Katelan Trân Terrell and Magdalena Kuzma
Last night under the watchful eye of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, whose portrait hangs in the grand second floor salon of The Kosiuszko Foundation, we experienced a completely fulfilling vocal recital performed by Magdalena Kuzma, a singer who has been reviewed here a number of times, ever since her fortuitous apprenticeship at Santa Fe Opera. Since then, she has been winning prizes from many prestigious foundations including the Marcella Sembrich Foundation, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the George and Nora London Foundation. We have heard her sing in Polish, Russian, German, French, Italian, Swedish and English. What we enjoy most are the Polish songs because we rarely get to hear them.
About Ms. Kuzma's instrument, it is large and lustrous, readily filling up the room with ringing overtones. However, it is the way she employs this instrument that dazzles the ear. First of all, there is the way she shapes the vowels, no matter how consonant heavy the language. Yet, the consonants are crisp and never cheated. This is a kind of vocal legerdemain that we cannot explain. Each vowel is savored as if it had its own unique flavor.
And then, there is the phrasing, always apt, always musical. Still, most important from our point of view, is the storytelling. Ms. Kuzma gives the appearance of losing herself in the drama, belying the fact that every expression and gesture must have been arrived at with forethought, intention, and diligent practice.
A pair of songs by Chopin impressed us as much as his Nocturnes. "Wish" was simple and tuneful whereas "Spring" gave us the flavor for which Chopin is so well known--the melancholy that creeps into an otherwise happy mood.
Szymanowski's "Consider well, mother" was a highly dramatic song in which a young woman seems to be reasoning with her mother over what might have been an unwanted arranged marriage. Her beauty is transitory and she seems to want to make her own choices. Forgive us, Dear Reader, if our imagination has taken over! Let's blame it on Ms. Kuzma's dramatic intensity causing us to invent an entire backstory!
Exceeding the rest of the program in dramatic intensity was Halka's Act IV aria from the eponymous Moniuszko opera, the plot of which reminds us of a plot from a zarzuela. A peasant girl has been promised marriage by a nobleman and impregnated. The squire will marry an aristocratic woman. The girl, after contemplating a horrific revenge, endures a change of heart and kills herself. A reading of the plot does not indicate that she gives birth but in the aria she sings to a child (perhaps still in the womb?). Our fine soprano did an admirable job of illuminating Halka's grief, despair, and rage.
Lest one conclude that the entirety of Act I was filled with loud passion, a pair of familiar Duparc mélodies ("Extase" and "L'invitation au voyage") were perfumed with Gallic delicacy and stylistic elegance.
Finally, Manon's Act II aria from the Massenet opera "Adieu, notre petite table" clearly illuminated Manon's characterological ambivalence. Her greed for worldly wealth has triumphed over her lust for Des Grieux. She will shed a dramatic tear or two, we can be sure, and Ms. Kuzma did a superb job of showing us.
The material chosen for the second half of the program was of less interest to us, inasmuch as it was predominantly 20th century and mostly in English. We found our attention focusing on the exceptional pianism of Katelan Trân Terrell whose accompaniment in the first part of the program was so admirably supportive. This shift of focus happens to us often and we wonder when composers lost their facility with vocal lines whilst retaining marvelous complexity in the piano.
We loved the moody piano in Charles Griffes' "Three Poems of Fiona Macleod" and the flowing ripples in Sibelius' "Var det en dröm" which augmented the dreamlike text, taking Sibelius' contribution to new heights.
We have a soft spot in our heart for The Kosziuszko Foundation which contributes so much to the New York City cultural landscape. In the same way we are happy to be reminded of the multiple many faceted contributions made by Tadeusz Kosciuszko to the American Revolution. If you are not aware of him, we urge you to read about it. He was a true hero!
© meche kroop
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