InternationalSensitive and gentle, romantic and pleading, Bayrakdarian captivates
A triumphant return to Carnegie Hall
Published: Saturday March 22, 2008
Isabel Bayrakdarian, with husband Serouj Kradjian at the keyboard, during her captivated Carnegie Hall concert on March 8. Steve Sherman
New York - Metropolitan Opera soprano soloist Isabel Bayrakdarian with pianist husband Serouj Kradjian captivated an enthusiastic audience at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall on the evening of Saturday, March 8, with a group of classical, romantic, and Armenian selections.
A trio of Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) love songs opened the program, sung with longing and passion. "La ricordanza" ("Recollection"), a song of anguish offered with appropriate pleading, highlighted Bayrakdarian's lush tone and warm delivery. The song's final phrase - "Even if, after this bliss, grief was far more bitter; even if, for me, no moment matched this; Ah! How dear was dying in that hour" - highlighted the equally descriptive poetry, frequently devoted to the magic of, and yearning for, love.
Five songs by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), titled "Banalities," envisioning picturesque locations and memories, demonstrated Bayrakdarian's technical virtuosity, bright sound, and poignancy. The first part of the performance also included a work by modern composer, Jake Heggie (b. 1961), whose "Songs and Sonnets to Ophelia," to a text by Edna St. Vincent Millay, was a strange entry sandwiched between Poulence and Hector Berlioz.
"La mort d'Ophelie" ("The Death of Ophelia"), a dark-hued composition by Berlioz (1803-1869), a Shakespeare devotee, was fashioned after Hamlet. A somber but beautifully reflective work, it demonstrated the singer's subtle and vulnerable portrayal, and the pianist's superb technique and sensitivity.
Kradjian, who has concertised extensively throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Far East, often accompanies his wife in recitals. Playing with great understanding, he never overpowered the singer during the concert.
Komitas: the highlight
For this writer, the most heartfelt songs were those of Komitas (1869-1935), perhaps the greatest of Armenian composers. In the printed program, he was listed as "Reverend Gomidas," and the Genocide which wreaked such horror on this legendary clergyman/composer was noted as the "1915 massacres of the Armenian people."
Bayrakdarian was truly in her element, giving the love song, "Akh Maral jan" ("Dear Maral") the delicacy it deserved. "Chem grna khagh" ("I Cannot Play"), a mischievous and playful number, was performed with verve and humor, eliciting laughter from the audience. And the well known "Alakyaz/Khungi dzar" ("Mount Alakyaz/Incense Tree") received the necessary subtle shadings in Bayrakdarian's rendering.
The text of the great poet Raffi in the patriotic "Tsayn dur ov dzovag" ("Call to the Sea") partly says: "I wonder if the day will come when I will see a flag on Mount Ararat, and Armenians from all over the world will make their way to their dear homeland." Bayrakdarian's delivery of these lines was one of unforced power and conviction.
Her sensitive and gentle rendering of one of the loveliest of all songs, "Oror" ("Lullaby"), reflected the strong maternal feelings of a woman who recently gave birth to her first child, which resulted in last October's cancellation of Bayrakdarian singing the role of Susanna in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Le Nozze di Figaro.
"Five Popular Greek Melodies" by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), with their unmistakable Greek inflections, and a series of charming, romantic works from the shores of Spain by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), sung with passion and spirit, concluded the exciting program, which brought a standing ovation for the radiant artist, and two encores for the eager audience.
