A LIEDER ALIVE! Birthday Celebration Recital

Jeffrey LaDeur accompanying Kindra Scharich yesterday afternoon at Old First Presbyterian Church (from the YouTube video of the performance)

Late yesterday afternoon at the Old First Presbyterian Church LIEDER ALIVE! presented a program to celebrate the 75th birthday of its founder and director, Maxine Bernstein. Pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, who has provided accompaniment for many of the LIEDER ALIVE! recitals, performed with mezzo Kindra Scharich. The program consisted of vocal works by two major composers from the nineteenth century: Robert Schumann in the first half and Johannes Brahms (whose work was encouraged by Schumann) in the second.

The first half of the program was devoted entirely to Schumann’s Opus 39, his Liederkreis cycle of twelve songs, setting twelve poems from Joseph von Eichendorff's collection entitled Intermezzo. The second half drew upon several collections by Johannes Brahms, drawing upon Opera 3, 33, 43, 47, 63, 72, 86, and 105. (Opus 43 was the only one to account for more than one song.) This assortment may have run the risk of coming across as “one thing after another;” but I have found that each of the texts that Brahms selected has its own unique perspective. Scharich seemed to grasp the diversity of those perspectives, making the “journey” as engaging as the narrative behind Schumann’s song cycle.

Many readers probably know that Schumann encouraged Brahms during the early stages of the latter’s career. Indeed, he was so close to both Robert and Clara Schumann that he took it upon himself to look after the welfare of the latter after the former’s relatively early death. That encouragement led to an engaging diversity of subject matter in Brahms’ approach to composing his songs. Scharich clearly appreciated that diversity, ordering her individual selections in such as way that unfolded as a journey as convincing as Schumann’s narrative.

LIEDER ALIVE! is, indeed, “alive and well;” and here is hoping that it will continue to thrive through the talents of vocalists such as Scharich.