|
RECITAL REVIEW Scandinavian Elegance February 28, 2002
|
By Ching Chang
Bay Area audiences may come up a bit short when it comes to auditioning the
world's top tenors and sopranos, but we have been fortunate in that many of
the world's finest mezzos are paraded upon our local stages with a certain
frequency. Swedish mezzo soprano Katarina Karnéus, another fine contender
from the current crop, made her San Francisco debut last week, fresh from
her Met debut appearance as Olga, in the nationally broadcast production of
Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" the week before.
Accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger, Karnéus presented an art-song program
with works by Mozart, Schumann, Marx, Fauré and Sibelius, showcasing a
tastefully-proportioned instrument of elegant polish and aristocratic sound.
Often, high-profile mezzos tend to be artists that externalize themselves,
projecting an almost unwieldy passion into the hall, as they force the
audience into submission. Karnéus, however, prefers gently to invite listeners into her world, as if treating them like polite company at
her home. This is a performer trained not to make a "show" out of herself, and
while one might miss a certain edge of danger and surprise in Karnéus'
artistic temperament, she otherwise offers listeners a refreshing
alternative in a crowded field.
Though the mezzo is Swedish-born, she received her most significant training in England, showing traits common to many British singers: the clarity of line, the impeccably clean diction, and a controlled interpretive restraint matching a poised and dignified stage demeanor. Such qualities were evident in her opening set — songs and ariettes by Mozart, including "Dans un bois solitaire," K. 308 ("In a lonely forest") and songs such as "Das Veilchen" ("The violet") and "Abendempfindung" ("Evening thoughts"), among others. These jeweled miniatures are often turned into mini "scenas" by star recitalists eager to oversell them, as if uncertain that the public finds them compelling — Dawn Upshaw, for instance, often precedes her performance of the three-minute long "Das Veilchen" with a four minute introductory speech. Karnéus resisted the temptation of a hard-sell, relying on the directness of their simple-yet-poignant message to touch the listener. Similarly, Schumann's setting of "Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart," Op. 135, found Karnéus singing in the voice of Mary, Queen of Scots with honesty rather than theatrical tragedy. In "Abschied von Frankreich" ("Departure from France"), the arresting sincerity of the final interjection "Ade!" was touchingly understated, while the painful, moist-voiced humanity of "Gebet," the doomed Catholic Queen's final prayer, left the audience in spellbound silence for several seconds after its conclusion. A lighter romantic mood was achieved with the set of songs by Joseph Marx, a fine Austrian composer whose song output is beginning to receive the attention it deserves. (Renée Fleming, for example, took up his cause at her last Davies Hall recital). Particularly ravishing was Karnéus rendition of "Maienblüten" ("May blossoms"), but as with the Fauré songs that followed, this set highlighted above all the singer's well-balanced partnership with pianist Brian Zeger, who deftly illustrated the liquid, whimsical harmonic coloration and the alluring, off-beat, syncopated figures in the accompaniment.
Still, Karnéus' eloquent readings of songs of Jean Sibelius, set to Swedish and Finnish poems, may have been her finest work of the evening. One of the composer's best-known songs, "Demanten på marssnön" ("Diamonds in the March snow"), with the imagery of glistening ice breaking under one's foot on a path evocatively rendered. Also memorable was "Säv, säv, susa" ("Sigh, rushes, sigh"), dissolving eerily into a dove-tailed, pianissimo ending. Among the concluding encores, Karnéus offered Schumann's "Widmung" ("Dedication," from Myrthen, Op. 25) in a polished reading showcasing particularly impressive descents into an unforced, naturally resonant chest register. (Ching Chang writes about classical music and opera for SFGate.com, the SF Bay Times, Opera News and other publications.) ©2002 Ching Chang, all rights reserved |