Wednesday February 9, 2011 - Soprano Meagan Miller (photo by Karen Farber above) and pianist Brian Zeger performing a programme of songs and arias at Merkin Hall. On a bitterly cold New York winter night it was heartwarming to be among the enthusiastic and starry audience - Marilyn Horne was seated across the aisle from me - who were treated to a very well-thought-out programme, impeccably played by Brian Zeger and thrillingly sung by the beauteous soprano.
In a deep-aquamarine gown, Meagan opened the evening with a demanding set of songs by Hugo Wolf. Her voice - large, clear and vibrant - immediately struck me as a Met-sized instrument, and throughout the evening she showed expert dynamic control and an interpretive range from the intense to the sensuous. Touches of humour in some of the Wolf songs were evoked by subtle body language; she immediately had her audience fully engaged.
After speaking briefly of her special affection for Debussy's Proses Lyriques, the soprano gave a striking intrepretation of these songs, which are set to the composer's own texts. Each song has the feel of an Impressionistic aural canvas and the themes - dreams, the sea, flowers, evening - are painted by singer and pianist in music that is both intimate and expansive.
In the first operatic offering of the evening, Meagan and Brian gave a beautiful rendering of the poetic longing of the nymph Rusalka in Dvorak's gorgeous Song to the Moon. Here we were able to enjoy the soprano's impressive range - the exciting top notes and her deliciously expressive but unforced lower register - while Brian's playing called up both the the calm depths of the lake and the shimmer of moonlight on the surface.
Four songs by Richard Strauss suit Meagan's instrument so well; risking September from the FOUR LAST SONGS without an orchestra was a gamble that paid off thanks to Brian's textured playing. In Arabella's glorious outpouring to Mandryka from the composer's opera ARABELLA, Meagan's opulent sound transported us to an opera house of the imagination: really impressive.
I can't recall ever having heard Samuel Barber's Nuvoletta before; it's a sort of vocal scena set to James Joyce and it swings thru many moods, from playful to mock-profound. Meagan and Brian had a lot of fun with it, with much body-English from the soprano. Then onto two more Barber songs, making me crave to hear Meagan singing Vanessa's "Do Not Utter A Word". In fact, I think she would be superb in that entire role, especially as her diction is so clear. But perhaps she's still a bit too young to play a woman who has waited twenty years for her lover to return. The role should be on her list though!
Having recently enjoyed a big success at Palermo in Puccini's FANCIULLA DEL WEST, Meagan offered as her first encore Minnie's nostalgic "Laggiu nel Soledad". As this narrative aria evolves into its triumphant hymn to conjugal love, Meagan unleashed a thrilling high-C the likes of which I haven't often heard in all my many years as an opera devotee. Following this, she and Brian gave a final encore with a joyous "Dich teure halle" from Wagner's TANNHAUSER, her voice ample, silvery and impassioned and buoyed by Brian's playing.
Meagan and several of her Juilliard colleagues from a few years ago are having successful careers singing hither and yon, but we need their voices and personalities at the Met. It's time for torches to be passed, and there are so many roles in the Met repertoire that could benefit from Meagan's voice and physical presence.
So wonderful to see my dear Angela Fout Nolle there, supporting her friend Meagan. Angela's in town for a few days from her home base at St. Gallen, Switzerland.
For Meagan, this recital was something of a homecoming. Merkin is just one block north of Juilliard where I first heard her singing. So much has happened for her in the intervening time, and it's so nice to welcome her back and to find that her early promise has been fulfilled and even surpassed.
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