The French-born mezzo-soprano of Spanish origin, Pauline
Viardot (1821-1910) enjoyed a varied career as an internationally renowned
singer, actress, teacher and composer. During her performing career, which took
her to Brussels, London, New York, Paris and Saint Petersburg, she sang 33
different operatic roles and knew many of the leading composers, several of
whom dedicated works to her.
Such a career is remarkable in its own right, but when you take into account the artistic prowess of her immediate family, perhaps it was only to be expected. Her father, Manuel was a tenor; her mother Maria-Joaquína was a singer, as was her older brother Manuel. Most famous of all though was her older sister, Maria Malibran, who is particularly remembered for her interpretations of several Rossini and Bellini operatic roles.
[Image credit:
Guildhall School of Music & Drama]
“How did she obtain all these famous composers as friends and colleagues? No matter where she lived throughout her life, she held a Music Salon every Thursday evening in her home. Many composers would attend and use the soirée as an opportunity to perform their new and noteworthy works. Pauline would also have her students attend these salons. Many of these composers (Massenet, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, and others) credit her with supporting their works and launching their careers.
Pauline composed for voice, choir, piano, chamber ensembles, and operas throughout her life. She also arranged piano accompaniments for her father’s songs and her brother-in-law’s violin studies. Since she had lived all over the world, her compositions did not centre around one specific style. She wrote songs (and was fluent) in French, German, Italian, Russian, and English. Pauline drew inspiration from her composer friends and used many texts from her literary friends. To Pauline’s disagreement, George Sand had always believed her compositions to be more important than her singing.”
This concert featured mezzo-soprano Anika-France Forget, sopranos Olivia Boen, Caroline Bourg, Katherine McIndoe and Vladyslava Yakovenko, tenor Hidde Stobbe and baritone Thomas Litchev, variously accompanied by Spencer Klymyshyn, Feilin Liu and Mai Nakase. Instrumental items were performed by cellist Pedro Silva, violinist Joonas Pekonen and pianist Jakub Sladek.
This celebration of the bicentenary of Viardot’s birth was judiciously curated by Florent Mourier. It presented 14 song settings in French and one in German; the three movements of the Sonatine for violin and piano interspersed throughout the songs. To underline the intimate, salon nature of Viardot’s writing, the musicians seated themselves around a central piano; the singers stepping forward in turn for their songs. A standard lamp and rug adorned the Milton Court Concert Hall stage, thereby furthering the sense of domesticity that Viardot would have surely identified with.
Compositionally, it is impossible to ignore Viardot’s style which often embodies all the virtues of the bel canto – with its emphasis upon the singer’s tonal quality and breath control, married with a beauteous, unobtrusive accompaniment – that she knew only too well from her experience as a performer.
The creamy tone and carefully sustained vocal line produced by soprano Katherine McIndoe was matched by sensitively tasteful playing of Feilin Liu in the solitary item for this pairing, O, pauvre âme! Tempestuous passions enflamed both the vocal line and accompaniment of Désespoir, with soprano Caroline Bourg eventually catching the mood in her sole offering. Olivia Boen’s carefully sustained and assuredly ornamented vocal line in Chanson de la pluie was a delight and left me wanting to hear more from her.
More extensive partnerships also offered much to enjoy within this concert. Tenor Hidde Stobbe and his accompanist Mai Nakase presented three songs – his light tone and clear diction particularly suited the almost arie antiche quality of Plus d’espérance. In a further song from this pairing, there was an almost wistful quality to Haï Luli. To Les attraits, accompanied by Spencer Klymyshyn, Hidde Stobbe brought a neo-classical quality through his elegant attention to the text.
A shaded tone pervaded the performance of the brief chanson Ici-bas tous les lilas meurent by Thomas Litchev. L’ombre et le jour, an exercise in vocal restraint was perfectly suited to Litchev also. In the context of this concert, Die Sterne was something of a curiousity: with both piano and cello accompanying the vocal part. The whole proved plaintive in tone and very much heart-on-sleeve throughout, fittingly matching the character of Pushkin’s original poem in its German translation.
Vladyslava Yakovenko’s first contribution, Bonjour mon Coeur, brought out the song’s bravura character with ease, sparklingly partnered by Spencer Klymyshyn. La coquette was delivered with suitable ornamentation and assurance which did not deny the underlying sense of insouciance its place. The airy, breathy quality brought to Gentilles hirondelles seemed appropriate to a song concerned with airborne birds.
Altogether more Spanish flavour and emotion was evidenced by Anika-France Forget in Madrid. Together with her accompanist Mai Nakase, Anika-France was fully convincing of the inner emotions felt by a chastised lover in Reproches. Le miroir continued in the same vein. How good it would be to hear more from this pairing in particular.
The Sonatine for violin and piano enjoyed a most winning performance. The opening Adagio, replete with yearning passion in its flowing solo line, was most sensuously played by Joonas Pekonen. Jakub Sladek’s accompaniment also did not conceal the passion in Viardot’s writing. The Allegro/Scherzo second movement picked up the Spanish flavour once again in its romantic, heartfelt instrumental lines – indeed, the only thing that might prevent this becoming a winning and highly ornamented song was the lack of a text. The closing Allegro movement rounded out not only the Sonatine but this concert too with music that put Viardot’s gift for lyricism and flourish once again to the fore. Both these qualities Joonas Pekonen and Jakub Sladek delivered with ease. If this concert was anything to by then Viardot’s music is worthy of wider attention, as it is finely written and full of excellent melodies.
A further Viardot rarity, a staging of her opera Cendrillon, was also recently performed at Guildhall School. I shall review this once the video stream is available online.
Reviewed via video stream
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