Sondra Radvanovsky (credit: Michael-Cooper)

Radvanovsky and Manoli deliver a captivating recital exploring themes of loss and love

CONCERT REVIEW:
Sondra Radvanovsky
January 14, 2024
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University
Morrow, GA – USA
Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano; Anthony Manoli, piano.
Henry PURCELL: “When I am Laid in Earth” from Dido Aeneas
Georg Friedrich HANDEL: “Piangerò la sorte mia” from Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17
Sergei RACHMANINOFF: “Ne poi krasavitsa,” No 4 from Six Romances, Op. 4
Sergei RACHMANINOFF: “Zdes’ khorosho,” No. 7 from Twelve Romances, Op. 21
Sergei RACHMANINOFF: “Ja zhdu tebja” No. 1 from Twelve Romances, Op. 14
Richard STRAUSS: “Allerseelen,” No. 8 from Acht Lieder aus Letzte Blätter, Op. 10\
Richard STRAUSS: “Befreit,” No. 4 from Fünf Lieder, Op. 39
Richard STRAUSS: “Morgen!,” No. 4 from Vier Lieder, Op. 27
Richard STRAUSS: “Heimliche Aufforderung,” No. 3 from Vier Lieder, Op. 27
Franz LISZT: Tre sonetti di Petrarca
Jake HEGGIE: “If I had known”
Umberto GIORDANO: “La mamma morta” from Andrea Chénier, Act III

Mark Gresham | 17 JAN 2024

On Sunday afternoon, Spivey Hall presented a recital by American-Canadian soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and collaborative pianist Anthony Manoli on the theme of loss and love.

They launched the program with a pair of Baroque opera arias that are laments over cruel fate: “When I am Laid in Earth” (aka “Dido’s Lament”), the closing aria from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and “Piangerò la sorte mia,” Cleopatra’s aria from Act III of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto.

From the start, we experienced Radvanovsky’s lovely, flexible voice and her ease of musicianship: superb control of dynamics, vocal colors, and phrasing were all present throughout the recital. And while her forte passages were impressive enough, even more so were the pianissimos, especially her phenomenal control over her upper range. Most telling, also, was her dramatic abilities and ease in connecting with the audience in both in performing the musical selections and in commentary between them.

Manoli was no mere accompanist but a full collaborative partner at the piano, his playing well-balanced, neither overdone nor receding into a two-dimensional background. The musical communication and interplay between Radvanovsky and Manoli were exquisite, making the music all the more engaging for the listener.


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Following the Purcell and Handel, the repertoire shifted to the late 19th century with songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Richard Strauss, in which the performers took on an even broader, deeper expressive range.

Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote many “Romances,” both instrumental and vocal. And while the latter are “songs,” the composer titled them “романсов” (“Romansov”), so we shall stick with his choice here.

Radvanovsky chose to sing three of Rachmaninoff’s Romances from different opus numbers: “Ne poi krasavitsa” (“Sing not to me, beautiful maiden” – Op. 4, No. 4) with a text by Alexander Pushkin; “Zdes’ khorosho” (“How fair this place” – Op. 21, No. 7) with text by Russian poet and children’s author, Glafira Adol’fovna Galina (aka Galina Galina); and “Ja zhdu tebja!” (“I wait for you” – Op. 14, No. 1), a lovesong of tormented melancholy of waiting, on a poem by Russian poet, author, and music critic Maria Avgustovna Davydova.

They closed the first half of the program with four songs by Richard Strauss: “Allerseelen” (“All Sould”), “Befreit” (“freed”), “Morgen!” (“Morning!”), and “Heimliche Aufforderung” (“Secret call”), again individual songs drawn from different groups (Opp. 10, 27, and 39).


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The spirit of Romanticism likewise opened the second half with Franz Liszt’s Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, Op. 270a, which the composer initially conceived for the tenor voice: “Pace non trovo” (“I find no peace”), “Benedetto sia’ l giorno” (“Blessed be the day”), and “I vidi in terra” (“I saw on earth angelic costumes”).

These sonnet texts describe Petrarch’s love for a woman named Laura, who might have been a real person (Laura de Noves) or possibly a fictional character. The portrayal of her as a married woman adds an unattainable dimension to his poetic expressions, incorporating intense, personal, and sometimes conflicting emotions, which profoundly inspire Liszt’s music and reveal a different, bel canto facet of his style involving a display of virtuosity and an extensive vocal range spanning just over two octaves — a captivating synthesis of literature and music.

And yet, the program’s emotional climax was still to come with “If I Had Known,” composed by Jake Heggie, a musically straightforward setting of a poem by Radvanovsky herself, that poignantly charts the regrets that emerge from witnessing a loved one slip away due to dementia.


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It was at this penultimate point that Radvanovsky and Manoli inserted an unlisted number into the recital: Schubert’s ubiquitous “Ave Maria,” in a truly sensitive, empathetic performance that was an effective emotional bridge between “If I Had Known” and the final work on the program.

“La mamma morta” (“They killed my mother”) from Act II of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chenier was a most convincing choice for wrapping up the program’s theme, about the ability to still find love after losing everything.

In response to an enthusiastic, extended ovation, Radvanovsky and Manoli returned to the stage twice for encores. First was “Io son l’umile ancella” (“I am the humble servant of the creative spirit”) from Act I of Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, then for the second encore, “Pace, pace, mio Dio!” (“Peace, peace, my God!”) from act IV, scene 2 of Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino (“The Power of Fate”).

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About the author:
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. He began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.

Read more by Mark Gresham.
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