University of Virginia Library

MUSIC

Welsh Tenor Burrows
Warms His Audience

By Roy Bonavita
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Stuart Burrows, tenor,
received one of the most
enthusiastic receptions accorded
any artist at the University in quite
some time when he performed
concert arias, operatic arias and
lieder in Cabell Hall for the TECS.
The program had both breadth and
depth, included works of Scarlatti,
Handel, Mozart, Schubert,
Massenet, Faure, a hasty
substitution of Donizetti for one of
the Massenet arias, Verdi, and Cilea.

The concert becomes
remarkable for several reasons. The
first, of course, is that Mr. Burrows
has a very fine vocal instrument
which he does, for the most part,
use to great advantage. Secondly,
no one can fail to appreciate' how
much the audience enjoyed Mr.
Burrows, and he now falls into the
wonderful category of
Schwarzkopf, Sutherland, Home,
Haefliger, Alva, Prey and other
great singers who have recited for
us, this once again confirming the
need to have at least one solo singer
on this series each year.

Well Projected

Mr. Burrows' voice, like so many
Welshmen (they are quite numerous
in the operatic world today), is
high, pure, and generally well
projected. He is possessed of a
handsome figure, which he uses
with taste and poise on the stage.

The dignity of his bearing will
be especially welcome on the
operatic stage where one is all too
familiar with stagnant tenors and
baritones who are, or appear to be,
rooted to a spot until the curtain
falls. Mr. Burrows' actions are a
marvellous blend of Corelli's
continually over-animated
self-indulgence and Herman Prey's
creeping stage movements.

Appreciates Italian

Mr. Burrows warmed the
audience with Scarlatti concert
arias, and very beautiful they were.
His intonation and coloration were
remarkable, and he has a real
appreciation for the Italian
language which is a very good thing
in and of itself, but especially since
this is obviously his forte. Handel's
"Waft her, angels" from the
oratorio "Jeptha" was easily the
best part of the first half of the
program.

Mr. Burrows' diction was
absolutely crystal clear, as was the
projection and support of each
note; he was comfortable in all of
it, and the audience sensed his case
and style most sympathetically. All
of this is particularly fitting for
Handel's works, and it is this
which has caused so many
musicologist to reevaluate Handel's
masterpieces.

Mr. Burrows is not a lieder
singer. He should avoid the German
art song as it is not part of his
natural style, and I rather suspect
he does not have great sympathy
for it.

It is possible to give a recital
without singing Schubert and/or
Wolf! Instead, he would have been
much better advised to concentrate
on the French works which he
handled very nicely indeed, with a
minimum of "mushy" mouth work
in a difficult language to sing with
clarity. The "Lydia" and
"Toujours" of Faure were very
gratifying. Ryan Edwards' was
especially good with his
accompaniment in the Faure songs.

Mozart Arias

Two Mozart arias, from his
operas The Magic Flute and Don
Giovanni respectively, delighted the
audience, and despite some quite
audible straining on the high notes,
they came off beautifully and with
a lot of style. Mr. Burrows so
enjoyed the audience that he
substituted Donizetti's "Una furtiva
lagrima" for one of the Massenet
arias. I'd rather have heard the
Massenet as it is rarely performed,
but this was Mr. Burrows way of
saying "thank you" three-quarters
through the program, and comes
from a tradition long established by
Caruso, Valetti, and other great
tenors. It was very beautifully sung.

The evening was rounded by an
aria from Verdi's Luisa Miller and
Cilea's "E la solita storia del
pastore", and brought the audience
to its feet for a very long ovation,
which was further rewarded when
Mr. Burrows sang another Mozart
aria.

Reminder: Joel Lazar conducts
the University/Community
Orchestra in a free concert this
Friday at 8:30 p.m. in Cabell Hall.