THREE CHEERS FOR EROS

 Shan Hai, Sophia Baete, Steven Blier, Bénédicte Jourdois, Scott Rubén LaMarca, and Michael J. Hawk

(photo lifted from FB feed LOL)

What a special evening! Every concert presented by Steven Blier's New York Festival of Song is special but last night at Merkin Hall the concert was even more special than usual and turned us into a musical detective.  Let us explain. 

The encore piece, an a cappella one, enthralled us and we have spent the rest of the night trying to find a poem by Garcia Lorca that was set by 20th c. Spanish composer Manuel Oltra. Our internet sleuthing arrived at a dead end but we did find a madrigal that might have been the one, and if it's not it was close enough. For your listening delight, here is the link ...https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8434650--madrigal  (We were unable to find the text in a listing of Garcia Lorca's poems.) 

The effect on us was an enchantment so profound that we failed to photograph the curtain call, as we usually do. Hence the forgivable (we hope) purloining of an uncredited photo on Facebook.  For this we apologize.

And now, Dear Reader, just know that in spite of some superb piano  accompaniment by the "tag team" of Mr. Blier, Bénédicte  Jourdois, and Amber Scherer for the "meat" of the concert, it is the encore piece that impressed us the most--like the sweetest dessert. The four voices blended so beautifully and expressed such delicious harmonies that no accompaniment could have added anything more.

The four exceptional vocalists comprised soprano Shan Hai, mezzo-soprano Sophia Baete, tenor Scott Rubén La Marca, and baritone Michael Hawk. The voices were all on point but what made the evening  more than usually successful was the artistic direction contributed by Ms. Jourdois. Instead of discrete numbers, the singers often introduced the following number by reciting the poetry or elucidating the meaning. This gave the evening a flow that made it seem much shorter than 90 minutes. It left us satisfied and yet yearning for more.

Whatever dramatic guidance the singers received, they picked it up and ran with it. Songs were brought to vivid life that drew the audience in. Let us share with you some of our favorites. We just couldn't keep from imagining how much fun Schubert may have had writing. "Die Liebesgötter" with text by Johann Peter Ute, who died before Schubert was born. In any case, Ms. Hai and Mr. La Marca had great fun bringing it to life.  How very expressive they were, capturing Schubert in a light-hearted mood!

Ms. Baete gave a beautiful performance of Eduardo Toldrà's "Madre uno ajuelitos vi" that touched the heart and Mr. Hawk achieved his finest moments in Cole Porter's "They Couldn't Compare to You" from the mid 20th c. Out of This World, also making good use of the talents of the other three artists.

This is just a taste of the glorious banquet spread before us last night. If you have never been to  NYFOS concert, Dear Reader, we hope our words have whetted your appetite. You can always count on discovering new songs, great voices, and also a bit of gender bending.

© meche kroop

UNE SOIRÉE DE FANTAISIE FRANÇAISE

Manhattan School of Music Junior Opera Theater

Every time we attend one of Catherine Malfitano's productions we have the same reaction. "How does one create such engaging performances from a group of undergraduates?"  Attendees see only the finished product; we can only imagine how much hard work goes into creating such an entertaining event.

This iteration used two lighthearted Paris operettas to provide raw material for singers of superior talent--we don't just mean vocally but talent in creating interesting characters by means of movement and gesture. Coordinator and Stage Director Ms. Malfitano made sure that the eye was as engaged as the ear. Her ten year collaboration with pianist Eric Sedgwick is an extraordinarily successful one.

Ms. Malfitano's years of onstage stardom are being used to advance the artistry of her students and this is something we applaud. She welcomed the audience and explained that roles would be multiply cast. There was no story line one could follow nor were we always sure who was whom, unless we knew the singer from other performances. In that case, we will credit them with apologies to the singers whom we couldn't be sure of identifying accurately.

The first operetta from which the scenes were chosen was by Reynaldo Hahn, whose early 20th c. songs hark back to earlier epochs, and are famous for their melodious nature. His operetta Ciboulette was unknown to us but, having heard the music, we would just love to see it. All we know is that it is the story of a farm girl named after a vegetable of the allium family (chive) and her romance with an aristocrat.

We loved the romantic duet sung by soprano Shan Hai and tenor Jeh Young (Michael) Woo--"Les parents, quand on est bébé". There was also a charming duet which we may have heard before but definitely wish to hear again--"Nous avons fait un beau voyage" sung by soprano Alexis Rose Seminario and baritone Sung Shin, whose artistry we know well from his Arias Under the Arch in Washington Square Park.

Other artists bringing these scenes to life included sopranos Ripley Lucas-Tagliani, Bela Albet, and Alina Eva Flatscher, tenor Nathaniel McBride, and baritone Keith Smith.

The singers provided their own costumes and all of them looked colorful and charming. In the second operetta of the evening, Emmanuel Chabrier's late 19th c. comedy L'Étoile, the singers costumed themselves with witty abandon (corsets, petticoats, striped leggings), photos of which you can see on our Facebook page (Voce di Meche).

We have a vague recollection of seeing this opéra bouffe long ago, enough to remember that Ouf was a king who put his faith in an astrologer and that Lazuli was a poor peddler in love with a princess in disguise named Laoula. Perhaps the story is silly but the melodies are gorgeous.

The one singer we could absolutely identify was mezzo-soprano Rosario Hernández Armas whom we just heard singing Manuel de Falla's Siete canciones populares españolas a couple days ago. Here, her French was as fine as her Spanish in the role of Lazuli in "Romance de l'étoile"

The role was shared with other mezzo-sopranos in the group: Kaitlin Barron, Jay E. Condon, and Emily Dubil.  The role of Laoula was sung variously by sopranos Emily Hanseul Park, Nicoletta Berry, and Elizabeth Perry--but also by Ms. Barron and Ms. Dubil!

Adding to the fun in various roles were sopranos Lilith Spivack and Lilly Eden Cadow, tenors Julien Thomas, Andrew Hoben, and Giovanni Xu; baritone Cole Marino and bass-baritone Evan Lazdowski.

Our favorite numbers were the tickling song "Couplets du chatouillement" and the final couplet "Nous voici, messieurs, à la fin" in which Ms. Perry and Ms. Condon created some gorgeous loving harmonies.

We were totally satisfied by the evening but were gifted with an enchanting encore performed by the ensemble--Gabriel Fauré's "Pleurs d'or"--a thoroughly gorgeous song that was new to us, a lagniappe for which we were grateful.

What a complete treat the evening was!

(c) meche kroop