Soprano Golda Schulz (courtesy of San Francisco Performances)
Last night in Herbst Theatre San Francisco Performances launched its Art of Song series with a recital by South African soprano Golda Schulz, accompanied at the piano by Jonathan Ware. The performance served as the San Francisco recital debut for both Schulz and Ware, but Schulz had already made her San Francisco debut with the San Francisco Opera in the fall of 2018. On that occasion she sang the role of the angle Clara in the San Francisco premiere of Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life.
The title of the recital was This be her verse, which was also the title of a cycle of three songs composed by Kathleen Tagg on a commission from Schulz. The texts were provided by Lila Palmer, and last night’s performance was the cycle’s West Coast premiere. This cycle concluded a program based entirely on art song by female composers.
The first half of the program was devoted heavily to songs by Clara Schumann and Emily Mayer, the latter having been a major figure as a composer during the nineteenth century. (The reputation of her contemporary Schumann had more to do with her keyboard performances.) The twentieth century was also devoted to two contemporaries, Rebecca Clarke and Nadia Boulanger, born within a year of each other and both dying at the end of a fruitful life in the same year, 1979.
For many this was probably a “first contact” experience for all of the selections on Schulz’ program. Nevertheless, there was some familiarity in the texts being set. Thus, for those that attend vocal recitals regularly, Schultz cast a new light on Friedrich Rückert’s “Liebst du um Schönheit” (I love you for beauty). This text is better known for Gustav Mahler’s setting, but Schumann composed hers at the other end of the same century!
Mayer’s setting of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Erlkönig” (the second of two) has a particularly interesting history. Her teacher was Carl Loewe, who had composed his own setting before he encountered the more familiar version by Franz Schubert. Mayer’s first setting of “Erlkönig” was composed while she was Loewe’s student, while the second was written a year after Loewe’s death. Loewe’s version had another significant influence: The opening gesture would find its way into Mahler’s “Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer” (I have a gleaming knife), the third of the four songs in his Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (songs of a wayfarer).
Another “anchor of familiarity” could be found in the Boulanger selections. The first and last songs of Schultz’ set, “La mer est plus belle” and “Cantique” were recently recorded by tenor Nicholas Phan. His Clairières album showcased the music of both Boulanger and her younger sister Lili.
However, if the occasions of familiarity were few, Schultz’ delivery brought a clear sense of the dispositions underlying each of her selections. (Perhaps through her opera experience she cultivated a sense of how expressiveness involves just the right blend of the musical with the physical.) The result was that each of her selections, both individually and how they were grouped, left the attentive listener with a confident sense of satisfaction. That satisfaction continued into the novelty of Schulz’ encore selection, Amy Beach’s setting of Robert Browning’s “I Send My Love Up to Thee.” (Was this one of the songs that Beach composed when she was living in San Francisco? [question answered 1/28, 7:25 a.m.: The Beach settings of Browning poems were published in 1900. She did not come to San Francisco until 1916.])
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