when I attended Gabriel Preisser's 
Master recital last evening at St. Philips'.
Master recital last evening at St. Philips'. This may not sit well with everyone , but I am not fond of that space.
IMO, the vastness of this church space distorts the voices - this was not the first recital I attended there,, so I know whereof I speak ;-).
But that aside, rich sounding Baritone Gabriel Preisser delivered what he promised during many a performance at U of H Moores Opera House (Now, that is a space with great acoustics).
His program included a selection of German Lieder (C.P.E. Bach 1714-1788), French composer's Henri Duparc (1848-1933) rareties
an example here with Russian Baritone D. Hvorostosky (not the songs Preisser presented-but it will give you a feel for the music),
an excerpt from "I Pagliacci" (Leoncavallo 1857-1919) with soprano Amanda Kingston as Nedda, accompanied fittingly on the piano throughout by Katherine Ciscon 
and my favorite, "The Pilgrimage", a cantata, by Carlisle Floyd (1926- ) which he delivered with expressive sound and empathy, vocally and visually. And so apropriate for the space (church). These songs by Floyd are also rarely performed, I believe only one or two singers have attempted them and/or recorded some of them.
and my favorite, "The Pilgrimage", a cantata, by Carlisle Floyd (1926- ) which he delivered with expressive sound and empathy, vocally and visually. And so apropriate for the space (church). These songs by Floyd are also rarely performed, I believe only one or two singers have attempted them and/or recorded some of them. The titles are (to proof my point): Man that is born of a woman; Save me, o Lord..; O Lord, Thou hast searched me..; Praise the Lord, o my soul..; and For I am persuaded..;.This is a younger Samuel Ramey singing the aria 'Oh Lord, I beseech thee' by Olin Blitch in Floyd's opera 'Susanna', rather similar music to parts of "The Pilgrimage".
