CD 2

Gabriel Fauré

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A, Op. 13

My first summer at the Marlboro Music Festival was the time that I began to learn and love the chamber works of Gabriel Fauré. I was introduced to the First Violin Sonata via violinist Florence Schwartz. Then I read through it with the violinist in this recording, Anima Ulrike-Mathé. She won a prize in Paris playing this piece and is enchanting to see as well as hear in performance. We made this private recording during my second summer at Marlboro.

01 III. Allegro vivo


Paris Wolf Liederabend

If I had to pick a favorite composer of song, I think it would have to be Hugo Wolf. I never tired of studying his miniature masterworks and always welcomed their challenge. As Wayne Conner, my first voice teacher at Peabody Institute once said, Schubert, Brahms and Schumann wrote some not-so-great songs, but we're still looking for a text that Wolf did not set perfectly.

During my Peabody days, I was privileged to be the singer for the accompanying class taught by Ellen Mack. She was equally influential as any teacher I had and gave me great insight and instilled discipline in me.

The Italienisches Liederbuch is a wonderful work to present in its entirety, with its many specific and detailed moods and emotions. I first sang the opus at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Rather than performing the songs in their published order or their order of composition, I arranged the 46 songs in a loosely connected story line. At my subsequent two performances later, at the Petit Jean Art Song Festival and at the Abbé de Royaumont (both with soprano Daisietta Kim and pianist Dalton Baldwin), this order was observed.

The settings of poetry by Eduard Mörike are my most favorite Lieder of Wolf. And out of all my song repertoire, "Verborgenheit" was my "national anthem of song" in that it was always chosen when I was required to sing one art song at an audition or competition.

I am very fond of Wolf's setting of "Ganymed", the poem which is more well known via the Schubert setting. There is almost a reverent eroticism to this song that appeals to me so much.

"Morgenstimmung" closes this Wolf foray, a rarely heard song that Wolf also arranged for orchestra and men's chorus. Unfortunately, the manuscript was lost on a tram but one can easily hear the triumphant brass section in the postlude.

While studying with Hans Hotter at the Abbé de Royaumont just outside of Paris, I encountered a wonderful pianist named David Selig. An Australian living in Paris, he became a favorite accompanist of mine as well as a true friend. We subsequently made music many times together, first at the 1984 Paris International Singing Competition, then an international accompanying competition in the Hague. David was four tenths of a point away from first prize.

We also were a duo at the 1987 International Hugo Wolf Lieder Competition for Singers and Pianists in Stuttgart, Germany. The Paris Wolf Liederabend was a house recital or chamber concert that we did as a pre-competition concert. Again, I was blessed with a superlative colleague in David. He not only played magnificently but he provided the opportunity for us to work with Geoffrey Parsons, a world-renowned accompanist, known for his Wolf Lieder with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. This "kleiner" Liederabend of 10 selected Lieder took place in the fall of 1987.


02 Verborgenheit (Eduard Mörike)
03 Ganymed (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)


8 Composers/8 Songs

The champion of American song is undoubtedly tenor Paul Sperry. He has done more for the genre than any other singer I know of. His recitals have always been carefully programmed, just the right amount of humor, entertainment and culture. He very often does groups of songs without repeating a composer.

Such is the case for my English song group that Walter Huff and I performed at New York's Merkin Hall in 1988. There is constant change in mood and music with such a variety of styles; thus, the audience (a dwindling one in the realm of art song) finds it easier to concentrate and never encounter boredom. The recital opened with this standard-but-beautiful "Silent Noon" by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It comes from his cycle entitled "The House of Life". Then follows "O Mistress Mine" of Theodore Chanler, another discovery via Paul Sperry.

04 Silent Noon

Henry Cowell's song "How Old Is Song" is set to text written by Cowell's father, Harry. It is scored for prepared piano: the score has somewhat simple triadic chords and single notes, but a certain way of playing this music gives it the charming effect of an actual harp. To achieve this effect, one must silently hold down a chord of two or three notes. The standing pianist then is instructed to strum the actual strings of the instrument surrounding this chord. When this is done one hears all of the notes that were strummed, but the notes of the two or three keys that the pianist silently held down are sustained. Walter placed colored dots on the dampers of the piano to help with locating the right area to strum. I was first introduced to this song by the American mezzo-soprano Mary Ann Hart. I have to say her voice is as beautiful in song as Tebaldi was in opera. She is another rare singer who has done much for the art of the song recital.

For "Charlie Rutledge", I chose to give the decidedly cowboy flavor with a little bit of Elvis thrown in. This is a very boisterous song and singers are always covered up when the song gets goin'.

This song by Marc Blitzstein is self-explanatory.

05 The New Suit

"Inauguration Ball" is from a bombastic and chilling cycle called "War Scenes, with graphic Civil War poetry by a poet that Ned Rorem is closely associated with, Walt Whitman. In 1990, Mr. Rorem asked me to sing this cycle with him at the piano at a recital at Adelphi University, Long Island, New York.

I first met Richard Lalli when I studied at Yale University in the fall of 1984. A former graduate of the school, he was then on the faculty. We both shared a love of song and immediately began a lasting friendship. He has stood by me through many hardships and I am indebted to him. Professionally speaking, he performs regularly as recitalist, oratorio soloist, cabaret singer, voice teacher, coach, accompanist, composer, arranger... I don't think there's anything left that he hasn't mastered. This atmospheric arrangement of "The Last Rose of Summer" speaks well of his compositional ability.

06 The Last Rose of Summer

In 1989, I was called by Ned Rorem to replace Judith Blegen in a benefit recital for West Pride, an organization that successfully prevented Donald Trump from building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, The concert, held at Symphony Space on Valentine's Day, was given by classical artists who lived on the Upper West Side. Some of the guests were Itzhak Perlman, Sherrill Milnes, Jerome Lowenthal and the master of ceremonies, Christopher Reeve. On the afternoon of the concert, I was asked by the coordinator for the concert for a brief bio. I gave him some information, including that I was "desperately looking for a place to live on the Upper West Side." And guess what Christopher Reeve said in his introduction of Mr. Rorem and myself...

William Bolcom and his wife Joan Morris were also guests on the program. The song, "George", is from his first volume of Cabaret Songs.

07 George


A name that has appeared on all but two volumes of DCzCDz is Walter Huff. He was the epitome of faith and partnership throughout my recital career. We first made music together when I needed an accompanist for a master class of Dalton Baldwin in the winter of 1979. It is interesting how I was able to experience three great performers that year: Gérard Souzay, Dalton Baldwin and Walter Huff.
Walter subsequently accompanied me in all of my most important recitals. We collaborated three times at Washington's Phillips Collection, New York's Town, Tully and Merkin Halls and when I entered the International American Music competition, he learned and mastered a mammoth amount of American song repertoire.

I always had such faith and trust in him that rehearsing almost became unnecessary. When we were asked to perform for the second time at the Phillips Collection, I chose the Italienisches Liederbuch of Hugo Wolf. Our first rehearsal was in Philadelphia during the month of August when he also rehearsed with the soprano Susan Tilton. The next time Walter and I rehearsed the Wolf was the day before the concert which took place on November 8, 1981. Every nuance was supported by him and it was such a pleasure at every turn of phrase.

I am not anywhere near the artistry of Souzay, Britten, Bernac, I shall always consider Walter my Baldwin, my Britten and my Poulenc.

Walter is now living in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia and is prospering as a coach and accompanist as well as being chorus master of the Atlanta Opera.

Thank you, Walter Huff.


Maurice Ravel

Histoires naturelles

Learning this masterwork, Ravel's Histoires naturelles, taught me so much about singing in French. I first performed it at my recital debut at The Phillips Collection with Walter Huff, having prepared it with Gérard Souzay at the Orford Music Festival in 1979.

This performance is from my recital at New York's Merkin Hall. I remember studying this work anew for this performance and learned even more. What is so unique about this work is how Ravel set the French text. He set out to make the sung text as conversational as possible. Every diction question can be answered in the printed score. Even though it is originally for a medium voice, it should be given to any voice range as required study in conservatories as it is so comprehensive in its diction challenges.

In the winter of 1989, I accompanied an all-Ravel recital on the BargeMusic series at Fulton's Ferry Landing. The singers were soprano Michelle Troise and mezzo-soprano Katherine Ciesinski. In addition to "Histoires naturelles", the program consisted of "Shéhérazade", "Cinq mélodies populaires grecques", the Child's aria and "L'air de feu" from L'enfant et les Sortileges".

08 Le paon
09 Le grillon
10 Le cygne
11 Le martin-pêcheur
12 Le pintade


Hugo Wolf

As the listener can glean from the title of this CD, this incredible lied of Hugo Wolf is my favorite art song of all. I was first introduced to this song from the Seraphim recording of the wonderful Salzburg Festival Wolf liederabend given by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf accompanied by the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. Later, I performed it in a Wolf group at my degree recital at Peabody Conservatory.

In 1982, Charles Crowder, then Director of Music at Washington's Phillips Collection, notified me of an upcoming master class by the great Wolf interpreter, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. A tape would be required to enter. At the time, a pianist was not available, so I brazenly recorded three Wolf Lieder - Fussreise, Verborgenheit and Nachtzauber - in my Philadelphia studio apartment, accompanying myself on the Story & Clark spinet I had owned since the age of 10. At the time, I remember feeling I had given my best for this tape. Luckily, I was accepted and then all of us were required to sing a live private audition for Mme. Schwarzkopf the day before the class. This went well also.

At the class, I decided to begin with "Fussreise". She did not believe in letting the singer sing through his choice but retorted with "We are here to WORK!". My pianist played the four-bar exuberant and happy introduction; I sang two syllables - "Am frisch-" and she immediately stopped me to give me some instruction. This process continued with the other songs for two days, somewhat akin to micro-surgery without anesthesia. Even though she gave me lifetime advice on German diction, it was very hard going and I felt a little frustrated that she didn't like me, as she never said one positive word nor encouragement.

Days later, I listened to the tape I had prepared for the first audition and it was the most boring thing I had ever heard.

The performance of these two Wolf Lieder are from a recital at New York's Merkin Hall on May 4, 1988. I placed Nachtzauber as the jewel of the group of Wolf Lieder, separating it from the rest. Walter Huff is my wonderful partner in these selections.

13 Nachtzauber (Eichendorff) (mp3 - 1.1MB)
14 Abschied (Mörike)



1990 - 1995


Dominick Argento

A Waterbird Talk (complete)

During the summer of 1985 while I was preparing for my Alice Tully Hall recital, I was having a Mexican dinner with the composer Stephen Paulus whose "ArtSongs" I would give the first New York performance. Knowing my ability as a pianist, he recommended that I look at Dominick Argento's one-man opera "A Waterbird Talk" - an opera that "requires" the singer to play the piano.

A Waterbird Talk was first performed on May 19, 1977 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, N. Y., by the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Philip Brunelle with Vern Sutton, a favored colleague of the composer, as the Lecturer. It was directed by Ian Strasfogel. I later bought the score but did not have the where-with-all just to learn it without a performance looming in the near future. The difficulty of the work was something that would require a long period of study, not to mention the difficulty of finding someone to accompany the learning process.

That opportunity came four years later when Lynn Taylor Hebden, the Alumni director at the Peabody Institute called me. She said that the school was planning a tribute to one of its alumnae, Dominick Argento on February 2, 1990 and would like to ask me to sing "A Waterbird Talk." I didn't have to think about it. After doing all of my initial study, I hired a cracker-jack of a pianist, Christopher Oldfather, to help me with the score. He played it flawlessly.

This recording is from the second staged performance, eighteen days later, on February 22, 1990, at a chamber music concert. During this performance, just as my fingers hit the piano keyboard, I discovered major obstruction in its mechanism: a percussionist, not knowing the piano was to be used in the second half of the concert, had hastily wrapped brass temple bells in a blue t-shirt and "stored" them inside the piano. I stopped the action momentarily, removed the saucer-sized bells and continued again. For the sake of completeness, I have spliced into this performance that 16-second moment from the previous performance.

The Peabody Camerata was conducted by Gene Young. Roger Brunyate was the gifted designer and director. I wish to thank Dominique Sertel of Berlin, Germany for his re-mastering of this tape.



15 The Phalarope (Variation III - Spinning Song: Flute and Celesta)
16 The Lecturer (Variation IV - Consolation: Piano Solo)


Claude Debussy

Pelléas et Mélisande

In spite of the fact that I had lost a great amount of visual and aural ability, I could not dismiss a one final opportunity to sing Pelléas. Being aware of that, I respectfully invite the listener to strengthen their patience when poor tuning occurs.

In the fall of 1994, I received a flyer in the mail announcing auditions for a concert version of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with piano, conducted by Michel Singher, the son of the great French baritone and first Metropolitan Opera baritone Pelléas, Martial Singher. Even though I was unable to consult the printed score, I immediately began training again, this time with Deborah Birnbaum (a pupil of Montserrat Caballe), and sang for Michel. I wish to thank him for this opportunity - he literally fulfilled my life-long dream of singing this role and it's almost as if my dream came full circle.

All rehearsals were held in my New York apartment and the entire opera was quickly prepared through December and into 1995.

There were two complete performances as well as two of excerpts in four different locations around Manhattan. This excerpt, the Tower Scene, heard on January 25, 1995, is from my very first essay of the complete role which took place at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace House in New York. Carolynn Whyte Kelly sang Mélisande, Michael Lofton portrayed Golaud, Vima Valdya Bauer sang Genevi¸ve and Richard Wilmer was Arkel.

with orchestra

At around mid-march of the same year, I received a telephone call from Richard Pittman, conductor of the Concord Community Orchestra in Massachusetts. His orchestra was about to perform a concert version of Pelléas et Mélisande and, through a series of cancellations, needed someone to sing the second half of the role(!). It can best be understood simply put:

Pelléas A canceled.
Pelléas B and Pelléas C were hired to replace Pelléas A.
Pelléas C cancelled.
I, Pelléas D, replaced Pelléas C.

The following excerpt is from the first of two concert performances. The cast included Jane West as Mélisande. The performances took place on March 25 and 26, 1995.

17 Act IV, scene 4: La Mort de Pelléas



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