The Forgotten Victor Herbert (Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live!)

By Harry Forbes

VHRP Artistic Director Alyce Mott has capped an extraordinary run of operettas and musicals by the great Irish-American composer Victor Herbert (1859-1924) with a superb concert of some of Herbert’s best purely orchestral works. 

The event bookended her equally impressive 2014 concert reading of Herbert’s unjustly neglected 1911 grand opera “Natoma.” This one featured a very fine orchestra of 47 players conducted by Steven Byess, for years a mainstay at Ohio Light Opera where he conducted numerous Herbert works. 

On this occasion, he conducted with his customary sensitivity, and under his practiced baton, the orchestra responded with nuance and precision. Nearly all of the works can be heard on myriad CD recordings, but hearing them live, particularly in the warmly resonant acoustics of the St-Jean Baptiste church, the aural experience was especially sublime. 

Several of the works -- hugely popular concert pieces in their day -- incorporated traditional tunes gloriously orchestrated by Herbert, rather in the manner of the Golden Age Hollywood composers. I felt tears welling up at the first gorgeous strains of the “Swanee River” refrain of Stephen Foster’s “Old Folks at Home” in the concert’s opener, the 1901 American Fantasia. The 1892 Irish Rhapsody draws on familiar Gallic melodies, and the evening’s concluding Auditorium Festival March from 1901 included the poignant strains of “Auld Lang Syne.”

There was a backstory to the inclusion of that particular tune, as related by Mott who introduced each piece, microphone in hand, from the front pew. Her setup of each piece demonstrated her deep knowledge and affection for the material, especially as she enjoined us to imagine ourselves present at the first performance of these works, and conjure what our reaction would have been.

Of the purely Herbert works such as the 1901 Panamericana, the Act III Prelude to Natoma was a spectacular standout, and a warm reminder of that earlier performance of the full opera. So, too, the 1924 Suite of Serenades -- written for Paul Whiteman’s jazz orchestra and preceding the premiere of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on the same bill -- demonstrated Herbert’s stylistic and ethnic versatility with its richly varied Spanish, Chinese, Cuban and Oriental movements. The once enormously popular “Serenade” from his 1883 Suite for Cello and Orchestra featured outstanding solo work by Daniel Scoggins. 

Also just excerpted was the “Vision of Columbus” section of his 1892 Columbus Suite. 

The 1884 Royal Sec, a sparkling item which would not be out of place at one of those Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s concerts, received a fizzy performance at the opening of the second half of the concert, and I might add, Byess and his forces sounded a not-far match for that distinguished Austrian ensemble. 

The evening was capped with an exotic encore: a Persian Dance from an extended Persian scene in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1921.

(Eglise St-Jean Baptiste, 184 E 76 Street; May 1)

Photos by Charles Chessler

Top - Steven Byess & Orchestra

Below - Steven Byess

Strike Up the Band (MasterVoices)

By Harry Forbes

Director/conductor Ted Sperling has again done George and Ira Gershwin proud with his one night performance of the first of the team’s three political satires. (The MasterVoices Orchestra and Chorus has already triumphed with the later works, “Of Thee I Sing” and its follow-up “Let ‘Em Eat Cake.”)

Back in 1927, “Strike Up the Band” had a troubled genesis. Its out-of-town tryout in Philadelphia was rapturously received by critics, but the public proved indifferent, and the show (with its book by George S. Kaufman) didn’t come to Broadway until 1930 in significantly different form with a revised book by Morrie Ryskind. The result was more musical than operetta, and spotlighted the comic talents of top-billed Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough. So, too, the Gershwin brothers rewrote half the score. Here’s footage of George Gershwin at rehearsals for the revised version.

For this revival, Sperling and co-book writer, theater historian Laurence Maslon, retained the 1927 structure while including some of the best of the 1930 material. Thus, we were able to hear such delights as “Hangin’ Around With You,” “Mademoiselle from New Rochelle,” and “I’ve Got a Crush On You,” among others, from the latter. There was some character reassignment. But their new book was, all in all, a skillful blend of both, and never felt bloated. The musical parts derived from the Tommy Krasker restorations done for the Nonesuch recordings in 1991.

The plot concerns Horace J. Fletcher (John Ellison Conlee), a dimwitted cheese manufacturer who, with the help of Washington VIP Colonel Holmes (David Pittu), instigates a war with Switzerland when the latter objects to a tariff about to be imposed on imported Swiss cheese. Fletcher wants the tariff as it will drive up the price of his competition, and help him corner the domestic market. 

His daughter Joan (Shereen Ahmed) falls for investigative reporter Jim Townsend (Bryce Pinkham) though her father expects her to marry his right hand man C. Edgar Sloane (Claybourne Elder). Meanwhile, the factory foreman Timothy (Phillip Attmore) is romancing Horace’s executive assistant Miss Meade (Lissa deGuzman). 

Wealthy dowager Mrs. Draper (amusing Victoria Clark, miles removed from her recent “Kimberly Akimbo” role) hopes to enlist Fletcher in her program to send deprived country kids to the big city (an amusing twist on the usual such philanthropic venture). Throughout it all, a character named George Spelvin (very funny Christopher Fitzgerald, channeling Lou Costello) weaves in and out of the story morphing into various wacky roles. 

It took a while for the silliness of the premise and the hokeyness of the dialogue to catch fire, but about halfway through the first half, everything clicked, thanks largely to the charm and skill of the marvelous cast, many MasterVoices veterans. And certainly, many of the show's themes -- politics, war, even tariffs -- resonate today. Encores resurrected the show back in 1998 with a stellar cast but I can’t recall enough of it to make a detailed comparison.

Apart from the classic title song (rousingly performed here), this is the show from which those classic songs “The Man I Love” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You” emanate. And it was fascinating to be reminded of their original context. The former -- gorgeously sung, first by Ahmed, and then in duet with Pinkham -- was sublime. And the latter, so often done as a ballad today, was a jaunty number for deGuzman and Attmore, leading into a spirited dance. 

The performance, in fact, included more dancing than ever before, niftily devised by Alison Solomon, and also -- for the first time with MasterVoices -- tap dancing. Of the principals, deGuzman and Attmore had the lion’s share of hoofing which they executed as skillfully as their singing.

Pinkham was in particularly lustrous voice, and earned an especially big hand for his final number “Homeward Bound,” originally performed by a soldier character. Clark had plenty of opportunity to show off her high soprano range. And Conlee, Elder, Pittu, and Fitzgerald -- all dramatically and comically solid -- shone in their vocal moments.

The Gershwins were Gilbert and Sullivan fans, and Ira is said to have admired especially Gilbert’s witty lyrics. Though the music is quintessential Gershwin, all the many choral interjections and extended musical sequences are structurally reminiscent of G&S and operetta in general. And, in that regard, the MasterVoices chorus sounded splendid from their opening “Fletcher’s American Cheese Choral Society” number and all the rest. The musical comedy numbers are there, sure, but the operetta elements are unmistakable, especially the Act One Finaletto wherein Townsend reveals his big discovery that Fletcher’s premium cheese is, in fact, tainted with Grade B milk. 

Three fascinating podcasts hosted by John McWhorter of "The New York Times" -- with Sperling and Maslon, “New Yorker” cartoonist and editor Bob Mankoff, and John Mauceri, conductor of the Nonesuch recordings, respectively -- break down the many facets of the show. 

(Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue; October 29th only; www.mastervoices.org)

Photos by Toby Tenenbaum:

(Top) Dancers

(Below) (l.-r.) Lissa deGuzman, Shereen Ahmed, Bryce Pinkham, Victoria Clark, John Ellison Conlee

(Bottom) Christopher Fitzgerald & company

Dead Outlaw (Audible)

By Harry Forbes

For its first half, the new musical co-written by David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna takes the form of a stylized concert telling of the life of a two-bit, would be bank/train robber: one Elmer McCurdy, born 1880 (and played with bravura skill by Andrew Durand, late of “Shucked”). but wait. Before long, Elmer is killed by a posse in a 1911 shoot-out. The unnerving and puzzling effect feels somewhat akin to star Janet Leigh being killed so early in “Psycho.” So where can the show go from here? 

Well, as the title should have tipped us off, the remainder of the show’s 100-minute running time tells the utterly fascinating story of what then happens to poor Elmer’s corpse. This is, you see, a true story, one which came to light when the hanging red-painted body in an amusement park’s horror house was discovered by a TV film crew to be the remains of an actual person, not a mere prop. The corpse had already had a decades-long usage as a sideshow/carnival attraction. The saga has already been recounted In books (one by Mark Svenvold), a stage play, and a BBC documentary.

The book of the musical is written by Itamar Moses whose “The Band’s Visit” (also with Yazbek) won him a Tony Award, but this couldn’t be more different from that show, or, for that matter, his concurrent drama, “The Ally,” playing at the Public Theater. 

The score, filled with hard-driving country tunes, rock, and sweet ballads, is an interesting one. And in addition to Durand’s dynamic performance, the cast is very fine. Jeb Brown is the narrator, though he steps off the bandstand to play a bandit gang leader who, to his later regret, takes the inept Elmer under wing. 

Julia Knitel is lovely as a local girl who falls for Elmer, and could be his salvation were it not for Elmer’s psychological problems and heavy drinking which give him a real Jekyll Hyde dynamic. And she plays all the other female characters too. Trent Saunders has a strong moment as Cherokee Andy Payne, a long-distance champion runner on the newly opened Route 66 in 1928. (McCurdy’s arsenic-preserved mummy was a sideshow attraction during the race.)

Thom Sesma has an outrageous but crowd pleasing number as famed LA County Coroner Thomas Noguchi who pieced together the circumstances of McCurdy’s demise. There is superlative work, too, from Eddie Cooper, Dashiell Eaves, and Ken Marks (as Douglas MacArthur who was actually McCurdy’s superior during his brief army stint).

The whole is fluidly directed by David Cromer with movement direction by Ani Taj. Arnulfo Maldonado’s revolving set (both the bandstand and the set itself turn), atmospherically lit by Heather Gilbert, provides visual variety. And Sarah Laux’s costumes run the gamut from late 19th century to the late 1970s.   

Under Dean Sharenow’s music supervision, Rebekah Bruce conducts (and plays the piano for) the exemplary band which includes Della Penna himself on guitars, lap steel, and banjo, HANK, and Chris Smylie. (Bruce, Della Penna, and HANK double as vocalists, too.

The musical, like all Audible productions, will also be recorded for release at a later date,

(Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane; DeadOutlawMusical.com; through April 7)

Photo by Matthew Murphy (2024): (l-r) Trent Saunders, Andrew Durand, and Eddie Cooper

The Frogs (MasterVoices)

By Harry Forbes

Once again, conductor/director Ted Sperling and his MasterVoices forces, have triumphed with a Sondheim work, after their winning “Anyone Can Whistle” last year. “The Frogs” is an anomaly in Sondheim’s catalog, hardly a traditional musical, but more a choral piece, or so it was when first performed at Yale in 1974, and later recorded by Nonesuch, though the work was given more traditional structure in its 2004 production by Lincoln Center Theater. 

Nathan Lane, who starred in that Lincoln Center mounting, and hosted the MasterVoices semi-stage concert, in fact, had adapted Burt Shevelove’s original script (based on Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy) for that production, and Sondheim reworked and expanded the music. The result, as the MasterVoices presentation demonstrated, was alternately hilarious and profound.

For this past weekend’s three-performance run, the blue-chip cast members excelled in their respective roles. 

Douglas Sills took on Lane’s original part of Dionysos, the god of Theater and Wine, with distinction. In brief, Dionysus travels to Hades with his slave Xanthias (a funny Kevin Chamberlin) in order to bring George Bernard Shaw back to earth to help mankind. But after a competition between Shaw and Shakespeare (Eurpides and Aeschylus in the source material), the Bard’s poetic skill wins the day. Shaw was persuasively embodied by Dylan Baker who delivered a masterful recitation of one of St. Joan’s fervent speeches, while Jordan Donica offered a beautifully spoken Will Shakespeare and sang Sondheim’s moving setting of “Fear No More” gorgeously.

Marc Kudisch was in fine form as Dionysos’s preening half-brother Heracles (aka Hercules), flexing his muscles and, at one point, easing down into an impressive split. Chuck Cooper was most amusing as boatman Charon who rows the pair across the River Styx. And Peter Bartlett was a hoot recreating his 2004 role as the campiest of Plutos, delivering each line for maximum drollery. Candice Corbin had a brief but deeply moving turn as Dionysos’ late wife Ariadne. 

Lainie Sakakura devised some very apt choreography for the excellent dancers who played the eponymous frogs and Dionysian revelers. 

Though apart from the very funny “Invocation and Instructions to the Audience” (here updated with the inclusion of, among other annoyances, a cell phone admonition), none of the other numbers have gotten much stand-alone play. Still, every song in the show bears that treasurable Sondheim stamp, with unmistakable echoes of tunes from the better-known Sondheim classics.

Sperling’s conducting was expertly attuned to Sondheim’s musical language,  while the MasterVoices chorus sounded glorious, positioned, as they were, on three tiers. The whole enterprise made an even better case for the show than what I remembered seeing at the Vivian Beaumont 20 years ago.

The score, nicely varied, and at times as stirring as the great "Sunday" ensemble in “Sunday in the Park with George,” was a pleasure to hear, especially when performed so definitively. 

Lane’s narration, which began with a brief history of the show and his involvement in it, was expertly done, and never detracted but only enhanced the centerstage action. 

(Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center; 10 Columbus Circle;; mastervoices.org; Nov. 3 & 4 only)

Photo by Erin Baiano: (l.-r.) Marc Kudisch, Kevin Chamberlin, and Douglas Sills

Iolanthe (or The Peer and the Peri) (MasterVoices)

By Harry Forbes

It’s only May, but I’m betting dollars to donuts that this starry production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s seventh comic opera will be reckoned New York’s G&S event of the year. 

Director/conductor Ted Sperling continued his winning streak of superlative musicals and operettas for this latest annual MasterVoices spring event. He had previously mounted “The Mikado” and “The Pirates of Penzance” with felicitous results, but this was arguably the best of all. 

What a pleasure to hear Arthur Sullivan’s overture, melancholy and sprightly by turns, played so superbly and with such seriousness of purpose. And the action that followed was not in any way camped up. 

For non-Savoyard readers,  W.S. Gilbert’s plot concerns Strephon (Schyler Vargas), an Arcadian shepherd, who loves shepherdess Phyllis (Ashley Fabian), ward of The Lord Chancellor (David Garrison). She, in turn, is being wooed by the upper crust twits, Earls Mountararat (Santino Fontana) and Tolloller (Jason Danieley). What Phyllis doesn’t know is that her betrothed is the son of the fairy Iolanthe (Shereen Ahmed), sent into exile years before (under fairy law) for marrying a mortal. (Spoiler: her husband was the Lord Chancellor, who believes Iolanthe died years earlier). Strephon is thus a fairy (but only down to the waist).

The Queen of the Fairies (Christine Ebersole) is stern but softhearted and allows Iolanthe to come back from her banishment. This causes all sorts of complications with Phyllis when Strephon is spied speaking to his mother who, as fairies are immortal, appears to be a woman younger than he. All this was played absolutely straight, with no cheap gags, or audience snickering, about being “half a fairy.”

The large MasterVoices chorus was positioned upstage behind the MasterVoices Orchestra, except for the March of the Peers, that number spine-tinglingly positioned in the score after the quiet and bucolic tunes which precede it. With a burst of brass, Sperling had the huge tenor/bass contingent enter dramatically from the wings and parade around the stage. 

The sopranos and altos (as fairies) were upstage all evening, except for the principals including Nicole Eve Goldstein (Celia), Kaitlin LeBaron (Leila), and Emy Zener (Fleta), all excellent. And there was the delightful addition of Tiler Peck from the New York City Ballet as a Dancing Fairy who flitted in and out most attractively, and contributed to the magical atmosphere. And it was such a relief Sperling eschewed the frequent vulgarization of having the fairies stomp about to the beat of the music. 

The cast was a deft mixture of Broadway and opera performers and, as with past MasterVoices productions, the blend worked seamlessly. From the former, Ebersole wasn’t a traditional Fairy Queen, normally cast with a deep contralto, but she made her well trained, light soprano work beautifully for the part and she didn’t miss a comic beat. Her second act ballad “Oh, foolish fay” was her vocal highlight.

Garrison, on book mostly but ironically not the tongue-twisting bravura “Nightmare Song,” adapted his persona well to the crusty Lord Chancellor, though his English accent was a bit hit or miss, also true of some of the others.  

Danieley and Fontana made a highly amusing pair of stuck-up peers, and their dialogue about which of them should make the sacrifice not to marry Phyllis, a comic highlight. They sang beautifully: Danieley’s big moment was “Spurn Not the Nobly Born” in the first act; Fontana’s “When Britain Really Ruled the Waves” in the second. 

The young lovers were vocally and dramatically strong. As Strephon is only a fairy down to the waist, Vargas was outfitted (by costume designer Tracy Christensen) in shorts, which visualized this dichotomy and made a droll picture. His comic timing and delivery were as impressive as his strong baritone. Fabian also sang strongly and conveyed Phyllis’ cool ambition and self-awareness. 

Ahmed, like Ebersole, was cast counter to the traditional voice type. Iolanthe is usually a mezzo but the part suited Ahmed’s sweet soprano, and her poignant plea for Strephon near the end was as moving as I’ve ever heard it.

And I mustn’t forget Phillip Boykin’s Private Willis which was really outstanding and his second act opener, “When all night long a chap remains,” got one of the biggest ovations of the evening, along with Garrison's "Nightmare Song." 

Christensen’s designs for the fairies and peers was just right for this semi-staged concert. And there were clear white supertitles for the lyrics, and even green footnotes for some of the arcane references.

Sperling’s directorial decisions every step of the way seemed absolutely apt, and his musical leadership impeccable. I look forward to his next foray into G&S whenever that may be. 

(Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, 881 Seventh Avenue; carnegiehall.org;  May 3 only)

Photos by Toby Tenenbaum: Top: Cast

Below: (l.-r.) Ebersole, Ahmed

(l.-r.) Fabian, Vargas, Ahmed

(l.-r.) Garrison, Fabian, Danieley, Fontana

Happy 100th Birthday, Judy! - A Musical Celebration (Carnegie Hall)

By Harry Forbes

On the occasion of what would have been Judy Garland’s 100th birthday, here it seemed was the lady once again bringing the house to its feet multiple times this past Saturday at the venue of her legendary triumph back in 1961. 

Of course, it wasn’t really the late Garland herself but rather a phenomenal British performer named Debbie Wileman. Nor for that matter, was it the Stern auditorium on which stage Judy actually performed that legendary night six decades ago, but the adjoining and prestigious concert hall underneath.

Still, the sold-out house greeted Wileman’s first entrance as if it were the second coming of Judy herself and her performance didn’t disappoint. She opened with Stephen Sondheim’s “I’m Still Here,”  a song which, needless to say, Garland didn’t live to perform. The recreation of Garland’s vocal timbre was uncannily accurate right from the start. The “Follies” song also opens Wileman’s tie-in CD, consisting almost entirely of songs Garland never actually sang, wonderfully orchestrated, conducted and produced by Grammy Award-winning Steve Orich, with Wileman channeling the inimitable Garland style on each track. 

Michele Lee, Renee Taylor, and Tracie Bennett (who played Judy in “End of the Rainbow” on Broadway) were among the celebrities cheering on Wileman, as was former Garland beau John Mayer who received a warm introduction from Wileman before she sang one of the memorable songs he wrote for Garland: “I’d Like to Hate Myself in the Morning.”

The UK-based singer and actress created a social media sensation on Facebook when she posted songs by Garland and other singers during the pandemic. The Zankel Hall performance marked her New York debut after performances in London. In addition, her U.S. tour included Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Provincetown, and Los Angeles. 

Impressive as her homemade videos are, seeing her in person is even more remarkable. The strong-voiced Wileman is quite the phenomenon, summoning Garland better than any impressionist I’ve ever seen. And with plenty of stage presence of her own.

What sets Wileman further apart from many of the Garland impersonators of the past is the genuine quality of her voice, the solid musicianship of her approach, and the sensitive interpretation of the lyrics. She was given superlative accompaniment from Music Director Ron Abel, and a first-rate band including Jack Cavari (guitar), Robert Cookman (synthesizer), Ritt Henn (Bass), Ben Kono (saxophone), Ray Marchica (drums), and Kurt Marcum (trumpet). 

On her first entrance, one thought she might  “do” Garland all evening, but wisely, after the first couple of numbers, she spoke with her own English accent in a charming and down-to-earth manner, only sporadically mimicking Judy for some spoken patter. And as with her singing, her impression of Garland’s speaking cadence was spot-on accurate. 

The program was most sensibly laid out with Garland evergreens alternating with some of the new songs featured on the album. This is the Garland of the 1960’s, the voice a bit frayed at the edges, but strong and dynamic. Wileman captures Garland’s unique timbre so well that the occasional word, phrase or stage movement that slightly misses the mark stands out. But those moments were surprisingly rare. 

Wileman gave us a satisfying taste of what Garland’s “Mame” might have sounded like if she had gotten the role she coveted. Wileman offered splendid versions of “It’s Today” and “If He Walked into My Life.” And, arguably, even more impressive were Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” and “Got to Get You Into My Life” sung quite plausibly in the Garland style. There was also a quite brilliant arrangement of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” with a musical counterpoint of “You Go to My Head.” The most intimate number was “A Foggy Day,” sung to Abel’s piano accompaniment, feelingly vocalized.

By the time, she belted out the “You Made Me Love You/“For Me & My Gal”/”Trolley Song” and “Almost Like Being in Love”/”This Can’t Be Love” medleys, two of Garland’s Carnegie Hall classics, Wileman and Garland seemed to be truly one. And the satisfyingly predictable “Over the Rainbow” encore, sung as authentically as all the rest, clinched the transformation. (Incidentally, Wileman recorded that song for her album on the MGM studio where Garland sang the song for “The Wizard of Oz” soundtrack.)

(Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue; June 25th)

Photo credits:

(top): Joseph Marzullo

(bottom) Hernan Rodriguez

International Vocal Competition Winners Shine at Zankel Hall

By Harry Forbes

Winners of the International Vocal Competition took the stage at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall on Sunday afternoon, after a hiatus of four years.

The competition, under the auspices of the Gerda Lissner Foundation in association with the Liederkranz Foundation, comprises three divisions: the Lieder Song Vocal Competition, an Operetta and Zarzuela Division and a General Division. The Gerda Lissner Foundation was created in 1991 by Mrs. Lissner, a decades-long Metropolitan Opera subscriber, to provide financial support for young opera singers. In all, $98,500 was awarded in prize money.

The concert’s first half, accompanied by pianist Mary Pinto, began with the Lieder winners which included soprano Yvette Keong’s impassioned rendition of Rachmaninoff’s “To Her,” and an exquisite rendering of Stephen Foster’s chestnut “Beautiful Dreamer.” She was followed by baritone Gregory Feldmann whose warmly expressive baritone shone on William Grant Still’s “Citadel” and Franz Schubert’s “Auf der Bruck.” 

Unfortunately missing from this section because of “covid restrictions” was mezzo-soprano Alma Neuhaus

The first half finished up with what amounted to a mini zarzuela recital, as all three of the top winners in the Operetta and Zarzuela competition chose selections from the richly melodic but (in this country) relatively unknown Spanish operetta genre. Soprano Evelyn Saavedra, characteristically dressed in red with a matching flower in her hair, offered a stylish account of the familiar “De España vengo” from Pablo Luna’s classic “El Niño Judio.”

Charismatic baritone Kevin Godínez followed with a strong “Junto al puente de la peña'' from Jose Serrano's “La Canción del Olvido,” earning an especially rousing ovation. 

And first prize winner in that category, Ethel Trujillo, authoritatively performed two selections, “La Petenera” from Federico Morena Torroba’s “La Marchenera” and “Me llaman la Primorosa” from Gerónimo Giménez’s “El Barbero de Sevilla.”

The program’s second half, accompanied by pianist Arlene Shrut, spotlighted the General Division winners. The set began with, in fact, another operetta selection, “Ô petite étoile” from Emmanuel Chabrier’s “L’étoile.” Shannon Keegan’s warm mezzo sailed over some intrusive traffic noise and she was unfazed by premature applause.

Soprano Teresa Perrotta delivered a forceful “Come scoglio” from Mozart’s “Cosí fan tutte.” with almost mezzo like resonance. 

Baritone Eleomar Cuello, who had just flown in from Spain earlier in the day, was none the worse for wear as he delivered a beautifully vocalized “Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen” from Korngold’s “Die Tote Stadt.” 

And finally, top prize winner Eric Ferring, who had just sung Arturo at Saturday’s matinee of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at the Met, showed his versatility by bringing his sweet high tenor to Des Grieux’s “En fermant les yeux” from “Manon” followed by Handel’s virtuosic “Il tuo sangue” from “Ariodante.”

Throughout the concert, both Pinto and Shrut offered sensitive and incisive accompaniment. 

The occasion was sadly missing two of its mainstays, Stephen De Maio and Brian Kellow, both of whom passed away since the last concert. Both men were eulogized most movingly by the afternoon’s host, Midge Woolsey. “Think of the difference they made in all our lives” she said of De Maio and Kellow. Throughout the concert, Woolsey provided unflagging charm and enthusiasm, introducing each singer and putting their selections in interesting context.

As a finale, all nine of the singers joined forces on the choral “Sunday” number from Sondheim's “Sunday in the Park with George.” A lovely way to wrap up a Sunday afternoon!

As you could hear remarked by the exiting crowd, if what we experienced was any indication, the forecast for opera’s future looks bright indeed.

(Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue; gerdalissner.org; May 22)

Myths and Hymns: Flight (MasterVoices)

By Harry Forbes

It’s been fascinating to observe how performing arts organizations have presented their works online during this protracted pandemic period. Apart from unearthing archival taped performances, some continue with the by-now rather prosaic Zoom approach; others, like the Irish Repertory Company, have shown great resourcefulness in expanding the boundaries of virtual performance. 

Now MasterVoices (the former Collegiate Chorale) has come up with something most decidedly in the latter category, scoring high marks on the creativity scale.

Under the overall supervision of Artistic Director Ted Sperling, they’ve come up with a compelling and artistically outstanding reimagining of Adam Guettel’s 1996 “Myths and Hymns” song cycle, which played the Public Theater in 1998 with the title “Saturn Returns,” and directed by Tina Landau. The piece was written between Guettel’s breakout hit, “Floyd Collins” and the acclaimed “The Light in the Piazza.”

“Myths and Hymns” -- its text largely derived from Greek mythology and a Presbyterian hymnal, -- explores, in Guettel’s words, “a desire to transcend earthly bounds, to bond with something or someone greater.”  MasterVoices will be presenting the works in four “chapters,” the first of which, with its theme of “Flight,” premiered on Wednesday. 

With a starry cast of MasterVoices regulars including Anderson & Roe, Take 6, Annie Golden, Julia Bullock, Renée Fleming, Joshua Henry, Capathia Jenkins, Mykal Kilgore, Norm Lewis, Jose Llana, Kelli O’Hara, and Elizabeth Stanley, the six videos of this first chapter were made under the respective direction of Greg Anderson, Sammi Cannold, Lear deBessonet, Khristian Dentley, and Sperling himself, along with assorted visual artists and arrangers. 

The singing is, I think, mostly live except for some outdoor sequences which necessitated lip-syncing. Guettel’s music is dizzyingly complex, but that’s no obstacle for the highly skilled singers assembled here. Don Sebeskky and Jamie Lawrence’s original orchestrations are used. 

The 28-minute presentation begins with a jovial welcome from Sperling, and gets off to a lively musical start with virtuoso duo piano team Anderson & Roe on “Prometheus” (nifty camerawork here, as throughout the series).

Then, “Saturn Returns: The Flight” essentially lays out the overarching yearning theme, as Henry sings “I don’t know what I hunger for” 

The jazzy “Icarus” follows, with Lewis as a modern-day father cautioning an overly ambitious son (Kilgore). 

The dreamy “Migratory V” follows with Fleming, O’Hara, and Bullock harmonizing as they marvel heavenward at the wonders of flight observing the birds above.

Original Public Theater cast member Annie Golden narrates the story of Pegasus (Jenkins)  throwing off his rider (Llana, another Public Theater veteran) when bitten by a gadfly (delightfully  goofy Stanley). Guettel himself appears on guitar in the opening moments. 

The chapter ends with a wonderfully joyful “Jesus the Mighty Conqueror” (with its resurrection motif) virtuosically vocalized by the Take 6 a capella sextet. 

The other chapters will roll out as follows: February 24 (Work); April 14 (Love); and May 26 (Faith).

This first chapter of “Myths and Hymns” can be viewed on MasterVoices’ YouTube channel, and also at mastervoices.org.

The stereo sound is superb, and diction is exemplary, though I felt the experience could be enhanced by proper subtitles, as YouTube’s automatically generated captions are not quite complete.

Screengrabs (top to bottom):

Renée Fleming

Anderson & Roe

Norm Lewis

Elizabeth Stanley