A Tenor Who Deserves to be Better Known

The Mostly Mozart Festival did something unusual on Thursday night: It offered a tenor recital. Actually, a tenor recital itself is kind of unusual. We can hear a soprano, mezzo, or baritone in recital most any old night. Some people, in fact, maintain that mezzos and baritones are the most natural recitalists, because their ranges best approximate a speaking voice – but we don’t need to open that can of worms. Not now. Suffice it to say that a tenor or bass in recital is fairly rare.Mostly Mozart’s singer was Christoph Pregardien, a German, despite that French last name. He is a lyric tenor in the mold of Fritz Wunderlich; Michael Schade would be another in that category these days. Mr. Pregardien brought to Alice Tully Hall two great song cycles – by Beethoven and Schumann – a couple of additional Beethoven songs, and a set by Mozart. Frankly, this was as satisfying a recital as you are ever likely to hear.Mr. Pregardien began with Beethoven’s “An die ferne Geliebte” (“To the Distant Beloved”), which Wunderlich traversed so memorably. This tenor, like his predecessor, has an exceptionally beautiful instrument – and he knows what to do with it. Among his gifts are evenness, intonation, and diction. Above all, he is an intelligent interpreter, neither overdoing it nor underdoing it.When he came to the song “Wo die Berge so blau” – the second in “An die ferne Geliebte” – he caressed it, without making it precious. He was able to merge dreaminess and longing.The pianist of the evening was Dennis Helmrich, an American, and he acquitted himself well. He played this cycle with character, and was especially good in the transitions between songs, those mood-setters. He over-pedaled “Es kehret der Maien,” but Mr. Pregardien was laying on so much beauty, one hardly noticed.Throughout the cycle, the tenor conveyed a sense of narration; these songs were not separate entities but varying sections of a single work. Neither did Mr. Pregardien break “character,” to the extent the speaker, or singer, is a character – but he did this without being stagy. The final song, “Nimm sie hin denn, diese Lieder,” was superbly paced (not easy to accomplish). Beethoven’s beloved cycle had been exploited to the full.Mr. Pregardien went on to two other Beethoven songs, “Wonne der Wehmut” and “Neue Liebe, neues Leben,” which set Goethe. They portray intense romantic suffering, in highest (or lowest?) “Werther” style. In the first song, Mr. Pregardien revealed a rich, resonant, well-nigh baritonal lower register. He also showed no straining – no obvious ef fort – in the upper register. Astounding.That second song – “Neue Liebe, neues Leben” – is quick and impetuous, with a dose of humor. Mr. Pregardien put it across winningly.Then it was time for the Mozart. To begin, we broke from German for “Ridente la calma,” a song almost never sung by a man (not that it matters). Mr. Pregardien was graceful, as he can’t help being, but he was lacking in Italian – I should say Italianate – brightness. This song need not be so creamy.The second song, marking a return to German, was more like it: This was “Sehnsucht nach dem Fruhling,” gay and carefree. “Im Fruhlingsanfang” had the virtue of being sung straightforwardly. As for “Sei du mein Trost,” it begins with a difficult high G, and Mr. Pregardien not only nailed this, he rendered it with extreme beauty. Later in the song, he offered changing colors, and some tasteful portamento. “Sei du mein Trost” ends on the words “schoner Nachte” (“beauteous nights”) – never were they sung more beguilingly.“Abendempfindung” is sometimes known as the “first lied,” and whatever the case, Mr. Pregardien applied some more of that shrewd, musical straightforwardness. And in the final song of the group,”An Chloe,” he reflected gentle ardor – and exhibited that phenomenal vocal range. It’s not merely that he can sing a lot of notes; anybody – almost anybody – can do that. It’s that he sings them so well, so naturally.After intermission, Mr. Pregardien presented “Dichterliebe” (“A Poet’s Love”), Schumann’s immortal cycle (text by Heine). We have had at least two stellar traversals of this cycle in recent seasons, both by sopranos: Christine Schafer and Barbara Bonney. The latter singer had originally scheduled “Dichterliebe” for the second half of her program, but switched it to the first. She explained later, in a public forum, that as the work is low-lying (vocally), she thought it would be easier to sing off the bat. This was evidently no concern for Mr. Pregardien.He captured that quality of which this cycle is redolent: bittersweetness. He never attempted to be sophisticated when simplicity was in order. And his technique never faltered – certainly not that spot-on intonation. Mr. Helmrich, at the piano, proved a valuable, if technically imperfect, collaborator.Encores were two, both by Schumann: first, his most famous song, “Widmung,” and then “Mondnacht.” In both – particularly the latter – Mr. Pregardien was a model of control, mentally and physically. He had been that way all through the evening, really: a model. This singer is better known on his continent than on ours, which means that the Mostly Mozart Festival deserves extra credit for flying him over.

A Tenor Who Deserves to be Better Known

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