Nathan Gunn
Julie Gunn
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 7:30 PM
Program Details
Nathan Gunn, Baritone
Julie Gunn, Piano
Sonia Warfel, Dancer and Choreographer
Laura Chiaramonte, Video Design and Choreographer
David Warfel, Lighting Designer
Jason Lindahl, Assistant Lighting Designer
MESSIAEN
“Regard du Pere” from Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
FRANK FERKO
Five Songs on Poems of Thomas Merton
·· In Silence
·· Wisdom
·· The Evening of Visitation
·· Reduced to This
·· Song for Nobody
MESSIAEN
“Regard du Fils sur le Fils” from Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
FRANK FERKO
“For my Brother, Reported Missing in Action, 1943″
MESSIAEN
“Regard de l’Esprit de joie” from Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
BARBER
Hermit Songs, Op. 29
·· At St. Patrick’s Purgatory
·· Church Bells at Night
·· St. Ita’s Vision
·· The Heavenly Banquet
·· The Crucifixion
·· Sea-Snatch
·· Promiscuity
·· The Monk and His Cat
·· The Praises of God
·· The Desire for Hermitage
Baritone Nathan Gunn and his pianist wife Julie Gunn, along with dancer Sonia Warfel performed a somewhat serious program, without an intermission, last night at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York.
The program, shown above, consisted of piano music of Messiaen performed by Julie Gunn, and of songs by Frank Ferko and Samuel Barber sung by Nathan Gunn to his wife’s accompaniment. There were also choreographed movements (I would call almost none of it dance) performed by Sonia Warfel. Some of Nathan Gunn’s positioning on the stage and some hand gestures appeared to be choreographed as well.
Nathan and Julie Gunn stated in the program booklet notes: “In this presentation of songs about the monastic life, we have tried to strengthen our communication to the audience by heightening their emotional experience with the use of lighting, movement, and video. Our effort in this recital, like the daily efforts of the monastic orders, is to eliminate distractions and to focus on what we already can see. Stillness and silence are fundamental to this experience, and, paradoxically, the piano, voice, and dance are different ways of expressing this mystery.” What mystery one might well ask? Stillness and silence are not mysteries as far as I am aware. And who are these people to imagine that they have anything to tell an audience about the monastic life?
The three performers were dressed entirely in black, except for one white zipper on Nathan Gunn’s shirt. Sonia Warfel wore a black blouse with somewhat puffy short sleeves (there is probably a specific term for them but I don’t know it), black trousers, and black dance shoes. Julie Gunn wore a black sleeveless top with a somewhat low neckline, black trousers, and black shoes with high heels. Nathan Gunn wore a tuxedo suit (the jacket with peak lapels), black patent leather shoes, and a black shirt with a white zipper (unzipped at the top only about an inch or an inch and a half). He appeared to have a lot of product in his hair. He would have looked cleaner with a little less gel or whatever in the hair. His outfit looked amateurish. If one wants to be innovative, I think one should dispense with the tuxedo entirely. And conversely if one is going to wear a tuxedo, I think one should wear it with the traditional white tuxedo shirt and black tie.
I found the music of Messiaen and Barber interesting and enjoyable as abstract music. Julie Gunn is a capable pianist, and Nathan Gunn sings with a pleasant sound and enunciates relatively well, but not exceptionally well. If there was any communication, it did not get through to me. Nathan Gunn would have to articulate a bit more distinctly to communicate the songs’ texts to me. I heard words, but they did not register with me as sentences or concepts. With the Ferko songs, the overall effect was often quite boring, because the music is not interesting in and of itself, and the texts and their meanings just did not come across.
The visual projections on the back wall, words like “silence” or “life” and short phrases from a few of the songs, seemed to me like an unhelpful distraction. At a few times there were enlarged pictures of autumn leaves. So what?
Sonia Warfel moved around at times. Some of her movement might be described as flailing, and some of it as rolling on the floor. Some times she assumed postures such as lying on her side on the floor. Sometimes she just sat in a chair. I never felt that her movements were adding in any way to any semblance of communication, nor did the movements ever seem interesting in any way.
The artists are to be commended for attempting a variation on the usual song recital format, but ultimately I felt that they had not succeeded in meeting their own goals for the program. I did enjoy hearing the music of Messiaen and Barber, and on the whole I did enjoy the program somewhat, but with considerable reservations.
