YOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS SCORES A HIT!

Renate Rohlfing and Samuel Hasselhorn at The Morgan Library

Every generation produces its own standout artists! It is clear to us, after hearing baritone Samuel Hasselhorn on two occasions, that he is the standout baritone of his generation. He won first prize in the Young Concert Artists Competition in 2015 (among a legion of other awards and prizes) and gave a groundbreaking recital at Merkin Hall last year which we reviewed. (http://www.vocedimeche.reviews/search?q=samuel+hasselhorn)

If anything, our excitement about his career has only grown, along with the growth of his artistry. Once again, we were impressed by the ease of his stage presence, the mature timbre of his voice, his crisp diction (even in English), his storytelling prowess, and his ability to color his voice with all the tones of the vocal palette.

The major work on this afternoon's program was Schumann's Dichterliebe. With collaborative pianist Renate Rohlfing matching his mood every step of the way, Mr. Hasselhorn led us through the many stages of recovery from a disappointing romance. Anyone with a minimal knowledge of German could easily follow the text with its multiple metaphors.

The feelings were so intense that it was difficult to believe that the dramatics were just dramatics. It seemed as if Mr. Hasselhorn were living through the many shades of grief in real time. We only hope he has never had such despair, nor ever will.

Heinrich Heine's text may seem excessive by today's standards but anyone who has lived through the loss of a love will understand that the loss of a fantasy of future happiness is excruciatingly painful.  Better to write or sing about it than to turn to alcohol and drugs!

The way Mr. Hasselhorn interpreted the song cycle is that the poet is reflecting upon the past--his initial joy and subsequent despair as he works through his loss-- until the final song of the cycle. He employed a sweet color for "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai"; the song doesn't exactly end but trails off in a whiff of nostalgia.

"Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'" shows the poet at his  most confused. Mr. Hasselhorn's coloration gave voice to the ambivalence.

"Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome" begins with some seriously ponderous chords in the piano echoed by the voice, depicting the great cathedral of Köln. The poet sees the face of his lost love everywhere, even in a painting of the Virgin Mary.

In "Ich grolle nicht" Mr. Hasselhorn began with a stalwart surface and a position of denial but his interpretation allowed the anger over the woman's betrayal to burst forth in an explosion of rage.

Ms. Rolfhing had her chance to shine in the hurdy-gurdy piano part of "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen" but changed to a pensive mood in "Hör ich das Liedchen klingen" as Mr. Hasselhorn indulged in some 19th c. German Romantic grief. Today we would call it a "pity party".

"Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" begins with irony and ends, like the earlier "Ich grolle nicht" with an eruption of anger. The next song "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen" is one of consolation and required an entirely different coloration. 

"Ich hab' im Traum geweinet" asks the singer to begin a capella; he is joined by rhythmic chords in the piano which punctuate his sad dreams like the beating of an aching heart. In this lied and the subsequent "Allnächtlich im Traume" he is working through the loss. Haven't we all had dreams in which a dream element that seemed important has vanished evanescently? Imagine the skill required for the singer to convey this puzzled quality!

He finds no escape into fantasy as shown in the longing "Aus alten Märchen winkt es" so the final resolution must be to bury the love and the angry songs in a hyperbolic coffin with a dozen giant pallbearers as described in "Die alten, bösen Lieder". The piano postlude achieves a kind of resolution with a nearly funereal peace.

The program also included some lighter material.  In a move worthy of Mirror Visions Ensemble, the same text, set by Schubert and Gerald Finzi, was performed.  Schubert's "An Silvia" was paired with Finzi's "Who is Sylvia" and we were surprised to learn that Shakespeare's words were as well set in English in the 20th c. as the German version was by Schubert in the 19th c. 

We generally don't care much for songs in English from the 20th c. but we were drawn to enjoy this music by Mr. Hasselhorn's and Ms. Rohlfing's fine performance of "O Mistress Mine". Possibly the elegant cadence of Shakespeare's text elicits good composition!

We were tickled by the singer's bird sounds in Hugo Wolf's "Lied des transferieten Zettel".  This is a setting of "Bottom's Song" from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, translated into German.

There was yet more Shakespeare to come. Erich Wolfgang Korngold set "Desdemona's Song" from Othello,  as well as "Under the Greenwood Tree",  "Blow, blow, Thou Winter Wind", and "When Birds Do Sing"-- all from As You Like It.

So, now we know. We like songs in English as long as Shakespeare contributed the text!

Still, returning to German for the encore left us smiling; it was the very sweet Schumann lied "Du bist wie eine Blume". Schumann must have been thinking of Clara when he wrote that gorgeous melody!

(c) meche kroop

A GIFT FROM GERMANY

Renate Rohlfing and Samuel Hasselhorn

To the casual audience member, last night's recital at the acoustically excellent and comfortable Merkin Concert Hall must have appeared relaxed and effortless. To those of us who have studied voice, it was obvious that a great deal of labor was performed behind the scenes, and for long years, to have produced such a recital of unsurpassed excellence. There are a few singers who have astonished us upon first hearing (and we do believe our reaction was not kept secret!) and whose careers have taken off like a jumbo jet.  

Of course,  German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn is already well on his way, garnering prizes from several esteemed foundations. This debut tour in the USA was the result of his winning First Prize at the 2015 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and it is to this organization that we owe our thanks for a spellbinding evening. We abstained from reading his bio until after the recital but were not surprised to learn of his awards, his recording, nor of his appearances on the opera stage.

There is very little one can say about a voice that is so well trained and flawless in its diction, phrasing, timbre, and color. But there is a great deal that can be said about an artist that lives every song he sings. We have no doubt that Mr. Hasselhorn designed his program very carefully and included only songs that he truly cared about. There was no filler; there were no attempts to include a dozen languages to show off linguistic ability or a wide range of periods to show off facility with varying styles.

Let us share a very personal reaction we had during the recital. The walls of the hall vanished and we felt as if we were a child being told some bedtime stories by a highly indulgent grandfather who had lived a life in the theater. He told us sad stories and happy ones. He told us scary stories and supernatural ones.  He related tales of love both sanguine and fatal. He told of heroism and patriotism. He told us a tall tale about a gigantic crocodile. "More, Pop-Pop, more", we begged. Grandfather indulged us.

After all those tales, there would be only one more--an encore summing up of the recital--Schubert's magnificent tribute to the art form that means so much to us--"An die Musik", the most sacred of the arts.

Pardon us our flight of fantasy but we found the entire recital to be spell-binding. However, to restore our reviewer's hat to our bewitched head, let us just point out a few notable elements. Mr. Hasselhorn included a set of folk songs by Britten in which the clarity of his enunciation allowed us to comprehend every word; this rarely happens with a native English speaker. The songs themselves are charming and the artist performed them with the warmth and personality such folk songs require. There was no whiff of the "artsy-fartsy".

A set of songs by Francis Poulenc were offered in finely phrased French--anti-war sentiment delivered with style and wit overlaying the pain.

Two intense songs showed Mr. Hasselhorn's dramatic ability. We always love Schubert's "Erlkonig" since it gives the singer an opportunity to color his voice differentially for the narrator, the reassuring father, the frightened child, and the seductive Erl-king. Mr. Hasselhorn made the most of it with well placed pauses providing additional suspense.

Hugo Wolf's setting of Morike's "Der Feuerreiter" also offers ample opportunity for drama and suspense. Mr. Hasselhorn's performance was so powerful that it prompted some online research into the role of the "fire rider".  Apparently, as we learned, the subject of the poem did NOT go around setting fires as we formerly believed. He was a man with a unique ability to anticipate and detect fires and, in this case, he tried to use magic to quell the fire; using magic was a sacrilege so he lost his life in the fire. But, at the conclusion of the poem, his soul is redeemed and put to rest.  This is a brief summary of what we learned but we hope it will suffice.

There was a marvelous set of songs by Robert Schumann of which our favorite was the familiar "Du bist wie eine Blume" which showed off the singer's tender side, as did Franz Schubert's tranquil "Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen".

In Renate Rohlfing, Mr. Hasselhorn has found a worthy accompanist who matched him mood for mood. Since we always need to find some tiny quibble, let us just say that at the beginning of "Der Feuerreiter", she nearly drowned hm out. If I'd told you, dear reader, that the recital was perfect, you wouldn't have believed me.  Now you do!

If you are as excited to hear Mr. Hasselhorn again as we are, we expect that the German Forum, one of our favorite organizations, will invite him here next year.  We will keep you informed about this exciting young artist.

(c) meche kroop