LINDEMANN RECITAL

Kidon Choi, Zalman Kelber, Ian Koziara, Nate Raskin, and Rihab Chaieb

Once again, we are in the position of singing the praises of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Regular readers are familiar with the high esteem in which we hold this program. Since singing praises is not what you are here for, let's talk about the actual singing.

There were three splendid singers and two sensitive collaborative pianists on the program, all of whom we have reviewed before, all winners of various competitions, all with great futures ahead of them. That they all have terrific technique is a given, so let's take a look at their artistry, the interpretive technique that kicks their vocal skills up a notch. All three singers had performed their own translations which generally leads to a convincing delivery.

Mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb had just the right manner of conveying the sense of the Apollinaire poetry that Francis Poulenc set so aptly. There are several moods expressed in  Banalités and our preference was for the most banal of all. Ms. Chaieb knew exactly what she was singing about and the languorous line of  "Hôtel" was just about perfect. The very brief "Voyage à Paris" was nothing short of sheer delight, filled with the charming notion of escapism.

Her collaborative pianist Nate Raskin was with her cent pour cent, employing just the right light touch for these chansons.

Later in the program, tenor Ian Koziara performed Tel jour, telle nuit, a collection of nine Poulenc songs, settings of text by Paul Éluard. Mr. Koziara introduced the songs by admitting that they sound like nonsense and, indeed, that is exactly how the surreal poetry struck us.

If his French had not been so fine, we might have had an easier time of pretending that it was a language we didn't know but that is exactly what we had to attempt. We just paid attention to the fit between the sound of the voice,  and the sound of Zalman Kelber's lovely piano. The two artists matched each other beautifully, especially in the energetic "À toutes brides" and in the gentle  "Une herbe pauvre".

Mr. Kelber's piano was most impressive in "Figure de force brûlante et farouche". The song that most approached comprehensibility was "Nous avons fait le nuit", a paean to a beloved. Here, the appealing nature of Mr. Kozaria's instrument stood out.

Baritone Kidon Choi performed three songs from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, putting us on more familiar territory. We are far more familiar with the "cute" songs from this collection, which often have an edge, but the songs chosen by Mr. Choi were filled with horror and heartbreak.

It is one thing to speak out against war but hearing the three personal tragedies of which he sang grabbed us by the throat and never let go. These are difficult songs to get across but Mr. Choi succeeded admirably by dint of being very involved. Through his eyes, we could see "Der Tamboursg'sell" being led to the gallows.  He used intense dynamic variations with a heartbreaking pianissimo on "Gute nacht"; Mr. Kelber's piano provided the grumbling drumrolls.

We liked the way Mr. Choi softened the color of his hearty baritone when he portrayed the girl welcoming what we took to be the ghost of her soldier-lover at dawn in "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen". And Mr. Kelber nailed the interesting figures in the piano.

The powerful intensity continued throughout "Revelge" in which a fallen soldier has no one to carry him back to his quarters.  His mates are marching as skeletons.  It was completely chilling.

Fortunately, we were not sent back out of the Bruno Walter Auditorium in that mood of despair.  Ms. Chaieb closed the program with a set of songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff, each and every one a beauty. We always love songs about nature and about love!

In "Lilacs", Ms. Chaieb was so present that we could inhale the fragrance of our favorite flower. We have walked along Lilac Walk in Central Park every May and June, just to have the experience that this artist created so successfully.  

The only song that wasn't joyful was "Do not sing, oh beautiful one"; but there is pleasure to be found in sadness also, especially when the melody is so haunting and sung with such longing.  The recital ended with the very appropriate "Spring Waters", given an ecstatic delivery by Ms. Chaieb and Mr. Raskin. Gorgeous and timely!

(c) meche kroop 

PROTEST!

(seated) Steven Blier and Jack Gulielmetti
(front on left side) Shereen Pimentel and Christine Taylor Price
(back row) Jacob Scharfman, Joshua Blue, Dimitri Katotakis, Andrew Munn, and Rihab Chaieb

At the end of last night's concert of protest songs, Maestro Steven Blier uttered his first words, "Garbo Speaks". The consequent laughter was related to the absence of his customary narration and anecdotal contributions.  This time, M. Blier wanted the songs to speak for themselves.  They did speak--they more than spoke; they lamented, they howled, they challenged negativity.

This New York Festival of Song show was originally presented at Juilliard and at Henry's Restaurant as part of their Sing for Your Supper series, staged by the terrific director Mary Birnbaum.  It deserved a wider audience and was therefore presented last night at Merkin Hall once again, this time directed by Mo Zhou, who did a great job of moving the artists around the stage and adding gestural meaning to the material.

The theme resonated with the audience, inasmuch as we have so much to protest in today's political climate. Perhaps the most vociferous applause was in response to Woody Guthrie's unpublished "Old Man Trump". As we know, POTUS comes from a real estate family and his father was the racist landlord mentioned in Mr. Guthrie's song; Guthrie was incensed when Trump tried to keep Beach Haven white. The mid 20th c. song was performed by baritone Dimitri Katotakis, beginning a capella, then joined by Jack Gulielmetti's guitar.  At one point he played the harmonica!

Another very powerful song was the ballad "Joe Hill", written by Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson and performed with great depth of feeling by bass Andrew Munn who "mined" his real life experience in Appalachia to give the song a very present quality that struck us right in the gut.

Accompanied by Mr. Blier's very bluesy piano, tenor Joshua Blue began his very personal performance of Fats Waller's "Black and Blue" (lyrics by Andy Razaf) with a feeling of puzzlement that grew in power before reaching the anguished climax.

Jacob Scharfman impressed with his full low voice, lending gravity to "The Lavender Song" by Mischa Spoliansky and Kurt Schwabach; a high voiced campy delivery would have undermined the intense message of the song but Mr. Scharfman's body movement made it clear that the song was about self-expression of the marginalized homosexual community--a half century before the Stonewall Riots.

We have saved the ladies for last. Soprano Shereen Pimentel brought back personal memories with her performance of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" which we actually experienced in Canada sung by Joni Mitchell! She truly did the song justice and we loved the backup group doing the "doo wop"--Mr. Katotakis, Christine Price, and Rihab Chaieb.

Soprano Christine Taylor Price preceded her performance of Bernstein's "A Julia de Burgos" by reciting Burgos' poetry with such apt dramatic intent that we understood the song for the first time. We knew Burgos was a feminist poet from Puerto Rico and we have heard the song a few times without "getting" it.  All it took was a true vocal and dramatic artist to get it across!

The very talented mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb sang "A Prayer to the New Year" in Arabic. It was the most contemporary piece on the program; the text by Fadwa Tuqan was set by Mohammed Fairouz and we found it inspirational. We wish it had been the final piece on the program because it left us with hopeful feelings for the future.

Many feelings were expressed over the course of the short program. "El Cambalache" by Enrique Santos Discépolo was translated into English by William Bolcom and Mr. Sharfman brought out every ounce of cynicism, making it the most contemporary of the offerings.

Other songs we heard protested fascism in Mussolini's Italy and in Argentina. The refugee situation and exile were addressed as well as racial and religious discrimination and the despoiling of our environment. There is so much to protest!

Do we need to tell you how superb all the voices were and how heartfelt the performances? The entire cast joined in for the encore, Jane Ritchie's "Now is the Cool of the Day" sung by the entire cast in beautiful harmony and a capella. Like most strophic folk tunes, it lingers in the ear.

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THOSE POOR JUDGES

Front Row--Raehann Bryce-Davis, Nora London, Lauren Margison, and Ben Taylor
Back Row--Lawson Anderson, Rihab Chaieb, and Emily D'Angelo (photo by Mark Von Holden)

We are so glad not to have been in the position of judging the George London Foundation Competition! The seventeen singers we heard yesterday, culled from 150 applicants, were all beyond excellent. It was a stellar opportunity to hear young artists we had heard and reviewed before, as well as to hear a couple that were new to us. To our ears, they all seemed destined for excellent careers. Several of them were winners of Encouragement Awards in past years.

We were particularly delighted to hear bass-baritone Lawson Anderson growing into the Wagnerian repertory; he made a fine impression with Wotan's "Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge" from Das Rheingold.  We hope by the time The Metropolitan Opera dumps the current disfavored production of The Ring Cycle,  Mr. Anderson will be on their short list of Wotans!

Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis demonstrated true star quality in "O ma lyre immortelle" from Gounod's Sapho.  She has a true rich mezzo sound, fine French diction, and was very much "in the moment". Her performance was emotionally riveting and she brought the aria to a stunning climax.

Soprano Lauren Margison was completely convincing as the bejeweled and bedazzled Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. The performance was polished, the French was superb, and we loved the thrilling trilling of her high-lying instrument.

Mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo, one of the youngest contestants at 23, can look forward to a fine career as a Rossini heroine. Her "Una voce poco fa" showed a great deal of ease and a fine facility for fioritura. The top of her register is brilliant and penetrating.

Mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb showed intense emotional involvement in "Oui, Dieu le veut" from Tchaikovsky's Jeanne d'Arc.  It was perfectly suited to the character she was portraying. Her French was completely comprehensible and we admired her skill with dynamic variation.

Baritone Ben Taylor performed "Ya vas lyublyu" (Yeletsky's Aria) from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame with a rich and pleasing tone. There was plenty of power there which he successfully harnessed for a lovely messa di voce. To our ears, his Russian sounded excellent.

Counter-tenor Daniel Moody gave us goosebumps in the very disturbing aria "Dawn still darkness" from Jonathan Dove's Flight, in the role of the refugee, which was performed by Jakub Jozef Orlinski the last time we heard it. Mr. Moody has a gorgeous tone and filled out the aria with appropriate anguish. Even at the top of his register his English diction made every word count.

We wish we could say the same about soprano Amy Owen's performance of "I am the wife of Mao Tse Tung" from John Adams' Nixon in China. The brilliance of her voice and the intensity of her dramatic presentation excelled but we couldn't understand a word. We wondered how such a tiny frame could produce such a large sound!

Mezzo-soprano Samantha Gossard showed a real feeling for her character Octavian in "Wie du warst!" from Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. The timbre of her voice and her phrasing were perfect for the hormonal youth in his post-coital state of enthusiasm.

The lovely long lines of Bellini were well served by soprano Jana McIntyre in "Qui la voce" from I Puritani. There is an exciting quality to her instrument and the phrasing was quite wonderful. We loved the expressiveness and the dynamics. In the cabaletta we admired the coloratura and there was a gentle descending scale that was exquisitely rendered.

It was a pleasure to renew our acquaintance with soprano Deanna Breiwick who has been gracing the stages of Europe for the past few years. She still has the exciting timbre that we remember from Juilliard days and the penetrating high notes necessary for the exciting "Je veux vivre" from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette; there is evidence of artistic growth as well.

Mezzo-soprano Corrie Stallings sang one of the few English language arias that we enjoy--Erika's lament "Must the winter come so soon" from Samuel Barber's Vanessa. She held my attention throughout by making the text perfectly clear and bringing out its poetry. We loved the melisma on the word "soon".

Soprano Madison Leonard used her brilliant coloratura well in "Glitter and be gay" from Bernstein's Candide. She created a Cunegonde who can enjoy the melancholic aspect as well as the pecuniary pleasures of her plight. It was a winning performance that set the molecules in the theater to vibrating.

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit showed fine flexibility in the fioritura of "Agitato da fiere tempeste" from Handel's Riccardo Primo.

Soprano Anna Dugan made us sit up and take notice in her convincing performance of the "Jewel Song" from Faust. There were overtones aplenty!  We are not sure why the judges scheduled two performances of the same aria on one program. The two performances were both excellent.

Tenor Martin Bakari gave an expressive performance of "Un'aura amorosa", Ferrando's aria from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. His tone is sweet and his pacing was perfect.

Tenor Aaron Short delighted with "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Franz Lehar's Das Land des Lähelns. His German was excellent and we heard every word.

Accompanist for the afternoon was the excellent and versatile Craig Rutenberg who supported each singer with excellent tact.

All told, it was a sensational afternoon, one we look forward to every year. Nora London made the introductory remarks and we always have the same thought--how wonderful it is to have established a foundation to honor a spouse who is no longer with us and how wonderful to support the careers of these emerging artists.  May they all go on to successful careers.  We are watching and listening.

(c) meche kroop