CIM Faculty Recital: Jung Eun Oh, soprano; Alicja Basinska, piano

Handel: Care Selve from Atlanta; Endless Pleasure, Engless Love from Semele
Bellini: Vaga luna, che inargenti
Schubert: Romanze aus Rosamunde; Ganymed; An den Mond; Nahe des Geliebten
Wolf: Mignon III; Citronenfalter im April
Hahn: L'Heure exquise; Sopra l'acqua
Debussy: Deux Romances
Argento: from Siz Elezabetethan Songs
Jung Eun Oh, soprano; Alicja Badinska, piano
at Cleveland Institute of Music's Kulas Hall.

I want to say -- and so I will -- that this was my first true vocal recital; I've heard vocalists at other recitals but I think this was the first time where the vocalist was the center of attention. As such, I don't really have any frame of reference to draw comparison. Based on the enthusiastic response of the voice students sitting around me, I'd say it rated pretty well.

Based on the weather and the number of things I still feel like I need to do for my little get together I was tempted to pass on tonight -- but then realizing I can only wash my floors so many times before it becomes excessive, and I needed a break from thinking about this (I really am thinking about it far too much -- a first time entertainer, I'm both really looking forward to it and worried about making some giant faux pas): Having mentioned to a friend earlier today that I really wanted to try more vocal music I thought it would be a touch hypocritical not to trek through the snow.

Anyway for the music: I was stunned by the powerful voice that came from Ms. Oh's lips when she first took the stage. Generally, I really enjoyed the English (Handel's Endless Pleasure, Endless Love; Argento from Six Elizabethan Songs) and was nearly hypnotized by the French (Hann's L'heure exquise; Debussy's Deux Romances). While they sounded beautiful, I was not nearly as captivated by the German (the collection of Schubert works, and Wolf's Mignon III [I did like Wolf's Citronenfalter im April]) or Italian (the majority of Hahn's works; Handel's Care Selve.

But I have to admit that I'm impressed that the evening rolled through four languages and none of them seemed to give Ms. Oh the slightest hesitation.

Lincoln