Those who attended a recital at Tagney Jones Hall on January 27 were treated to three remarkable singers accompanied by a superbly accomplished pianist, all African American. In the light of Seattle Opera’s upcoming production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, this choice was a ringing affirmation of the value and skill of today’s African American musical talent.
The three singers were Ibidunni Ojikutu, soprano, Joshua Conyers, baritone, and Ellaina Lewis, soprano, with pianist Kevin Miller. Their chosen repertoire covered a wide range, from art songs to Italian opera to the stirring “Impossible Dream” from The Man of La Mancha.
The first three pieces were art songs by African American composers, Undine Smith Moore, Florence Price, and H. Leslie Adams, likely not too familiar to most of the audience. But as Conyers explained after all three were sung, they were chosen for that exact reason: to showcase work that should be better known and more widely appreciated.
The trio of operatic works were from a variety of composers and styles, from the verismo of Andrea Chenier (Conyers) and Adriane Lecouvreur (Ojikutu) to the bel canto of La sonnambula (Lewis). Each was a showpiece for its style. Conyers and Ojikutu conveyed the strength and passion their arias called for, while Lewis showed off her expertise with the elaborate trills and embellishments a bel canto aria uses to convey its emotion.
Three very different pieces made up the third portion of the recital. Lewis began with a thrilling version of the spiritual “I want Jesus to Walk with Me.” Her glorious soprano conveyed not just the beauty of the music, but the passion of the words being sung. Ojikutu thrilled the audience with a fascinating song ,“The Flagmaker, 1775,” which tells of the response of a woman watching a Revolutionary War battle and realizing her only hope is to continue making the flag of the new country trying to birth itself in freedom.
Conyers’ rendition of “Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha to conclude the recital was as stirring and moving as I’ve ever heard it sung! A great performance requires a fabulous encore, and the audience certainly got that: “Soave sia il vento,” the rousing finale from Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte.
There will be two more opportunities to see a performance of “The Human Family” on February 10 at 1:00 PM at the Federal Way Library, and on February 29 at 7:00 PM at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.