A PREMIERE COMPETITION

 

Eric Margiore and Premiere Opera Foundation Competition Finalists

We just attended the Live Finals of the 8th annual Premiere Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition and the artistry was so evenly divided we can't imagine how the judges managed to make their decision. Fortunately, we are not a judge and had the freedom to choose our own favorites. Generous prizes were awarded but we are not here to discuss money, just to discuss our own impressions. Admittedly, our preferences are often colored by the match between singer and repertoire and our favoring certain periods within the opera canon. Rest assured, Dear Reader, that our opinions and our prose are entirely our own and artificial intelligence has not been consulted!

We heard over a dozen singers within the space of a few hours and then waited patiently for the judges to deliberate, a period during which we attempted to reconcile our memories of each artist's performance in the first half with our memories of their performance in the second half. Occasionally we changed our opinion of the artist due to a more suitable choice of material. Mostly our opinions were consistent and here we will present our memories of what impressed us.

To begin, we rarely get to hear a contralto and the statuesque Canadian Rose Naggar-Tremblay took us right into Wagner's Das Rheingold with "Weiche Wotan, Weiche", in which the prescient Erda foreshadows the unhappy end of the Ring Cycle some 18 hours or so later. This performance gave us chills and, as many such superb performances do, created the scene in our mind's eye--in this case the Schenck version from ?1990 which was unforgettable and never equalled. This riveting artist won the Audience Favorite prize (the only one we will mention) so our admiration was not exclusive.

Standing out in our memory was the coloratura of Kathryn Henry which was amplified by some fine acting in "The Jewel Song" from Gounod's Faust. It was so effective that we could see the jewels with which Marguerite adorned herself. 

Another performance that touched us was that of Eva Rae Martinez whose "Prendi, per me sei libero" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore gave us a peak into Adina's realization of her growing affection for Nemorino.

Still another affecting performance was that of South Korean soprano Luna Seongeun Park who perfectly created the character of Sophie, an innocent young woman understandably impressed by the customs of the aristocracy. This performance also brought the scene to mind and our imagination recreated Sophie's lavish nouveau riche home with all its servants bustling about, excited about their upcoming elevation to the nobility.

Let us mention some of the male performances that stick in our mind. South Korean bass-baritone Sunghoon Han brought Leporello to life with an amusing delivery of everyone's favorite, the "Catalogue Aria" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. This is an aria that singers can have a lot of fun with but it is difficult to bring something new to it; it seemed to us that Mr. Han added a few twists, gestures and facial expressions that made it fresh for us.

It was a good night for male voices and Mexican bass Raul Morales Velazco had a great time with "Vous qui faites" from Gounod's Faust which he filled with menace and irony.

South African baritone Thandolwethu Mamba also evinced a flair for comedy as he created the character of Dr. Malatesta, putting one over on the eponymous Don Pasquale in the Donizetti opera. No matter how many times one sees this opera, that scene is always a pure delight.

Darren Drone lent his fine baritone to the introductory"Si puo"  from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which ended the program. By this time we didn't think we had any listening energy left-- but he woke us up. This would have been a great aria to have opened the program with.

As usual, the excellent accompaniment was provided by Michael Fennelly

The overall level of artistry was very high and the singers we failed to mention were no less marvelous and at a professional performance level. We are only sharing our "take home" which comprises the results of an imperfect memory. If you want to hear about all the other superb singers you can read about them at www.premiereoperafoundation.org. If you are feeling Christmas-generous,you can also make a donation there.

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PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS

Nathaniel LaNasa

It is the time of year when students at Juilliard are fulfilling the requirements for their degrees and collaborative pianist Nathaniel LaNasa surely deserves the Graduate Diploma Degree for which he has evidently worked so hard. So how did he make it look so easy????  That's artistry!

Mr. LaNasa graciously thanked all the faculty who had contributed to the various facets of his education and explained to the audience what a collaborative pianist is and does, which is a great deal more than just accompanying. One could observe the truth of this by watching and listening. Mr. LaNasa chose his partners carefully--four singers and a violinist.  The material was also varied, some to our taste and some, not so much.

The part of the program we enjoyed the most was his partnership with soprano Kathryn Henry, on the basis of their performance of five selections from Richard Strauss' Op.10--his first published songs, filled with youthful enthusiasm and compositional promise, much like the artists!

Ms. Henry offers a generous sound, a pleasing vibrato, and clear German.  More importantly, she colored each song differently, giving "Zueignung" a full measure of passion, matched by Mr. LaNasa's piano. "Nichts" was given a lot of personality and a touch of humor, while the gorgeous "Die Nacht" established a mood of vague anxiety and just the right emphasis on the shift to the minor key.  "Allerseelen" was filled with painful longing, achieving some peaceful resolution with the piano postlude.

Baritone Gregory Feldmann was given similar support by Mr. LaNasa in three songs by Gabriel Fauré. His fine round tone was well matched by arpeggi in the piano in "Dans le forêt de Septembre". The ripples in the piano matched the vocal color of "La fleur qui va sur l'eau".

We have never enjoyed Olivier Messiaen's music but the bitter pill went down easily with the lovely soprano Nicolette Mavroleon tackling the nonsense syllables. We could only make out a few words like "green dove", "love", "water", "sky", and "time". We preferred "L'amour de Piroutcha" which had a lyrical line and a gentle piano part.

Messiaen often kept Mr. LaNasa's hands at the farthest reaches of the keyboard and he really got a workout. He explained that we were hearing extracts from a doomed love story based on a Peruvian legend.  Well, there's that.  In any case, Ms. Mavroleon seemed very involved in the work and can be forgiven for being "on the book" in the case of such a bizarre vocal line and text.

Even more bizarre was a contemporary piece by Tonia Ko called "Smoke and Distance".  This short piece did not appeal on an emotional level and seemed to us to be written from an intellectual perspective.  The singer, Lucy Dhegrae, merits major props for memorizing the vocal part, which involved strange sounds and humming.

It was the piano part that amazed us. Mr. LaNasa was called upon to pluck and strum the strings of the piano. We know this is not the first time a composer has called upon a performer to attack the piano in such a fashion but we prefer our piano played in the customary fashion!

We were back on more familiar territory when Mr. LaNasa was joined by Hahnsol Kim for Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-flat, Op.12 No. 3, an early work very rooted in the classical style. We heard a traditional Allegro, an expressive Adagio, and a lively Rondo with an appealing theme.

We were impressed by how the two artists related to one another, with the piano picking up and reflecting on the violin.  Good job Nathaniel!

(c) meche kroop

LIEDERABEND AT JUILLIARD

Gregory Feldmann, Thomas West, Kathryn Henry, Minjung Jung, Nathaniel LaNasa, Jinhee Park, and Tamara Banješević

We enjoyed another fulfilling Liederabend at Juilliard yesterday.  The lovely soprano Vivian Yau opened the program with some interesting songs written by Rebecca Clarke, a composer heretofore unknown to us, who seemed to be drawn to poetry of a mystical nature. Ms. Yau's beautiful timbre was well suited to the ethereal nature of the songs; her collaborative pianist Ji Yung Lee contributed some delicate arpeggi and the two artists matched each other in dynamics with some gorgeous pianissimi, well suited to the material.

Baritone Thomas West performed the next set with collaborative pianist Mariel Werner. We look forward to hearing Mr. West sing something more sympathetic to our ears. The 20th c. songs sung in English were not to our taste, and the English diction was largely unclear. For us, the problem lay in the text.

The only text we might have enjoyed (Hilaire Belloc's "Tarantella") had short punchy rhymed phrases and was set to rapid fire music by Witold Lutoslawski that was entirely as grim as the final verse. We might have enjoyed it more if Lutoslawski had set us up with something frisky and then punched us in the gut at the end. We only had this thought upon returning home and reading the text which was not clear during the performance. Unfortunately, the hall was very dim and we couldn't follow along.

The late 19th c. songs of Edvard Grieg were far more appealing and the performance of Tamara Banješević was compelling. Jinhee Park made a sympathetic piano partner and the two of them performed four selections from Sechs Lieder in happily comprehensible German. Perhaps it is the crisp consonants of German that make it so much better to sing than English.

We were held spellbound throughout. Grieg wisely chose text by Heinrich Heine for "Gruss",   Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for "Zur Rosenzeit",  and Emanuel von Geibel for the romantic "Ein Traum", which we never tire of hearing. Grieg succeeded in enhancing the words with his music; Ms. Banješević and Ms. Park succeeded in enhancing both text and music with their deeply felt performance.  It is exactly what one hopes to find in a lieder recital.

Pianist Nathaniel LaNasa was a worthy piano partner for baritone Gregory Feldmann. We particularly enjoyed the way he evoked the rolling waves in Alexander Zemlinsky's "Nun schwillt der See so bang".  Mr. Feldmann has a lovely timbre in his instrument and excellent German diction. 

Although contemporaneous with Mahler and Strauss, Alexander Zemlinsky is not as frequently performed. We were glad to be introduced to his oeuvre but did not feel compelled to seek out more of his songs. We found "Tod in Ähren" to be unrelievedly grim, whilst "Der Tag wird kühl" offered the two artists multiple opportunity for variety in the color palette.

What would a lieder recital be without some Richard Strauss! Thanks to soprano Kathryn Henry and pianist Minjung Jung, we heard three songs--all setting of text by Heinrich Heine, whose poetry was wisely taken up by so many composers.

The tessitura of "Mit deinen blauen Augen" seemed low for the soprano fach but Ms. Henry handled it beautifully. In "Schlechtes Wetter", Heine sees a small woman tottering down the street on a dark and stormy night; he speculates that she is shopping for ingredients to bake a cake for her spoiled daughter. What an interesting imagination!  But it gives the soprano ample story telling opportunity. 

In "Frühlingsfeier" Heine describes a disturbing picture of some wild women lamenting the loss of the beautiful youth Adonis in a pagan ritual. This Springtime ritual symbolizes the death and rebirth undergone by la belle nature. This song really requires Strauss' full orchestration but  Ms. Henry and her excellent piano partner Minjung Jung went a long way toward creating the wild passion.

Another great experience presented by the Juilliard Vocal Arts Department, this one curated and coached by Cameron Stowe.  Keep 'em coming!

(c) meche kroop

MAESTRO YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN'S MASTER CLASS AT JUILLIARD

Jacob Scharfman, Onadek Winan, William Guanbo Su, Dominik Belavy, Kathryn Henry, Meghan Kasanders, John Chongyoon Noh and Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin (photos by Claudio Papapietro)

Yesterday's Master Class at Juilliard was somewhat of a departure from the typical master class for singers. The audience was welcomed by Brian Zeger, Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Department. He prepared observers by saying that this would not be a one-on-one event with an individual getting coaching on a prepared aria. It would be a renowned conductor (Music Director elect of the Metropolitan Opera) teaching Juilliard Singers how to perform in an ensemble.

The Maestro is a highly engaging presence, filled with humor as well as prodigious artistic knowledge and experience; it was deeply satisfying to witness how the students trusted his judgment and followed his suggestions.

The highlight of the class was the septet from Act I of Mozart's Don Giovanni. This highly elaborate piece of writing makes different demands on each singer. Each character has a different intention.

Donna Anna (soprano Meghan Kasanders) and her intended Don Ottavio (tenor John Chongyoon Noh) are praying for divine protection in "Protegga il giusto cielo". The maestro suggested more direction from Ms. Kasanders. Donna Elvira (soprano Kathryn Henry) needed more "fire".

The rapid-fire duet between Don Giovanni (baritone Dominik Belavy) and Leporello (bass William Guanbo Su--being reviewed for the third time this week!) was greatly improved when the two of them got in rhythm and in tune with each other. 

Zerlina (soprano Onadek Winan) needed to exhibit repressed anger. Masetto (baritone Jacob Scharfman) was helped to get into character and coached to put different colors and emphasis on the repeated "Va bene!".

We confess that we were happy with the first run through but after hearing the improvements we were thrilled. The gifted pianist Michal Biel can always be counted on to accompany skillfully.

We also got to hear two different singers perform the roles of Donna Anna and Don Ottavio in their first act duet "Ma qual mai s'offre oh Dei...Fuggi crudele, fuggi". Their voices were magnificent! They were coached to trust Mozart's dynamics (didn't we just hear that at last night's master class?). Jinhee Park did her customary fine accompaniment on the piano.

Subtle changes can make a big difference and we agree with the maestro that the singer must draw people in. Much of the work was on using the breath to amplify the gestures.  Used judiciously, it can be used to highlight emotional breathlessness.

We also enjoyed the coaching for the marriage scene from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. Soprano Tamara Banješević was encoouraged to be an excited 14 year old girl. The entire scene needed to be more intimate and less "ceremonial".  Vocal colors were encouraged to avoid a "four square" sound. Too many singers establish a color and then abandon it too soon. 

Bass Alex Rosen made a fine Friar Lawrence and tenor James Ley did well as Roméo with mezzo-soprano Myka Murphy portraying Gertrude. Art Williford accompanied beautifully.

The class closed with some questions from the audience and some general remarks from the maestro about how exceptional vocal and language preparation allows the singer the freedom to personalize his/her performance. The result is the alignment of heart and mind. We couldn't agree more!

(c) meche kroop

SCORES BY THE "FOUR SCORES"

Nicole Thomas, Gregory Feldmann, Matthew Pearce, Kathryn Henry, Dominik Belavy, and Myka Murphy celebrating the 80th birthdays of William Bolcom and John Corigliano

It was quite a party, celebrating two elder "statesmen" of the music world with Steven Blier as host. New York Festival of Song collaborates annually with The Juilliard School for a special evening, giving graduate students of the Vocal Arts Department a chance to stretch themselves, cross some boundaries, and have some fun.

It was the fun numbers that we enjoyed the most. Take for example the closing number of the first part of the program which was devoted to the works of John Corigliano. The sure directorial hand of Mary Birnbaum was felt in "Liebeslied" when the simple repetition of the common phrase "I love you" was repeated in endless variety, each iteration carrying its own message as interpreted by various groupings of the six singers. For us, it was the highlight of the evening.

Similarly, the encore--William Bolcom's "Amor"--was performed by the ensemble, giving each woman an opportunity to revel in the fantasy of commanding the attention of an entire small town. We have often heard and enjoyed this song as an encore, but never heard it performed by a group!

Oh, those women!  Kathryn Henry lent her stunning soprano to "Otherwise" from Bolcom's Briefly it Enters; this is a simple song about the ephemeral nature of life and the fleeting nature of its bounty. Jane Kenyon's text was pithy and moving, and the piano accompaniment had a searching quality.

We also enjoyed the simplicity of her delivery in "Forever Young" from Corigliano's setting of text by Bob Dylan. Much of it was sung a capella or with minimal accompaniment and she made every word clear, which we truly appreciate.

Mezzo-soprano Myka Murphy grabbed the audience's attention and held it firmly from start to finish in "At the Last Lousy Moments of Love" from Bolcom's Cabaret Songs. All the bitterness of the text came through because of her clear enunciation; not a word was missed.

Mezzo-soprano Nicole Thomas was memorable in "Marvelous Invention" from John Corigliano's  Metamusic. It's been a long time since the iPod was the thing to own; each generation has its own way of listening to music but the threatened replacement of live music with "portable instant listening devices" is a hot topic. The prop was supplied by Steve Blier from his personal collection!

The singers were accompanied by Mr. Blier and by Chris Reynolds who never fails to delight. His piano perfectly limned the sound of chimes in "Chimes of Freedom", Corigliano's setting of text by Bob Dylan from Mr. Tambourine Man.

Getting to the men on the program, baritone Gregory Feldmann had the responsibility of singing the world premiere of Mr. Corigliano's song cycle Rhymes for the Irreverent. Our favorite among this group was "The Odds-on Favorite" which he performed with ample gesture and plenty of personality. "Critical" brought the challenge of a very low register which he met successfully. We loved his melismatic singing on the word "bloom" in "One Sweet Morning".

Baritone Dominik Belavy showed his acting chops several times in the evening. In "Dodecaphonia", Corigliano makes fun of 12-tone music and Mr. Belavy, suitably costumed, portrayed a detective tracking down the notorious "serial" criminal Twelve-Tone Rose. Mark Adamo's text was quite clever.

Tenor Matthew Pearce made a perfect permissive priest hearing the sexy confession of Nicole Thomas in "His Manner is Gentle" from Bolcom's Lucrezia. Accompanied by the fine guitarist Jack Gulielmetti, he sang "Soneto de la dulce queja" from Bolcom's Canciones de Lorca. We were glad that the got off the book for "El poeta llega a la Habana" with it's spirited rhythms which got the entire ensemble dancing.

The evening ended with a love fest among the singers and the venerable composers--lots of balloons and hugs and audience appreciation.  Another fabulous night at Juilliard!

(c) meche kroop

THE GARDEN OF JUILLIARD

Christine Taylor Price, Marie Engle, Joshua Blue, Tamara Banješević, and Jacob Scharfman (photo by Hiroyuki Ito)

Mozart was just shy of 19 years of age when he composed La finta giardiniera which premiered in Munich in 1775. In spite of a trivial libretto (insecurely attributed to Calzabigi), one can readily appreciate Mozart's exuberant melodic invention and skills at orchestration. The opera achieved but 3 performances and fell out of the repertory until a copy of the score was rediscovered in the 1970's.

That we have seen the opera three times in two years gives some indication of the many glories of the score and the challenging roles it provides for seven singers. The seven we heard last night at Juilliard Opera seemed to enjoy their performances as much as we in the audience did. What vocal glories!

We love to see romantic foibles onstage--the mismatches, the betrayals, the fights, the reconciliations. We have no need for modern sets or costumes to recognize our own passions and obsessions.  The blind child shoots those darts and we are helpless.

The Marchioness Violante Onesti (splendid soprano Tamara Banješević) had been stabbed by her jealous lover Conte Belfiore (terrific tenor Charles Sy) on their wedding day. Left for dead, she recovered, took the name of Sandrina, disguised herself as a gardener, and sought refuge by gaining employment at the estate of the Podesta Don Anchise (tremendous tenor Joshua Blue) who has fallen in love with her.

The Podesta's housekeeper Serpetta, portrayed by the gifted soprano Christine Taylor Price, would like to marry her boss and fights off the courtship of the gardener Nardo, Violante's servant Roberto in disguise--a role delightfully inhabited by Baritone Jacob Scharfman.

Meanwhile, the Podesta's bossy-pants niece Arminda (glorious voiced soprano Kathryn Henry) arrives at the estate to be joined in matrimony with none other than Belfiore. If we could overlook his tendency to commit violence on his brides, we might even feel a tinge of pity for the ambivalent count. He thinks he recognizes Violante in disguise but she denies her identity.

In the role of Cavalier Ramiro, Arminda's rejected suitor, we heard the marvelously convincing mezzo-soprano Marie Engle in travesti.

To make this crazy mixed up story clear, we had the talented young director Mary Birnbaum who has a very special way of getting her cast to work as an ensemble and to interact in believable ways, no matter how preposterous the story.

The first act moved along at a lively clip but there was a scene at the end of the second act that baffled us and our companion. It is the scene in which Belfiore goes mad and Violante gets kidnapped by Arminda (or was it vice versa?). When Tim Albery directed this opera at Santa Fe Opera, it didn't make much sense either and when Eric Einhorn directed it for On Site Opera, he omitted the scene entirely which was probably the best choice!

Both Ms. Henry and Ms. Prize dazzled us with their coloratura but the aria we remember best belonged to Ms. Engle who managed the extensive fioritura while conveying masculinity at the same time in "Va pure ad altri in braccio". Not only does everyone get an aria but there are interesting ensembles that foreshadow Mozart's later works.
 

Another memorable moment was Nardo's courting of Serpetta in several languages; Mr. Scharfman was irresistible in the role.  Mr. Blue pompously strutted around the stage but also conveyed the manner of a kind man. Ms. Henry did a great job creating a real bitch of a character. We loved the moment when she arrived with a horse and her servant Giuseppe (bass William Guanbo Su).

The Juilliard Orchestra performed in their usual exemplary fashion under the baton of Joseph Colaneri who brought subtle understanding to the various and changeable moods of the work. The continuo comprised Michael Biel on the harpsichord and Clara Abel on the cello.

Much favorable comment could be devoted to Amanda Seymour's luscious period costumes and even more to scenic designer Grace Laubacher's witty sets. After a clever prologue in which Joan Hofmeyr and Olivia McMillan portrayed two gossipy housemaids relating the backstory in English (another one of Mary Birnbaum's clever inventions), servants carried in trompe l'oeil set pieces. Even the horse was two dimensional but reared convincingly.

Lighting Designer Anshuman Bhatia spared no effort in changing the mood; one scene takes place in near darkness and the ensuing confusion reminded us of the final act of Nozze di Figaro.

Once again, Juilliard Opera has given us a memorable evening in which superlative production values provide a setting for the splendid singers--the jewels of Juilliard.


(c) meche kroop

STRAUSS AS HE'S MEANT TO BE HEARD

Brian Zeger, Julia Wolcott, Alex Rosen, Christine Taylor Price, Kathryn Henry, and Samantha Hankey

When we learned who was singing at the Juilliard Songfest at Alice Tully Hall last night, we knew we were in for a special treat. When we saw the program, our eyes opened wide--all those songs by Richard Strauss that we had never heard before! As is the case with Schubert (whose output was considerably larger than that of Strauss, and larger than anyone else's for that matter), certain songs become popular and appear frequently on recital programs while others languish unfortunately unsung.

Brian Zeger, Artistic Director of Juilliard's Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, was on hand as collaborative pianist and, in this case, perhaps more importantly, as curator for this thrilling evening. There were only a few familiar songs on the program and the others were delightful discoveries.

That Strauss loved sopranos is not news; indeed he had a fruitful marriage with one!  But just hear the three sopranos and singular mezzo-soprano who brought these songs to vivid and meaningful life!  Each one has remarkable technique which she applied to bring out the best of her glorious instrument. We will get to the bass later.

Kathryn Henry is a sensational soprano whom we previously had only heard briefly, and in French. We enjoyed her pure and lovely sound even more in German and in the songs selected for her to sing. She opened the program with a set of four of his songs--"Nichts", "Nachtgang", "Leises Lied" and "Die Georgine", all beautifully performed.

Later in the program she sang "Ich liebe dich" and the more familiar but very sad "Befreit". Her delivery was deeply felt and marked by perfect phrasing. Mr. Zeger introduced this wonderful song with some gorgeous arpeggios.

Soprano Christine Taylor Price has a pure crystalline sound that soars into the stratosphere.  We have enjoyed reviewing her work on prior occasions (reviews are archived) but don't recall hearing her sing Strauss; her instrument is just perfectly Taylor-ed (pardon the pun) for it. 

She opened the second half of the program with a set of four songs, each one a precious jewel--"Ich schwebe", the familiar and worshipful "Du meines Herzens Kronelein", the tender "Meinem Kinde", and the expansive "Fruhlingsgedrange".  To hear her spin out a pianissimo line is to experience pure auditory joy.

We loved "Die sieben Siegel", a setting of a text by Friedrich Ruckert, and the gentle "Traum durch die Dammerung" in which her vocal colors matched the text "weiches samteness Band"--soft velvet ribbon indeed!

Soprano Julia Wolcott performed "O susser Mai" and another Ruckert song "Morgenrot" to our delight. We make no apologies for enjoying text that scans and rhymes and Ruckert always fills the bill on that count! Our appreciation for this lovely artist grew as we witnessed her talent for drama and comedy. "Muttertandelei" is the outpouring of maternal pride. No one on earth has such a child!  Ms. Wolcott showed a real flair here and, moreover, got to show up a facility for melismatic passages that were beautifully handled.

Strauss included plenty of roles for mezzo-sopranos in his operas and we hope we will be hearing Samantha Hankey performing them in the near future. The timbre is just right.  Just thinking that the artists we heard tonight would comprise a perfect cast for Der Rosenkavalier (one of our favorite operas).

"Waldseligkeit"is a wonderful paean to nature and Ms. Hankey's voice expanded in a rapturous climax at the end. In "Lob des Leidens" she evinced the beauties to be found in sorrow. Our favorite, however, was "Einerlei" which speaks to the irony of diversity coming from sameness.

The evening truly belonged to the female voice but bass Alex Rosen was on hand to perform a few songs which were perhaps written for that fach, but we have been unable to verify. "Aus den Lieder der Trauer" was sung with intensity. Mr. Rosen certainly does have the strength in the lower register as heard in his mastery of the low tessitura of "Das Tal".

We liked him better in the light-hearted "Ach weh mir ungluckhaftem Mann' in which a poor man fantasizes about going courting in high style.  And our favorite was the gentle "Traum durch die Dammerung".

The encore was perfectly chosen for the four female voices, a setting of Heinrich Heine's "Fruhlingsfeier"; we are not sure if it has ever been arranged for four voices before but it was a stirring way to end a splendid evening.

© meche kroop