MOVING RIGHT ALONG

Addie Hamilton, Sarah Tupper Daniels, Marley Dove, Cameron Johnson, Christopher Lilley, Chelsea Nectow, Kendrick Pifer, Jacob Lewis Smith, Kim Johansen--photo by
Brian Hatton

Manhattan School of Music's American Musical Theater Ensemble has yet another hit to lure lovers of musical theater away from BROADWAY and up to 122nd and Broadway.  A treasure trove of songs by the terrifically talented Jeff Blumenkrantz has been shaped into a revue conceived and directed by Carolyn Marlow.  Although there isn't a "plot" there is definitely a story to tell since each of the characters has a relationship with the others. The show gets off to a rousing start with the ensemble singing the cleverest lyrics advising audience members how to behave.  Not only was it a clever number but it was effective.  Not a single phone rang and no one rummaged through a purse or unwrapped a cough drop!

Set and Lighting Designer Shawn Kaufman has set the first act in a coffee shop with a barista named Miles (Jody Hinkley) who appears to suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder and sings the very funny "Everything is Better When It's Clean".  This setting allows the characters to come and interact with each other and leave.  The action takes place over the course of a year with each month bringing new events.

Act II is set in a gay bar called 50 Shades of Gay.  The bartender Kevin (Piers Portfolio) reprises Miles' lovelorn ballad from Act I "Hold My Hand".  One wants to stand up and cheer that these two souls have found each other. Not everyone is romantically lucky but Alysha (Kendrick Pifer) who opens the show hilariously obsessing about her weight in "This Will Be the Year" winds up connecting with the lovelorn Paul (Christopher Lilley) at a wedding which she is trying to get through by getting drunk in "Drink My Way".

Devoted Maxime (Kim Johansen) is unable to get the time and attention he wants from author Becky (Chelsie Nectow) in "Steal Away" and by Act II, they have separated and she is exploring her potential in "I'm Free".  In a funny bit, she enlists members of the audience to help her overcome her slacker procrastination.

Meanwhile the very cheerful Mary (Sarah Tupper Daniels) leaves her dead end job as a toll collector and starts doing voice-overs for porn, earning enough money to furnish her apartment.  Her "Welcome to My Apartment" is one of the funniest songs in the show.

Her brother Kyle (Cameron Johnson) is the saddest character in the show since he is unable to get over the death of his partner in "It Can't Be".  Having just seen Mr. Johnson in a fine comedic role in Haydn's Orlando Paladino at MSM, we were astonished to see his dramatic range.  He bitterly mocks his sister's pollyana-ish attitude in "Choose Happy".  His is one of those angry depressions--the "mean reds", not the blues.

Sixteen-year-old Meg (Marley Dove) is not at all sweet and torments her mother Victoria (Addie Hamilton).  Her gay brother Jason is consistently hilarious as he sings about his new crush in "spencersgt@yahoo.com" and even more hilarious in the title song "Moving Right Along", a duet with Miles whom he has dragged to 50 Shades of Gay.  Who has observed a horde of potential partners without criticizing them mercilessly!?  One poor victim was "dorky, porky, not NewYorky".  That should give you some idea of the cleverness of Mr. Blumenkrantz' lyrics.

But words cannot convey the catchiness of his music which works beautifully with the lyrics.  Musical Direction for the show was by Shane Schag who played the piano.  Grace Ho performed the cello part with Connor Schultze on bass, Aaron Patterson on "reeds" and Guilhem Flouzat as percussionist.  The excellent orchestrations were done by Josh Freilich.

How surprising to read the program notes and to learn that the singers were all students--from a freshman to some graduate students!  It was surprising because they all performed with professional attention to vocal demands and were completely dramatically convincing. We have seen shows on and off-Broadway that were not half so wonderful as Moving Right Along.

What made this show even more special was the way it tapped into so many contemporary issues: parent-child stress, romantic disappointment, growing up, achieving independence, loss and finding the right partner.  The humor of the songs and the immense effectiveness of the cast made it easy to see oneself and one's friends represented onstage.  There is one more performance tonight.  You couldn't spend a better evening anywhere else.

© meche kroop

PUREum JOy

Bretton Brown and Pureum Jo

Right on the heels of yesterday's impressive recital comes yet another one.  Soprano Pureum Jo is getting her Masters of Music Degree from Juilliard and presented a recital that she wanted to be "fun".  And there was plenty of fun for both singer and audience.  But there was also some serious material on the program.  Both the fun stuff and the serious stuff were equally admirable.  Whatever she sings, Ms. Jo lives within the song; her background in opera carries over so that facial expression, vocal expression and body movement are all of a piece.

There was something very ardent about her performance of spiritual songs.  We have never been particularly fond of spirituals but Ms. Jo made two of Harry Burleigh's songs memorable, especially with the slow tempo and dynamic variety which she brought to "Deep River".  Cesar Franck's "Panis Angelicus" is always a treat, especially since it was accompanied by the fine cellist Sang Jun Yhee.  Luigi Luzzi's "Ave Maria"  is perhaps not heard as often as Schubert's setting but was very lovely to listen to, especially as Ms. Jo sang it.

After the spiritual songs came a set of fanciful songs about witches!  In Richard Strauss' "Junghexenlied", Ms. Jo conveyed an elfin quality; her wonderful collaborative pianist Bretton Brown gave his all to the very apt accompaniment.  Wolf's "Nixe Binsefuss" and the spirited "Hexenlied" followed, all sung with involvement, meaning and excellent diction.

A pair of well-chosen love songs included the beloved "A Chloris" by Reynaldo Hahn, earnestly sung,  and a rather seductive "Je Te Veux" by Eric Satie which Ms. Jo invested with a cabaret style.

Two Rossini songs allowed Ms. Jo to demonstrate her fine bel canto technique with accurate and elaborate embellishments.  "Aragonese" was sung like an operatic aria complete with a stunning cadenza.  The frisky "La Danza" with its tongue twisting text was accompanied by Ms. Jo dancing in a variety of styles with a bunch of her classmates joining her onstage.  Now THAT was FUN!

In such a well designed and beautifully executed program, it is difficult to say which part was the best; but to our ears, Tchaikovsky's "Was I not a little blade of grass?" had a depth of feeling that broke our heart.  It is the metaphor-heavy lament of a young woman married off to an old man she does not love.  Ms. Jo's voice soared up into the stratosphere in a goose-bump-inducing finale.

As an encore, we heard Dvořak's "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka which Ms. Jo sang exquisitely.  We were fantasizing that Renée Fleming was there conducting a master class and that she said, "Ms. Jo, you nailed it.  I have nothing more to add."  Well, let us hope that we will soon hear Ms. Jo sing the role at the Metropolitan Opera.

Ⓒ meche kroop

LOVELY LYRICAL LAURA LEVOIR

Art Williford and Laura LeVoir

When we hear young singers we naturally have higher expectations of those further along in their career than we do of, let us say, undergraduates.  But sometimes we hear someone whose performance exceeds their level of education.  Such was the case last night when soprano Laura LeVoir, about to receive her Bachelor of Music Degree from Juilliard,  captivated our eyes and ears with a completely stage-worthy and accomplished performance.

Equally adept in Italian, German, French and English Ms. Levoir seemed ready to captivate any audience with her secure vocal technique, poise and consistently fine diction.  She has a warm and welcoming stage presence that seems to invite you into her world of song.

She opened the program, accompanied by the excellent collaborative pianist Art Williford, with three Italian songs.  In Vincenzo Bellini's "Vaga luna, che inargenti", she made the most of the long and luscious vocal lines we love so well.  We don't recall hearing Verdi's "Ad una stella" or Puccini's "Sole e amore" on many recital programs but we certainly want to hear them again.

Accompanied by Zsolt Balogh, she next sang selections from Robert Schuman's Liederalbum für die Jungend.  These are charming songs about the sandman, shepherds, a butterfly, a snowdrop and the welcome arrival of Spring.  Ms. Levoir makes a fine story-teller but never lets the dramatic emphasis interfere with her superb vocal technique. 

For "Viola" Schubert's lengthy tale of the arrival of Spring and the lonely snowdrop, Mr. Williford returned and provided sensitive piano interludes between the many verses.  His playing was sensitive and supportive throughout indicating a fine sense of partnership with Ms. Levoir.

The three delicate French songs which followed had all been translated by Ms. LeVoir herself and fulfilled all the Gallic requirements; the vocal line was even without any troubling emphases and the diction was perfect.  One was by André Caplet, one by Lili Boulanger and one by Francis Poulenc.

The program closed with selections from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson set by Aaron Copland.  Mr. Williford had some interesting moments on the piano in "Nature, the gentlest mother" and Ms. LeVoir created a wonderful moment in "Why do they shut me out of Heaven?"  But our favorite was the last song "Going to Heaven!" which hints at the loss of children and was very moving.

The audience was thrilled throughout and showered Ms. Levoir with applause and roses.  Thus, an encore was earned--George and Ira Gershwin's 1937 hit "They Can't Take That Away From Me".  Ms. LeVoir graciously thanked the audience and her family, her teacher Edith Bers and all the people who contributed to her growth.  They can be Very.  Very.  Proud!  This is a young woman to watch!  We had the same feeling the first time we heard Isabel Leonard sing and expect no lesser success of Ms. LeVoir.

© meche kroop

MUSIC FOR MOTHERS...AND OTHERS

Gyu Yeon Shim, Rachael Braunstein, Jimin Lee, Margaret Newcomb, Paull-Anthony Keightley

Whether any mothers of these five promising artists were in the audience we do not know.  But if they were, we are quite sure they would have been proud of their offspring who are finishing up their year at Manhattan School of Music--some graduating and others finishing their first post-graduate year, two of them familiar to us and three of them new.  We were happy to be a maternal stand-in.

Collaborative pianist Jimin Lee demonstrated consummate expressiveness in her playing and admirable flexibility working with diverse materials and singers with varied styles.  It was a program designed, we believe, to show off these qualities.

Mr. Keightley (does that rhyme with knightly?) whose Papageno we so greatly admired, showed a very different side of himself in Schumann's profound song cycle Dichterliebe.  His German diction was just about perfect and allowed us to give his performance our full attention, instead of looking at translations.  But Mr. Keightley's attention was divided between his score and his audience.  It would not be honest to deny that this was distracting.  We are sure there was a good reason for it but we have criticized some very famous singers for this misdemeanor.  Granted, it is NOT a felony!

He has a fine baritone and uses it well.  We particularly enjoyed the livelier songs like "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne" and "Aus alten Märchen winkt es".  Both baritone and piano shared a lovely crescendo and decrescendo in "Ich hab' in Traum geweinet".  The sense of drama in "Die alten, bösen Lieder" was in fine contrast with a lovely pianissimo.

It is too early to assign a singer to a particular category but, at this point, we will offer an opinion that Mr. K. belongs on the opera stage where his larger-than-life personality and agility can achieve full expression.  Perhaps grim material is too restraining.

Soprano Gyu Yeon Shim had only three songs to touch our heart and she succeeded.  She sang Amy Marcy Cheney Beach's Three Browning Songs, op. 44.  She has a light and well-focused soprano with a pleasing vibrato and sings without visible effort.  We were especially fond of "I send my heart up to thee!"

Mezzo Rachael Braunstein sang Three Songs, op.45 by Samuel Barber with a rich sound and fine diction.  We favored "A green lowland of pianos" in which she captured all the surreal humor that the poet (Czeslaw Milosz) had in mind.  We believe Milosz' verse was based on that of the Polish Jerzy Harasymowicz.

Closing the program was soprano Margaret Newcomb who pleases us every time she performs.  She sang selections from Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins.  She succeeded in bringing out the drama of the two Anna's by employing different voices.  She did particularly well acting out the seductiveness of "Pride" with a louche appearing Mr. Keightley.  We would someday love to hear her sing the entire roster of Sins--and we would especially love it if she sang Brecht's original text in German.  We are not sure whose translation was used but we felt a disjunction between the words and the musical phrasing.  This is so often the case and begs for presentation in the original language to avoid such awkwardness.

It was a fine recital and we look forward to future hearings of these promising artists.

© meche kroop

AN OUT OF SEASON WINTERREISE

Florian Boesch and Malcolm Martineau

This year alone we have reviewed Schubert's searing song cycle Winterreise several times (all reviews can be found through the search bar) and each time, save one, we have heard it anew; we have never grown tired of it and never will.  Such is the genius of Franz Schubert's music and Wilhelm Müller's poetry.

One might think of the music and text as a blueprint with each artist attempting to construct a personal edifice therefrom.  Last night at Weill Recital Hall Austrian baritone and English pianist Malcolm Martineau put a highly personal stamp on the work.

The cycle of poems traces the wintry wanderings of a jilted lover who undergoes extreme emotional distress similar to Elizabeth Kübler-Ross' so-called "stages" of grief which, in fact, are not discreet and always overlap.  The songs contain a balance between nostalgia, melancholy, vain hopefulness, anger, despair and resignation.

Mr. Boesch's idiosyncratic interpretation leaned rather heavily on the side of anger, especially in the first half of the cycle, shortchanging the balance that we believe was intended.  Nearly every song ended with an outburst of bitterness or anger.

It was not until mid-cycle in "Frühlingstraum" (one of our favorite songs), when we heard the intended alternation between the pleasure of the dreaming poet and the pain he feels upon awakening, that we could appreciate Mr. Boesch's more delicate side. The artistic choices in the second half of the program offered more variety and balance.

Mr. Boesch has a magnificent instrument and, although we have never heard his Wozzeck, we are sure he excels in that role. His innate sense of theatrics allowed him to color words and to create variety in the strophic songs from one verse to the next.  At times however he leaned a bit too strenuously on certain words, creating excessive emphasis.

Mr. Martineau was equally intense and propulsive at the piano with great variety in his dynamics.  He played full out in the preludes and postludes but he was supportive and restrained while Mr. Boesch was singing.  The attention of the audience was as rapt as the performances were intense; we just felt this performance to be slightly heavy-handed.  Still, it was a valid and operatic interpretation of a man's descent into madness.


© meche kroop

GERDA LISSNER COMPETITION WINNERS

Mario Chang, Paul Han, Shirin Eskandani, Maya Lahyani, Alexey Lavrov, Alison King, Ryan Speedo Green, Joseph Dennis

 

 

Renowned for their generosity in supporting young singers, the Gerda Lissner Foundation hosted a festive evening at the New York Athletic Club last night honoring beloved soprano Diana Soviero.  Foundation President Stephen De Maio introduced Brian Kellow, Features Editor of Opera News, who served as host. Eight winners of the 2014 International Vocal Competition provided the entertainment. The judges did a fine job in selecting these very talented artists.

Israeli mezzo Maya Lahyani opened the recital with a vibrant performance of the well-known "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen.  Ms. Lahyani has a rich true mezzo sound and a fine way of getting a song across.

Tenor Joseph Dennis showed good dynamic control in "Salut, demeure, chaste et pure" from Gounod's Faust; he succeeded in creating variety from one verse to the next.

Soprano Alison King has a lovely vibrato that she employed in "Iolanta's Arioso" from Tchaikovsky's Iolanta.  We liked the way her energy built to the climax and hope to hear her perform the entire opera in the future.

Tenor Paul Han did some lovely singing in "Fantaisie aux divins mensonges" from Delibes' Lakmé which he invested with great feeling, exhibiting an enviably delicate pianissimo.  We loved the way he floated his high notes without any strain.

The program next moved to the first prize winners.  Mezzo Shirin Eskandani has mastered the bel canto style of which we are so very fond.  Her "Non più mesta" from Rossini's  La Cenerentola was marked by accuracy in the runs and some unusual and finely executed embellishments.

Baritone Alexey Lavrov, well known from the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, gave a musical and marvelously well-modulated performance of "Vy mne pisali" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.  His interpretation presented the title character the way we have always thought of him--not overwhelmingly arrogant or cruel but a bit severe in his instruction of the immature Tatiana, as if he were an older brother setting her straight.

Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, also well-known from the Lindemann program, conveyed the blustery humor of Osmin in "Solche hergelaufne Laffen" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail".  He can create a wonderful character without any sacrifice of musicality or tone production, making it all appear natural and effortless.

Grand prize winner Mario Chang gave an electrifying performance of "Ella mi fu rapita" from Verdi's Rigoletto.  It was a strong and generous Italianate performance that gave everything Verdi asked for.  A wonderful cadenza capped the presentation.

Accompanying pianists were Arlene Shrut and Jonathan Kelly.

We remain grateful as ever to The Gerda Lissner Foundation for the generous support they give to young artists.

© meche kroop

OPERA AS POLEMIC

Ben Spierman, Lyssandra Stephenson and Perri Sussman

Made in America is a political opera cycle and one's appreciation for the work rests upon one's willingness to accept the opera stage as a bully pulpit.  The event--"Episode1: The Interview"-- was a co-production of Sonya Rice of OperaOggiNY and Diane Kaldany of the St. Bart's Episcopal Peace Fellowship.

Polymath Thomas Lawrence Toscano, Artistic Director and Founder of OperaOGGINY  served as composer, conductor and librettist.  Last night we witnessed the first of a series of one-act events, each with a theme:  Episode 2 will tackle Big Pharma; Episode 3, fracking; Episode 4, police shootings of young black males; Episode 5, the plight of veterans.

"Episode I: The Interview" has the achievement of peace in Israel as its theme.  The three characters are Alzubra, an American woman married to a Muslim man, Anat, an Israeli mother, and an Army Public Affairs Officer who has been assigned to question the women the better to understand the organization they have formed called MuJeLif--Muslim and Jewish Women for Life.

The women tell their stories of how they each lost two children in two very different tragedies, both laid at the doorstep of the good old USA which has provided arms to Israel and drones that kill innocent children.

Mostly due to the greater intelligibility of lower voices, it was easier to understand the unofficial sympathy of the PAO officer, believably acted and sung by Ben Spierman and the sad story of Alzubra, sung by Perri Sussman whose rich mezzo was a highlight of the evening.  Soprano Lyssandra Stephenson has a fine voice and was convincing in her support of Alzubra who seemed to be suffering more; but her high-lying vocal lines did not permit much understanding of her story.

Overall, we liked the dramatic and vocal aspects of the brief evening and found the piano music, performed by Alessandro Simone, to be interesting for the most part, often given a Middle-Eastern slant, and closely linked to the emotions being expressed.  Like most contemporary opera writing, the vocal lines were not particularly memorable, the problem lying largely in the sound and rhythm of the English language; Broadway writers, however shallow, seem to have the knack that serious composers do not.  The libretto was just not very singable.

That being said, we loved the duets between the two women whose voices rose in affecting harmonies.  The prayers the women offered seemed of a more musical nature than the rest of the singing which might just as well have been spoken. Although the tale is a tragic one, the ending is hopeful.  The two women sang a lovely duet that scans and rhymes!

Never underestimate the power of women to effect change.  (Nor the power of men to create the problems in the first place.) The final scene was of the meeting of MuJeLif and we spied a group of women off to the side wearing head scarves, presumably members of MuJeLif.  We were all set for a final chorus but none came.  Perhaps Maestro Toscano would consider adding one!

The subject is of inestimable worth but one that lends itself more to journalism or theater.  We remain unconvinced that opera is a suitable vehicle to move peoples' beliefs or to promote activism.  Perhaps Giuseppi Verdi's massive choruses about liberty motivated the Italian people in the Risorgimento.  But that was another time and another country.  Today we go to the opera to be entertained!

© meche kroop