A Song Recital

It’s been a long time since I have heard one. Maybe back in college, or a recent Carnegie Community Concert? Wendy Brown has a pleasing voice, very good intonation and very clear diction. Her phrasing was a bit lacking, and she did have a couple of vocal bobbles.

She opened with a Bach solo cantata, Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, which seemed a bit too much on the gentle side for my taste for an opener. This was followed by two Clara Schumann songs—what a delight to hear her compositions. Liebst du um schönheit was very sweet, and Er ist gekommen had quite a rolling accompaniment (the pianist was David Holkeboer). Next was Frauenliebe und Leben by Robert Schumann. I’m a bit of a purist and I would have preferred it if there was not applause after each of the eight songs in the cycle.

Most of the eight were dispatched fairly well, although there were two in which
Ms. Brown’s technique faltered a bit. This is a lovely cycle and I know it only from recordings, so I was very happy to hear it live. I hope to hear it live again.

After intermission, we had Charlotte’s letter scene (from Massenet’s Werther), which had virtuosic accompaniment. Three Debussy songs followed (in a classic song recital style)—Le Flûte de Pan (gentle), La Chevelure (more dramatic in build and flow), and Le Tombeau de Naïades. All three had signature Debussy trés French accompaniments and style.

What a Movie, from Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti followed, in a very nice performance. Throughout, Ms. Brown’s diction was very clear—something that is sometimes lacking when singing in English. Whether her German and French diction would have pleased native speakers, I’ll leave for others to comment on.

We finished with three Kurt Weill songs—Der Abschiedsbrief* (with prop), Saga of Jenny, and My Ship. The prop in the first was a letter, which was used to just moderate success. In Saga of Jenny, I found myself wishing that Ms. Brown had been a little more relaxed. Here, the tempo and the diction seemed a bit forced. My Ship was touching, though it and Saga of Jenny were marred by a few memory lapses.

*For Der Abschiedsbrief, the program notes read, “Set as a slightly smarmy English waltz in E Major …” I didn’t get English or smarmy. All the more reason to take program notes with a grain of salt, as I mentioned to the two young ladies sitting next to me. (They were taking more notes than I was—theirs were for a Music History class at Fordham, and apparently Music History classes are still bright and early in the early part of the week, just as mine were, oh-so-many years ago!)

Other misinformation from the program notes said that Ms. Brown “was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Extra Chorus from 2002–1009.” And that Johannes Brahms met Clara and Robert Schumann in 1953!

Still, a classic song recital, spanning eras and languages is a plus in my blog.

ConcertMeister