David Gordon Charms and Entertains
by
Lyn Bronson
Daniel Lockert, Jeffrey Fields, Jenni Samuelson & David Gordon
It is always impressive to observe David Gordon in action.
Thus, it was no surprise that his presentation last night for the Mozart Society
of California at Sunset Center in Carmel, entitled “David Gordon & Friends —
Encountering Mozart,” delivered the goods. Mr. Gordon turned out to be the
proverbial jack of all trades, for we heard him sing, we heard him as the
ever-charming host, and we heard him as an astute and entertaining lecturer on
the subject of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although he didn’t specifically discuss
Mozart’s symphonies, the piano sonatas, the concertos or the chamber works, but
rather limited himself to Mozart’s operas, this turned out to be totally
appropriate, since just about everything Mozart ever composed carries the
tell-tale signs of operatic influence. Plus, on the subject of opera, Gordon
knows of which he speaks.
Gordon presented two outstanding young vocalists on the
evening’s program, soprano Jenni Samuelson and baritone Jeffrey Fields. Also
joining the ensemble was assisting pianist Daniel Lockert, who grappled with
orchestra reductions, open score reading and in one case providing from memory a
page missing from the score — and he made it all look incredibly easy. This may
sound as though we were invited to someone’s home to hear a few musicians
assembling to give us an hour or two of informal “Hausmusik,” and certainly
Gordon’s informal presentation was geared to reduce the formality of a standard
vocal recital where the participants rarely speak to the audience, thus erecting
a curtain wall of silence separating performers from the audience. But, even
taking into account the informality, there was nothing amateurish about the
performances we heard during the evening. This was singing on a very high level
indeed, and the illuminating commentary from the performers made it all that
much more enjoyable for the audience.
Jenni Samuelson & Jeffrey Fields
Gordon started the evening off with a simple aria,
Dalla sua pace, from Don Giovanni, and it was a marvel of heartfelt emotion,
with Gordon in fine voice communicating with directness and simplicity. We then
had an opportunity to hear soprano Samuelson in a lovely rendition of In
Uomini from Cosi fan tutte and baritone Fields in an impressive performance
of Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen from The Magic Flute. It was
significant that Samuelson and Fields during the evening both sang “works in
progress” that were quite new to their repertoire, and they sang them
fabulously. Samuelson gave us a real show stopper in the Alleluja from
Exultate jubilate, and Fields impressed us with his Se vuol ballare
from The Magic Flute. Another show stopper was Pa-pa-pa-pa duet between
Samuelson and Fields, also from The Magic Flute.
Members of the audience obviously enjoyed the informal
discussion by each of the musicians describing how Mozart came into their lives
and affected them profoundly (I especially enjoyed hearing about David Gordon’s
days as a “hippie” playing guitar in a Bluegrass band in Wooster, Ohio).
David Gordon, Jenni Samuelson & Jeffrey Fields
So, we heard some lovely singing during this evening, and
all the musicians came together for the final trio, Grazie agl’inganni tuoi.
It was splendid. As is the custom of the Mozart Society of California, we were
treated to a lovely reception in the lobby of Sunset Center where audience
members had an opportunity to meet and speak with the artists.
