunch; all were promising but some seem to have a better sense of what suits their particular voices and interpretive skills.  It takes a lot of courage to introduce a new work or to choose songs that are rarely performed.  Sometimes a gem is discovered and sometimes we are left realizing why a particular work has been neglected.  (Anyone who has worked with Steven Blier knows of his gifts for choosing songs and finding the right singer to inhabit them.)

Let us begin with Theo Hoffman whose third-year undergraduate status tells us absolutely nothing about his prodigious talents.  His generous smoky baritone was heard twice on Thursday.  At the Vocal Arts Department's Liederabend (an all-Schumann program) he sang in perfect German four lovely lieder, perfectly modulated in volume and word-coloring.  He was accompanied by the fine Ari Livne.

And two hours later he was onstage at his third-year recital with the amazing Lachlan Glen (whose new CD we will be reviewing shortly) as piano partner, making music out of some songs in English that we did not expect to enjoy; it is testament to the talents of these two artists that we found ourselves loving the material.

Mr. Hoffman has preternatural stage poise and dramatic chops; he can really bring a song to life.  He drew selections from the oeuvre of Jonathan Dove, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, John Musto, Samuel Barber, Rufus Wainwright and Marc Blitzstein.  One cannot go wrong with poetry by Alfred Tennyson, Robert Louis Stevenson or William Butler Yeats.  But the big surprise was Rufus Wainwright's "True Loves" and Marc Blitzstein's "Stay in My Arms". Both men composed their own texts and both songs were pure delight.  As encore, Mr. Hoffman sang Noel Coward's "Uncle Harry", a reprise of his success at a recital at the National Opera Center. What fun!!!

Sharing the program was mezzo Mary-Elizabeth O'Neill whom we enjoyed in those wonderful Schubert songs from Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister.  She was just the right interpreter for these songs of the mysterious Mignon.  We were somewhat less enchanted by her choice of Mirabai Songs, John Harbison's setting of texts by Robert Bly.  The writing for piano was difficult and dense, performed well by the fine collaborative pianist Leann Osterkamp, but the vocal line was spare and not melodic.  The work obviously meant a great deal to Ms. O'Neill but we found ourselves incapable of caring about the Hindu princess who left her family to devote herself body and soul to Lord Krishna, although Ms. O'Neill's diction in English was easily understood.

To return now to the all-Schumann Liederabend, we enjoyed baritone Kurt Kanazawa, accompanied by Joseph Yungen, having a great deal of fun with his choices.  His light and pleasing baritone sounded wonderful and seemed particularly suited to songs about seduction--"The Hidalgo" for example.  He is one of those singers who uses his body and facial expression to good advantage, as in his imitating the ladies of Seville with their fans and mantillas.  What a storyteller!

Soprano Laura LeVoir with her piano partner Zsolt Balogh sounded especially fine in "Der Sandmann", "Schmetterling" and "Schneeglöckchen", singing with lightness, delicacy and charm.

Jessine Johnson has a larger voice that was well suited to the tragic "Der Soldat" and the scary "Muttertraum".  The Rückert lied "Mein schöner Stern" was equally impressive.  Siyi Fang followed along with her as piano partner, contributing to the apt interpretations.

Mezzo Virginie Verrez, accompanied by Miles Fellenberg, undertook the very sad Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart.  Her very textured voice was expressive and she demonstrated exquisite phrasing, dynamic control and word coloring.  We were moved and enthralled.

Soprano Nicolette Mavroleon and tenor Alex McKissick shared a third-year recital and made a fine showing, the most amazing part of which was their versatility.  Just a few days earlier we heard them both singing in a cabaret (also reviewed here) and were impressed with the ease with which they shifted gears.

We always love Dvořák and were thrilled that Ms. Mavroleon chose to sing a quartet of his songs, three of which were about unfulfilled love.  We especially loved the typical Czech melody of "My heart often becomes mournful".  Piano partner Valeriya Polunina captured the mood perfectly.

She also sang a Schubert concert aria in Italian that was filled with emotion--"Vedi quanto adoro ancora ingrato!"  How wonderful to discover a new side of Schubert; we would not have recognized it as Schubert.  Two songs by Rimsky-Korsakov followed and we were blown away by the erotic "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Tenor Alex McKissick essayed selections from Die Schöne Müllerin which we have always considered to be best sung by a young man.  He conveyed enthusiasm and contentment, tenderness and exultation. We liked the way he changed color for the various voices in "Am Feierabend".

He has a facility for Spanish and did a fine job conveying the insecurity of the serenader in "Te quiero, Morena" from the zarzuela El Trust de los Tenorios by José Serrano.  José Padilla's "Princesita" had a lovely melody.  Raymond Wong was his able accompanist.

A week spent at Juilliard provided a lifetime of musical memories!

© meche kroop