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Old American Songs, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, August 2023
“The...diverse, folkish themes [of Copland’s ‘Old American Songs’] are drawn from 19th-century Americana songs, a far cry from the Italianate roles guest soloist [Stephen] Gaertner sings routinely on international opera stages. Fittingly, he shelved his rich, lustrous Verdian timbres for a creamier tonality with lyricism bubbling at the top. Clean diction and simple phrasing kept the performance naturalistic, with an interpretive style that felt more aligned with the art songs of German Lieder. The approach was particularly effective in keeping ‘Ching-a-Ring Chaw’ and ‘Long Time Ago’ — both based on minstrel tunes and ballads — grounded and tasteful. Other standouts included ‘The Little Horses,’ a children’s lullaby from the South, which brought out a delicate and sensitive lyricism. In ‘Zion’s Walls’ — a Revivalist song that Copland reused in his opera ‘The Tender Land’ — Gaertner used a ringing vibrato to reflect the deeply spiritual themes. The orchestra used painterly textures and colors to narrate Copland’s unique Americana, well balanced with Gaertner even in his most delicate treatments.”
(Courtney Smith, www.njarts.net, August 21, 2023) |
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December 3, 2021
Tamar
Leoncavallo: Zingari
Opera Rara
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November 27, 2015
Cascart
Leoncavallo: Zazà
Opera Rara
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April-May 2014 & March-April 2016
Sharpless (cover)
Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Metropolitan Opera
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December 2012-January 2013
Chorèbe (cover & perform)
Berlioz: Les Troyens
Metropolitan Opera
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December 2011-January 2012 & December 2014-January 2015
Vater (cover)
Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel
Metropolitan Opera
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February-March 2011 & June 2011
Lord Enrico Ashton (cover & perform)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Metropolitan Opera
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November-December 2009
Šiškov (cover)
Janáček: From the House of the Dead (Z Mrtvého Domu)
Metropolitan Opera
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October-November 2008 & February-March 2009
Sharpless (cover)
Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Metropolitan Opera
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September-October 2007, March 2008, October 2008 & January-February 2009
Lord Enrico Ashton (cover & perform)
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Metropolitan Opera
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