Oberon's Grove

Fleming/Kissin @ Carnegie Hall

Author: Oberon

Wednesday May 31st, 2023 - Renée Fleming and Evgeny Kissin in recital at Carnegie Hall. This was a very nostalgic evening for me, as my humble connection with Renée goes way back to the concert that introduced her to theera world: the Met National Council Auditions winners concert of 1988: it was a heady afternoon, wherein three soon-to-be superstars - Renée, Susan Graham, and Ben Heppner - shared the stage with some other excellent singers who went on to fine careers. Renée's singing won everyone's attention with Micaela's aria from CARMEN, and then brought the house down with her ravishing "Song to the Moon" from RUSALKA, which became sort of her theme song over time. It was clear from that moment on that Renée was headed for super-stardom; if you want to read all about her incredible career, go here.

In the ensuing years, I saw her many times at The Met; among her wide-ranging roles, Tatyana in EUGEN ONEGIN, Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, and Desdemona in OTELLO were my favorites. While I was working at Tower Records, I met her a few times: a very down-earth, friendly woman.

Everyone knows about Renée's remarkable voice teacher, Beverley Peck Johnson, and the enormous role that Mrs. J played in Renée's career. With my friend, the late Japanese contralto Makiko Narumi, I spent a lovely afternoon having tea with Mrs. J; she was incredibly proud of Renée. When Mrs. J passed away in 2001 at the age of 96, Makiko brought me along to the memorial service. Renée sang Rachmaninoff, and she nearly broke down from emotion.

All of these memories were playing in my head as we waited for the concert at Carnegie Hall to begin tonight when I saw another of Mrs. J's prize pupils, Anthony Dean Griffey, taking his seat. I ran down the aisle to greet him and meet his partner. This sent my emotional state into overload, recalling the thrilling performance of Carlisle Floyd's SUSANNAH at The Met in 1999, with Renée, Tony, and Sam Ramey all on spectacular form.

Then the house lights dimmed, and the packed Hall erupted with applause and cheers as Renée Fleming and her "accompanist" sans pareil, Evgeny Kissin, took the stage. Renée was wearing the most elegant gown I ever saw: a cinnnamon-rose frock with a back-button bodice and a regal train: a complete knockout.

Silence fall over the house, and then that voice stole into our hearts; it has always been a voice of unique warmth and colour: a sound of blessèd reassurance in a troubled world. I could only imagine Mrs. J looking down on us from the heavens, so pleased to hear that the voice she helped to mold is still in immaculate condition: finely-sustained breath, no wobble, no sagging pitch...just so distinctly and utterly Renée.

Four Schubert songs opened the evening: Suleika, Die Vögel, Lied der Mignon and Rastlose Liebe. Mr. Kissin played the opening of Suleika with great delicacy, and then the Fleming voice began to work its magic, singing with an increasing sense of ecstasy before calming to a state of resignation. This is a voice that sits serenely in the venerable Hall, with an immediacy that is captivating. It brought back memories of hearing Victoria de los Angeles in this Hall many years ago: it's as if she was singing just to me.

In Die Vögel (The Birds), we hear fluttering birds soaring above the jealous earthbound humans below. The Fleming voice sails over the pianist's animated accompaniment. Lied der Mignon is a song full of longing; here Renée brought a haunting pianissimo atmosphere to the second verse, before a passionate outburst.

Written when Schubert was just 18, Rastlose Liebe (Restless Love) is the song of a tormented lover caught up in shifting emotions that veer from despair to unbounded joy. Ms. Fleming and Mr. Kissin gave it a wild and passionate performance.

Next, Mr. Kissin brought us two solo pieces by Franz Liszt: Sposalizio (Marriage) and the Valse oubliée, No. 1. The first is pensive, with a lovely softness and mystery that soon turns passionate. A simple melody returns us to a dreamy state, but uncertainty hovers before the music becomes poignant and - finally - grand. The 'forgotten waltz' is a virtuoso piece in which Mr. Kissin reveled; even an annoying cellphone could not deter the pianist: his playing speedy, yet always nuanced. 

Renée returned for three Liszt songs followed: Freudvoll und leidvoll, Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh, and Im Rhein, im schönen Strome. Throughout this set, Mr. Kissin's vast dynamic palette was deftly applied.

Written in a single day, Freudvoll und Leidvoll (Full of Joy, Full of Sorrow) is a song of extreme mood swings: between joy and sorrow, resignation and exultation. This is a song for all lovers, and Renée brought so many lovely vocal hues into play.  Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh (Over Every Mountaintop Lies Peace) is a hymn to nature and to peace, starting in a hushed tone, quietly supported by the piano. As the music develops, his became some of Renée's most thrilling singing of the evening. Passion reigned in Im Rhein, im schönen Strome, the voice in full flourish and the pianist at his most epic.

Following the interval, the artists returned - Renée now in a golden gown, which brought forth a burst of applause - but then she left the stage, as if she had forgotten something. Mr. Kissin sat down and played an unannounced solo. Following that, the soprano returned and the program resumed as planned.

When I first heard Renée singing Rachmaninoff at the memorial service for Mrs. Johnson in 2001, it seemed to me that her voice was wonderfully suited to Russian music; this notion was amplified when she sang Tatyana at The Met, and it was re-affirmed tonight with two Rachmaninoff songs: Lilacs and A Dream.

When Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote the Lilacs in April 1902, he was about to be married, and the song expresses his delight. It is a light-filled song which begins delicately and soon turns to a soaring melody. The accompaniment is a bit restrained yet passionate. Together, our artists used the dynamic shifts to evoke a blooming love.

In A Dream, Renée's voice had a distinctive clarity, rising deliciously to the highest notes. Mr. Kissin was extraordinary here, especially in the song's long postlude.

Mr. Kissin then offered two Rachmaninoff gems from Morceaux de fantaisie: "Mélodie in E Major" and  "Sérénade in B-flat Minor". These showed off many facets of the great pianist's artistry, especially in terms of color and dynamics.

Ms. Fleming returned for two of my favorite Liszt songs: the delectable "S'il est un charmant gazon" and the ecstatic "Oh! Quand je dors". The first of these was so persuasively sung, and then she went full goddess with the heavenly "Petrarch" song: ravishing sound, remarkable control...a sensuous delight. 

The program concluded with Duparc: Extase, with its lovely piano introduction and wry turnabout in the first vocal phrase, was sublime; and the dramatic Le manoir de Rosemonde, with its rhythmic fluctuations,  to me always has a tinge of the vampiric about it. Here, Renée yet again bewitched us.

Despite a fervent full-house standing ovation, Renée sang a single encore: Schubert's Ave Maria: sustained phrases, luminous tone, so deeply felt: like a benediction.

~ Oberon

Eve Gigliotti ~ Waltraute's Narrative

Mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti sings Waltraute's Narrative from Wagner's GOTTERDAMMERUNG with Kevin Korth, pianist.

Watch and listen here.

Ms. Gigliotti's YouTube page includes several interesting items from her wide-ranging repertoire.

Milanov~Bergonzi~Sereni CHENIER - Atlanta 1960

Above: Zinka Milanov

A performance of Giordano's ANDREA CHENIER given in 1960 by The Met on tour in Atlanta has just popped up on YouTube. Listen here.

This was at the time when I was just falling in love with opera, though I had not yet discovered the Met Texaco broadcasts. Zinka was on the very first opera LP that my parents gave me; Bergonzi was Pinkerton on the first complete opera set I ever bought (the 'second' Tebaldi Cio-Cio-San); and not long after, I bought the de los Angeles TRAVIATA on which Sereni sang Germont.

One of the things I loved most about finding this Atlanta CHENIER was that the cast includes three mezzo-sopranos who - over time - were to give me so many wonderful memories: Belén Amparán, Helen Vanni, and Mignon Dunn. And just look at the Met stalwarts cast in the supporting male roles:

Atlanta, Georgia (Metropolitan Opera on tour)
May 2nd, 1960

ANDREA CHÉNIER

Andrea Chénier..........Carlo Bergonzi
Maddalena...............Zinka Milanov
Carlo Gérard............Mario Sereni
Bersi...................Helen Vanni
Countess di Coigny......Mignon Dunn
Abbé....................Gabor Carelli
Fléville................George Cehanovsky
L'Incredibile...........Alessio De Paolis
Roucher.................Clifford Harvuot
Mathieu.................Ezio Flagello
Madelon.................Belén Amparan
Dumas...................Osie Hawkins
Fouquier Tinville.......Norman Scott
Schmidt.................Louis Sgarro
Major-domo..............Lloyd Strang

Conductor...............Fausto Cleva

So, despite the sometimes wonky sound quality, this recording is such a treasure to me. 

DON GIOVANNI @ The Met

Above: Peter Mattei as Don Giovanni & Ying Fang as Zerlina

Author: Oberon

Saturday May 27th, 2023 matinee - The Met's new DON GIOVANNI is a grey affair. Large grey architectural set pieces loom above the action; from time to time they are moved to form varying spaces as the story unfolds. The costumes are drab and muted, with the only color splash coming at the Don's party when mannequins are wheeled in, brightly dressed in period gowns. Much of the time the singers are dressed as they might be for a rehearsal. The greyness prevails until the opera's final sextet, when flowers, potted plants, and vari-colored domestic furnishings suddenly decorate the set.

Aside from the Don's killing of the Commendatore with a gun rather than in a duel, there's nothing radical in the staging. Of course, if the production had been set in the USA, everyone would have been toting an AK-15.

With so little to distract us visually, focus was on the singing. Adam Plachetka sounded muted in Leporello's opening lines, but he bloomed vocally with his Catalogue Aria and was thereafter very impressive. Dmitry Belosselskiy was a strongly-sung Commendatore, responding ominously to the Don's dinner invitation, still wearing the bloody shirt in which he was killed. In powerful voice, Mr. Belosselskiy made me look forward to his upcoming Daland.

As the peasant couple, Masetto and his Zerlina, Alfred Walker and Ying Fang were superb. Mr. Walker is always a joy to hear, and his excellent singing today turned the oft-neglected character into a leading role. Ying Fang, with one of the most appealing voices on the current operatic scene, was exquisite in both of her arias, and she blended with Peter Mattei's suavely-phrased singing to make "La ci darem la mano" one of the highlights of the afternoon.

Ana Maria Martinez was a bit unsettled vocally at first, and I wasn't sure that Donna Elvira was a role for her; but she convinced me otherwise as the opera progressed. Her "Mi tradi" was fabulously sung: in a delightful musical collaboration with conductor Nathalie Stutzmann, Ms. Martinez made the aria glow. The soprano, looking like an earnest CEO in her fitted forest-green frock and black stilettos, found the perfect mix of determination and frustration in the character.

Federica Lombardi had a triumph in her third Mozart role at The Met: following her Countess Almaviva and Elettra (IDOMENEO), she sang brilliantly as Donna Anna today, throwing in some embellishments along the way, which Mme. Stutzmann wisely allowed. All afternoon, the Lombardi voice rang clear and true, with free-flowing coloratura, and capping the ensembles brightly. In the great aria "Non mi dir", Ms. Lombardi was poignantly expressive in her plea for understanding, and then set off the fireworks for the aria's fast-paced conclusion.  

Ben Bliss as Don Ottavio gave us some of the most expressive singing of the afternoon, with lovely dynamics in the touching "Dalla sua pace" and a sure command of the dazzling demands of "Il mio tesoro". Ben's visible frustration when Donna Anna asked for 'more time' after demise of her nemesis, Don Giovanni, was much appreciated by the audience.

Peter Mattei's Don Giovanni made a huge impression at The Met in 2009, in another drab production, which I watched with Lisette Oropesa - the first act onscreen at List Hall and the second from a balcony box. We  were both bowled over by his vivid characterization and his mellifluous singing. This afternoon, in a production that casts the Don as a psychopath, Mattei was equally impressive...and the voice is more beautiful and subtle than ever. His "La ci darem la mano" with Ying Fang, his 'champagne aria' (taken by Ms. Stutzmann at lightning speed) and his ravishing serenade, "Deh, vieni alla finestra", were perfect.

What separated this performance from most everything else I have seen at The Met this season was the conducting: the majority of the operas have been played fast and loud, apparently in an attempt to make things more 'exciting'. As a result, singers were often made to choose between forcing or being drowned out. As a singer, Ms. Stutzmann knows what to do on the podium; so today, every note and word was clearly audible, and no one seemed to be putting undue pressure on their voice. 

Moreover, Ms. Stutzmann gave the music a wonderful sense of flow, often moving directly from recitative to aria without pause. There was an especially lovely trio continuo players today: John C. Kelly (fortepiano), Kari Jane Docter (cello), and John Lenti (theorbo and mandolin). It was Mr. Lenti who gave the Mattei serenade its enchanting accompaniment. I cannot say which of the Met Orchestra's cellists was responsible for the splendid playing in Ms. Martinez's wonderful "Mi tradi", nor which clarinetist brought such warmth and clarity to the playing of the downhill scales in Figaro's "Non piu andrai" as part of the Don's dinner music.

And so, I wanted very much to meet Nathalie Stutzmann after the performance. I went down to the stage door - after the enthusiastic ovation during the curtain calls - to find that a large crowd had gathered there. The singers came out and were greeted like rockstars, and they all lingered, chatting up the fans.

I think all afternoon the scandale was on people's minds - at least those people who like gossip. During the performance, there had been no hint of any tension between the pit and the podium, although the players who sit nearest the spot from which the conductor enters - and who usually start clapping loudly when Maestro X, Y, or Z first appears - didn't do that for Ms. Stutzmann today. But the audience soon spotted her and gave her a round of bravas.

Ar last Ms. Stutzmann came out, and after she had greeted some other fans, it was my turn. I had thought of some non-controversial things to say to her, but my shyness overwhelmed me. She signed my program, and I embraced her, and said: "I love your Alto Rhapsody!" which made her smile. Listen to it here.

~ Oberon

Claire Chase ~ Density 2036 @ Zankel Hall

Above: Claire Chase

Author: Shoshana Klein

Thursday May 25th, 2023 - Claire Chase’s Density 2036 project is long and ambitious: a 24-year long project of new commissions, inspired by Varèse’s famous flute piece Density 21.5. Each year, she performs an entire new program of works. This year, she’s 10 years into the project, so the 10 days leading up to this concert have been a recap of all of these new pieces, culminating in Thursday’s world premiere of a 50-minute chamber piece by Anna Thorvaldsdottir named Ubique. For this evening’s piece, the ensemble was composed of Claire Chase, flutes; Katinka Kleijn and Seth Parker Woods, cellos; Cory Smythe, piano; and Levy Lorenzo, live sound. The concert started with a conversation between Ara Guzelimian and Thorvaldsdottir, who described a blank page at the beginning of a composition as freeing - that composing a piece “starts with a sensation - finding something that doesn’t exist yet”

The introduction - which turned out to be a recurring theme - was a deep, low rumbling (not unlike the sound the subway makes in Zankel Hall, begging the question if that was an intentional move by the composer writing for the hall). There was striking low lighting around the ensemble, really creating a space that brought you into the beginning of the performance. The lighting changed throughout the piece in a way that was engaging and followed the different sections - adding some literal color changes to the musical color changes, very tastefully.

 

The piece seemed to have many movements (though if so, they weren’t indicated in the program) - some quite short and full of quick gestures and handoffs, others more slow-moving. There were more sections and honestly more tonality than I was expecting from Thorvaldsdottir. There were a few parts where bass flute and the two cellos mixed in really interesting ways - Thorvaldsdottir is always one for unique texture and sound, and this piece was no exception.

 

At about 40 minutes into the 50-minute piece, Chase finally picked up a C flute, as opposed to the Contrabass flute (named Bertha, as we were told in the pre-concert conversation) and the regular bass flute (whose name I do not know) that she’d been playing so far. The “regular” flute at this point in the piece was strangely light and really felt like a different world - a change from the usual where the lower flutes have the otherworldly feeling.

 

I didn’t feel like I got a good sense of the structure of the piece, but I still enjoyed it, and the recurring rumbling theme gave it some sense of unity. I imagine it would be interesting to be keeping up with the entire project of new flute works and really get to know Chase’s playing - undoubtedly her style influences all of these new commissions, and her explicit goal is for the new pieces to “expand the boundaries of the instrument”. It’s also worth mentioning that as ambitious as it sounds that Claire Chase played a full length recital every night for 10 nights this month, the plan for the final concert of Density 2036 is for her to put on a 24-hour long concert with all of the new music commissioned throughout the project. 

 

~ Shoshana Klein