THE HIGHS AND THE LOWS

Anthony Kalil

Ryan Speedo Green

Nimrod David Pfeffer

Bryan Wagorn

The highs and the lows referred to the notes; tenor Anthony Kalil had some ringing high notes and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green had the sonorous low notes; we had a grand time feeling the resonance in various body parts.  Just sayin'!

Expectations for participants in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program run high and are generally met or surpassed.  Such was the case at yesterday's recital when yearling Anthony Kalil demonstrated real tenor chops to an audience that may not have been familiar with his work elsewhere but will surely be seeking him out in the future.  With Bryan Wagorn as collaborative pianist, the teamwork paid off in a stunning performance of three selections from Copland's Old American Songs.  But it was in the three Italian selections that one could appreciate the promise of his impressive Italianate style.  There was no hint of sharp raw garlic in his voice but rather the mellow flavor of long-roasted garlic.  We particularly enjoyed that old Donaudy chestnut "O del mio amato ben" which he made sound fresh and new.  His "When the sun arises" from Kurt Weill's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny was powerful and Mr. Wagorn was with him every step of the way.  It is such fun to hear a young singer for the first time and to imagine him in all the roles you see in his future.

Mr. Green, on the other hand, is quite well-known in the New York area and hearing his booming base-baritone makes one feel as if all is right in this world.  Partnered by Nimrod David Pfeffer he performed "Arise, ye subterranean winds" from Purcell's The Tempest with all the force it required.  Mr. Pfeffer's piano let us feel the very tempest in our bones.  He was a fine storyteller in Liszt's "Die Vätergruft".  Mr. Pfeffer did some fine piano work in two songs by Florence B. Price which sounded appropriately mysterious.

At a bare one hour, the recital seemed too short by half.  We look forward to Mr. Kalil's Met debut as the Young Man in Die Frau Ohne Schatten and have already seen Mr. Green on the Met stage in Parsifal and Turandot.  Stay tuned.  So much more to come from these fine artists.

(c) meche kroop

A TWO-MASTERS CLASS

Martina Arroyo

Jorge Parodi

 Two great talents joined forces at Manhattan School of Music for an invaluable master class; universally beloved soprano Martina Arroyo and conducting whiz Jorge Parodi were able to provide complementary instruction to the participants with Ms. Arroyo focusing mainly on character development and Mr. Parodi helping the singers with Spanish diction in both dialects and helping the pianist with some of the finer points.
The stimulating and instructive afternoon was presented as part of the Opera Hispanica Festival, in association with the Martina Arroyo Foundation and Sociedad Internacional de Valores de Arte Mexicano.  Naturally, the music was Spanish and we were delighted to have another opportunity to hear these wonderful songs.

Soprano Amelia Berry from MSM made a fine appearance, introducing each song in a way that engaged the listeners.  The Rodrigo songs she performed with pianist Hyerim Song, Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios, were sung with a bright sound, long arching phrases and a nice palette of vocal colors.  Mr. Parodi pointed out that the melodies of the songs were of a Baroque or Renaissance nature but that Rodrigo's harmonies were of a modern nature, requiring more rubato from the piano.  For Ms. Berry, he elucidated some of the expressions in the poetry that a contemporary American might not understand.  Ms. Arroyo instructed Ms. Berry to stay active in her thoughts and to let her face reflect what the next phrase had to say.

Mezzo Fleur Barron, a Martina Arroyo Foundation participant with a most expressive face and voice, sang a duet from Torroba's 1930's zarzuela Luisa Fernanda with SIVAM baritone Jorge Espino.  Ms. Barron was given some excellent instruction in Spanish diction from Mr. Parodi; Mr. Espino got some fine advice from Ms. Arroyo about staying in character and singing to his partner rather than to the audience; collaborative pianist Kyung Eun Na got some help with the typical Hispanic juapango rhythm.

Tenor Marcos Vigil, another Martina Arroyo Foundation participant, performed de Falla's "El Paño Moruno" which led to a valuable discussion of interpretation and Ms. Arroyo pointed out that the singer must collaborate with the pianist to paint the same picture; the character decided upon must be consistent with the singer's particular gifts.  Kyung Eun Na learned how to use the pedal to imitate the sound of the guitar.

We also enjoyed hearing Mr. Espino sing an aria from Luisa Fernanda, a zarzuela which we would love to hear in toto.  We loved spending the afternoon in such stimulating company and learned a great deal.  Now we know more about Castilian Spanish and Andalucian Spanish; we know that the "V" sound doesn't exist in Spanish; we know which consonants are soft when between two vowels and we know about the distinctive juapango rhythm.   And if you want to know what "en cabello" means, just ask us!  We heard some wonderful performances and walked out of the hall with a big smile and a feeling of gratitude to Ms. Arroyo, Mr. Parodi, Manhattan School of Music, SIVAM and Opera Hispanica for bringing it all together.

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SONG OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN

Michael Barrett and Steven Blier

When one thinks of art song and its champions, the two people one thinks of first are Marilyn Horne and Steven Blier.  In January we had an intense exposure to Marilyn Horne who initiated On Wings of Song and last night we had an equally exciting but somewhat different exposure at Steven Blier's 25-year-old New York Festival of Song.  Mr. Blier's offerings are not just vocal, they are also educational.  Just reading the program notes for "Song of the Midnight Sun" gave us a new appreciation for the vocal music of the Scandinavian countries; filled with interesting facts about each composer and the influences upon which their music rests, we felt as if we were exposed to a valuable academic dissertation.

When Mr. Blier speaks, however, his delightful good humor shines through and we get a different sort of appreciation; but when the four Terrance W. Schwab Vocal Rising Stars, fresh from a 12-day mentorship at Caramoor, take the stage, we gain our appreciation experientially.  In its fifth year, the program honors the memory of Caramoor trustee Terrance Schwab and is funded by an endowment in his name.

New Yorkers are not often exposed to Scandinavian songs.  From time to time we hear one of Grieg's more well-known songs but tonight we got to hear songs written by Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Finns.  We heard Stenhammar, Grieg, Nielsen, de Frumerie, Linde, Rautavaara, Nystroem, Nordqvist, Rangström, Sibelius, Larsson, Sjöberg and Alfvén.  You may be forgiven if these names are unfamiliar.  Although the composers are all different, our ears searched for a common thread.  What all the songs demonstrated was a love of melody, even in the more modern songs. These guys really loved writing for the voice!  We also noted a spare texture in the piano with a couple of exceptions.  But the themes of nature and love are held in common with German lieder.

The program opened with a quartet singing Wilhelm Stenhammar's "I Seraillets have".  What could be lovelier than the beautiful blending of four well-trained voices?  Celebrated soprano Julia Bullock, beautiful Scandinavian-looking mezzo Sarah Larsen, tenor Theo Lebow making his NYFOS debut and award-winning baritone Tobias Greenhalgh composed the quartet.

The program was divided into songs about nature, about night, about the sea, about youth and age and about a "ruined" maid.  Grieg's "Våren" was our personal favorite in the nature category.  The spare texture in the piano writing allowed Mr. Greenhalgh's voice to shine with all its resplendent colors and dynamic variety.  The poet wrote of the pleasures of Spring, the sorrow of thinking it might be his last Spring, and the resignation of knowing that everything ends.  Mr. Greenhalgh captured all these emotions.

Our favorite song in the section about night was Alfvén's "Skogen sover" in which Mr Lebow expressed the tender sentiments with polished phrasing and aching melisma.  We noted some dense and rippling accompaniment in Sibelius' "Var det en dröm?" which was less spare than some of the other songs.

In the section about the sea, Michael Barrett, Associate Artistic Director of NYFOS, took over the piano duties in Nystroem's "Ute i skären" and produced a sound both mystical and impressionistic.

In the section about youth and age, Ms. Bullock evinced a moving depth of feeling as she reminisced about childhood memories in connection with a letter from mother.

The four songs in the "ruined maid" section almost became a cycle, although written by three different composers.  Sibelius' "Im Feld ein Mädchen singt" Mr. Greehalgh sang powerfully against a spare piano and in "Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings mote", also by Sibelius, Ms. Larsen did the mother-daughter drama proud; the mother was concerned and suspicious while the daughter was at first dissembling and later distraught; it was a fine piece of storytelling.

Ms. Bullock's performance of "En svane" was brilliant, conveying the unutterable sadness of a secret love that only revealed itself at the time of death.  Had Mr. Blier not explained the metaphor, we might have continued to believe that the swan was just a swan.

Sending the audience home happy was the result of the encore, the quartet from Act II of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music".
We could not have imagined a better program.  We listened, we learned, we thrilled to the sound of four fine singers and the piano of Mr. Barrett and Mr. Blier.  We want to hear those songs again on future recital programs!

(c) meche kroop

METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL GRAND FINALS

Brandon Cedel, Sydney Mancasola, Michael Brandenberg, Rebecca Pedersen, Musa Ngqungwana and Thomas Richards

The anxiety and tension among the finalists was matched by that of audience members.  Everyone had their favorites and celebrated when their choices were ratified by the judges.  But oh, how they lamented when the judges overlooked their favorites in favor of a singer they deemed less worthy.  One never knows what the judges are looking for but we know who we like.

Let it be said that the six "winners" were all superb but the four who weren't chosen were also winners.  Making it to the finals after the laborious nationwide process of elimination is a big win and we celebrate the four who were not chosen as well as the six who were.

The afternoon was glorious; hearing ten young artists in their 20's singing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, led by Maestro Marco Armiliato, as well as experiencing the hosting of the glamorous soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and the stellar baritone Eric Owens justified the price of admission.

No one could have quarreled with the choice of bass-baritone Brandon Cedel;  he showed a gorgeously textured vibrato in "Vi ravviso" from Bellini's La Sonnambula and spun out the luscious long phrases with fine style.  In the second half, he gave a passionate performance of "Aleko's Cavatina" from Rachmaninoff's eponymous opera.

Equally riveting was another bass-baritone Thomas Richards who sang Claggart's aria "Oh Beauty" from Britten's Billy Budd, getting every ounce of drama from the many colors of his voice as well as appropriate gesture.  In the second half of the program, he delivered a rolicking "La calunnia" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, for which one did not need any translation.

Yet a third bass-baritone, Musa Ngqungwana, impressed with his "Riez, allez" from Massenet's Don Quichotte and later sang "Vi ravviso" which we preferred.  With so many bass-baritones on the program, we got to hear a few arias repeated.

The lone tenor, Michael Brandenburg, produced some lovely colors in "É la solita storia del pastore" from Cilea's L'Arlesiana and invested "Lenski's Aria" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with a similar depth of feeling.

Soprano Sydney Mancasola seemed a bit wan in "Salut à la France" from Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment, but more than made up for it in the second half with a "Caro Nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto marked by a brilliant vibrato.

Most astonishing of all was the 21-year-old soprano Rebecca Pedersen, still a sophomore at Brigham Young University.  She has a sizable voice and plenty of stage poise as she sang "Pleurez, mes yeux" from Massenet's "Le Cid" and opened up readily in the second half with a stunning "Stridono lassù" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

While waiting for the judge's decision we heard Ms. Radvanovsky and Mr. Owens tell about their experience with the Met Finals many years ago.  Ms. Radvanosky gave a most exciting performance of "Pace, pace, mio Dio" from our favorite neglected Verdi opera La Forza del Destino.

We shall not end without some appreciate words for the five runners-up.  We greatly admired bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba's "Se vuol Ballare" from Mozart's  Le Nozze de Figaro.  Baritone Efraín Solís  had a marvelously accurate fioritura in an aria from Handel's Rodelinda.  Bass Matthew Anchel showed off some stirring low notes in "Il lacerato spirito" from Verdi's Simon Boccanegra.  Soprano Tracy Cox showed a lovely messa di voce in "Morrò ma prima in grazia" from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.

The National Council has been scouting young singers from all over the country for sixty years now and we wish them sixty more.

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ALEK SHRADER FIVE YEARS LATER

Keun-A Lee

Alek Shrader

We well recall the 2007 Metropolitan Nation Council Auditions when tenor Alek Shrader won after dazzling the judges and astonishing the audience with his aria from Fille du Regiment.  It's almost exactly five years down the road and he still astonishes.  Last night's performance at Weill Recital Hall could be described in one word as operatic.

With the extraordinarily gifted piano partner Keun-A Lee, a program was planned that had something for everyone and allowed Mr. Shrader to show off his skills in five languages.   The opener was Rossini's frisky "La danza"; Mr. Shrader exploded onto the stage without waiting for welcoming applause and launched the song with an abundance of gesture and dancing about the stage, illuminating the exultation and excitement as we have never before heard.  One had no doubt which ladies he found attractive and which one was dull.  This was followed by Bellini's deeply sad "La Ricordanza" in which Mr. Shrader's attention to the long arching phrases made the suffering particularly poignant.  When he exults, he truly exults and when he suffers, he truly suffers.  He appeared to lose himself in the mood of each song.

The set of bel canto songs was followed by three of Gabriel Fauré's gems; we especially liked the way Mr. Shrader pulled in his oars and illuminated the delicate phrases of "Lydia".  Next he sang Richard Strauss' Vier Lieder; he was so persuasive in "Cäcilie" that we were prepared to incline our heart, come to him and live with him, as the words of the song suggest.  But, it was in the delicate "Morgen" that he pulled back on the high octane delivery and made the most impression.  It was at this point that we realized how his intensity may get in his own way at times and that some subtlety can be a welcome relief.  Less may indeed be more.

Ms. Lee had a perfect opportunity to show her stuff at this juncture when she began Joaquín Turina's Poema en forma de canciones with the haunting "Dedicatoria".  We enjoyed Mr. Shrader's "Los dos miedos" and "Las locas por amor" the best and it seemed likely that he enjoyed performing them the most as well.  Actually he seems most comfortable in Spanish and we were most receptive to the language having just attended two consecutive events by Opera Hispanica.

Vicente Martín y Soler's "Oh ciel!" from La Cosa Rara gave the artist an opportunity to have his way with fioritura and what a way it was!  Then he moved on to perform the world premiere of Iain Bell's The Undying Splendour, settings of tragic texts by John William Streets about World War I.  The writing was spare as suited the text.  Next we heard three witty/silly songs by Virgil Thomson and, to close the program Ms. Lee performed a lovely piano solo by Ethelbert Nevin and was joined by Mr. Shrader for some of Nevin's Victorian parlor songs that were simple and direct.  The final one "Nocturne" was particularly charming; a white rose climbing the trellis under a lady's window is seen by the poet (Thomas Bailey Aldrich) as a bold lover daring to climb Romeo's ladder.  What a charming metaphor!

As encore, we got "If You've Only Got a Moustache" a humorous song by Stephen Foster, performed with both artists sporting bushy fake moustaches. This brought the evening to a rousing end.

We have often be disappointed by singers who "park and bark".  No one would accuse Mr. Shrader of this flaw.  If anything we would like to see him "kick it down a notch".  His acting adds greatly to the song delivery but there is entirely too much grimacing and excessive "indicating".  For example, during the Thomson song "Was this face the cause?" he found it necessary to count on his fingers the "nine bad" and "yet one good in ten".  It reminded us of signing for the hearing impaired.  It seems churlish to be nit-picking after such a fine recital but we would also like to see Mr. Shrader lower his gaze and allow the audience to connect with him; for the entire evening he seemed to be singing to the Family Circle, of which the Weill Recital Hall has none.  Please let us know if your experience was similar to ours.

(c) meche kroop

OPERA HISPANICA FESTIVAL

 

Amaya Arberas

What a stellar kickoff to the Opera Hispanica Festival!  The two stellar sopranos pictured here would have offered sufficient entertainment value but there was so much more that it is difficult to know where to begin.  Wednesday evening's event, the Festival Opening Concert and Reception, in cooperation with the Consulate General of Argentina, was a celebration of the arts and culture of Argentina and the tango was very much present.  We have room to describe only the highlights.

The violin of Sami Merdinian and the cello of Yves Dharamraj were joined by the piano of Artistic Director Jorge Parodi and the exciting bandoneón of JP Jofre for Mr. Jofre's

"Tango Movements" which he composed originally for symphony orchestra.  The spirited first movement gave way to a soulful center section and the contrast of Mr. Jofre's playing was fascinating to see and hear.

Fleet-fingered guitarist Tali Roth played her own devilishly difficult arrangement of Libertango, heard earlier in the program on violin and cello.  World-reknowned soprano Isabel Leonard thrilled with her performance of Xavier Monsalvatge's Cinco Canciones Negras, accompanied by Mr. Parodi.  The program closed with selections from Maria de Buenos Aires, a tango opera by Astor Piazzolla which will be the capstone of the festival.  Maria was sung by mezzo Malena Dayen and the baritone role by Marcelo Guzzo, with a small orchestra conducted by Mr. Parodi.  Mr. Jofre again dazzled with his bandoneón, played with artistry and passion.

The following evening at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute was no less exciting as Daniel Hernandez, Founder and Executive Director of Opera Hispanica, assembled an illustrious group of experts for a panel discussion of zarzuela. Playwright/diplomat Íñigo Ramírez de Haro served as moderator while composer Ricardo Llorca discussed the musical origins of zarzuela in 18th c. Spain.  There was an interesting cultural phenomenon which finds parallels in today's world; as the aristocracy went into decline, there evolved an imitation of the lower classes in musical taste as well as dance.  Having originated in France with aristocrats dressing as peasants and frolicking in the countryside, the trend spread throughout Europe.  The zarzuela used traditional Spanish music melded with European forms and became a popular tradition, carried over to the New World, evolving still further in Cuba, Mexico and S. America.

Dr. Janet Sturman, an ethnomusicologist from the University of Arizona and author of Zarzuela: Spanish Operetta described how classical-historical tales gave way to populist tales, in much the same way as opera seria eventually gave way to realismo.  The art form requires superb singers who can also act and dance since this is a story-driven form with few arias that can be excerpted for concert performance.

Maestro Parodi filled us in on the art form from the Argentinian perspective.  In his country, the upper classes were Spanish but the immigrants who arrived came from Italy and brought along their operatic heritage which competed with the Spanish tradition.  It was interesting to learn that in the early 20th c. there were five major opera theatres in Buenos Aires.  With Piazzola's Maria de Buenos Aires, it is evident that Argenina has made zarzuela its very own.

There was a lot of information to digest and like a tonic for weary minds, the superb soprano Amaya Arberas demonstrated for the audience "Carceleras" from Las hijas del Zebedeo by Ruperto Chapi and baritone Yunpeng Wang, winner of the Zarzuela Award in Placido Domingo's international opera competition Operalia performed "Amor vida de mi vida" from Maravilla by Federico Moreno Torroba.  Guitar accompaniment was by the excellent David Galvez.

The festival will continue with tonight's recital by Eglise Gutiérrez and Maestro Parodi at the Americas Society with next week's offering being the tango opera at Le Poisson Rouge.  It is worth noting and celebrating the fact that Mr. Hernandez has established the one and only opera company in the United States devoted exclusively to Spanish and Latin American music and music dealing with that culture.  He has surely filled a gap in the world of music.

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