Kate Royal Explores the Life Cycle of Love in Recital Debut

The Royal blush of love at Weill Recital Hall.
(Photo: Richard Termine/The New York Times)

Kate Royal, pregnant with her second child, made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in Weill Recital Hall on May 20, 2011. Zachary Woolfe reviews for The New York Times : "Her ambitious program, a kind of original song cycle, was entitled A Lesson in Love, and Ms. Royal divided it into four themed sections: Waiting, the Meeting, the Wedding and Betrayal. (Not the most optimistic trajectory, but so it goes.) While she conveyed a sweet hopefulness in the first two and a sense of serene happiness in the third, it was when heartbreak was her subject that she was truly memorable .....But the second half felt more varied and specific as the emotional content of the works matured and then darkened. The calm clarity of Duparc’s 'Extase' suited Ms. Royal perfectly, as did Fauré’s 'Donc, Ce Sera par un Clair Jour d’Été.' She gave a stunning rendition of Britten’s 'O Waly, Waly'; its combination of pain and hushed serenity seemed written for her voice, which did just what was indicated by the final line, when love 'fades away like morning dew.'" [Source]

Watch a video of Kate Royal singing at WQXR studios:

David Daniels & Dorothea Röschmann Impress at Carnegie Hall

Soprano Röschmann and Countertenor Daniels in duet
(Photo: Hiroyuki Ito/The New York Times)

"The program focused on Handel’s sober, reflective side, featuring several arias and duets from his 1725 opera Rodelinda. Mr. Daniels had a few moments of high-spirited virtuosity, but for the most part the selections played to both singers’ strengths: purity of line and sincerity of feeling. The ornamentation was clean and stylish throughout, and at the best moments, as in Ms. Röschmann’s 'V’adoro pupille' from Giulio Cesare, it gave the crucial illusion of spontaneity....The recital moved into quite another sphere in the encores: Ms. Röschmann’s transcendent “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Rinaldo and Mr. Daniels’s deeply felt 'Ch’io parta' from Partenope. The final encore was the only selection by a composer other than Handel: 'Pur ti miro,' the love duet from the end of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. This is as expressive as music gets, and Ms. Röschmann and Mr. Daniels traded off the arching phrases with floating eloquence and poise over a steady bass line. It was simply flawless. In its beauty and restraint, its sense of tremendous energy and emotion held in just barely, the performance captured everything the Baroque can teach us." [Source]