GETTIN' THE GROOVE ON WITH JUSTIN AUSTIN

Damien Sneed and Justin Austin at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall

We don't usually get teary-eyed at vocal recitals. That usually happens when we witness something visually exquisite like a double rainbow in the mountains around Santa Fe, or watching a hummingbird dipping its beak into the center of a flower. Those are natural phenomena; singing is all artifice. But sometimes the results of intense study and lengthy practice applied to a natural gift can make this artifice seem as natural as the rainbow or the hummingbird.

So it was that last night at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall we found ourself incredibly moved by an outstanding recital performed by baritone Justin Austin, whose growth we have witnessed as he studied his way through Manhattan School of Music, guided by the glorious soprano Catherine Malfitano, who recognized and fostered his artistic evolution.

The recital came about as a consequence of Mr. Austin's winning the 2016 First Place Scholarship awarded by The National Association of Negro Musicians. The association has been around for nearly a century, explaining the outdated name. It is strange to think of Mr. Austin as a "negro musician" because we have only thought of him as a preternaturally gifted singer, no discriminatory labeling necessary.  But we understand that, to a group that feels marginalized, his labeling means something different. Some day the marginalization will be a thing of the past, or so we hope.

Mr. Austin strode confidently onto the stage in sartorial splendor and his collaborative pianist Damien Sneed sported a mohawk. This was, of course, just window dressing since we came for the sound, not the picture.  And what a sound! Mr. Austin's baritone is a caressing one with a fine vibrato that makes one think of velvet. Although he is young, just 27 years old, his sound is a mature one.

As one might predict, our favorite part of the program was the first set which he began with an aria from Cavalli's 1645 opera Doriclea --"Chi non s'accenderebbe". If we are not mistaken, Mr. Austin sang in this opera three years ago at MSM. What we appreciated, aside from the beautiful tone and Italianate phrasing, was the emotive content.

His singing goes straight to the heart, not only in Italian but also in German.  Hearing him sing straight through the consonants without cheating them was an aural pleasure. Schubert's "Die Krahe" from his cycle Winterreise was so fine that we want to hear Mr. Austin perform the entire cycle. 

The simplicity with which he performed Brahms' "Die Mainacht" was exactly what Brahms had in mind when he set the simple folksong with such artistry.  (Or so we would like to believe.)

Hugo Wolf's song "Herr, was tragt der Boden hier" is a different kind of song--complex and intense, with the drama heightened by Mr. Austin's skills in dynamic variety.

The remainder of the program was in English and we didn't expect to like it as much as we did. How rare to find a singer who can make every word intelligible! Often we have trouble concentrating on songs in English, getting distracted by wondering what that last phrase was about.  Not here! Not only was each word clear but the phrasing always made sense.

One set paid tribute to the disenfranchised.  Margaret Bonds' song "Minstrel Man" reminded us of the Eichendorff text "Ich kann wohl manchmal singen" which was set by several composers in the 19th c. The poet hides his grief behind a joyful exterior.

William Bolcom's "Ballad of the Landlord" resonated particularly with the audience. In Ricky Ian Gordon's "Luck", Mr. Austin spun out the final note in a long silken thread.

Mr. Sneed is also a composer and arranger and we enjoyed the world premiere of his song "I Dream a World" with its heart touching sentiment. He gave Mr. Austin a wonderful melismatic passage and some interesting effects heard in Early Music, and gave himself some rolling arpeggi and chromatic scale passages. We were thrilled to hear contemporary music that pleased the ear!

The second half of the program was equally enjoyable with a riveting performance of "Billy's Soliloquy" from Richard Rodgers' Carousel.  Perhaps you won't agree with us but we consider this an opera! The singer fantasizes the relationship he will have with his unborn son and then considers that the child could be a girl. Mr. Austin's alteration in color and tone aptly suited the material. And we liked the way he used the entire stage.

A very different soliloquy was then performed, the very bitter justice-demanding soliloquy sung by Coalhouse Walker in Stephen Flaherty's Ragtime, a Broadway musical that we also think of as an opera. Mr. Austin got the despair and anger just right.

"Lost in the Stars" from the Kurt Weill opera of the same name was similarly well rendered.

Another one of Mr. Sneed's compositions "Oh Freedom" (also a world premiere) opened with Mr. Austin kneeling next to the American flag. For about ten seconds we were puzzled, but then noticed that Mr. Sneed was kneeling at the piano and realized that they were referencing the current brouhaha in which ball players rebelled and refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The song began with a solo of beautiful vocal line and had the tone of a "Spiritual".  Very fine!

The program ended with Mr. Sneed's arrangement of two classics--Wynton Marsalis' version of the Lord's Prayer (another world premiere) and his arrangement of M. Hayes' (Amazing) "Grace".

We have never witnessed such a wildly enthusiastic and uninhibited audience reaction to a recital. The audience rose to its feet as one and several people literally jumped up and down. It was clear that people felt the material reflected their culture and concerns.  An encore was demanded but we did not recognize it much beyond the fact that it was a "Spiritual".

We entered expecting to hear Mr. Austin's consummate artistry but we got so much more than we expected.  We discovered a composer who knows how to write and we felt a part of a people's quest for equality and respect.  Good music can do that!

The recital was concomitant with Mr. Austin's birthday. But we felt as if he gave us a magnificent gift!

(c) meche kroop

APPLE OF OUR EYE (and ear)

Ken Noda, Sarah Mesko, and Paul Appleby

What gives us the greatest pleasure in life is witnessing the growth of young artists. We have thrilled to the performances of tenor Paul Appleby since we started writing--no, even before--from Juilliard to leading roles on the stages of the world's greatest opera houses. We have been there when he was showered with awards from all the leading foundations. And yesterday he appeared as the "senior" member of a duo at the George London Foundation recital series, having been awarded a half dozen years ago. His rapid ascent can be attributed to his impressive expressive qualities and commitment to whatever he sings.  Besides all that, he has a tonal quality that goes straight to the heart.

The final piece on yesterday's program at The Morgan Library (a very special series for those of us who adore the human voice) was a duet with the "junior" member of the team mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko, who was honored by the foundation just two years ago. The duet was the final scene from Georges Bizet's Carmen, a scene which has always seemed to go on a bit too long for our taste causing us to inwardly mutter "Stab her already".  But not yesterday!  The performance was so intense that we had to restrain ourselves from leaping onstage to prevent Don Jose from stabbing Carmen.

This frightening reality was created without set or costumes. We have never seen/heard it performed better. When Don Jose cradled the dying Carmen in his arms we could not hold back the tears. Ms. Mesko has experience with the role and Mr. Appleby absolutely must add this to his already substantial repertoire. Don Jose is a complex character and Mr. Appleby's artistry captured all of it. Interestingly, the two artists appeared together at the Santa Fe Opera a few years back in Offenbach's La Grand Duchesse de Gerolstein, which we reviewed so enthusiastically.

With that bedazzlement out of the way, let us consider the remainder of the program. Ms. Mesko's voice has the quality of liquid caramel and felt so totally perfect for Brahms whose "Die Mainacht" was the standout of her first set. Accompanied by the fine violist Andrew Gonzalez, she also gave a beautiful interpretation of Brahms' Zwei Gesange, op.91. The artist filled "Gestillte Sehnsucht" with restless longing. "Geistliches Wiegenlied" is a lullaby to the Christ child that we have often heard. Mr. Gonzalez' line echoed the vocal line and the repetition of the phrase "stillet die Wipfel" will not quit our ear.

We might add that Ms. Mesko's German diction was superb and she filled Hugo Wolf's "Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag erhoben" with wonder. She also accomplished a rare feat by singing English with superb enunciation. As far as the French, we found Gabriel Faure's "Clair de lune" to be wanting more fluidity of line to bring out the sensuality achieved by Ken Noda's superb accompaniment.  We even had the curious thought that the English song preceding the "Clair de Lune" had set her up for a choppier delivery.

We liked the way Ms. Mesko addressed the audience and told about her choices. She related how Hector Berlioz added something to Virgil's account of Dido's death when he wrote the libretto for Les Troyens. When she sang "Ah! Je vais mourir" we got Dido's anger at the abandoning Aeneas...followed by Berlioz' addition of an adagio section in which she expresses her gratitude for the good things in her life. In this part, we heard the longer legato line that we wanted to hear in the earlier "Clair de lune".

Mr. Appleby, so passionately convincing in opera, revealed a different side of his artistry in a set of songs by Britten. He is a thinking man's artist and can only be admired for choosing material that resonates with him. That it doesn't resonate with us does not take away anything. His attention to text is impressive and he mines every song for meaning. When we read the title of the song cycle On This Island, all we could think about was Mr. Appleby's thrilling performance at the Met in Enchanted Island! But this set of songs, settings of text by W.H.Auden, although they did not enchant us, held our interest.

We enjoyed the embellishments in "Let the florid music praise!" and the Brecht/Weill flavor of "Now the leaves are falling fast". The dirge-like "Nocturne" appealed to us because the text rhymed and scanned. But the most affecting was the sardonic and bitter "As it is, plenty" which Mr. Appleby invested with great dramatic import.

We cannot say that the set of Poulenc songs held our attention. Tel jour, telle nuit was set to text by Paul Eluard which struck us as surreal and not worthy of setting.

We would have been happy to have left the recital all shook up by the Carmen but the generous artists supplied encores. Ms. Mesko gave a delightful delivery of "Everybody Says Don't" from Sondheim's 1864 Broadway show Anyone Can Whistle. The show did not do well but the song is a winner.

Mr. Appleby's encore was Ned Rorem's paean to "The Lordly Hudson". Well performed as one would expect, but we would prefer to see the river through the eyes of a painter of the Hudson River School!

The talented pair closed the program with Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Dirge for Fidele" also known as "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", text from Shakespeare's Cymbeline. The overlapping voices and peaceful harmonies were perfect.

But the most perfect performance of all was that of collaborative pianist Ken Noda who is as supportive of the artist as he is brilliant on the keys.

(c) meche kroop

GERMAN FORUM SCORES A BIG WIN

Mariella Haubs, Babette Hierholzer, Gerard Schneider, and Jardena Fluckiger

Evenings of classical music offer many delights but transcendent moments happen but occasionally and produce feelings of incomparable bliss. We experienced just such a moment last night at the German Forum concert at the intimate Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center.

The special moment occurred when tenor Gerard Schneider was singing Richard Strauss' "Allerseelen". The poet tells of the sole day of the year when one gets to reunite with loved ones who are no longer on this earth. Mr. Schneider sang it with a depth of feeling that leapt right from his heart to ours. It was the the kind of connection we dream about and what every singer longs to achieve. Our eyes brimmed with tears.

By contrast, he sang Strauss' "Zueignung" with a blend of tenderness and passion that was thrilling to hear. Here is a tenor well on his way to superstardom who knows exactly how to use his gorgeous instrument. He also sang selections from Schumann's Dichterliebe with great control of dynamics and color, soothing the sore ears we got from enduring a recent awful performance, one we declined to write about.

And if one wanted something lighter, he gave us "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz", the well known aria from Franz Lehar's Land des Lachelns; he sang it ardently and we were completely enraptured. "Ach, so fromm" from Friedrich von Flotow's Martha was sung with the tender tones of love.

Soprano Jardena Fluckiger has a lovely pure tone and entertained us with some of our favorite songs by Hugo Wolf, selected from his Italienisches Liederbuch. She has an expressive face that complements her voice, and when she employs bodily gesture it adds a fine dimension to her performance. We always love the racy "Ich hab in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen" and, after the punchline, Babette Hierholzer's piano contributed the most delightful postlude.

Ms. Fluckiger gave us some impressive coloratura singing in "Quel guardo" from Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale. The embellishments were well handled and there was a particularly fine trill.

Compared with the bel canto fireworks, the two songs by Claude Debussy from Quatre chansons de jeunesse seemed a bit pallid and wanted more color.

Rounding out this superb program was music for violin and piano, performed by Ms. Hierholzer and concertmistress of the Juilliard Orchestra Mariella Haubs, who deserves all the accolades she receives. She was playing a Peter Guarneri violin from 1721, loaned by The Juilliard School, and what a sound came from this instrument!

Ms. Haubs is beautiful and glamorous but if you close your eyes you would believe it was someone very very famous and of more advanced years. The star number was the first movement of Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata, the presto section of which is forceful and technically demanding of both pianist and violinist. The two artists rose to the occasion to such an extent that we wanted desperately to hear the rest of the sonata but, alas, it was not on the program.

Instead we heard "Winter" from Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, a seasonal selection in which we could hear the snowflakes falling. Also on the program was Mozart's Sonata in F Major with its rapid fire triplets.

The evening ended with two selections from Lehar's Die Lustige Witwe.  First, Mr. Schneider sang the role of Camille, Count de Rosillon, inviting Valencienne (Ms. Fluckiger) to a romantic rendezvous in a pavilion. Then we heard "Lippen schweigen", the Act 3 duet between Hanna and Count Danilo, accompanied by violin and piano.

The German Forum, helmed by President Henry Meyer-Oertel, provides performance opportunities for artists from German speaking countries and has a loyal and devoted following. Many of the members share a passion for German composers and, naturlich, the singers sing German the way it should be sung. Their events are always major treats! Those who read our opinions know how highly we esteem the versatile collaborative pianist Ms. Hierholzer. Watch out for the next event!

(c) meche kroop

YALE IN NEW YORK

Yevgeny Yontov, Miki Sawada, Evanna Chiew, Nicole Percifield, and Brian Vu

It is always an occasion when artists from the Yale School of Music visit New York City; last night at Weill Recital Hall songs from the collection of Frederick R. Koch were presented by three experienced graduate level singers and two collaborative pianists.

We were delighted to have the opportunity to hear more of expressive baritone Brian Vu whom we have previously heard only briefly and reviewed at various competition award recitals.  His first set comprised songs by Henri Duparc in which he got to show off his impeccable French diction and succeeded in involving us emotionally.  After a somewhat boring set of songs which preceded we were roused by the emotionalism of one of our favorite French songs, the mysterious "Le Manoir de Rosemonde".  The nightmare desperation of "La vague et la cloche" was equally compelling.  Miki Sawada's piano successfully evoked the raging ocean and the dreamer's desperation.

In another set he performed Robert Schumann's "Herbstlied, Op. 89, No. 3" and two songs by Hugo Wolf in perfect German.  As pointed out previously, if you want to write a good song you need good poetry and Heine's "Wie des Mondes Abbild Zittert" and Goethe's "Beherzigung" fall into that category.  Mr. Vu's mellow baritone and emotional involvement served him well and brought the songs to vivid life.  We are of the opinion that a lieder singer must be first and foremost a good storyteller. Mr. Vu definitely measures up to that criterion.  Our only criticism is that Mr. Yontov's piano, so evocative in the quiet passages, became rather heavy handed in the more passionate passages.

New to us was mezzo-soprano Evanna Chiew who performed three songs by Jean Sibelius with plenty of poise and stage presence.  Her very pleasing mezzo has a fine soprano-y bloom on top while the lower register remains firm and nicely textured. We cannot evaluate her Swedish diction but it sounded quite lovely

In another set of songs by Mahler, we were most impressed by the settings of texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn.  Given a fine performance, there aren't many songs that delight us as much and Ms. Chiew gave her all in her interpretation of "Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald" and the humorous "Selbstgefühl". Her German diction was excellent.  We would welcome the opportunity to hear more of her.

We were somewhat less impressed by soprano Nicole Percifield who sang Debussy's Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire.  A couple nights earlier we heard these same songs performed at Juilliard in an entire evening devoted to Baudelaire.  Consequently we had a pretty good idea of how intensely moving these songs can be when sung with total involvement.  But last night, unfortunately, they all sounded exactly the same and the blandness failed to engage us.

Ms. Percifield has a bright soprano with perhaps a shade too much vibrato but the fault lay more in a lack of involvement, a lack of gesture and a lack of involvement. Her French diction was excellent and she made use of dynamic variety but there was definitely something missing.  We had hoped to hear more of her later in the program to learn if perhaps that was just the wrong material for her but those five songs were all we got.  Perhaps we will have another opportunity in the future.

© meche kroop

EIN LIEDERABEND

 Mary Feminear, Angela Vallone, Michael St. Peter, Kara Sainz

If you've never been to a liederabend at Juilliard let us tell you what you're missing.  You are missing an opportunity to see the opera stars of tomorrow (or maybe next year) in an early stage of development.  They are in no way beginners.  They have been cherry-picked from an enormous field of applicants and given superb instruction and coaching in all aspects of performance.  They are definitely performance-ready and have already been performing around the country and often abroad.

Last night, for example, we heard four fine singers perform songs we love, most of them familiar and a few new to us.  Soprano Angela Vallone opened the program with five songs by Brahms.  With each song her voice opened up and her connection to the text deepened.  She and her sensitive collaborative pianist Jung A Bang made a fine team and exhibited excellent dynamic control.  Her German diction made the words clear.  Our personal favorites were the sad "Mädchenlied" and the charming "Ständchen" which painted such a colorful picture.

Mezzo-soprano Kara Sainz, in fine partnership with pianist Kyung Hee Kim, followed with a set of songs by Fauré .  Together they did justice to "Mandoline", another lied about a serenade that brought a smile to our face. But it was in "Les berceaux" that Ms. Sainz reached a depth of feeling that touched our heart; one could feel the ships rocking in the waves and the cradles rocking at the hands of the sailors' wives.

Michael St. Peter has a sweet lyric tenor that he employed to great advantage in a set of lieder by Hugo Wolf.  We loved the play on the word "elf" in "Elfenlied", a frisky little narrative.  But the tender tale of a man seeking peace at any price with his beloved, "Nun lass uns Frieden schliessen", moved us deeply.  Furthermore we are delighted to report that Mr. St. Peter has mastered the pronunciation of "ich"; as our readers have probably noticed, we are unhappy when a singer pronounces it as "ick", or, worse yet, avoids it altogether.  We didn't even need to look at the libretto to understand his German.  Bravo!  Raymond Wong accompanied beautifully.

The final set of songs by Gounod were performed by Mary Feminear whose rich creamy soprano recently graced the stage at Gotham Chamber Opera.  She has a lovely voice and a facility for French.  In "Sérénade" there was a beautiful arpeggiated melisma on the word "chantez".  There was plenty of excitement conveyed in "Viens, les gazons sont verts!"  Ms. Feminear was accompanied by none other than Brian Zeger himself who coaches the students of the Institute for Vocal Arts.  To hear his piano in "Venise" was to be transported; the minor key and the delicacy of the playing were enough to put us in a traveling mood.

If this description is tempting to you, watch out on the Juilliard calendar for the next Liederabend.  They occur monthly at 6PM on Wednesdays.  A better hour could not be spent--a true mid-week respite.

© meche kroop

APPLEBY APPEAL

Helmed by Artistic Director Joseph Illick, the Santa Fe Concert Association has taken advantage of Paul Appleby's presence in Santa Fe and presented him in an incomparable recital last Sunday. For his theme, Mr. Appleby chose "Serenades". One thinks of a serenade as a song designed to get the listener to join the serenader. Mr. Appleby did exactly that. His friendly unassuming manner invariably invites the members of the audience to join him on his journey. We loved the way he introduced each serenade; this was of great benefit to those in the audience who may have been less familiar with the songs than we are. His sweet ringing tenor was put to fine use in the opening song, Schubert's Standchen" from his cycle Schwanengesang. Accompanied by Mr. Illick himself, the tempo was taken rather slowly and this tender but passionate verse by Ludwig Rellstab took on a new darker meaning with the artists' emphasis on the major/minor shifts. On the other hand, Brahm's sunny "Standchen" was performed with lighthearted humor. Hugo Wolf's "Das Standchen" was the only one of the group that was retrospective; an elderly man observes with nostalgia a young man serenading his beloved. Strauss' more familiar serenade was filled with the anticipation of a joyful reunion. All four of these serenades were performed with a deep connection to the material, a responsiveness to the audience and a delightful intimacy that worked well with the small-sized hall at the Scottish Rite Center. Mr. Appleby's German was impeccable. His French was equally fine in the delicate "Serenade Florentine" by Henri Duparc--a song in an entirely different mood that Mr. Appleby conveyed beautifully with a complete change of color. Carlo Pedrotti's "Serenata" was of a different ilk, seductive as only Italian can be. Mascagni's "Serenata", on the other hand, was performed with a sense of mystery. There was nothing mysterious about Tchaikovsky's "Don Juan's Serenade". Here the singer must deliver Tolstoy's intense verses with true Russian passion. The poet is more demanding than seductive and ready to die in a duel for his love object. Mr. Appleby handled every one of these diverse moods with consummate artistry. The major work of the recital and perhaps the inspiration for it as well was Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings" the score of which Mr. Illick himself reduced for string quintet and horn. This cycle comprises a setting of a collection of poems by various British poets. There was a great deal going on within the instrumentalists which tended to distract from the singing. We were particularly taken with an opening horn call played on a "natural horn", the valveless ancestor of the modern French Horn, which displays a bright and distinctive sound. Played by Gabriella Finck, the stirring horn call was happily heard at the close of the piece--this time from up in the balcony. There was considerable pizzicato playing, not only in the strings but also on the horn. As an encore, Mr. Appleby sang an aubade--a song sung at dawn. The hero of Lalo's opera Le Roi d'Ys is making a full-throated address to his beloved in anticipation of their wedding. It was a fine conclusion to a stellar recital. We have observed Mr. A's growth as an artist over the past few years and have never heard him give a performance that was shy of excellence. We are looking forward to seeing him onstage at the Santa Fe Opera as he performs the role of Fritz in Offenbach's La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein. This recital is only the first program in SFCA's Festival of Song. Lest we leave you thinking that is all that SFCA does, let it be known that this worthy organization brings all kinds of notable musicians to Santa Fe, not to mention ballet and lectures. Moreover, they have established programs to bring art education to schools in the area and provide scholarships. The "City Different" is fortunate to have such an institution. Stay tuned for more reviews!