Wrentham09rev - Page: 1 of 1

Anthony Kearns presented the first of his east coast concerts, and also
the first of a weekend double-header, at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church,
in Wrentham, MA on Friday night, and it was a lovely, and varied program.
There were a couple of pieces that hadn't seen the light of day in several
years, a couple of recent beauties, a couple that I don't believe we here
in the east, have heard before, and a brand-new aria in his songlist.
There was also a new, interim, accompanist, Mr. David Wray, who has
been accompanying Anthony, while Patrick Healy takes a well-deserved break.
More about Mr. Wray a little later.

Anthony was in especially beautiful voice this night, and only by watching
him mop his brow, or watching the perspiration streaming down his face,
could anyone tell that the church was almost intolerably hot. I'm glad we were
in a church, because I could have sworn I saw Lucifer lurking in the far corner.
Many hand fans were swaying, in the audience. It was a shame we couldn't
have lent the performers a couple of ours!

Anthony began his concert with a lovely Schumann lied, "Du Bist Wie Eine
Blume," and it was radiantly sung. He followed with two Irish songs,
two of my favorites, "My Lagan Love" and "Down By the Salley Gardens."
Anthony captured the melancholy of love that was not to be, perfectly,
and it was crystal clear why Sir James Galway considers "Lagan Love"
to be one of his favorites, and why Anthony was recently asked to sing
in the Boston Synphony's tribute to Sir James, on his 70th birthday.
In fact, there were so many people at the reception who told Anthony
how much they loved that song, and would he possibly record it, that he
promised he would do so. Now....I heard it directly from the
Tenor's mouth, but....There was also a resurrection of sorts,
when "Eileen Og" came back into the program. The audience loved her. Another
piece which I don't think has been heard since about 2002, was "We'll Gather Lilacs
in the Spring" by Ivor Novello. Anthony brought the proper pre-WWI
nostalgia to the song, and it was heartbreakingly lovely. I did miss
the fact that Patrick had spoken the lyrics, as Anthony sang, the last time
it was performed, but nonetheless, the song is wonderful. Another
song which I had not heard Anthony do, was Tchaikovsky's "None But
the Lonely Heart," which he said was a particular favorite of his. I'm
not surprised. The beauty of his voice is particularly suited to the long,
legato lines and heartfelt emotion of the Russian composers such as
Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, and he sings them superbly.

Although we did not have the banter between the tenor and his
accompanist, as we did with Anthony and Patrick, our tenor still needed
a breather, so David Wray played Secret Garden's version of "Nocturne."
The first half ended with a rousing version of "Funiculi, Funicula,"
which was introduced in the 1950s, by Mario Lanza. I'm quite sure
Lanza couldn't have sung it any better.

The second half of the concert contained some of the most well-known,
and most difficult pieces in the classical literature. Anthony opened
with an "all-stops-out" version of Verdi's "La Donna e Mobile." It is
so famous, and Anthony tosses it off with such aplomb, that most
people don't realize that's it's quite a tricky piece, ending in a forte
high B natural. This, our tenor sang magnificently, including the difficult
cadenza which immediately precedes it. I definitely see the role of
the Duke in the opera "Rigoletto" in Anthony's future. It could have been
written for him. In appreciation of the venue, Anthony sang a marvelous
Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria." He also sang another lied, Schubert's lovely

"Standchen," or Serenade. The man is singing to his love. The final
words of the lied are "komm, beglucke mich," which translates as
"come, make me happy." Anthony succeeded admirably. He also reprised
the exquisite "Apres Un Reve," by Gabriel Faure, and the marvelous
"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," from Les Miserables, both of which
he sang last year. But the highlight of the evening to me was "La Fleur
Que Tu M'Avais Jetee", from Bizet's "Carmen." Also known as "The
Flower Song," it's one of the most famous arias ever written, and has been
sung by every great tenor from Caruso to Anthony Kearns. This one truly
is one of the most difficult tenor arias, because the tenor should sing the
final high B-flat softly. Many tenors cannot sing it that way, because they
have to lighten the voice to hit the note, and don't have the vocal
technique to support it. The great ones, like Caruso, Bjoerling,
Gedda, Bergonzi, all sang it correctly. Other famous tenors have
not done so well. Anthony Kearns went one better at this concert.
He hit the B-flat mezzo-forte (literally half-loud), and then decrescendoed
it to an exquisite pianissimo tone. All on one extraordinary breath.
The aforementioned tenors, many no longer with us, would have
been proud. Now that Anthony is the exalted age of 38, his voice,
which has begun to darken, is moving towards the more dramatic
music, while still maintaining the lighter quality of a lyric tenor. He's
doing a fine job of it; his voice is bigger and has more power. And his
lower register is quite strong,without being pushed. The concert
ended with Noel Coward's nostalgic "I'll See You Again." from his
musical "Bittersweet." It was truly a bittersweet ending to a wonderful
evening, with Anthony coaxing the audience to sing along. Throughout
the evening, David Wray accompanied brilliantly. Mr. Wray has a long
musical pedigree himself, performing in opera, concert, musical theatre,
working and touring with Veronica Dunne, to mention just a small part.
He played wonderfully, including a beautiful rendition of Faure's famous
"Pavane," and it was his graceful arrangement of "Danny Boy," which
Anthony sang at this concert. I never want Anthony's concerts to be
without Patrick Healy, but if for some reason Patrick is absent, I hope
David Wray will be be Anthony's accompanist. He is a top notch musician.

After two vibrant encores, "Granada" and "O Sole Mio," the cheering
audience finally let Anthony Kearns say "Good night, God bless,
Safe home." And we wish the same for Anthony and David Wray.

Berta Calechman