Picture: Jenny Gorman
In case you peruse the cabinets of your native bookshop for lengthy sufficient, you’ll discover that “pleasure” has turn out to be a style in and of itself. The Pleasure of Cooking. The Pleasure of Quilting. The Pleasure of Quitting. The Pleasure of Consent (that one’s about intercourse). It’s unsurprising that (to my data) The Pleasure of Classical Music Criticism has not but discovered its approach onto the shelf; aren’t we critics, with all our mid-concert scribbling and opinions, a bit averse to that feeling? Can’t we hacking cranks simply put down the pen and get pleasure from? And but, as Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee’s recital on the 92nd Avenue Y proved, maybe we must be reminded that our job can also be to let others in on the enjoyment.
Reuniting in New York after their profitable run in La fille du regiment on the Metropolitan Opera final autumn, Morley and Brownlee, accompanied by the very good Malcolm Martineau, introduced choices from Nineteenth-century French and Italian opera, lots of which they recorded for his or her album, Golden Age. Early in this system, the 2 defined that the night can be a compilation of requirements, unknowns, and items they merely love: “In spite of everything, isn’t it nice to sing what you want?” Their affection for this repertoire was evident from the opening duet, a crisp, animated “Ah, quel respect … Ce téméraire qui croit nous plaire” from Rossini’s Le comte Ory, which proved their chemistry in Fille was no fluke. Underpinned by Martineau’s effervescent taking part in, the duet popped the cork on what can be a night of fizz – and full-bodied vocal taste.
Morley, wearing an off-the-shoulder robe of black and gold brocade, carried out the night’s first solo quantity, “Caro nome” from Verdi’s Rigoletto. In her appearances right here on the Y and on the Metropolitan Opera, Morley has demonstrated a efficiency of sound; if different coloraturas have a glockenspiel-like high quality, then her soprano is nearer to a church bell in its timbre and depth. For Gilda’s aria, the soprano interwove a heat, throbbing pulse amid the delicately parsed phrases of the aria’s opening verses, and her prime notes blazed as her heroine blossomed into her need.
Brownlee, in a de rigueur tux, prefaced his efficiency of Bizet’s “Je crois entendre encore” with a brief reflection on Alfredo Kraus’s affect on his singing. Just like the Spanish tenor, Brownlee prioritized readability, resisting crooning and different such indulgences. Having heard Benjamin Bernheim sing the identical aria only a few weeks prior, Brownlee’s method struck me as extra muscular than melting, with dynamics that by no means dipped under a mezzo forte.
Martineau led an inevitably crowd-pleasing rendition of Debussy’s “Clair de lune,” earlier than rejoining the pair for an additional duet, “D’où viens-tu? … C’est le dieu de la jeunesse” from Delibes’s Lakmé. They had been pure storytellers; Brownlee coarsened his tenor as he stalked Morley’s tentative priestess downstage till she relented, her cry of “C’est l’amour” breaking right into a sigh of launch. Their voices melded in an exciting conclusion.
Picture: Jenny Goodman
The second half opened with an outfit change from Morley – gold laurel appliques on chiffon – and one other duet, “Ils verront si je mens!” from La joile fille de Perth, a Bizet rarity. Whereas its vaguely gothic strains weren’t essentially the most impressed of Bizet’s output, the duet nonetheless located the pair in a vocal candy spot whereby they may spin their phrases into pure lyricism. Extra inspiring was when Morley joined Martineau on the piano for a spirited rendition of the “Chanson bohème,” organized for 4 fingers, from Carmen, the place she confirmed herself to be simply as adept a duet accomplice on keyboard as on voice.
Brownlee returned this system to Rigoletto with “Ella mi fu rapita!”. It was the pristine, gimmick-free singing at which Brownlee excels, even when one wished for barely extra nuance in his supply of the aria. The cabaletta, nonetheless, was suitably lusty, and his excessive notes had been full and vibrant all through. Brilliance in excessive notes was additionally on full show in Morley’s rendition of the “Bell Music” from Lakmé, although it didn’t come on the expense of her subtler vocal shadings within the aria’s much less exuberant moments. Her efficiency mixed technical virtuosity with an atmospheric, variegated dynamic palette – really the spotlight of the night.
The 2 closed this system on a comic book observe with “Quoi! Vous m’aimez?… De cet aveu si tendre” from Fille, the place they referenced the staging and charming characterizations they developed throughout their Met run. Driving excessive off the viewers’s enthusiastic response, they returned for extra Donizetti for an encore of “Tornami a dir” from Don Pasquale.
It was the sort of program and performances that put a spring in your step as you allow the auditorium – a pleasure from prime to backside.
Emma Hoffman
Emma Hoffman is a graduate of Barnard School. In 20 years she’ll be a crusty Higher West Sider in a babushka.
