Ramsay and Allen Close Matinee Musicale's 99th Season
He returned April 26 to delight a Matinee Musicale audience at Mayerson Jewish Community Center in Amberley Village. The recital, final concert of MM’s 99th season, comprised songs and opera arias. Joining him in a superb collaboration was pianist Christopher Allen.
The songs, said Ramsay, were some of his favorites, including lieder by Richard Strauss and songs by Paolo Tosti, John Duke and Gene Scheer. Likewise, the arias (specially requested by MM, he said) were drawn from some of his favorite roles.
How better to open a vocal recital than with Richard Strauss? And Ramsay and Allen did so handsomely. “Heimliche Aufforderung” (“Secret Invitation”) made a radiant introduction, followed by the touching “Allerseelen” (“All Soul’s Day”) in which the poet recalls love born in the spring. The tender “Morgen” (“Tomorrow”) was followed by “Zueignung” (“Dedication”), a triumphant, noble thanksgiving for transforming love.
The Tosti songs, a “post-pasta set,” quipped Ramsay, began with his popular, sunny “La Serenata.” “Aprile,” a lovely ode to spring, was gentle and sweet, with a hint of modulation on the evocation of love in the refrain. Ramsay let his voice break slightly now and then in “Non t’amo più” (“I don’t love you anymore”), to heart-rending effect.
American composer John Duke’s “Three Chinese Love Lyrics” (1964) made a fine impression. There was reverie in “Noonday,” sung as the beloved sleeps, regret in “Through Your Window” about love delayed (“too late”). In the “The Shoreless Sea,” a passionate wish to sail with the beloved always, Ramsay soared thrillingly on the final “drunk with love.”
A highlight of the recital was a set by Gene Scheer. Ramsay had fun with “At Howard Hawk’s House,” a jazzy narrative by a marine on shore leave who just misses meeting a pair of Hollywood beauties. “Lean Away,” sung with great beauty, was a reflection on “things you cannot know, like the wind that takes you home.” Ramsay and Allen evoked keenly the pain of loss in “Holding Each Other,” and they offered a moving rendition of Scheer’s well known “American Anthem” (first performed in 1998 for President and Mrs. Clinton and also at the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush).
Moving to opera, Ramsay treated his audience to “Questa o quella” (“This one or that one”), the licentious Duke’s aria from Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” which he sang for the first time in February at Sacramento Opera. He made an affecting contrast with Lensky’s “Kuda kuda vï udalilis” (“Where have you gone, o golden days?”) from Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” which he debuted for Madison Opera in November.
Using his face with great expression, he vividly conveyed Des Grieux’ vision of Manon from Massenet’s “Manon” (“Le Rêve,”“The Dream”). Closing number was “Una furtive lagrima” (“A furtive tear”) from Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’amore” (“The Elixir of Love”). The popular aria is the tenor’s “national anthem,” said Ramsay, and it fit him perfectly, both vocally and dramatically.
Called back for an encore, he and Allen performed Werther’s “Pourquoi ma réveiller? (“Why do you wake me now?”) from Massenet’s “Werther,” which Ramsay will sing at Lyric Opera of Chicago in November. It made for a ravishing sendoff.