On May 11, the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) offered, livestreamed at www.nyfos.org/gala, a glorious virtual salute to mezzo-sopranos, billed as “How About Those Mezzos,” curated by NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier, directed and edited by Jonathan Estabrooks, and hosted by Blier and mezzo Rebecca Jo Loeb. This priceless performance, by artists joining in from a variety of locales, features nine mezzos, from world-famous stars to those in the early stages of their careers, and every one of their offerings is a gem.
Isabel Leonard, assisted by Blier, kicks off the proceedings with an endearing “La Vie en rose” of Edith Piaf. Sasha Cooke gives us a classically-sculpted “Out of My Dreams,” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma,” in Blier’s arrangement, with the maestro at the piano. An encomium from Anthony Roth Costanzo follows.
Loeb sweetly sings Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Corcovado,” accompanying herself on guitar, with piano contribution from Blier, and relating the song to getting to perform with a friend again, after a year of quarantining. Kate Lindsay, singing from the UK, with Blier in NYC, brins us two Kurt Weill songs, an ecstatic “That’s Him,” from “One Touch of Venus,” with lyrics by Ogden Nash, and a propulsive “Saga of Jenny,” from “Lady in the Dark,” written with Ira Gershwin, and limning the subject’s misadventures due to her inability to commit to a decision. Assisted by JoyAnne Amani Richardson, Denyce Graves contributes an understated unlove song, Murray Grand and Elysse Boyd’s “Guess Who I Saw Today,” the expression of a deeply wounded sophisticated lady, who discovers that her husband is having an affair.
Susan Graham, with pianist Jeremy Frank, sings a cheerfully wry “J’ai deux amants,” from “L’amour Masqué,” by André Messager and Sacha Guitry,” Elle’s song about the two boyfriends who are keeping her in style, and later, a matter-of-fact “C’est ça la vie, çest ça l’amour,” Moisés Simons’ feminist tango-habañera answer to Carmen’s story, which ends badly for a fickle Escamillo. Raehann Bryce-Davis, with pianist Esme Wong, lavishes lush sound on sexy song “March Moon,” by Hale Smith—mentor, Blier tells us, to both Jessye Norman and Dizzy Gillespie—with Maria Corley and Darryl Taylor. Singing from Barcelona, and accompanying herself on piano, Joyce DiDonato offers a moving “Canción al Arbol del Olvido” (Song of the Forgetting Tree), Alberto Ginastera’s song of the lover, who despite the tree’s powers, cannot forget his love Vidalitay, and a breathtaking “A Chloris,” by Reynaldo Hahn and Roger Vignoles.
After a note of congratulations from Renée Fleming, who urges focus on poor neglected sopranos and tenors, too, Frederica von Stade, assisted by James Meredith, introduces, in French, and then passionately sings Jean Lenoir’s “Parlez-moi d’amour.” For a very grand finale, quite a feat of engineering by Estabrooks, the full cast collaborates, with Blier, on a highly competitive “Anything You Can Do,” by Irving Berlin, from “Annie Get Your Gun,” which includes Graves digging into her deepest chest voice, DiDonato and von Stade indulging in a mock bitch fest, and a guest appearance by Thomas Hampson.
The video of the gala is available, for a contribution, at www.nyfos.org/gala though May 31.