CMM recital of British folk songs ‘bloody good’

Baritone Jimi James trades his opera costume for a tux and delivers a handsome program of songs by British composers

By David Abrams
http://cnycafemomus.com

Many in attendance at Civic Morning Musicals’ Live! At the Everson recital Sunday afternoon did a double-take when baritone Jimi James walked onto the Everson Museum of Art’s Hosmer Auditorium stage dressed in evening attire. After all, they’re hardly used to seeing the local opera hero out of costume (he was dressed in feathers and propped up on stilts when I saw him last).

James, a late substitution for the venerable but ailing tenor, Marcus Haddock, is a favorite among Syracuse opera-goers, having performed major roles in several Syracuse Opera productions over the past two decades (including Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute). Although James may not have the international following of Haddock, his reputation for consistently solid singing, strong vocal delivery and dependability has earned him a dedicated following that reaches far beyond the boundaries of Central New York.

For this occasion, James traded arias for art song. And while somewhat lacking in the dramatic delivery skills we have come to expect from seasoned veterans of the art song genre, James nevertheless captured a good deal of the shifting moods evoked by the poems. Moreover, his vocal prowess – with its deep, resonant baritone tinted with just the right amount of vibrato, excellent diction, great attention to dynamics and solid projection – was beyond reproach.

The program opened with seven songs by John Ireland, the conservative British composer whose musical language combines English lyricism with touches of Impressionism. There is a pervasive introspective quality that runs through Ireland’s writing which is at once evident in the opening song, The Vagabond, with its stately hymn-like air, and again in the pensive and meditative Spring Sorrow. The most poignant song, at least for me, is Sea Fever – a strophic setting of a poem, taken from British poet John Masefield’s Salt-Water Ballads, whose simple chordal accompaniment figures proved an excellent vehicle for James to display his deep timbral colors. James was strong in voice during the opening of the lively Hope the Hornblower, with its syncopated piano accompaniment (alertly executed by Ida Trebicka), although he appeared to tire on the high-note passages about halfway through the song.

The first-half of the program closed with two very engaging songs of Charles Villiers Stanford, from the Anglo-Irish composer’s Songs of the Sea (on poems by Henry Newbolt). James gave a strong and confident delivery of Drake’s Drum, and unlike some of the preceding songs of John Ireland, James’ high register was on solid footing, as was Trebicka’s relentless dotted-rhythm ostinato accompaniment. Trebicka was also solid on her snappy 16th-note accompaniment figures in Devon, O Devon – which James delivered with a hearty, booming baritone that at times appeared to reach ear-splitting decibel levels.

Following intermission, James and Trebicka teamed up for a compelling rendition of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel, a cycle of nine songs based upon poems of Robert Louis Stevenson. It was these songs that signaled the composer’s entry into genre of British folk-song settings.

In a manner similar to the meditative style of John Ireland, Let Beauty Awake evokes a strong sense of lyricism with touches of English Impressionism, a technique that returns two songs later in Vaughan Williams’ delicate and dreamy mood-piece, Youth and Love. With its wide tessitura, the poignant Whither Must I Wander proved an especially effective showpiece for James to display his command of tone and dynamic contrasts throughout the low, middle and high registers.

When it comes to art song, at least, a singer is only as good as his/her accompanist – and you may credit half the success of Sunday’s handsome program to Trebicka’s attentive ensemble-work and sensitive touch. Balance between singer and pianist throughout the performance was outstanding – from the soft whispers to the thunderous fortissimos. I was especially impressed with Trebicka’s command of rhythmic nuance, such as in the duplet-triplet couplets of Vaughan Williams’ Youth and Love.

I hope CMM will consider including in its printed programs the words to the songs, and the names of the poets, in future vocal recital programs. This practice not only places the songs into proper literary context and historical perspective, but also affords the listener a measure by which to gauge the composer’s handling of text-music relationships.

What: Civic Morning Musicals Live! At the Everson recital series
When: Jan. 31, 2010
Who: Jimi James, baritone and Ida Trebicka, piano
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes, including intermission
Where: Hosmer Auditorium, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse
Tickets: $15, students free. Tickets may be purchased at the door
Next: Steven Heyman, pianist, 2 p.m. April 18
Website: www.civicmorningmusicals.org