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04.20.10
Richard Jaeger
The Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society does not
normally present solo recitals as part of their
season offering but Sunday's program was an
exception in a couple of ways. Soprano Beth Ann
Swinson performed on the March concert "Indiana
Composers" concert and then appeared on the April
program at Duncan Hall in a full recital with the
assistance of pianist Shellie Johnson and violinist
Regan Eckstein.
Swinson is a West Lafayette native who now lives in
Chicago and performs extensively in the East and
Midwest. Her training was at the Manhattan School
of Music, a highly regarded school that is regularly
ranked with the major schools of the region as well a
s throughout the United States. Her rich soprano is
equally at home in the fields of opera and oratorio
as well as the solo art and she proved to be a master
of the art songs of Italy, Germany and France,
especially the latter.
A rich mixture of song literature was chosen and
having proved her mettle last month in
contemporary American song, she delved into the
music that featured poetry and music famous the
world over. Poets included Goethe, Ruckert, Heine,
Victor Hugo and Dickinson. Composers included J.
S. Bach, Vivaldi, the Schumanns, Hugo Wolf and
Britain's musical laureate Vaugan-Williams. But
surprisingly, no Franz Schubert, perhaps the most
prolific songwriter of 19th century Europe.
Of particular beauty were the two selections of French composers Gabriel Fauré and Claude
Debussy. Swinson identifies with the melodic and
harmonic intricacies of these two masters and
seemed very much at home in Fauré's "En Priere" and
Debussy's "Beau Soir."
Fauré, whose métier leaned toward sacred music,
often stepped out of this chosen path, however and
while "Priere" is a work for church, the lush
harmonies sound like a love song. Debussy's
impressionistic offering describes the setting sun
over a river in France both poetically and musically
with its flowing piano accompaniment.
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