DISCOVERIES OF THE SEASONS

 Wm. Clay Thompson, Samuel Kidd, Raquel Gonzalez, Lucia Bradford, and Peter Dugan

We do believe it was Steven Blier himself who said that "No song is safe from New York Festival of Song". Aside from Mr. Blieer's pianistic gifts and engaging personality, one of the reasons that NYFOS has thrived for 36 years is the creative curating of songs and the astute organization of these songs to form satisfying evenings for his worshipful audience. The gloomy rainy autumnal evening could not keep us away.

Last night's theme was a seasonal one, with each season being given its due, each in a different language. We are not ashamed to admit that most of the program was new to us because Mr. Blier and his piano partner Peter Dugan spared no effort in their curating. One is never bored at a NYFOS concert!

Autumn was introduced by a two-piano four-hand performance (a format sustained for the entire evening) of Gabriel Fauré's "Berceuse" from the Dolly Suite, a work from the turn of the 20th c. The work makes use of the minor mode to express tenderness and melancholy. The remainder of the Autumn section was performed by  bass Wm. Clay Thompson whose dark resonant instrument did justice to "Dans la forêt de septembre" with its imagery drawn from nature. There was a welcome contrast with "Moisson", a rhythmic and festive piece in which the high spirits were underscored by the piano. 

Our favorite, however, was Felix Mendelsson's "Herbstlied", a duet sung with baritone Samuel Kidd forming a bridge to the Winter section in which Mr. Kidd would take over, singing in German. The harmonies were so affecting that we found ourself wishing that Mendelsson had written another verse. The vocal lines wove around each other reminding us a bit of Brahms. This was the most familiar work of the evening (for our ears anyway) but we had heretofore only heard it sung by two female voices. We are sure Mr. Blier chose that lied because it expresses his dismay over the end of summer. It served well to segue into the next season, sung in German.

We, however, are great fans of Winter and had the opportunity to hear Mr. Kidd perform a pair of songs by Richard Strauss that we had never heard, and which we prefered to the contemporaneous songs by Hugo Wolf. We found ourselves wishing the program had included something from Schubert's Die Winterreise.

Spring was given over to the Spanish language (and some Catalan dialect) for which soprano Raquel Gonazález seemed to have a particular affinity. It was a particular delight for us to hear her and witness the enormous personal growth achieved since her student days at Juilliard which we remember well. 

The set began, however, with an instrumental work by Astor Piazzolla arranged for two pianos-four hands by Pablo Ziegler. It is a colorful work and one could almost hear the bandoneón in the piano. The rhythmic introduction had Mr. Dugan drumming on the wooden part of the piano.  A lovely lyrical section yielded to a jazzy conclusion.

To Ms. González was given the charming romantic song "Larirà-Abril" in which a book of poetry brought to a forest tryst went unread. The Basque composer Juan Lamote de Grignon is rather unknown but, leave it to Mr. Blier to discover such treasures! Another song in the Catalan dialect, composed by Eduardo Toldra, was marvelously interpreted by the artist who allowed us to see, through her eyes and voice, the imagery of elements of nature. 

The biggest surprise to us was "Remancillo" composed by Joaquin Rodrigo. We have long loved his Concierto de Aranjuez but never knew he composed song(s) as well. The text, by an anonymous poet refers to a man in a dark prison who listens for birdsong. We couldn't help speculating that the blind composer may have written the text himself. The minor mode in the piano and the guitar-like elements were very sad and very Iberian.

Th Spanish section was brought to a close with a sweetly nostalgic duet "Mares y arenas" by Rosendo Ruiz, for which our lovely soprano was joined by a similarly lovely mezzo-soprano by the name of Lucia Bradford. The emotional content came through clearly and we enjoyed the piano interlude as well.

Closing the evening was the Summer set, sung in English. We confess we are completely ignorant of popular music and the selections by James Taylor, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder were new to us. We were familiar with the names but not the music. We enjoyed the way in which Ms. Bradford could bend a note and move us into jazzy territory in fine style.

The one piece in this set that resonated the most with us was written by Stephen Sondheim (whose music IS familiar to us) and was written early in his career as incidental music for a play of the same name Girls of Summer. We always appreciate Sondheim's irony.

We were gifted an encore from another favorite composer--the quartet from Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, a piece in madrigal form expressing the unique joys of each season.  What a treat!

© meche kroop

TERRIFIC TRIAD

 Larisa Martinez and Joshua Bell

(photo by Shervin Lainez)

It is rare to find a concert as well planned and exquisitely performed as last night's "Voice and the Violin" at the Kaufmann Concert Hall of the 92nd St. Y. We were thinking "Divine Duo" for the title of our review but that would have neglected the exceptional collaboration of pianist Peter Dugan, so well remembered from his Juilliard days. Much pandemic labor went into researching works for violin and voice and in adapting works for this combination. This would seem to be a labor of love--love between husband (violinist Joshua Bell) and wife (soprano Larisa Martinez), since this beautiful pair of artists are indeed wed. The pacing of this concert held us spellbound from beginning to end and left us feeling elevated.

The concert opened with a rarely heard work by Mendelssohn entitled Infelice. Musical scholars claim that the work comprises two separate works written in two different periods but both are settings of text by Pietro Metastasio and both were written in the same key. Perhaps this would explain why the audience burst into applause after the recitativo. In any case, it is a lovely concert aria and allowed Mr. Bell and Mr. Dugan to create an entire orchestra to back up Ms. Martinez' astute handling of the two sections, particularly the urgency of the cabaletta. We admired the fineness of the trills and the drawn out diminuendo of the conclusion.

Ernest Bloch's "Nigun" from Baal Shem alternated sorrowful melodies with aspirational ones; forcefulness was met with delicacy in rapid alternation. We know little about violin performance but couldn't help noticing how much like the human voice it is--but also capable of something else that is beyond the reach of the voice, the double stop. Although ignorant of violin technique, we are capable of recognizing and appreciating artistry which Mr. Bell has in spades, as they say.

The eponymous heroine of Massenet's Manon begins her journey as a wide-eyed impressionable convent-bound young woman and Ms. Martinez's acting here was just as exceptional as her vocal artistry. She created a very believable character, so believable that our mind's eye supplied the town square and the coach! There was something else that impressed us. The artist gave a glimmer of the wildness behind the innocence, hinting at what would follow. What a performance!

In Ferdinand Hérold's. "Jours de mon enfance" from Le pré aux clercs, the gorgeous melodies bounced back and forth between violin and soprano, made delicious by the rapport between the two artists. If Mr. Dugan was denied the benefit of eye contact, he never faltered in his support of the other two artists.

Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 is one of our favorite works and to hear Mr. Bell play his own arrangement, with Mr. Dugan relegated to a supportive role, was a revelation. It allowed us to hear the piece with fresh ears and to realize the very different colors and capabilities of two different instruments.

Ms. Martínez voice and personality were perfect for the Iberian inflected. "Les filles de Cadix" by Delibes. Her highly spirited performance was countered by dreamy delicacy in her performance of Richard Strauss' "Morgen".

Mr. Bell's performance of Henryk Wieniawski's  Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16 showed off his astonishing technique, driving the audience wild. We might mention here how much we appreciated the unassuming manner in which he addressed the audience, sharing with us that he played this piece as a 12-year-old. The achieved intimacy belied the size of the packed auditorium and we felt as if we were in a salon in our own home.

Our lovely soprano took over with a rapid fire performance of the lively "Zapateado" from Gerónimo Giménez' zarzuela , La Tempranica. Regular readers will recall how enthusiastic we are about zarzuela! 

We enjoyed Narciso Figueroa's "Mi Rancho" so much that we were inspired to learn something about him. Ms. Martínez is rightfully proud of her Puerto Rican heritage and what a good choice it was to share a work by her homeland's Father of Danzas, as he is called. The work she sang comes from a set of four songs entitled Cuatro Decímas and we want to hear the other three!  Mr. Figueroa was born to a Puerto Rican dynasty of musicians, studied classical composition in Europe and returned home to Puerto Rica to apply what he learned to his country's folkloric musical traditions and to assume a position as professor and director of the piano department of the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, a position which he held for many years.

The evening ended with West Side Story Suite, an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein's opera by Brohn and Czarnecki. The violin introduction sounded uncomfortably dissonant to our ears but once Ms. Martínez started to sing (both female parts) we grew to love it. We were ready to leave on a "high" but our vivacious soprano took us even higher with a work well suited to her beauty--"Quando m'en vo" from Puccini's La Bohême, bringing the audience to its collective feet once more.

We understand that this divine program will be touring the United States, so if you are living outside New York, watch out for it.

© meche kroop

JOHN AND PETER

Peter Dugan and John Brancy

Hearing baritone John Brancy Thursday night in recital with pianist Peter Dugan got us wondering about how long we have been witnessing his artistic growth. The earliest review we could find was 2011, just about the time we began writing about young singers. He was one of the Juilliard students participating in Lachlan Glen's year long perusal of Schubert's 600+ songs.

But we are sure we were impressed with his singing even before that date! We have heard him win converts to the art of the song several times with New York Festival of Song, with Marilyn Horne's program "The Song Continues", at the Brooklyn Art Song Society, at the National Opera Center, as an Opera Index Competition awardee, in recital at Carnegie Hall, and as Apollon in the Gotham Chamber Opera's production of Charpentier's 1686 work, La descente d'Orphée aux enfers.  

Coming back to his Juilliard roots, Mr. Brancy and his superb collaborator Peter Dugan (also a graduate of Juilliard) presented an interesting program entitled "Armistice: The Journey Home" in the 20th annual Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital. The two artists met whilst at Juilliard and seem to have a knack for programming. They have their very own approach to art song, encompassing classic works that we love from the 19th c. to modern popular music and original arrangements of American song.

The standing ovation at the end of the recital plus the large crowd lining up to buy their debut CD ("Silent Night") attest to the success of their approach. Many of the works on the program were by composers who lived through The Great War.

The program opened with Mr. Dugan's fleet fingers flying through Gustav Holst's "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity". We enjoyed the popular song of that epoch by Oley Speaks--"When the Boys Come Home" .  Mr. Dugan's brother, composer Leonardo Dugan, contributed "I Have a Rendezvous with Death", a dramatic setting of some depressing text involving a searching theme in the piano.

It was moving to hear the first verse of Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" sung by Mr. Brancy a capella, with Mr. Dugan's piano joining in, tentatively at first, including an extra verse which we had never heard.

We are not sure how the three songs of Franz Schubert fit into the theme but we were very happy to hear them, especially "Der Wanderer" and "Du bist die Ruh". For some reason, they alternated with songs by Rudi Stephan who composed a century later.  We found Stephan's songs to be grim and depressing, but then, war is grim and depressing.

Three glorious songs from Sergei Rachmaninoff restored our mood, especially the seasonal delight "Spring Waters" which seemed just right for the tail end of Winter and the coming of Spring.

Irving Berlin's "Goodbye France" was a swell reminder of how happy people must have been to greet their loved ones returning from the war.  We could use some of that patriotism in the 21st c.! A pair of songs by Ivor Novello followed, not making much of an impression on us, and the program closed with another Vaughan Williams song; frankly, we had heard enough from Williams in the first half of the program, having heard songs #1-8 already!

The encore brought back our optimism with "When You Walk Through a Storm" the inspirational song from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel.

(c) meche kroop

PLUPERFECT

Peter Dugan and John Brancy

"If the recital were repeated today we would be there. They left us satisfied but somehow wanting more."  This is a quote from a review we wrote exactly three months ago (archived on this website) entitled "Painting the Picture and Telling the Tale". Well, we had to wait three months but last night's recital at The National Opera Center fulfilled our desire. 

Three months ago it was John Brancy and Peter Dugan at Carnegie Hall  and last night's recital was at the National Opera Center, as part of Opera America's Emerging Artist Recital Series. This brilliant artist appeared as winner of the 2015 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. The Jensen Foundation established their first competition in 2000 with 91 competitors.  My, how they've grown!  In 2015, 270 singers competed for 125 audition slots. We have nothing but admiration for any and all institutions that give aid and attention to young artists.

Mr. Brancy has won many other competitions and has been singing around the world; the performance we would have most wanted to see was his Dr. Malatesta at Glyndebourne. Let's just say that his dance card is filled.

Can it be just three years since we reviewed his graduation recital at Juilliard? Mr. Dugan, a fellow Juilliard graduate, has been his regular collaborative pianist and the two artists match each other breath for breath, mood for mood.

We consider it a privilege to witness the growth of a young artist. We have a special affection for Mr. Brancy, having recognized his potential from the start. His years at Juilliard refined and developed his innate artistry that, we believe, emerges from a very special inner worth. 

The effect on the listener is one of joining something larger--a sphere shared by the composer, the poet or librettist, the singer, and the piano--a communal experience. This artistry goes way beyond technique. 

Of course, the possession of a fine instrument is a starting point and we have heard this instrument become darker and more polished over the years, like oil paint on the canvas of an old master. 

So...getting to last night's program, a recapitulation of many songs from the Carnegie Hall recital was a welcome choice. Our only tiny cavil from that recital was the need for a lighter color for the voice of the child in Schubert's "Erlkönig" and for the voice of Die Lorelei in Schumann's "Waldesgespräch". Last night's "voices" were much improved. 

As a matter of fact, we love it when Mr. Brancy interposes a lighter tender timbre where appropriate. For example: in the middle of Schumann's lively enthusiastic "Aus alten Märchen"; when he sang about the weeping bride at the end of "Auf einer Burg"; the knight's serenade in "Des Fräuleins Liebeslauschen"; and Fauré's "Dan la Nymphée", which had an ethereal quality.

The consummate storytelling skills, which we thought were perfect 3 months ago, are even better now. Many of the tales just gripped us by the throat. There was a lot of horror in Schumann's "Balsatzar", Schubert's "Der Zwerg", and of course in the aforementioned "Erlkönig".

We also heard songs by Sibelius in both Finnish and in Swedish, as well as Frank Bridge's "Love Went A-Riding" and the marvelously funny and marvelously performed song "The Green-Eyed Dragon" by Wolseley Charles in which Mr. Brancy perfectly voiced and enacted the greedy dragon and also his spooky ghost.

A highlight of the evening was Mr. Dugan's wild arrangement of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King", reprised from the February recital. His fingers flew over the keys but the melody never got lost.

There was no chance that the audience would let the pair off the stage without an encore--(a "Swann song" if you will pardon the pun)--"Bilbo's Last Song" with music by Donald Swann and lyrics by J.R.R. Tolkien.  A suitable choice for an evening of fantasy ranging from macabre to ethereal!

(c) meche kroop

PAINTING THE PICTURE AND TELLING THE TALE

John Brancy and Peter Dugan

What does one say when one has run out of superlatives? The recital we heard last night at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall set the bar really high for a song recital.  As many superb recitals as we have seen this season, nothing approached the musicianship, artistry, and dramatic intensity of this one. We have followed the careers of baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan for several years and have seen them fulfill their initial promise.  We can think of no greater thrill.

One of the features that ensured the success of the recital was the flow of collaboration between the two artists. Although we are sure that a lot of hard work went into the planning and execution of the recital, the overall effect was one of naturalness and ease. We don't often get to hear recitals with a compelling theme, so the selection of "Fantasy" as a theme struck us as original and compelling.

There be fairytales, there be dragons, there be princesses in towers, there be elves and dwarves, there be satyrs, nymphs, nixen und hexen. Subjects of the texts meet their ends in horrifying and grisly ways. For two hours we were transported to a strange world that was immortalized by all the great composers. The first half of the program comprised lieder that were totally familiar to any recital goer.

Schumann's "Aus alten Märchen" was the introductory piece and it set the stage perfectly for what was to follow. Texts for the five songs in the Schumann set used texts by the young composer's favorite poets--Heinrich Heine and Joseph von Eichendorff. Of the five songs, our favorite was "Waldesgespräch"in which the courtly speech of the rider is hiding some not-so-courtly intentions; he is quickly dispatched by the Hexe Lorelei.

The set of lieder by Schubert was equally impressive with his debut entry as a teenage lieder komponist--"Erlkönig" with text by Goethe--being our favorite.  In this case, the tragic death belonged to a small child with the perpetrator being the nasty and seductive king of the elves. From both pianistic and vocal standpoints, this was an incomparable performance.

The entire first half of the program was marked by intensely dramatic storytelling. Neither artist has the slightest reservation about using every color on his palette. Both of them seemed completely immersed in the texts, drawing us into their fantasy world.

If we had one tiny suggestion for Mr. Brancy to take his performance from a 99 to 100, it would be to allow a different color in his voice for the Hexe in "Waldesgespräch", perhaps a more feminine tone, and a more feeble color for the sickly child in "Erlkönig".  Clearly his resonant and firmly grounded baritone is more comfortable in the parts of the rider in the first piece and the narrator, father, and Elfking in the second. But we longed for a bit more contrast.

The passionate piano playing could not have been improved and swept us along in a tide of excitement and wonder. In a most welcome addition, Mr. Dugan performed two solos in the second half of the program.

He played Debussy's "Pour invoquer Pan" from Six épigraphes antiques, reduced from the original flutes, harps, and celesta, all of which we could hear in the piano. The notes and their overtones seemed to hang in the air.  But it was his arrangement of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt that brought down the house. We have never heard the like! The house was electrified. Abrupt changes from major to minor and the rumbling in the lower reaches of the piano were unsettling.

The artistic coupling continued to delight and mystify throughout the second half of the program with songs by Debussy, Fauré, Grieg, and Sibelius.  Only "Le tombeau des naïades" from Chansons de Bilitis was familiar, although we have never heard it sung by a man. What a treat to hear a song by Sibelius sung in Finnish, strange and beautiful to the ear. In Grieg's "Prinsessen" we could hear the sweet song of the boy playing the horn.

We even enjoyed the songs in English, due to Mr. Brancy's impeccable diction.  Not a word was lost! We loved David Long's setting of "Misty Mountains" (text by Tolkien) in which the simple melody and strophic organization were given a variety of moods in the artists' own arrangement.

Britten's arrangement of a French folk song "The king is gone a hunting" was delightful.  The English language lends itself so well to short punchy phrases that rhyme and scan.

Wolseley Charles' amusing "The Green Eyed Dragon" allowed Mr. Brancy to give full rein to his storytelling skills and was pure delight.

The welcome encore was "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha by Joe Darion/Mitch Leigh.  It is obvious that all of Mr. Dugan's and Mr. Brancy's dreams are more than possible! It was the perfect end to a stunning recital. The thunderous applause and the standing ovation were well deserved.

The two artists are far more than collaborators on vocal recitals. They both have impressive international careers in many aspects of their art. Clearly, their experience in the art of opera and cabaret and collaboration with other artists has informed their artistry. Still, if we had no knowledge or experience of their diverse talents, if this recital were all we had to go on, we would still select them as stars of the musical firmament. If the recital were repeated today we would be there. They left us satisfied but somehow wanting more.

(c) meche kroop

PETER DUGAN'S TOTAL NACHTOUT

Peter Dugan, Dave Baron, Leonardo Dugan

This is the time of year when music students are called upon to give a recital as partial requirement for their degrees.  This is the time of year when we are overjoyed to see them move on to establish their careers.  This is the time of year when we feel twinges of sadness, wondering when we will have the opportunity to see/hear them again.

On Monday, piano wizard Peter Dugan took this opportunity to show his amazing versatility.  He is indeed a quadruple threat:  soloist, collaborative pianist, arranger and jazz musician. He greeted the audience with warmth and told of the seven years at Juilliard, culminating in a Master of Music Degree.  He opened with Beethoven and closed with The Isley Brothers. His theme for the recital was music for the night.  Let's take a closer look.

He began Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata at a rather rapid tempo, more rapid than we have been accustomed to, and there was an indefinable hesitancy.  It was in the rhythmic second movement that he got into his groove and demonstrated fine dynamic control.  By the time he got to the third movement his flying fingers gave evidence of mastery.  The air literally crackled with excitement.  He absolutely nailed this difficult movement with his virtuosity.

"Deux Nocturnes" by Chopin showed a different side to his artistry with thoughtful limning of Chopin's mournful melodies and nationalistic themes.

Lovely mezzo-soprano Kara Sainz joined Mr. Dugan for Brahms's  "Gestillte Sehnsucht" which she sang with deep feeling and crisp German.  A. J. Nilles added to the beauty with some sweet viola playing that gave the lie to all those viola jokes.

Baritone Tobias Greenhalgh lent his expressive voice and dramatic artistry to Schubert's "Der Doppelgänger", confirming our impression that he excels at the mysterious and creepy. (See review of Mörike lieder.) We consider ourselves fortunate to have heard his powerful voice two nights in a row!

Mr. Greenhalgh was joined by Ms. Sainz for Schumann's "In der Nacht" just after Mr. Dugan played a piece by the same composer with the same title, from Fantasiestücke.  The duet was new to us and we loved the way the voices harmonized at times and at other times overlapped.  What a superb choice!

For Rachmaninoff's "La nuit...L'amour" from Suite No. 1 for Two Pianos, Op.5, Mr. Dugan was joined by his piano teacher Matti Raekallio who must be bursting with pride.  This is a luscious work for four hands and seemed to envelop us with sound.

The final "act" of this varied recital permitted Mr. Dugan to show off his skills at arranging.  For Jimmy Forrest's "Night Train", he was joined by Leonardo Dugan on saxophone, Dave Baron on bass and Will Kain on drums.  Paul McCartney's "Blackbird" was given a most unusual and fascinating arrangement with Charles Yang plucking his violin strings to make some avian sounds and the piano doing some bluesy jazzy riffs.

To come full circle, Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my Nightmare" made references to the Beethoven with which the recital began, drawing the program to a satisfying conclusion--but not before an encore of The Isley Brothers' "Don't Say Goodnight When It's Time For Love".

© meche kroop

CARISSIMA KARA

Peter Dugan and Kara Sainz

Lovely mezzo-soprano Kara Sainz gave an impressive graduation recital last night at Juilliard.  She impressed with her poise onstage, her musicality and her willingness to take risks.

She addressed the audience in a most engaging and sincere way and it was easy to see that her love for Brahms was genuine.  Her choices of "Wie melodien zieht es", "Meine liebe ist grün, and "Die Mainacht" suited her voice perfectly and charmed the ear with melody.  Ms. Sainz has an enviable upper register with a soprano-y sound.  We loved her joy in singing these old chestnuts with a fresh youthful sound and her collaborative pianist Peter Dugan went right along with her.

Ms. Sainz shared with the audience her pleasure in reprising her role as Cherubino in Mozart's "Nozze di Figaro".  We were there for her performance and were just as delighted to hear her sing it again as she was in performing it.  All that onstage joy was contagious!

Four charming little gems of Gabriel Fauré were performed; our favorites were the jolly "Mandoline" in which she painted a lovely picture of serenaders of bygone days and the more serious "Les berceaux" which was sung with great soul.  She told the audience that this was the first song she learned in French; this reinforced the observation that this recital was a most personal one for her.

And now we come to the risk-taking part.  Pianist Peter Dugan, whom we have commended for his musicianship, has a brother named Leonardo who is a composer.  Last night Ms. Sainz and Peter Dugan premiered a work of Leonardo Dugan's written especially for this recital entitled "The Life and Death of Joan of Arc".

Readers will recall how distasteful we find most contemporary music.  Let us reassure you straightaway that this work is not in that category.  Not at all.  Mr. Dugan (Leonardo) wrote his own text and happily it rhymes.  The piano part is jazz-inflected and relies on a repeated motif which helps the work achieve unity.  The vocal writing is melodic and accessible.

It is written in four parts.  From the outset, Saint Joan is depicted as ambivalent--torn between trying to rescue her homeland from English domination and her hatred of bloodshed.  At the end she is torn between faith and despair that her god has forsaken her.

In this work, the register is a lower one and Ms. Sainz gave a highly dramatic and moving delivery.  This was a risk that paid off in success for her and for The Brothers Dugan, not to mention the audience and for ourselves who now feel more inclined to give contemporary composers a chance.

© meche kroop

BRAHMS' SONG CYCLE

Dominic Armstrong, Michael Brofman, Ty Jones, John Brancy, Peter Dugan

Yesterday's recital by the Brooklyn Art Song Society offered a number of delights--the opportunity to hear a rarely performed song cycle composed by Brahms in the 1860's, two gifted lieder interpreters and two equally impressive piano partners, plus the dramatic narration of plummy-voiced actor Ty Jones.  The song cycle Die Schöne Magelone is a setting of texts by Johann Ludwig Tieck--a group of intentionally archaic poems telling a somewhat extended tale of a medieval knight, Count Peter of Provence, his courtship of Princess Magelone of Naples, and the trials and tribulations of their separation and eventual reuniting. There are interesting symbolic elements, including three golden rings given Peter by his mother that he bestows upon Magelone only to have them wind up in the belly of a fish back at Peter's chateau. Shades of Des Knaben Wunderhorn!

There are 15 lovely songs in all; the narration was translated into English and recited by Mr. Jones while the songs themselves served to express the feelings of longing, love, sorrow and joy.  George London Foundation winners tenor Dominic Armstrong and baritone John Brancy performed the songs with beautiful tone and phrasing as well as total commitment to the material.  We noticed just one tiny flaw in Mr. Armstrong's performance which a non-speaker of German would not have observed.  "Ich" appears in so many German words and was often rendered as "ick"; this should be remedied. Otherwise, both singers had a fine command of the language.

Mr. Brancy was accompanied by Peter Dugan whose expressive pianism worked very well with Mr. Brancy's heartfelt delivery.  When Sir Peter gallops away from home, Brahms has provided a galloping rhythm in the piano.  In "Sind es Schmerzen, sind es Freuden" the two artists matched each other in sweetness.  In "Ruhe, Sussliebchen im Schatten" the lilt of this tender lullaby with its descending line reminded us of a barcarolle.  For "Wie schnell verschwindet" Mr. Brancy surprised us by singing the voice of the princess with its stratospheric tessitura in falsetto.

Mr. Armstrong's piano partner was Michael Brofman himself, Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Art Song Society.  They distinguished themselves in the strophic "Liebe kam aus fernen Landen" and in the two sanguine penultimate songs "Geliebter, wo zaudert" and "Wie froh und frisch mein Sinn sich hebt".

If you were unfortunate enough to have missed this stellar afternoon, there are a number of recordings and we recommend those by Peter Schrier and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.  There will be several more recitals this season by the ambitious Brooklyn Art Song Society and if you are a lover of lieder, you are sure to be satisfied.

© meche kroop

NOTHIN' CHANCY 'BOUT BRANCY

Peter Dugan, Wallis Giunta, John Brancy

In John Brancy's voyage through Juilliard we have heard him sing the old, the new, the borrowed and the blue; we have even heard him sing Icelandic poetry.  We have never been anything less than thrilled with the authenticity of his performance, not to mention the mature burnished timbre of his baritone voice.

At his graduation recital last night, we were filled with joy for his success but felt twinges of sadness that this six-year voyage is coming to an end.  Mr. Brancy sings from the heart and throws his entire being into every word, every note and every gesture.  He is a consummate storyteller.

The opening story was Britten's tall tale about The Crocodile; Mr. Brancy's delightful sense of humor got the audience giggling.  In an entirely different mood, Kurt Weill's "A dirge for two veterans", a setting of a poem by Walt Whitman about a father and son fallen in battle, gave the artist an opportunity to evoke feelings of grief amplified by a sustained high note.  It also gave collaborative pianist Peter Dugan the opportunity to create drum sounds on the piano, an impressive feat.

We delighted in Mr. Brancy's performance of Ravel's Don Quichotte a Dulcinée which permitted him to create the many faces of Don Quichotte; the idealistic in "Chanson romanesque", the prayerful in "Chanson épique" and the bibulous  in "Chanson à boire".  No matter how many times we have heard these songs they always delight us.  Mr. Dugan created a wonderful contrast in the first song--between Mr. Brancy's long legato vocal lines and the syncopated Spanish rhythms in the piano.  In the second song, Mr. B. gave us an exquisite messa di voce in the final "Amen".

His German was impeccable in Wolf's Morike lieder; no translations were necessary.  We particularly enjoyed "Nimmersatte liebe".

A special added attraction of the evening was the presence of Mr. Brancy's sweetheart, mezzo Wallis Giunta, who joined him for some wonderful duets.  The pair were in perfect harmony in Ralph Vaughn Williams setting of Shakespeare's text "It was a lover and his lass".  But Schumann's "Ich bin dein baum" was the one that touched us most deeply; it is about the mutual dependency of the gardener (Mr. B.) and the fruit-bearing tree (Ms. G.)  Ms. G's pleasing vibrato somehow made us think of a peach tree.  But....the best was yet to come.  Henri Duparc set a text by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier entitled "La Fuite" in which a woman tries to persuade her lover to run away with her in spite of his objections.  She's the romantic and he's the realist.  The acting was so on point that it seemed like a scene in an opera waiting to be written.

Mr. B's dark timbre is very well suited to Russian and we loved what he did with Rachmaninov's "In the silence of the mysterious night"; there was a delicate decrescendo at the end.  Our disappointment at not hearing the Czech language in Cunning Little Vixen was lifted by hearing Dvořák's "My heart is often in pain"; certain motives reminded us of his "Song to the Moon"--absolutely ravishing with its unique sonorities.

After two beautiful Bellini songs with their long vocal phrases and typical arpeggiation in the piano, off came the jacket, out came the stool and Mr. B. enchanted us with his stirring performance of "The Soliloquy" from Carousel.  As if that were not enough, as encore Mr. B. called Ms. G. back onstage for Daniel Hunt's "All the Way".  Never has a pop song sounded so good to our ears!  And it gave Mr. Dugan an opportunity to improvise some great jazzy riffs on the piano.

Mr. Brancy faces future fame and we will feel rather smug telling his fans "I remember him when..."

© meche kroop