Welcome to simonkeenlyside.info - <strong><font size="4">2003 March 2: recital with Angelika Kirchschlager, Carnegie Hall, NY</font></strong>

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Recital

2nd March 2003

Carnegie Hall, New York

Simon Keenlyside (baritone)

Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo-soprano)

Craig Rutenberg (piano)

.Franz Schubert:

Lambertine AK

Der liebliche Stern (The lovely star) AK

Die Einsiedelei (The hermitage) SK

Der Wanderer an den Mond (The wanderer to the moon) SK

Robert Schumann:

Er und sie (He and she) AK, SK

Schön ist das Fest des Lenzes (The feast of springtime is nice) AK, SK

In der Nacht (At night) AK, SK

Wiegenlied am Lager eines kranken Kindes (Lullaby at the cradle of a sick child) AK, SK

Peter Cornelius:

Der beste Liebesbrief (The best loveletter) AK, SK

Hugo Wolf:

Der Knabe und das Immlein (The boy and the honey-bee) SK

Ein Stündlein wohl vor Tag (An hour before daybreak) AK

In der Frühe (Early in the morning) SK

Auf einer Wanderung (On a walking-tour) SK

An die Geliebte (To the beloved one) SK

Lebe wohl (Good bye) AK

Lied eines Verliebten (Song of an enamoured man) AK

Der Jäger (The hunter) SK

Bei einer Trauung (At a wedding) SK

Begegnung (Meeting) AK

Robert Schumann:

Ballade des Harfners (Ballad of the harper) SK

Lied der Mignon II – Heiß mich nicht reden (Mignon’s song – Don’t ask me to speak) AK

Lied der Mignon III – So lasst mich scheinen (Mignon’s song – Let me appear like this) AK

Mignon’s Gesang (Mignon’s song – Do you know the land) AK

Franz Schubert:

Mignon und der Harfner (Mignon and the harper) AK, SK

Ganymed SK

Suleika II AK

Johannes Brahms:

Ständchen (Serenade) SK

Vor dem Fenster (In front of the window) AK, SK

Dein blaues Auge hält so still (Your blue eyes are so calm) AK

Auf dem Kirchhofe (In the churchyard) SK

Peter Cornelius:

Ich und Du (Me and you) AK, SK

Johannes Brahms:

Es rauschet das Wasser (The water is rustling) AK, SK

Der Jäger und sein Liebchen (The hunter and his sweetheart) AK, SK

What the critics say

Paul Driscoll, Opera News

It was a great week for recitals at Carnegie Hall. On March 2, six evenings after Mattila's big night, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager and Craig Rutenberg offered a program built around songs and duets by Schubert, Schumann, Cornelius, Wolf and Brahms. All three artists performed beautifully, the easy camaraderie they shared giving the recital a relaxed, informal air entirely appropriate for a German Romantic evening.

When Kirchschlager retired to her corner an item too early -- evidently forgetting that the next number was a duet, rather than a solo for Keenlyside -- the baritone retrieved her gently, winning a blush and an apologetic giggle from the mezzo as she returned to center stage with him. The balance between songs familiar and unfamiliar was judged intelligently, the beauties of such favorites as Schubert's "Suleika II," Brahms's "Ständchen" and Wolf's "An die Geliebte" set off handsomely by the less familiar songs -- though if all performances of Schubert's "Lambertine" were as devilishly eager as Kirchschlager's was on this occasion, it would surely be better-known.

Keenlyside made the most of every opportunity that the program gave him, delivering gentle adolescent comedy (Wolf's "Der Knabe und das Immelein"), the mercurial workings of a young lovers' quarrel (Wolf's "Der Jäger"), thrilling narrative urgency (Schumann's magnificent "Ballade des Harfners") and rueful introspection (Brahms's "Auf dem Kirchhofe") with equal conviction. Kirchschlager's selections were a slightly less flashy assortment, with most of her songs presenting edgy, intense characters. But the sunny sweetness of Wolf's "Begegnung" was an apt vehicle for the mezzo's twinkling, unaffected charm, and "Suleika II" was shaped voluptuously, its yearning text pointed with wit and sophistication. (What listener could resist Kirchschlager's spun-silk declaration, "Seine Liebe sei mein Leben"?) The duets on the program were especially fine, with her dusky mid-range tones perfectly balanced against his poetically lean timbre in the bucolic tenderness of Schumann's "Er und sie" and the sexy combativeness of Brahms's "Der Jäger und sein Liebchen." Rutenberg offered splendid support throughout the evening, nowhere more handsomely than in the ringing atmosphere of "Ballade des Harfners."

Singers Embarking On a Voyage.

Anne Midgette of The New York Times, March 4, 2003

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05EEDD163FF937A35750C0A9659C8B63

..
”Both, certainly, are adept, smart singers with lyric voices, theoretically ideal for this repertory. Ms. Kirchschlager has a small, fine-boned mezzo-soprano, slightly limited in range but used effectively, with an eye to the details; Mr. Keenlyside has developed a stentorian firmness in the lower reaches of his lyric baritone.

Ms. Kirchschlager is a native German speaker, and Mr. Keenlyside, who is British, recently demonstrated impressive lied prowess in a staged ''Winterreise'' at Lincoln Center.

“The two singers achieved a better vocal blend and some fine singing in Schubert's ''Mignon und der Harfner'' or Brahms's ''Es Rauschet das Wasser.''

“There's no denying that there were three fine musicians onstage. Yet even after their program drew to a successful end it remained unclear why they had chosen to embark on the journey together.”

…