Elizabeth Magnor – soprano

An Evening of Opera Scenes – October 28, 2011 – 7:30 P.M.

WMP Concert Hall – 31 East 28^th Street, New York, NY - 10016

Robert Wilson – piano

Guest artists:

Kay Belich – Mezzo-soprano – Roger Ohlsen – tenor

Soprano Elizabeth Magnor presented a rigorous and generously shared program of operatic highlights in her New York City recital debut at the WMP Concert Hall.  

Ms. Magnor and guest artist, tenor Roger Ohlsen, opened the program with excerpts from the first act of Verdi’s La Traviata; Libiamo and Un di felice.  Ms. Magnor exhibited shapely singing and a vivid acting ability in these selections. She further showcased a large, lyric sound and more than apt coloratura agility in the ensuing Sempre libera.

Ms. Magnor’s Ah, forse lui was beautifully acted and sung with the Sempre libera, at times, feeling just a tad rushed, although she worked the aria well in conveying the exuberant excitement of a woman losing her battle with the onslaught of new love.

The Act I duet, Gia nella notte, from Verdi’s Otello, was wonderfully sung by both Ms. Magnor and Mr. Ohlsen.  This expansively glorious love paean allowed these two singers to weave their vocal lines lovingly around each other.  Mr. Ohlsen’s singing was his finest of the evening, delivered with very good vocal expression.  Ms. Magnor matched and often exceeded Mr. Ohlsen’s subtle vocal fervor with seamless line and timbre.

The loveliness of Ms. Magnor’s vocal line was further amplified and wedded with exquisite control and meltingly beautiful singing in the Act 4 Willow Song and Ave Maria.  I found myself becoming lost in the moment and the only note in my program was “I believe her!”

Ms. Magnor and Mr. Ohlsen next collaborated on Act I of Puccini’s La Boheme from Mimi’s entrance to the very end of the act.  Mr. Ohlsen displayed a terrifically rugged and ripe tone and Ms. Magnor again, matched his tone with her own radiant “ping” and amply lyric sound.  

Ms. Magnor next treated the audience to a highly refined and refulgent rendition of Casta Diva.  My only persnickety gripe would be a slight lack of rounding off at the end of some phrases.  

Ms. Magnor was joined by mezzo-soprano Kay Belich for the duet Mira, o Norma and together these two women regaled the audience with sheets of gorgeous tonal sound and fine vocal acting.  Ms. Belich’s full mezzo was a perfect foil and complement to Ms. Magnor’s robust and brighter vocal flavor.  
Ms. Magnor graced the enthusiastically applauding crowd with a perennial Puccini favorite, O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi, as her encore.  This small aria was meltingly sung and Ms. Magnor colored her voice evocatively in order to convey a daughter’s filial devotion.

This evening was an easy triumph for Ms. Magnor who exhibited a poise and assurance of both voice and acting that belied her young age.  One would be left with little conclusion that she certainly has the artistic goods for a major career.

I would be remiss if I did not laud the fine piano playing and accompaniment of Robert Wilson who underscored and enhanced the evening’s entire listening experience with his depth of insight and expertise.

John Hammel, Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show, www.homegrownradionj.com

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Rick Stone Trio

Rick Stone – guitar – Marco Panascia – bass – Kenneth Salters – drums

La Laterna – The Bar Next Door – 129 MacDougal Street- NYC – NY

August 26, 2011  7:30 Set

The Bar Next Door is your usual cramped New York City jazz club but one with a fine Italian café menu and an engaging and relaxed atmosphere.  On this particular evening, on the cusp of the arrival of Hurricane Irene, the Rick Stone Trio provided a terrific set of straight ahead post bop jazz with an edge.  Interspersing his originals with thoughtful and spirited covers, Mr. Stone all evening displayed considerable chops honed to an off-beat sensibility that seemed at times to strain at self imposed reins. I wished he had sometimes cut loose into even more adventurous Sonny Sharrock type territory.  I thoroughly enjoyed his playing during this first of three sets, yet longed to imagine the extraordinary flights of fancy he was capable of by letting his imagination soar even more freely.  Lest I be misinterpreted, let me emphatically state that Mr. Stone’s Trio set was extraordinary on many levels with dazzling displays of virtuosity on parade by all members of the trio.

The set list was culled from Mr. Stone’s excellent new cd Fractals on the Jazzand label.  The cd  also features Marco Panascia on bass but not Kenneth Salters on drums.  Both Mr. Panascia and Mr. Salters were in fine form on this evening and contributed cogent musical insight coupled with precisely meticulous techniques.   Mr. Salters shone throughout the evening with dazzling displays of stick and brushwork, adding texture and nuance to every number presented, whether tossing off the exciting poly-rhythms on Stella by Starlight, or the energetic neutron implosions of Fractals to his quietly stormed duet with Mr. Stone on Key Lime Pie not to mention his subtly shaded snare intro on Scoby. 

Mr. Panascia for his part provided a rock solid foundation as well as taking lead turns throughout the evening.  His is a fluid technique that fully complements Mr. Stone’s own gracefully dynamic fingerwork.  He particularly shone on an extended bass intro to the jazz chestnut Body and Soul with innovative chord and single note harmonic choices.  Whether employing arco or pizzicato fingering or coming over the body of his instrument into thumb position his intonation never wavered and his sense of time and swing were exemplary.

Mr. Stone’s contributions were one of enormous insight into the jazz canon, whether on his own tunes or the three standards in this set.  He is schooled in the vernacular of jazz and brings a rock solid and highly fluid technique to bear on all his single note runs and chord choices.   His playing is alternately rigorous and playful at the same time.  He delights the ear by centering his tone among the tradition but always throwing in an off kilter chord or note here and there to add an edge of excitement.  His samba Key Lime Pie, a dedication to the late guitar great Emily Remler, delighted in its pulsating swing and drum/guitar interplay. 

The title tune from Rick’s new CD Fractals, offered a different textural tincture from Mr. Stone, with a rich plumminess that extended itself through the 5/4 time signature.  He was shadowed in tone by Mr. Panascia on this number, further enhancing the full flavor of the musical offering.

Mr. Stone’s composition Nacho Mama’s Blues, a swaggering tune, closed out the set with more quirky chord choices and began with another guitar/drum duet that blossomed gorgeously with the entry of Mr. Panascia’s concretely dynamic bass playing.  This number was a perfect example of the complexity and easy flow that this group combines in presenting an exceptional set.  Regarding the future of jazz; it’s in good hand with Mr. Stone and his trio. 

You should rush to catch this artist as he continues to play these smaller venues in NYC.  He is richly deserving of a wider audience.  Before that audience elevates Mr. Stone to the next level, check him out so you can tell all your friend’s that you knew him when.

John Hammel
Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show
Sundays 7-10pm

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Fred Hersch – My Coma Dreams – World Premiere
May 8, 2011 – 3 P.M.
Alexander Kasser Theater – Montclair State University

Music – Fred Hersch
Written and Direction – Herschel Garfein
Animation and Graphic Design – Sarah Wickliffe
Video Systems Design – Eamonn Farrell
Lighting Design – Aaron Copp

Michael Winther – Speaker/Singer (Fred, Scott, others)

The Fred Hersch Ensemble
Ralph Alessi – trumpet/flugelhorn
Mike Christianson – trombone
Steven Lugerner – oboe, clarinet, alto sax, bass clarinet
Adam Kolker – flute, clarinet, tenor sax
Joyce Hammann – violin
Laura Seaton – violin
Ron Lawrence – viola
Dave Eggar – cello
John Hebert – bass
John Hollenbeck – drums/percussion
Fred Hersch – piano

Gregg Kallor – conductor

This is a masterpiece.  It is, of course, meaningless to declare any work of art as perfect, and alas this too is not entirely perfect. Because it ended too soon!  I simply wanted it to go on.  I wanted more of the story of Fred’s awakening from his coma and his astonishing comeback through rehabilitation.  I wanted more of these gorgeous neo-impressionistic washes of sound to engulf my sensibilities and carry me deeply into this amazing journey that Fred Hersch unfortunately suffered through.  So it wasn’t perfect after all.  Oh, did I mention that this is a masterpiece?

Fred Hersch is an astonishing musician and artist on multiple levels and his brush with mortality has deepened his art exponentially.  He has always been on the top of the list of creative jazz and musical artists but his work since conquering his near fatal illness and coma in 2008 is
now on another plane entirely.

The work on display this day was a musical and dramatic rendering of a series of revelatory dreams Mr. Hersch had during a medically induced coma to save his life after his body went into septic poisoning. Michael Winther, embodying the personas of Mr. Hersch, his partner
Scott, his doctors and assorted other characters was peerless.  His acting was deeply emotive and quite touching.  He was “in the moment” at all times and gave a near flawless performance.  His ability to change character was captivating and deeply moving.  Then there was his
singing.  Why haven’t I heard of this man before?  I mean really.  It just goes to prove my point, which I am forever enumerating to the neophyte and cognoscenti both.  There are hosts of great performers and artists “out there” and because they do not have Lady Gaga numbers hardly negates their talent and importance.  Mr. Winther is one such artist who encapsulates the entire package.  His singing, of which I yearned for much, much more then was called for from the script, was mellifluously captivating.  He has a legato technique with smooth as silk register passages.  I kept thinking that as much as Kurt Elling is touted as a jazz singer par excellence, and rightly so in many respects, he would have been gnashing his teeth in envy at the vocal master class Mr. Winther was putting on this afternoon. And all with an insouciance and effortless that belied the tremendous amount of hard work which must have gone into the creation of his role(s).

Mr. Hersch’s music and arrangements were sublime.  Whether employing long lined impressionistic modes or ragged, jagged dancing block chords a la Monk (one of his musical heroes), this music was gorgeously evocative and the orchestrations utilizing the chamber orchestra underscored and complemented this music superbly.

It would be criminal to single out any one player in the ensemble over the other as all displayed artistry of the highest order.  When called upon to solo or anchor a piece, each individual rose to the occasion and exemplified the meaning of the spirit of sublimating one’s ego for the
betterment of the whole.  Each player proved to be an integral component in the wondrous fabric of this whole cloth.

Conductor Greg Kallor led the assembled forces with confidence and elan. He proved to be the picture of acuity and insight with a rigorous concentration and sculpting of the shapes, phrases and tidal movements of this superlative score.

The direction and writing of Herchel Garfein was veraciously fluent and articulate. 

This show relied as much on the interrelated and apt animation and graphics of Sarah Wickliffe as it did the words and music.  The integration of her work to the story was flawless and confluent.

All in all this was a masterpiece.  Have I mentioned that before?  All facetiousness aside, this was easily one of the most enjoyable artistic afternoons I’ve spent in any theater in quite some time and an astonishingly well crafted world premiere.  My instincts were validated and vindicated by the audiences leaping to its feet and both physically and vocally exclaiming their appreciation for a full 5 minutes at the conclusion of the performance.

My fondest wish is for this work to be committed to posterity through the medium of audio and video disc and for public consumption asap.

John Hammel, Mozart to Motorhead
Sundays 7-10pm; Rebroadcast Thursdays 8-11am

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New York Festival of Song Next:  Phil Kline and Friends

Baryshnikov Arts Center

450 West 37^th Street  New York, NY

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Matt Boehler - baritone – Katharine Dain – soprano – Corey Dargel – voice – Carla Jablonski – soprano – Laura Worsham – soprano – Todd Reynolds – violin – Ashley Bathgate – cello – Kathleen Supove and Michael Barrett – piano.

Phil Kline – music – Hunter S. Thompson – text

Somewhere Around Barstow - baritone, soprano and piano – World Premiere

This was a superb show of “downtown” NYC composers and their forays into the realm of the art song curated and hosted by one of the America’s finest composers Phil Kline.  The evening also featured four of Mr. Kline’s own compositions including three world premieres.  His is a distinctive voice in American music primarily for his accessibility wedded to a strong sense of musical character that has hints of singularity and edginess consistently poking through in highly suggestive and nuanced manners.  I.E., the manic straining at the chains of lucidity ostinato piano accompaniment to Somewhere Around Barstow, his setting of Hunter S. Thompson’s initiatory passage into the muzzy underbelly of American culture that is his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  Ms. Dain and Mr. Boehler played their vocal parts quite wonderfully, providing an ethereal quasi-detachment that is the hallmark of the “tripping” individual in their usually vain attempts at acting normal under rather trying mental circumstances.  Ms. Supove provided apt musical accompaniment in this song and throughout the evening provided fully engaged and supportive piano accompaniment.

A Strange World – baritone and piano. – World Premiere – Mr. Boehler’s reading of this text to Mr. Kline’s setting was finely acted with good expression and an almost William S. Burroughsian sense of paradoxically engaged detachment.

David Lang – I Had No Reason –Mac Wellman, words, based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce, from The Difficulty of Crossing A Field – soprano and violin – Carla Jablonski was emotionally invested in this performance in an intensely understated manner of a woman bemoaning the fact of a slave owner’s disappearance while crossing a field, during pre-Civil War America.  The piece is acapella for two thirds of its duration and when Mr. Reynolds entered with his violin obligato, it simply rendered the piece even more poignant.

David Lang – I Found My Enemy’s Ox from Lost Objects – Deborah Artman, words – two altos and piano, three hands; violin and cello – Ms. Dain and Ms. Worham performed this piece with piano, cello and violin accompaniment and all gave a performance redolent of tensile energy.

Meredith Monk – Prayer II from The Politics of Quiet – for soprano and wordless text, and piano – Ms. Monk’s contribution to the evening was a wordless vocalese that amply displayed her variegated strengths as a composer.  Spartan accompaniment by Mr. Barrett, coupled to a vocal line that was rife with snatches of quasi Gregorian Chant, nasal interjections, and jazzy inflections that made me think of neo-medievalism.  

Corey Dargel – from Removable Parts: songs about love and voluntary amputation – Corey Dargel – text - for voice and piano – Mr. Dargel was easily the most riveting performer of the evening with a sense of the absurd emanating from the core of his extremely unique humanism.  He works in a difficult to define modern cabaret style that draws upon a multiplicity of musical diversities.  He has an ironically quirky persona that is both engaging and off-putting at the same time.  His three numbers to his own texts, from his song cycle about voluntary amputation, were eerily fascinating and alluring in a creepily humorous manner.  It reminded me of Michael Mantler’s song cycle The Hapless Child set to texts of Edward Gorey, only in a more disturbing fashion.  

Toes – Hooked for Life – Sincerely Yours –

Elliott Sharp – No Time Like the Stranger – Elliott Sharp – text – for soprano, violin, cello and piano – Mr. Sharp’s song contribution to his own text was the most rigorously difficult piece on the program.  It is arduous in a highly prized and celebrated modern style of writing which I find tedious when carried to great lengths.  The delight in this number was its relative brevity.  I know it is extremely difficult to find one’s voice and say something new in today’s musical climate, but I believe composers like Mr. Kline and Mr. Lang et al, do so with a heady and healthy mixture of the old and the new.  This work left me slightly chilled and the device of utilizing the human voice as a mere, to my ears, part of the instrumental fabric is old hat enough by this time to bore me silly.  Of course composers of this ilk really have no true understanding of the potential of the human voice for expression, how to write for it in a serious manner, nor do they seem to care whether the voice can weather the damaging storms they put it through.  Kudos to Ms. Worham for tackling this number.  I would have enjoyed this piece more if the vocals were simply left out and replaced with another instrument.  

Phil Kline – Football Season is Over – Hunter S. Thompson – text – for baritone, violin, cello, and piano – This is a setting to Mr. Thompson’s meticulously written and directed suicide note.  As such it was staidly intoned by Mr. Boehler with a bit more understatement and less arch irony than I would have liked, given Mr. Thomson’s over the top persona, even at his most dead pan.  Mr. Kline’s music quietly underscored the desperate despondency and quiet rage at the core of this last missive of Mr. Thompson’s.  All of the accompanists underscored the solemnity of the text with vibrant insight.

Phil Kline – To Make a Prairie – Emily Dickinson – text – for three sopranos, bass, violin, cello and piano – World Premiere – A round.  A round!  I love it.  This song was a perfect manner in which to conclude this highly satisfying program.  This is a gorgeous tone poem to a text by one of this country’s premier poets.  The performers imbued this song with the suitable dedication of craft and energy to Mr. Kline’s fertile musical setting..

John Hammel – Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show

 

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Séance On A Wet Afternoon – Stephen Schwartz

 Friday, April 29, 2011, 8 P.M.

New York City Opera

David H. Koch Theatre – Lincoln Center – NYC

Myra Foster                 Lauren Flanigan

Bill Foster                   Kim Josephson

Adriana Clayton         Bailey Grey

Rita Clayton                Melody Moore

Charles Clayton          Todd Wilander

Arthur                   Michael Kepler Meo

Inspector Watts           Phillip Boykin

Mrs. Wintry                 Jane Shaulis

Miss Rose                    Pamela Jones

Mr. Bennett                 Doug Purcell

Mr. Cole                      Boyd Schlaefer

Irish Tenor                   Michael Marcotte

Policeman                    Juan Jose Ibarra

Conductor - George Manahan

Director - Scott Schwartz  -  Set Design – Heidi Ettinger

Lighting Design – David Lander  -  Costumes – Alejo Vietti

The evening began with a rather concise, but highly effective overture and eerie curtain shimmers, said curtain rising to reveal a séance in play, thus setting an atmosphere of foreboding that promised much. The remainder of the evening proved to be of a mixed blessing.

Even if you read the original Mark McShane book and/or had seen the 1964 movie of the same name, starring Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough, you were not going to be put off by the rather dramatic change to the story as presented in this opera.  In fact, I believe the change lends the story greater weight and gravitas as an opera libretto, although Mr. Schwartz’s music doesn’t always rise to the same level.

The gist of the tale is a strong willed but evidently maddened wife who supports herself and her adoring but weak willed husband Billy with her work as a medium.  The loss of an only child at birth has left her mind ravaged and the lines between reality and fantasy have become highly mutable. 

She concocts a plan through the medium of her dead son’s voice (the ectoplasmic catalyst through which she communes with the dead) to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy couple and through her innate “powers” of medium lead the police to the girl and a return of the ransom money.  In this manner she will gain notoriety and a steady stream of clients and cash.  She and Billy can live comfortably and happily ever after.  Needless to say this is a recipe fecund for disaster. 

As Mrs. Fosters’ madness intensifies she winds up killing her young captive and eventually bringing emotional ruin to all within her sphere of influence.  There is a coda to the opera in which we are led to believe, what exactly I’m not sure, when Mrs. Foster is reunited with the spirit of her dead child and seems to live eternally happily ever after. 

I believe Mr. Schwarz meant for Mrs. Foster to be a somewhat sympathetic character and this is just one of a series of small failures in this opera which detracts from a rather melodic and expansive score.  I believe there is a core of a terrific opera in this work that some nifty editing and more wood shedding perhaps would have revealed. 

The music in general drifts from the banal to the sublime and back again and sometimes within the same aria, ensemble or chorus.  Too much of it struck this listener as puffed up Broadway composition.  There is a lack of temerity which Mr. Schwarz resolves by relying on compositional threads of which he is most comfortable with.  Where I wanted this music to soar, it dashed back to a safer place and where it needed to be subtle it oft times pushed up the orchestration perhaps the better to cover any deficiencies. 

It’s difficult being critical, but as a fan of Mr. Schwarz’s previous Broadway endeavors one desperately wanted to love this opera unequivocally.  And there was much to love.  There were beautiful melodic fragments, powerful emotional passages that lent themselves admirably to the vocal forces on hand and a strong dramatic writing sensibility at times.  Too often though, when something was percolating along quite nicely, a misstep or a stumble proved jarring.  Case in point, Billy’s aria extolling the attributes of his wife when she was younger to the captive little girl just struck me as absurdly out of order.  A beautiful aria and superbly sung by Mr. Josephson but it could have easily been substituted in another place more suitable to nostalgic reminiscence. 

Another quibble,  which is generally the rule of thumb more than the exception in most modern day operatic composition, is the inane juxtaposition of high notes seemingly at will, peppered throughout an aria or score whether they make emotional sense or not.  There is also orchestral writing that invokes the instrumentalists to get louder when an actor is singing in their lower/weaker register.  Why?  Does the librettist/composer wish for his words to be inaudible? 

In spite of the caveats above, the evening is not a total failure.  The story, direction, lighting and costumes united with the highly committed and talented cast still provides one with a compelling evening of operatic theater. 

Ms. Flanagan was her usually flamboyant and over emoting but effectively dramatic self in spite of many moments of apparent vocal fatigue.  This was manifested with less wobble but more pitch variances than normal, although her top was technically and vocally secure and powerful. 

Mr. Josephson was spot on as the weak willed and adoring husband Billy.  His singing was the most consistent and pleasing over the evening. 

Other vocal standouts were the spirit child Arthur who possessed a powerful boy soprano and vividly sharp acting skills.

Kudos must be extended to Melody Moore whose Rita Clayton, mother of the kidnapped child Adriana, was vocally lustrous and displayed an evenness of register, amplitude of power and was incisively poignant. 

The Adriana of Bailey Grey was highly believable and gave evidence of strong instincts. 

George Manahan led the NYCO Orchestra through the score with fluidity and nuance.

One wishes Mr. Schwarz success with this ultimately compelling new opera and hopes for it’s resurrection in the future with suitable compositional adjustments to the score and libretto.  The story and music deserve a second chance.

John Hammel – Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show

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Miller Theatre at Columbia University
2960 Broadway at 116th Street
New York City, New York

Friday, April 15, 2011 8 P.M.

Composer Portraits
Chaya Czernowin – Composer

Either/Or – Richard Carrick, conductor

Seed I from Anea Crystal (2008)
Die Kreuzung (1995)
Dam sheon hachol (1992, rev. 2002)
Duo Leat (slow duo) (2010 U.S. premiere)
Anea from Anea Crystal (2008)
Winter Songs II: Stones (2003)

Chaya Czernowin loves to have instrumentalists utilize their instruments in unorthodox ways in order to produce percussive, buzzing and stinging effects, most notably in her string writing.  I found this to be the most striking characteristic of her compositional style albeit one which
wore out its welcome as the evening bombilated on.  Every time a different piece on the program began with the violinist or violist plucking rapidly on the strings or bouncing their bows in excitable
fashion, I couldn’t help cringing just a bit with thoughts that the musical locusts were coming again.

I rather enjoyed the light musical argument going on between the trio seated directly behind me with the lone dissenter or naysayer of the small group probably saying it best.  “What is it you’re liking?  I guess if you like pitches and rhythm, it can be quite your bag.”  That was my general overall feeling.  Pitches and rhythms with no discernible flow, small melodic cells that were never developed and a range of sound effects that would have found a more suitable home in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes catalog, although not nearly half as much fun.

As the evening progressed there was the odd microtonal melodic or rhythmic fragment that caught the ear but it was quickly discarded for the next disjunct series of buzzing, tapping, massaging and bowing (in the case of the percussionists in Winter Songs II: Stones) that
apparently struck the composers fancy.

I didn’t find any of the works completely satisfying and was hard put to find my pleasures anywhere throughout the evening.  Admiration for the perseverance and counting skills of all the performers was certainly in order.  The conductors for the evening, Richard Carrick for the most
part and percussionist David Shively in Die Kreuzung, provided the only clear sense of beat or rhythm.

Overall the evening’s program struck me as dryly pedantic and emotionless.  Much of modern and avant garde classical music from the late 1950’s onward strikes me in this manner. It was around that time that Milton Babbit and his ilk wrested control from the academic musical
establishment and spurned critical and audience input.  The art became “purer” and less reliant on what resided in the human heart and focused on the mind instead with less emotion and more mathematics until we’ve come to the point where so much modern composition seems to be music created by cyborgs for cyborgs.

By the end of this particular concert, I found the evening had been full of diffusely cacophonous claptrap and had grown weary of Ms. Czernowin’s bag of artifice and tricks.  My mind was numb and so was my heart and soul.

The audience for its part let out rousing cheers, bravos and leapt to its collective feet for the by now obligatory standing ovation.  I guess people don’t wish to believe they’ve wasted their money or their time and simply have to convince themselves they have just witnessed greatness or its near approximation.  I found the evening humorless and boring.

John Hammel, Mozart to Motorhead

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Rubin Museum of Tibetan Art - April 1, 2011 - 7 P.M.
150 West 17th Street, NYC
Harlem in the Himalayas

Fred Hersch – Solo Piano

Mr. Hersch is simply one of the most elegantly nuanced and beautiful practitioners of the piano working in jazz right now.  He may be simply the best period.  I know of no other artist who employs such a wide array of color, nuance, dynamic control, cantilena, and disciplined freedom within a musical structure than Fred Hersch.  He overwhelms you with his understatement and taste.  

I was enraptured from his opening single note sostenuto plinking that slowly morphed into dazzlingly beautiful lyrical phrases, subsequently revealing the melody from Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz’s You and the Night and Music.  He also utilized slightly disjunct block chords in making his artistic point and ended the piece with gentle ostinatos in the left hand while his right hand roulades complemented and balanced the entire work and tucked it in to bed.  

I could have gone home completely satisfied after the first work on the program but that would have been to deny myself further artistic endeavors of the highest order.

This concert was the culmination of a week of intense concert going and reviewing in which I saw ensembles of all varying number and configurations.  Yet it is this concert of one man sitting calmly in front of one instrument and commanding your total attention both physically and emotionally that will stay with me for, hopefully, a long, long time.

Mr. Hersch performed ten pieces in entirety over the course of the evening including an encore, and each piece seemed to unfold like the petals of a gigantic flower to reveal oceanic depths of meaning.  

Whirl which is the title track of his most recent trio cd, and dedicated to the former NYC Ballet prima donna Suzanne Farrell, became in Mr. Hersch’s capable hands an exemplar of fully exquisite terpsichorean glory telling its story in rich detail and dazzling color.

Two other distinct highlights in an evening of highlights was an improvisation based on a photograph from one of the museum’s galleries depicting a monk apparently ringing a small cupped bell chime.  Mr. Hersch using the same type of chime to begin and end his improvisation brought a fully meditative quality to the music most notably with his left hand tintinnabulations and keen articulations in his right hand.  One had the sense of enjoying a quasi-religious experience.

The other highlight for me was Mr. Hersch’s extraordinary reading of Lerner and Lowe’s If Ever I Would Leave You. From his harmonic improvisation opening the piece and his succinct use of pedaling to control the mood and structure, Mr. Hersch proved yet again that in an era where everyone else feels compelled to beat you over the head and shake you by the collar to get your attention, he just wants to whisper sweet something’s in your ear.  

Mr. Hersch’s music making and artistry are all about beauty and melody and love and kindness.  My God, isn’t that something the world needs more of right now?

John Hammel – Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show