Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Centre, New York

02 April 2006 14:00

Alice Coote (mezzo)
Julius Drake (piano)

Gustav Mahler:

Franz Schubert:

What the critics say

David Shengold, Operanews.com, June 2006

Alice Coote gave a splendid Alice Tully Hall recital on April 2 while preparing for her Met debut as Cherubino the following week. As at her 2004 local debut at the Walter Reade, she collaborated very productively with Julius Drake. The onset of Daylight Savings Time took the British artists by surprise, the pianist explained in apologizing for a late start to the Mahler/Schubert program, many selections from which dealt (in timely fashion) with the commencement of spring. Some residual traces of a quicker-than-expected warm-up were felt in passing pitch problems in the initial two songs, but even there the liquid tone (truly that of a mezzo, unlike many so billed today) and fresh, alert attention to words and line promised much that the subsequent Mahler readings delivered. The youthful spirit of “Frühlingsmorgen” was forthrightly communicated, and the glowing soft passages toward the end of “Nicht wiedersehen” shimmered. In fact Coote delivered a fair measure of shimmering throughout a wide dynamic palette – a wonderful asset in Romantic music.

Hers is a very natural, focused presence, creating intensity without exaggeration and never resorting to the “high priestess of song” mannerisms of some traditional recitalists. She seems to experience each song’s emotion as if anew in bodily stance, facial expression and tonal color all three: there was certainly full access to grief in “Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht,” the opening song of Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen. Occasionally the mezzo’s wide-eyed approach borders on what actors call “indicating” rather than interpreting, but better far a semblance of naiveté (her understanding of the material and style is never in question) than arch knowingness. Neither mezzo nor pianist attained heights of accuracy in the swiftly churning intervals of “Ging heut’ morgen übers Feld,” but it ended beautifully, and the cycle’s final song (”Die zwei blauen Augen”) was superbly crafted – wonderful timing, evident feeling and hushed, ravishing tone from Coote and Drake alike.

If the Mahler was very good, the Schubert proved quite marvelous: thirteen songs without a break, relatively familiar but selected and placed with taste and care, then treated freshly and with admirably quick-changing concentration. No technical problems whatsoever intruded (unless one counts cellphone and hearing-aid blasts punctuating an otherwise riveting “Der Tod und das Mädchen,” which incorporated a component of sexual desire), and the artists channeled Schubert’s constant modulation between happiness and its absence – and between major and minor keys – with eloquent grace.

“Der Zwerg” was fearless and unsettling, “Im Abendrot” rapturously affirming. If I could relive one moment, it would be “Nacht und Träume” – one of the most affecting renditions in memory, no mere demonstration of legato or radiant tone (though there they were!) but full of wonder at the visions seen in sleep. The audience was most appreciative, but a simply felt “An die Musik” provided the lone encore. Handel’s Sesto awaits Coote at the Met next season – plus, one suspects, large, excited crowds at subsequent recitals.