The Opera Tattler

Wispelwey Plays Bach Cello Suites

* Notes * 
Pieter Wispelwey performed Bach's Complete Suites for Unaccompanied Cello last Saturday at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, San Francisco. His playing is focused, rapid, and crisp. The phrasing and inflection of the notes was idiosyncratic, and one could never mistake Wispelwey's playing with someone else's. Though one would be hard pressed to call his sound beautiful, his interpretations were far from boring and the audience, especially for the afternoon performance of the first three suites, seemed captivated. Wispelwey played the Praeludium from Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 as the encore for the evening performance.

* Tattling * 
Though two couples I sat in front of for the second performance in Row K Seats 14-20 were annoyingly loud during the music, I was glad to speak to the man next to me in Row J Seat 20, who absolutely loves the pieces and had recommendations for various recordings of them. He suggested the performers János Starker, Anner Bylsma, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Pablo Casals, at least, to start.

Philippe Sly's Salon at the Rex

* Notes *
Bass-baritone Philippe Sly (pictured left, photograph by Adam Scotti) gave a recital with guitarist John Charles Britton for the Salons at the Rex series Wednesday evening. The evening's music consisted of fifteen Schubert Lieder, including ones from Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. Instead of providing the text in the program, Sly read translations of each before singing. The guitar arrangements were done by Britton himself, some worked better than others, since the instrument is so different from piano. The quietness of guitar is quite lovely in a salon setting. Sly's voice is youthfully exuberant, but he has control of his volume and is able to scale it down for a small room. "Du bist die Ruh" was particularly lovely. The encore was Chanson romanesque from Ravel's Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, which Sly sang with much vim and perhaps sounded best with Britton's guitar.

* Tattling *
Nearly every seat was taken, and I felt quite lucky to have gotten a ticket for the performance. A mobile phone rang while Sly was reading one of the translations, but otherwise there were few disturbances to the music.

Isabelle Faust at Lucerne Festival

* Notes * 
Violinist Isabelle Faust (pictured left, photograph by Felix Broede) played Bach's Sonatas and Partitas BWV 1001–1006 at Hotel Schweizerhof yesterday evening as part of Lucerne Festival zu Ostern. Faust's playing is fluent, her technique secure. Her tempi tend to all be rather rapid, and her slower, quieter playing sounded anemic. The Presto of Sonata No. 1 in G minor was breathtakingly speedy, while the Andante of Sonata No. 2 in A minor was a bit tedious. In Faust's performance, it was also difficult to tell that the various movements were based on dance forms, despite the certain light airiness to her playing.

The Allemanda of Partita No. 2 in D minor was wonderfully verdurous, and the Ciaccona also came off well. I felt her Sonata No. 3 in C Major was weakest, though her playing was refined, and the Allegro assai showed off how quickly she can play. Faust managed to play Partita No. 3 in E Major in under twenty minutes. It did not feel rushed, just efficient and effortless. As a performer, Faust is not overly flashy and seemed quite comfortable.

* Tattling * 
Several beeps were heard at the beginning of the first piece. The person in Row 3 Seat 8 Right coughed a great deal during Sonata No. 2, but tried her best to muffle herself. She did not return after intermission. It was challenging to exit the hall, as there was only one method of egress. The entryway is narrow and right by the garderobe, so it took nearly 15 minutes to get out the door.

Eric Owens at Cal Performances

* Notes * 
Cal Performances presented baritone Eric Owens (pictured left, photograph by Dario Acosta) in recital with pianist Warren Jones on Sunday. The first half of the performance consisted of German Lieder and the second half French chansons. Owens and Jones started with Wolf's Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Michelangelo, which were performed with sensitivity. The four Schumann songs that followed were all rather dark, especially Muttertraum. The three Schubert songs that rounded out the German section of the program seemed sinister. The French section of afternoon had a more dream-like quality, particularly the three songs by Debussy. Ravel's Chanson a boire had particular appeal. Owens was able to establish an immediate rapport with the audience, and though he was not always precise in his intonation, his winning musicality more than made up for this.

* Tattling * 
The audience was fairly quiet. The encores were Purcell's "Music for a While" and Robert Lowry's "Hanson Place." For some reason, I found the former somewhat surreal to hear from Owens, perhaps because the last four times I have heard this piece live it has been performed by counter-tenor.

Matthias Goerne at SF Performances

* Notes * 
San Francisco Performances presented baritone Matthias Goerne (pictured left, photograph by Marco Borggreve) in recital with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on Monday. The performance focused on six Shostakovich songs from Suite on Verses of Michelangelo. These were interspersed selections from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Rückert Lieder, and Kindertotenlieder. Goerne's voice is unreal, velvety and perfectly legato. He sounds unlike anyone else. "Wenn dein Mütterlein" and "Urlicht" were particularly heart-wrenching. The Shostakovich was also sung beautifully, especially his "Death" near the end of the program. Andsnes played assertively, with an insistent breathlessness. The contrast between singer and pianist could not be more marked, giving the proceedings an interesting tension.

* Tattling * 
The audience seemed entranced, and the performance was so gripping it was difficult to even clap between sets. Besides a mobile phone that rang just before the singing started, there was no electronic noise.

Ute Lemper at SF Performances

* Notes *
Last night Ute Lemper (pictured left), the Vogler Quartet, and Stefan Malzew made their San Francisco debut at Herbst Theatre. The performance commenced with the three of Schulhoff's Five Pieces for String Quartet (1924), played by the Vogler Quartet. Before Lemper took the stage, Malzew brought out his accordion and clarinet, and set up by the piano opposite the quartet.

The songs began with Piaf, first "Elle fréquentait la Rue Pigalle" and then "L'accordéoniste." In between she explained the narrative of the performance, not only of the individual songs, but of a journey from Paris to Berlin and then eastwards and southwards, around the world, only to end back in Europe. She introduced the other musicians and was sure to point out that Malzew had arranged all the songs. Two Weill pieces followed, "Surabaya Johnny" from Happy End and "Mack the Knife" ("Die Moritat von Mackie Messer") from The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper). These were sung with phrases in English and German, as were the Eisler songs that came next, these being "Der Graben," "Über den Selbstmord," and "Ballad vom Wasserrad." They went right into the Russian folksong "Tyomnaja Notch" ("Тeмная ночь") and ended the first half of the program with Alberstein's "Stiller Abend," sung in Yiddish. Lemper bends the vowels rather dramatically, so it is difficult to understand exactly what words she is singing. Nonetheless, she communicated the meaning of the text anyway, by her manner and movements.

After the intermission we heard the rest of the Schulhoff piece, then Alberstein's "Ikh stey unter a Bokserboym." There were issues with the amplification, and one of the speakers hummed noisily. This was rectified for the Piazolla songs "Yo Soy Maria," "Oblivion," and "La última grela." This was perhaps the weakest part of an otherwise intensely engaging evening. Thankfully, Brel's "Chanson de Jacky," "Ne me quitte pas," and "Amsterdam" were performed with verve. The encore was a startling improvisation of Weill's "Speak Low," which featured Lemper scat singing with each of the other musicians in turn. Lemper is completely fearless. Her voice has not a trace of prettines. It is a sound that is the epitome of "jolie laide," somehow both beautiful and ugly at once, or even beautiful because of its ugliness.

* Tattling *
The audience clapped for each of Schulhoff's pieces. Someone may have booed during the ovation before intermission, and there was noticeable attrition after the first half. Someone else was very excited to hear Ms. Lemper, screaming "Ute" perhaps a dozen times.

Karita Mattila at SF Performances

  * Notes * 
The third recital of the 2011-2012 vocal series at San Francisco Performances featured soprano Karita Mattila (pictured left, photograph by Lauri Eriksson) accompanied by pianist Martin Katz. Yesterday evening's performance started with Poulenc's Banalités, a set of five songs using texts by Apollinaire. The pieces did not readily relate to one another. Mattila sang them with a sense of humor, "Hôtel" and "Voyage à Paris" were particularly charming. Next we heard Debussy's Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire, which were a good deal more disturbing, especially the fourth one, "Recueillement." Mattila has a strong, beautifully supported voice and was complemented by Katz's tasteful playing. The singer exudes a serene confidence and was completely unruffled by the various small snags of the performance, which included sheet music forgotten backstage, untimely applause, and electronic noise.

After the intermission came Neljä laulua unesta (Four Dream Songs) from Sallinen. It was exciting to hear Mattila sing in her native language. The pieces were rather dark and strange. The program ended with five songs in German by Joseph Marx. Mattila coughed before "Waldseligkeit" and even after singing the first half, but one was never in doubt that her sound would still be perfectly gorgeous. Katz was able to show more bravura in these songs. The first encore was a highly idiosyncratic version of "I Could Have Danced All Night," complete with dancing. The second encore was a Finnish folk song, "Minun kultani kaunis on," arranged by Ralf Gothóni. Mattila ended the evening by singing the last verse of "Tonight" without accompaniment.

* Tattling * 
The audience was rather quiet, no talking was noted. Unfortunately, someone's mobile phone rang at the end of "Le jet d'eau," while Mattila sang the very last line.

Davitt Moroney play Bach's French Suites, BWV 812-817

* Notes * 
Cal Performances presented a recital of Bach's French Suites played by Davitt Moroney yesterday afternoon. There were three harpsichords on stage: one from UC Berkeley's music department, one belonging to Davitt Moroney himself, and one lent by Peter and Cynthia Hibbert of Palo Alto. All three were made by John Phillips from 1995 to 2010, based on historical models. It was interesting to compare the three instruments, each so different. Moroney played Suites No. 1 and 5 on the third harpsichord, based on a instrument made by Johann Heinrich Gräbner from Dresden in 1722; Suites No. 2 and 4 on the first, modeled after Andreas Ruckers (Antwerp, 1646) but enlarged by François-Étienne Blanchet in 1756, and reworked by Pascal Taskin in 1780; and Suites No. 3 and 6 on his own instrument, based on a harpsichord by Nicolas Dumont from Paris in 1707.

The Gräbner harpsichord was cleanest, Moroney's playing came off as elegant and refined. His playing is restrained and not terribly expressive. Personally, I have an irrational affection for this Ruckers-Taskin, as it was likely the first harpsichord I ever heard in person. The instrument has more of a rich muddiness, not entirely appropriate for the French Suites, perhaps, but not unpleasant. The Dumont right in the middle of the stage had a sound that was more subtle than the Ruckers-Taskin but not as neat as the Gräbner.

Moroney spoke quite charmingly between the pieces. His favorite movement is the Allemande of Suite No. 4. Mine may have been the Sarabande of Suite No. 3. I enjoyed Moroney's dry playing, though I occasionally wished for just a bit more capering.

* Tattling * 
Many of the attendees read the score during the performance. There was only slight whispering and no electronic noise.

Nadine Sierra's Salon at the Rex

* Notes *
Soprano Nadine Sierra gave a recital with pianist Tamara Sanikidze for the Salons at the Rex series Wednesday evening. The two Adler Fellows created a genial atmosphere, speaking to the audience at length about the pieces and about how they first met at Music Academy of the West. The short program included "Je veux vivre," "Summertime," "A Sleeping Bee," "Vilja," Grieg's "Ein Traum," "Beautiful Dreamer," and "O mio babbino caro." Sierra's voice is pretty and doesn't betray a bit of strain. Sanikidze played gamely. The encore was "Les chemins de l'amour."

* Tattling *
It was pretty amusing to hear that Sierra assumed Sanikidze was a singer, not a pianist, because of her outgoing, lively personality.

Simon Keenlyside at SF Performances

  * Notes * 
San Francisco Performances' 2011-2012 recital series continued with baritone Simon Keenlyside (pictured left, photograph by Ben Ealovega) accompanied by pianist Malcolm Martineau last night. There were programs this time, and all the texts were provided. As it happened, the recital was so gripping that it was quite difficult to even look at the words. Keenlyside's diction is crystal clear, whether singing in German, English, or French. Likewise, Martineau's playing is very clean without being dry or boring. The evening began with 7 songs from Mahler. "Frühlingsmorgen" was funny and "Liebst du um Schönheit" quite beautiful. Keenlyside sounds very comfortable, but his movements are rather idiosyncratic, and he does not quite what to do with his hands, it seems. The Mahler was followed by the first set of George Butterworth's songs based on poems from A Shropshire Lad. Keenlyside introduced the songs by asking us not to write them off as "English pastoral frippery," noting Housman's poems deal with mortality and became popular during the Second Boer War. The songs are rather dark, "Is my team ploughing?" is particularly distressing, and both singer and pianist pulled these songs off brilliantly.

After the intermission we heard 6 songs from Richard Strauss. The words were all enunciated perfectly, and "Befreit" was especially transparent and lovely. The program ended with songs of Duparc and Debussy, of these, perhaps "Phidylé" was most impressive. The 4 encores were Schubert's "Der Einsame," Ireland's "Sea Fever," Grainger's "Sprig of Thyme," and Schubert's "An Mein Klavier." All were sung and played with the vibrancy and freshness that characterized the entire performance.

* Tattling * 
The audience was quiet and no electronic noise was apparent. At intermission a certain classical music critic pointed out that many of the panels that had lined Herbst's walls had been removed this season. I could only agree that the sound seems warmer and more focused.

Stephanie Blythe at SF Performances

 * Notes * 
San Francisco Performances featured mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe (pictured left, photograph by Kobie van Rensburg) in a charming recital last night. Somehow the programs for the performance went missing, and we were given photocopies of the most relevant pages. As it turned out, Blythe had not provided the texts in program, and she explained it was because she loved words and worked hard to be understood. She also joked about appreciated seeing people's faces as she sang, rather than the tops of their heads. Blythe and her accompanist Warren Jones read the 12 poems of Emily Dickinson that James Legg set to music, and later read the 3 James Joyce poems used in the Samuel Barber songs that followed. Though I enjoyed the directness of this approach, it seemed unnecessary, as they communicated the content through the music with great clarity. Blythe has excellent diction and a broad emotional range. She does have a great deal of volume at her disposal. Barber's "Sleep Now" was impressively stirring and painful.

The second half of the show was entitled "Songs from Tin Pan Alley" and included Jones playing a few rags by Joplin. Blythe was disarmingly funny, she and Jones hammed it up just enough, and it all seemed natural. Creamer and Layton's "After You've Gone" was especially amusing, as was Berlin's "I Love a Piano." Blythe sang Berlin's "What'll I Do?" with gravity, but without sounding operatic. I believe the encores were another Joplin rag (played by Jones), "How can I keep from singing?" (sung a cappella by Blythe), and "Beautiful Dreamer" (sung by Blythe and accompanied by Jones).

* Tattling * 
The audience was silent and attentive. More than one known Wagner fanatic was noted among the attendees.

An Evening of English Music at St. John's

* Notes *
Clarinetist Brenden Guy organized an evening of English music at St. John's Church in San Francisco yesterday. The performance started with some rather cute, pastoral music from Gerald Finzi and Arnold Cooke. Guy and Yeo Jin Seol played Finzi's Five Bagetelles for clarinet and piano. Arnold Cooke's Three Songs of Innocence were sung by soprano Indre Viskontas, accompanied by clarinet (Guy) and Ian Scarfe (piano). Viskontas' diction was clear and her voice was piercing. Before intermission we heard Valinor Winds play Holst's Wind Quintet Opus 14 in A-flat major. The group seemed to enjoy playing together, which is always nice to hear.

The last two pieces on the program were less adorable but more gratifying. Guy and Keisuke Nakagoshi played Herbert Howells' Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. The first movement was smooth and without harshness, the second movement was second half more vivid. Guy conducted 10 musicians in Britten's first piece, the Sinfonietta for Chamber Orchestra (1932). There was some beautiful playing, and I particularly liked the third movement Tarantelle: Presto vivace.

* Tattling *
The audience was quiet. As I was surrounded by friends, including Axel Feldheim and SF Mike, this is perhaps not surprising. There were only some discernible sounds from the street outside. As a venue, the acoustics of St. John's are fine for chamber music, but the lighting certainly was not focused on the performers.

Anthony Dean Griffey at SF Performances

* Notes * 
San Francisco Performances presented tenor Anthony Dean Griffey (pictured left, photo by Harry Heleotis) in a recital of songs in English last Wednesday. The evening began with fiddler Paul Brown playing Fisher's Hornpipe. Brown started out of view, playing Griffey and himself onto the stage, where there were two chairs, three banjos, and another violin waiting for them. Griffey sang this set of four traditional songs whilst seated, each one accompanied by Brown on either fiddle or banjo. It all sounded very natural and easy. The second set, pieces from Old American Songs by Copland (and indeed the rest of the performance) was accompanied by pianist Warren Jones. Jones played Griffes' Barcarolle, Op. 6, No. 1 before the third set, Barber's "Sleep Now" and "I hear an Army." This was all quite lovely, and Jones gave a good explanation of the Griffes piece.

Composer Kenneth Frazelle introduced his work, Songs in the Rear View Mirror, which comprised the second half of the evening. A few photographs of William Christenberry were projected on an upstage screen. The pieces were played and sung well, though some of the text was awkward. The fourth piece, about the vine kudzu (Pueraria lobata), was particularly fun. Griffey always enunciated clearly, and could be understood without the aid of supertitles or program notes. The encore was "This Little Light O' Mine," arranged by John W. Work.

* Tattling * 
The lights came up after the second set, so some audience members might have unintentionally started the intermission early.

Daveda Karanas' Schwabacher Debut Recital

* Notes * 
Mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas gave her Schwabacher Debut Recital, accompanied by pianist Allen Periello, yesterday evening. The program was designed around Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, which ended the performance. To begin we heard songs from Liszt, all on themes related to the source texts of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Likewise, Peter Heise's Gurdruns Sorg is a Danish translation from The Poetic Edda. Karanas has a high, powerful voice with fine technique and lucid diction. There is a pleasantly metallic quality to her singing that never comes off as harsh. She is, however, not a natural actor, and there seemed to be a disconnect between the meaning of the words and how they came through her body. In contrast, Periello was expressive, but kept a subtle balance between piano and singer. "Wanderers Nachtlied" was especially stately, and Wagner's "Träume" was cloud-like and floating. Karanas seemed to light up from inside for the encore, "Lorelei" from Gershwin's Pardon my English.

* Tattling * 
I was recognized as the Opera Tattler for the second time in as many days.

Jonas Kaufmann at Cal Performances

On the evening of Sunday, March 13, LCU and UO attended the highly anticipated song recital of internationally acclaimed tenor, Jonas Kaufmann. Co-presented by Cal Performances and the San Francisco Opera, the performance took place at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. What follows is a discussion of the performance between LCU and UO.

LCU: Kaufmann is typically very expressive in his operatic roles and I was surprised that he employed minimal facial expressions and hand or body gestures with this program. It was pure, honest singing; not mawkish or overly theatrical, which is often the danger when opera singers attempt the German Lied - they can't seem to leave the drama at the door. But Kaufmann sang with disciplined restraint, relying solely on the nuances of his voice to articulate the emotions and meaning of the songs. His delivery was lean and exact, with that touch of German austerity. Now UO, I understand that last summer you sang with Kaufmann in the Bayreuth production of Lohengrin. How does his style and vocal technique on the opera stage compare with what we saw tonight?

UO: Well, I think it all boils down to one thing: Kaufmann knows how to act with his voice. He trusts the material he sings and knows that if he delivers it in a straightforward way, masterpieces such as Dichterliebe will speak for themselves. In this day of live HD transmission and emphasis on extreme naturalism and cinematic facial expression, I think singers feel compelled to exaggerate their facial gestures and body movements. Even when he sang Lohengrin, Kaufmann generally did what was required of him by the director, in terms of gestures and movement around the stage, no more, no less. Certainly he didn't change his technique. That's what makes him so unique. For instance, he sang Lohengrin's Grail Narrative in Bayreuth with all the nuance that he brought to tonight's lieder recital. He isn't afraid employ the entire dynamic spectrum of his voice, from ultra-soft to ringing, metallic forte. He's one of the few singers out there today who has the ability to sing through an entire spectrum of loud and soft, in a way that reads in large halls. And it all carried beautifully, in part, of course, due to the wonderful Bayreuth acoustic. It worked well tonight, in a hall that isn't acoustically as generous.

LCU: As a singer and voice teacher, could you explain the technical challenges of Schumann's Dichterliebe for the tenor voice despite the fact that Jonas made it look so effortless? He sings with the ease of Fritz Wunderlich!

UO: Two of the highest vocal hurdles of Dichterliebe occur in the very first song. The "strong, weak" stresses of the words "aufgegangen" and "verlangen" are situated right in the tenor's so-called "passaggio," right where the voice has to negotiate a register shift that is quite challenging. Then just look at the word, for instance, "verlangen." The pitch change from G to F# -moves through two liquid consonants ("l" and "ng"), so a seamless vowel connection in this tricky part of the voice is quite difficult. Also, most of the songs are set quite low. This is partly in order to accommodate a high note in "Ich Grolle Nicht" that is not so stratospheric that it becomes an quasi-operatic acrobatic feat, with everyone on the edge of their seats waiting for the poor guy to crack! Of course, I think we would both agree that Kaufmann could have managed this with no effort at all, but the tonalities of all the songs have to have a coherent relationship to one another, and not be transposed all over the place. So the cycle is quite "range-ey." You also have potential pitfalls in intonation, particularly in the song "Am Leuchtenden Sommermorgen," where there are a lots of really radical modulations. Coming to Wunderlich: he had a very different, very sweet and less baritonal quality to his sound when you compare him to Kaufmann. You really never think of technique when you hear Wunderlich, it's all like child's play to him. Kaufmann came close to this ease of delivery last night, I think.

LCU: In one of his interviews, Kaufmann said that there is a huge difference between singing and speaking the German language. Kaufmann's diction is deliberately round because he chooses not to 'spit' his consonants, allowing for a smoother legato line. You mentioned that he has been criticized for doing this and for sounding too Italianate as Lohengrin (even though Wagner himself considered it his most Italian opera). However, does the German Lied call for a distinct German sound with all of its idiosyncrasies intact?  At Bryn Terfel's recital just a few months ago, I noticed that he was very emphatic with his consonants and even though he's Welsh, Terfel sounded more German to me than Kaufmann. Does the mellowing out of the harsh and choppy qualities compromise the rugged beauty, character, and integrity of the German language?

UO: I think we'd agree that in Lieder, especially, text and music have to be co-equal. You can't have one at the expense of the other. But there are choices to be made; do you maniacally over-pronounce at the expense of vocal quality?  Believe me, a lot of German coaches want just that!  Zellerbach Hall seems to me to be one of those places that swallows consonants, so perhaps that accounted for a certain loss of clarity. It's a big question, especially in opera: when do you modify text and vowels in order to allow the voice to be free?   Kaufmann seems to me to be one of those singers whose credo is "prima la musica, e poi la parola", in other words, music first, then text, to put it a bit simplistically. My impression in Bayreuth was that those who didn't care for his approach to Lohengrin felt that it was too human, not "knightly" enough. It wasn't so much about lack of clear diction or a matter of style, as I recall. But believe me, the supporters of his Lohengrin there far outweighed his detractors in number!

LCU: I have to tattle on myself - I shamelessly hooted and hollered and cheered like I was at a Michael Jackson concert. At one point George Hume, who sat across the aisle from me, even flashed me a dirty look. I was having a religious experience and just couldn't help myself. What do you think of the Berkeley audience?  How do they compare with the audience at the Met and Carnegie?

UO: I guess you didn't see me sinking lower and lower into my seat! What's wrong with enthusiasm?  I believe European artists in general are gratified by our American, somewhat over the top applause. I thought the Berkeley audience was just terrific -- absolutely silent during the singing. I saw a woman following along with a vocal score, and most people didn't turn the pages of their programs in the middle of a song, causing a rush of brittle sound to interrupt the music. Many times I have the feeling that, at the Met and other big venues in New York, and particularly on Broadway, people leap to their feet in a robotic, automatic standing ovation. Maybe that's just to convince themselves that the evening was great, because the ticket prices are so high! I enjoyed the respectful, informed Berkeley audience – very European – informed, respectful and quiet.