Konrad Jarnot, Braving Flu And Wagner

By Tom Huizenga
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, December 5, 2007; C14

Singers less brave than Konrad Jarnot might have postponed their Washington recital debut at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Monday night, but the young British baritone courageously went on with the show … The evening provided glimpses of Jarnot's silky, supple voice … Instead of lieder staples by Schubert and Schumann, Jarnot assembled a moody, dark program (perfectly matched to the blustery night) of rarely sung music by Liszt, Wagner and Duparc, all of which seemed haunted by the spirit of "Tristan und Isolde."

Wagner wrote his "Wesendonck Lieder" … Jarnot tried his best to convey the humid, claustrophobic atmosphere of "Im Treibhaus," with some lovely phrasing in his handsome upper register.

["Ich möchte hingehen" Liszt] is a profound meditation on death. When the text spoke of the "blue depths of heaven," Jarnot lightened his voice, raising it gently skyward … Duparc's "Serenade Florentine" lies higher in the voice and afforded Jarnot some of his best singing of the evening.

Credit goes both to Jarnot, who toughed out a brilliantly challenging program, and to the Vocal Arts Society, which continues its reputation for presenting important singers at the thresholds of great careers.

D.C. Recital Debut of Konrad Jarnot

The Vocal Arts Society's presentation of baritone Konrad Jarnot at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater was exceptional. Although Jarnot delayed his arrival to Washington by two days to combat the flu, vocal coarseness was seldom heard in his full program of songs by Wagner, Liszt, and Duparc. Jarnot’s rich, stable tone and vivid storytelling ability reminded one of his teacher, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

… However, Liszt's Five Selected Songs provided an opportunity for adventuresome harmonic landscapes and pianism. Hebbell’s poem Blume und Duft seemed to stop and go, as if one were stopping to smell different flowers while lost in profound thought. In Liszt's gripping setting of Heine’s poem about the golden-haired Loreley, the maiden’s lovely music is tragically interrupted, when a boatman’s attention is diverted toward the maiden instead of the rocks in his path. The musical storm to follow featured Jarnot’s strongest singing; the walls shook … Pianist Alexander Schmalcz provided superb support from the piano …