LOVERS, SWINDLERS, AND CLOWNS

Asher Denburg, Jeremy Griffin, Anna Viemeister, and Valentin Peytchinov

We love new experiences; we love being introduced to new singers; and we love getting more evidence for our strongly held beliefs. The belief in question has to do with American opera and its definition. The academic music world insists on presenting the public with works which we see out of curiosity, works which very few people ever wish to see again.

Meanwhile, there are writers of "Broadway Musical Theater" who entertain us in the same way as Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, and Puccini did in previous centuries. These works hold our interest and endure mainly because of one feature. They have melody. The melodies stay with us and we want to hear them again and again.

Of course, looking at 20th c. musical theater, there was a lot of trash, but there were also forgettable operas in the 19th c. So, dear reader, last night found us back at St. John's in the Village, the Rector of which is a true music lover. The occasion was a celebration of the centennial of Prohibition and celebrate we did with a compelling concert of music theater and cabaret, performed unamplified (YAY!) by a trio of splendid singers, accompanied on the piano by Asher Denburg, a pianist new to us but one we look forward to hearing again.

The singer who was new to us is Jeremy Griffin whose baritone voice readily encompasses the lower register. Whatever he sang was given the full force of his personality; he has plenty of presence and uses his entire body to get a song across. And he enunciates English clearly so that every word is understood.

Our favorite number of the evening was William Bolcom's "The Song of Black Max"--in our opinion the best song Bolcom ever wrote. We were introduced to this song by none other than cabaret artist Kim David Smith and we fell in love with it on the spot. We have heard it several times over the past few years with feelings of disappointment because the other singers failed to paint the picture. 

Mr. Griffin succeeded where others failed. He virtually created the character of Black Max but also created the characters of the "lady organ-grinder", not to mention "all the sons behind her", as well as the "little girls with little curls in little dollhouse jails".

He was very funny in "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" from Eric Idle's Spamalot, adding in some appropriate dance moves. 

He conveyed different facets of fatherhood from the silly to the serious. The father in "The Baby Song" from I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change by Roberts and DiPietro is dealing with the challenge of a new baby, whereas the father-to-be in the "Soliloquy" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel is dealing with his fantasies of fatherhood. The father in "I Confess" from Snow and Pitchford's Footloose is dealing with far more serious issues, as a preacher laments the son he lost.

In an entirely different mood was "Epiphany" from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in which Mr. Griffin created a scarily believable angry and vengeful character. And how about that relaxed and confident singer of Paul Anka's "My Way" who's nearing the end of a fulfilling life! So many different characters and all so well realized!

Although Mr. Griffin did the heavy lifting for the evening, mezzo-soprano Anna Viemeister created the hilarious character of Prince Orlofsky from Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, singing in heavily accented English his famous aria "Chacun a son goût" in a pretty clever English translation. She also made a superlative emcee for the evening.

To cap things off, Bulgarian bass Valentin Peytchinov lent his venerable instrument and larger than life personality to create the character of French planter Emile de Becque lamenting the loss of his love in "This Nearly Was Mine" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.

What a treat to hear such wonderful music unamplified in an intimate environment and sung by such terrific talent! We celebrated Prohibition at a post-concert reception with bubbly toasts and a sing-a-long with Francisco Mirando at the piano.

© meche kroop

CUBANS IN PARIS

New York Festival of Song at Juilliard with Cubans in Paris

 We were raised a stone's throw from Cuba and we counted among our friends a number of people who had fled Castro's regime. What no one ever told us was that there had been another mass exodus in the 1920's. The violent and repressive regime of Machado led to economic decline and was a hostile environment for musicians, especially if they wrote in the Afro-Cubanismo style. According to Steven Blier's excellent essay, Paris welcomed them with open arms.

Last night's concert was the annual event we always look forward to when Mr. Blier brings his brand of magic to Juilliard where his students always bring even more magic to the stage. Cubans in Paris was filled with terpsichorean energy, luscious melodies, and captivating rhythms. 

Although the students got to do a lot of dancing and acting, we were sadly confined to our seat. The fast-rising director Mary Birnbaum created a little drama out of each song and Adam Cates created the compelling choreography. Shawn Chang provided able assistance to Mr. Blier at the second piano and we must say we have never seen a pianist with such erect posture. Leonardo Granados was responsible for the percussion on conga drums, supplying the rhythmic impulse.

Those who know our taste in music will not be surprised to learn that the first piece on the program--"La bella cubana"-- was our favorite song of the evening, remaining in first place no matter how many others appealed to our eyes and ears. Indeed it was one of two songs from an earlier period, just after the turn of the 20th century; it was composed by José White, a child prodigy whose music was admired by none other than Rossini. This paean to a beautiful Cuban woman was sung in splendid harmony by tenor César Andrés Parreño and baritone Kyle Miller.

Mr. Parreño has quite a feel for Cuban music and delighted us further in a duet with the lovely mezzo-soprano Olivia Cosío. "Si llego a besarte!" was a ballad of yearning, and who would not yearn for the love of the lovely Ms. Cosío. We enjoyed his solo "Tú no sabe inglé", a very funny popular song by Emilio Grenet, whose music was far more accessible than Alejandro Garcí Caturla's "Bito Manué" an earlier setting of the same humorous text by Nicolas Guillén, here performed in fine funny fashion by tenor Santiago Pizarro and Mr. Miller. This poor guy can't connect with all the available American women tourists because he is linguistically handicapped.

The pair also worked brilliantly together in excerpts from the operetta Toi c'est moi by Moisés Simons. The work had a charming music hall feel and told of the adventures of a pair of buddies under both warm fraternal circumstances and also during a fight--"Entre copains".  What a bromance! The choreography was outstanding.

Sindo Garay was a self-taught musician who knew how to write beautiful harmonies. His "Guarina" (another song from the turn of the 20th c.) was superbly realized by tenor Ian Matthew Castro and baritone Aaron Keeney. It had the flavor of a serenade and had much in common with "La bella cubana". It seems our ears just respond better to music closest to the Bel Canto period.

Let us move on to the lovely ladies! We were rather dazzled by the singular soprano of Chea Young Kang who moved us with an aria from José Mauri's zarzuela-- La esclava. In "Perdida para siempre la esperanza", the heroine Matilde laments her tragic life; her beloved deserts her when he learns that she is a mulatta. Such themes were common in racially mixed Cuba, one of the few places were zarzuela survived and was repurposed to suit themes of the time and place.

She was similarly heartbreaking in Ernesto Lecuono's "Maria la O" from the zarzuela of the same name and with a similar theme.

Soprano Jaylyn Simmons had all the right moves as well as a soaring soprano. Eliseo Grenet's sorrowful "Lamento esclavo" found contrast in Simons' "Palmira", portraying a woman who enjoys her sexuality and attracts all the available men. Of course the men of the cast did well as her multiplicity of admirers!

We were not the only member of the audience to enjoy Ms. Casío's performance of Simons' "C'est ça la vie". In this song, Carmen gets to do the stabbing and her faithless lover got just what he deserved.

The lively encore came, not from Cuba, but from Puerto Rico. The entire ensemble joined in the raucous "Cachita" by Rafael Hernandez. The infectious mood of the artists spilled over into the audience and we virtually danced our way home.

© meche kroop

TIME FOR THREE

Charles Yang, Ranaan Meyer, and Nicholas "Nick" Kendall

Last night's venture beyond our comfort zone was, uncharacteristically, a huge success. We have learned that someone with excellent curatorial skills can lead us down unusual pathways and open our ears to something we didn't expect to love. Andrew Ousley, the mastermind behind Death of Classical--comprising The Crypt Sessions at The Church of the Intercession as well as The Angel's Share at Green-Wood Cemetery--knows how to provide superb evenings of unmitigated delight to a small select audience, of which we were thrilled to be a member.

Last night at The Crypt we had a musical experience that satisfied our soul by virtue of a trio of artists sharing their music in a magical space deep underground, lit only by candles. We were enthralled by the melodic and harmonic invention and the intensity with which the three men related to one another, their instruments, and the audience. Taking notes would have distracted us from this intimate experience. We just listened.

Most of the vocals were handled by Charles Yang who plays a mean violin; giving the double bass more melody than we've ever heard was Ranaan Meyer; Nicolas "Nick" Kendall contributed his violin magic and all joined for what might be called "backup singing" but which we would call texture.

Some of the numbers they performed were originals, some were composed for them, and yet others were "covers", although our lack of knowledge of popular music prevents us from naming them. We had the feeling that there was a considerable degree of momentary improvisation. As in any chamber group there was nearly constant eye contact--but no scores to dilute the intimacy.

The three artists are clearly classically trained and our minimal knowledge of string technique allowed us to recognize double stops and pizzicato. However, there were other techniques that we hadn't seen before like strumming and plucking. Mr. Meyer did things to his double bass that we usually think of as ways a man might touch a woman--caressing, stroking, tapping, and light scratching.  Yes, these artists do love their instruments!

With such unfamiliar music we felt free to associate. At times we thought of The Beatles, at times Bluegrass music with its lively banjo, at times the kind of Country Music one might hear at a hoedown, as well as folk tunes which we could not quite place. All these styles were perfectly integrated into a pleasing and absorbing whole. The program was predominantly happy music until the end when the trio played music that sounded deep and sacred.

We were not alone in our enthusiastic appreciation. The Crypt holds less than 50 music lovers but the deafening applause gave the impression of hundreds. The trio has played in some mighty grand venues but we were grateful for the intimacy. The connection between the artists and the audience provided a unique experience, one that we are not likely to forget!

We might add that Mr. Ousley has another series up his sleeve and if you follow Voce di Meche on Facebook you will be among the first to find out--which is a good thing because Death of Classical events sell out immediately.

© meche kroop 

I LOVE LUCY

Lucy Arner and Hans Pieter Herman

Any time a singer undertakes to learn one of Schubert's magnificent song cycles, we are overjoyed. Although the current spell of Springlike weather deprived the performance of Winterreise of its seasonality, we approached the evening with a high level of anticipation. We are usually swept away in a torrent of emotionality. Although our current social climate involves plenty of "ghosting" and single people are far more likely to rush toward a new partner when disappointed in love, still, we all know people who are filled with despair over a breakup. The so-called "excesses" of German Romanticism are nowhere near gone from the emotional landscape.

Although last night's interpreter stated in the program notes that he was astonished that two 30-year-old men could have created a work so profound, we ourself are not surprised. Genius does not wait for middle age. As a matter of fact, we have heard students at Juilliard interpret the work in a fashion that drew us in, leaving us in a pool of tears.

Last night, we were not drawn in by the vocalism and found ourself instead listening acutely to the piano collaboration of Lucy Arner who limned every single reference to natural elements, employing every variations of color and dynamics at her disposal. Every time the harmonies shifted we felt a shift in our emotions. Changes from minor to major caused our heart to leap with hope; returns to the minor mode were wrenching.

The singer, the very renowned Dutch baritone Hans Pieter Herman, may have had his own feelings about the work but his interpretation did not touch our heart. Wilhelm Müller's passionate poetry and Franz Schubert's memorable melodies failed to blossom for us. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out why, since most of the audience seemed more than satisfied with the performance.

For one thing, Mr. Herman's voice could be considered rather too heavy to portray a young man; at times he sounded stentorian.  For another, although being self-absorbed can be thought of as consonant with the poet's mental state, staring up into the non-existent balcony left us feeling left out. We didn't feel a connection with the singer.

During the introductory "Gute Nacht", the singer was very still, but as the cycle progressed, he employed plenty of gestures, none of which felt organic or spontaneous. Perhaps Mr. Herman was alone with sorrows of his own but we couldn't feel along with him.

It is admirable that despite the hearing loss we read about in the program, Mr. Herman achieved perfect intonation. We wish the dynamics had been as well realized.  Certain words were hit hard and jumped out of line; sometimes the words chosen for emphasis seemed idiosyncratic. We missed the subtlety of gradual crescendo and decrescendo. We will say that the German was perfect. 

There were a few lovely moments, especially in the quieter lieder.  In "Irrlicht" there was a beautifully floated high note."Der Lindenbaum" is one of our favorites and we particularly enjoyed the piano prelude in which the piano echoed the phrase and Schubert's voicing produced an excellent imitation of a French horn.

Ms. Arner's playing was on point throughout. In "Rast" and in "Einsamkeit", we not only heard the poet's plodding steps but we felt them. The piano part captured the false cheer of the poet's delusional dream in "Frühlingstraum". In "Die Post", we felt the hoofbeats of the horse and heard the sound of the posthorn. In "Im Dorfe" the piano created the growling of the dogs.

The cycle ended on a haunting dirge in which Mr. Herman successfully lightened his voice. We will restrain ourself from trying to interpret "Der Leiermann" and be content with the mystery of it all.

© meche kroop

UNDERGROUND SALON

Felix Jarrar, Alexandra Lang, Angela Candela, Gillian Watson, Celeste Morales, Robert Colon, and Chantal Brundage

What a splendid idea to provide a safe place for young artists to try out new material. Angela Candela's brainstorm is in its second year and we are so glad that we were able to attend. We have wonderful memories from last April as well as from last night. We heard a few sopranos that we have heard before and a couple who were new to us, as well as a countertenor. All were accompanied by the versatile pianist/composer Felix Jarrar who always gives his all to whatever he undertakes.

Several of the singers have upcoming auditions and competitions and were trying out their arias in front of a live audience, all the members of which were supportive, giving them the applause they so richly deserved. A few asked us for suggestions to improve their presentations but those who asked struck us as being performance ready. All the singers introduced themselves and told the background of the arias they were about to sing. This is so helpful and we thought of this as event as the perfect one with which to introduce an opera newbie.

Ms. Candela is a remarkable soprano whom we have reviewed a number of times -- at the gala of Classic Lyric Arts and at the International Vocal Arts Institute. Her ability to slip into any role makes her an artist to watch. We still recall her hilarious "Je suis grise".

Her Mimi last night (from Puccini's La Bohême) served to introduce her character in a way that made us want her to "get the guy". Like any young woman on a first date she was "selling herself" with both winsomeness and flirtatiousness. She colored her lovely voice with sweetness and negotiated the upward leaps with a satin legato.

Later in the program, she picked up where Chantal Brundage left off in Violetta's Act I scene from Verdi's La Traviata. Ms. Brundage gave gravitas and vulnerability to the "Forse lui"  and Ms. Candela stepped in with the fiery cabaletta "Sempre libera", filled with stunning coloratura effects. What a versatile artist she is!

Celeste Morales is well remembered from her admirable Alice in Verdi's Falstaff at Manhattan School of Music. Last night she gave a deeply affecting performance of Liu's aria "Signor ascolta" from Puccini's Turandot. With terrific technique, she portrayed the desperation and anguish of the slave girl warning her master. The sets and costumes appeared in our mind's eye--always a good sign of a successful portrayal. We loved the legato line, the Italianate phrasing, and the dynamic variety.

In a total change of pace, she also performed Joseph Marx's romantic "Hat dich die Liebe berührt"; we are pleased to report that the German was excellent. We were inspired to hear more of this late 19th c. Romantic composer. 

The first time we met Alexandra Lang, she was directing a charming pastiche of operetta for New Camerata Opera, which may actually have been our introduction to the company that was to grow into a successful presence on Planet Opera. Last night she tackled the extremely difficult mad scene from Donizetti's Anna Bolena and made us sit up and take notice.

Not only is the vocal line devilishly difficult but the singer must portray a wide range of emotions by employing a variety of vocal colors. The doomed Queen faces death with denial at first, luxuriating in some pleasant memories, and then with panic. The flowing legato of the aria was followed by a fioritura-filled cabaletta, marked by accuracy in the scale passages and arpeggi. It was riveting and we believed Ms. Lang's characterization.

Gillian Watson is new to us and we were glad to have her brought to our attention. Her bright and powerful instrument was put to good use in "Mi tradi" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. She evinced a fine vibrato and successfully negotiated the melismatic arpeggi. She limned the character of Donna Elvira with fine vocal control combined with generous use of gesture.

Later in the program we heard her fine French in "Il est doux, il est bon" from the seldom performed Hérodiade by Massenet.

Robert Colon, the sole male on the program, is listed as a countertenor but the unevenness throughout his register made it difficult to place him in that fach. He sang our beloved "Verdi prati" from Händel's Alcina with feeling and expressiveness and some very interesting embellishments of the vocal line in the repeat. However, he needs to work on getting his voice centered and perhaps considering a different fach. His second selection was "on the book" and did nothing to change our initial impression since we heard a lot more chest voice than one would expect from a countertenor.

The concert lasted but an hour but gave us a great deal to appreciate. We hope we will be free for the next Underground Salon.

© meche kroop

HYGGE

Cozy, comfortable, convivial, and contented are adjectives used to explain the Scandinavian concept of "hygge". We are not exactly sure how last night's concert at the Weill Recital Hall exemplifies those qualities, but we did hear some mighty fine piano playing from Irena Portenko and guest pianist Zachary Hoffman.

When we think of those adjectives, our mind may run to a 19th c. salon at the home of Franz Schubert with his friends gathered round to hear his latest songs, holding the scores in their hands, and singing his glorious melodies. Perhaps that what countertenor Jeffrey Palmer had in mind when he attempted to sing three of Schubert's best contributions to the lieder literature. Had Schubert been present, we do not believe he would have been content.

The concert stage is not the place to try out new material holding the score in one's hand. Nor is it the place to sing in a language which one has not mastered. Mr. Palmer's German is schlecht with frequent dropping of final consonants. His phrasing left much to be desired with breaths taken in awkward places, interrupting the vocal line.

We found ourself focusing on the superb playing of Dr. Portenko and realizing just how skillful Schubert was in supporting the vocal line, something which Mr. Palmer did not profit from. In "Ständchen" the piano's nightingale joins the lover in his serenade. In "Auf dem Wasser zu Singen", the ripples of the water are portrayed by parallel ripples in the piano. "An die Musik" pays tribute to the very artistry that Schubert accomplished in his sadly truncated life.

Lest you think we have something against the countertenor fach, rest assured we do not. As a matter of fact, we listen to Jakub Jozef Orlinski regularly, as well as Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, two young masters of the fach. 

Mr. Palmer's singing was far better in two arias from Händel operas. "Ombra mai fu" from Serse was sung with pure Italian vowels and a pleasing legato. Mr. Palmer sings expressively and we could see the grand shady tree through his eyes and feel the cool shade. "Va tacito nascosto" from Giulio Cesare in Egitto sat particularly well in the best part of Mr. Palmer's register and the embellishments of the vocal line were exquisite. 

We would have been happy to have heard Mr. Palmer sing nothing else for the entire concert but that was not the case. He tackled "Che faro senza Euridice" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice and we'd call it a draw. We also heard some Debussy and Schumann, neither of which compared with the two traditional Irish songs with their haunting melodies. The singer has a pleasing vibrato in the lower end of his register but an unpleasant harshness at the top.

To round out the eclectic vocal part of the program was a song by Björk, one by Barber, and one of our favorite Sondheim songs--"Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music, a song which we would be happy to label as an aria. We were puzzled by the inclusion of an a capella aria from Huang Ro's Paradise Interrupted, which we reviewed in 2016 as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. We wanted to hold onto our memory of John Holiday's ethereal voice. Mr. Palmer's singing did not even approach the sound of Mandarin. Or was that an English translation? One could not tell.

If the vocal part of the program did not leave us with "contentment", we admit that it was convivial with the singer chatting amiably with the audience and, at one point, sitting at the edge of the stage. The audience loved it.

The piano part of the program, on the other hand, was always artistic and consequently pleasing. Dr. Portenko achieved a comfortable stage presence as she addressed the audience and enjoyed a fine collaboration with her fellow pianist Zachary Hoffman with whom she performed the third section of Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 1 in G Minor. The work comprises the substantial development of a simple theme, with Mr. Hoffman's piano providing some marching chords to accompany Dr. Portenko's lyricism. 

We don't often hear two pianos-four hands and were delighted by the stereophonic effect. We were even more delighted when two of Dr. Portenko's students joined the other two pianists and we heard Piazzolla's "Libertango" played by two pianos-eight hands!

Mr. Hoffman had a fine solo in Cécile Chaminade's "Arabesque No. 1, Op. 61" with it's 19th c. lyricism that we so enjoy. The frequent recurrence of the theme gave the work a satisfying unity.

Dr. Portenko's solo was Chopin's "Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op. 23". The lengthy work is full of invention and takes the listener on a profound emotional journey. A searching melody gives way to an intensely passionate section; tenderness alternates with high drama. Just when one thinks the work is drawing to a close, new themes are brought in. By the time it ends one feels emotionally drained but content.

We would be remiss not to mention the New York Premiere of Benjamin Araujo's piano cycle Nine Portraits for Piano Solo, in which this young composer limned the personalities of members of his family and also public figures. The work was assured and original with plenty of variety among the nine episodes. And what is your 15-year-old doing???

The lengthy program even offered an encore, "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush in which a woman dies in childbirth, or so we think, because the words were not clearly enunciated. We would have preferred a more joyful conclusion to the evening.

© meche kroop

CHOPIN AND SZYMANOWSKI

Amy Owens, Michael Brofman, Spencer Myer, Sarah Nelson Craft, and Miori Sugiyama

Michael Brofman,  pianist par excellence and Founder and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Art Song Society, has a knack for devising seasons of song with interesting themes. For this season, their tenth, the theme is HOME with a focus on national identity. Friday night's concert explored Polish identity with works by Chopin and Szymanowski, an admirer of Chopin.

Not only does Mr. Brofman create interesting seasons which draw an ever-growing audience, but he has a knack for finding gifted young artists to interpret the works. This concert was a case in point. Sharing their vocal artistry were soprano Amy Owens and mezzo-soprano Sarah Nelson Craft, both of whom we have reviewed and enjoyed on prior occasions.

Collaborating on the keyboard were Mr. Brofman himself, as well as Miori Sugiyama and Spencer Myer, both B.A.S.S. regulars. The first half of the program comprised five of Chopin's seventeen songs, songs that he never made much of and which were not played until after his death. Interspersed were several of his brilliant mazurkas played by Ms. Sugiyama.

The mazurkas touched us deeply, both the famous ones like Op.7 #1 in B-Flat Major, the central minor section of which is heartbreaking, and the ones with which we are unfamiliar. They all share the typical rhythmicity of his unfortunate motherland and depth of feeling-- an intimacy which was brought out by Ms. Sugiyama. Although we have played some of Chopin's easy pieces, it was a real treat to hear Ms. Sugiyama make these challenging mazurkas sound easy. Watching her hands let us know that the sound gave only the illusion of ease.

The songs were charming, strophic, and melodic with a heavy emphasis on folk tunes. Just reading the lyrics in Polish made us wonder how a singer could possibly make the words musical and pleasing to the ear; Ms. Craft, although not Polish-speaking, made considerable effort to study the pronunciation of the difficult consonants and sounded fine to our ear. That she was on the book was forgivable in light of this challenge but we would love to hear the songs sung by a native Pole because we personally lose connection when a singer glances down at the score.

Nonetheless, her voice was warm and expressive with attention paid to phrasing and plenty of variety from one verse to the next. We particularly enjoyed "A Handsome Lad" in which the final couplet was repeated in each verse. It was an altogether appealing performance.

The second half of the program allowed Mr. Myer to shine in Karol Szymanowski's Métopes, Op. 29. The work was inspired by Homer's Odyssey and involved fancy fingerwork, trills, and some liquid arpeggi.

The songs by Szymanowski, a cycle entitled Songs of the Fairy Tale Princess, were sung by Ms. Owens in a bright clear soprano. "The Lonely Moon" seemed to capture the essence of moonlight and involved staccato passages. The punishing high tessitura never daunted Ms. Owens who provided interest by means of ample dynamic variety.

Although she only glanced at the score periodically, we had the same problem as we did with the Chopin. We actually are acquainted with a few Polish singers and hope to hear more Polish music in the future. We recall an absorbing production of Szymanowski's King Roger at Santa Fe Opera some years ago.

B.A.S.S.' s next entry this season will be on February 7th with works by Bartók, Kodaly, and Janáček with their own versions of national identity.

(c) meche kroop