PAUL GROVES IS FEELIN' IT

Joseph Illick and Paul Groves

We sometimes get teary-eyed at an art song recital when a song is very sad, but at yesterday's Performance Santa Fe recital we wept from the sheer beauty of witnessing an artist totally in touch with his material and completely able to communicate with his audience.  One might raise that comment by the power of ten in order to convey the intensely intimate experience created by tenor Paul Groves and his piano partner Joseph Illick, Artistic Director of Performance Santa Fe and wearer of many other hats. Mr. Illick introduced Mr. Groves by saying that an opera singer makes the best interpreter of art songs. After that recital we are inclined to agree.  Every song on the program became a drama in miniature.

Henri Duparc was a troubled soul, as Mr. Groves shared with us, a man who burned most of his works. Very little survives and he is best known for sixteen songs that are perfect miniatures and which appear consistently on recital programs.  Yesterday Mr. Groves brought them to vivid life by his mastery of the French style with its long even lines.  Any young singer wanting to succeed in the French repertory would do well to study Mr. Groves' technique.  It appears effortless, belying the amount of hard work it must have taken.

Mr. Groves' tenor has a steel-strong core that seems covered in velvet.  The initial song of his Duparc set was the highly dramatic "Le manoir de Rosemonde"in which the poet (de Bonnieres) moves from passion to resignation and Mr. Groves emphasized first the steel and then the velvet.  The contrast was chilling.  "Extase" allowed the delicate line of Mr. Illick's piano to interact with the equally delicate vocal line. Mr. Illick shone again in the arpeggios of "Chanson triste".  In "Soupir", we swooned over the final diminuendo.  But it was "Phidyle" that stole our heart.  Mr. Groves obviously loves words and enjoys communicating their significance.  Just listen to what he did with the word "repose"!  Magic!

Our tears gave way to smiles when he moved on to Britten's Folksongs.  "The Brisk Young Widow" related the tale of a courtship gone awry.  "Sally in Our Alley" made us care about the light-hearted goofy young lover waiting for his apprenticeship to end so he could wed.  Next we heard about "The Lincolnshire Poacher" and his war with the gamekeeper.  The entire set transported us to the British Isles in days of yore.

We have heard Liszt's Victor Hugo Songs many times but enjoyed them particularly well as performed by Mr. Groves without any breaks.  "Comment, disaient-ils" is a sprightly ditty about three riddles.  The closing song of the set "Oh! quand je dors" was perhaps the most affecting.  Just hear how our wonderful tenor shed his special light on the word "s'eveillera"!

The recital ended with three songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff, of which our favorite was "Oh, Never Sing to Me Again" with sad homesick words penned by Pushkin.  The piano and vocal lines echo each other in an avalanche of unbearable suffering.  It offered Mr. Groves the opportunity to show off some lovely and haunting melismatic singing.

Lest the audience leave on a tearful note, Mr. Groves performed the delightful "Au fond du temple saint" with the fine baritone Kostas Smoriginas.

Both will be heard onstage at the Santa Fe Opera so stay tuned for upcoming reviews  We are particularly looking forward to hearing Mr. Groves as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio.

(c) meche kroop

FABULOUS FABIANO

The worthy Santa Fe Concert Association continued it's Festival of Song Wednesday with a galvanizing recital by tenor Michael Fabiano. Mr.Fabiano wisely chose a mixed program of art songs and operatic arias which he delivered with passiionate intensity, to the delight of the audience at the Scottish Rite Temple. Mr. Fabiano has a generous Italianate sound and seems to connect deeply with his material without courting the audience. He opened with "Questa o quella" from Verdi's Rigoletto which fully conveyed the Duke's arrogance and licentiousness. Following, he sang two songs by Henri Duparc; "La Vie Anterieure" opened with dellicacy but soon became intense. Joseph Illick on the piano had a chance to shine here and, in "Phidyle", the tenor manifested a gorgeous messa di voce. Two songs by Richard Strauss followed and Mr. Fabiano's performance of "Zueignung" was markedly different from that of Mr. Appleby's last Sunday. In Caecilie, the singer seemed to be suffering deeply from his passion. Puccini's "Mentia l'avviso" followed and then two passionate songs by Tosti. In "L'ultima canzone" (more suffering) our tenor showed a facility at the bottom of his register. A wonderful aria from Verdi's Il Corsaro was followed by a strong cabaletta, following which the tenor portrayed the haunted hero of Puccini's Le Villi in "Torna ai felici di". The audience demanded two encores and Mr. F. performed Federico's Lament from Cilea's L'Arlesiana followed by "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot. It was a stunning recital and the only thing missing was something light-hearted.

APPLEBY APPEAL

Helmed by Artistic Director Joseph Illick, the Santa Fe Concert Association has taken advantage of Paul Appleby's presence in Santa Fe and presented him in an incomparable recital last Sunday. For his theme, Mr. Appleby chose "Serenades". One thinks of a serenade as a song designed to get the listener to join the serenader. Mr. Appleby did exactly that. His friendly unassuming manner invariably invites the members of the audience to join him on his journey. We loved the way he introduced each serenade; this was of great benefit to those in the audience who may have been less familiar with the songs than we are. His sweet ringing tenor was put to fine use in the opening song, Schubert's Standchen" from his cycle Schwanengesang. Accompanied by Mr. Illick himself, the tempo was taken rather slowly and this tender but passionate verse by Ludwig Rellstab took on a new darker meaning with the artists' emphasis on the major/minor shifts. On the other hand, Brahm's sunny "Standchen" was performed with lighthearted humor. Hugo Wolf's "Das Standchen" was the only one of the group that was retrospective; an elderly man observes with nostalgia a young man serenading his beloved. Strauss' more familiar serenade was filled with the anticipation of a joyful reunion. All four of these serenades were performed with a deep connection to the material, a responsiveness to the audience and a delightful intimacy that worked well with the small-sized hall at the Scottish Rite Center. Mr. Appleby's German was impeccable. His French was equally fine in the delicate "Serenade Florentine" by Henri Duparc--a song in an entirely different mood that Mr. Appleby conveyed beautifully with a complete change of color. Carlo Pedrotti's "Serenata" was of a different ilk, seductive as only Italian can be. Mascagni's "Serenata", on the other hand, was performed with a sense of mystery. There was nothing mysterious about Tchaikovsky's "Don Juan's Serenade". Here the singer must deliver Tolstoy's intense verses with true Russian passion. The poet is more demanding than seductive and ready to die in a duel for his love object. Mr. Appleby handled every one of these diverse moods with consummate artistry. The major work of the recital and perhaps the inspiration for it as well was Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings" the score of which Mr. Illick himself reduced for string quintet and horn. This cycle comprises a setting of a collection of poems by various British poets. There was a great deal going on within the instrumentalists which tended to distract from the singing. We were particularly taken with an opening horn call played on a "natural horn", the valveless ancestor of the modern French Horn, which displays a bright and distinctive sound. Played by Gabriella Finck, the stirring horn call was happily heard at the close of the piece--this time from up in the balcony. There was considerable pizzicato playing, not only in the strings but also on the horn. As an encore, Mr. Appleby sang an aubade--a song sung at dawn. The hero of Lalo's opera Le Roi d'Ys is making a full-throated address to his beloved in anticipation of their wedding. It was a fine conclusion to a stellar recital. We have observed Mr. A's growth as an artist over the past few years and have never heard him give a performance that was shy of excellence. We are looking forward to seeing him onstage at the Santa Fe Opera as he performs the role of Fritz in Offenbach's La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein. This recital is only the first program in SFCA's Festival of Song. Lest we leave you thinking that is all that SFCA does, let it be known that this worthy organization brings all kinds of notable musicians to Santa Fe, not to mention ballet and lectures. Moreover, they have established programs to bring art education to schools in the area and provide scholarships. The "City Different" is fortunate to have such an institution. Stay tuned for more reviews!

NICOLE CABELLl--from the heart

It is always evident when a singer communicates from the heart.  Such was the case at The Santa Fe Concert Association's Festival of Song when glamorous soprano Nicole Cabell gave a warm interpretation of two Ricky Ian Gordon song cycles accompanied by Mr. Gordon himself at the piano, both artists deeply immersed in both their artistry and their abilities to communicate with the audience.  The poetry, chosen by Mr. Gordon, was by African-American poet Langston Hughes, remarkable for its conciseness and (!) lines that rhymed, which was graceful to the ear.  The moods vary from sorrow to exaltation and Ms. Cabell's ability to convey this variety was remarkable.  We particularly admired "In the Time of Silver Rain" which might do for rain what Beethoven's sonata did for moonlight.  The romanticism of "Love Song for Antonia" was followed by the bouncy "Port Town" which involved the seduction of a sailor boy.  "Song for a Dark Girl" conveyed the tragedy of a lynching.  And that was only the first cycle.

The second cycle, entitled "Genius Child", was introduced by Mr. Gordon with a quote about how geniuses can be and often are misunderstood.  We particularly liked "Genius Child" and "To Be Somebody" about the dreams of children.  The sadness of "Troubled Woman" and "Strange Hurt" let us know about some female suffering.  To end on a more sanguine note, we heard the delightful "Joy".

The enthusiasm and ambition of Joseph Illick, Executive and Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Concert Association, knows no bounds and this series "Festival of Song" will be repeated next summer, with even more performances-- if he and we have anything to say about it.  We regret having missed what we heard was a brilliant recital by soprano Leah Crocetto last Sunday and deplore the fact that our travel schedule will prevent us from hearing a recital by the much sought after bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni.  But that shouldn't stop YOU from being there!  Mr. P.  will be singing lieder by Schubert and Liszt as well as canzone from Rossini.


Let it be noted that the SFCA also brought half a dozen artists from the New York City Ballet to Santa Fe for a Festival of Dance.  Santa Fe is surely the place to be in the summer!


(c) meche kroop