Soprano Morgan Harrington

SONGS OF LOVE, IN A WARM TRIO

The 222 Gallery Impresario Caroline Altman presented Jan. 26 another marvelous Opera Series recital entitled Songs of Life, Songs of Love. A nicely full room of about thirty art song lovers warmly welcomed a young soprano Morgan Harrington as she delved into a nicely varied, well-structured cache of Lieder, mélodies, songs, and opera duets. Joining her for the duets as well as a several arias was mezzo-soprano Mary Rauh, an eleventh hour substitute for the originally scheduled Leandra Ramm, who had to cancel due to illness. The wonderful pianist and emcee were Frank Johnson, giving the audience interesting, Robert Greenberg style thumbnails talks for each set.

Ms. Harrington made a strong Initial impression with her inspired choice of a simple long-sleeved, full-skirted royal blue gown, and hair pulled into a tightly slicked-back bun, looking exactly as though she’d just stepped out of the nineteenth century, but without appearing “costumed”. She has a serene presence, an engaging smile, and a charmingly poised manner which enhanced the proceedings as well.

Ms. Rauh joined her to open the recital with the ever popular Barcarolle from Offenbach’s Les contes d’ Hoffmann. Their voices, although very different in color and resonance, balanced well and the vocal lines were spun out beautifully. Ms. Rauh followed with a polished rendition of the famous “Habañera” from Bizet’s opera Carmen with a commanding voice that is creamy, rich and enveloping.

Ms. Harrington took the stage to begin her musical journey. Two delightful cafe songs by Poulenc, the exuberantly frothy “Voyage á Paris” and the swanky “Les chemins d’amour”, separated by the melancholy cabaret song “Youkali” (Tango Habañera) by Weill, revealed her affinity for and fluency in French. She has a distinct talent for storytelling that few young classical singers (particularly sopranos) possess. My first impression of her voice was that it could be more rounded in the middle range, as she opts for an overly closed, rather thin and nasal sounding production. It would be a delight to hear her access a richer color in that range, to better match her lovely upper range.

Everyone knows and loves the “Flower Duet” from Délibes’ opera Lakmé. It has been the most ubiquitous operatic soundbite (tied with Puccini’s most beloved tenor aria “Nessun dorma”) since British Airways began using it to underscore their TV commercials some forty years ago. Here live it was relaxed and lovely in tone and balance, although minor timing glitches disrupted the expected pristine vocal coupling in a couple of critical spots. This was probably due to the last minute change in singer and lack of rehearsal time, so any complaint is made in a whisper.

Switching to German, Ms. Harrington then gifted us with three brilliant songs by Clara Schumann, capturing the mysterious foreboding of the “Lorelei”, the charming simplicity of “Die gute Nacht”, and the joy and anticipation of “Er ist gekommen”. She closed the set with Mahler’s (not Schumann’s) exquisite setting of “Liebst du um Schönheit” (“if you love for beauty, oh love not me!”) from his famed Rückert Lieder. The floated notes of “o nicht mich liebe” were not just vocally beautiful, but also dramatically pointed. Here again, Ms. Harrington impressed with her command of German, combined with a depth of specific musical and expressive nuance not often seen in a journeyman recitalist.

For her last solo offering Ms. Rauh returned with a solid and memorable performance of Dorabella’s comically melodramatic and furious aria “Smanie implacabili” from Mozart’s opera Così Fan Tutte. Mr. Johnson excelled in his lightning speed playing of this wild piano reduction.

The last set featured songs from a remarkable early 20th-century American composer Charles T. Griffes. A Strauss/Mahler/Poulenc contemporary, he was a prolific composer in all forms, symphonic, chamber and vocal, but active for only nine years. His songs sit squarely in the late German Romantic Lane, with American and French harmonic colors effectively enhancing the observational poetry of Oscar Wilde, Sara Teasdale and Sidney Lanier. Ms. Harrington’s voice and personality were perfectly suited for the dreamy “Les Ballons”, the haltingly moody “Symphony in Yellow”, playful “Pierrot”, and soaring “Evening Song”.

Mr. Johnson, whose many musical hats were clearly present in his playing and hosting, provided experienced, expressive and deeply connected accompaniments, by turns splashy, reflective, mournful, furious or joyfully ebullient.

The program closed with the gorgeous “Mira, o Norma” duet from Bellini’s opera Norma. Here again, rubato phrases were not always perfectly together, but the impressively quick tempo of the cabaletta and a solidly ringing final high C from Ms. Harrington completed the recital with excitement and panache.