Author: Philip Gardner

Above: baritone Gregory Feldmann, photographed by Pierre Lidar

Author: Oberon

Sunday May 22nd, 2022 matinee – It feels like ages have passed since we attended the Gerda Lissner Foundation’s 2016 Winners Concert, where the male voices held sway. This is the thing about the pandemic: it has warped our sense of the passing of time. This afternoon, we were back in Carnegie’s cordial Zankel Hall to hear the 2021-2022 Winners. Today’s concert was dedicated to the memory of two longtime friends of the Foundation, Stephen DeMaio and Brian Kellow.

Overall it was a very good concert, though we might have wished for more singing, less talking. Midge Woolsey was the “hostess with the mostess”; but does this type of event really need a host? Apart from a speech of welcome, the audience can get all the information they require from a printed program.

The prizes are awarded in two main categories: the Lieder Song Vocal Competition and the International Vocal Competition. The latter is split into two divisions: the General Division and the Operetta & Zarzuela Division. So we heard a wide variety of music, including three singers in zarzuela repertoire. Two expert pianists – Mary Pinto and Arlene Shrut – provided first-rate support for the vocalists.

Third prize winner in the Lieder Song category, soprano Yvette Keong, set the afternoon beautifully on its way. Looking like a Vogue model in her black gown, with ruby-red appliqué at the hem, and slit to thigh, Ms. Keong sounded as lovely as she looked. She opened the program with Rachmaninoff’s “To Her”, sung with a sense of ecstasy, and then offered Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer”, a song I have known since childhood when my parents gave me a Swiss music box that played the melody. Ms. Keong’s clear lyricism was most enjoyable to hear.

Mezzo-soprano Alma Neuhaus was unable to join the other winners at the concert today; how I would love to have heard her Fauré and Grieg selections.

It did not surprise me in the least that baritone Gregory Feldmann had won first-prize in the Lieder Song Competition: Mr. Feldmann’s recital with pianist Nathaniel LaNasa at Weill Hall in February 2020 – just days before the pandemic caused everything to go awry – was a solid gold evening. This afternoon, Mr. Fekdmann performed “Citadel” by William Grant Still, and Franz Schubert’s “Auf den Bruck”. This young man has a way of drawing the listener in to whatever he is singing, so that you feel that he is ‘speaking’ just to you. In the Schubert, Mary Pinto played the demanding piano part with distinction. Mr. Feldmann’s handsome tone, excellent diction, and wonderfully sincere delivery make him a most engaging artist, one I will hope to hear often in the future in both lieder and opera.

Next came the three Zarzuela arias, commencing with soprano Evelyn Saavedra who looked stylish in a red frock, red stilettos, a red flower in her jet-black hair, and a decorative fan in her hand. She sang my favorite zarzuela aria,” De España vengo” from El Niño Judío by Pablo Luna (1879-1942), and made a vivid impression.  

Costa Rican baritone Kevin Godínez, a handsome fellow with an easy stage presence, captivated the crowd with “Junto al puente de la Peña” from La Cancion del Olvido by José Serrano. The song tells of a man who is attracted to the town’s prettiest courtesan and is confident that he will have her. Mr. Godínez is an assured singer with a very pleasing timbre, making me wish these zarzuela artists had each been allotted a second song.

The Mexican soprano Ethel Trujillo did indeed get to sing an extra aria, which was not listed in the program, before delighting us with “Me llaman la Primarosa’ from Gerónimo Giménez’s zarzuela El Barbero de Sevilla. Ms. Trujillo, first-prize winner in her Division, has a very pretty voice with an ear-teasing Spanish vibrato. At times, she reminded me a bit of Lisette Oropesa, which is high praise indeed. Ms. Trujillo’s voice can phrase a line and colour its words to make the music all the more alluring; and the voice can fly easily to the top. On top of all that, she has a charming personality.

Following the interval, it was opera…opera…opera.

Mezzo-soprano Shannon Keegan kicked things off with the aria “O petite étoile” from opera Emmanuel Chabrier’s delightful opera L’étoile. I saw this work when Juilliard staged it with my beloved friend, the late Makiko Narumi, and again when New York City Opera presented it. Ms. Keegan has a pleasing voice to begin with, but within seconds we were carried away by her dramatic instincts, her dynamic control, and her expansive top range. She turned her aria into a triumph of voice and personality. And…Ms. Keegan gets an extra bouquet of roses for coping admirably with the disruption of someone’s cellphone sending an alert which lasted thru much of her aria. 

Soprano Teresa Perrotta made a marvelous impression with her rendering of the demanding aria “Come scoglio” from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. A beauteous, majestic blonde, Ms. Perrotta was in complete command from start to finish as Mozart’s aria carried her across a 2-octave range. Luminous top notes and a creamy (rather than booming) chest register were skillfully linked by a voice that moves fluently thru the aria’s coloratura passages. She struck me as a singer who will go far.

Cuban baritone Eleomar Cuello brought his good looks, poised demeanor, and a natural feeling for poetry  to the haunting “Pierrot’s Tanzlied” from Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt. I was truly moved by Mr. Cuello’s singing, and especially by his ability to hone the voice down to a sweet softness at the aria’s wistful ending.

Just the day before this concert, tenor Eric Ferring had made a very fine impression in the brief but demanding role of Arturo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at The Met. I was in the House, and the voice spoke to me clearly in the big space. Today, Mr. Ferring graciously added an aria – the ravishing “Le Rêve” from Massenet’s Manon – to his scheduled Handel piece. The Massenet was simply gorgeous: deeply felt, lovingly phrased, and with magically floated soft high tones, whilst pianist Arlene Shrut matched the tenor’s interpretation with her elegant pianissimo playing. Mr. Ferring then turned to Handel for “Il tuo sangue” from Ariodante. In this dramatic piece, the tenor showed another side of his artistry with his mastery of dynamics and finely-voiced fiorature. 

All of the singers then returned to the stage for a specially-prepared encore: the title-song from Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George, with Ms. Pinto at the piano.

~ Oberon