NYFOS AT HOME AT HENRY'S

Steven Blier, Amanda Bottoms, Theo Hoffman, Tiffany Townsende, James Edgar Knight, Alex McKissick, Aaron Mor and Hannah McDermott at Henry's

We love NYFOS in the Winter; We love NYFOS in the Fall; We love NYFOS in the Springtime when it drizzles; but there is no NYFOS in the Summer when it sizzles, at least not here in NYC. So last night's cabaret at Henry's was a bittersweet moment since all the singers we love from Juilliard are going their separate ways.

NYFOS at the Kaufman Center is a somewhat serious affair with opportunities for learning, although there is plenty of fun to be had.  NYFOS at Henry's Restaurant on the Upper West Side is strictly fun. Gifted young artists perform songs you already know and love--WITHOUT AMPLIFICATION!!! Mr. Blier has coached and brought these young artists to pitch perfect performance. Tonight's theme (there is always a theme) was "Great American Songwriting Teams".

Speaking of fun, Aaron Mor's delivery of "The Sheik of Avenue B" complete with Yiddish accent, was priceless. This Kalmar & Ruby song sends up the Sheik of Araby from silent film days.  Think Fanny Brice and Yiddish theater!

On a more serious note, Amanda Bottoms performed the Rodgers & Hart paean to urban loneliness--"It Never Entered My Mind". It's a soulful song and Ms. Bottoms invested it with a great deal of soul.

A late song by The Brother Gershwin "I Was Doing All Right" was sung much better than "all right" by Hannah McDermott in jazzy style.

The romantic "You and the Night and the Music" by Dietz & Schwartz was beautifully sung by Alex McKissick in both English and (surprise) Spanish!  This was new to us and we loved it.  Spanish is just so much more romantic than English!

Tiffany Townsend sang "Blue Grass", also by Dietz & Schwartz, from Inside USA, a song associated with Pearl Bailey. It had a nice bluesy feel to it.

From Sid Caesar's Little Me, James Edgar Knight performed "Real Live Girl" by Coleman & Leigh. This gave him ample opportunity to display his prodigious comic chops.

Given more serious material, Theo Hoffman sang "Blue", William Bolcom's setting of some intense text by Arnold Weinstein, dealing with the positive impact on the latter's life by his practice of meditation with a well known guru. Autobiographical material is difficult but Mr. Hoffman rose to the challenge and succeeded.  This was no less that we would expect from this gifted baritone.

Maltby & Shire's "I Want it All" from Baby is a jazzy number sung by three women in an obstetrician's office. The performance was somewhat hampered by poor diction and only the words of the "hook" were comprehensible. We thought it might be because of our seating way off on the side but we'd had no problem understanding the male performers.

We particularly enjoyed the ensemble numbers.  The opener was the upbeat "Lucky Day" by DeSylva, Brown & Henderson.  Although it dates from the Roaring Twenties there is nothing dated about the sentiment.

For "Wrong Note Rag" from Comden & Green's My Sister Eileen, the company enjoyed four-handed piano with Leann Osterkamp joining Steven Blier.

Similarly for "Ascot Gavotte" from Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady, one of our very favorite Broadway numbers. The song pokes fun at the British aristocracy and is delicious in its wit.

The evening ended with Leiber & Stoller's "Love Potion #9" but there was more to come with an encore by Comden, Green & Bernstein--"Some Other Time" from On the Town. 

Mary Birnbaum directed the show and Adam Cates choreographed. It wa a fine and fitting ending for NYFOS' fifth season at Henry's. We are already looking forward to next year.

(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

THE SINGER AND THE SONG

Theo Hoffman, Annie Rosen, Olivia Betzen, Miles Mykkanen

Sometimes the singer "makes" the song; he or she puts an interesting new spin on a song we never liked much or have grown tired of.  Sometimes the song "makes" the singer; it is so well written that it brings out the best in the one who sings it.  And sometimes both singer and song are perfectly matched.  Such is the case when recital wizard Steven Blier creates an evening of song for the New York Festival of Song, of which he is Artistic Director.  He always has an unusual theme in mind and always curates just the right songs and finds the right singers to bring them to life.

The theme of last night's recital was travel.  Composers who used texts describing adventures in other more exotic lands were given a hearing, for example Anton Rubinstein's setting of a text by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt "Gelb rollt mir zu Füssen" based on an Azerbaijani text describing Persia.  Now that's rather international in scope!

The recital was a culmination of a weeklong professional training residency at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and the five rising stars on the program appeared to have had a great deal of fun along with their prodigious efforts.  The joy they felt in singing was contagious; we comprised a happy audience.

Coming out on top of the collection of songs were those by Cole Porter and Noël Coward; the English language lends itself so well to humor!  The remarkable tenor Miles Mykkanen, who has acting chops to match his matchless voice, gave a performance of "The Kling-Kling Bird on the Divi-Divi Tree" that is unlikely to be equalled.  It beggars description.  You will just have to attend tonight's repeat performance at 7:00 and you will likely write us a thank you note for the recommendation.

The marvelous baritone Theo Hoffman, not to be outdone, gave an hilarious performance of Coward's "Uncle Harry", not missing a single opportunity to draw giggles from the audience.  Both of these versatile artists joined forces for Hoagy Carmichael's "Hong Kong Blues", while Mr. Blier accompanied them with some very jazzy riffs on the piano.

Mr. Hoffman showed his serious side in Carlos Guastavino's "Pampamapa, aire de Huella" which expresses the pain of exile.  He sang it in perfect Argentinian dialect with some admirable melismatic singing.  It was heartbreaking.

Soprano Olivia Betzen is new to us but we will be very happy to hear more of her.  Her performance of Georges Bizet's "Adieux de l'hôtesse arabe" (one of the few songs on the program with which we are familiar) was delivered with sensuality and a fine trill.  We also enjoyed her performance of Enrique Granados' "Callejeo"; we are always delighted with zarzuela and tonadillas.

Mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen, also new to us, was delightful in William Bolcom's "To My Old Addresses" in which Leann Osterkamp (who shared accompanying with Mr. Blier) got an opportunity to show off her skill at the piano.  Ms. Rosen was heart-wrenching in the desperate "J'attends un navire" by Kurt Weill.

The four singers and Ms. Osterkamp worked very well as an ensemble.  We particularly enjoyed Coward's "In a bar on the Piccolo Marina" for its raunchy English music hall humor.  In Wilhelm Stenhammar's "I seraillets have" their harmonies teased the ear with pleasure, as they also did in the encore, Frank Loesser's "Slow Boat to China".

In an all-too-brief 90 minutes we were transported to South America and Europe, Scandinavia, India, Asia and the Middle-East--all without fighting for space in an overhead compartment.  Viva NYFOS, and ....thanks for the memories.

© meche kroop