SORCERESS! DRAGONS!

Katherine Doe, Mithuna Sivaraman, Alaina Logee, Mary Kathryn Monday, Rachel Duval, and Joyce Yin

Cantanti Project is one of our favorite boutique opera companies. They just presented Händel's 1713 opera seria Teseo (renamed Teseo:Medea), replete with sorceress, flying dragons, apparitions, potions, spells, and a deus ex machina in the person of Minerva. Nicola Haym's libretto was based on a Lully opera of 1674 which was, in turn, based on a story in Ovid's Metamorphosis. Händel surely had his finger on the pulse of his London audience which thronged to see his earlier Rinaldo (another opera involving sorcery) but gave short shrift to his pastoral opera Il pastor fido. Teseo had a decent run, marred only by technical difficulties, but the opera was forgotten and lay dormant until 1947. We are glad it was resurrected.

As in so many operas of the period, the story is complicated. King Egeo (Mary Kathryn Monday) has been successful at battle and decides that his betrothal to Medea should be replaced by marriage with Agilea (Joyce Yin), his ward. She is in love with Egeo's military commander Teseo (Rachel Duval). Agilea's companion Clizia (Mithuna Sivaraman) is in love with Arcane (Katherine Doe).

The sorceress Medea (Alaina Logee), incensed at being rejected, does her best to spoil everyone's happiness and create mistrust and dissension. It takes the intervention of Minerva to set things right. A poisoning of Teseo by Egeo is thwarted when the King recognizes the warrior as his long-lost son! His sword was the give-away!

Although Händel's instrumental music doesn't light our fire, his operas set us ablaze. Contemporary composers should study a page from his book. He really knew how to write for the voice with the vocal line emphasizing the words, more so in his Italian operas than in his English ones, of course. His arias, as I recall, are fun to sing! There is ample fioritura with almost ostentatious ornamentation which never detracts from his illumination of the character.

Our favorite scene was in Act IV when Medea blackmails the sweet and lovely Agilea to give up Teseo, whom Medea also wants. With tearful aspect Agilea renounces him to save his life. Her singing would melt an iceberg and it melted Medea's rage--but only temporarily. There was still one more act to fill in this unique five act opera--still more reverses and complications!


Musical Director Dylan Sauerwald led the Dorian Baroque Orchestra from the harpsichord. We particularly enjoyed the sound of the baroque oboe; the mournful sound often echoes the vocal line and sometimes "sings" in harmony with it. We sat there for three hours entranced by the glorious singing and playing. Not only are the arias magnificent but the duets thrill the ear.

What did not entrance us was trying to figure out who was whom and what they were singing about. Had we not read a summary beforehand we would have been completely lost. There was no program and no synopsis. There were titles projected off to the side but they could not be read with the stagelights on.

There was no set to speak of and costumes (Alexandria Hoffman) were as basic as one would expect with a minimal budget. We would far prefer the money be spent on musical values! And that we got in spades.  Wonderful singing, wonderful music!

We realize that the female-centric Cantanti Project had an axe to grind about female power; much was written on their website and Facebook page about gender. That is all well and good; we are glad that castration of male singers ended long ago and are happy to see women fulfill the roles. But for our purposes, it is the music making that counts.

(c) meche kroop

POISE AND PRESENCE

Bronwyn Schuman and Anneliese Klenetsky

Soprano Anneliese Klenetsky is about to say farewell after eight years at Juilliard, from pre-college to Master of Music; we are pleased to report that she will be staying in New York City for the immediate future--so we can avoid a tearful goodbye. A presence like hers is a joy to behold, as beautiful of spirit as she is of voice, and as well endowed. We enjoyed her gracious tribute to Juilliard almost as much as her performance.

We will never forget her starring role as the Governess in Britten's Turn of the Screw, nor her spirited performance in NYFOS at Juilliard, nor her performance with Juilliard 415, not to mention the numerous recitals.

As a matter of fact, we were delighted to revisit works that she has performed before, among which the set which contrasted views of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet was our favorite. Brahms' Fünf Ophelia-Lieder are gorgeously melodic and portray Ophelia as a pathetic victim; Richard Strauss' Drei Lieder der Ophelia portray her as deranged. The same text set to wildly different music gave the singer an opportunity to show off her versatility.

Ms. Klenetsky has a bright and brilliantly focused soprano that is never harsh; she employs it with fine technique that never calls attention to itself but exists to serve the music. Following the two sets of Ophelia songs, she ended her program with a charming a capella folksong "Let no man steal your thyme", the melody of which had a rather Irish sound.

Another set that we have previously heard her perform comprised songs by Francis Poulenc--the anxious tale of "Le disparu" counterintuitively set to jolly piano music, the sad "C" and the surreal "Fêtes galantes". Ms. Klenetsky has a real feeling for Poulenc and his ironies. She uses gesture generously to get the songs across.

The evening opened with an assist from the harpsichord (Francis Yun) and a string quartet comprising violinists Rachel Ellen Wong and Ethan Lin, violist Sergio Muñoz Leiva, and cellist Madeline Bouïssou. Vivaldi's work In furore lustissimae irae, sung in Latin, opened with a spirited Allegro, the heavily ornamented line of which provided Ms. Klenetsky with the opportunity to display marked flexibility. There was a sorrowful recitativo, a Largo and a rapid fire conclusion with a melismatic "Alleluia".

The Händel which followed was more to our liking. "Caro! Bella!" from Giulio Cesare amounts to the swapping of endearments and we found it endearing, thanks to a delightful performance by Ms. Kelentsky and countertenor Jacob Inbar. We were completely captivated.

Even better was "Io t'abraccio" from Rodelinda in which the overtones of each singer's voice augmented those of the other's. Mr. Ingbar had some low notes here but was undaunted. Both singers excelled.

There was also a cycle of songs by Lili Boulanger, the sister of the famous Nadia Boulanger. This promising musician died tragically at the age of 25. Neither the text nor the music of the cycle Clairières dans le ciel appealed to us but the performance was highly expressive and made good use of dynamic variation. The piano writing was more interesting than the vocal line but we did like the melodic "Nous nous aimerons tant".

It was an impressive and enjoyable farewell recital; tribute was paid to all those folks who fostered Ms. Klenetsky's development as an artist, especially her teachers Edith Wiens and the late Sanford Sylvan, who would have been very proud of her.

(c) meche kroop

PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA at ALICE TULLY HALL

Anthony Ross Costanzo and Anne Sofie von Otter onstage at Alice Tully Hall

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra presented an unusual program last night that offered delights, both expected and unexpected. Let us begin with the expected delights. Hearing countertenor Anthony Ross Costanzo singing Händel was the main reason we decided to review this evening and he did not disappoint.

Mr. Costanzo's selections served to show off the many special qualities of his instrument and the artistry with which he employs it. In "Inumano fratel ... Stille amare" from Händel's Tolomeo, he began as a victim complaining about how he has suffered at the hands of Fate. When he sang of his beloved, his color warmed and softened, and toward the end, as the poison (actually just a sleeping potion) took effect one could hear the grief and acceptance creep into his voice, accompanied by sobbing strings. We were also impressed by his strength at the lower end of the register.

For vocal fireworks we had to wait for "Vivi tiranno!" from Rodelinda, in which the wild flights of melismatic singing were employed to express Bertando's passion. (Apparently, the aria had the desired effect on Grimoaldo who relents and restores Bertando to the throne.) It was a landmark performance, doing credit to this artist whom we have thrilled to since his student days.

Mezzo-Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is known to us mainly in her role as Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, one of our favorite operas. We were very much looking forward to hearing her last night and for the most part we enjoyed her performance but we were disappointed in her use of the loathed music stand. We can understand its use in modern works and in ensemble singing but not for the Händel arias.

We admit that her dramatic skills almost overcame the handicap but it did interfere with her connection with the audience, giving us the chance to focus on the superb oboe solo of Marc Schachman in "Will the sun forget to streak" from Handel's Solomon. (If Handel decided to use an English libretto, we can decide to omit the diacritical marks, LOL.)

We enjoyed "Iris, hence away"--Juno's aria of revenge upon the unfortunate title character of Semele. Ms. von Otter invested the performance with plenty of drama in the florid melismatic passages and brought the aria to a powerful ending. 

The two singers sang a charming love duet from Solomon, one with intertwining vocal lines and a playful aspect. Speaking of playful, there was a lagniappe not on the program which both tickled us and also made us a bit uncomfortable.  Let us explain. Ms. von Otter is a head taller than the diminutive Mr. Costanzo. In the duet "My dearest, my fairest" from Purcell's . Pausanias, the pair played it for laughs in a way that might have diminished Mr. Costanzo were he not so secure. It just reminded us of how awkward we have felt on dates with men who were "vertically challenged", as they say.

Readers will be happy to know that we kept an open mind to the contemporary music on the program and were rewarded by aural pleasures.  Arvo Pärt's Summa was composed in 1977 and revised in 1991 for this combination of voices and string orchestra. Thankfully, it was tonal and not terribly challenging. There was a repetitive motif running through the short work. 

Our two vocal artists were well matched by a solo violin and viola in Pärt's  1984 "Es sang vor langen Jahren", which opened with a lovely string tremolo. The text was by Romantic poet Clemens Brentano.

We also liked two related pieces by Caroline Shaw which confirmed our opinion that singers excel in writing for the voice. We heard the world premiere of "And So" which was related to a work from three years ago called "Red, Red Rose" with a text by Robert Burns--a text which scanned and rhymed--two qualities which we feel tend to inspire melodic music. 

Ms. von Otter limned the pretty little turns in the vocal line and floated some exquisite high notes. The Burns work had the quality of a folk song with repeated verses.

We have yet to mention the instrumental pieces on the program, which opened with the Overture to Partenope by Händel. Maestro Nicolas McGegan has a modest appearance on the podium, without theatrics, but pulled together a consistently excellent performance from his mostly string orchestra which also includes a pair of Baroque oboes, a bassoon, a theorbo, and a harpsichord. During the Shaw we were sure we heard a celeste but could not see one!

The major instrumental work on the program was Händel's Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, of which we preferred the graceful Minuet and the spirited Gavotte.

The program closed with a Suite from Purcell's The Fairy Queen in which the theorbist occasionally swapped his theorbo for a Baroque guitar.

What an interesting concept it was to combine Baroque music and Modern music on the same program--all played by a Baroque ensemble!

(c) meche kroop

WIE WUNDERBAR!

German Forum President Barbara Heming, pianist Babette Hierholzer, oboeist Julia Obergfell, and baritone Äneas Humm

Last night's German Forum presented their Fall Concert at Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium and we are pleased to report that in spite of ex-President Henry Meyer-Oertel's retirement, the music and good fellowship remain intact under the stewardship of new president Barbara Heming.

Guests were welcomed, the mission reiterated, and the young artists presented. We were introduced to the astonishing young baritone Äneas Humm several years ago when the German Forum brought him here from Switzerland. We were amazed by his artistry back then and he has only gotten better each time we hear him.

Last night his light lyric instrument served well in a selection of Schubert lieder. In "Der Wanderer" (the one with text by von Lübeck) the poet is lonely and unhappy; this was successfully conveyed by the singer's word coloring. The contrasting third stanza ("Wo bist du") was filled with anguish. Mr. Humm rose to the challenge of the low tessitura.

The poet in "Der Wanderer an den Mond" is also lonely; but the colors were different as he contemplates the moon and compares their differing situations. The excellent collaborative pianist Babette Hierholzer established a walking rhythm.

"Der Jüngling an der Quelle" tells of a youth filled with unrequited longing; both singer and pianist filled out the music with sweetness.

We can think of no lieder composer we love more than Schubert but we have no love for "Der Zwerg". The problem is not with the music or its performance. We just hate the story of the jealous dwarf who strangles his Queen and throws her into the sea. Still, our singer is a master story-teller.

Robert Stolz's compositions of the early 20th c. bring fresh delights to the ear. From his operetta Mädi, we heard "Bisschen Liebe tut gut" and for this our singer assumed a rakish pose and a charming seductive mien that suited him well.

Not as well suited to his voice was "Sorge infausta una procella", sung by the magician Zoroastro in Händel's opera Orlando. This aria is usually sung by a heavy bass and was not the best choice for a lyric baritone. Furthermore, work needs to be done on the articulation of the fioritura.

Far better were two songs by Viktor Ullman, the Austrian composer who wrote the satirical opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis which we have twice reviewed. Mr. Humm performed two songs of his that were translated from Farsi--"Vorausbestimmung" and "Betrunken". The music is replete with early 20th c. irony.

Co-starring on this interesting and varied program was young German oboist Julia Obergfell who began her musical childhood as a pianist until she fell in love with the oboe. We have also loved the oboe solos in symphonic works but have never heard the oboe in recital. Last night we realized how similar to singing it is.  Breath control and phrasing and color are all important.

The first movement of Schumann's Romance, Op. 94 had some graceful phrasing and a mournful feel. In contrast, we heard Telemann's Fantasy in B minor which demanded a crisper sound and some impressive staccato. Ms. Obergfell's artistry is unmistakable.

Her major work on the program was Poulenc's Sonata for Oboe and Piano. The Elégie was melodious and mysterious and had an impressive trill.  The Scherzo was frisky and fast with fleet fingering required on the repeated notes. The final movement Déploration involved some pensive phrasing and lived up to its meaning--"lamentation". In Ms. Hierholzer, the singer found a worthy piano partner indeed!

We were so happy to see Mr. Meyer-Oertel in the audience and equally happy that the German Forum continues its worthy mission of bringing young artists from German speaking countries to the USA to perform. We have a high level of confidence in the new President Barbara Heming. You too can be part of this valuable organization for a modest contribution. Music, food, wine, and good fellowship!

(c) meche kroop

HOW YA' LIKE THEM APPLES?

Natalia Katyukova and Paul Appleby at Zankel Hall

Tenor Paul Appleby is another artist who began his career about the same time as we began writing about the vocal arts, a simultaneity that leads to our deep investment and joy in his success.  Instead of writing yet another encomium, we invite you, dear reader, to use the search function to read dozens of reviews of this outstanding artist. We would prefer to get right into last night's program which was so carefully designed by Mr. Appleby, with intentions described in detail in the program notes.

We will skip right to the Schubert which is where the pathway from our ears to our heart was direct. Every recital we attend leaves us with an "ear worm" and we cannot silence Mr. Appleby's tender tenor timbre ringing in our ears as he performed "Ständchen". It took us back about five years when he performed an entire program of serenades in Santa Fe. Mr. Appelby can serenade us any time at all!  What a treat!

For reasons elucidated in the program notes, our terrific tenor reordered the seven Rellstab songs to fit in with the theme of the program. We had no objections to the reordering although we did not quite grasp the storyline he devised. No composer has equalled the lied output of Franz Schubert; his major-minor shifts and modulations of key seem to wrench our heart in a most satisfying way.

Both Mr. Appleby and the superb collaborative pianist Natalia Katyukova brought out the emotions of the songs. The natural elements like babbling brooks and rustling tree tops were finely limned on the piano. The mood of anxiety in "Aufenthalt" was countered by the lively and cheerful "Abschied". The grim "Kriegers Ahnung" has a low tessitura that did not daunt Mr. Appleby.

We loved the way he asked the questions "Hinab?", "Warum?" and "Und Du?" in "Frühlingssehnsucht" which ended with a powerful and passionate "Nur Du!" The set ended with a Seidl song "Die Taubenpost", notable for its rollicking rhythm and charming text. We always have a quibble and here it is. The consonants were not crisp throughout the entire Schubert cycle. 

By contrast, the diction for the songs in English was perfect and every word was clear. Songs of Imagined Love by contemporary composer Hannah Lash were based on four of the Schubert songs which would be heard later in the program. This was a world premiere and was commissioned by Mr. Appleby who sang them off book.

We daresay that Ms. Lash's songs will be performed long after Schubert's are forgotten--and not a moment before! They are not bad; they were just not interesting to us. When there is no melody in the vocal line our attention focuses on the piano and we enjoyed some pleasing tinkling sounds.

We did not enjoy the unpleasant sounds of George Crumb's "The Sleeper" in which the piano was violated.  The music desk was removed and the pianist stuck her hand inside and groped. We call this a case of "piano abuse".  If a composer wants plucking he can call upon the all-too-willing harp who flaunts her strings! The piano likes her strings tapped gently, if you please.

This was the first time we heard Benjamin Britten's Winter Words: Lyrics and Ballads of Thomas Hardy. We are a huge fan of Hardy's novels and have always thought that the stories would make great operas. But his poetry left us cold, as did Britten's setting. Clearly Mr. Appleby loves this cycle and poured his heart and soul into the performance.  It just is not our taste.

We did enjoy Mr. Appleby's melismatic singing, especially on the word "journeying" in "Midnight on the Great Western" in which Ms. Kotyukova produced the clacking of a railway train. We also admired the way Mr. Appleby colored his voice differently for the narrator, the child, and the convict in "At the Railway Station, Upway".

Also on the program was a short setting of a John Milton text by Handel--"Thus when the sun from's wat'ry bed" from Samson. The text rhymed and scanned and the melody was memorable with a fine opportunity for Mr. Appleby's melismatic singing.

We hoped for an encore from Candide but instead we got two pleasing songs--"Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms" by Thomas Moore, and Frank Bridge's charming "Love Went a-Riding".

(c) meche kroop

OPERATIC TEASE AT DUANE PARK

The Sexy Sopranos of The Operatic Tease at Duane Park

We cop to being a serial attendee at the monthly show called Operatic Tease at Duane Park. Our ears are tickled by the superb performances of our favorite arias. Our eyes are widened by the spectacular display of twirling tassels and daring gymnastics. Our taste buds are awakened by the delicious flavors of hand-crafted cocktails and the kind of food one doesn't expect in a nightclub. Duane Park on the Bowery, dear readers, is an amazing place--reeking in elegance with nary a whiff of tawdriness. Who'd a thunk it?  Opera and burlesque. 

That the singers happen to be talented ecdysiasts as well is just icing on the operatic cake. If one closed one's eyes, one would be experiencing a splendid sampling of arias at a recital; but if one did so one would be depriving oneself of some entrancing eye candy as these ladies are experts in both areas. Moreover, one of them, Marcy Richardson, aka Operagaga, is an amazing aerialist who performed some wild contortions within a large steel ring, of which we failed to get a good photo.

We love to see unusual productions in interesting venues because they serve a somewhat younger audience and also introduce people who are not regular opera goers to an art form to which we are addicted.  Let us hope that some of them get bitten by the bug.

To "set the stage" let us describe the venue and the menu, which are all part of the experience. Duane Park is situated on The Bowery, just north of Houston Street; the hidden entrance gives one the feeling of entering a speakeasy during Prohibition. Once inside, one is greeted by Jonathan, who is an excellent host, making every attempt to get parties comfortably seated. One looks around at the opulent decor and is reassured that there is nothing "cheap" about this venue. All preconceived notions of "strip-joints" evaporate in this refined air.

The menu offers choices for everyone and we were astonished at how fine the food was. We enjoyed some unusual handcrafted cocktails and some delicious shrimp and grits that made us feel as if we were in Charleston or N'awlins. Our companions raved about the merguez. Kudos to Executive Chef Richard Overholt. Our server Braz was attentive and didn't miss a beat.

And neither did accompanist Seth Weinstein who showed off les girls to good advantage. We would like to show off les girls as well and if you did not arrive at this website through a link on Facebook, we refer you to our FB page "Voce di Meche" because a picture is worth a thousand words.  A word of warning-- it's not for the kiddies because we photographed a lot of tits and ass!

But we write about singing and isn't that what y'all want to hear about?  Our Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening was the lovely actress Laura Murphy who assumed the character of Harlow Wigglesworth and introduced each artist with a wiggle and a wink and a chorus girl accent--a fine piece of acting. That her parents were in the audience reassured us that this would be "family entertainment". Well, maybe not exactly!

The program opened with Kasey Cardin, aka Dixie De Light, who gave a special sparkle to "Je veux vivre", Juliet's waltz from the Gounod opera. The French was fine as was the phrasing and, yes, the undressing was fine too. Later on, Ms. Cardin gave a special not-so-innocent interpretation of "O, mio babbino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Italian as fine as the French.

Gounod made a further appearance in "Que fait-tu, blanche tourterelle", Stefano's aria in which he teases the Capulets, performed by mezzo-soprano Rachel O'Malley, aka Ladybird Finch, who did plenty of teasing herself. She showed her humorous side in "What a Movie" from Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, in honor of the Bernstein centennial.

Soprano Francesca Caviglia, aka Trixie La Feé, appeared in a Cleopatra costume, which she shed whilst performing "V'adoro pupille" from Händel's Giulio Cesare. Her baroque style was impeccable. She also did a fine job with "I'm a stranger here myself" from One Touch of Venus by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash, shedding her white tie and tails in fine sophisticated style.

We were a little worried that Trixie would not perform with her feathered fans, an act we have seen before; we needn't have been concerned because she appeared later in the program with a dazzling display that took our breath away. Whilst Ms. O'Malley sang "L'invitation au voyage" by Henri Duparc, Ms. Caviglia gave a perfect illustration of the text "Luxe, calme, et volupté" that exceeded the Matisse painting and Baudelaire's poetry.

There is a male member of the troupe and his name is Brad Lassiter, aka Lance-a-lot. He gave a fine musically valid performance of "C'est moi" from Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, stripping down to some gilded skivvies, with some female assistance. His Belcore was even better, as he sang, "Come Paride vezzoso" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.

Marcy Richardson, aka Operagaga, gave a fine performance of the Jewel Song "Ah, je ris" from Gounod's Faust with a sparkling soprano and equally sparkling pasties. We found no fault in her fine French.

We know from witnessing countless master classes and our own voice lessons just how difficult it is to master an aria--the language, the breaths, the phrasing, the skips, the legato, the fioritura, etc.  Now, just imagine accomplishing all that while shedding your clothes in an artistic manner!  Now imagine doing that while performing difficult gymnastic maneuvers and you will get some idea of what we witnessed as Ms. Richardson sang "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Händel's Rinaldo!  What a feat!

We hope you all know the rousing "Champagne Aria" sung by Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II.  Now imagine it sung by the entire cast in their closing number, toasting the audience and vice versa.  Now you know just how much fun we had last night at Duane Park.

We understand there is another show on August 21st and are feeling very sorry that we will not be able to attend due to a prior commitment. But, dear reader, we urge YOU to attend and to tell us all about it. We fear that if we make an open call for a guest reviewer we will be swamped with offers!

(c) meche kroop

HOLIDAY IN THE CRYPT

Countertenor John Holiday

This will be the fifth time we reviewed countertenor John Holiday and his artistry just keeps on growing. The very first time we heard him was over five years ago at Lachlan Glen's year-long survey of Franz Schubert's 600+ songs. We noted the sweetness of his voice. Later that year we had a lot more to say about his performance in the title role of Handel's Radamisto, noting his artistry in the legato lines and his fireworks in the fioritura.

In 2015 we swooned over his rather good natured Cesare in Vivaldi's Catone in Utica, presented by Opera Lafayette. And in 2016, we loved his performance in Huang Ro's Paradise Interrupted, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

Last night we heard new aspects of his artistry in an all-too-short (but nonetheless satisfying) recital in the Crypt of the Church of the Intercession, a bit spooky in atmosphere but with incredible acoustics. The recital was part of the sold-out Unison Media series, curated by Andrew Ousley who has managed to come up with several unusual recitals.  Keep reading, dear reader, and we will tell you what he has up his musical sleeve for the summer and fall.

But first look at what Mr. Holiday had up his sleeve! He baited his hook with some delicious Italian and French favorites so that by the time he got to music that was somewhat outside our sphere of devotion, we were hooked and it was too late to protest that it wasn't "our kind of music".  Obviously, everything Mr. Holiday performed was dear to his heart; the communication from his heart to those of the audience members was so effective that people spontaneously burst into applause after every single song.

He began with "Frondi tenere e belle...Ombra mai fu" from Handel's Serse. We've heard so many singers try to do justice to this gorgeous paean to nature but Mr. Holiday simply nailed it.  His high pitched instrument is never effete but full and rich. We speculate that the famous castrati back in the day were so widely praised because they sounded like this. Thankfully, Mr. Holiday's sacrifices for his art did not extend that far!

There followed a series of songs in French, from the wistful "Romance" of Claude Debussy, to the ennui of Poulenc's "Hôtel", and three familiar songs of Reynaldo Hahn--"Si mes vers avaient des ailes", "Offrande", and "À Chloris". We loved the way Mr. Holiday can spin out a pianissimo like a silken thread, even at the top of his register. The overtones bounced around the room like pingpong balls.

When an artist is this good we are willing to follow him anywhere and we were surprised at how much we enjoyed Margaret Bonds' mid 20th c. setting of Langston Hughes' text. The phrases are short and the composer matched melody to text better than any other composer we have heard who set Hughes' text. "Minstrel Man", "Dream Variations", and the forceful "I, too am American" affected us deeply.

Theodore Morrison was commissioned by countertenor David Daniels to write a song cycle and we felt privileged to hear his setting of text by James Joyce. The music was blissfully accessible without a whiff of "the academy" to make our eyes roll. Our favorite was the final song "I hear an army charging upon the land" in which Mr. Holiday gave us some very powerful singing and some delicious melismatic singing. We believe that this is the same Theodore Morrison who composed the opera Oscar which we heard in Santa Fe a few years ago.

We also heard Hall Johnson's arrangement of the spiritual "I'm Gonter Tell God All O' My Troubles" in which Mr. Holiday bent the tone as if it were putty in his hands.

Pianist Kevin J. Miller did a fine job as Mr. Holiday's partner for the aforementioned  part of the program; for the remaining part, Mr. Neeki Bey took over and seemed to be an expert at jazz improvisation.

At this point, the piano scores disappeared from the piano and a snazzy fedora appeared on Mr. Holiday's head. Although jazz is not our thing, we found much to enjoy except for the first piece--a jazz arrangement of "Summertime" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. That opera is sacred to us and we didn't want it messed with!

The following standards were all enjoyable with the bluesy "Round Midnight" being our hands down favorite. There was a time when we did like jazz, before we fell in love with opera, and we are quite sure that we listened to recordings of this song by Sarah Vaughn and perhaps also by Ella Fitzgerald. What a surprise to learn that Thelonious Monk wrote it when he was 18.

We admired Mr. Holiday's word painting in Karl Suessdorf's "Moonlight in Vermont" and tapped our toe to Fats Waller's jaunty "Ain't Misbehavin". Mr. Bey had a piano solo in this and in the following lively Nat King Cole song "Straighten Up and Fly Right" which way played in a medley with "My Funny Valentine", sung at a slow tempo with a swoop up to the highest register.

There was more to come by way of encores. Mr. Bey abdicated the piano and Mr. Holiday sat down and let loose with "Amazing Grace" and "This Little Light of Mine". We are sure everyone in the audience left feeling lighter than when they arrived. Standing ovations do give us that impression!

We promised to tell you what Mr. Ousley and Unison Media have in store. Perhaps motivated by the success of The Crypt Sessions, they are planning a series in the catacombs of Greenwood Cemetery! The first entry will be in June and the series is already half sold out! So be a chooser, not a loser and stake your claim now.  See www.deathofclassical.com (really!) for details.

(c) meche kroop

A CELEBRATION AT THE KOSCIUSZKO FOUNDATION

Tadeusz Domanowski, Edyta Kulczak, and Disellla Lárusdóttir

The Kosciuszko Foundation on East 65th St. has been a fixture on the New York cultural scene since 1925 and was named for the Polish hero who helped the United States of America during the Revolutionary War.  Its mission is to promote closer ties between our two nations by means of educational, scientific, and cultural exchange.  It is the latter mission that has brought us to their beautiful historic brownstone on a number of occasions.

It is a fine idea to promote Polish culture in the USA. Most Americans, when asked about Poland's contributions to our culture, would barely know what to say except for Chopin, whose prodigious piano output must be on everyone's short list of brilliant composers for the piano.

The Foundation awards up to $1 million yearly to students and scholars, scientists and professionals, but above all--artists.

Last night, we joined in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Poland's achievement of independence. Before that time, Poland had been divided up like a pie with Russia dominating the Eastern portion, and Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupying the remainder. The Polish language was outlawed and Chopin, among many other artists, fled to France where he flourished as a composer. The minor mode of his songs (and yes, many of his piano works strike us as songs without words) reflect the sadness one feels when exiled from one's homeland.

Chopin did write songs with words as well and that brings us to the raison d'être for last night's thrilling recital; it was an hommage to Marcella Sembrich, a famous opera singer of bygone days about whom we knew next to nothing. The fascinating story involves her rise from poverty to wealth, fame, and philanthropy. She was friends with Caruso and the great composers of the 19th c. and impressed Puccini with her performance of the role of Mimi. She starred at the Metropolitan Opera for 25 years.

Guest speaker Richard Wargo, the Artistic Director of the Marcella Sembrich Museum in upstate New York recounted interesting facts about her life, as did Ewa Zadworna, Director of Cultural Affairs at the foundation. The anecdote that captured our imagination is that Alexander II of Russia invited her to the Winter Palace to sing her signature song--Chopin's "Życzenie"("The Maiden's Wish")--in Polish!  This was during the period when Polish was outlawed!

And now we come to the entertainment portion of the evening in which two great artists of the voice performed a most satisfying recital which ended with an encore of this very song, Ms. Sembrich's favorite, and now our favorite as well.  This "maiden's wish" is that Chopin's songs appear regularly on recital programs!

It is always a thrill to get up close and personal with international opera stars and the gorgeous room at the Kosciuszko Foundation is the perfect "stage", what with fine wood panelling, heavy velvet curtains, and a portrait of the dashing Kosciuszko. We felt transported to another time and place.

Icelandic Soprano Disella Lárusdóttir and mezzo-soprano Edyta Kulczak were perfect choices for this special evening and entertained a most attentive audience with operatic selections that seemed to have been arranged sequentially from Baroque to Romantic. They wisely scaled their voices to the intimacy of the room. Their accompanist Tadeusz Domanowski served them well with sensitive piano support, never calling attention to himself.

Ms. Kulczak opened the program with two Händel arias,  In "Se bramate" from Serse, Ms. Kulczak's richly burnished instrument carried us on a wave of melody. With astute variations of dynamics and tempi, she demonstrated great expressivity of both voice and gesture. We enjoyed the accuracy of her fioritura.

In contrast, Händel's "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Rinaldo offered opportunities for a lovely long legato line. The repeated verse was given several variations of ornamentation.

Ms. Lárusdóttir followed with Susanna's final aria from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, sung in lovely Italian, meaning that the double consonants were never shortchanged, as they often are, by American singers. There was a lovely warmth to the performance and she soared to some stunning high notes at the end and employed an affecting change of color when Mozart made the brief switch to the minor mode.

The two women joined voices several times during the evening and dazzled us with their harmony. It was unusual to hear Countess Almaviva sung by a mezzo but we loved the way it provided distinction between her dignity and Susanna's carefree attitude in "Sull'aria" from Nozze di Figaro.

They also offered "Ah guarda sorella" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte in which they made use of the portraits on the walls. The vocal lines were delicately embroidered. We only wish the two lovelies had ditched the music stand. We felt the same way about "The Flower Duet" from Leo Délibes' Lakme. They sounded great but readers will remember how we feel about music stands! It was so lovely that the audience demanded to hear it again as an encore.

Miss Lárusdóttir gave a lovely account of Adina's aria "Prendi per me sei libero" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, showing her coloratura stuff with brilliant vocal fireworks.  In "Je suis encore" from Massenet's Manon, she sang in fine French and totally convinced us as an innocent provincial girl on her first trip away from home, unguarded in her emotional expression. This interpretation served to heighten sympathy for the character and would make Manon's unhappy fate all the more tragic.

Ms. Kulczak got her chance with Donizetti as well and dazzled us with "Fia dunque vero" from La Favorita.  What a brilliant aria! The arpeggi in the piano effectively support the melodic vocal line. The fiery cabaletta offered the opportunity for Ms.Kulczak to show her bright upper register where the resonance was outstanding. 

Another aspect of this artist was revealed in the seductive coloration she lent to Saint Saëns' "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" from Samson et Dalila. The French was parfait and the downward scales seemed like a swoon.

French works very well for her, as heard in "Les tringles des sistres tintaient" from Bizet's Carmen. Mr. Domanowski's piano captured all the excitement and her "sister in song" joined in for some spirited dancing.  It was a fine way to end the program.

But there were more delights to come--the aforementioned song by Chopin, the repeat of the "Flower Song" and "Belle nuit" from Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman. Two lovely voices intertwined is a recipe for magic!

We left with a renewed appreciation for Polish history and culture and a desire to hear more Chopin songs.  Are any singers listening?

(c) meche kroop

EAR CANDY EYE CANDY

Anna Christy as Morgana in Handel's Alcina (photo by Ken Howard)

We love our Handel operas with their melodies tumbling out "time-signature over final barline". To hear a perfectly cast group of singers and the perfect orchestra under one (semi-outdoor) roof is a matchless experience. Last night, Harry Bicket, renowned conductor of Early Music, led a spirited reading of Handel's Alcina, one marked by clarity and precision without any loss of emotional range.

Ariosto's 16th c. epic Orlando Furioso visited an 8th c. realm of sorcery and knighthood; it was the source material for many future theatrical works, including Handel's 1735 opera, one that achieved instant success in that epoch and which is given frequent productions in our era. We have reviewed Alcina at least three times in as many years. (All archived).

The story concerns the knight Ruggiero who has fallen under the spell of the beautiful and seductive sorceress Alcina who turns men into animals and rocks when she tires of them. His fiancee Bradamante who, in the Ariosto poem is always rescuing her fiance from some peril or other, has come to the magic island with Melisso, Ruggiero's former tutor, disguised as her brother Ricciardo. The pair must break Alcina's spell. Of course, they succeed.  But not before a lot of deception, betrayal, and some gender bending fun, as Alcina's sister Morgana falls in lust with "Ricciardo".

The singers were uniformly superb and highly invested in their assigned characterizations. As the eponymous sorceress, soprano Elza van den Heever employed her powerful pipes to limn the wide-ranging emotions of the titular character. She is in turn loving, seductive, manipulative, vengeful, defeated, and vulnerable. 

As her sister Morgana, Anna Christy fulfilled the demands of the high-lying tessitura with crystalline clarity and an undeniable facility with the coloratura passages. She imbued the character with plenty of humor in counterpoint with the serious mien of Alcina.

One could not have asked for a better Ruggiero than mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy who must sing accurately whilst wandering around the stage in a state of confusion and bewilderment. We enjoyed her performance so thoroughly that we are arranging to attend a solo recital next week  presented by Performance Santa Fe. It is never taken for granted that a trouser role will be performed with such believability.

As his abandoned lover Bradamante, the marvelous mezzo Daniela Mack must be convincing in the gender bending role of Ricciardo, her very own brother, such that her revelation to Ruggiero as his beloved can delight the audience as well as astonishing Ruggiero. Her dramatic performance equalled the success of her vocal performance.

On her quest to liberate Ruggiero from the clutches of Alcina, she has assumed this disguise and is traveling accompanied by the tutor Melisso; the role was splendidly sung by bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, whose powerful and resonant sound was blissfully interposed among that wealth of female voices.

Tenor Alek Shrader's lovely sound was similarly welcome as he brought to life the character of Oronte, Alcina's general. Oronte is the lover of Morgana and when Morgana falls for the disguised Bradamante, he gets cast off and only reunites with her at the end when she pleads for forgiveness.

It is said that there are no small roles, and soprano Jacquelyn Stucker's winning and convincing performance as Oberto, a young boy looking for his father on Alcina's enchanted island, won a huge and well-deserved round of applause from us and the rest of the house. We felt sad for her character who never found his father!

We were particularly overwhelmed by the music of Act II when there were fewer distracting high jinx onstage. Bradamante's aria was followed by one of Ruggiero's in response. The famous "Verdi prati" in which Ruggiero bids farewell to the enchanted island, always moves us to tears. Alcina's expression of despair over her loss of power was similarly affecting.

If melodies sound familiar, it is because Handel never thought twice about recycling arias from other operas. His inventiveness comes into play in his accurate characterizations and in his liberal and creative use of ornamentation in the ritornelli. As a matter of fact, one of director David Alden's touches that we most enjoyed was his having the singer deliver an aria with the A-B-A sections performed from three different vantage points.

His direction, from our point of view, was "too much of a muchness". Handel's operas seem to lend themselves to wild adaptations (see our prior reviews) and there seems to be a tendency to not trust the music to entertain a modern audience without an elaborate "concept". Perhaps the directors are right because the operas are long and the plots often confusing. We observed that the audience loved the onstage high jinx and laughed out loud.

Mr. Alden's concept was that of replacing the enchanted island with an abandoned theater and Ruggiero's enchantment that of someone escaping a mundane reality. We couldn't avoid thinking of Wagner's Tannhauser in which the eponymous knight is held captive by the goddess Venus in the Venusberg. Duty vs. desire is a common theme in opera.

But we haven't seen so much humping and jumping onstage in quite some time and found it distracting and excessive. The beasts (Alcina's ex-lovers) were portrayed by some truly excellent break-dancers (choreographed by Beate Vollack) whom we would have enjoyed at another time and place in which we could have given them our full attention. There was continual shtick that we found unnecessary and did not appreciate the moments that made no dramatic sense.

Updating an opera requires that the dramatic sense be maintained; it doesn't work for us if the story is "shoe-horned" into a concept. Taken moment by moment there were a number of valid images.  For example, when Alcina loses her power, the symbolic fuschia gloves fall to the floor.  But when dozens of them rain down from above it seemed to be overkill.  And why was Morgana pushing a baby carriage? And were the rows of people sitting back to back and jiggling up and down supposed to be on a train?  So many moments didn't make sense to us. We felt as if high vocal art was competing with low sight gags.

The setting (Gideon Davey) had something like a baroque proscenium on the left and a painting of a huge wave (like a Japanese woodcut) on the right.  From time to time a wall with seven doors descended. People rushed in and out as frequently as in a French farce.  Mr. Davey's costumes leaned toward contemporary streetwear with Morgana and Oronte dressed as theater ushers. At one point Morgana was dressed like Bette Midler.  

Oh well, the music was great! Handel's music will live on and Mr. Alden's concept will vanish.

(c) meche kroop

JUST LIKE CHAMPAGNE

Kimberly Hann and Kristen Kemp

Vocal music is like champagne, you can have too much but you can never have enough.  This is what we thought whilst heading downtown for Kimberly Hann's graduation recital at Mannes just after attending a satisfying recital at the Morgan Library. Is this greed and gluttony? Was it time to show Mannes School of Music some love? Or was it the memory of Ms. Hann's outstanding performance with Cantanti Project as the warrior Orlando, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to Handel's beautiful music.

Ms. Hann calls herself a Contralto/Mezzo. She has the low notes but, as you can see in our photo, she is far too beautiful to portray witches and sorceresses, and way to feminine for trouser roles. We will just have to wait and see!  Perhaps someday, someone will write an opera for her unique assets. 

The program lasted only an hour but revealed a well rounded artist who has worked hard to earn her Master of Music degree. She began with two arias by Handel which expressed a great deal of feeling. From Alcina, she sang "E gelosia, forza e d'amore"; in this Act I aria, Bradamante comes to the sorceress' island to find her lover besotted by Alcina.  She expresses her jealous rage in vocal fireworks from the top of her register to the bottom.  Quite an opener, and very well handled by the gifted Ms. Hann.

In the challenging "Cielo! Se tu il consenti" from Orlando (an aria we heard her sing before), the warrior's jealousy is not only murderous but suicidal. Ms. Hann conveyed all the madness of the character. Handel is perfect for her voice and she attacked the fioritura with as much artistry as enthusiasm.

A total change allowed the audience to relax from all that intense excitement. Four melodic songs by Brahms elicited different moods. "Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer" takes us right to death's door with a dying woman begging her lover to come quickly. The last song "Von ewiger Liebe" is a real charmer and clearly Ms. Hann understands what she is singing about. Although we heard a slight alteration of color from the man's trepidation to the woman's reassurance, we would like to hear just a little more variety.

Tchaikovsky's songs are always welcome even though we do not understand Russian.  This is OK as long as the singer understands and communicates. This was beautifully conveyed in "Reconciliation". We loved the phrase "And try not to remember in winter How you picked the roses in spring!"

"None but the lonely heart" is yet another setting of Goethe's text "Nur wer die sehnsucht kennt" which we would not have translated as lonely.  It comprises yearning, longing, and anxiety. We would like to offer a prize to a reader who can name all of the composers who set this wonderful text. Someday we would like to hear all the settings on the same program.

Especially lovely was Ms. Hann's performance of the first four songs of Hector Berlioz' Les nuits d'ete. These gave Ms. Hann the opportunity to express a variety of moods and colors from the lighthearted "Villanelle" to the "liebestod" experienced by the rose in "Le spectre de la rose". The darker color of "Sur les lagunes" matched the sorrow of death and the teasing good humor of "L'ile inconnue" involves a man who promises a woman abundant fantasy until she lets him know what she really wants--fidelity.

It was a most satisfying recital and presages a fine future for this lovely young artist. We were glad we went.

Collaborative pianist was Kristen Kemp.

(c) meche kroop

SIMPLY SIMAN

Binna Han and Siman Chung

We have entered the golden age of the countertenor. We have heard two excellent members of this fach sing the "Refugee's aria" from Jonathan Dove's Flight (one of the very few contemporary operas we enjoyed) and both Jakub Jozef Orlinski and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen were superb in the role. We profoundly regret missing Mr. Chung's performance of this role with Mannes Opera but, judging by last night's recital at the National Opera Center, we are sure he was superb.

The recital was part of Opera America's Emerging Artist Recital Series and presented Mr. Chung as the Opera Index 2015 Arthur E. Walters Memorial Award Winner.  Opera Index is a nonprofit volunteer organization whose mission it is to advocate for opera and support young artists. They have been holding competitions for over 30 years, the winners of which look like a "Who's Who" of the opera world.

Mr. Chung's recital flew by in a brief 60 minutes but gave the packed house a solid opportunity to assess his prodigious artistry. We enjoyed him the most when he played to his strengths and his strengths lay most securely in the repertory written for his fach. Well, actually, the roles we speak of were written for castrati and it is very fortunate that that barbaric practice is long gone! 

But the role of Farnace in Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto was written for alto castrato and Mr. Chung's  performance was just fine and marked by superb control of dynamics and a seamless production of sound that transitioned well to the low notes.

Even better was his performance of two Handel arias. The first, "Dove sei, amato bene" from Rodelinda is an aria of longing, and was written for the character Bertarido, originally sung by a soprano castrato. We loved the embellishments in the ritornello, the sensitive decrescendo and the ear-tickling trill.

Countertenors are often asked to sing angry arias (think "Furibondo spira il vento") and Mr. Chung's performance of "Crude furie degli orridi abissi" from Handel's Serse was also written for soprano castrato but is today most often performed by  mezzo-sopranos. We enjoyed the vocal pyrotechnics.

Similarly, music by Henry Purcell was finely sung. Purcell wrote music for John Dryden's play Oedipus and his "Music for a while" rivals Schubert's "An die Musik" as a paean to what we think of as the highest art form. Mr. Chung exhibited a lovely vibrato and interesting overtones.

Purcell's 1692 masque The Fairy Queen provided two wonderful songs perfect for Mr. Chung's many talents. Our personal favorite was "If music be the food of love". The elaborate embellishments were thrilling and we were happy to hear sufficient variety in the repetitions.  Happily, his English was perfectly enunciated and we were not obliged to look at the titles, although it is always nice to have them just in case.

In an entirely different vein, Mr. Chung offered three songs by Ernest Chausson, bringing us into an entirely different century. His French was flawless and, again we understood every word. We have never heard these songs sung by a countertenor and they sounded lovely. Our favorite was the very sad "Le temps des lilas" from Poeme de l'amour et de la mer. His tone was exquisite, the colors impressive, and the depth of feeling quite moving.

From Sept Melodies, Op.2 we heard "Le colibri" and "Les papillons".  His tone suited the delicacy of the language and music. Mr. Chung's superlative collaborative pianist was Binna Han and she captured the fluttering of wings in the piano part.

A pair of songs by Roger Quilter were well sung but the writing, in our opinion, lacks the poetry of Chausson's writing.

There was also a trio of songs by Brahms which did not thrill us, and we do love our Brahms. It is only our opinion but we think Mr. Chung sounds infinitely better in songs written with a certain voice type in mind. Additionally, his German was not nearly as accomplished as his French. For every crisp consonant there was one that was glossed over. His encore, Strauss' "Zueignung" was given plenty of passion and better enunciation but it just wasn't up to the excellence of the rest of the recital.

We first became acquainted with this fach in a student production at Manhattan School of Music starring Anthony Roth Costanzo in Lukas Foss' Griffelkin.  That must have been 8 or 9 years ago and we have loved the sound ever since. And now we have so many fine countertenors. This gives us the opportunity to appreciate music that has lain dormant for centuries; additionally it gives stimulus to contemporary composers (although we may not appreciate the latter as much). As Jane Marsh said in her master class a couple days ago "If you lay the tracks the train will come".

(c) meche kroop

CATFIGHT AT JUILLIARD

Michal Biel, Matthew Robert Swensen, and Jakub Jozef Orlinski

Of course we will be reviewing vocal music every night as usual, but let it be noted that the beauty we heard from Matthew Swensen and friends was enough to keep us fulfilled for at least the next week. We will get to the catfight later. First let us take a close look at what made tenor Matthew Swensen's graduation recital so completely fulfilling.

First of all, Mr. Swensen has a notable instrument. We are very tough on tenors who push their voices, those that shout, those that substitute volume for tone, those that throw their heads back and strangle the tone, and those that make our own throat ache.  Mr. Swensen has none of those flaws. He has a pure sweet tone that is like balm to the ear. Of course, he can express other emotions than sweetness but the tone is never disagreeable.

Secondly, Mr. Swensen is incredibly musical and phrases the text beautifully. We heard some perfect dynamic control and great artistry in the embellishments.

Thirdly, he has superb linguistic skills. We heard him in five languages. His French in Henri Duparc's "L'invitation au Voyage" was impeccable and the line was carried through in great Gallic style. His German in the Schubert lieder managed the miraculous--crisp consonants without cheating the vowels and being so completely on the breath that the line achieved an almost Italianate legato. The Italian in the Donizetti emphasized the purity of the vowels which were all connected. Even his English was understandable. We do not speak Czech but it sounded just fine.

Fourthly, he knows how to program a recital to show off his artistry and how to select a collaborative pianist (the marvelous Michal Biel) and how to bring in the right guest artist (the sensational Jakub Jozef Orlinski).

Now let's take a closer look. Henri Duparc's "L'invitation au Voyage" was sung with seductive sensuality and the mood was sustained beautifully during the interludes between verses. Phrases swelled and ebbed like the sea and the piano decrescendo at the end was so beautiful.  We realized we had been holding our breath!

Two lieder were extracted from Schubert's song cycle Die Schone Mullerin, a cycle we adore. We hope someday to hear Mr. Swensen sing the entire oeuvre based on the intense feeling with which he sang "Die liebe Farbe" and "Die bose Farbe". Mr. Biel's masterfully modulated piano underscored the hero's anguish, especially in the staccato passages.

Although we are quite familiar with Dvorak's Gypsy Songs, our familiarity extends only to the German version. It was quite ambitious for Mr. Swensen to tackle the difficult Czech language but, for us, it was a revelation to hear how precisely the music and words enjoyed simultaneous rhythm and stress. So many moods are expressed in this cycle; perhaps this is only a fantasy of gypsy life but the songs involve freedom, dancing, singing, and even the quietude of the forest. Perhaps our favorite is "Songs my mother taught me" which is tender and nostalgic. Mr. Swensen and Mr. Biel captured all the moods.

In "Una Furtiva Lagrima" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Mr. Swensen put his own spin on Nemorino's character, a less sentimental one than we are accustomed to but an interpretation no less valid. We heard a beautifully controlled portamento and a stunning decrescendo at the end.  There was no grandstanding, just great music.

Although we will never be fans of religious music, we can still admire it when it is well performed and we have nothing but good things to say about "Comfort Ye" from Handel's Messiah. The English was clear, the fioritura well negotiated, and the dynamics well controlled.

Britten's Canticle II is a scene between the biblical characters Abraham and Isaac during which father explains to son why he will be sacrificed. The very idea makes us shudder. We saw this scene in a staged version at Chelsea Opera a few years ago and it upset us then as well.  That being said, Mr. Swensen assumed the role of Abraham with guest artist countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski assuming the role of the child. Mr. Swensen shared with the audience his childhood experience of performing this work with his own father.  "And now" he said "Mr. Orlinski will be my son".

It was very well done and we loved the sonority of the two voices together creating the voice of God. What interesting harmonies we heard!

The evening would not end without the catfight. You, dear reader, have been waiting to hear about that and we will not disappoint you. The encore comprised both singers performing Rossini's hilarious concert duet "Duetto buffo di due gatti". This was written for two sopranos and we never even considered hearing it with male voices. It was an original idea and it worked beyond one's highest expectations as the two artists hissed and clawed their way to become top dog--rather top cat. We can't decide on the winner.

(c) meche kroop