Amuse-oreille...

All great meals begin with an amuse-bouche; and, so I decided, a week of opera in Santa Fe should begin with an amuse-oreille, perhaps an afternoon vocal recital. I miscalculated. The planned amuse-oreille was a recital by the brilliant bass-baritone Eric Owens presented by the Santa Fe Concert Association which has been delighting natives and visitors to Santa Fe with glorious concerts for 75 years. This was their first summer series of vocal recitals and it was a huge hit. The recital was an entire meal for this musical gourmet and wound up being the highlight of my ten-day musical sojourn in The City Different.

Mr. Owens is a highly skilled performer, known to New Yorkers for his stunning performance of the role of Alberich in the new Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera. But here one had the opportunity to enjoy his deliciously deep and rapturously resonant voice in an intimate house, the Scottish Rite Center. Maestro Joseph Illick, Executive and Artistic Director of the SFCA as well as conductor of the SFCA Orchestra and Chorus, made the perfect piano partner.

The pair began with Mozart’s “Mentre ti lascio” which showed off Mr. Owen’s vocal agility and moved right along to some of Schubert’s more serious songs--”Prometheus”, “Fahrt zum Hades” and “Gruppe aus dem Tartarus” which showed off his vocal power. Next he performed two songs by Henri Duparc--the well-known “L’invitation au voyage” and the lesser-known but no less lovely “Elegy” and “La vague et la cloche”; these songs enabled Mr. Owens to show a lighter and more charming aspect of his voice.
In all of these well-chosen songs, Mr. Owens “acted with his voice”; he is a very centered and unfussy performer. During the final set however, Ravel’s delightful songs “Don Quichotte a Dulcinee” were performed with ample and appropriate gestures that delighted the audience. Just another side of this versatile performer! Two stunning encores followed that revealed still more. King Phillip’s poignant aria from “Don Carlo”--”Ella giammai m’ami”-- when sung with such pathos can make us feel sympathy for the hateful King. The second encore opened an entirely new door. Generally sung by counter-tenors, Purcell’s “Music for Awhile” brought out Mr. Owens’ soft and delicate side and brought the audience to their collective feet.
What an outstanding afternoon! I only felt sad that I had missed the prior two recitals presented by the Santa Fe Concert Association--one by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (a personal favorite) and another by bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch. It is with great anticipation that I look forward to next summer’s offerings. And if I had remained longer in Santa Fe, I would have been lining up for tickets to the August 28th Gala Opening Concert. If you live in the Southwest, don’t pass it up!

© meche kroop for The Opera Insider