SIMPLY SIMAN

Binna Han and Siman Chung

We have entered the golden age of the countertenor. We have heard two excellent members of this fach sing the "Refugee's aria" from Jonathan Dove's Flight (one of the very few contemporary operas we enjoyed) and both Jakub Jozef Orlinski and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen were superb in the role. We profoundly regret missing Mr. Chung's performance of this role with Mannes Opera but, judging by last night's recital at the National Opera Center, we are sure he was superb.

The recital was part of Opera America's Emerging Artist Recital Series and presented Mr. Chung as the Opera Index 2015 Arthur E. Walters Memorial Award Winner.  Opera Index is a nonprofit volunteer organization whose mission it is to advocate for opera and support young artists. They have been holding competitions for over 30 years, the winners of which look like a "Who's Who" of the opera world.

Mr. Chung's recital flew by in a brief 60 minutes but gave the packed house a solid opportunity to assess his prodigious artistry. We enjoyed him the most when he played to his strengths and his strengths lay most securely in the repertory written for his fach. Well, actually, the roles we speak of were written for castrati and it is very fortunate that that barbaric practice is long gone! 

But the role of Farnace in Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto was written for alto castrato and Mr. Chung's  performance was just fine and marked by superb control of dynamics and a seamless production of sound that transitioned well to the low notes.

Even better was his performance of two Handel arias. The first, "Dove sei, amato bene" from Rodelinda is an aria of longing, and was written for the character Bertarido, originally sung by a soprano castrato. We loved the embellishments in the ritornello, the sensitive decrescendo and the ear-tickling trill.

Countertenors are often asked to sing angry arias (think "Furibondo spira il vento") and Mr. Chung's performance of "Crude furie degli orridi abissi" from Handel's Serse was also written for soprano castrato but is today most often performed by  mezzo-sopranos. We enjoyed the vocal pyrotechnics.

Similarly, music by Henry Purcell was finely sung. Purcell wrote music for John Dryden's play Oedipus and his "Music for a while" rivals Schubert's "An die Musik" as a paean to what we think of as the highest art form. Mr. Chung exhibited a lovely vibrato and interesting overtones.

Purcell's 1692 masque The Fairy Queen provided two wonderful songs perfect for Mr. Chung's many talents. Our personal favorite was "If music be the food of love". The elaborate embellishments were thrilling and we were happy to hear sufficient variety in the repetitions.  Happily, his English was perfectly enunciated and we were not obliged to look at the titles, although it is always nice to have them just in case.

In an entirely different vein, Mr. Chung offered three songs by Ernest Chausson, bringing us into an entirely different century. His French was flawless and, again we understood every word. We have never heard these songs sung by a countertenor and they sounded lovely. Our favorite was the very sad "Le temps des lilas" from Poeme de l'amour et de la mer. His tone was exquisite, the colors impressive, and the depth of feeling quite moving.

From Sept Melodies, Op.2 we heard "Le colibri" and "Les papillons".  His tone suited the delicacy of the language and music. Mr. Chung's superlative collaborative pianist was Binna Han and she captured the fluttering of wings in the piano part.

A pair of songs by Roger Quilter were well sung but the writing, in our opinion, lacks the poetry of Chausson's writing.

There was also a trio of songs by Brahms which did not thrill us, and we do love our Brahms. It is only our opinion but we think Mr. Chung sounds infinitely better in songs written with a certain voice type in mind. Additionally, his German was not nearly as accomplished as his French. For every crisp consonant there was one that was glossed over. His encore, Strauss' "Zueignung" was given plenty of passion and better enunciation but it just wasn't up to the excellence of the rest of the recital.

We first became acquainted with this fach in a student production at Manhattan School of Music starring Anthony Roth Costanzo in Lukas Foss' Griffelkin.  That must have been 8 or 9 years ago and we have loved the sound ever since. And now we have so many fine countertenors. This gives us the opportunity to appreciate music that has lain dormant for centuries; additionally it gives stimulus to contemporary composers (although we may not appreciate the latter as much). As Jane Marsh said in her master class a couple days ago "If you lay the tracks the train will come".

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A GIFT FROM PARIS

Brent Funderburk and Onadek Winan

It is testament to Juilliard Vocal Arts Department that the young artists who come to study are the cream of the world's crop. The soprano who gave such a stunning recital yesterday is about to receive her Bachelor of Music Degree but has been singing professionally and winning awards since the age of 15! Her talents have been shared by France, the country of her birth, and New York. We are fortunate to have had her here.

Accompanied by the fine collaborative pianist Brent Funderburk, soprano Onadek Winan presented a fine and varied program that gave evidence of her technical prowess, her linguistic skills, and also of an engaging stage presence.

She has a glamour which is innate and not "showy", an abundance of expression that is never "fussy", and a bright sound that opens up at the top like a parasol.

She began her program with Cleopatra's Aria "Che sento? O Dio!" from Händel's Giulio Cesare. Händel's arias do go on, and it is up to the singer to provide sufficient variety to sustain the listener's interest; at this, Ms. Winan succeeded admirably. There were many colors to Cleopatra's pathos and we particularly enjoyed the slow section with her variety of dynamics and clarity of fioritura. What god would not listen to her plea to protect her man!

We enjoyed hearing the 1894 song cycle by Gabriel Fauré--La bonne chanson--a collection of songs centered around (what else?) love and nature, with text by Paul Verlaine.  Ah, l'amour et la belle nature! Ms. Winan related warmly to the audience, telling them how she learned this cycle ten years ago at the conservatory in Paris, and just now was getting to perform it.

Our favorite was "La lune blanche" but we were also thrilled by the melding of voice and piano in "J'ai presque peur, en vérité" with its ABBA rhyme scheme. The soft-handed Mr. Funderburk limned the quail and the lark mentioned in "Avant que tu ne t'en ailles".

Sophie's Aria from Act II of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier involves the young girl's reaction to the handsome young aristocrat who comes presenting her with a silver rose. With language that attempts to obscure her attraction to Octavian Count Rofrano (since she is supposed to wed the ill-mannered Baron Ochs), she sings of the "fragrance" of the rose and her delight. This was all captured in Ms. Winan's performance, who definitely has the voice for Strauss!

The program ended with Roger Quilter's "Love's Philosophy" and we were indeed sorry that there was no encore.

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BASS DOES SHAKESPEARE

Kristina Bachrach, Miori Sugiyama, Michael Brofman, Dominic Armstrong, and Jorell Williams

Neither frigid air nor subway delays shall keep us from our appointed rounds!  Today took us deep into Brooklyn for one of Brooklyn Art Song Society's excellent themed recitals--this one in partnership with the Classical Theater of Harlem, part of BASS' season-long exploration of Britannica.  It was held in the comfortable theater of the Brooklyn Public Library and was very worthwhile.

We enjoyed the music interspersed with readings from Shakespeare by three members of the Classical Theater of Harlem: Dylan Moore, Lelund Thompson, and Shyko Zwambila; we confess that we could not grasp the connections between the recited selections and the songs but that may be attributed to our deficiency in Shakespearean text. Only a few of the readings were familiar to us and we particularly enjoyed the lines from Richard III (who would NOT be familiar with Richard's opening speech!) and the lines from Twelfth Night.

The songs were well chosen to highlight the artistry of soprano Kristina Bachrach, tenor Dominic Armstrong, and baritone Jorell Williams. But, we are sad to say, only Ms. Bachrach performed all her selections off the book and was therefore far more connected with the audience. This is a particular situation about which we are rather demanding.

Accompanied by excellent BASS regular Miori Sugiyama, Ms. Bachrach was particularly fine in Richard Strauss' Ophelia-Lieder Op.67 and Hector Berlioz' "La Mort d'Ophelie". We desperately wanted to hear appropriate readings from Hamlet but there were none. Still, Ms. Bachrach created a sympathetic portrait of Shakespeare's tragic figure. 

We always love Schubert's "An Sylvia" and Mr. Armstrong's sweet tenor did justice to the legato vocal line with Mr. Brofman's piano offering contrasting staccato piano work. But we enjoyed the tenor more when he sang Roger Quilter's "Orpheus with his Lute" because he abandoned the music stand and connected more with the audience. Quilter's "When Icicles Hang by the Wall" seemed particularly apropos!

Gerald Finzi seemed to have handled the English language uncommonly well, or else Mr. Williams is uncommonly gifted since "Come Away Death" and "What is Sylvia?" made a fine impression on us. The vocal line seemed to match the rhythm of the language in a manner not heard from most contemporary composers. We attribute this success partly to Mr. Williams and partly to Mr. Brofman, both of whom seem to have a flair for Finzi.

There will be more recitals in the season's exploration of Brittanica. And how worthwhile is THAT!

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TARA ERRAUGHT

Tara Erraught (photo by Kristin Speed)

Some singers are equally adept at opera and art song recitals whereas others come off better in one or the other situation. We have no complaints whatsoever about the lovely recital given by Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught in her New York debut at Weill Recital Hall; but we did, however, notice a greater sense of involvement during the encores when she sang two operatic arias, the kind of involvement that says "I'm having fun and I hope you are too".

The first encore was Annetta's aria from Michael Balfe's Falstaff. We were previously unacquainted with the works of this Irish composer but we hope to remedy this situation in the future. Mr. Balfe wrote this opera in 1838, long before Verdi took it on. It is replete with thrilling bel canto flourishes and we are highly grateful to Ms. Erraught for bringing it to our attention.

We wonder if Mr. Balfe's opera might have achieved greater popularity had it not been eclipsed by Verdi's late life masterpiece. We have learned that Ms. Erraught sang this role in a recording recently made of the opera. (It is interesting that Salieri also wrote a Falstaff which was produced by Dell'Arte Opera Company in the summer of 2014). Shakespeare's works are nothing if not inspiring!

In any case, Ms. Erraught sang it with abundant charm and impressed us with her accurate handling of the florid fioritura. Similarly, (after singing Danny Boy-- and how could she not?) her performance of "Non piu mesta" from Rossini's Cenerentola was riveting.

And what shall we say about the recital per se? There was plenty to enjoy but nothing reached the heights achieved during the two operatic encores. We thought Ms. Erraught's instrument is the most soprano-y mezzo we have heard recently; her performance of six early songs by Richard Strauss impressed us with her passion and purity of tone. There is plenty of drama in these songs and the varying moods were captured--the anxiety of "Die Nacht", the enticements of "Ständchen", the longing of "Allerseelen", the passion of "Zueignung".

She opened the program with a set of songs by Liszt, who was wise enough to choose poets like Victor Hugo, Friedrich von Schiller, and Heinrich Heine. The songs were quite well performed except when the enthusiastic piano of collaborative pianist Henning Ruhe overwhelmed Ms. Erraught's voice. When the piano became more ruhevoll, she sounded fine--but it is a slender instrument.

There were two songs by Frederick Delius that were marked by some splendid English diction. The texts, based on Norwegian tales, rhymed and scanned such that Ms. Erraught was able to make good sense of them with apt phrasing. We loved the horn call in Mr. Ruhe's piano in "Twilight Fancies".

There was also a set by Roger Quilter who likewise chose his texts well.  One cannot go wrong with Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Shelley!

Brahms' songs are always a pleasure to hear and lend themselves to simple unfussy delivery which Ms. Erraught gave them--with the exception of "Mädchenfluch" which rose to the heights of passion. Perhaps we could sum things up by saying that Ms. Erraught does best when she is less measured and enjoys her passion.

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ROBERT E. LEE (no, not THAT one)

Eric Sedgwick and Robert E. Lee at the National Opera Center

We do not know Mr. Lee well enough to enquire about his name but there must be an interesting story there.  Likewise, it would be interesting to learn how this artist manages to sing so evenly throughout a wide range, seamlessly combining his counter-tenor head voice with significant chest voice at the bottom. 

Opinions are divided on whether the vocal production of a counter-tenor can be called falsetto or whether its origin is in the size of the vocal chords.  We will leave such discussion to the physiologists and focus on Mr. Lee's excellent artistry.

Acknowledging that we enjoyed an evening of song, sung predominantly in our least favorite language, we are compelled to understand the reasons. To begin, the program was very well chosen, with plenty of old favorites and some unexpected delights--all marked by melodiousness and accessibility.

Furthermore, Mr. Lee's  English diction is so perfect that we understood every word. This is not a quality that we take for granted. Often when we hear singers in English, we have wished for a printed text or titles. Last night we had the printed text and didn't need it.

Mr. Lee's sweet tone is arresting and unique; he employs his instrument with fine technique--the phrasing always lovely and the vocal colors varied. Still more variety was provided by excellent control of dynamics and a high degree of expressivity. Mr. Lee seems to inhabit the material and to share his feelings for the text with the audience.  

Yet another plus was the sensitive accompaniment of pianist Eric Sedgwick whom we enjoyed most in "Del Cabello Mas Sutil" by Fernando Obradors, one of our favorite Spanish songs and one of only two on the program. The gentle arpeggios and Mr. Lee's voice somehow brought tears to our eyes. The other Spanish song, Joaquin Turina's "Cantares" gave the pair an opportunity for increased intensity, building to a striking climax.

Almost all music written for this fach comes from the Baroque period or the 20th c. . A set of Handel songs comprised the sweet "Yet Can I Hear That Dulcet Lay", the powerful "Destructive War", the devotional "O Lord, Whose Mercies Numberless", and the lively joyful "Up the Dreadful Steep Ascending".

It is unlikely that we will hear the entire operas from which these arias come (The Choice of Hercules, Belshazzar, Saul, and Jephtha, respectively) but it was a treat to hear the arias. The melismatic decorations of the vocal line were marvelously handled.

The next set comprised a trio of songs by the 17th c. English composer Henry Purcell. Our favorite was "Music for a While". We have heard this splendid song countless times but Mr. Lee made it his own with a beautiful decrescendo at the end. "Sweeter than Roses", also familiar, was given freshness with a dramatic change of color in the phrase "Then shot like fire all o'er".  Exciting stuff!

Roger Quilter made use of a Percy Bysshe Shelley verse for his "Music, When Soft Voices Die" and Aaron Copland availed himself of an Emily Dickinson poem for "Heart, we will forget him". Both composers thereby made excellent choices, which contemporary composers rarely do. A set of songs by Cleveland composer H. Leslie Adams included the beautiful "For you there is no song" with text by Edna St. Vincent Millay, another fine choice. 

A final set introduced us to some mid-20th c. music from the world of cabaret and Broadway. British team Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley were famous for writing musicals in the 1960's --The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd and Stop the World I Want to Get Off, among others; many were imported to the USA from Great Britain. We heard "You and I" and "Pure Imagination".

Michele Brourman turned her back on her music education (a music department that discouraged melody) and partnered with her friend Karen Gottlieb to write cabaret songs. We'd like to hear more music like this, especially when sung by someone as talented as Mr. Lee who did just fine with the low tessitura of "My Favorite Year".

As an encore, Mr. Lee performed Apollo's aria from the prologue (Terpsicor) to the Handel Opera Il Pastor Fido, a role he performed recently at the Amherst Early Music Festival. We wished we had been there!

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