THE MOUNTAIN COMES TO MOHAMMED

Dan Saunders, Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez, Gerard Schneider, and Adrian Timpau

We have no idea whether the audience members who cheerfully sat in the drizzle last night are regulars at The Metropolitan Opera, or whether they have ever been there.  No matter. The Met brings operas to the boroughs of Manhattan and we applaud the institution for spreading the culture far and wide. We would be surprised if they didn't make some new converts, based upon the very high level of artistry we witnessed.

With the always wonderful Dan Saunders accompanying, three impressive talents joined forces for an all-too-brief (but nonetheless satisfying) recital of operatic favorites. We wanted the evening to never end!

Tenorrific Gerard Schneider opened the program with the rousing "Questa o quella" from Verdi's Rigoletto, leaving us no doubt about the Duke's fickle personality. What we love about Mr. Schneider's technique is that he knows how to float a high note and never pushes his voice. To hear a delicately floated pianissimo is a delight; to produce such a phenomenon seems out of reach to most tenors who think that their top notes must be fortissimo. 

Baritone Adrian Timpau brought Da Ponte's clueless Count Almaviva to vivid life in "Hai già vinta la causa" from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro. He nailed Almaviva's personality and did so with a unique tonal quality that made us think of corduroy, for some strange reason, perhaps because it is plush like velvet but with more texture.

Soprano Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez gazed upward when singing "Stridono lassu" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and we saw the birds through her eyes whilst her voice trilled away with its gorgeous vibrato. The illusion was fostered by Mr. Saunder's piano.

With those three fachs on hand, of course we had to hear the trio from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. Adina gets to relish the enviable position of having Nemorino and Belcore competing for her attention in "Tran, tran, tran, tran". We know how singers love to do drunk scenes and Mr. Schneider did not fail us.

No one will ever replace Hvorostovsky but we have no worries about the next great Verdi baritone. Mr. Timpau was superb as Rodrigo, expressing friendship to Mr. Schneider's Don Carlo, who engaged our ear once more with his gorgeous pianissimo.  ("Work it Gerard!", we thought.) "Dio, che nell'alma infondere" had a great rhythmic thrust with Mr. Saunders producing the thrumming chords in the piano. The vocal harmonies were delicious.

Turandot's aria "Tu che di gel sei cinta" is often screamed out. Not so in Ms. Reyes' portrayal which was as dramatically valid as it was musically effective. The high tessitura and high drama held no terrors for her.

Mr. Timpau wowed us with his well modulated performance of Yeletsky's aria "Ya vas lyublyu" from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame. Here's the strange part--we only know about a dozen words in Russian but his performance left us feeling that we understood every word, as well as experiencing every feeling!

We do love serenades and Faust's serenade of Marguerite from Gounod's masterpiece was given a sincere and tender performance by Mr. Schneider who once again delighted us with his pianissimo. His French was given lovely pronunciation and phrasing and Mr. Saunders joined in with some lyrical and tender piano.

"La ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni was sung by Mr. Timpau, who got into the role of the seducer, and Ms. Reyes who seemed not to have much point of view about Zerlina as to whether she was frightened of the lord of the estate or a willing participant, or ambivalent.  Vocally fine, she just needs to think about what kind of Zerlina she wants to be.

Mr. Schneider had no such deficit in his delivery of "Kuda, kuda", Lenski's aria from Eugene Onegin. The young man is filled with conflicting emotions as he faces death at the hands of his friend. The various colors Mr. Schneider employed, as well as his facial expression and gestures, took us right to the heart of Lenski's maelstrom of feelings.

We do not know Carlisle Floyd's Susannah very well but we've heard lots of sopranos sing "Ain't it a Pretty Night". It will never be among our favorite arias; at times the words feel shoehorned into the music. That didn't stop up from enjoying Ms. Reyes' performance which was filled with youthful longing. Her English diction was flawless and we understood every word, something we don't take for granted. The high note was stunning.

We have never seen Wagner's Tannhaüser but have loved the aria "O du, mein holder Abendstern" since we heard it in a film by the Taviani Brothers. (We thought it was in Padre Padrone but seeking an answer online, we read that it was used in La Notte di San Lorenzo. If any readers know the correct answer, please add it to the comment section.)

In any case, Mr. Timpau sang it in gorgeously rendered German, not to overlook the melismatic passages. We were transported!

The program ended with  "O soave fanciulla" from Puccini's La Bohème, one of the world's great romantic duets, sung by Ms. Reyes and Mr. Schneider, who walked offstage arm in arm.

But wait! There would be three encores which was like a meal with three desserts! Ernesto de Curtis' 1912 "Non ti scordar di me" was given a beautiful performance by Mr. Timpau. Mr. Schneider sang the open-hearted "Dein ist mein ganzes herz" from Franz Lehar's Das Land des Lächelns and he sang it with his finely spun pianissimo which we enjoyed all night.

Finally Ms. Reyes enchanted the entire audience with "Carceleres" from Ruperto Chapí's zarzuela Las Hijas del Zebedeo, sung with high style and lots of sabor. Readers who know how we feel about zarzuela will know why we floated out of Jackie Robinson Park with feet not touching the ground. Good singing will do that to us!

(c) meche kroop

LINDEMANN RECITAL

Julia Pilant and Petr Nekoranec

For those of you who don't know, the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program was created in 1980 by James Levine to identify and develop extraordinarily talented young singers, coaches, and pianists. Those fortunate enough to get accepted have access to all the resources of The Metropolitan Opera and, since 2010, to Juilliard School as well. These young artists are in demand all over the world, as well as onstage at the Met.

Friday evening was spent at the Bruno Walter Auditorium to enjoy one of their recitals. We went for the voices and the voice that captured our attention first was that of the French horn. We have always loved the sound and getting up close and personal for the first time allowed us to see how vocal an instrument it is and how sensitive. Valves must be removed and drained, for example. To play it is difficult.  To play it well is quite a gift.

The recital opened with Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Op. 31--with nary a string in sight. Apparently someone who was uncredited in the program had arranged it for tenor, horn, and piano. We had no interest in the text but we surely did enjoy the artistry of the performance. The work is moody and elegiac but is punctuated by muted announcements from the horn, which brought the work to life. For the Epilogue, the horn was heard from offstage, a very special moment. 

Petr Nekoranec, in his first year of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program is the possessor of exactly the type of tenor we most enjoy. It is a sweet sound but with a rich texture; moreover his English diction (thanks to English Instructor Patricia Brandt and coach Jocelyn Dueck) is exemplary and puts to shame that of native American speakers. We enjoyed the melismatic passages of the Sonnet movement.

Giuseppe Mentuccia's piano wove together the voice and the horn and the entire work was well-balanced. We are looking forward to hearing Mr. Nekoranec sing a work in which we can appreciate the unique qualities of his voice. We imagine that Dvorak's songs would be lovely. 

The program for this recital was a challenging one, both for the artists and the audience. We are sure there were people in the hall who enjoy Olivier Messiaen but we are not among them. There are works that grow on you with repeated exposure and there are works that never capture one's affection. Poemes pour Mi are in the latter category.

That being said, The composer's sincerity was matched by the equally sincere performance of soprano Clarissa Lyons. She sang with fine French diction  and made sense of the text which she had translated herself. Fortunately she appeared later in the program singing Joseph Haydn's concert aria "Berenice che fai", a passionate work with different colors in each section. Her voice is well centered from top to bottom and beautifully phrased. It was altogether a polished performance with excellent support from pianist Valeriya Polunina who has a delicate touch.

The third pair of artists on the program comprised tenor Ian Koziara with pianist Zalman Kelber. Uh oh! More Britten! On This Island is another work we are not adding to our hit parade. Mr. Koziara has a large powerful dramatic tenor with plenty of strength in the lower register. We would have liked to hear him sing some Verdi. Mr. Kelber's piano was insistent in "Now the leaves are falling fast" and gently rippling in "Seascape".  Perhaps "Nocturne" had the loveliest melody.

As far as 20th c. music goes, Frank Bridge's setting of Mary Coleridge's "Love went a-riding" was unusually accessible and pleasing to the ear.  For Wagner's "Traume", one of the Wesendonck Lieder, we would have preferred a lighter vocal touch. There is plenty of Wagner more suited to such a hearty voice.

(c) meche kroop

TRIFECTA

Mario Chang, Brandon Cedel and Ying Fang

Regular readers know by now how enthusiastic we are about members of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of The Metropolitan Opera. Three of them presented a dazzling recital last night in the Jackie Robinson Park, making the trek to Harlem a mere...walk in the park.  Our rapt attention was rewarded with a flood of favorites, arias we know and love and of which we never can get enough.  Unfortunately, singing out of doors dictates amplification but the singers did well in compensating for the distortion.  But the superb accompaniment by Bradley Moore was made to sound pretty awful.

Beautiful and glamorous Ying Fang, whose development we have observed all through her years at Juilliard, brought her multiple gifts to several arias and duets.  She evinces a flexible and diamantine coloratura with a fearless upper register, making elaborate embellishments sound like child's play; scale passages, trills and fioritura are tossed off with ease and seeming spontaneity. There is no doubting her musicality and phrasing.  These gifts are accompanied by an abundance of personal charm that audiences respond to with delight and wild applause.  She used her acting skills within the context of each aria or duet to create a believable character--the flirtatious Norina of Donizetti's Don Pasquale, a not so naive Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Handel's heroines, a Gilbert and Sullivan soubrette ("Poor wand'ring one" from The Pirates of Penzance) and an impassioned Maria from Bernstein's West Side Story.  Each wonderful, each different in color.

Barihunk Brandon Cedel (isn't that designation getting over-worked?) has been winning awards left and right and tonight's performance showed us why.  He has a sturdy and sizable bass-baritone that he uses with artistry and to great advantage.  He slipped easily from the humor of Leporello's "Catalogue Aria" into the louche seductiveness of Don Giovanni in "Là ci darem la mano"; he had no problem seducing Zerlina or the audience.  We were all of us ready to "andiam"!  He had low notes to spare for "Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni" from Bellini's La Sonnambula.  His performance of Copland's "Simple Gifts" was exactly that, unaffected and simple--simply moving.

Tenor Mario Chang got better as the evening moved along.  At first he seemed to be pushing his forte in the upper register, causing him to go sharp. The amplification was not kind.  But when he got to Sorozabal's "No puede ser" from La Tabernera del Puerto he sounded like the Mario Chang that we know and love with his warm tenor in firm hand.  He finished the program singing a lovely romantic duet with Ms. Fang, "Tonight" from Bernstein's West Side Story, sending us off into the dusk with happy faces.

© meche kroop

OH BELLE NUIT

What great event would get a huge crowd of New Yorkers to stand in line for hours in the middle of a cruel heat wave?  A recital of favorite arias from favorite operas sung by favorite stars, that's what!  Soprano Erin Morley, mezzo Isabel Leonard and tenor Stephen Costello have been the shooting stars in the Metropolitan Opera firmament and they completely lived up to their promise at Central Park SummerStage Tuesday night in a program that will be repeated Friday evening in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  The fireworks at the Philharmonic concert on Monday night were nothing compared with the fireworks onstage as these three artists, accompanied by Bradley Moore, defied the weather and gave us all they had to give.

Ms. Morley has a clear pure sound that thrills the nerve endings and a sweet warmth in her personality that allows her to portray the heroines of her fach in a most winning manner.  Ms. Leonard has a most distinctive mezzo sound, rich and full throated, as well as a piquant personality that lends her characterizations variety and originality.  Mr. Costello has a superb instrument and may be the tenor we have been waiting for--if only he did not push his high notes. 

We enjoyed him the most in "Questa o quella" from Verdi's Rigoletto which fit his voice like the proverbial glove.  Perhaps his success as Percy in the Met's Anna Bolena gave him the impetus to pursue the bel canto repertory but we hear him more as a spinto.  He negotiated the high C's in "Ah! mes amis" from Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment but the effort was palpable.  The high note in "Salut!, demeure chaste et pure" from Gounod's Faust needed to be floated, not pushed.  Aside from that, he sounded glorious in his musicality and phrasing.  We'd hate to see him ruin his gorgeous instrument!

Ms. Leonard showed off the flexibility of her instrument and her charm as an actress in "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia.  Her embellishments were astonishing.  She departed from the world of opera with two favorite Spanish songs, something she does particularly well--Montsalvatge's tender lullaby and Valverde's lively "Clavelitos".

Ms. Morley handled the coloratura of Olympia's song from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann with ease and was very funny, being wheeled on and offstage in a cart.  She was particularly winsome in her rose presentation duet with Ms. Leonard--an ardent Count Refrano.

Confirming my contention that some Broadway musical are operas, our three stars movingly performed selections from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story to close the program.  One could not have asked for anything more.  But more was to come.

Mr. Costello sang "Core 'ngrato" by Cardillo and sang it marvelously, with passion and beauty of tone.  Ms. Morley and Ms. Leonard joined their gorgeous voices in perfect harmony for "Oh, belle nuit" from the Venice scene of Les Contes d'Hoffman.  And thus, the worst night of the year was transformed into Une Belle Nuit! 

© meche kroop