Of this century’s most celebrated vocal artists, the
singers who have best caught the imagination of the public, it seems,
are those who
have been able to bridge the world of popular song and the operatic stage
with the greatest ease. Bringing the poise and discipline of the concert hall
to lighter music and, conversely, infusing recitals with the
freshness and vitality of the popular song seems to give us the best of both
worlds. Whether it’s Caruso singing Neapolitan songs or McCormack’s
rendering of Irish ballads, the best singers have an ability to blend the
immediacy and communicative thrust of native popular musical traditions
with the rigorous vocal and technical demands of operatic
performance. Wagner noted that the farther music gets from the dance, the
more it tends to ossify, and, perhaps, the same could be said of song the
further it gets from traditional folk-flavored musical expression.
Such thoughts come to mind, reflecting upon the celebrated
Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and his concert
in Chicago this past winter.
Since winning the 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World
Competition,
the burly six-foot-four
singer has
become a regular presence in the world’s leading opera houses and
concert halls.
Declining audiences
have led to many Cassandras
predicting the end of the vocal recital, but, as Bryn Terfel and pianist
Malcom Martineau demonstrated in the remarkable performance heard at
Symphony Center on February 1, the much maligned art form is alive and
robustly kicking. Indeed, the engaging singer’s reinvigoration of