Juliane Banse
by Janos Gereben, Post Arts Editor
Juliane Banse |
When you think of musical ensembles numbering three, that would normally be a piano trio or three voices such as "that heavenly Trio ending 'Der Rosenkavalier'."
On Thursday, a new kind of of ensemble made its appearance in Beall Hall, consisting of soprano Juliana Banse, bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, and pianist Justus Zeyen, in an Oregon Bach Festival concert that will stay with the listeners for a long, long time.
How great was it? After two encores and a genuine standing ovation (not of those crouching-while- everybody-else-stretches-anyway), the audience erupted in a kind of rhythmic "East European clapping" that brings to mind political rallies in a totalitarian country.
Please note, right up front, that I deviate from the festival program "party line" calling Quasthoff a bass-baritone, rather than a bass. At the Thursday trio heaven, he sang Osmin from "Abduction from the Seraglio," and that's as "bass" as you can get (even if "soprano" Banse also hit that range, hilariously), but than he sang a superb "La ci darem la mano" from "Don Giovanni," the very epitome of (low) baritone repertory... as is Papageno, from "The Magic Flute," with Banse's magical Papagena. The truth is that somewhere in this world there exists an actual recording of Quasthoff singing Tamino, but I will refrain from calling him a bass-tenor.
For a man reluctant to sing opera, Quasthoff may well be the finest operatic bass-baritone of our time. It was that "Don Giovanni" excerpt, performed as an encore, that revealed the reason for that bold theory.
With all the superlatives written about Quasthoff, he is still not getting acknowledged for having an OPERATIC voice of unique warmth, elegance, power, and complete command of both the material and the audience. Perhaps most importantly, as Giovanni, the terribly incorrect but irrestible hero, here is the voice of seduction, clear and simple. Quasthoff the opera singer is seductive as none other.
Even his non-operatic selections at the concert had all the hallmark of the genre: in Debussy's "Three Francois Villon Ballades," the drama and comedy were obvious and terrific. In two Mozart concert arias, especially "Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo" -- originally written for "Cosi fan Tutte" -- the best of operatic and concert music fused and climaxed in excellence.
In any dual-recital concert such as this, the singer not performing normally would sit and wait. Banse -- in an amazing magenta outfit -- stood all the way through, performing fairly obscure Mozart arias and Debussy's "Five Early Songs" without a scrap of paper around -- exhibiting a degree of preparation and participation that all by itself would qualify her for superlatives. And so her impeccable intonation, affecting use of a large, flexible and beautiful voice, her presence and delicious sense of humor constituted a kind of "bonus" for the grateful audience.
The notable thing about Zeyen, an equal partner in the recital in every way, is that his piano accompaniment has a range from a whisper in Debussy to a convincing impersonation of a whole orchestra in the opera excerpts. As usual, Zeyen both accompanied and provided steady leadership for the singers. His work was just as grand and significant as the performances by the singers.