LAST OF THE LINDEMANN

Valeriya Polunina and Michelle Bradley

Not to worry, it is only the last Lindemann recital for this season; we have every reason to believe that this valuable program will survive any cuts in governmental funding. We have often written about the value of this partnership between The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School. The young artists chosen for this program get access to the resources of both institutions and performance opportunities aplenty.

We have been observing the progress of these rising stars for some time and think of the Lindemann Program as a finishing school for opera singers.  Of course, training never ends and even famous superstars take lessons!

Last night's program included mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez, bass Sava Vemic, soprano Michelle Bradley, and coloratura soprano Hyesang Park. They are all well known to us and have given us abundant musical delights over the past few years.

Ms. Verrez, as a native speaker of French, was the perfect artist to perform Ravel's Sheherazade, which she translated herself. It truly does make a difference when a singer has that kind of in depth understanding of the text. In this cycle, Ravel's music captures the fantasy and eroticism of Tristan Klingsor's text. The poet was quite an armchair traveler!

Ms. Verrez has an unassuming presence and does nothing to call attention to herself, but rather submerges herself into the music, allowing the listener to see through her eyes all the imagery of the song. Judicious word coloring paints an aural picture. It goes without saying that the voice is a magnificent one and the phrasing is just what one hopes for in chanson. Ms. Verrez is always a consummate musician.

Her collaborative pianist Giuseppe Mentuccia did justice to the lavish accompaniment. In "Asie"; his fingers raced up and down the keys, adding to the air of exoticism.  In the haunting postlude to "La flute enchantee", Ms. Verrez' absorption sustained the mood. We enjoyed the feeling of unfulfilled longing in "L'indifferent".

Bass Sava Vemic chose a set of songs about death which he also translated himself. Schubert's "Der Tod und das Madchen" begins with some portentous chords in the piano expressing the fear of the young woman.  The work gave Mr. Vemic the opportunity to sing in two different colors. In the second verse, Death reassures the maiden of his gentleness and the change of color was arresting. He had to dig down deep for a really really low note.

Brahms' "O Tod, wie bitter bist du" also shows two sides of Death--bitter to some and welcome to others.

Our favorite songs came from Mussorgskuy's Songs and Dances of Death, predominantly because Mr. Vemic's thrilling timbre lends itself so well to the Russian language. We just this week heard the composer's Songs of the Nursery and it was wonderful to hear another aspect of his artistry. We enjoyed "Serenada" but our favorite was "Trepak" in which 

Mr. Metuccia again provided fine collaboration on the piano with a rumbling accompaniment.

In this song, the pairing of text and music was so apt that we could not imagine the work being sung in translation. Here Death is both seductive and comforting, blanketing an old peasant in snow.

Soprano Michelle Bradley has a diva's presence and a large sound that thrills the ear.  She performed  Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs and performed them as mini-dramas that created the world of Irish monks and scholars. There is great variety in the text and consequently in the music. Ms. Bradley invested each with its own meaning. We particularly enjoyed the enthusiasm of "The Heavenly Banquet", the contentment of "The Monk and His Cat", and the knowing wink of "Promiscuity", the two lines of which Ms. Bradley invested with a world of meaning.

She altered her vibrato to put an evocative chill into "The Desire for Hermitage" which closed the set.  In this set the accompanist was Valeriya Polunina whom we have always admired for her ability to focus on the singer. The pair made a fine team.

Sadly, due to a prior commitment, we had to take our leave before hearing Hyesang Park whom we absolutely adore. We wish we might have cloned ourself.

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SANTA FE OPERA DOES VANESSA

VANESSA by Samuel Barber at the Santa Fe Opera (photo by Ken Howard)

Samuel Barber's opera premiered at The Metropolitan Opera in 1958 after a long and difficult gestation.  Ultimately, Barber's partner Gian-Carlo Menotti completed the libretto, inspired by the atmosphere of Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales. Last night the Santa Fe Opera presented this opera with an all-star cast that did justice to Barber's score.  We rarely experience such perfect casting with nary a weak link.

As the eponymous Vanessa, Canadian soprano Erin Wall, whom we have greatly enjoyed as Strauss heroines right here at the Santa Fe Opera, performed the role with total commitment, employing her lustrous soprano to convey a complex character, a woman of single-minded hopefulness but blind to reality. Her voice soared with passion.

No less wonderful in the role of her niece Erika was French mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez, who not only created a believable character but mastered the difficult task of making the English language comprehensible. This role is her Santa Fe Opera debut and we were thrilled to see her onstage here after enjoying her many performances in New York City. Her delivery of the most famous aria of the opera "Must the Winter Come So Soon" was perfection.

As the mysterious Anatol, Zach Borichevsky utilized his terrific tenor and dramatic skills to create another fascinating character--a glib fellow who has no use for depth of character--an opportunistic rascal courting aunt and niece simultaneously.

As the Doctor, bass-baritone James Morris commanded the stage as he usually does with his marvelous instrument and presence.  With all those complex characters, the story needed one who was straight-forward. A heavy story like this one also needs some moments of lightness, and a score light on memorable melody needed those precious moments when the Doctor attempts to teach Anatol to dance to a beautiful folk tune "Under the Willow Tree". His scene during the New Year's Ball in which he inebriatedly  contrasts his experience with women as patients and women as dancing partners was memorable. His elegiac aria about time and memory was riveting. It tickles us to learn that Mr. Morris was an apprentice here in 1969!

Mezzo-soprano Helene Schneiderman had little singing to do but her onstage concentration as the silent Baroness was compelling. As a very funny Major-Domo apprentice tenor Andrew Bogard demonstrated a winning manner as he coveted the furs of the wealthy guests. Apprentice bass-baritone Andrew Simpson made a fine footman.

For those who do not know the story, we see it as a character study--one of three generations of women insulated from the outside world and cosseted by servants. They live isolated and locked into Vanessa's illusory hope that the man she loved twenty years earlier would return at any time. In what amounts to a folie a deux, her niece Erika plays along, ordering special dishes for dinner and laying a place for him. Clearly, she worships her aunt and supports her.

The elderly Baroness has stopped speaking to her daughter and actually doesn't even speak with the Doctor, only with her niece. Erika confides in her grandmother but has a guilty secret that she cannot share with Vanessa.  This guilty secret is that she had intimate relations with Anatol the night he arrived at their country home after Vanessa had fled from him.  You see, this is not the Anatol that abandoned Vanessa 20 years earlier!  It is that man's son who has heard a great deal about Vanessa from his recently deceased father. He has come to take his father's place. It is likely that he is a gold digger.

Erika's character is just as uncompromising as her grandmother's. Anatol is interested in marrying her, perhaps out of guilt but also for financial reasons.  But Erika, who has fallen wildly in love with him, knows that he doesn't love her sufficiently and rejects him. She does this in spite of her grandmother's urging her to marry him and preserve her honor.

Meanwhile the scoundrel is also courting Vanessa who, lost in her own joy, fails to notice what is happening with her niece. When, after Erika's failed suicide attempt (and miscarriage), she confronts Anatol asking him to reveal all, he gives her the reassurance she has hoped for.  And so does Erika. They all collude to support Vanessa's illusion and Vanessa departs for Paris with Anatol, whom she has wed.  Erika is left behind to care for the aging Baroness and to inherit the lavish manse. 

Her isolation is one of disappointment and despair, whereas Vanessa's was one of hope.  But both women covered the mirrors as a denial of the passage of time.

The story has been set at the turn of the 20th c. in a Scandinavian country manse. Director James Robinson has updated the tale to about 1940 to no major disadvantage (or major benefit for that matter). He told the story well in a manner that held our interest throughout.  When we think of opera we think first of the Italians of the 19th c. and then of German and French composers. Contemporary operas in English generally strike us as "plays with music". So let it be noted that this worked extremely well as theater!

But what about Barber's music? He certainly knew how to write melodic vocal lines but eschewed them here with the exception of Erika's aria and the Doctor's. The final quintet however was magnificent. Barber used the orchestra to reflect the various moods of the piece and we have no complaint on that count. Leonard Slatkin's conducting captured the many moods.

Allen Moyer's scenic design was perfect.  The white and grey set reflected the coldness of the clime and the chill atmosphere of the manse.  As part of the design, a huge cracked mirror was revealed when the drapes were opened. A mirror reflects not quite perfectly but a cracked mirror reflects the distorted understanding of the characters.

James Schuette's costumes were appropriate to the period.  Although we would have preferred seeing the fashions of the original time period we were satisfied that the costumes established congruency with the intended updating.

Including this work in their season was a courageous move by The Santa Fe Opera and a wise one. It was an evening in which every element worked together to provide artistry and entertainment both. We have rarely enjoyed a 20th c. opera as much.

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AN UNFORGETTABLE FIGARO

Virginie Verrez, Takaoki Onishi and Ying Fang (photo by Ken Howard)

Le Nozze di Figaro, if not our favorite opera, is at least in the top five. We have seen it perhaps 30 times in our opera going lifetime.  We have always enjoyed it but we have never thrilled to it as much as last night when Juilliard Opera presented it with the perfect cast, meaningful direction by Stephen Wadsworth, and spirited conducting by Gary Thor Wedow, who brought out every nuance of Mozart's glorious score.

Mr. Wadsworth elicited the humanity of the characters in all their fullness without ever stooping to cliché. As the entitled aristocrat Count Almaviva, baritone Takaoki Onishi created a character who was not a monster, just a man of his time in times that were changing. He showed the frustration and bewilderment of a man confronting servants unwilling to do his bidding and a wife who found a way to deal with his philandering--with the servants' help, of course. Mr. Onishi's singing is always topnotch, bursting with musicality and richly textured sound.

His nemesis Cherubino was so convincingly portrayed by mezzo-soprano Virginia Verrez that we forgot it was a travesti role. Her lustrous voice was unhampered by the demands of the character. This was a very hormonal youth ("Non so più cosa son") and his lust for the Countess was unmistakable. Anyone who has read the final entry of Beaumarchais' trilogy knows that the two of them conceived a child.  But this is the first time we have ever seen the two of them making out in bed! At the end, it was obvious that he did NOT want to marry Barbarina!

That the Countess finds him irresistible was made clear by the excellent soprano Alexandra Razskazoff. We recently saw this opera at the Metropolitan Opera, in which we found the Countess bland and lacking dignity.  Not so here! Ms. Razskazoff managed to show us the spunky Rosina she had been, the beaten down wife she had become, and her growth into the dignified woman in control.

As Figaro, bass-baritone Thesele Kemane gave vocal evidence of being in control of every situation.  Dramatically, he showed the wit and the cleverness the role demands and needed only a touch of additional charm and humor to make his characterization complete.

Aside from the theme of shifting power structure, there is much that Beaumarchais had to say about love and its varying manifestations. Figaro and Susanna represent faithful romantic love with its accompanying fear of loss, manifested by jealousy. Soprano Ying Fang created a completely lovable and resourceful Susanna. Her bright soprano was employed successfully to support the interpretation. Her facial expressions while being pawed by the Count were priceless.

The Count and Countess of course represent love gone sour. He is a consistent philanderer and she is repairing her damaged self-esteem (What a "Dové sono"!) with the young page Cherubino. The Count's contrition at the end ("Contessa perdono") is stretched out and held back for as long as possible, leaving us in the audience thinking "Get down on your knees already and apologize!"

More surprising is the ambivalent affection between Marcellina, superbly sung and acted by undergraduate (!) mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey and Bartolo, impressively performed by bass Önay Köse. His Bartolo was not detestable but rather likeable. He too is a victim of his epoch and his grudge against the Count is understandable ("La vendetta"). This pair of performers made it believable that they had once had an intimate relationship. Perhaps he still cares for her or perhaps he is making the best of the situation when he agrees to marry her. On her part, she is a bit seductive toward him, perhaps to gain his support or perhaps she really cares for him.

One of the most astounding surprises of the evening was witnessing tenor Miles Mykkanen's creation of the role of Don Basilio. This character is a dandy, a gossip and a panderer and yet Mr, Mykkanen made him deliciously appealing. We should not have been surprised because this versatile artist always does something original.

Tenor Aaron Mor, also an undergraduate, fulfilled the requirements of the role of Don Curzio the magistrate.  The scene of the court case was hilarious with each character jumping up to make his point.

Bass-baritone Tyler Zimmerman offered ample comic relief as Antonio the gardener. He conveyed bibulousness and righteous indignation very well.

Soprano Liv Redpath made a sweet Barbarina but was not given much to do dramatically.

The chorus did beautifully, coached by David Moody and the Juilliard Orchestra did justice to Mozart's melodic music.

The fact that we scarcely recognized these singers with whom we are well acquainted is tribute to the excellent wig and makeup design of Tom Watson. Camille Assaf's costume designs could not have been better. We will long remember the Count's opulent yellow dressing gown and the Countess' lavish gowns, as well as Susanna's wedding dress. The quiet colors for the rest of the cast were apropos.

The set design by Charlie Corcoran faithfully recreated a palacio outside of Seville. The servants' room was rather bare and being made ready for occupancy. The Countess' room was opulent with period furniture. David Lander's lighting was apt and unobtrusive.

We have run out of superlatives. We do believe we have seen a Nozze di Figaro against which all future ones will be measured. The production managed to be faithful to Mozart's music and Beaumarchais' drama, adding new insights to our perception of the work.  And that's exactly what we want from opera!

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DEUS EX MACHINA

Andrew Stenson and Ying Fang  (photo by Marty Sohl)

The production of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide was so outstanding we do not know whom to credit first.  Undeniably, conductor Jane Glover had a hand in it, or should we say "two hands" as she used them in balletic fashion to guide Juilliard415 (Juilliard's period-instrument orchestra) through Gluck's lean expressive score.  From the very first theme of the overture, heard at key moments later in the opera, we knew we were in good hands.  We want to call her Jane Goodhands, no "gloves" necessary.

Gluck can be said to have revolutionized opera in the mid 18th c.  By eliminating many excesses of the baroque, he paved the way for Mozart's genius.  By selecting libretti with authenticity of emotion, psychological insight, and sincere simplicity, he engages the listener who can examine his or her own predicaments and find resonant parallels.  Who has not struggled with desires that conflict with duties?  In this case, the libretto by du Roullet was based on the Racine play of 1674.  The opera premiered in 1774 in Paris.

Still, it is the singers themselves that carry the opera and we found the performances to be beyond criticism.  Each and every singer, drawn from the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and Juilliard Opera, was astutely cast, vocally perfect and dramatically affecting.  Were it not for the unexpected happy ending (unexpected because we had not read the synopsis beforehand) we would have gone home in tears.  Thankfully, due to the intervention of the goddess Diane, the innocent Iphegénie gets to live and to marry her beloved Achille.

Soprano Ying Fang made a perfect Iphegénie, using her expressive limpid voice, face and body to convey the nobility of character that enables her to express both despair over losing her young life and submission to her fate as a sacrifice.  At one point, convinced that Achille had been unfaithful (a ruse), she summoned up quite a lot of outrage.

Similarly, her intended husband Achille, as performed by tenor Andrew Stenson, conveyed rage at Agamemnon, tender love and protectiveness toward his bride and also had to exhibit outrage at being falsely accused of infidelity.  He accomplished all this without compromising his warm appealing tone.

As the conflicted Agamemnon, baritone Yunpeng Wang limned the character of a man torn between love for his daughter and duty to the gods who demanded the sacrifice. Mr. Wang has a round sturdy baritone that can sound authoritative when necessary to control others, angry when confronting the recalcitrant gods and yet tender when thinking of his child.

Mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez was stunning as the mother Clytemnestre.  She has a true rich mezzo sound with a great deal of depth.  In the closest thing to a mad scene that one might see in a pre-19th c. opera, she nearly loses it in her rage at her husband--all without losing her magnificent phrasing and tone.  At her entrance she is all regal dignity and it was upsetting yet understandable to watch her decline into near madness as she wished to substitute her life for her daughter's.

As the high priest Calchas, bass-baritone Brandon Cedel demonstrated why he has been winning prizes everywhere.  His lordly tones expressed the matter-of-fact information that Iphegénie must be sacrificed.  It was in different tones that he announced toward the end of the opera that the goddess Diane had arrived.

As Achille's friend Patrocle, baritone Takaoki Onishi gave his usually fine performance, lending truth to the saying in the theater world that "There are no small roles".  

All of the singers mentioned so far are familiar to us as we have watched their growth from one year to the next.  But last night we heard two singers for the first time and enjoyed their performances enormously.  Serbian bass Sava Vemić made a fine showing as Arcas, Agamemnon's lieutenant who is responsible for conveying messages important to the plot.  His rich substantial sound made us want to hear more of him.  As Diane, soprano Liv Redpath had the enviable role of the "deus ex machina" making everyone happy.  It will make us happy to hear her again.

As Three Greek Women, Angela Vallone, Kara Sainz and Mary-Elizabeth O'Neill made a fine showing as well.

Although billed as a "concert version" the young artists, performing onstage in front of the musicians, acted up a storm.  The only features missing were costumes and sets; we never missed them due to the persuasive acting and fine singing.  David Paul directed the enterprise, a collaboration of The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School.

Finally, let us not forget to mention the fine French diction.  Even the chorus, positioned on the sides and at the rear of the orchestra made the language comprehensible.  There is only one more performance on Saturday at 2:00.  Miss this at your own peril.  Don't say we didn't tell you!

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BAUDELAIRE IN MANY HANDS

Brian Zeger, Austin Smith, Eric Jurenas, Miles Mykkanen, Virginie Verrez and Christine Price

As we have noted previously, the very best kind of recital nourishes the listener intellectually as well as artistically.   Last night's Juilliard Songfest presented the songs of Charles Baudelaire in such a manner that we were inspired to return to our copy of Fleur du Mal to reinforce the pleasure we experienced while listening to the music.

For us, the highlight of this presentation was hearing our favorite text "L'Invitation au voyage" in the familiar setting by Henri Duparc and later in a setting by Alexander Gretchaninov, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov.  The magnificent mezzo Virginie Verrez has the advantage of being a native speaker of French and her total comfort with the language enabled her to immerse herself totally into conveying the textual significance.  

Along with the gorgeous instrument she employs with such fine technique, she possesses the rare artistry to bring you into the core of the song as she experiences it. One could break down the components of this artistry but there are times when we prefer to just allow ourselves to feel the music and the sound of the words as they envelop us.  This was one of those times.  We wanted to feel the exoticism and the erotic languor.

Gretchaninov's setting was unfamiliar to us but the Romanticism was beautifully interpreted by soprano Christine Price whose voice has a pleasant ring and a fine vibrato.  While not a native French speaker, Ms. Price's French diction was quite fine. 

Ms. Verrez seems to have a particular affinity for Duparc and we thrilled to her delivery of "La vie Antérieure".  The vivid fantasy elements of the text were given astonishing word coloring and we entered a strange beautiful world.  Likewise in "Harmonie du soir" when her voice joined with Mr. Zeger's piano and took us on a journey of simile and metaphor.  The imagery of a "flower offering incense to the night" and "a violin trembling like a heart betrayed" were particularly striking.  (The phrases sound much better in French!)

Ms. Price was particularly touching in Debussy's setting of "La Mort des amants" which, in spite of the title, struck us as far more romantic than morbid.

Special honors go to tenor Miles Mykkanen who appeared in the second half of the program and sang Fauré's setting of "Hymne, Op. 7, No. 2" a song without any of the darkness so common in Baudelaire's poetry.  Mr. Mykkanen shares with Ms. Verrez that very special quality of using gesture and voice in a completely organic way that makes a song appear to be spontaneous, belying all the effort and technique necessary to reach that point.

But he outdid that stellar performance with "Le Jet d'eau" in which a fountain is compared with "a white bouquet whose flowers sway until the moon releases showers of bright tears" (translations by Richard Howard).  In this, Mr. Zeger's piano offered a shower of harp-like tones.  Mr. Zeger's collaboration with these young singers knows no equal.  He is artistic director of the Ellen and James Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard, among many other titles.  He seems to have perfect judgment in suiting the singer to the song.

Equally dazzling was their performance of Gretchaninov's setting of "Je t'adore" in which Mr. Zeger and Mr. Mykkanen united so perfectly that we were totally swept away.  This artistic partnership is the very reason for attending vocal recitals--when a voice and a piano can take you places you've never visited before.

Counter-tenor Eric Jurenas gave a fine performance of Debussy's setting of "Recueillement" in which the "Sun will die in its sleep beneath a bridge". Here, Mr. Zeger's piano laid down a thick carpet of Impressionistic sound for Mr. Jurenas. Sad to say but Mr. Jurenas' diction was not quite up to that of the others.  We caught a word here and there but never an entire sentence.

We have quoted some of the text to demonstrate the evocative nature that inspired such beautiful compositions.  How could one go wrong with imagery like that!  If you want to write a good song, you should choose good poetry!

More songs on the program included settings by Ernest Chausson, André Caplet, Daron Aric Hagen and Paul Hindemith--all fine songs but not as much to our taste as Fauré, Debussy, Duparc, and Gretchaninov.

We had only one quibble with the program.  Austin Smith was onstage reading the text in English translation.  Translations may give us the imagery of the text but not the innate musicality of the French language.  Furthermore, his reading lacked the dramatic impact we noted three months ago when Lucy Rowan narrated a Tennyson text at the Manhattan School of Music.

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MORE BUDS ON THE VOCAL ARTS BRANCH OF THE JUILLIARD TREE

Alex McKissick, Nicolette Mavroleon

Kurt Kanazawa, Virginie Verrez, Laura Levoir, Jessine Johnson

Lachlan Glen, Theo Hoffman, Leann Osterkamp, Mary-Elizabeth O'Neill

A week of recitals at Juilliard have left us reeling with pleasure. There wasn't a mediocre singer in the bunch; all were promising but some seem to have a better sense of what suits their particular voices and interpretive skills.  It takes a lot of courage to introduce a new work or to choose songs that are rarely performed.  Sometimes a gem is discovered and sometimes we are left realizing why a particular work has been neglected.  (Anyone who has worked with Steven Blier knows of his gifts for choosing songs and finding the right singer to inhabit them.)

Let us begin with Theo Hoffman whose third-year undergraduate status tells us absolutely nothing about his prodigious talents.  His generous smoky baritone was heard twice on Thursday.  At the Vocal Arts Department's Liederabend (an all-Schumann program) he sang in perfect German four lovely lieder, perfectly modulated in volume and word-coloring.  He was accompanied by the fine Ari Livne.

And two hours later he was onstage at his third-year recital with the amazing Lachlan Glen (whose new CD we will be reviewing shortly) as piano partner, making music out of some songs in English that we did not expect to enjoy; it is testament to the talents of these two artists that we found ourselves loving the material.

Mr. Hoffman has preternatural stage poise and dramatic chops; he can really bring a song to life.  He drew selections from the oeuvre of Jonathan Dove, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, John Musto, Samuel Barber, Rufus Wainwright and Marc Blitzstein.  One cannot go wrong with poetry by Alfred Tennyson, Robert Louis Stevenson or William Butler Yeats.  But the big surprise was Rufus Wainwright's "True Loves" and Marc Blitzstein's "Stay in My Arms". Both men composed their own texts and both songs were pure delight.  As encore, Mr. Hoffman sang Noel Coward's "Uncle Harry", a reprise of his success at a recital at the National Opera Center. What fun!!!

Sharing the program was mezzo Mary-Elizabeth O'Neill whom we enjoyed in those wonderful Schubert songs from Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister.  She was just the right interpreter for these songs of the mysterious Mignon.  We were somewhat less enchanted by her choice of Mirabai Songs, John Harbison's setting of texts by Robert Bly.  The writing for piano was difficult and dense, performed well by the fine collaborative pianist Leann Osterkamp, but the vocal line was spare and not melodic.  The work obviously meant a great deal to Ms. O'Neill but we found ourselves incapable of caring about the Hindu princess who left her family to devote herself body and soul to Lord Krishna, although Ms. O'Neill's diction in English was easily understood.

To return now to the all-Schumann Liederabend, we enjoyed baritone Kurt Kanazawa, accompanied by Joseph Yungen, having a great deal of fun with his choices.  His light and pleasing baritone sounded wonderful and seemed particularly suited to songs about seduction--"The Hidalgo" for example.  He is one of those singers who uses his body and facial expression to good advantage, as in his imitating the ladies of Seville with their fans and mantillas.  What a storyteller!

Soprano Laura LeVoir with her piano partner Zsolt Balogh sounded especially fine in "Der Sandmann", "Schmetterling" and "Schneeglöckchen", singing with lightness, delicacy and charm.

Jessine Johnson has a larger voice that was well suited to the tragic "Der Soldat" and the scary "Muttertraum".  The Rückert lied "Mein schöner Stern" was equally impressive.  Siyi Fang followed along with her as piano partner, contributing to the apt interpretations.

Mezzo Virginie Verrez, accompanied by Miles Fellenberg, undertook the very sad Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart.  Her very textured voice was expressive and she demonstrated exquisite phrasing, dynamic control and word coloring.  We were moved and enthralled.

Soprano Nicolette Mavroleon and tenor Alex McKissick shared a third-year recital and made a fine showing, the most amazing part of which was their versatility.  Just a few days earlier we heard them both singing in a cabaret (also reviewed here) and were impressed with the ease with which they shifted gears.

We always love Dvořák and were thrilled that Ms. Mavroleon chose to sing a quartet of his songs, three of which were about unfulfilled love.  We especially loved the typical Czech melody of "My heart often becomes mournful".  Piano partner Valeriya Polunina captured the mood perfectly.

She also sang a Schubert concert aria in Italian that was filled with emotion--"Vedi quanto adoro ancora ingrato!"  How wonderful to discover a new side of Schubert; we would not have recognized it as Schubert.  Two songs by Rimsky-Korsakov followed and we were blown away by the erotic "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Tenor Alex McKissick essayed selections from Die Schöne Müllerin which we have always considered to be best sung by a young man.  He conveyed enthusiasm and contentment, tenderness and exultation. We liked the way he changed color for the various voices in "Am Feierabend".

He has a facility for Spanish and did a fine job conveying the insecurity of the serenader in "Te quiero, Morena" from the zarzuela El Trust de los Tenorios by José Serrano.  José Padilla's "Princesita" had a lovely melody.  Raymond Wong was his able accompanist.

A week spent at Juilliard provided a lifetime of musical memories!

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RADAMISTO AT JUILLIARD

John Holiday and Virginie Verrez (photo by Nan Melville)

Radamisto was the first opera composed by G. F. Handel for the Royal Academy of Music.  It was a great success in 1720 and was rewritten substantially to accommodate a different cast.  Then it lay dormant for two centuries.  No doubt it is being revived in present days due to the availability of so many superb countertenors.  (We would not be surprised if someone told us that The Department of Vocal Arts at Juilliard chose this opera as a vehicle for the brilliant countertenor John Holliday--but no one did.)  The vocal fireworks were evident from the start but it was Mr. Holiday's rapid fire fioritura that stole the show--and there was a lot of show to steal.  We will not neglect to mention how moving his singing was in the slow passages.  What a thrill to hear a young singer in a starring role, so gifted at presto and adagio both.

Radamisto is kind and good and devoted to his wife Zenobia, a role sung with grace and total commitment by the glamorous Virginie Verrez.  Offering a huge contrast to their devotion is the tyrannical Tiridate, King of Armenia, and his unhappy neglected wife Polissena.  Bass-baritone Aubrey Allicock made a splendid villain and utilized his large round sound to great advantage.  Polissena was stunningly portrayed by soprano Mary Feminear who was able to convince us that she so loved her cheating husband that she would stand by his side even when he was ready to kill her brother Radamisto and their father Farasmane, well-sung by bass Elliott Carlton Hines.

Tiridate's two commanders were likewise brilliantly sung by two superb sopranos in pants roles--Pureum Jo impressed with her magnificent coloratura and Elizabeth Sutphen with her sublime phrasing.  It would be fair to say that the casting and performance were perfect--and how often can one say that?

Handel's music was performed by Juilliard415, the school's principal period-instrument ensemble.  Conducted expressively by Julian Wachner with Patrick Jones at the harpsichord, the sound was magnificently enveloping.  The instruments would have appeared unfamiliar to those unexposed to baroque music, especially the winds.  We were tempted to spend more time watching Kevin Payne playing the exotic theorbo but we couldn't take our eyes and ears off the singers.

The story is loosely based on history and nothing much happens; the libretto is attributed to Nicola Francesco Haym.  It's mostly a case of off-again on-again murder because Tiridate would do anything to acquire Zenobia and threats are made and withdrawn many times.  Thinking of the piece as a character study is more useful, but even then Tiridate's last minute relenting seems psychologically invalid.  The absence of action was quite a challenge for Director James Darrah to deal with and we drew the same conclusion when we saw the opera in Santa Fe in 2008:  it's all about the singing.  Some of the invented movement was puzzling but the alternative would be to have the singers just stand there and sing.  There were several arias that we'd love to hear as "stand-alones"; chief among them were "Cara sposa" and "Ombra cara".  We do love love songs!

Sets and lighting were attributed to Emily Anne MacDonald and Cameron Jaye Mock.  Although the set was minimal--a few chairs against a wall--the lighting was effective.  When Zenobia throws herself into the river, blue ripples washed over the stage.  When splendor was called for the dominant lighting was golden.  Visual interest depended upon Costume Designer Sara Jean Tosetti's glamorous gowns and regal costumes for the men.  We are replete with ear and eye candy.

© meche kroop

SIR RICHARD'S BEL CANTO

Maestro Richard Bonynge

Is there no limit to the ways in which Juilliard serves the world of music?  Last night the Georg Solti Accademia celebrated its tenth anniversary in collaboration with the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts by bringing in the esteemed maestro Richard Bonynge to teach a master class--a gift to the capacity crowd that jammed the Peter Jay Sharp Theater.  There is no peer in the world of bel canto like Sir Richard.  The singers chosen were also peerless in bel canto technique and not one of the five failed to benefit from the maestro's gentle but firm instruction.

Although each singer received individual instruction on his or her aria, certain themes repeated themselves from one participant to the next.  The beauty of the tone should be emphasized far more than the volume.  The long legato lines should not be interrupted by unnecessary breaths.  The singer should not work too hard but should keep the sound light and expressive.  High notes should not be pushed.  It is alright to "sit on" the most exciting note but otherwise not alright.  Care must be taken with triplets not to emphasize the second note.  The recitative must not be sung as if it were an arioso; keep it moving.  Portamenti must not degenerate into "scooping".  There must be variety of color and an element of surprise.  Start a long phrase pianissimo and build it to a climax.  Do not cut off the ends of phrases but rather let them float away.  Do not give all the beats equal emphasis.  Scales must be articulated.

All five singers made us sit up and take notice.  Soprano Elizabeth Sutphen negotiated the huge skips, the trills and the even scale passages of Verdi's "Caro Nome" (Rigoletto) with great aplomb.  Soprano Hyesang Park was lovely in "Eccomi...O! Quante Volte" from Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi.  Soprano Raquel Gonzalez demonstrated her beautiful bel canto chops in "Piangete voi...Al dolce guidami castel natio" from Donizetti's Anna Bolena, prompting Maestro Bonynge to urge her to learn the entire role for future performance.  (We definitely want to be there when she sings it!)

Mezzo Virginie Verrez also chose an aria from the same opera, "E sgombro il loco".  She has a lovely sound and abundant stage poise with excellent connection with the text.  It always amazes us when a singer comes out on a recital stage and sings an aria that creates, with just her voice and gesture, the presence of invisible sets and the missing characters.

Baritone Takaoki Onishi sang "Ah! per sempre" from Bellini's I Puritani; we enjoyed it so much that we plan to return to Juilliard tonight to hear more of him.  He sounded even better when he eliminated some unnecessary breaths, doing justice to Bellini's long legato lines.

No one knows bel canto like Richard Bonynge and it was quite a thrill to be in attendance.  We not only had the pleasure of hearing five exemplary singers but we learned a great deal about the finer points of bel canto singing.  We could have sat there all night long.

© meche kroop

A NIGHT AT THE OPERETTA

Steven Blier and Friends

Steven Blier's artistic generosity and modest demeanor hide the fact that he is a most successful impressario; indeed his many NYFOS evenings have broadened our own appreciation for works at the fringes of the opera world.  Last night at Henry's on the Upper West Side,  he put together a delightful program of songs from operettas both native and foreign, using the wealth of talent available at The Juilliard School.  One would never suspect that the singers are students; we have seen and heard professionals whose talents fall way short of what we heard last night.  The good news is that next season Henry's will play host to an entire NYFOS series!

Raquel González portrayed the femme fatale in "Ich schenk' mein Herz" from Carl Millöcker's Die Dubarry, captivating the audience as well as the five gentlemen of the cast.  Next she sang a duet with Nathan Haller from Lehár's "Die lustige Witwe".  Miles Mykkanen sang "There Isn't One Girl in the World for Me" from Jerome Kern's Sitting Pretty, subtly coloring his timbre and varying his vibrato to sound like a recording of that period.

"Je suis Lazuli" from Chabrier's L'Etoile was sung in the best of French from the very French Virginie Verrez.  Philip Stoddard donned a silly rajah's turban for the amusing "Chant birman" from Messager's  L'Amour masqué; what was most remarkable was that he gave the rajah's nonsense language a French accent.  Absolutely hilarious.

Rachel Wilson infused her zarzuela number with a pinch of sazón; Barbieri's El barberillo de Lavapiés is a zarzuela we long to hear in its entirety.  A splendid duet with some lightning fast patter was performed by Kyle Bielfield and Davone Tines from another zarzuela entitled La del manojo de rosas by Sorozábal; it involved a humorous dispute between two men courting the same woman.

Simone Easthope sang "The Amorous Goldfish" from Sidney Jones' The Geisha and Kyle Bielfield sang "Je suis gai" from Offenbach's La Belle Hélène, perhaps the most famous of the operettas on the program.  The seasonal duet "April Snow" from Romberg's Up in Central Park was sung by Rachel Wilson and Nathan Haller.  The program ended with John Philip Sousa's humorous "Against the Spanish Army" from El Capitan.  Somehow we never knew that the famous composer of marches wrote an operetta!

Throughout this generous evening, Mr. Blier narrated from the piano, letting the audience in on the plot and characters.  It was just one of those evenings that you wish would never end.  Sadly, it is over and these talented performers are leaving for summer programs elsewhere.  But Mr. Blier is not going anywhere and we will be enjoying his exploration into unusual vocal music tonight and on May 13th.  You should as well!

© meche kroop

A WELL-SPENT HOUR

Sometimes one sits through 4-5 hours of opera and feels drained.  And sometimes one can have an hour of music that leaves one feeling uplifted and satisfied.  Such was the case last night when we had the good fortune of attending a recital by Robert White's students.  It was amazing to witness such poise and talent in a group of seniors--undergraduates all.  Never having sat in on his class, we can only extrapolate from the evidence of the performances.  We imagine they spent the entire semester preparing for this recital with an enormous amount of study of the text, the period, the language, the inherent drama, the means of sharing this knowledge with the audience, and so on.

Each of the seven students brought something different to the recital.  Soprano Lindsey Nakatani sang three songs by Henri Duparc with suitable Gallic sensitivity.  Baritone Jay Dref showed great stage personality with songs by Kander & Ebb, Steven Sondheim, and Lerner & Loewe, therein demonstrating that Broadway shows are truly on a par with 19th c. operas (which were the popular music of their day).

Baritone Philip Stoddard had such fine German diction in a late Romantic lied by Hermann Zilcher that we never needed to glance at the translations.  That he showed a light and humorous side in a cabaret song by William Bolcom was further evidence that lighter music was treated as seriously as lieder by Mr. White.

Soprano Jessica Taylor brought winsomeness to some songs by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and Cole Porter, 20th c. American classics all.  Mezzo Virginie Verrez sang 3 songs by Jake Heggie, settings of texts by Frederica von Stade (who knew?)

Soprano Heather Stebbins blew us away with Hugo Wolf's "Verborgenheit", illustrating the despair with a rich chocolate sound that we look forward to hearing again.  A lighter side was demonstrated in Verdi's "Stornello" which was equally enjoyable.

To close the program and send everyone out smiling, tenor Miles Mykkanen brought down the house with 3 Sondheim songs.  Our personal favorite was "Moments in the Woods", otherwise known as the song of the Baker's Wife.  Mr. Mykkanen could easily find a home on the Broadway stage if he decides against opera.

Piano partner for all singers was Anastasia Dedik.

The biggest thrill of the evening, beside the generous display of talent and hard work, was the concept of treating 20th c. American classics with the same respect and attention as lieder.  To those who think serious academic music of that period is the true child of operatic parents, we would be happy to argue the point.  Your comments are welcome.

(c) meche kroop