Song Recital (5/13/17)

Christopher Yoon, tenor
Binna Han, piano

This was a recital sponsored by the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert series, which I highly recommend. This season is winding down, but check them out online beginning in September. It was quite enjoyable and got a pretty good turnout. (I’m dreadful with house size, but I’d put it at 70 to 80 in the audience—people, not age!) I have heard Mr. Yoon at least once before, in an open master class in the fall of 2014. I enjoyed hearing a full recital.

It was a fairly standard vocal recital, with four sets of songs. The first set was Samuel Barber (1910–1981) followed by Franz Schubert (1797–1828). After intermission we heard Paolo Tosti (1846–1916), closing out with a set of traditional Korean songs. Considering that there were sixteen songs on the program, not every one will get the full treatment. The Barber was an actual set, Three Songs, Op. 10. They included relatively calm, modern harmonies and vocal lines followed by a more energetic piece, ending with a very energetic piece with a martial feel and a very strong finish.

After a pause, we had five Schubert songs, ending with the well-known Erlkönig,
D. 328, which I associate more with a baritone voice, but which was quite effective in the tenor range. The energetic yet slightly macabre story was well acted and had a strong presentation.

The second half of the concert had four songs by Paolo Tosti—a composer completely unknown to me. The first was gentle to begin with, fairly dramatic at times (without going overboard), and seemed like an Italian folk song with hints of an operatic feel. Since this was my general reaction to the entire set, I decided to do an internet search of Signor Tosti and read things like “light fare,” and “salon music.” These were somewhat sentimental songs reminiscent of O Sole Mio or Come Back to Sorrento, so my instincts were pretty good. While Tosti never wrote an opera, his songs have been recorded by the likes of Pavarotti and Domingo; as such, they were a nice addition to this song recital.

The four traditional Korean songs were presented nicely and included one with a virtual perpetual motion of accompaniment, one with touches of drama, one with vocal renditions of bird sounds, and overall, somewhat typical Asian harmonies and flourishes. Throughout, Mr. Yoon’s diction was very good (with maybe a few too hard ‘t’ sounds in the songs in English) though he really blossomed when singing in Italian. Ms. Han was an effective and supportive accompanist/partner throughout, as well.

The audience was extremely appreciative, and an encore was presented. Unfortunately, not with a great result. The chosen aria was Nessun dorma, from Verdi’s Turandot. It is iconic and beloved. Alas, Mr. Yoon was not up to the task and, after botching the crowning high note, wisely decided to not attempt it a second time. (Note: I normally do not write reviews or critiques, but this was such a germane part of the performance, I felt that it was necessary to comment on it. A botched encore of such a well-known aria cannot (or maybe should not?) be glossed over.) Did it ruin the afternoon? No. Did it present a bit of a downer? Yes. Unfortunately, in this case, I calls ’em like I sees ’em.

ConcertMeister