VISITORS FROM WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA'S YOUNG ARTIST PROGRAM

Tomoko Nakayama, Michael Brandenburg, Aleksandra Romano, Keriann Otaño, Raquel González, and Wei Wu

As part of Opera America's Emerging Artist Recital Series, the Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program presented an enjoyable recital in the intimate auditorium of the National Opera Center. We love the experience of hearing singers up close and personal.

The five singers and sole pianist were chosen from among the ten singers and two pianists who take part in the two-year program, currently experiencing its 13th season. The emerging artists in the program are given lessons, coaching, career counseling, and performance opportunities.

We were overjoyed to hear soprano Raquel González once more; we have missed her since her Juilliard days. In impeccable French and with radiant warmth, she sang a pair of songs by Reynaldo Hahn and one by Alfred Bachelet. She wisely scaled her voice to the size of the room and channeled all that love of nature.

The other singers were new to us. Soprano Kerriann Otaño also sang of nature and Spring--but she sang in Russian.  These Rachmaninoff songs, given their Russian nature, were more passionate. In "O You, My Grain-Field", the poet uses the wheat as a metaphor for his thoughts. Such torment was relieved by the joyful "Spring Waters" which we have heard at least three times this week and never tire of.

Mezzo-soprano Aleksandra Romano also sang in Russian with a resonant and pleasingly penetrating sound. Tchaikovsky must have written more songs than we'd ever imagined because we have rarely heard the same one twice. There was an abundance of bitterness and sorrow in "Over Burning Ashes" but "The Sun Has Set" was a tender romance.

Tenor Michael Brandenburg performed three well-known songs from the Richard Strauss oeuvre: the persuasive "Cäcilie" the exuberant "Zueignung", and the tragic "Befreit" in which the singer must convey the sorrow of a man losing his youngish wife. The words speak of acceptance and even joy but the pain must also come through.

Bass Wei Wu introduced us to the other Chansons de Don Quichotte--those written by Jacques Ibert to text by Pierre de Ronsard. It was in this set that we heard what collaborative pianist Tomoko Nakayama could do. She totally captured the flavor of Spain. We will be reviewing a program called Don Quixote in Music this Thursday at the Hispanic Society and wonder whether these songs will be included!

The second half of the program was devoted to American songs, mainly from the Broadway genre. We were over the moon hearing these gems sung unamplified by such superior voices. All five singers were onstage together and interacted with one another, lending a naturalistic feel. Michael Heaston directed with panache.

Ms. González sang  Jerome Kern's "The Siren's Song" and astonished us with her versatility. We never knew she had a coquettish side and it tickled us. Mr. Brandenburg sang Nicholas Brodszky's "Be My Love" and sang it to all three women in turn. Although it was written to be sung to a "one and only", portraying the singer as a Don Juan was a delightfully fresh approach.

Ms. Otaño was really funny in the William Bolcom's bluesy "Toothbrush Time" about a woman who can't wait to get rid of her sleep-over date. Ms. Romano sang Bolcom's "Amor" without saying anything new, but she sang it engagingly.

Mr. Wu was convincing in "This Nearly Was Mine" from Rodgers/Hammerstein's South Pacific. The program ended with the entire cast singing "It's a Grand Night for Singing" and indeed it was!

How wonderful that New York could welcome these visitors from the nation's capitol. We hope they came back soon.

(c) meche kroop

MASTER OF MUSIC

Tomoko Nakayama an Zhiguang Hong

An enthusiastic crowd welcomed bass-baritone Zhiguang Hong to the stage of the Bruno Walter Auditorium which was packed to overflowing.  At the end of the recital, Mr. Hong was gifted with no less than five huge bouquets of flowers.  What a superb way to celebrate Mr. Hong's achievement of a Master's of Music Degree from Mannes College of Music.

What impresses most about Mr. Hong is his confident stage presence and his heroic style.  He commanded the stage completely in R. Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel which he sang with authority.  We noticed right away his strength in the lower register.  His collaborative pianist, Tomoko Nakayama, accompanied his "Let Beauty Awake" with some lovely arpeggios.

He was even more commanding in "See the raging flames arise" from Handel's Joshua with its challenging fioritura; his strong full instrument was used to good advantage.  Again, Ms. Nakayama played beautifully in the piano prelude.  Mr. Hong's English diction was beautifully clear.

Three songs from Verdi's Sei Romanze followed, "More, elisa, lo stanco poeta", "In solitaria stanza" and "Deh, pietoso, o Addolorata".  Although his voice sounded fine, we wanted a bit more Italianate style.

In the second half of the program, we heard three songs by Henri Duparc.  We were delighted to hear a more gentle aspect to his voice in "Phidylé" but when he sang  "Le Manoir de rosemonde", we realized that his strengths lie in the more heroic oeuvre.  In "La vague et la cloche" we loved the storm created by Ms. Nakayama on the piano.

Most impressive were the four songs by Schubert which ended the program.  In "Wasserflut" from Winterreise Mr. Hong showed more variety and depth of feeling than in the prior songs.  We found it quite moving and hoped that this promising young artist will continue to work on adding more variety to the other songs in his repertory--variety of dynamics and color.

The final song,"Erlkönig", astonished us because EVERYTHING was there.  His ability to loosen up and tell the story while acting the parts of the narrator, the reassuring father, the frightened child and the eerily seductive Erlkönig made the performance chilling and gripping in its intensity. Each character's voice was colored differently. He also used his body effectively.  

This made us think that Mr. Hong's future lies on the opera stage.  Indeed, he has a number of important opera engagements coming up.  In any case, we would be happy to learn that he is working on his French and German diction which did not quite live up to the standards set by his excellent English.

The audience demanded encores and encores we got!  As one might expect, Mr. Hong was far more relaxed in his native tongue and the two Mandarin folk songs we heard delighted us no end.  Wild applause brought on one final encore "This Nearly Was Mine" from Rogers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.

© meche kroop