RÖSCHMANN AND UCHIDA AT CARNEGIE HALL

Mitsuko Uchida and Dorothea Röschmann

Highly celebrated in Europe but too little heard in the United States, soprano Dorothea Röschmann made a welcome appearance at Carnegie Hall last night with equally celebrated Mitsuko Uchida as her collaborative pianist.

The all-German program focused on two song cycles by Robert Schumann, both composed in 1840, during that very productive year when he won the court case permitting him to marry his beloved Clara.

The evening's program began with his Liederkreis, Op.39, a dozen songs of varying moods, one lovelier than the next. Ms. Röschmann's burnished soprano is flawless and focused throughout the registers and her musicianship is undeniable. There is something elegant and tasteful about her manner. One could call it unassuming.

There were times when we wished for more drama in the storytelling, as in "Waldegespräch"; we longed to hear the difference in coloring between the words of the rider and the words of the Loreley. 

Ms. Uchida is a highly sensitive accompanist and often we heard more of the mood of the song in her piano. In "Mondnacht" she made moonlight audible, to our delight. "Auf einer Burg" had the right haunting feeling. The searching atmosphere of several songs was unmistakable and emotionally affecting.

The ending of "Im Walde" was given a chill by both artists who lent their skills to the storytelling.

The storytelling of the final work on the program grew in power. Frauenliebe und leben, Op.42 is one of our favorites and we are always happy to see it on a program. The challenge for the singer is to convince us that she is a young girl still playing games with her sisters who then grows into womanhood during the course of the cycle.

The timbre of Ms. Röschmann's instrument is very suited to melancholy and grief. She was incredibly moving in the final tragic "Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan" but she was less believable as the excited young girl who falls head over heels in love with a man.

She did inject a dose of excitement into "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben" but we wanted to hear a different color when the girl gives voice to the man's words "Ich bin auf ewig dein". We enjoyed the serious tenor of "Du Ring an meinem Finger" as the woman realizes the import of her engagement. Similarly we appreciated the quiet joy as she let her husband know of her pregnancy in "Süsser Freund, du blickest".

In between the two Schumann cycles we heard Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder which we have recently come to appreciate, thanks to a recital two weeks ago by Mary-Jane Lee (review archived). Ms. Röschmann furthered our appreciation, thanks to a sensitive delivery that captured the elusive quality of the songs.

We particularly enjoyed "Die Nachtigall" because of its haunting melody; we got goosebumps when Ms. Röschmann sang the phrase "Die Rosen aufgesprungen". "Im Zimmer" we loved for its atmosphere; the piano did a great job of emulating dancing flames from the little red fire.

It was during the encores that we most enjoyed Ms. Röschmann. She removed some of the restraints and let loose with a shattering performance of Schubert's "Nur wer die sehnsucht kennt" and Stern Auditorium was filled with more emotion and a greater amplitude of sound than was heard all evening. As if this were not enough, it was followed by "Kennst du das Land", set by Hugo Wolf.  One can never go wrong with the Mignonlieder from Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre!

(c) meche kroop

Joe Eletto and Bretton Brown

With a stunning synergy between singer and collaborative pianist, fast-rising baritone Joe Eletto and piano wizard Bretton Brown presented a ravishing recital last night at Juilliard. Mr. Eletto is getting his Masters of Music degree and the recital was evidence of hard work layered onto innate talent.

The quality that struck us most about Mr. Eletto is his ability to mine each song for the gold of personal and idiosyncratic interpretation. Sometimes we hear a song so many times that our ears get fatigued and we don't really hear it.  A fresh interpretation that gets us to hear the song anew is always welcome.

Let us take, for example, our favorite song of Robert Schumann's Liededrkreis, composed ten years after his famous year of prodigious songwriting. "Waldesgespräch" tells the story of a man riding through the woods late at night and encountering a witch--the "hexe Loreley". We have always heard it sung as if the man were a lecher and Loreley getting her revenge.  Mr. Eletto portrayed the man as an innocent and Loreley as a very nasty witch preying on men.  A fresh approach!

Mr. Eletto doesn't just sing a song.  He appears to live it. From the same cycle he actually appeared to be keeping a secret in "Die Stille". The entire cycle was filled with meaning and drama, just what we wanted from an 18th c. Romantic composer who availed himself of the best poetry around--in this case by Joseph Eichendorff. To add to the pleasure, Mr. Brown brought out the sound of the wind in the treetops in  "Schöne Fremde".

We could spill a lot of ink on each of these marvelous songs but there were other delights on the program which had a theme--an exploration of the manifestations of love. Mr. Eletto generously provided program notes comprising biographies of the composers and the poets as well as information on the particular cycles on the program.

He opened the program with a trio of selections from Mendelssohn's Sechs Gesänge. In the rather cheerful "Es lauschte das Laub so dunkelgrün" he brought out the sadness of the third stanza and similarly revealed all the moods of the letter-writer in "Die Liebende schreibt".

In Maurice Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, he acted up a storm although it never felt like acting; it felt as if he were spontaneously living it, and living it in consistently fine French, for which he has great facility. The devotion of "Chanson Romanesque" was followed by the prayerful "Chanson épique" and the rowdy "Chanson á boire" in which Mr. Brown's piano played a most important part.

Obsessive love was represented by Liszt's Tre Sonetti del Petrarca in which the 14th c. poet expresses undying and unrequited love for the mysterious Laura. In "Pace non trovo" Mr. Eletto seemed to experience more fire and ice than Cherubino does in "Non so più".

The celebrated contemporary composer John Musto wrote a cycle of songs entitled Viva Sweet Love in which he set two songs by e.e.cummings and three by James Laughlin.  We liked all five poems but did not think the music, while interesting, did much to add to the poetry which, to our way of thinking, did not require music. But he wrote them and Mr. Eletto sang them well. Perhaps our favorite was "As is the Sea Marvelous" written by Cummings, as was "Sweet Spring".

By the lesser known Laughlin, we preferred  "You came as a thought" which, while brief, seemed meaningful. "Rome: In the Café" told an interesting story whereas the lengthier "Sweet Spring" didn't have much to say.

With all of the intense drama onstage and all the profound emotions experienced, we did not fail to notice Mr. Eletto's vocal gifts.  His resonant baritone never called attention to itself but was always used to serve the music.  His phrasing was so natural that it seemed just part of his breathing. This gifted artist should go far!

(c) meche kroop

SPOTLIGHT ON JOSEPH LIM

Joseph Lim

Last night's Spotlight Recital as part of "The Song Continues" featured baritone Joseph Lim who has been making quite a name for himself at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and winning prizes from the Met National Council and the Gerda Lissner Foundation.  And he also won the hearts of the audience when his recital encore was dedicated to Ms. Horne herself--the brothers Gershwin's  1927 "Embraceable You".  This entire week has been a celebration of Ms. Horne's (unbelievable) 80th birthday.  As she herself said on Monday "I'm still here!" and we are glad of it.  After her very major opera career she has used her time, energy and talent to guide the next generation of singers and collaborative pianists at The Music Academy of the West.  A big big hurrah for this grande dame!

Mr. Lim's final set of songs was our personal favorite of the hour-long recital.  Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée offers the singer an opportunity to portray many moods--the grand and the intimate, the funny and the reverent.  Mr. Lim seized the opportunity and ran with it.  In some mighty fine French, he was undaunted by the low-lying phrases and clearly connected with the material.  We loved the delicate decrescendo on the final "amen" of "Chanson épique" and the humorous "Chanson à boire".

His opening set of songs were by Tosti and it took awhile for the unfussy Mr. Lim to open up his creamy baritone and invest the songs with the expansive Italianate style that is called for.  "Non t'amo piu" sat well on his voice and by expressing its passion he demonstrated that he has the goods.

Just this past Saturday night we reviewed Jazimina MacNeil singing Schumann's Liederkreis, op.39 and were delighted to hear it so soon afterward sung by a baritone to different effect.  Mr. Lim's delivery of "In der Fremde" was very moving and in "Zweilicht" we enjoyed some lovely word coloring that we want to hear more of from this fine young singer.  For example, in "Waldesgespräch" we yearned to hear greater differences between the voice of the seductive man and the voice of the Wood Witch.  In any event, Mr. Lim showed fine volume control and lovely phrasing.

We found his German diction somewhat inconsistent.  He was meticulous about pronouncing the final consonants with a few exceptions.  The "er" ending sounded like an "uh" which is commonly called a "schwa".  And the "ich" (the bane of many American singers as well) was on the muddy side.  These tiny quibbles sound nit-picky in the face of the overall delight of the recital but we would feel remiss in letting slide an easily correctable flaw in so fine an artist.

The esteemed pianist, coach and educator Brian Zeger was the collaborative pianist for the recital and, as usual, his playing was sensitive, authoritative and marvelously relaxed.  There is nothing like experience!

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