Yesterday evening's performance at Carnegie Hall was definitely intended as light hearted entertainment. Friends and colleagues Renee Fleming and Susan Graham, well supported by pianist Bradley Moore, joined together for a recital of French songs from the Belle Époque. The program included duets by Saint-Saens, Faure, Berlioz and Delibes as well as solo pieces by Debussy (Fleming) and Reynaldo Hahn (Graham). The level of performance throughout was magnificent.
The relaxed "Perspectives" format gave both singers the opportunity to chat and joke between pieces while introducing each of the composers. The two had a great deal of fun as they played with the concept (and misconceptions) of the diva, both in their remarks to the audience and in their fond remembrance of formidable singers of the past, such as Mary Garden.
For me, the high points of the recital were the duets by Faure, including his 1886 Pavane, and the songs by Hahn, especially his Fetes galantes.
The first encore was a Mozart duet from Cosi fan Tutte. I didn't catch the second.
All in all, it was an extremely pleasant evening. It would be difficult for anyone to resist Offenbach's lovely Barcarolle and Debussy's piano music in Claire de lune. But what wouldn't I give to see these two sing opposite one another at the end of Act I of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda.
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