Hi Peggy -
Well, since you enjoy her I hesitate to say what I'm going to say, but in
total, I wasn't overly impressed. I also want to say that from reading the
reviews in the local papers the next day, not many people seemed to share my
opinion, so take it or leave it as you will!
I really liked her from what I read and saw of her on the Met broadcasts,
and was VERY eager to see her in person, but I felt there was something very
lacking in her recital. Her voice was lovely and full, although she does
tend to straighten up and back off from the high notes really quickly. Her
stage presence was great - she is a big, tall, pretty and friendly-looking
woman. The thing that bothered me was that I never felt that she got into
it enough. I never felt her lose herself in the music; there always seemed
to be this consciousness of being a performer. I think she was having a
good time with it, but I never felt the emotional connection that would have
pulled me into the world of the music.
I also had quibbles with her interpretations. I felt there were many
poignant moments in the poems that she was singing, and those moments were
kind of turned into light humor, or given the standard treatment. I felt
that most of the songs were interpreted on a shallow level, from the
perspective on one looking in from the outside, not from inside the skin of
the speaker. I also wished she would have talked, even just once!
On the positive side, her accompanist, Malcolm Martineau, was REALLY into
the music! It was a total joy to see him nearly dance with joy on the piano
bench, and just put everything he had into that music! I wished I could
have seen more of this loss of self with her!
I will say that when the songs veered more toward the operatic, that is when
I felt more of the energy and aliveness ring through her, that is when I
felt that energy that put me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps she takes more
pleasure in opera than in art song. Or maybe that's just me! ;)
Here is the program if anyone is interested (minus diacriticals):
I
Claude Debussy
Trois Melodies
La mer est plus belle
Le son du cor
L'echelonnement des haies
II
Samuel Barber
Melodies passageres, Op. 27
Puisque tout passe
Un cygne
Tombeau dans un pare
Le clocher chante
Depart
III
Reynaldo Hahn
A Chloris
Les fontaines
Fumee
Le rossignol des lilas
Fetes galantes
Le printemps
IV
John Musto
Maybe
Social Note
Recuerdo
Dove Sta Amore
V
Leonard Bernstein
Selections from "Songfest"
Music I Heard With You
Sonnet: "What lips my lips have kissed"
Lowell Lieberman
The Farewell Symphony
A Variation on "To Say To Go To Sleep"
VI
Ned Rorem
Alleluia
Now sleeps the crimson petal
The Lordly Hudson
Orchids
O you whom I often and silently come
Little Elegy
I strolled across an open field
That shadow, my likeness
----- Original Message -----
From: "Margaret Harrison" <peggyh@i...>
To: <vocalist-temporary@egroups.com>
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2000 5:29 PM
Subject: Re: [vocalist-temporary] Rth Ann Swenson
> Karena Aslanian wrote:
>
> > I also saw Susan Graham give a recital last weekend, if anyone is
interested
> > in hearing about that, let me know!
>
> I'm interested. I heard her sing Oktavian at the Met in January, and was
very excited with
> her voice, her singing and her acting.
>
> Peggy
>
> --
> Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
> "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
> mailto:peggyh@i...
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Avoid the lines and visit avis.com for quick and easy online
> reservations. Enjoy a compact car nationwide for only $29 a day!
> Click here for more details.
> http://click.egroups.com/1/3011/3/_/843894/_/956017789/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> vocalist-temporary-unsubscribe@o...
>
>
>
|
|  |
