A Delicious Recital, Coughs and All

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The New York Sun

Angelika Kirchschlager, one of the most appetizing singers in the world, gave a recital at Alice Tully Hall on Sunday afternoon.The Austrian mezzo-soprano stands out in both opera and song.With Susan Graham, she is probably the leading Octavian (“Der Rosenkavalier”) in the business, and she is known for the Mozart roles as well. In recital, she sometimes appears with the baritone Simon Keenlyside, and she sometimes collaborates with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, the first-class pianist who likes to perform with singers (Renee Fleming is another of his partners). Miss Kirchschlager has shaped an admirable career.


She is a smart and musical singer, exceptionally well trained. (Among her teachers was the late baritone Walter Berry.) Miss Kirchschlager is also a pianist, an element of her general musicianship. The program she chose for Sunday afternoon was diverse and nicely balanced – appetizing, like the recitalist herself.


Miss Kirchschlager began with four Haydn songs, all in the English language, starting with the beloved “Mermaid Song.” Her voice sounded both dusky and clear, not an impossible combination in singing, and a fine one. She did not sing these songs too daintily, but neither did she pump them up: This was confident and tasteful Haydn. Her dynamics were natural, and her intonation was excellent. (Always a relief.) Furthermore, her diction was just right – Miss Kirchschlager speaks good English, by the way, as so many Austrians do.


Accompanying her on this occasion was, not Jean-Yves Thibaudet, but Warren Jones, and his Haydn was crisp, compact, and alert. Mr. Jones has plenty of technique – he is well trained too, in all respects.


Next, Miss Kirchschlager turned to a Grieg set – six songs in German. It has been a good month for Grieg, as Miah Persson, the Swedish soprano, sang a group of his songs in Weill Recital Hall.They included two of the songs that Miss Kirchschlager sang: “Lauf der Welt” and the worldwide hit “Ein Traum.”


To this point, one had noticed a lot of coughing in the hall – and a good bit of it was coming from the stage! Miss Kirchschlager herself was suffering, and she would often cough, then smile at the audience – that sort of took the place of an announcement: Yes, I’m sick.


But, as with the Haydn, she sang her Grieg songs beautifully, with great naturalness. These songs can be nothings – or made to appear nothings – but not from this singer. She does not condescend to them. In her renderings, they are amply romantic, but not silly. The melancholy and sighing in “Zur Rosenzeit” (“You are wilting, sweet roses”) was almost unbearable. And it was amazing how Miss Kirchschlager kept her pitch, even on downwardtempting vowels.


Some of Grieg’s song accompaniments sound like his Lyric Pieces, and Mr. Jones handled the material appealingly.With due virtuosity and power, he propelled “Ein Traum” – this was thrilling. And I might mention that the pianist used music during this recital. Sometimes he goes without, which is remarkable (though some may regard it as a stunt).


Before intermission, Miss Kirchschlager sang a set of Brahms, ending with one of the greatest of all songs – from any composer – “Von ewiger Liebe.” Marian Anderson, Christa Ludwig, Marilyn Horne – all of the low voiced wonders have sung it, unforgettably. Would Miss Kirchschlager – a fairly light, lyric mezzo – have the regality and heft to do the song justice (even with a cold!)? Yes. She built the song shrewdly, and produced some formidable volume. Her resolution at the end – “Our love must endure forever!” – was resolute indeed. But there was no need for Mr. Jones to commit such a big, almost interminable ritard. None.


After intermission, Miss Kirchschlager dipped into the French repertoire, with a group of Poulenc. One of the qualities that Poulenc requires is sauciness – Miss Kirchschlager has that, no problem. Her French is not quite as good as her English or, of course, her German (which is notably beautiful), but it passes. In “Hotel” she was simple and touching. In “Voyage a Paris” she was perhaps not as gay and giddy as Frederica von Stade – who eats up this song – but she was not dull. Poulenc’s “Sanglots”has his opera “The Dialogues of the Carmelites” written all over it – it could almost be a study – and Miss Kirchschlager, along with her pianist, was chilling here.


She chose to end her program with Liszt – lots of it, seven songs, in both French and German. Most of these songs, in my view, fall below the standard of the rest of the music on the program, but many people love them, and evidently Miss Kirchschlager does too. She was running out of gas, however, that cough catching up to her. By the time she got to “Oh! quand je dors” – an indisputably good song – she was both rough and flat. It was amazing that she held on to her final, sustained E, even managing a decent diminuendo. Afterward, she ran off the stage – literally, smilingly, and charmingly – for a glass of water.


I have complained of too much Liszt, but, as though in response, Miss Kirchschlager’s first encore was another Liszt song. And, remarking that it was a “little early” for a lullaby – the time was about 6:45 – she sent the audience home with one anyway. It was by Brahms, but not that one – another one, sung straightforwardly and satisfyingly.


A voice recital is a special event in music, and Angelika Kirchschlager does one deliciously. Anyone in the hall not in love with her is a fool.


The New York Sun

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