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RECITAL REVIEW Power and Panache March 24, 2002
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By Ching Chang
Soprano Laura Claycomb paid a homecoming visit to the San Francisco Opera
Center audiences this weekend, when she appeared at a Schwabacher Recital
on Sunday, at the Old First Church, accompanied by pianist Peter
Grunberg. Offering a splendid program with works by Liszt, Tchaikovsky,
Rachmaninoff, Strauss, Messiaen and sample of several American composers,
Claycomb returned to the organization where over ten years ago, she made a
firm imprint as a Merola Opera Program participant and a San Francisco Opera
Adler Fellow.
Claycomb seems on the verge of a major international career. She specializes in high-flying coloratura roles, such as Konstanze in
Mozart's Entführung aus dem Serail and Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, a
part she has sung in prestigious European venues as well as in a triumphant
recent performance at the Houston Grand Opera.
Her soprano is of an impressive assertiveness and presence, propelled
by a bright, lustrous metallic power. She tosses off high Cs and Ds with
stunning ease and control, supported by a seemingly endless supply of
breath. Her interpretive approach is thankfully free of the tedious
manufactured grace typically displayed by lyric coloraturas, and in this
particular setting, her assured stage demeanor evidenced dramatically the
experience the artist has gained since her local stint as an Adler Fellow.
Opening with Liszt's cycle "Drei Lieder aus Schillers Wilhelm Tell" ("Three Songs on Schiller's William Tell"), Claycomb revealed a voice already used to the immensity of large operatic stages, and while that often becomes a liability in the performance of art songs, her eloquence made the reading true. She was helped no doubt by Peter Grunberg's virtuosic accompaniment, in liquid rushes of bravura fingerwork as well as in the deftly sketched accents in the reverse dotted patterns of "Der Hirt," the second song. The Russian set that followed — songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff based on folk themes — allowed the singer to showcase a broad range of dramatic contrasts. Claycomb crowned Tchaikovsky's "Kolibel'naja pesnja" ("Lullyby") with an eloquent, wistful note held for brief eternity, while the "Snova, kak prezhde" ("Again, as before") offered an intensity pushed to the edge of despair. In the Rachmaninoff selections, "Ne poj, krasavica, pri mne" ("Do not sing, my beauty, to me") and "Son" ("Dream"), the eloquent melismatic turns at end of phrases were rendered with ravishing lyricism. Her stunning delivery of the stratospheric blasts in song "Amor" showed that her Zerbinetta will clearly be something to be excited about, when Claycomb returns to the SF Opera's mainstage next season, singing the role in the production of Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" starring Deborah Voigt. Yet, with proper theatrical flair the Titian-haired Claycomb returned with a gold-colored dress change after intermission, to perform the most indelible offering of the afternoon, Olivier Messiaen's stunning cycle, "Chants de terre et de ciel" ("Songs of earth and heaven"). Comprised of six superb songs, the highly personal text (Messiaen's own) opens with a glassy, touching declaration in "Agreement with Mi," dedicated to his wife, building towards truly magnificent expressive statements in later songs. "Danse du Bebé-Pilule" ("Danse of the Baby Pill") employs a palette of sounds of striking originality, including those non-verbal vocalizations in sardonic irony, followed by the stream-of-consciouness narratives in "Arcs-en-ciel d'Innocence" ("Rainbows of Innocence"), punctuated by crunchy chordal clusters pounded vigorously on the piano accompaniment. The "Résurréction" which ends the cycle is a devastating, explosive expostulation rendered through a capella declamations. The recital ended with a selection of works by American composers.
(Ching Chang contributes regularly on opera and classical music to various publications, including the SF Gate, Opera News and SFCV. His monthly column on the SF Gate maybe found at www.sfgate.com/columnists/chang.) ©2002 Ching Chang, all rights reserved |