RARE AND WELL DONE

Steven Blier, Michael Barrett, Dina Kuznetsova, Michael Kaiser

Who else but Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song would undertake the assembling, translating and performing of Polish songs that we have never heard before and may never have the opportunity to hear again?  When we think of Polish music we think of Chopin whose name wasn't even mentioned until the encore.  More about that later.

Two international opera stars graced the stage, Russian-American soprano Dina Kuznetsova and tenor Joseph Kaiser.  We were surprised to learn that neither speaks Polish; you could have fooled us!  It is a language more difficult than even Czech and it was a labor of love to learn to sing it as much as it was a labor of love to get the songs translated.

Mr. Blier's wry comment after the first two songs was "The Agony and the Ecstasy in reverse order".  Indeed!  The first song by Stanislaw Moniuszko, the 19th c. nationalistic composer of song and opera (the Schubert of Poland),  was sung passionately by Mr. Kaiser accompanied by two pianos (Mr. Blier and Associate Artistic Director Michael Barrett).  It was about the ecstasy of uncontrolled love.

The next song, Edward Pallasz' 20th c. lament by the Virgin Mary, here called "The Mother of Mankind", was indeed about the special agony felt by a mother over her son's torment.  Ms. Kuznetsova sang it with deep feeling and exquisite dynamic control; there was a special thrill as her voice bloomed in the upper register.  Troubling harmonies were handled by the two pianists.

Four songs by Grazyna Bacewicz followed, also from the 20th c.  Ms. Kuznetsova's performance of "Boli mnie glowa" (pardon our Polish) or "I have such a headache" injected vocal and gestural variety into the simple repetition of the phrase.  It was the only touch of humor in the program.  Bacewicz' song "The magpie" gave Mr. Barrett a chance to show off his skills.

Mr. Kaiser imbued "Keep speaking to me" by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz with a lovely delicate sound as the poet asks his lover to keep speaking as the breeze bears her words across a great distance, like a caress.  Ms. Kuznetsova sang the gorgeous melodies of the composer's "To the grieving maiden" as the poet reassures the girl that her sorrow will give way to joy as Spring returns.

Seven Yiddish Songs, Opus 13 by Mieczyslaw Weinberg followed.  The introduction was a playful duet sung on "La, la" while the postlude, also sung on "La, la" was painful.  The five actual songs with words comprised four delightful childhood songs with the fifth being the sorrowful song of an orphan; in this song the bitterness and anger were expressed by Mr. Blier's piano. Perhaps Mr. Weinberg seized upon Peretz' poetry since he lost his own family in the holocaust.

More songs by Moniuszko followed.  We loved the pastoral melody of "Evening Song" sung by Mr. Kaiser and Ms. Kuznetsova's performance of "The spinner".  Mr. Blier's piano created the spinning background as Ms. K. told the tale of a young maiden spinning and remembering her departed lover until....a new lover comes along and the thread of her memory breaks.

Composing in the early 20th c., Karol Szymanowski's music was influenced by Wagner and by his travels in foreign lands.  It is both exotic and erotic.  We enjoyed his opera King Roger in Santa Fe and was delighted to learn more about him and his growth as a composer.  His late period songs returned to a more folky style and we loved Mr. Kaiser's performance of "Neigh, my horse".

The final work on the program was "The Piper's Song" by Ignacy Jan Paderewski.  Adam Mickiewicz' text touched us; the piper will stop roaming and singing his lighthearted songs when he finds the person who senses the sorrow underneath; then they will share some tears and he will go no farther.

And now for the Chopin encore.  Well, not exactly.  You see, as Mr. Blier explained, Ira Gershwin once set lyrics to Chopin's E- major Etude.  Mr. Blier composed music for the verse and played both verse and Chopin's "refrain".  Now how often does one get a treat like that?!  Is there anything Mr. B. can't do??

© meche kroop

SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE

Last night we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of NYFOS.  We celebrated the vast contributions made by Artistic Director Steven Blier and his Associate Michael Barrett.  We celebrated our broadening appreciation of different types of songs.  We celebrated the countless gifted singers and composers who contributed to the success of this venture over the past quarter of a century.

The woman sitting next to me had never heard of Mr. Blier until she read the touching tribute in the New York Times.  It was a "Where have I been all this time?" moment for her and we understood completely.  Mr. Blier's diligence, perseverance and fine ear for a fine song, combined with his delightful sense of humor have combined to create series of recitals (he doesn't like that word) or events that open our ears to the magnificence we may otherwise have overlooked.  His droll narration and his astute choice of artists continue to delight us.

From the rousing ragtime inflected opener "Play That Barbershop Chord" sung by James Martin to the beautifully sustained final note of "If It's Magic", sung by Darius De Haas, we heard a bountiful smorgasbord of songs in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. 

We just about swooned over NYFOS' Comedian Harmonists, five of our favorite Juilliard guys (Kyle Bielfield, Miles Mykkanen, Nathan Haller, Philip Stoddard and Leo Radosavijevic) clearly inspired by the German Pre-WWII close harmony group, singing "Mein Onkel Bumba".  They not only sang but had the choreographic moves down pat.  Another favorite Juilliard singer, the divine Julia Bullock, began the stirring "I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free" a capella .  Wow!

Not only were Mr. Blier's current students represented but dear friends and colleagues from the past joined in the fun, and fun it was!  Our favorite LMAO moment was Mary Testa singing "I'm Going to Make You Beautiful".  It was equally thrilling to hear William Bolcom play his own composition "Black Max" with Joan Morris singing; "The Bird on Nellie's Hat" from 1908 was another hoot, as was Andrew Garland's "He Never Did That Before".  Sari Gruber's humor was a bit more on the wry side in "Just Like a Man".

In a more serious vein, we enjoyed Joseph Kaiser in Kurt Weill's "Love Song" and even more in Korngold's "Sommer" with his impeccable German.  Amy Burton and John Musto were on hand and we liked the French riffs in "Le chaland qui passe" but especially Mr. Musto's own "Penelope's Song".  There was pathos to spare in a selection from the recently heard (Opera Hispanica) Maria de Buenos Aires sung with great depth of feeling by Jennifer Aylmer and Ricardo Herrera, whose final diminuendo was stunning.

Judy Kaye took a Gershwin tune "Nice Work If You Can Get It" for a nice spin and Mr. Martin used his powerful voice to read a poem by Langston Hughes "Harlem Sweeties" before singing W.C. Handy's "Harlem Blues".  Some Portuguese songs were performed by Ms. Aylmer, Mr. Herrera, Jeffrey Picón, and Jesse Blumberg (who was reviewed two days ago).  The tables were turned on Smokey Robinson's "My Guy", sung by a male quartet (Mr. Mykkanen, Scott Murphree , Mr. Blumberg and Adrian Rosas who had some low notes that would outdo the tuba).

At the conclusion, the audience jumped to its feet as one and expressed their enthusiasm.  Mr. Blier said he hopes to continue for another 25 years.  To this we say..."Cent'Anni!"

© meche kroop

OPERA STARS IN RECITAL

Joseph Kaiser, Myra Huang, Susanna Phillips

We jump at any chance to hear major opera stars up close and personal in a recital format.  Sometimes they fall a bit short without the drama, the scenery and the costumes.  No such disappointment existed at the Morgan Library Sunday afternoon when Metropolitan Opera stars Susanna Phillips and Joseph Kaiser shared the recital stage with collaborative pianist Myra Huang and violinist Michelle Ross.  This was the last recital of the season presented by the George London Foundation for Singers.

We reviewed Ms. Phillips solo recital at Carnegie Hall last February which completely blew us away  (see "From Snow to Glow") but had never heard Mr. Kaiser in recital.  This afternoon's  program was entirely in French.  We delighted in hearing some familiar favorites, especially Ms. Phillips' performance of Mozart's "Dans un bois solitaire et sombre" and Martini's "Plaisir d'amour".  But it was her performance of "Certain coucou" by André Grétry that completely charmed us.  Those who love Mahler will recognize the tale of the voice competition in which the nightingale is overlooked by the donkey judge in favor of the owl and the cuckoo.  We couldn't help opining about the current taste in music which makes us think that many audiences are composed of...donkeys! 

Tenor Joseph Kaiser was a pleasure to hear as well, particularly in Henri Duparc's "Phydilé" in which he showed exquisite dynamic control which was matched by the super-sensitive collaborative pianist Myra Huang who always seems to breathe along with the singer.  Mr. Kaiser also introduced us to a song that was new to us but will surely become one of our favorites--"Si vous croyez que je vais dire" from André Messager's Fortunio.  We are known to be suckers for melody and what a gorgeous melody did we hear.

Still, it was two opera singers we were enjoying and must say that our favorite part of the afternoon was towards the end when we heard two selections from Gounod's  Roméo et Juliette.  Ms. Phillips' thrillingly bright soprano made "Je veux vivre" totally scintillating.  What followed was a duet with Mr. Kaiser, the scene in which the enamored couple must part since Romeo has been exiled.  It was incredibly moving and no sets or costumes were needed for us to believe the tragedy of premature separation.

Included in the program was the Meditation from Massenet's Thaïs which gave us the opportunity to hear Ms. Huang accompanying violinist Michelle Ross.  It was outstanding--sweetly seductive and passionate.

© meche kroop

OFF WITH HIS HEAD

Karita Mattila

Thanks to the magic of HD, we are able to relive the electrifying performance of dramatic soprano Karita Mattila as Strauss' heroine Salome in his 1905 opera of the same name.  Although Ms. Mattila's ability to convince us that she is a spoiled 16-year-old is lessened by the closeups of the HD, we are nonetheless grateful for the opportunity to hear her totally committed exhibition of power, vocal range and lyricism.  It is unlikely that a singer will emerge in our time who could do it any better.

The opera itself is musically audacious and dramatically single-minded with no subplots to distract us from the forward thrust.  It is a distasteful story about four repulsive characters.  Salome's character has been hopelessly warped by whatever experiences she has had at the hands of her nasty manipulative mother Herodias (Ildiko Komlosi) and licentious leering stepfather Herod (Kim Begley).  Jochanaan (Juha Uusitalo), whose head Salome demands in return for gratifying Herod's importuning her to dance, is a misogynistic, pompous, hectoring and judgmental bore.  The captain Narraboth (Joseph Kaiser) is driven to suicide by his unrequited lust for the beautiful princess of Judea.

Jurgen Flimm's production is nonsensically updated to modern times.  Set and Costume Designer Santo Loquasto has given us something that looks like a yacht surrounded by paper-doll sand dunes on which perch black figures with white wings.  The action seems to be taking place on the top deck of this yacht.  Banquet guests are in contemporary gowns while the servants and guards seem to have escaped from a biblical epic.

Never mind all that.  The power of the work lies in Strauss' daring score, conducted on the HD by Patrick Summers, and on the unforgettable performance of Ms. Mattila.  Her Dance of the Seven Veils was weirdly choreographed by Doug Varone as a vampy excursion with several men in dinner suits serving as "chorus boys".  Again, Barbara Willis Sweete directed the HD with an eye toward showing the audience what is important.  We found the final scene of Salome kissing Jochanaan's bloody head far more shocking than the dance.  Welcome to the 21st century!

(c) meche kroop