HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARILYN

Brian Zeger and Susan Graham

As far as song recitals go, Susan Graham has everything one would wish for in a performer--stage presence, communicative skills, understanding of the text, linguistic perfection, a gorgeous instrument, a sensitive partnership with her collaborative pianist (the eminent Brian Zeger) and that something extra that makes people adore her.

Her performance at the conclusion of the Marilyn Horne Song Celebration at Zankel Hall seemed to be a lesson for prospective lieder singers and a superlative way to honor Ms. Horne, whose contributions to the world of song is legendary.  Significantly she has mastered the rare art of making French comprehensible.  We wish we could say the same for the other singers on the program.

Alfred Bachelet's "Chère nuit" was given a rapturous and romantic reading, as was "Quand je fus pris au pavillon" by Bachelet's contemporary Reynaldo Hahn.  Poulenc came along at a later period and his waltz "Les chemins de l'amour" filled us with nostalgia for our own sacred memories.  As encore, Ms. Graham and Mr. Zeger offered another Poulenc song of a more surrealistic nature--the well known languorous "Violon".

Of the rest of the program, we feel obligated to point out that it was not as celebratory as we had hoped.  Glamorous mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall made some fine music in Arnold Schoenberg's Vier Lieder, Op.2 with its many references to natural elements and colors--poet Richard Dehmel must have been very fond of gold and green, red and blue.  Ms. Hall has a fine stage presence and a fine instrument that sounds rather soprano-y for the most part.  

Her German was excellent but her French diction in Ravel's Cinq mélodies populaires grecques fell short.  A native born French speaker of my acquaintance shared the same opinion.  The words to these charming folk songs deserve to be understood! The melodies nonetheless came through with charm to spare.  Renate Rohlfing's accompaniment was marked by a delightfully soft touch.

A last minute replacement for a singer who was generously "lent out" to the Philharmonic, bass DeAndre Simmons has a marvelously resonant sound.  He and his piano partner, the superb Brent Funderburk, were asked to step in with a program they had already prepared for another engagement.  In the entire Brahms canon, we cannot think of a group of songs we like less than "Vier ernste Gesänge".  To our ears they are painfully preachy and the bible is not what we want to hear quoted in an evening of celebration. Perhaps we are alone in this opinion but that is how we felt.

That being said, Mr. Simmons sang them well with an expressive rich tone and fine German diction.  Mr. Funderburk's piano handled the many scale passages with elegance.  It is obvious that he studied with Mr. Zeger!

Edward Parks has a marvelous baritone that we have enjoyed to the point of fanaticism on prior occasions.  Last night his delivery of selections from Schubert's Schwanengesang did not live up to his earlier performances. Schubert knew he was dying at the time of their composition and the settings of Heine's poetry are tinged with underlying sadness, even when they appear cheerful at first hearing.

We always love the lilting "Das Fischermädchen" and the eerie arpeggios of "Die Stadt"; the music made by pianist Keun-A Lee was extraordinary.  We just wanted a little more color and variety from Mr. Parks, the color and variety he lent to Schubert the last time we heard him.

We got plenty of color and variety from soprano Alison King, accompanied by Peter Walsh, in a selection of songs by Pauline Viardot. This musical polymath should be included in more vocal recitals!  As a singer, she wrote exceptionally well for the voice.  Her Havanaise had some marvelous melodies and exciting rhythm.  

Ms. King sounded a lot better in German than she did in French, mainly because of the diction.  We understood every word of the delightful "Nixe Binsefuss" and she injected an interesting bit of irony in Ms. Viardot's setting of "Das ist ein Schlechtes Wetter" in which Mr. Walsh conveyed the state of the weather in stormy fashion. We prefer the Viardot setting of the Heine text to that of Richard Strauss.

And so the week of celebration came to a successful conclusion with Ms. Graham's stunning appearance.  Lieder lovers come from all over the world for this glorious week of song.  We hope some new converts were made.

© meche kroop

ALEK SHRADER FIVE YEARS LATER

Keun-A Lee

Alek Shrader

We well recall the 2007 Metropolitan Nation Council Auditions when tenor Alek Shrader won after dazzling the judges and astonishing the audience with his aria from Fille du Regiment.  It's almost exactly five years down the road and he still astonishes.  Last night's performance at Weill Recital Hall could be described in one word as operatic.

With the extraordinarily gifted piano partner Keun-A Lee, a program was planned that had something for everyone and allowed Mr. Shrader to show off his skills in five languages.   The opener was Rossini's frisky "La danza"; Mr. Shrader exploded onto the stage without waiting for welcoming applause and launched the song with an abundance of gesture and dancing about the stage, illuminating the exultation and excitement as we have never before heard.  One had no doubt which ladies he found attractive and which one was dull.  This was followed by Bellini's deeply sad "La Ricordanza" in which Mr. Shrader's attention to the long arching phrases made the suffering particularly poignant.  When he exults, he truly exults and when he suffers, he truly suffers.  He appeared to lose himself in the mood of each song.

The set of bel canto songs was followed by three of Gabriel Fauré's gems; we especially liked the way Mr. Shrader pulled in his oars and illuminated the delicate phrases of "Lydia".  Next he sang Richard Strauss' Vier Lieder; he was so persuasive in "Cäcilie" that we were prepared to incline our heart, come to him and live with him, as the words of the song suggest.  But, it was in the delicate "Morgen" that he pulled back on the high octane delivery and made the most impression.  It was at this point that we realized how his intensity may get in his own way at times and that some subtlety can be a welcome relief.  Less may indeed be more.

Ms. Lee had a perfect opportunity to show her stuff at this juncture when she began Joaquín Turina's Poema en forma de canciones with the haunting "Dedicatoria".  We enjoyed Mr. Shrader's "Los dos miedos" and "Las locas por amor" the best and it seemed likely that he enjoyed performing them the most as well.  Actually he seems most comfortable in Spanish and we were most receptive to the language having just attended two consecutive events by Opera Hispanica.

Vicente Martín y Soler's "Oh ciel!" from La Cosa Rara gave the artist an opportunity to have his way with fioritura and what a way it was!  Then he moved on to perform the world premiere of Iain Bell's The Undying Splendour, settings of tragic texts by John William Streets about World War I.  The writing was spare as suited the text.  Next we heard three witty/silly songs by Virgil Thomson and, to close the program Ms. Lee performed a lovely piano solo by Ethelbert Nevin and was joined by Mr. Shrader for some of Nevin's Victorian parlor songs that were simple and direct.  The final one "Nocturne" was particularly charming; a white rose climbing the trellis under a lady's window is seen by the poet (Thomas Bailey Aldrich) as a bold lover daring to climb Romeo's ladder.  What a charming metaphor!

As encore, we got "If You've Only Got a Moustache" a humorous song by Stephen Foster, performed with both artists sporting bushy fake moustaches. This brought the evening to a rousing end.

We have often be disappointed by singers who "park and bark".  No one would accuse Mr. Shrader of this flaw.  If anything we would like to see him "kick it down a notch".  His acting adds greatly to the song delivery but there is entirely too much grimacing and excessive "indicating".  For example, during the Thomson song "Was this face the cause?" he found it necessary to count on his fingers the "nine bad" and "yet one good in ten".  It reminded us of signing for the hearing impaired.  It seems churlish to be nit-picking after such a fine recital but we would also like to see Mr. Shrader lower his gaze and allow the audience to connect with him; for the entire evening he seemed to be singing to the Family Circle, of which the Weill Recital Hall has none.  Please let us know if your experience was similar to ours.

(c) meche kroop

MARILYN HORNE SONG CELEBRATION

Marilyn Horne

Piotr Beczala

The week of song has drawn to a close and we are left with some pretty fabulous aural memories.  The final program, Marilyn Horne Song Celebration, gave us the opportunity to hear one wonderful singer from each fach, with the closing set provided by star tenor Piotr Beczala.

Tenor Timothy Fallon opened with Carol Wong as piano partner.  Mr. Fallon's sweet tenor opens up to passionate intensity at the drop of a crescendo.  We particularly enjoyed his ability to spin out some long phrases in the set of early songs by Richard Strauss. He certainly knows how to build a song as noted in his performance of Three Browning Songs by Amy Beach, a contemporary of Strauss.    Mr. Fallon has a relaxed and unfussy manner on stage and joked with the audience.   If only he could be persuaded to abandon his grip on the piano which limits his ability to relate to the audience.

Baritone Kelly Markgraf sang Five Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano by Charles Martin Loeffler, another contemporary of Strauss.  Mr. Markgraf's performance stood out because of his perfect French, to which his creamy tone lends itself well.  He was partnered by Keun-A Lee at the piano and Paul Neubauer on viola.  This unusual combination delighted the ear.  We loved the thirds on the viola in "Rêverie en sourdine" and the lovely triplets in the piano in "Harmonie du soir".

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, partnered by Christopher Cano, made an impression with her powerful voice and beautiful tone in Franz Liszt's deeply felt "Pace non trovo".  Mr. Cano held the final cord just long enough in an exquisite diminuendo.  We also enjoyed the gentle eroticism of "Oh! quand je dors".

Soprano Simone Osborne, resplendent in white satin, used her brilliant instrument and used it with great variety as she essayed three very different Verdi songs--the tragic "La seduzione", the humorous "Stornello" and the suffering "Deh, pietoso".  We are always thrilled to see Warren Jones at the piano; his accompaniment well illustrated the connection between Verdi's songs and those of Rossini, when Ms. Osborne sang the latter's "L'esule".  Like Mr. Fallon, Ms. Osborne spends too much time hanging onto the piano but when she lets go and steps forward, her connection with the audience expands.

Mr. Beczala dazzled the audience with Strauss' "Zueignung", followed by Carl Bohm's "Still wie di nacht" and a number of Polish songs.  We were astonished by how beautifully the language "sings" in spite of the plethora of consonants.  Mr. Beczala manages to articulate the consonants while never cheating a vowel, something we attribute to his amazing embouchure.  What a delight to listen to him!  His piano partner Carrie Ann Matheson is always a pleasure to hear.

It is with a feeling of gratitude to all the artists who contributed to this splendid week of recitals and master classes that we finish this final column.  We thank Marilyn Horne for initiating this special week of song and we thank Carnegie Hall for providing the right home.

(c) meche kroop