Saturday’s enjoyable song recital was part of the Neighborhood Concerts, presented by Carnegie Hall. This particular series of concerts is also part of the Marilyn Horne legacy at Carnegie Hall, though Ms. Horne was not in attendance.
Pioggia – Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936)
Malinconia, ninfa gentile; Vanne, o rosa fortunata; Ma rendi pur contento – Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835)
Nebbie – Respighi
At the Railway Station, Upway; Sally in our Alley; At the mid hour of night; Sail on, sail on – Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
Sonetto XXIV: Spirito ben nato, from Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22 – Britten
Pace non trovo, from Tre sonetti di Petrarca, S. 270 – Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Una furtive lagrima, from L’elisir d’amore – Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
Soupir; Phidylé – Henri Duparc (1848–1933)
Hébé, Op. 2, No. 6 – Ernest Chausson (1855–1899)
L’heure exsquise, from Chansons grises – Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947)
Down in the river to pray – Traditional
Smoke gets in your eyes – Jerome Kern (1885–1945)
Orange Colored Sky – Milton Delugg (1918–2015); Willie Stein (1917–2009)
I really liked Ben Bliss’ nice, clear sound, and Lachlan Glen provided great support (in fact collaboration for/with both of them) throughout the entire concert. The opening Respighi had a rippling accompaniment and the song was almost, but not quite, operatic. And very enjoyable. I was completely unfamiliar with Respighi as a song composer (more on that later). All three of the Bellini songs were also very good, with Vanne, o rosa fortunata being my favorite. The second Respighi song had a bell-like accompaniment and effective vocal lines of essentially ascending and descending phrases, up the scale and back down.
After a short break, the four Britten songs were sung—sort of a cobbled together song cycle, according to Mr. Bliss. At the Railway Station made good use of the Thomas Hardy text, and had touches of jazz and broken phrases, but there were also recognizable (to me) Britten touchstones. Sally in our Alley had a folk song feel, with some vocal filigree and a very charming ending. At the mid hour of night was a straightforward setting of two verses of text that were subdued but still full of love. Sail on, sail on had a rocking rhythm—a rocking boat, that is—and the text spoke of a journey that continues on sea or land. There was a lovely fading away of the accompaniment at the end.
After another short break, Britten’s Sonetto opened with solo piano followed by an a cappella section for the tenor. There was a nice building of tension followed by a formidable and dramatic denouement. The Liszt (another composer whose song output was completely unknown to me) was a hybrid of Romantic, Classical, and Lieder that morphed into an operatic-style treatise on love.
Donizetti’s aria, which was actually familiar to me, opened the second half of the concert, and it was a good rendition. The Duparc, Chausson, and Hahn songs were all pleasant, if a bit too much the same in terms of style and sentiment, and they paled a bit after the Donizetti. The order of the beginning of the second half of the concert is (almost) my only quibble with the entire afternoon.
The traditional spiritual that followed a brief break was also totally unfamiliar to me, and was interesting, if a little simple. Also, I’m not sure I heard all of the lyrics correctly or whether Mr. Bliss perhaps didn’t sing them correctly—they were printed in the program and displayed as supertitles. That said, Mr. Bliss’ singing in the various languages presented—Italian, French, and English—was very good, and I always appreciate good clear diction when hearing English being sung.
Smoke gets in your eyes and Orange Colored Sky veered into pseudo-cabaret/pop/jazz style, and I felt that maybe both performers were trying a bit too hard to shed the mantle of serious performers. I like a bit of fun now and then, myself, but these last two songs seemed slightly too forced, in terms of styling. Once again, just a minor quibble.
A selection from The Queen of Sheba was sung as an encore, in French, I believe, and my quick Yahoo! search yields operas by both Charles Gounod and Reynaldo Hahn, so I’m not really sure what I heard. It was pleasant and relatively brief. The audience seemed to want more, so Messrs. Bliss and Glen reprised the Donizetti aria. I must confess that I exited as it was beginning; I did not feel the need to hear it again. But I really did like the entire performance, quibbles aside, and I think that Mr. Bliss has a voice that will be heard more and more in the future. [Edited to add: He will be performing at the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday night, April 30, 2016.]
Twofer Time
I also attended a screening of Max Roach Studio silent comedies earlier in the afternoon and had a thoroughly wonderful, laugh-out-loud time. Lots to do, see, and hear in NYC, and I’m very grateful for that!
ConcertMeister
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