Perfect music for the Yuletide: Benjamin Britten’s CEREMONY OF CAROLS performed by The Singers, Matthew Culloton, conductor. Soloists are Min Kim, Harp; Jessie Braaten, soprano; Susanna Mennicke; soprano, Diane Koschak; sorpano, Britta Fitzer, alto; and Jessica Bandelin, alto.
Watch and listen here.
Perfect music for the Yuletide: Benjamin Britten’s CEREMONY OF CAROLS performed by The Singers, Matthew Culloton, conductor. Soloists are Min Kim, Harp; Jessie Braaten, soprano; Susanna Mennicke; soprano, Diane Koschak; sorpano, Britta Fitzer, alto; and Jessica Bandelin, alto.
Watch and listen here.
Tuesday December 20th, 2022 – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center‘s annual presentation of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos is always a highlight of the New York concert season, and this year these immortal works maintained their ‘masterpiece’ status as the Society rounded up a spectacularly talented team of players. As is the CMS custom, the concertos are presented in a different order each year, and the program is given three times in order to accommodate all the music lovers who are craving a holiday alternative to the Messiah and the Nutcracker.
This evening, a packed house enthusiastically responded to music-making of the highest level. As a special treat, the gentlemen of the Escher Quartet joined the lineup; I love these guys, both as musicians and as personalities.
The program opened with the 5th Brandenburg, which belongs to the harpsichordist. Shai Wosner played the long cadenza with striking clarity and elegance. Violinist Daniel Phillips and cellist Sihao He then joined Mr. Wosner for a gorgeous rendering of the Affetuoso, Clad in a royal purple gown, flautist Sooyun Kim dazzled with her luminous tone and deft technique. The complimentary string trio of violinist Aaron Boyd, violist Paul Neubauer, and bassist Lizzie Burns were excellent. Ms. Burns and Mr, Wosner went on to be pillars of musical perfection as the evening flowed onward.
Next up was the 2nd Brandenburg, with trumpet virtuoso Brandon Ridenour sailing superbly thru the music. Mssrs. He and Wosner were joined by violinist Brendan Speltz, flautist Demarre McGill, and oboist James Austin Smith in weaving a lovely tapestry of sound in the Andante. Adam Barnett-Hart, Aaron Boyd, and Pierre Lapointe formed an admirable string trio, and it is always wonderful to hear Peter Kolkay offering his mellow bassoon tone to the music. In the concluding Presto, Mr. Ridenour and Mr. Smith vied with one another as they traded phrases, much to our delight.
In the 4th concerto (in G-major), violinist Adam Barnett-Hart was very much in his element, alternating sustained tones of gentle lustre and with passages of high-speed coloratura. Duetting flautists Demarre McGill and Sooyun Kim dazzled the ear with the swift surety of their playing in the outer movements, and tugged at the heartstrings with the poignant harmonies of the central Andante. Ms. Burns and cellist Brook Speltz brought just the right weightiness of sound to counter-balance the high voices of the flutes and violin. In the final Presto, Mr. Barnett-Hart displayed incredible virtuosity.
Following the interval, the 1st concerto, brought forth two horn players, Michelle Reed Baker and Julia Pilant, festively gowned (respectively) in red and green. They sounded as fine as the looked, and their duetting harmonies drew plushy responses from a trio of oboists: Stephen Taylor, James Austin Smith, and Randall Ellis. Mr. Kolkay’s dulcet bassoon playing has a prominent role here. The horns are silent during the poignant Adagio, where Aaron Boyd and the oboe trio spun pleasing harmonies over velvety unison phrases from Mihai Marica’s cello and Ms. Burns’ bass. The high horns swing into the jaunty Allegro, after which a wave of applause greeted the players. But there’s still a fourth movement – a mix of minuet and polonaise – in which separate choirs of winds and strings alternated, keeping the musical textures fresh til the end.
The 6th concerto features pulsing cello and bass figurations, and duetting violas (Mssrs. Neubauer and Phillips). Mr. Neubauer and cellist Sihao He (graciously accompanied by Ms. Burns’ bass) drew us in to the moving tenderness of the Adagio, Mr. He concluding with a brief cadenza. Then without pause, the sneaky start of the closing Allegro begins to sweep us along. Mr. He dazzled us with his swift, fluent playing, whilst the two violists had a field day with the fast-paced music. This Allegro induced fervent applause from the crowd.
The evening’s finale, the 3rd concerto, is a particular favorite of mine; it calls for three violins (Mssrs, Boyd, Brendan Speltz, and Barnett-Hart), three violas (Mssrs. Lapointe, Phillips, and Neubauer) and three cellos (Mssrs. Marica, He, and Brook Speltz), whilst the dedicated Wosner/Burns duo kept everything merry and bright. This concerto is unusual in that its “phantom” Adagio movement consists only of a brief passage from Mr. Wosner’s keyboard. Bach immediately sends the players back into a swirling Allegro. The evening’s performance drew to an end, the audience rising to hail the players with great – and much-deserved – enthusiasm. A second bow was called for, and then we headed out into the chilly night air, our spirits fortified by glorious music of Bach.
~ Oberon
Maurice Ravel’s Chansons Madécasses performed by baritone Stéphane Degout with Michaël Guido (piano), Matteo Cesari (flute), and Alexis Descharmes (cello). The concert took place at the Amphithéâtre Bastille, Paris, in May of 2015.
Watch and listen here.
German soprano Uta-Maria Flake (1951-1995) sings “Träume” from Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder; her interpretation is rather unusual, but I like it.
Listen here.
“Ms. Flake studied at the Hamburg University of Music and, as a scholarship holder of the Hamburg State Opera, at Indiana University in Bloomington (USA). Further training by Tito Gobbi in Florence and by Mario del Monaco in Lancenigo. As early as 1971 she took part in a television recording of Offenbach’s ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD from the Hamburg Opera. In 1973 she won first prize in the national singing competition, and in 1974 she was a prizewinner at a concours in Montepulciano. She began her actual stage career in 1975 at the Stadttheater in Ulm, where she made her debut as Leonora in Verdi’s FORZA DEL DESTINO. From 1976-80 she was a member of the Dortmund Opera House. Here in 1979 she sang Eve in the German premiere of the opera PARADISE LOST by Penderecki; this was followed by guest appearances in this role at the Munich State Opera, at the Warsaw Opera and (in concert version) at the Salzburg Festival. From 1980-83 she was engaged at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where she sang her great roles: Beethoven’s Leonore and Weber’s Agathe, Wagner’s Elsa and Eva, and Offenbach’s Giulietta.
She made successful guest performances at the State Theater in Hanover, at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg, at the State Opera (as Lisa in PIQUE DAME) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (as Leonore), at the Covent Garden Opera London (as Elsa and as Freia), at the Teatro San Carlos Lisbon (Freia, Sieglinde, Gutrune and 3rd Norn), at the Cologne Opera House (Tchaikovsky’s Lisa), and at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste and at the Stadttheater in Basel as Sieglinde in WALKURE. Ms. Flake was also a concert soloist and lieder recitalist.”
Above: Rosa Feola and Benjamin Bernheim in RIGOLETTO at The Met
Author: Oberon
Saturday November 26th, 2022 matinee – After reading several glowing reviews of the French tenor Benjamin Bernheim over the past few years, and hearing of his recent success in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR opposite Lisette Oropesa at Vienna and Zurich, I decided to add today’s Met matinee of RIGOLETTO to my schedule. And I’m glad I did! This afternoon’s performance was strongly cast, from the title-role down to the Page and Guard.
This was my first time to see the Bartlett Sher production. The staging is inoffensive, with some interesting ideas; but the scene of Gilda’s sacrifice at the inn was clumsily managed. The set sometimes revolves like a carousel on high speed. Having been brought to the palace by the courtiers, Gilda seems eager when the duke comes to her, but then she seems humiliated when she emerges from the bedroom soon after. Having a bloodstain on her white nightgown might have been a telling touch.
In my estimation, Mr. Bernheim carried off top vocal honors. The voice is wonderfully clear and well-projected, with top notes that bloom. He is capable of ravishing soft singing, and he keeps the music fresh with subtle dynamic shifts. His performance was stylish and assured; I certainly hope we will hear more of him at The Met.
Quinn Kelsey’s Rigoletto (photo above) was sung with great power and commitment. His incredibly sustained “Ah no, è follia!” at the end of the “Pari siamo!” monolog was one of the afternoon’s great thrills, and throughout the opera, his vocal generosity seemed boundless. Whether it was the baritone’s decision or the conductor’s, “Cortigiani, vil razza dannato!” was taken at an absurdly fast pace, giving it a surface urgency rather than a deeper sense of feeling; but when “Miei signori…” was reached, the great beauty and tenderness of the Kelsey voice was at its most impressive. There were a few rather husky notes as the opera progressed, but overall Kelsey’s Rigoletto was a stunning performance. (I should mention here the beautiful playing of the cellist in the “Miei signori…” section).
Rosa Feola had many lovely passages as Gilda, though the sound of the voice is not truly distinctive. To me, she seems more of a lyric rather than a coloratura soprano, and some of the topmost notes tested her a bit. It would be nice to hear her as Liu or Mimi.
Aside from Mr. Bernheim, John Relyea’s Sparafucile was a big draw for me. The basso cuts a fine figure as the assassin, and his dark timbre is perfect for this music. At the end of his Act I encounter with Rigoletto, Mr. Relyea’s incredibly sustained low-F drew a round of applause.
In her Met debut role of Maddalena, Aigul Akhmetshina displayed an attractive presence and a plushy voice; she merits more Met opportunities. I consider Monterone to be a very important character in the opera; though his scenes are relatively brief, if they are powerfully delivered they can make a great impact. Today Bradley Garvin sang the role with vivid authority. As the courtiers, Scott Scully (Borsa), Jeongcheol Cha (Marullo), and Paul Corona and Brittany Renee (the Cepranos) were all excellent, and Edyta Kulczak’s Giovanna – clearly on the Duke’s payroll – had a memorable moment: as Rigoletto stands aghast at having been an accomplice in the kidnapping of this own daughter, the nurse flees the house with her suitcase. Brilliant!
How many times over the decades that I have been going to the opera have the singers of the Page and the Guard in RIGOLETTO captured my attention? Today was the first! Met choristers Andrea Coleman and Yohan Yi each stepped up to bat, and each hit a home run. Ms. Coleman has a bit more to sing, and she sang it prettily indeed; and Mr. Yi’s “Schiudete: ire al carcere Monteron dee!” was strikingly voiced. I borrowed this photo of Mr. Yi and Ms. Coleman from the Met Chorus’s Facebook page:
I met Speranza Scapucci when she was at Juilliiard; several of my young singer-friends who were studying there at the time spoke highly of her. Lately, she has come into her own, with prestigious productions on her resumé, including a debut at La Scala conducting Bellini’s CAPULETI ED I MONTECCHI featuring Ms. Oropesa as Giulietta. This run of RIGOLETTO marked her Met debut performances.
From the pit, Ms. Scapucci certainly gave us a lively RIGOLETTO; the opera swept by with a feeling of inevitability, yet she also had a handle on the more reflective passages. The only drawback, really, was her tendency to let the brass players cover the voices; things got out of hand in the ‘storm’ trio in the final act, where Mlles. Feola and Akhmetshina and Mr. Relyea were giving their all, to no avail.
Metropolitan Opera House
Saturday November 26th, 2022 matinee
RIGOLETTO
Giuseppe Verdi
Rigoletto...............Quinn Kelsey
Gilda...................Rosa Feola
Duke of Mantua..........Benjamin Bernheim
Maddalena...............Aigul Akhmetshina
Sparafucile.............John Relyea
Monterone...............Bradley Garvin
Borsa...................Scott Scully
Marullo.................Jeongcheol Cha
Count Ceprano...........Paul Corona
Countess Ceprano........Brittany Renee
Giovanna................Edyta Kulczak
Page....................Andrea Coleman
Guard...................Yohan Yi
Conductor...............Speranza Scappucci
~ Oberon
Mezzo soprano Margreta Elkins (above) sings Sir Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Werner Andreas Albert, recorded in 1983. Listen here.
Ms. Elkins, born in Brisbane, was a favorite colleague of her compatriot Dame Joan Sutherland. They sang together at Covent Garden (where Elkins was for ten years a principal artist) and toured Australia together with the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company in 1965. A regular member of Australian Opera, Margreta Elkins enjoyed a special success there in 1976 as Sieglinde.
She also appeared at Dublin, the Liceu, Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, and was an admired recitalist, particularly in her native land.
Mezzo soprano Margreta Elkins (above) sings Sir Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Werner Andreas Albert, recorded in 1983. Listen here.
Ms. Elkins, born in Brisbane, was a favorite colleague of her compatriot Dame Joan Sutherland. They sang together at Covent Garden (where Elkins was for ten years a principal artist) and toured Australia together with the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company in 1965. A regular member of Australian Opera, Margreta Elkins enjoyed a special success there in 1976 as Sieglinde.
She also appeared at Dublin, the Liceu, Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, and was an admired recitalist, particularly in her native land.
Above: Luana DeVol and Ricarda Merbeth celebrate their deliverance
A concert performance of Richard Strauss’s ELEKTRA with Luana DeVol in the title-role, with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Peter Schneider.
The event took place at the Passionstheater Oberammergau in 2005. Note that cuts have been made.
Watch and listen here.
Polish basso Leonard Andrzej Mróz sings four songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff, with Jerzy Marchwiński at the piano.
Watch and listen here.
Oberon's Glade 