Above: tenor Paul Appleby, photo by Jonathan Tichler
Author: Oberon
Tuesday November 19th, 2019 - Romance was in the air tonight as I listened to Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe (The Poet's Love) - my favorite song cycle for male voice - sung by tenor Paul Appleby. The songs were the centerpiece of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's program, which book-ended the Schumann with works by Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms. The evening might have been sub-titled "Aspects of Love".
Pianists Wu Han (co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music Society) and Ken Noda (from the Metropolitan Opera) opened the evening with Schubert's Fantasie in F-minor for Piano, Four Hands, D. 940, Op. 103, composed in 1828. This work commences with a motif that I think of as the heartbeat of the universe: it is steady, pensive, and tinged with longing. Thus the spell of the evening was cast.
As the piece unfolded thru its many moods, Wu Han and Ken Noda seemed the perfect interpreters for this music: the are both poets of the keyboard.
Mr. Noda returned to the Steinway as accompanist - or, more accurately, as musical partner - for Mr. Appleby in the Dichterliebe, Schumann's opus 48, dating from 1840. Prefacing the Schumann with a Schubert song not on the printed program, tenor and pianist then brought us the cycle of songs that can be viewed as reflections on the composer's love for Clara Wieck, and the long path to their eventual marriage, strewn with obstacles set up by Clara's father.
The opening song of the Dichterliebe, "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai" ("In the wonderful month of May...when I told her of my yearnings"), is possibly my favorite song in all the immense catalog of German lieder. It opens with the pianist seemingly in mid-phrase. This awakens the poet's memory, and he begins to sing. "Into my heart, the burning bright arrow of love came winging." The clarity and 'presence' of Mr. Appleby's voice, and the aching beauty of Mr. Noda's playing, signaled that we were in for a captivating musical experience. The song, so brief, has no ending: thoughts are left hanging on air.
The mood shifts - already - to tears and sighs in "Aus meinen tränen spriessen", followed by the airy expressions of "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube". In "Wenn ich in deine Augen seh" ('When I look into your eyes'), Mr. Appleby's sincerity and handsome tone were most agreeable. Mr. Noda's flowing passagework in "Ich willl meine Seele tauchen" underscored the singer's sense of urgency; the dark, looming "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome" was emotionally coloured, and finishes with an atmospheric piano postlude.
In "Ich grolle nicht" ('I bear no grudge'), Mr. Appleby was living the music fully; the song brims over with anger and frustration. Rising to a pinnacle of pent up passion, the tenor simply burst thru the cycle's polite framework with a searing, tormented attack on the high-lying phrase "...I saw the serpent gnawing at your heart." A stunning moment.
The fluttery piano introduction to "Und wüssten's die Blumen" contrasts with the emotional colours of the text, saying the flowers themselves would weep if they could comprehend his pain. The piano lingers on yet again after the singer stops. The waltzy "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen" was sung so beautifully sung Mr. Appleby, whilst Mr. Noda expressively seized upon Schumann's gift of yet another postlude.
The soft piano introduction of "Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen" ('I hear the little song') led to a feeling of sad reverie in Mr. Appleby's voice. The lilting, dance-like "Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" sings of love's confusion and crossed signals, followed by the haunting "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen", filled with aching regret. The tenor's oh-so-gentle singing of the song's final phrase was followed by the pianist's exquisite rendering of the postlude.
The voice alone introduces "Ich hab' im Traum geweinet" ('I have wept in my dreams'), with its sense of quiet drama. Mr. Appleby built this song to a final burst of passion. The singer then displayed his dynamic palette to fine expressive effect in "Allnächtlich im Traume seh' ich dich". A vibrant piano passage sets off "Aus alten Märchen winkt es hervor" which has an almost military fervor. It eventually slows, and is followed by a wry piano postlude.
The final poem, "Die alten, bösen Lieder" ('The old, angry songs'), depicts the packing up of old troubles into a coffin and casting it into the sea. A big, passionate piano phrase and an oddly dancing air evolve to the slow expressiveness of the poet's musings. The music takes on a reflective quality, and the cycle ends with the piano alone, Mr. Noda's playing tender and wistful.
Warm applause greeted Mssrs. Appleby and Noda, and they offered Schubert's "Am Meer" as an encore: a song contrasting soft sorrow with great passion.
A marvelous ensemble gathered after the interval to bring us Johannes Brahms' Quintet in B-minor for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 115 (1891). The inimitable clarinetist David Shifrin (photo above) was joined by Aaron Boyd and Francisco Fullana (violins), Yura Lee (viola) and Keith Robinson (cello).
The quintet, written in 1891, has the autumnal feeling so often associated with the music of Brahms. There is no folkish dance interlude, no boisterous finale. Entwined about Mr. Shifrin's honeyed sound, the violins (sometimes harmonizing in thirds), the purring viola, and the cello with active lines etched in, combined to bring haunting harmonies to the music's lyrical flow.
This work was such a perfect counterpart to my mood throughout the evening; old romantic urges, dormant these past few years, surprisingly loomed up. The hand that I wanted to hold brushed against mine, but only fleetingly. It's been so long since I felt this way.
~ Oberon