A Valentine's Celebration. Roderick Williams OBE, baritone; Yiheng Yang, piano. February 19, 2023.

Town Hall Auditorium, New York.  Balcony Left (Row C, $25.75).

Program

Robert Schumann:

   Widmung

   Du bist wie eine Blume

   Dichterliebe Op. 48

Roger Quilter: 7 Elizabethan Lyrics

Clara Schumann: Liebst du um Schonheit

Fanny Mendelssohn: Nahe des Geliebten

Joseph Lang: Abschied

Robert Schuman: Er, der Herrlichste von alten

Caroline Shaw: how do I find you

Sally Beamish: Nightingale (from 4 Hafez Songs)

Cheryl Frances Hoad: The Pros and Cons

Gerald Finzi: I said to Love

Benjamin Britten: Tell me the Truth about Love

CS told me about this concert.  Yiheng was on both the 2/18 and 2/19 concerts offered by Peoples' Symphony Concerts.

New York City does offer many different venues for music, and this was my first encounter with Town Hall, located on 43rd Street, a couple of blocks from Bryant Park.  The auditorium itself felt a bit dated, but still very functional.  (Think Count Basie before recent renovations.)

It was a rather ambitious program that - with an intermission - lasted a full two hours.  Perhaps the small auditorium helped, but to sing for 2 hours must put quite a strain on the vocal cords.  I didn't notice any deterioration in the quality of William's fine baritone voice.  Many of the pieces had the piano as an equal partner to the voice, although one couldn't but help but think of "piano accompaniment" as the pieces were being sung.  (Same reaction I had with Trifonov accompanying Goerne, even though Trifonov got the top billing.)

Williams did put some context into the program as it progressed.  I have forgotten most of it.  However, he did mention Dichterliebe as Schumann's gift to his new wife, and that the emotions in the different songs run high and low (the term "bipolar" was used).  Also, he heard one of the songs (Shaw's?) at a concert and decided he wanted to appropriate it.  He gave some context on how the songs can be grouped together also, but I suspect one has to be into these things to appreciate it.

One additional remark, about Caroline Shaw.  Her piece certainly didn't sound at all like other pieces of hers I have heard.

The concert was a full 2 hours.  Well-deserved flowers.

While today's concert was enjoyable, in hindsight I probably would enjoy more the one on 2/18 as it had more variety to it.

I took the train up, and after dinner with CS, Shirley, and others, took the train home.