Review: Sing a song of Mozart

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Bernard Labadie
Photo by David Cannon

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I'm always a bit sad when the turnout for a St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert is on the light side, especially when it's a concert that deserved a bigger house. Those who showed up Friday night (March 16, 2018) to hear Bernard Labadie conduct the SLSO were rewarded with exceptional performances of music by Haydn (his "Symphony No. 99"), Mozart (a collection of six opera and concert arias) and Mozart's older contemporary, Henri-Joseph Rigel, represented by his dramatic "Symphony No. 1."

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

Born in Germany in 1741 (15 years before Mozart), Rigel spent most of his working life in Paris. He had a respectable career, but these days he's not much more than a historical footnote. His "Symphony in C minor" was a lively way to start the evening, in any case, with a fast and stormy first movement, a lilting and even danceable second, and a dramatic finale.

Mr. Labadie delivered a lively and engaging performance of the symphony, with more variety and contrast in the work than I expected, based on the recordings I had heard of the piece. This was especially true in the first movement, which had struck me as a bit monotonous until I heard his nuanced interpretation. The Largo non troppo second movement was appropriately graceful and the Allegro spiritoso finale had appealing energy.

The six Mozart arias were selected and performed by German soprano Lydia Teuscher. When she last appeared here (with Mr. Labadie in "The Messiah" in 2015) I was impressed by her ability to communicate the emotional core of her lyrics. That same ability to both act and sing persuasively was apparent in this varied collection.

Lydia Teuscher
Photo by Shirley Suarez

The emotional temperature here ranged from the baffled innocence of "Chi sà, chi sà, qual sia," written as the 18th-century equivalent of a "bonus track" for the opera "Il burbero di buon cuore" by Spanish composer Martin y Soler, to the lovelorn anguish of "Bella mia fiamma...Resta, oh cara." The latter was written while Mozart was preparing the Prague premiere of "Don Giovanni," and while it was composed as an independent concert work, its high drama makes it an aria that could (as James Leonard notes) have been sung by Donna Elvira "without breaking character."

Ms. Teuscher's fluid and supple voice floated through the coloratura passages in these arias with ease, while her performance remained firmly grounded in their emotional contexts. Her experience singing Mozart heroines in "Die Zauberflöte" ("The Magic Flute"), "Le nozze di Figaro" ("The Marriage of Figaro"), and "Don Giovanni" with multiple opera companies clearly showed in the solid mix of musical taste and theatrical commitment she displayed here.

In two of the six arias--"L'amerò, sarò costante" from the early opera "Il re pastore" and "Non più, tutto ascoltai" (written as an alternate opening number of "Idomeno")--Ms. Teuscher was accompanied by SLSO Concertmaster David Halen, whose golden-voiced instrument blended beautifully with her singing. Their work in the latter piece was especially impressive, given the virtuosity required of both the singer and violinist towards the end.

The concert concluded with what was, for me, the highlight of the evening: an essentially perfect performance of Haydn's "Symphony No. 99" in E-flat major. Written in 1793 for the second of the composer's two highly profitable trips to London, the work is classic Haydn from beginning to end, complete with little musical jokes, like the odd hesitation in the first movement, and unexpected twists and turns, like the second movement Adagio that starts lyrical but turns dramatic and even tragic in the middle. As he did with the Rigel symphony, Mr. Labadie found an impressive variety of moods in the music, and the orchestra responded with flawless playing. It was a very satisfying end to a concert that once again displayed Mr. Labadie's deep understanding of 18th-century music.

Next at Powell Hall: Resident Conductor Gemma New leads the SLSO in "Pinocchio in Funland," a Family Series concert, on Sunday, March 18, at 3 pm . She returns to the podium the following week to lead the SLSO and piccolo soloist Ann Choomack (of the SLSO flute section) Friday at 10:30 am, Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, March 23 -25. The program includes Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol" and Respighi's "The Pines of Rome", as well as works by Rautavaara and Tüür. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Symphony Preview: Lydia the ballyhooed lady

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Lydia Teuscher
Photo by Shirley Suarez

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"The most glorious creature under the sun / Thaïs, Garbo, DuBarry all rolled into one." That's how Groucho Marx describes "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" in the otherwise forgettable film "At the Circus."

A very different (and non-fictional) Lydia--soprano Lydia Teuscher--will be the featured soloist this weekend (Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17, 2018) singing a collection of Mozart arias with guest conductor Bernard Labadie the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. And while nobody, as far as I know, has described compared her to those illustrious women, she has certainly come in for her fair share of praise around the world.

Born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1975, Lydia Teuscher studied at (among others) the Welsh College of Music and Drama and at the Hochschule für Musik in Mannheim. She has sung Haydn, Telemann, and Bach (including the "St. John Passion" with Mr. Labadie and the Academy of Ancient Music), but has also performed Mahler's song cycle "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" ("Youth's Magic Horn") under the baton of another name which will be familiar to SLSO regulars from her 2016 appearance here: Nathalie Stutzmann.

Most importantly for this weekend, though, is the fact that she has substantial experience with Mozart's operas. She has has sung Pamina in "Die Zauberflöte" ("The Magic Flute"), Susanna "Le nozze di Figaro" ("The Marriage of Figaro"), and Zerlina "Don Giovanni," all with multiple opera companies. Other operatic credits include the title role in Massenet's "Manon" and Gretel and "Hansel and Gretel."

She has been popular with the critics. Niels Swinkels at San Francisco Classical Voice, for example, called her "fantastic" in a 2015 notice. "Teuscher's voice," he wrote, "is simultaneously agile and lyrical; she sensitively but very precisely shifts from one mood to another." The following year, Lawrence Budmen at South Florida Classical review praised "the richness of Teuscher's vocalism and depth of emotion" in a concert appearance with Mr. Labadie. And reviewing her Susannah in "The Marriage of Figaro" with the Glyndebourne Festival at the London Proms, Huntley Dent at The Berkshire Review wrote that "she sang with remarkable purity and beauty of tone. Teuscher could make it big, I think."

Ms. Teuscher will be singing a mix of opera selections and concert arias (songs designed as stand-alone pieces) by Mozart. The earliest of them, "L'amerò, sarò costante" from "Il re pastore" ("The Shepherd King"), was written when the composer was just 19, while the latest, "S'altro che lagrime" from "La clemenza di Tito," comes from the final year of his life, so they effectively cover nearly all of his serious composing career. Since you can find excellent descriptions of them in Benjamin Pesetsky's progam notes, I won't go into details here. They're a good mix of lyrical and dramatic elements, and should be a nice showcase for Ms. Teuscher's abilities.

Henri-Joseph Rigel
Drawing by André Dutertre

It won't be an all-Mozart concert, though. The program will open with a St. Louis premiere: the "Symphony in C minor," Op. 12, No. 4 by Mozart's older contemporary, Henri-Joseph Rigel. Born in Germany in 1741 (15 years before Mozart), Rigel spent most of his working life in Paris, where he composed extensively for the Concert Spirituel, one of the first public concert series in history. He had a respectable career and wrote 14 operas, along with harpsichord works, string quartets, concertos and symphonies, but these days he's not much more than a historical footnote.

The "Symphony in C minor" is a lively way to start the evening, in any case, with a fast and stormy first movement, a lilting and even danceable second, and a dramatic finale. And all in under 20 minutes.

The concerts will conclude with the "Symphony No. 99 in E-flat major," which Haydn wrote in 1793 for the second of his two visits to London. The trips were arranged by the violinist and impresario Johann Peter Salomon and proved to be very good for Haydn both artistically (the 12 "London" symphonies are some of his most popular) and financially ("I made four thousand guilders this evening," wrote Haydn after the 1795 premiere of his 104th symphony). Haydn himself conducted the February 10th, 1794 premiere.

In keeping with contemporary performance practice, he did so not from a podium but from the fortepiano, where he played the continuo part. These days orchestras that don't specialize in "early music" tend to dispense with the keyboard continuo, which I think is a shame. Mr. Labadie, however, is something of an authority on the music of the Baroque and Classical periods, as he demonstrated in concerts here in 2013 (an all-Mozart program), 2014 (Rameau, Haydn, and Mozart), 2015 (Handel's "Messiah" with Ms. Teuscher), and 2017 (an all-Bach program). Will we get to hear that keyboard after all? Come to the concert and find out.

The Essentials: Bernard Labadie conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and soprano soloist Lydia Teuscher Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, March 16 and 17. On Sunday, March 18, at 3 pm, Resident Conductor Gemma New conducts a Family Series concert featuring music by Rossini, Rimski-Korsakov, and a new work by Michael Gandolfi (who chairs the composition department at the prestigious New England Conservatory), "Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland." The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Symphony Review: A resplendent "Messiah" with Bernard Labadie and soloists, December 3-6, 2015

Bernard Labadie
Photo: Francois Rivard

As I noted in one of my symphony preview posts a few days ago, it's far from clear exactly what set of historical accidents turned George Frederick Handel's 1741 oratorio "The Messiah" into a Christmas tradition here in the USA. But traditional it is, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of early music specialist Bernard Labadie, are observing it in fine style this weekend.

[Get more out of the music with my preview articles—part 1 and part 2]

Conducting without a score, a baton, or (for that matter) a podium, Mr. Labadie creates a luminous, bracing, and altogether splendid "Messiah". It's beautifully played, impeccably sung, and filled with small touches that allow Mr. Labadie to put his own unique stamp on the music without getting in the way of Handel's music. His "Hallelujah" chorus, for example, has subtle dynamic shadings that make this well-worn number feel almost brand new, and the slow diminuendo at the end of "We like sheep" was so striking and unexpected that it drew spontaneous applause on opening night. The final "Amen" was beautifully structured, building slowly and powerfully so that the final entrance by the sopranos felt like a ray of light suddenly bursting through the windows of his musical cathedral.

Allyson McHardy

So, yeah, magical moments all around.

"Messiah" is not the most theatrical of Handel's oratorios, but even so it works best when the soloists understand and convey often highly charged emotions in the text and the score. All four of this weekend's singers do that, with perhaps the most fully engaged performances coming from mezzo Allyson McHardy and, most impressively, from bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen, who was a last-minute substitution for an ailing Philippe Sly.

Ms. McHardy, cutting a commanding figure in an emerald-green skirt and lacy black top, showed impressive power and variety. She's the imperious voice of doom in "But who may abide the day of His coming" and then the voice of hope in "O thou that tellest good tidings." Her role is written for an alto, but I thought Ms. McHardy had plenty of power in her low notes.

Kyle Ketelsen
Photo: Dario Acosta

Mr. Ketelsen was fully engaged with the text as well. His "The people that walked in darkness" was gripping, as was the dramatic "Why do the nations so furiously," a minor vocal glitch not withstanding. Like Ms. McHardy, he has a voice with a very solid low end, projecting easily into the hall.

Soprano Lydia Teuscher doesn't have much in the way of stage experience in her resume, but you'd never know it from the way she communicates the emotional core of her lyrics. Resplendent in a gold gown, she simply glowed in "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion" and in the recitatives leading up to the chorus's "Glory to God in the highest."

On the night we attended, tenor Jeremy Ovenden didn't have quite the vocal power of his fellow soloists, but he had all the flexibility and accuracy you could ask for in "Comfort ye, my people" and "Every valley shall be exalted." Those two numbers are the first vocal sounds we hear after the opening "Sinfonia" so it's vital that they make a strong impression, and he nailed them.

Lydia Teuscher

Amy Kaiser's chorus never fails to impress me with their fine vocal blend and accurate elocution, but I must say they are exceeding even their own high standards this time around. There was dramatic urgency in their "Surely He hath born our griefs" and real power in "He trusted in God that he would." Their "Glory to God in the highest" was sheer jubilation, amplified by the theatrical use of offstage trumpets in the dress circle.

The orchestra sounded at the top of their game as well, with fine work by the strings and flawless solos from Karin Bliznik and Jeff Strong on trumpets, among others. The continuo part was nicely realized by Maryse Carlin on harpsichord and Andrew Peters on positif organ (small portable organ that went out of fashion after the 18th century).

Jeremy Ovenden

I'm told that Mr. Labadie worked the orchestra and chorus particularly hard in rehearsals, making sure that they knew every nuance of his highly personal approach to the well-known music. That effort has paid off in a "Messiah" that respects Handel, but does so in a way that is all Mr. Labadie's own. I really can't recommend this performance highly enough.

The St. Louis Symphony's "Messiah" continues through Sunday, December 6th, at Powell Hall in Grand Center. Next weekend, the SLSO goes to the movies as David Robertson conducts a program of the music of John Williams December 11-13. For more information: stlsymphony.org.