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Recital, Vienna, 2 October 2007
A personal view by Ursula Turecek
The evening started with Russian songs by Tchaikovsky with Mr Finley's voice being perfect for the tessitura they require (rather low) and for the Russian language too. He conveyed very well the melancholy and lyricism inherent in those songs. He also sang the Mussorgsky very beautifully and conveyed their tension - I particularly liked the "serenade".
After this very good first half he was even more at home with the Ives, performing with great ease and giving the impression of having much fun. "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" was very lyrically and beautifully sung. I also liked - well, "liked" may not be the correct word for a work like this - Rorem's "War Scenes" in the way he interpreted them, standing there very calmly, like a reporter and thus making the whole thing even more horrible. During the "War Scenes" it was absolutely clear how important all of this was to him - although he sang so naturally and did not at all "hammer home" his point, you just could feel the conviction that made him sing this. I think this is what made this interpretation so special.
The Barber was very lovely, but I was disappointed that “Sure on this shining night” was not one of the encores. Indeed we only had two encores, both Ives: "Ilmenau" (extremely atmospheric) and "Memories" (very funny!). I suppose one reason for this was that the audience was really awful. It was very noisy during the performance: the more polite ones waited with coughing, sneezing and moving on the chairs until Mr Finley had finished singing, but no such chance for poor Julius Drake who nevertheless did a wonderful job creating a world of its own at the piano. There were people who left right after the end of the evening's official part and many did so after the first encore. After the second encore there were still a lot of people who applauded very heartily but it sounded a bit meagre, so no more encores.
My general impression was that Mr Finley's voice was VERY beautiful yesterday with a huge range (although most of the Russian part was quite low, there were quite a few top notes which he reached with complete ease) and dynamics (no problems with anything from ppp to fff) and that he produced a really wonderful sound, very rich-toned and warm, in which you could "bathe". His technique was mostly impeccable and he was very likeable to watch and listen to. The impression he made on me was that he was very calm and in control and that he very much took delight in the singing.
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and look forward to seeing him again next time he gives a recital in Vienna
UT October 2007
Postscript: The audience were much better behaved at the recital that took place in Viennatwo days after this one and were rewarded with a third encore “Sure on this shining night”