music: LX presents Claudia Galli and Grégory Moulin in Review
Richard Strauss–des racines et des ailes Claudia Galli, soprano; Grégory Moulin, piano Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; New York, NY March 11, 2014
In a recital presented by music:LX and the Consulate General of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, soprano Claudia Galli and pianist Gregory Moulin had the intriguing idea of an all-German Lieder recital showing the “roots” of Richard Strauss’ song writing and the “wings” of influence he may have cast on successors. This program so rich in promise, both in theory and on paper, didn’t achieve its potential, due to flaws in both programming and execution.
The pair didn’t stray far enough from Strauss’ Op. 10, his first published song opus, which admittedly contains many of his “greatest hits,” but is not necessarily indicative of the theme. They did include one from Op. 19, two from Op. 27 and two from Op. 68, but there are dozens more to choose from. I personally would have preferred to hear some early Schoenberg (Op. 2 or Op.6) and Korngold Lieder, which truly show the expansion of late-Romantic tonality and the “influence” of Richard Strauss. Neither Schumann nor Brahms made a really convincing case for being a “predecessor” except chronologically.
Lieder is an extremely subtle art form, and is heavily detail oriented, with much of that centering on revelation of the word, first in its musical interpretation by the composer, then by the perfection and nuance of idiomatic diction coupled with good singing by the performer (supported, of course, by an equally fine pianist).
For the first recital in a major US tour, taking place in one of the premiere New York small recital halls, Ms. Galli had a music stand and did not have the music memorized: strike number one. She made many rather histrionic gestures that didn’t suit the words being sung and she had an annoying habit of fiddling with her hair, even during one of the pianist’s postludes, which suggested that she was unconcerned with what came after her part was over. The song isn’t “done” until the last note of the piano part.
Her voice was large, somewhat over-darkened, and suffered from placement issues and lack of subtle control. The word Einerlei for instance, emerged as “oy-nur-loy,” and so on. She sounded well at times, but not often enough. The song selections themselves seemed to be for many different voice types, from lighter to more dramatic, a range too broad for Ms. Galli’s ability at present.
I thought the pianist would be the special element here. Mr. Moulin played with lyricism and support. But then he botched the rapt introductory measures to Wolf’s Anakreons Grab, which was also played too quickly to create the proper mood of wistful reflection. Later, Mr. Moulin became simply messy (over pedaled) and a bit too loud throughout.
The words to all the songs were not attended to with the specific myriad details that are found in the finest Lieder recitals. Ms. Galli’s technical limitations, and perhaps a propensity to a “bigger” operatic style, would not permit it. For me, the surprising successes were two songs that I had expected to be not so good: Strauss’ Ruhe meine Seele (Op. 27, No 1) and his An die Nacht from the late Op. 68 set. Both are conceived for a large voice, and here Ms. Galli sounded at least comfortable. But the other Op. 68 song she did, Ich wollt ein Sträusslein binden was labored, with the garlands of melismas way too heavy, depriving the message of charm.
All music lovers need to be grateful when any young persons show an interest in this refined musical genre, but the performers need to make sure they are really making the best possible case for it.
