Voice Recital at Brookline Public Library wows audience

Event occured Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 7 PM, Brookline Public Library, Brookline MA

Light Opera and Broadway hits

50 people came out on an ordinary Thursday night in spring to watch something extraordinary. Olga Lisovskaya soprano, Bulent Guneralp baritone, and pianist Boris Fogel presented 20 gems from the classics, Broadway and seldom-heard Russian film and opera music.

Lisovskaya took her talent to the lighter side of the operatic spectrum and started with three famous arias that showed her acting ability on top of a lovely voice. J. Strauss’s “Adele’s Laughing Song”, Offenbach’s “Doll Song” where she is a mechanical doll singing thoughtlessly and with a slightly disconnected brain, and Offenbach’s “Périchole's aria” where she is tipsy and sings about her own alcoholic haze (picture Virginia Woolf drunkenly dominating the dinner party). She chose a very challenging collection of songs and sang them effortlessly; you could relax in the artistry of her other talents beyond the vocal.

In the opening numbers, this reviewer laughed out loud (to the amazement of his fourteen year old daughter) with every extreme of Lisovskaya’s emotion --- from giddy laughter to her drunk abandon as she staggered next to the piano.. She was dressed beautifully in pink gown and had a placid comportment …. but her hand gestures and facial expressions were absolutely in service to whatever she sang, and she was comforting and delightful to watch. She spoke a few words now and then to introduce pieces. I felt a rich intelligence in what she does. She knows she is a storyteller rather than a vocal gymnast, and brings understanding beyond the words, in her voice and her actions.

She chose guest baritone Bulent Guneralp to do some American standards from Broadway. He has a deep voice, and has a rakish and debonair air about him well suited to a favorite number from Guys and Dolls, “I’ll Know” and Loesser’s “Once in Love with Amy.” From South Pacific, he sang “This Nearly Was Mine”. Guneralp, too, goes beyond merely mastering the song; he moves, he chuckles, he winks and instantly creates a vivid character to put across these songs. Together, he and Lisovskaya are the perfect duo. Perfect interpretation and emotional impact as if they ARE the characters they sing.

Boris Fogel is a master accompanist whose forte is Russian film and show music. He was constantly in control, but not dominating, and had a wonderful smile for the artists as they finished each piece. He took little acclaim for himself, but this reviewer appreciates what an important role is the accompanist; he can make or break the magic his solo partners weave. He did one piano solo, a potpourri of Russian music by Kalman. Lisovskaya remarked “nobody in the world can play these quite like him”.

The last four pieces of the program were by a Russian film composer, I. Dunaevsky. It was a heavily Russian-speaking audience. As I looked around the room I saw several people with their hands clasped in delight and deep smiles on their faces, like they were receiving rare gifts. This is music-making --- it obviously transported the listeners to happy realms.

Encore: Rossini’s “Duet for Two Cats”. They fooled the audience by announcing they were going to do a duet with very difficult lyrics to remember. It turned out the words were simply, “Meow Meow”. But oh what fun with nuance, innuendo, and gesture. After an entire evening of masterful emoting in every human situation portrayed, this was a crowning piece of fun, and took us by surprise.

It was a very successful evening of artistry, highlighting the smaller-scale song formats, as compared to grand opera with all its high intrigue, murder, and mayhem. A twenty-faceted dessert platter, as compared to a heavy, cloying brownie in three acts.

Jagan Nath Khalsa

Critic at Large