GIMME SOME BLUES!

Joshua Blue onstage at Juilliard

A tenor with a point of view took the stage at Juilliard yesterday in a very personal program filled with passion, as befits his middle name, which is Vaspassion. Mr. Blue is about to be awarded a Master of Music Degree and he chose a theme for his graduation recital--the theme of oppression. Different sets were devoted to political oppression, sexual oppression, and racial oppression.

Mr. Blue has a voice that can caress or strike hard and he always colored his voice to suit the material. He employed the services of a number of different artists which made for a very compelling recital, although we have no doubt that he could have carried the recital on his own.

His collaborative pianist, Amir Farid, opened the program with the oceanic prelude to Rachmaninoff's "Arion", the setting of a text by Pushkin, selected from the composer's 14 Romances. Voice and piano worked together, creating both storm and peace.

Next we heard Sechs Hölderlin Fragments and were surprised at how significantly we preferred Britten's setting of German text over his setting of English. We cannot say whether it was Mr. Blue's powerful presence or the fact that German sings so much better than English. The rhythm of Britten's music seemed to fit the rhythm of the text in far better fashion. Mr. Farid's piano was exceptional in "Hälfte des Lebens".

For Ravel's Chansons madécasses, Mr. Blue and Mr. Farid were joined by cellist Matthew Chen and flutist Jonathan Slade who effectively created the bird song in "Il est doux". The songs related to the oppression produced by colonialism. "Nahandova" speaks of desire for the indigenous and exotic woman whilst "Aoua" speaks of betrayal by the colonializers.

Three art songs by some rather unknown Soviet composers captured our attention with marvelous melodies and texts that often seemed ironic in their praise of life under Communism. Perhaps these works were commissioned by the State but we have no way of knowing. 

"Lullaby" sounded suspiciously reassuring. "Times Have Changed" glorified life under Lenin and Mr. Blue amplified his forceful Russian with dramatic gestures. 

The final work on the program filled the stage with drama and fellow musicians. Guitarist Jack Gulielmetti, whom we remember from his appearances with New York Festival of Song, was joined by drummer T.J. Reddick and the four artists performed the world premiere of Andrew Seligson's rousing Break Your Chains--the subject of which was the Afro-American experience. 

We don't know whether to call it a cantata or a cycle of songs. We don't know what genre to which we can attribute it. Jazz Rock maybe?  It doesn't matter. It spoke to us and to the audience that greeted its conclusion with cheers. Although Mr. Blue warned the audience that they might be upset and close their ears to this cry of pain and injustice, he was preaching to the choir. The energy in the room was that of people truly listening, truly hearing, and those willing to be inspired.

Text for this work was provided by Andre Cardine, Epiphany Samuels, Preston Crowder, B.J. Tindal, the composer, and also Mr. Blue. There was a lot of anger and drive behind the words.

The message of the program has remained with us. Every battle needs a battle anthem! There are people all over the world fighting against oppression at this very moment. We see no reason for Mr. Blue to have included oppression of women in his program but our thoughts went toward women fighting to be free from sexual harassment, women in Saudi Arabia who seem to have won the right to drive, and Iranian women who are fighting against a rigid patriarchal dress code. Music is so powerful in mobilizing and inspiring people!  

(c) meche kroop

THIRTY IS THE NEW WONDERFUL

Jack Gulielmetti, Steven Blier, Julia Bullock, Paul Appleby, Antonina Chehovska, Theo Hoffman, Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, John Brancy, and Michael Barrett

Last night, New York Festival of Song celebrated their 30th Anniversary at Merkin Concert Hall. The well-curated songs were culled from several themed programs in NYFOS' history. Mr. Blier's customary witticisms peppered the notes in the printed program, relating for those who did not know how NYFOS got started-- in the small auditorium of the Greenwich House Music School, with room for only a hundred people.

We count ourself among the devoted followers. We don't even bother to find out what the theme of the evening is or who is singing because every program is sufficiently diverse to contain a few songs we will love and because the singers chosen to sing them are among our favorites. 

Last night's program comprised a collection of songs taken from earlier programs which were sung by a group of artists that we adore, mostly known to us from Juilliard--artists we started writing about when we first started writing. Seven years later, these young singers are singing all over the world and garnering awards by the score.

Not every song rang our bell or touched our heart in the same manner but they all expanded our awareness of what that particular singer can do.  And we are all about expanding awareness.

Take, for example, the very serious baritone John Brancy--an artist of great honesty and integrity. What a pleasure to hear him sing songs of romantic intentions and frivolous ones too! Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Spring Waters" showed Mr. Brancy's passionate side and his substantial baritone stood up well to Michael Barrett's equally passionate piano. The two together created a thrilling climax.

Another expansion was perceived during Gabriel Fauré's gorgeous and tender "En sourdine", sung in fine French with long Gallic lines. We heard an exquisite pianissimo and we decided that our favorite word in French is "rossignol".

Still another side to Mr. Brancy's artistry was heard in his colorful duet with tenor Paul Appleby--Ernesto Lecuona's "Como el arrullo de palmas". The harmonies were mellow and it sounded like a second cousin of Mariachi music.

We just reviewed Mr. Appleby's stellar performance in the title role of Candide at Carnegie Hall. Last night he impressed us with his performance of Jorge Ackermann's "Flor de Yumuri" accompanied not only by piano but by the guitar of Jack Gulielmetti and the percussion of Eric Borghi, which added so much to the Latin flavor.

We also enjoyed his "Tu vois le feu du soir", Francis Poulenc's setting of a text by Paul Eluard which was somewhat less surreal than others we have heard. Mr. Appleby never pushes his voice and we loved the apparent ease with which he spun out the final note.

We always feel most at home with Schubert and Mr. Appleby did complete justice to the jaunty "Taubenpost", a setting of text by Gabriel Seidl.

Baritone Theo Hoffman flew in from LA Opera's Young Artist Program to open the show with Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Orpheus With His Lute". Shakespeare's text may just as well have been speaking of Mr. Hoffman--"In sweet music is such art; Killing care and grief of heart".

That being said, we enjoyed him even more in the witty words and tuneful music of Stephen Sondheim who wrote "Talent" for a musical called Road Show that never made it. A distinguishing feature of Mr. Hoffman's performance is his English diction, which is so clear that not a word was missed. We wish that quality was not as rare as it is!

He also closed the program with the incredibly moving duet by John Lennon and Paul McCartney "In My Life", performed with the sensational soprano Julia Bullock, whose Carnegie Hall recital we just reviewed.

Ms. Bullock could grab our ear if she sang the proverbial phonebook but give her good material and she grabs our heart. Our classical taste was best satisfied by her heartfelt performance of Edvard Grieg's "En svane" but she also gave a toe-tapping performance of Fats Waller's early song "Ain't-Cha Glad".

Soprano Antonina Chehovska has been largely responsible for our evolving interest in Russian and Ukrainian music. One of the highlights of the evening was her performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's seasonally appropriate "Spring Waters" which we have been hearing a lot lately.  "To her" was new to us and its melancholy nature touched our heart.

Russian was not the only language we heard from Ms. Chehovska. Dvorák's gorgeous song "Mé sredce často v bolesti" was sung in Czech and the title translates as "My heart often ponders in sorrow" but we have included the Czech to demonstrate the difficulty of this language, a challenge well met by Ms. Chehovska. The melody drew us in and we recognized a motif the composer used in Russalka. We also heard a Wagnerian flavor in the harmony.

After the difficult Czech, the Spanish of Enrique Granados in "El mirar de la maja" must have seemed easy but the effect was just as lovely.

Adorable soprano Lauren Worsham seems equally at ease with opera and cabaret. She took a very strange unpublished song by the late Jonathan Larson entitled "Hosing the Furniture" and made sense out of what appears to be the "diary of a mad housewife" who lives in a house made of vinyl. 

Her comedic skills were put to even better use in the 18th c. cabaret song "El dulce de América" which involved a lot of physical gestures to get the point across.  This gal is funny!

Another Broadway star was on board for the evening--the legendary mezzo-soprano Mary Testa who performed Michael John LaChiusa's "Heaven" with a lot of bending of the tone. In Hoagy Carmichael's "Old Buttermilk Sky", she was joined by Mr. Gulielmetti playing the banjo and David Ostwald playing the tuba. We always enjoy an original arrangement!

There were more songs but we only have space to hit the highlights. But let's not omit the encore--the Beatles song "Obla-di obla-da", a wonderfully upbeat way to end the celebration, with everyone taking part!

We wish NYFOS another 30 years of song!

(c) meche kroop

PROTEST!

(seated) Steven Blier and Jack Gulielmetti
(front on left side) Shereen Pimentel and Christine Taylor Price
(back row) Jacob Scharfman, Joshua Blue, Dimitri Katotakis, Andrew Munn, and Rihab Chaieb

At the end of last night's concert of protest songs, Maestro Steven Blier uttered his first words, "Garbo Speaks". The consequent laughter was related to the absence of his customary narration and anecdotal contributions.  This time, M. Blier wanted the songs to speak for themselves.  They did speak--they more than spoke; they lamented, they howled, they challenged negativity.

This New York Festival of Song show was originally presented at Juilliard and at Henry's Restaurant as part of their Sing for Your Supper series, staged by the terrific director Mary Birnbaum.  It deserved a wider audience and was therefore presented last night at Merkin Hall once again, this time directed by Mo Zhou, who did a great job of moving the artists around the stage and adding gestural meaning to the material.

The theme resonated with the audience, inasmuch as we have so much to protest in today's political climate. Perhaps the most vociferous applause was in response to Woody Guthrie's unpublished "Old Man Trump". As we know, POTUS comes from a real estate family and his father was the racist landlord mentioned in Mr. Guthrie's song; Guthrie was incensed when Trump tried to keep Beach Haven white. The mid 20th c. song was performed by baritone Dimitri Katotakis, beginning a capella, then joined by Jack Gulielmetti's guitar.  At one point he played the harmonica!

Another very powerful song was the ballad "Joe Hill", written by Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson and performed with great depth of feeling by bass Andrew Munn who "mined" his real life experience in Appalachia to give the song a very present quality that struck us right in the gut.

Accompanied by Mr. Blier's very bluesy piano, tenor Joshua Blue began his very personal performance of Fats Waller's "Black and Blue" (lyrics by Andy Razaf) with a feeling of puzzlement that grew in power before reaching the anguished climax.

Jacob Scharfman impressed with his full low voice, lending gravity to "The Lavender Song" by Mischa Spoliansky and Kurt Schwabach; a high voiced campy delivery would have undermined the intense message of the song but Mr. Scharfman's body movement made it clear that the song was about self-expression of the marginalized homosexual community--a half century before the Stonewall Riots.

We have saved the ladies for last. Soprano Shereen Pimentel brought back personal memories with her performance of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" which we actually experienced in Canada sung by Joni Mitchell! She truly did the song justice and we loved the backup group doing the "doo wop"--Mr. Katotakis, Christine Price, and Rihab Chaieb.

Soprano Christine Taylor Price preceded her performance of Bernstein's "A Julia de Burgos" by reciting Burgos' poetry with such apt dramatic intent that we understood the song for the first time. We knew Burgos was a feminist poet from Puerto Rico and we have heard the song a few times without "getting" it.  All it took was a true vocal and dramatic artist to get it across!

The very talented mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb sang "A Prayer to the New Year" in Arabic. It was the most contemporary piece on the program; the text by Fadwa Tuqan was set by Mohammed Fairouz and we found it inspirational. We wish it had been the final piece on the program because it left us with hopeful feelings for the future.

Many feelings were expressed over the course of the short program. "El Cambalache" by Enrique Santos Discépolo was translated into English by William Bolcom and Mr. Sharfman brought out every ounce of cynicism, making it the most contemporary of the offerings.

Other songs we heard protested fascism in Mussolini's Italy and in Argentina. The refugee situation and exile were addressed as well as racial and religious discrimination and the despoiling of our environment. There is so much to protest!

Do we need to tell you how superb all the voices were and how heartfelt the performances? The entire cast joined in for the encore, Jane Ritchie's "Now is the Cool of the Day" sung by the entire cast in beautiful harmony and a capella. Like most strophic folk tunes, it lingers in the ear.

(c) meche kroop

SCORES BY THE "FOUR SCORES"

Nicole Thomas, Gregory Feldmann, Matthew Pearce, Kathryn Henry, Dominik Belavy, and Myka Murphy celebrating the 80th birthdays of William Bolcom and John Corigliano

It was quite a party, celebrating two elder "statesmen" of the music world with Steven Blier as host. New York Festival of Song collaborates annually with The Juilliard School for a special evening, giving graduate students of the Vocal Arts Department a chance to stretch themselves, cross some boundaries, and have some fun.

It was the fun numbers that we enjoyed the most. Take for example the closing number of the first part of the program which was devoted to the works of John Corigliano. The sure directorial hand of Mary Birnbaum was felt in "Liebeslied" when the simple repetition of the common phrase "I love you" was repeated in endless variety, each iteration carrying its own message as interpreted by various groupings of the six singers. For us, it was the highlight of the evening.

Similarly, the encore--William Bolcom's "Amor"--was performed by the ensemble, giving each woman an opportunity to revel in the fantasy of commanding the attention of an entire small town. We have often heard and enjoyed this song as an encore, but never heard it performed by a group!

Oh, those women!  Kathryn Henry lent her stunning soprano to "Otherwise" from Bolcom's Briefly it Enters; this is a simple song about the ephemeral nature of life and the fleeting nature of its bounty. Jane Kenyon's text was pithy and moving, and the piano accompaniment had a searching quality.

We also enjoyed the simplicity of her delivery in "Forever Young" from Corigliano's setting of text by Bob Dylan. Much of it was sung a capella or with minimal accompaniment and she made every word clear, which we truly appreciate.

Mezzo-soprano Myka Murphy grabbed the audience's attention and held it firmly from start to finish in "At the Last Lousy Moments of Love" from Bolcom's Cabaret Songs. All the bitterness of the text came through because of her clear enunciation; not a word was missed.

Mezzo-soprano Nicole Thomas was memorable in "Marvelous Invention" from John Corigliano's  Metamusic. It's been a long time since the iPod was the thing to own; each generation has its own way of listening to music but the threatened replacement of live music with "portable instant listening devices" is a hot topic. The prop was supplied by Steve Blier from his personal collection!

The singers were accompanied by Mr. Blier and by Chris Reynolds who never fails to delight. His piano perfectly limned the sound of chimes in "Chimes of Freedom", Corigliano's setting of text by Bob Dylan from Mr. Tambourine Man.

Getting to the men on the program, baritone Gregory Feldmann had the responsibility of singing the world premiere of Mr. Corigliano's song cycle Rhymes for the Irreverent. Our favorite among this group was "The Odds-on Favorite" which he performed with ample gesture and plenty of personality. "Critical" brought the challenge of a very low register which he met successfully. We loved his melismatic singing on the word "bloom" in "One Sweet Morning".

Baritone Dominik Belavy showed his acting chops several times in the evening. In "Dodecaphonia", Corigliano makes fun of 12-tone music and Mr. Belavy, suitably costumed, portrayed a detective tracking down the notorious "serial" criminal Twelve-Tone Rose. Mark Adamo's text was quite clever.

Tenor Matthew Pearce made a perfect permissive priest hearing the sexy confession of Nicole Thomas in "His Manner is Gentle" from Bolcom's Lucrezia. Accompanied by the fine guitarist Jack Gulielmetti, he sang "Soneto de la dulce queja" from Bolcom's Canciones de Lorca. We were glad that the got off the book for "El poeta llega a la Habana" with it's spirited rhythms which got the entire ensemble dancing.

The evening ended with a love fest among the singers and the venerable composers--lots of balloons and hugs and audience appreciation.  Another fabulous night at Juilliard!

(c) meche kroop

NYFOS AFTER HOURS--PROTEST SONGS

Mikaela Bennett, Joshua Blue, Jacob Scharfman, Andrew Munn, Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Chelsea Shephard, and Dimitri Katotakis

Hosted by the gracious Henry of Henry's Restaurant, an Upper West Side institution, New York Festival of Song After Hours presented their final show of the season; it was a different sort of show, comprising songs of protest, but just right for the mood in NYC these days. We liberal arts loving folk feel like a persecuted minority with a great deal to worry about and against which to protest.

Our pianist/arranger/host Steven Blier picked up an idea by the highly esteemed young director Mary Birnbaum and immediately compiled a list of songs on the theme of protest. There was no trouble finding a cast of talented young singers from Juilliard's Department of Vocal Arts to perform the songs.

This was indeed a different kind of show. There was no "Sing for Your Supper" to get us all in a jolly mood and Mr. Blier eschewed his customary banter about each song. He told the audience that he wanted the songs to "speak for themselves". Many of the songs related to oppression in foreign countries, in which case the singer read the text in English.

The wildly talented Mikaela Bennett opened the program with Stevie Wonder's song "If It's Magic". We were not too sure about what was being protested, unless it is the carelessness of our culture in not taking care of the things that matter. Ms. Bennett is unceasingly eclectic and just when we were enjoying the soul and jazz inflected song, she burst forth with some operatic riffs that reminded us of her versatility.

Toward the end of the evening she sang Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" which clearly protested the despoiling of nature and the failure to appreciate our blessings until they are gone. Ms. Bennett's personality is larger than life and she put her own expressive stamp on this song which was written in the 60's, long before she was born.

Her duet with Amanda Lynn Bottoms was sung in Spanish and the two women harmonized beautifully in "Como la cigarra", a protest by lesbian poet/musician/writer Maria Elena Walsh against the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983).

Ms. Bottoms had a couple fine solos as well. She sang "Song for Peace" from A Prayer to the New Year by the young Arabic/American composer Mohammed Fairouz, setting of text by Fadwa Tuqan. It was a prayer for peace in the Middle East and we were not sure whether Ms. Bottoms sang in Arabic or the original Aramaic.  In any event, it was lovely.

She was absolutely riveting in "Lamento esclavo" by the 20th c. Cuban composer Eliseo Grenet with text by Aurelio G. Riancho.

Also in Spanish was Leonard Bernstein's l977 setting of text by feminist Puerto Rico poet Julia de Burgos, from his work Songfest. Chelsea Shephard performed "A Julia de Burgos" with passion, revealing the strong core of a woman who has found it necessary to be outwardly conventional and compliant.  

Ms. Shephard had a good time in her duet with Dimitri Katotakis, performing Randy Newman's ironic song "Political Science"--at heart a protest against American aggression.

Mr. Katotakis did well with "Pampamapa", Carlos Guastavino's setting of Hamlet Lima Quintana's poetry--more resistance to Argentinean fascism, although the text is more allusive than descriptive. The complex folkloric rhythms were stirring.

What Joshua Blue did with Fats Waller's song "Black and Blue" was extremely powerful. The text by Andy Razaf speaks to the painful damage done to an individual's sense of self worth by prejudice. It felt very personal and filled with truth.  It hurt! Mr. Blue is appropriately named since he has a real feeling for the blues and knows just how to bend a pitch.

He was similarly superb in Stevie Wonder's "Big Brother" which deals with government surveillance.  It made us think of racial profiling; it made us uncomfortable, which is a good thing. We might add that Mr. Blue's instrument has a very special timbre.

Jacob Scharfman sang a wonderful song about Gay Pride called "The Lavender Song", written by Mischa Spoliansky in 1920 as "Das Lila Lied" and popular in German cabaret. The lyrics were written by Kurt Schwabach and translated by Jeremy Lawrence. It's a fine song but we wish we had heard it in the original German.

But we did hear Mr. Scharfman sing in Yiddish--the 1943 "Zog Nit Keynmol", by Vilna poet Hirsh Glik and also known as "The Partisan's Song". The pre-existing melody was written by Soviet-Jewish composer Dimitri Pokrass.  It's hopeful message was adopted by the Vilna Partisans who were inspired by the Warsaw ghetto uprising, and it spread from one concentration camp to another with its inspirational message.

Andrew Munn sang "Bella, Ciao", a traditional song of resistance to Mussolini and also Marc Blitzstein's "The Cradle Will Rock" from the 1937 show of the same name--a pro-Labor musical during the Great Depression which protested against wicked greedy capitalists.

The entire ensemble performed the encore--"Now is the Cool of the Day" an Appalachian folk hymn recorded by Jean Ritchie. With seven stunning voices raised in harmony, singing about taking care of Mother Earth, it was an inspiring way to end this special evening.

Additional musical support was provided by Chris Reynolds on piano and Jack Gulielmetti on guitar.

(c) meche kroop