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A Faculty Recital @ Baldwin-Wallace College 4/5 The level of local talent available on any given Sunday in Cleveland's musical world is simply astonishing. Faculty members and guest artists combined for a stunning recital on Sunday afternoon in Gamble Auditorium on the Baldwin-Wallace Campus in Berea.

Tenor JR Fralick put together the unusual program consisting of the Five Canticles of Benjamin Britten. Each section is independent of the others, having been written over a span of 27 years beginning in 1947, and continuing until two years before Britten's death in 1976.

The man for whom they were written, the tenor Peter Pears, chose the poetry to be used; however, each of them were also influenced to some degree by the operatic work just completed by the composer. Thus while being independent, the hymn-like stanzas are still somewhat related to each other.

Three singers – tenor JR Fralick, countertenor John McElliott and baritone Al Glickson were joined by pianist Todd Wilson, harpist Jody Guinn and William Hoyt, horn. Just as each of the canticles tells its own story, so each also has its own instrumentation. Even with guest commentary by Stuart Raleigh, the entire cycle was performed in close to an hour. They were not performed in the order written: rather, number one was indeed first, and was followed by IV, V, II and III.

My Beloved is Mine used a homoerotic/religious verse by Francis Quarles (d1644), and was completed soon after Britten finished work on Albert Herring. It is for tenor and piano, and featured lyric passages offset by extremely challenging leaps in pitch for the vocalist.

Mssrs. Fralick, Glickson and McElliott performed Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot, which utilized very close three-part harmony and piano. The latter supplied the impression of falling snow, suitable to the tale. In Britten’s canon, it followed his Death in Venice.

The Death of Saint Narcissus, also by T. S. Eliot, which followed Turn of the Screw was rather playful sounding., the harp accompaniment providing a totally different ambiance from that provided by the piano. Mr. Raleigh stated that it’s hard to say just what the poem is really about, being an early work of the poet, but perhaps also not exactly truthful in its depiction of the death of the saint. He was not martyred, but died of old age in his own bed.

An entirely different look at history was provided by one of the 15th century Chester Miracle Plays, which tells the story of Abraham and Isaac, written just after Britten completed Billy Budd. Mr. Fralick sung the part of Abraham, while Mr. McElliott was Isaac, and together, sometimes in unison, sometimes in harmony, they were the voice of God. (With backs turned to the audience for those portions, only.) As in the earlier canticles, the accompaniment was provided by piano.

Somewhat reminiscent of his Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (will someone please perform this gorgeous piece?) is the final work on this program – Still Falls the Rain by Edith Sitwell. Mr. Hoyt joined Mr. Wilson at the piano and Mr. Fralick. For the first verses, the horn and piano engaged in a theme and variations format, while the tenor parts were of a recitative nature, sometimes declamatory, at that. At other times, the intention was of a sweeter nature. The final duet between Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Fralick was simply beautiful, in spite of any possible influence of the composer’s opera Turn of the Screw.

An amazing variety of musical performances are presented by The Conservatory at Baldwin-Wallace College. Visit their website for more information: http://www.bw.edu/academics/conservatory/events.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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