STANFORD OLSEN, Virtuoso Series, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Wednesday
Utah's musical native son, tenor Stanford Olsen, paid a return visit to Salt Lake City on Wednesday as part of the Virtuoso Series. Accompanied by pianist Paul Dorgan, Olsen sang a wide-ranging and eclectic program that spanned the English renaissance (John Dowland) to the 20th century (Michael Tippett). There was also music by Edouard Lalo, Hugo Wolf and Gaetano Donizetti.
Olsen has had a long career that has included numerous performances at the Met and other opera houses in the United States and Europe. And Wednesday, one could get an occasional glimmer of the tenor of old in his lyrically infused singing, his expressiveness and in his finely nuanced delivery.
However, one could also hear all too frequently that Olsen's voice isn't in its prime anymore. He sounded at his best in the middle register; he had trouble with his high notes and also his sustained tones, especially in soft passages. But fortunately, much of the music he sang fell into his comfort zone.
Dorgan was a fine accompanist for Olsen. He followed him attentively and supported him solidly and never overpowered him. Dorgan showed he understands the art of accompaniment.
The concert opened with four songs by Dowland that Olsen sang with sweet lyricism. And as the evening wore on, one realized that these songs actually suited him best — they put no strain on his voice and they were a pleasantly sounding set of pieces.
Wolf's settings of five songs with texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe followed next. Olsen sang these beautifully eloquent and touching pieces with wonderful expressiveness and a keen ear for nuances.
A set of songs by Lalo, who is mainly known today for his "Symphonie espagnole" and Cello Concerto, closed out the first half. Olsen brought out the captivating melodicism of the songs, but as with the Wolf songs, they were marred by the repeated problem Olsen had throughout the evening of hitting the high notes.
Tippett is a mostly neglected composer in the United States, so it was surprising that Olsen decided to start the second half with Tippett's "Boyhood's End" from 1943. Not one of the composer's more representative pieces, it boasts some virtuosic wrting for both the pianist and the tenor, and Dorgan acquitted himself well, as did Olsen for the most part, although his singing was again uneven.
The brief 90-minute concert ended rather disappointingly with "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore." The aria brought back memories of what Olsen was capable of in his prime, but Wednesday there were only faint glimpses of that.