A PERSIAN COURT ON GRAMERCY PARK

Stradella's "Ester Liberatrice del Popolo Ebreo" --Salon/Sanctuary Concerts (photo by Stephen de las Heras)

Guest review by Chris Petitt:

Alessandro Stradella, a Caravaggio-esque figure and notorious bad boy who died young-ish at the hands of a romantic rival, knew a thing or two about how to set a text and wake up an audience to the dramatic potential in many a sacred story. He thrived in the 17th-century and is now enjoying somewhat of a Renaissance, with New York performances by Opera Lafayette, the Academy of Sacred Drama, and Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, the Americans joining a veritable Stradella-mania among a panoply of Italian baroque groups.

 Lucky for us that we can now hear so much of his wonderful music, oratorios dramatizing bible stories and lives of other sacred characters, in which the challenges for the performer include virtuoso singing, nuanced acting, and musical chops which enable one to traverse compositional adventures that at times appear to defy logic.

On Wednesday, Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, an intrepid organization never wont to shy away from either an ambitious or adventurous program, offered up the 1673 work Ester Liberatrice del Popolo Ebreo, a setting of the story of the Jewish holiday Purim, in which Queen Ester of the Persian Empire uses intelligence, persuasion and reason to head off the genocidal plot of Hamman (Aman in the Italian version) to eradicate the Jewish people. The mid-19th-century Brotherhood Synagogue provided an ideal setting, its central bima creating a ready made stage set for the drama.

 The choice of this work is timely, and not just because are we headed into the Purim holiday which celebrates Ester’s victory. A story about a clever woman who outsmarts an oppressive bully whose overcompensation issues result in the suffering of a whole ethnic group resonates all too keenly with most Americans today. But before we make any glib Nancy Pelosi/Donald Trump references, let us remember that Ester was a heroine because, unlike bold modern women today, she was constrained to function within the narrow confines of what was a woman’s place, in both the original story’s setting of the Persian empire and the Counter-Reformation Rome of the libretto.

Far from demanding her people’s emancipation, she has to skirt the issue, finding ways to impress her point upon her husband the King without winding up like her predecessor Vashti, imprisoned in a harem for refusing to obey his command (which involved appearing naked at a banquet, but I digress).

This limited space of action creates a compelling character, to say nothing of the music, and soprano Jessica Gould, who is also the Artistic Director of Salon/Sanctuary Concerts and the engine behind this fine organization’s compelling programming, navigated the role skillfully. Showing a clear transition from Ester’s anxiety to certitude under the nudging of her cousin Mardocheo, sung with beautiful, unaffected tone and clear intention by countertenor José Lemos, Gould’s powerful voice embraces both coloratura filigree and weighty lyrical passages with ease, while a dramatic fire, fine Italian diction, and command of the text makes this role her own.

Gould’s is a dramatic instrument with an impressive facility and distinctive color, dark and rich in the depths and brilliant above. She may not match a certain “Early Music” sound that many have in their heads, but it is a voice you remember, reminding us that the depth of passion inherent in these texts must not fall victim to the fussy preoccupations with “authenticity” that doom many a period performance to forgettable homogeneity.

 I am delighted to report that full-blooded vocalism and judicious dramatic choices animated the other principal characters as well, imbuing this age-old story with the kind of life a modern audience needs to keep these works alive.

In the role of Speranza Celeste, an added-on metaphorical figure absent from the original bible story, soprano Sarah Pillow was an ideal foil to Gould, offering a silvery crystalline timbre to the other soprano’s darker palette, the two illustrating a sonic divide between earth and heaven. Wafting through her scenes with the conviction of the righteous, she managed to be convincing rather than supercilious, her delicate phrasing and translucent color a cool and welcome breeze. In the Act I finale duet with Aman (Haman) her diaphanous sound balanced the swaggering bass-baritone of Ian Pomerantz.

Pomerantz clearly relished the outrageous evilness of his character, lurking and mugging through his role with great enthusiasm. A large instrument with a lot of potential, his burly approach resulted at times in less than clean runs and what seemed like some indecision about ornamentation (I recall being surprised by cadential trill of distinctly French provenance at one point). Judging from the audience reaction around me, his performance was a crowd pleaser, and even if his instrument spilled over the edge of stylistic precision for much of the evening, (and the evening does belong to Aman with his miles of arias), it fit the arrogance of this bullying character, one of the Old Testament’s biggest bad guys.

Like the finely crafted performance of José Lemos in regrettably too small a role, the magnificent Jonathan Woody in the role of Assuero the King doesn’t make an appearance until the second act. But what an appearance it is. With a minimum of fuss this gifted young bass-baritone spins out a warm and glorious velvety sound anchored by steel in its lowest range. His economy of action created a nobility of both character and timbre that contrasted Aman’s bluster. It is a sound that speaks of both technique and wisdom beyond this young singer’s years, and which provided a moral anchor as all is set right by a wise king who accepts counsel from others.

In the smaller roles Dominic Inferrera was poised and appealing as Testo (the narrator). Amanda Sidebottom and Martha Sullivan as two Hebrew women sang a lovely duet occasionally marred by intonation lapses. This carried over into the choruses that the two sopranos helmed. The alto Wendy Gilles, and lutenist Grant Herreid, doing double duty on the tenor line, joined bass-baritone Inferrera as the strong links in the vocal ensemble. Herreid played a stylish lute continuo, joining veteran theorbist Daniel Swenberg, gambist Loren Ludwig and harpsichordist Elliot Figg in the tight and responsive continuo group.

 I looked in vain for a stage director credit and found none, so it seems that the decision to move about the stage, or bima, as the case is here, was that of the singers, who presumably directed themselves. Books in hand, they created some very effective visuals that belied what must have been a brief rehearsal process. There was an unaffected freshness to the ease with which they moved, welcome in the face of so many “concept” productions, suffocated by overzealous directors with lots to do but nothing to say (my readers know this is a pet peeve of mine). Standard concert wear did the job of indicating character as well, with Queen Ester in a royal purple gown, Speranza Celeste in a dress of luminous and heavenly blue velvet, and the gentlemen in a color scheme of ties to indicate court (magenta), monarch (gold), or bad guy (silver).

(c) meche kroop

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE AND HIS SONGS

Nicholas Tamagna, Jessica Gould, Christopher Morrongiello, Gabriel Sloyer, Kate Grimes, Ayo Haynes, Ezra Knight, and David Arrow

It has been four centuries since the death of William Shakespeare and his work is still providing ample fuel for classes in English literature and playwriting as well as fodder for theaters worldwide.

Leave it to Salon/Sanctuary Concerts to come up with a highly unusual evening that was both entertaining and illuminating. The Floor of Heaven--Scenes from a Merchant and Songs of his Venice was a unique entertainment interspersing scenes from The Bard's controversial play The Merchant of Venice with music from that period.

Erica Gould adapted the script and directed the piece along with Deborah Houston who also devised the period appropriate costuming.  Soprano Jessica Gould lent her lovely voice to the music and also did the musical research, along with lutenist Christopher Morrongiello. There is a big difference between art produced by a "committee" and art produced by synergy. This work belonged to the latter category.

Although knowing the play in advance would have given one an edge, the synopsis in the program was sufficient to appreciate the work. Five actors doubled in about twice as many roles. Every word uttered came directly from Shakespeare.

In the role of Bassanio, Gabriel Sloyer stood out by virtue of his somewhat contemporary acting style which did not in any way interfere with the Elizabethan dialogue but made the action clear.

Kate Grimes made a wonderfully believable Portia, especially when she appeared in the courtroom as the wise doctor who solves an insoluble problem. We love the fact that Shakespeare wrote a female character with both strength and softness.

Ezra Knight was magnificently compelling as the moneylender Shylock. We are not color blind and the fact that Shylock and his daughter Jessica were both cast with Afro-American actors added greatly to our insight into Shakespeare's treatment of "the outsider". We left deep in thought about the way our society treats "the other", making this work particularly relevant at this time.

As his guilt ridden daughter Jessica who can no longer get joy from music, Ayo Haynes turned in a fine performance. Her love for the Christian Lorenzo gave us plenty to think about what it means to live in a society less liberal than our own.

David Arrow portrayed the wealthy merchant Antonio, so kind and loving to his friends but so scornful toward "the Jew". We gave thought to how otherwise fine people can be corrupted by societal values.

Our only criticism of the evening was that the actors were "on the book", somewhat impairing the dramatic impact.

The music we heard did not come from the play but was written in that epoch. Selections were chosen to amplify the spoken word.  Christopher Morrongiello has a soft touch on the lute that was unusually pleasing to our ear (if not to Shylock's guilty daughter)!

We do so love duets! Although most people who enjoy "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo" believe it was written by Monteverdi, Ms. Gould's scholarship tells us this is not the case. Monteverdi's death left his final opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea unfinished and this gorgeous duet from that opera was written by one Benedetto Ferrari, who probably lifted it from one of his own operas, Il pastor regio.  Whoever wrote it, we loved it and were saddened to learn that none of Ferrari's operas have survived.

Another delightful duet was Thomas Campion's "Come cheerful day". Ms. Gould's soprano harmonized beautifully with the countertenor of Nicholas Tamagna.

Our favorite aria was "Ohime, se tanto amate" written by Salomone Rossi, a Jewish composer of that period whose excellent music delighted both Christian and Jew in 17th c. Venice. We have heard his music before at Salon/Sanctuary Concerts and have always enjoyed it.

We have been slowly learning about Early Music and tonight we focused on the use of the dissonant interval of a second. It took a while to take that in but now we love it.

There was one curiosity on the program--there was an Ashkenazi Hebrew chant from 16th c. Venice entitled "Ma'oz Tsur" which Ms. Gould performed with an Italian accent.  Hmmm.  We hope it was an authentic Venetian accent and, if we know Ms. Gould, it probably was!

(c) meche kroop

BIMODAL BEAUTY

Kenneth Merrill, Rebecca Ringle, and William Ferguson

At recitals, our sense of hearing is the one we rely upon for engagement. Last night at the opening offering of the Salon/Sanctuary season, we had a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. The 1890 Playel instrument from Klavierhaus looked as beautiful as it sounded, its tone soft and gentle, perfectly suited for the French program.

Not only that but the handsome tenor William Ferguson and the stunningly glamorous mezzo Rebecca Ringle were also a feast for the eyes. One is not supposed to care what a singer looks like but--sorry, not sorry--we love beauty in all its forms.

And now, to the program!  Founder and Artistic Director Jessica Gould, generally committed to early music, widened her scope to present an evening of 19th c. French music entitled On the Margins of the Opèra Comique--not serious chansons but light-hearted music suitable for the salon or cabaret.

The music on the program was composed by three Jewish composers whose oeuvre was purportedly dismissed due to anti-semitism. To our ears, there was nothing dismissable about the charming songs we heard.

Ms. Ringle has a true mezzo sound, unlike many singers who claim that fach.  It has a distinctive timbre that filled the auditorium of the Abigail Adams Smith House. Ms. Ringle's French is flawless and her phrasing high in musicality. 

Our favorite performance of the evening was the encore! We just heard "Ah quel diner", from Jacques Offenbach's La Perichole, a few reviews back. We loved it then and we loved it last night. Just as actors love a good death scene, singers seem to enjoy a drinking song, or, in this case, a drunken song. Ms. Ringle appeared to be having the time of her life and the joy was absolutely infectious.

She is best when she can show her personality and the three Fontaine fables set by Offenbach delighted us no end. In "Le berger et la mer", the moral seemed to be to stick with what you do well and not gamble on a tempting future.

In "La cigale et la fourmi", a stingy and judgmental ant gives a moral lecture to the carefree but destitute cicada who sang all summer long. The song ends with a remarkable trill. Kenneth Merrill's piano captured all the sounds of nature.

The moral of "Le rat de ville et le rat des champs" seemed to be that a simple meal eaten in peace is better than a fancy one eaten in fear.

Mr. Merrill's piano was noticeably wonderful in many of the songs. We could hear the village bell's sonority in Giacomo Meyerbeer's "Ma barque légère", the nightingale in Fromental Halévy's "Les heures du soir", and the wind in the same composer's "Le follet".  No doubt the special sound of the Playel contributed to the effect.

Only two songs on the program were familiar to us and that was because of the text. Meyerbeer set the Heinrich Heine poem and called it "Komm", the only song on the program not in French.  Franz Schubert named it "Das Fischermädchen" and composed it as part of his cycle Schwanengesang. It is one of our favorite Schubert songs but now it is one of our favorite Meyerbeer songs.  

The other familiar text was that of Théophile Gauthier "Dites, la jeune belle" set by Offenbach as "Barcarolle". We know it as "L'isle inconnue" from Hector Berlioz'cycle Les nuits d'été.

There seems to be quite a bit of metaphor going on in this epoch in which the sea represents both the delights and fears of love. We heard this in "Komm" and again in another Meyerbeer song "Ma barque légère".

 

For the Halévy duet "Est-ce-une peine? Est-ce un plaisir?" Ms. Ringle was joined by tenor William Ferguson whose sweet sound took the upper line while Ms. Ringle's mezzo took the lower one.  We tried in vain to recall duets between tenor and mezzo and hope that readers will add some suggestions to the comment section below.

Even Mozart did not write one for Dorabella and Ferrando in Cosi fan Tutte! It is actually quite a wonderful combination and the two artists harmonized with great beauty. The work is written with complicated overlapping voices, requiring the use of the score, not a desirable circumstance in our book! But the sound was thrilling.

There are probably many more songs like these that the public doesn't get to hear and we thank Ms. Gould for bringing them to our attention and we thank Ms. Ringle for her magnificent performance and for her highly instructive program notes.

(c) meche kroop

RIVERA DOES ROSSINI

Jennifer Rivera and Kenneth Merrill

Last night Salon/Sanctuary Concerts took a step into the 19th c. further than they usually do and it was a welcome step.  To the many Facebook friends who wished us a musical birthday, we would like to tell them that indeed we did enjoy a very musical birthday, thanks to Jessica Gould's astute programming, Jennifer Rivera's thrilling singing, and Kenneth Merrill's warmly responsive accompanying on the piano.  The promised fortepiano was injured and replaced by a modern piano without any loss of musical value.

The program comprised music that Gioachino Rossini wrote in his later years in Paris after he retired from writing all those exciting operas we so love to hear.  It is clear to singers and audience alike that he retained all the excitement of rhythm and melody that infuse his operas.  The songs offer the same opportunity for dramatic expression as do the operas and require only the right singer to give the impression that one is hearing a very condensed version of a scene in an opera.

Take, for example, La Regata Veneziana, of which we never tire.  In Venetian dialect, Rossini gives the singer plenty to work with.  The singer "Anzoleta" gets to adopt three discrete moods, encouraging her lover Momolo, expressing the tension of the gondola race, and finally rewarding Momolo with her affection.  Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera rose to the occasion and filled the venue with color and excitement.

Her superb instrument and technique (influenced by Marilyn Horne and Frederica von Stade) is more legato than that of most bel canto artists.  Her diction sacrificed not a single word on the altar of musicality.  Variety in dynamics and tempi contributed to the sense of drama.

A compelling performance of "Mi lagnerò tacendo" was fascinating in that Rossini set the work four times--for soprano, mezzo, contralto, and finally a version to be sung on  one note.  Ms. Rivera showed strength in the lower register when called for and brilliance on top where necessary.  In fact, her voice is remarkably centered throughout the entire range.  

To our surprise, the setting we enjoyed the most was the last one because there was such variety of color in both Ms. Rivera's singing and Mr. Merrill's piano that the one note kept sounding different!  The text by Pietro Metastasio has been set by Mozart, Handel, Righini, and Hasse, among others.

Ms. Rivera was able to show her stuff in French in a set of three songs.  Every word was enunciated clearly and the French line was sustained beautifully.  "L'Orpheline du Tyrol" permitted the artist to yodel, making large skips sound easy.  "La chanson du bebé" represents Rossini at his naughtiest as the child does everything he can to get the attention of his parents.  What a hoot!  Ms. Rivera squeezed every drop of humor from the song.

We were thrilled to see a set of songs by Pauline Viardot on the program.  She was a singer herself and really knew how to write for the voice.  Clearly Rossini was a big influence on her.  "Madrid" had all the lilting rhythms and melodic riffs associated with Spanish music while "Havanaise" was imbued with Latin rhythms, alternating with highly embellished verses.  "Hai luli" was the lament of a forlorn lover.

There might have been an audience riot had Ms. Rivera not performed an encore of her signature aria--"Una voce poco fa" from Il Barbiere di Siviglia.  It was in this aria that the rich mezzo quality of her voice was most evident.  The fioriture passages were unique and original, creating abundant fireworks.  We heard something for which we need to invent a word; let's call it a "tripletrill"; we have never heard the like.

Mr. Merrill's accompanying skills are legendary and it was easy to see why he is chosen by so many fine singers.  He was always right there supporting but never overshadowing or overwhelming.

We remember Ms. Rivera well from her Juilliard days and from New York City Opera. We have enjoyed her astute essays in The Huffington Post. It was a real treat to hear her up close and personal.  Should NYCO be revived we are sure to hear more of her right here in New York.

© meche kroop

EXODUS!

Reg E. Cathey (photo by Stephen de las Heras)

Here in 21st c. America we do not think very often about slavery and rarely talk about it.  But if you attended Salon/ Sanctuary Concerts on Saturday you would probably still be thinking about it.  We surely are!  The title of the compelling event was "Exodus-- Dreams of the Promised Land in Antebellum America".  It was reprised from last year and presented in the historical Fraunces Tavern, a building dating back to the American Revolution, the oldest surviving building in New York.

Jessica Gould, Founder and Artistic Director, conceived the program and her sister Erica Gould constructed the script  from several sources--curated  writings of former slaves who were interviewed during the Great Depression for the Federal Writer's Project of the WPA; the writings and speeches of abolitionists; and wisely interpolated passages from the Haggadah which is a Jewish text read during Passover telling of the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

The texts were read by the impressively thunder-voiced actor Reg E. Cathey,  Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Jennifer Rau.  So many sad stories were read that it was difficult to stay dry-eyed.  Several thoughts stick in our mind--that Lincoln was compared to Moses since neither of them lived to see the fruits of their efforts; that there was a slave pen in the shadows of our nation's Capitol as described by Solomon Northrup, a free man who was kidnapped, drugged and sold into slavery right there in D.C.  Significantly, his book Twelve Years a Slave was recently dramatized on film.

It further sticks in our mind that women, at that time, were not permitted to vote and could only petition the government or try (gently) to persuade their husbands.  Listening to accounts of enslaved children being beaten was particularly painful.  We were thinking of the Law of Unintended Consequences and how many of our social problems today are the rotten fruits of slavery from a century and a half earlier, with disruption of families being a most direct one.

This feast for the intellect also included a generous helping of music from the period between 1780 and and the mid 19th c. performed a cappella by The Western Wind.  Until 1810, there was a singing school movement in New England which was established to improve the quality of congregational singing.  People got together as they do today in community choruses; these were social events at which men and women could mingle freely without chaperones. We got to hear a number of songs composed for these schools.

We especially enjoyed the humorous song "Complainer" sung by a trio of male singers who harmonized so beautifully--tenors Todd Frizzell and David Vanderwal and baritone Elliot Z. Levine.  The Western Wind also includes two sopranos--Linda Lee Jones and Michele Kennedy and counter-tenor William Zukof who also contributed some excellent program notes about the music.

After 1810 this movement spread to the frontiers. Another song that delighted us from that period was "The Marching Song of the First Arkansas" with clever lyrics set to the tune of "Glory Glory Hallelujah".  This song paid tribute to the African-American soldiers who fought for the Union and saved Washington.  Now how many people know that!

We noted that the first piece of music published in North America by a woman was "The Promised Land" by Matilda T. Durham in a widely circulated songbook  The Southern Harmony which is still in use in Kentucky! 

This song closed the program.  Our thoughts as we left this stimulating event were that this land we live in is the "promised land", not some place in the hereafter--and the sacrifices of our forebears have made it so.  But we also acknowledge that slavery exists in other lands and hope that members of the audience will be moved to support efforts to bring that sad feature of the human condition to a speedy end.  Three cheers for freedom!

© meche kroop

PERPETUAL MOTION

Sarah Pillow, Mary Anne Ballard, Ronn McFarlane

In a season with all hits and no misses, Salon Sanctuary Concerts has presented another stimulating evening that was both entertaining and educational.  In her choice of the library of the Fabbri mansion off Fifth Avenue, Founder and Artistic Director Jessica Gould wisely set the stage for immersion in the world of Renaissance Italy.  The library dates back to that era and was dismantled and shipped to New York in 1915 and reassembled in that very same room.

The theme of the concert was the interface between science and art--more particularly between astronomy and music, all within an historical context.  Narrator Dava Sobel, best known as a journalist and author, spoke about Galileo Galilei, his father and his daughters particularly in connection with the cosmology of that epoch.

Accompanied by Mary Anne Ballard on the viola da gamba and Ronn McFarlane on lute, soprano Sarah Pillow sang some gorgeous songs by Francesco Cavalli, , Barbara Strozzi, Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Giulio Caccini, Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana, Henry Purcell and our favorite Claudio Monteverdi whose Lamento d'Arianna was heartbreakingly beautiful.  Readers who are singers will readily recognize the composers whose works appear in many anthologies.  Ms. Pillow sang with vibrancy and an enviable variety of color, tempo and dynamics, making each song touching to the heart.

Instrumental music allowed the two string players to shine with the six-string viola da gamba (cousin to the cello) taking the bass line and the fascinating lute playing the melody.  Merely reciting the names of the composers would make one feel like a bard.

Video artist Marc Wagnon provided the projections from space, some taken from the Hubble Heritage Project, some from NASA.  Indeed the program opened with a film of an astronaut on the moon testing Newton's theory of the speed of falling objects.  And the evening ended out on the street with audience members invited to look into a telescope at Jupiter which performed right on cue, including several of its moons!

We left feeling entertained, enlightened and educated.  Not to mention eager for more programs of such quality.  We enjoyed the celestial harmonies spoken of by Plato and we heard the music of the spheres.

© meche kroop