NEW, NEWER AND NEWEST MUSIC

Michael Barrett, Naomi Louisa O'Connell, Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Jesse Blumberg, Chelsea Shephard, Amy Owens, and Steven Blier

Our admiration of and affection for a group of young singers swayed us toward reviewing last night's New York Festival of Song. It was indeed a challenge for our 19th c. ears to relate to a program of late 20th and 21st c. music. We love opera, we love stories, we love lieder that tell us a story. So much contemporary vocal music is abstract and offers settings of texts that we would not enjoy reading for their own merits. The music inspired by these texts does not seem to add much.

Steven Blier's program played to a packed house and comprised works of three generations of American composers. The earliest one was Paul Bowles, the next was William Bolcom, and the newest was Gabriel Kahane.

It was a triumph of singing and acting on the part of the artists that overcame our feelings of being lost in abstraction. Our happiest moments came when the material offered a relatable dramatic situation. 

Paul Bowles' Picnic Cantata is a daffy almost surrealist tale about four women planning and executing a picnic. The four women singers appeared dressed in mid 20th c. summer dresses. Their voices harmonized beautifully.

When mezzo-soprano Naomi Louisa O'Connell sang the aria "The Sunday paper is full of news", she related the sad story of a married woman in love with a married man, writing to an advice columnist. She filled the story with pathos and sympathy so the accompaniment by Mr. Blier and Mr. Barrett began to make sense.

In that cycle, we also enjoyed "In sun and shade", in which the lyrical piano line seemed to express the image of a warm day spent  in nature with the kites flying. Some interesting sounds were provided by percussionist Barry Centanni.

Our favorite part of the evening was William Bolcom's Suite from Dinner at Eight which was receiving its world premiere. The opera itself, with libretto by Mark Campbell, will receive its premiere next month at Minnesota Opera; we expect it will be a great success. It is based on a play from 1932 written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. 

Accompanied by both pianos, soprano Chelsea Shephard used her ample vocal artistry and dramatic skills to portray Millicent Jordan who is planning a dinner party in the opening aria "Lobster in aspic", endowing the role with imperiousness, anxiety, and the best kind of humor--the unselfconscious type.

Mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms was stunning and convincing as the retired actress Carlotta, reminiscing with Millicent's husband Oliver in "Our town".

Versatile baritone Jesse Blumberg was convincing as Oliver Jordan in the troubled aria "You think you're safe", as he faces the failure of his business in The Great Depression.

Soprano Amy Owens, remembered as a charming Zerbinetta at the Santa Fe Opera (summer 2014), gave a moving performance of "My love will see us through"--sung by the Jordan's daughter Paula to her troubled alcoholic lover.

Ms. O'Connell invested Lucy, married to a cheating doctor, with all the ambivalence of a woman who stays with her man despite the pain he causes her. The work ended with the entire ensemble raising their voices in hopeful harmony in "The party goes on" (even without the guests of honor and the lobster aspic).

A world premiere was on the program as well--Gabriel Kahane's Six Packets of Oatmeal, commissioned by NYFOS. The text was a "poem" by Galway Kinnell which was not at all poetic, just the ramblings of an isolated man who fantasizes about imaginary companions joining him for breakfast. Although Mr. Blumberg sang it beautifully, we kept thinking about Schubert's Winterreise as a far more artistic depiction of isolation and mental illness. 

There were some mighty strange sounds emanating from the piano and something we did enjoy was Mr. Barrett's demonstration of how plucking the strings under the lid of the piano could produce some strange overtones. But the text was too idiosyncratic for our taste.

A shorter piece by Mr. Kahane from 2006 was of more interest to us. "Half a box of condoms" from his Craigslistlieder was sung by Chelsea Shephard and offered ample chuckles.

(c) meche kroop

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE....

Lachlan Glen and Kyle Bielfield (photo by Jordan Chaplecka}

What is the difference between a recital and a CD?  That's not a riddle but a question we have been asking ourselves during the fortnight since we came into possession of the chart-topping CD recorded by tenor Kyle Bielfield and collaborative pianist Lachlan Glen.

A number of answers come to mind but the most obvious one is that a recital is evanescent and very much "of the moment" whereas a CD is forever.  If you like it you can listen to it again.  And if you love it, as we do this recording, you can play it every day and find new delights each time you listen.

Another difference is the perfection that can be achieved in a recording studio that one cannot expect in a live recital. One other difference in this particular recording is that the songs have not been arranged in "sets" containing the works of one composer as they would be in a recital; rather they have been arranged to provide a balanced listening experience and to create a variety of moods by varying the tempi.

What is remarkable about "Stopping By" is the exquisite partnership between Mr. Bielfield's sweet tenor and Mr. Glen's fine collaborative piano.  All the songs are treated with equal respect.  The program notes distinguishe between "classically oriented" and "Americana".  We make no such distinctions.  Brahms set many folk songs which seem to our ears no less worthy than settings of renowned poets.

Our particular taste leans toward settings of text that rhymes and scans.  Thus it is that the songs of Stephen Foster, called "the father of American song" filled us with pleasure.  Made famous by Marilyn Horne in our own time, "Beautiful Dreamer" is here given an exquisite performance with a perfect ending in the upper register; in Foster's setting of the sad "Gentle Annie" Michael Samis' cello makes a lovely contribution.  Here is proof that a folk tune can be made into art.

Going from the earliest entry in this survey of American song to the most recent, Leonard Bernstein's "Dream with Me" tickled our ears with excellent phrasing on the part of all three artists, as did his "Spring Will Come Again" in which Mr. Bielfield seems to caress each word. Again, Mr. Samis' cello was a welcome addition to the music.

But our absolute favorite song in the album is Irving Berlin's "Change Partners"; anyone who has yearned for a person who was "taken" can relate to the futile hopefulness.  Mr. Bielfield's heart and soul was in this one!

A special treat is hearing three settings of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".  The splendid poetry seems to have inspired three equally fine but different compositions.  Perhaps the most accessible is that of Samuel Barber and the most melancholy that of John Duke in which the piano is given a superb prelude and postlude.  But Ned Rorem's is no less terrific for its spareness.

Two folk songs arranged by Aaron Copland captured the ear with their directness and simplicity: "Long Time Ago" and the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts".  Paul Bowles' "In the Woods" requires the singer to whistle in imitation of birdsong; to our ears it sounded exactly like a mating call; we loved it.  Ned Rorem's brief gem "Snake" had a slithery vocal line and a churning piano.

"From the Land of the Sky-Blue Waters" by Charles Wakefield Cadman is a lovely old-fashioned ballad with some nice figuration in the piano.  Charles Griffes "The Water Lily" has an impressionistic feel.  Songs by Amy Beach, Celius Dougherty and Mark Abel are also represented in this compendium of American song.

By now you will have realized that this banquet of song offers something for everyone to enjoy.  We have mentioned our favorites but with further listening we are sure to appreciate some of the less accessible songs.  Please feel free to comment below on your favorites!

© meche kroop