BWW Reviews: RENE PAPE Recital at the Met a Matter of Life and Death

The wonderful German singer Rene Pape made history when he made his recital debut at the Met last week--the first bass to perform a solo program at the house. He showed off his dexterity with languages, singing in German, Russian and English, and his ability to move from art songs to musical comedy, sensitively accompanied by pianist Camillo Radicke.

There was some buzzing around the auditorium before the performance started that he was slightly under the weather, but his voice sounded suave and sure. The only complaint anyone could have had might have been with some of his choices of material.

Beethoven's religious songs

The program started off with a cycle of songs by Beethoven, "Six Songs After Poetry by Gellert" (Op. 48). To say this wasn't top-drawer Beethoven would be an understatement--lieder wasn't his most successful genre. These were religious songs based on a collection of devotional poems and Pape's stolid take on them didn't do much to reach the audience, until "Busslied" ("Song of Penance"), the last of the grouping, which was more varied and subtle. I recall Jonas Kaufmann speaking about his connection with German repertoire and how meaningful it was to his to sing in his native language; this didn't seem to be the case for Pape, with this Beethoven at least.

By that time, I was prepared for a long slog--but, happily, this was not the case. The program grew, piece by piece, with repertoire that seemed more suited to his voice--and himself (though I found his use of a music stand off-putting on this occasion, separating him from the audience). The next segment included more religious songs, with Dvorak's "Biblical Songs," (Op. 99). Here, there was more variety than in the Beethoven, giving Pape an opportunity to open up his voice and show some of the velvet that he is known for. His rendition of "God is my shepard" was a gorgeous prayer, "Hear my prayer, O Lord" brought out a sweetness in his voice and the final song, "Sing unto the Lord a new song," was the liveliest of the lot, which he seemed to relish.

A good match: Shakespeare and death

The second half of the program improved further, starting with Quilter's "Three Shakespeare Songs" (Op. 6), based on texts by Shakespeare from TWELFTH NIGHT and AS YOU LIKE IT, filled with contrasting moods and different vocal styles. The best group of the program were Mussourgsky's "Songs of Love and Death"; the program describes them as "a harrowing set of vividly expressionistic scenes, operatic in their drama and musical scale" and Pape seemed very much at home here. Despite the preoccupation with death, there was nothing morose in thesesongs and Pape seemed to enjoy a sense of drama that was missing from the earlier segments of the program. From energetic ("Kolybelnaya"/"Lullaby") to weary ("Trepak") to imposing ("Polkovodets"/"The Field Marshall") this was the singer at his best.

Well, perhaps, not quite his best. He left that for his encores, which he performed without music or stand, with the singer completely at ease: a gorgeous rendition of Richard Strauss's "Zueignung" followed by an intimate rendition of Schumann's "Kinderwacht." (Maybe he should think about adding a few more by these composers to his next program.) Surprisingly, the crowd-pleaser of the evening was "If Ever I Should Leave You," from Lerner & Loewe's CAMELOT, a love song from Sir Lancelot to Queen Guinevere--but one to the audience as well.

###

Rene Pape in recital with pianist Camillo Radicke.

Photo: Marty Sohl

To post a comment, you must register and login.