Metropolitan Opera soprano Arleen Auger delivered a pleasingly paced recital at New York City's 92nd Street Yon January 22.
Miss Auger is one of those singers who could sing in any language and make an audience feel included, whether they know the language or not.
This time the language was German. The content was love songs. Miss Auger's program covered a century of Romantic song, beginning with a set by the youthful Franz Schubert and ending with Gustav Mahler at his best in the five pieces she had chosen. Each piece was a jewel in itself; each had a character distinct from the others.
The first set of six selections established a strong tone for the evening. Although Miss Auger, who had yet to find her stride, sang conservatively, she invested each selection with sincerity, as well as with the acute sense of style that was to characterize her work throughout two entire hours of singing.
The conservatism was at least partially deliberate. Noteworthy in the first six of the eleven Schubert selections was the lightness with which Miss Auger (capable of singing to the upper balconies of the outsized Metropolitan Opera House) delivered them in Kaufman Hall to a relatively intimate audience of about seven hundred.
The singer established a considerable rapport with her audience in her first selection, "Frulings-glaube" ("Spring Faith"), with a tender interpretation of the Ludwig Uhland verses. Miss Auger's commitment carried into the next selection as well, with a graceful performance of "Der Schmetterling" ("The Butterfly").
An aura of near-reverence seemed to arise in the hall as, opening with seeming effortlessness on the initial piano high tone, Miss Auger began "Nacht und Traume" ("Night and Dreams"). Accompanist Dalton Baldwin, whose piano playing was a treat in itself as he complemented the soprano's work, was a particularly rewarding presence here as he introduced the key change in the middle of this selection with a minute, but very satisfying, breath of delay.
The fourth selections, "Liebe schwarmt auf allen Wegen" ("Love Throngs Every Path"), changed the pace completely as Miss Auger assimilated the naivete of the almost childlike Goethe poem. The subtle underlying uncertainties, present in the accompaniment and not in the vocal lines, were also sensitively presented by Mr. Baldwin.
In the next selection, "Erster Verlust" ("First Loss"), Miss Auger's realization of the music was altogether comprehensive, to the extent that every breath was an integral part of her interpretation.
The high point of the first set was the immortal "Gretchen am Spinnrade" ("Gretchen at the Spinning-wheel"). Suffice it to say that this reviewer has never heard a more convincing rendition than this one, as Miss Auger, by now in full stride, built the drama to the point where the signature line, "Und ach, sein Kuss!" ("And, ah, his kiss!") was a most arresting moment.
In the second set of the recital Miss Auger, her voice free and warm, presented four
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