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Recital
3 November 2009
Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid
Gerald Finley (debut)
Julius Drake
This recital was broadcast live on Radio Nacional España
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe, op. 48
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai
Aus meinen Tränen spriessen
Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne
Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’
Ich will meine Seele tauchen
Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
Ich grolle nicht
Und wüssten’s die Blumen, die kleinen
Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen
Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen
Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen
Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen
Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet
Allnächtlich im Traume seh’ ich dich
Aus alten Märchen winkt es
Die alten, bösen Lieder
Maurice Ravel: Histoires naturelles, op. 50
Le paon
Le grillon
Le cygne
Le martin-pêcheur
La pintade
Charles Ives
The Housatonic at Stockbridge
The cage
Anne Street
Tom sails away
1, 2, 3
Samuel Barber
There’s nae lark
In the dark pinewood
The beggar’s song
Three songs, op. 10
Rain has fallen
Sleep now
I hear an army
Encores
Ives: "Memories A and B"
Ravel: "Chanson à boire"
Ravel: "Chanson écossaise"
What the critics say
Larazon.com, November 2009
http://www.larazon.es/hemeroteca/gerald-finley-por-fin-una-voz
Translated by Carolina
Gerald Finley, at last a voice
Gerald Finley (Montreal, 1960) has been one of the pleasant surprises of the Ciclo de Lied de Caja Madrid. From the beginning he connected with the public thanks to a couple of factors which are usually overlooked in favour of trivialities. I mean a real and powerful baritone voice and his expressiveness. The Canadian singer can boast, in addition to having a powerful voice, a tuned voice, very rich in harmonics. But he also has the gift of exuberance. He devotes himself, refines and dramatizes. Finley is just the opposite of all these others baritones that have come to this cycle, or that sing in opera houses, with whom you frequently must have a hearing aid to hear them.
Hence the ovations at the end of the first part of the recital, after the Dichterliebe. And maybe during the second part of the recital, the enthusiasm didn’t reach so far because Finley made two mistakes. The first one was to include the “Histoires Naturelles” from Ravel - even if he enjoys singing them a lot - instead of singing more Anglo Saxon songs which suit him better as he is Canadian. The second mistake was to end the recital with Ives and Barber’s pieces, with less real substance compared with the wonderful lieder from Schumann. Hence the audience cooled down slightly. But this is not a serious point, he will learn that the judicious choice of programme can not be underestimated.