photo: Susan Wilson
Sanford Sylvan
baritone
"Its most striking quality is sheer
beauty, emerging in sudden flashes in rich,
dark low notes or the majesty of full high
fortes."
New York
Times
(Updated December 2006 - Please discard any previous versions)
From Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin and the Passions of J.S. Bach to the operas of John Adams, American baritone Sanford Sylvan displays a remarkable range of vocal expression and communicative power. On the concert stage and in recordings, his radiantly pure, lyric tone, clarity of diction and profound understanding of both words and music speak directly and intimately to his audience.
Deeply committed to the art of the vocal recital, Mr. Sylvan and his long-time collaborator, pianist David Breitman, have performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, in major venues in London, New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Their recitals and recordings have earned exceptional praise from critics and audiences, including three Grammy nominations for Best Classical Vocal Performance.
In the realm of opera, Mr. Sylvan is an acclaimed Mozartean. His portrayals of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte have been seen internationally, including PBS "Great Performances." He has been much acclaimed for the role of Leoprello in Don Giovanni, which he sang for his Glyndebourne Festival debut 1994 and with New York City Opera where he has since become a regular performer in such operas as The Magic Flute, Ariodante, The Rape of Lucretia and most recently Handel's Semele. Sanford Sylvan has become closely associated with the productions of renowned directors: Peter Sellars in works of John Adams, Mozart and Stravinsky; Robert Wilson in Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts as well as Sir Peter Hall and Andrei Serban. He has developed longstanding relationships with major composers who have written for him: John Adams' Nixon In China (Chou En-Lai), the title role of The Death of Klinghoffer and The Wound Dresser; and numerous works of John Harbison. He was in the US premiere of The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies, the world premiere of Philip Glass' The Juniper Tree, and sang Sir Michael Tippett's The Ice Break at the BBC Proms, recorded for Virgin Classics. In March 2004 he sang his first Wotan in Wagner's Die Walküre; a Christopher Alden condensed production with New York's Eos Orchestra. 2004 also brought the premiere of the film of John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer in which he portrays the title role. The film received much acclaim and numerous internaitonal awards including a Grammy nomination. In summer 2005 he made an acclaimed Gilmmerglass Opera debut as Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.
Sanford Sylvan has performed with many of the leading orchestras of the world including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Royal Concertgebouworkest, London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Academy of Ancient Music, Melbourne Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation) Symphony. He has collaborated with such conductors as Simon Rattle, James Levine, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Herbert Blomstedt, Christopher Hogwood, Kent Nagano, Helmuth Rilling, Bruno Weil , Roger Norrington, and Edo De Waart, among many others. The Los Angeles Philharmonic commissioned Steven Stucky's American Muse for him, the premiere conducted by Esa Pekka Salonen. Again with Maestro Salonen and the LA Philharmonic, he sang Haydn's Creation for the first week of subscription concerts in their new Walt Disney Concert Hall in fall 2004. Recent performances include Schoenberg's Moses und Aron with the Boston Symphony under James Levine and Handel's Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony. In spring 2007 he will sing the world premiere of Christopher Rouse's Reqiem with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which will be recorded for Telarc.
Sylvan's festival appearances have included the Edinburgh, Tanglewood, Vienna, Holland, Schleswig-Holstein and Ojai,.. He has longstanding relationships with the Carmel Bach Festival and the New England Bach Festival where he performs annually. In 2003, he made his debut with the Oregon Bach Festival under Helmuth Rilling, where he returned this summer. As a chamber musician he has performed, toured and recorded with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music from Marlboro, , the Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble, Ensemble Sequentia, Emmanuel Music and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players with whom he recorded John Harbison's Words from Paterson.
Sanford Sylvan's recordings are known throughout the world and appear on the Nonesuch, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, Musicmasters, Bridge, Koch, Virgin Classics, New World and CRI labels. A Grammy and Emmy Award winner for his role in John Adams' Nixon In China, he has received Grammy nominations for his recording with David Breitman, L'Horizon Chimérique which features chanson of Gabriel Fauré, Beloved That Pilgrimage, a program of American songs with music by Barber, Copland and Chanler, and for John Adams' The Wound Dresser. A new recording of Bach with the Sarasa Ensemble was released in spring 2006.
Discography
/ Press
Comments / Opera
Repertoire / Orchestra
Repertoire
David Breitman
bio
High
resolution photos
European Representation:
Andrew Rosner, Allied Artists
42 Montpelier Square, London SW7 1JZ, England
tel: 011 44 171 589 6243 / fax: 011 44 171 581 5269
Press Comments - Opera and Orchestra appearances:
Bach and Mozart the Carmel Bach Festival,
Bruno Weil, conductor:
"The concert gave the audience the first tastes of the thrilling solo
voice of returning baritone Sanford Sylvan."
Monterey Herald - July 18
"The outstanding soloists, whose voices
created colorful word pictures, included Sanford Sylvan,
baritone."
Monterey Herald - July 19
"Weil showed the connection between
"Symphony No. 41 and the concert aria 'Un bacio di mano' sung with
jovial elegance by baritone Sanford Sylvan. More baritone splendor
came from Sylvan in the humorous and popular aria 'Non piu andrai.'
The evening closed with a sensational set from 'Figaro with Sylvan,
tenor Alan Bennett and Russell."
Monterey Herald - July 20, 2006
"Among the recital series highlights were
the opportunities to hear Sylvan sing."
Monterey Herald - August 3.
Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem
and Haydn's Missa in tempore belli, Vermont Symphony:
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan sang the 'Qui tollis' with simplicity
and heart-wrenching expressiveness. This was a grand performance. And
it was responded to by the audience, first with respectful silence,
then an enthusiastic standing ovation."
Montpellier Times Argus - March 14. 2006
Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan
tutte, Glimmerglass Opera:
"Vocally, the men are dynamite. As for veteran Sylvan, he is smooth
as silk, and his interpretation and voice coloration are about the
best in the business."
Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 8, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan is a baritone as noted
internationally for his acting as for his singing, and he brings a
gleeful malice to the mastermind behind the scheme, Alfonso, that
gives the evening its invigorating dose of pessimistic misogyny."
The Record, August 14, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan dominates the cast as an
Alfonso of exquisite refinement."
Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times (London), July 28, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan is an unusually wise and
delectable Don Alfonso."
New Yorker, July 25, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan plays the wily old trickster
Don Alfonso to the hilt."
Dallas News - July 23, 2005
"Don Alfonso, masterfully sung by baritone
Sanford Sylvan, spends much of his time lurkng in corners wiyth w
mein of scientific detachment, shrewdly watching his experiment in
human behavior unfold."
The Journal, July 14, 2005
"Alfonso (the excellent Sanford Sylvan)
displays a Figaro-like resourcefulness in his pursuit to bring the
women down."
Oneida Dispatch, July 14,, 2005
"Holding the plot strings and grounding the ensemble was bass Sanford Sylvan as Don Alfonso; he showed exceptional understanding of this role's every move and every note." - Ithaca Times, July 6, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan as Don Alfonso is a superb
actor who uses his deep baritone voice and crisp diction to
perfection."
Syracuse Post-Standard, July 2, 2005
"The character of Aofonso is something of an
operatic Rod Serling. Played by the marvelous baritone Sanford
Sylvan, Alfonso wears a slightly malevolennt grin as he invites the
audiences to observe this study of human behavior."
Albany Times Union, July 2. 2005
"The singers were all in great voice, led by
internationally knoq baritone Sanford Sylvan, who had the role of
Alfonso comfortably in hand."
Schenectady Daily Gazette, July 2, 2005
Haydn's Harmoniemesse, San
Francisco Symphony, Paul McCreesh, conductor:
"Sylvan projected vibrantly and sounded touchingly at home."
San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan took the bottom line,
singing with his familiar, distinctive timbre and his customarily
meticulous diction."
SF Classical Voice, May 10, 2005
Carl Cunningham's reminiscences on
Houston Grand Opera's 1st 50 years:
"Opera's musical, visual, and dramatic goal of enchanting the
listener or bringing a message that speaks deeply to the human
condition was more rarely achieved in the world premieres. It
happened in the wonderment of Chou En-Lai's closing aria (sung by
Sanford Sylvan) in Nixon in China."
Playbill May 1, 2005
Manalo in Handel's Samson
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, conductor:
"The finest showing came from baritone Sanford Sylvan whose
noble, lugubrious singing as the bereaved Manalo melted the
heart."
San Francisco Chronicle - February 19, 2005
"Sanford Sylvan was a movingly eloquent
Manoa in Thursday night's performance."
Andante.com - February 21, 2005
Luciano Berio's Stanze (US
premiere), Pittsburgh Symphony, David Robertson, conductor:
"The overall sound of the piece is so strong, especially the rich
voice of Sylvan. Stanza came off with precision and passion."
Pittsburgh Post Gazette &endash; October 9, 2004
"Its often beautiful vocal line - sung with
artistry by Sylvan."
Pittsburgh Tribune &endash; October 9, 2004
Soloist, Carmel Bach Festival., Bruno
Weil, conductor
"Among the vocal soloists, baritone Sanford Sylvan with uncommon
musicianship and artistic authority."
Metro Santa Cruz - August 4, 2004
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan is a reason all by
himself to travel from afar to this festival, for his consistently
extraordinary artistry."
Monterey Herald - July 20, 2004
Bach B Minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion, Oregon Bach Festival:
"The vocal soloists touched perfection more
often than not. Sanford Sylvan bestowed a fine lyric quality upon his
solos, particularly the 'Quoniam tu solus sanctus'."
Eugene Register-Guard - July 8, 2004
"Sanford Sylvan's powerful and elegant
bass-baritone voice was also capable of finesse."
Eugene - Register-Guard - June 27, 2004
Lori Laitman's "Come to me in Dreams"
Cleveland Opera
"Sanford Sylvan's luxurious baritone and dramatic sincerity
illuminate the survivor's journey."
Cleveland Plain Dealer - June 10, 2004
Bach St. Matthew Passion,
Washington Bach Consort:
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan gave the final aria a gripping
eloquence."
Washington Post - May 11, 2004
Mendelssohn Elijah, Choral Society
of Durham:
"The stars were out in force and all in proper alignment too, for
Mendelssohn's Elijah. Baldwin Auditorium was packed and a glance at
the list of performers reveals why this was so. The great American
baritone Sanford Sylvan returned for his second appearance and did
more than just sing the title role &emdash; from his very first
notes, he embodied the role, never once letting up. There were
incredible delights and artistic revelations. The exchanges involving
Sylvan and the choir were literally hair-raising - one could hardly
have expected better diction and projection or more precise and
responsive dynamics. The audience responded immediately and with
enthusiasm that is rare in Durham and the applause lasted many
minutes. Elijah was on the boards elsewhere in NC the same weekend.
Durham was the place to be - 'cause Charlotte didn't have
Sylvan!"
Classical Voice North Carolina - May 5
Bach St. Matthew Passion,
Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival:
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan articulated texts with exceptional
clarity."
Cleveland Plain Dealer - April 26, 2005
Wotan in Wagner's The Valkyries,
Eos Orchestra
"Sanford Sylvan sang Wotan with a richness of verbal and musical
subtlety that put artistry to work. This gifted lieder interpreter
reached the expressive core of the music, overriding the distractions
of Alden's cross-cultural grab bag."
Opera News - June 2004
"It's to Sanford Sylvan's credit that his
vocalization of Wotan's music was eloquent here."
New York Magazine - April 12
"Sanford Sylvan, lyrical yet marvellously
incisive, dominated the proceedings asWotan."
Financial Times - March 22, 2004 / also Opera - May 2004
"Character explorations built so effectively
that when you reached the great music of the final scene - and add to
that the cast's one great singer, the ever-interesting Sanford Sylvan
as Wotan - all elements galvanized. It was mesmerizing."
Philadelphia Inquirer - March 20, 2004
"Sanford Sylvan as Wotan delivered a quietly
commanding performance: sensitive text delivery, expressive
physicality, and elegant singing. His great Act II monologue
displayed his immense storytelling capabilities, and the final scene
with Bruennhilde was as moving an account of the final duet as one
could imagine. How can the broad, larger-than-life characterizations
of Jane Eaglen and James Morris compete with the intimacy of
insightful performances such as these?"
Wagner Society - March 19, 2004
Bach Cantata "Ich Habe Genug,"Sarasa
Ensemble:
"Sylvan sang with his usual musical insight, command of technique
(breath, legato, coloratura) and responsiveness to text; his voice
positively bloomed in the small room. The intensity of the overall
experience was comparable to that of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's
singing of this work on a recent CD."
Boston Globe - February 3, 2004
Haydn's Creation, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, Esa Paka Salonen, conductor
"Haydn's extravagantly upbeat and inventive music made it
difficult not to look around every time the commanding and amiable
baritone Sanford Sylvan sang his 'It is good' and agree. Sylvan has
such a complete vocal presence that he transcends acoustics. He
sounded marvelous in Disney, but then he also sounded marvelous in
the Chandler Pavilion."
Los Angeles Times - November 2, 2003
Voltaire / Dr. Pangloss in Bernstein's
Candide, Opera Boston
"Sanford Sylvan doubled as Voltaire and Dr. Panglos, his creamy
baritone, likewise his formidable dramatic presence. Sylvan doesn't
act like an opera singer acts, a high compliment."
Opera - May 2004
"Sanford Sylvan brought solid tone and commanding diction to the dual
role of Voltaire and Dr. Pangloss, who believes that this is the best
of all possible worlds; Sylvan maintained the character's sweetness
and dignity."
Boston Globe - November 10, 2003
Premiere of Charles Fussell's High
Bridge, Mendelssohn Club, Philadelphia:
" Sylvan brought to his part rich sounds in a variety of
colors."
Phildalephia Inquirer - October 27, 2003
Brahms Requiem, Oregon Bach
Festival, Helmuth Rilling, conductor:
"Sylvan was a wonder. He lent even the most ringing phrases the
hushed intimacy of a Lied."
Oregon Register-Guard - July , 2003
Bach St. Matthew Passion, Carmel
Bach Festival:
"The great American baritone Sanford Sylvan proved a wonder. In his
beautiful arioso, he was the voice of compassion."
Los Angeles Times - July 23, 2003
"The knockout scene was Sylvan's. Not only
is he one of the great singers of our time, but a comedic actor of
magnificent superficiality, just what the part calls for."
San Francisco Classical Voice - July 29, 2003
Aaron Kernis' Garden of Light,
Minnesota Orchestra:
"Sylvan shone in the astronautical scene leading into 'Is There a
Place'?"
St. Paul Pioneer Press - September 20, 2002
Kreizberg led a stirring performance
highlighted by superb solo singing from Sanford Sylvan."
Minneapolis Star Tribune - September 8, 2002
BBC Proms, London, with Sinfonia 21:
"The most gripping was baritone Sanford Sylvan's performance of
Abraham and Isaac. Sylvan's unsentimental declamation of Stravinsky's
cantor-like melismas is what has stayed with me. His singing is
devastatingly powerful and, in terms of its ability to persuade,
antithetical to the anonymous gloss of Levine."
The Independent - September 8, 2002
"The performance of the week for me was that
of the American baritone Sanford Sylvan. In one of Stravinsky's most
willfully austere scores, Sylvan's immaculate command of the fiendish
Hebrew text drove on the superb players of Sinfonia 21 as
compellingly as their conductor. Ditto the Crumb. The result was a
powerful an affecting soundscape."
The Observer - Aug. 9, 2002
"Sung by baritone Sanford Sylvan with
lyrical fluidity and a feeling for the score's craggy severity."
The Times - September 4, 2002
"Sylvan delivered the Hebrew text with
maximal authority." The Guardian -
September 4, 2002
"Sanford Sylvan achieved more expressivity
than might have been expected. Sinfonia 21 caught the unbuttoned
exuberance of the piece, as they and Sylvan did of Crumb's 'Songs,
Drones and Refains.' Great theatre, superbly realised."
Evening Standard - September 3, 2002
Mozart/Handel Messiah, Carmel Bach
Festival:
"Sanford Sylvan is obviously the star with the black-strap sound he
makes, almost pure basso in 'Messiah's arias, and the intensity he
pours into the text."
San Francisco Examiner - July 19, 2002
John Adams' Wound Dresser, Civic
Orchestra of Chicago, Anne Manson:
"The primary musical interest lay with the local premiere of 'The
Wound-Dresser.' It is a piece of sad, fragile beauty, with gorgeous
string lines that curl around the solo vocal part, resisting tonic
resolution. Horror and pity are transmuted into elegy. The wonderful
baritone Sanford Sylvan, created the role. The eloquence of his
performance owed partly to his strong, true baritone - does any
American singer have better English diction? - partly to his profound
identification with the poet's sympathy and longing."
Chicago Tribune - May 25, 2002
Bach's St. John Passion,
Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival, Berea, OH:
"Sanford Sylvan was commanding. He is an artist whose vocal
magnificence and interpretive depth make everything sound
special."
Cleveland Plain Dealer - April 22, 2002
Handel's Saul, Emmanuel Music,
Boston:
"Saturday night's performance was a milestone; you could not hear
a better performance of a work by Handel anywhere in the world today.
Sanford Sylvan took the title role, singing with royal dignity even
in fury, creating a superb vocal and dramatic characterization that
didn't stop even when he wasn't singing; one of his greatest moments
came in the expression on his face when Saul accepted his doom, along
with responsibility for his own role in it."
Boston Globe (Richard Dyer) - April 15, 2002
'The one immeasurable gain was baritone
Sanford Sylvan as Saul. In dignity, in power, in his subtlety, and in
the sheer magnificence of his voice, Sylvan must now be the greatest
interpreter of this role ever. He was the burning center of this very
great work."
Boston Phoenix - April 18-25, 2002
ShostakovichSymphony No. 13 (Babi
Yar), Kansas City Symphony:
Headline: "Remarkable war-themed concert will linger in
memory."
"The symphony's rendering of Shostakovich's symphony was made
convincing by the finely crafted solo performance of baritone Sanford
Sylvan, whose Russian was crisp, rounded and attuned to the vividly
expressive poetry. Adams' "The Wound-Dresser," rounded out the
program. Baritone Sylvan imbued the work with eloquence." Kansas City
Star - April 8, 2002
Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer,
BBC Symphony, Leonard Slatkin, conductor:
"Klinghoffer himself - a most powerful performance by the role's
creator, Sanford Sylvan. His confrontation with the 'good' hijacker
struck genuine operatic sparks."
The Times (London) - January 21, 2002
Prince in Harrison's Rapunzel,
Cabrillo Music Festival:
"To everybody's good fortune, the festival engaged for the king
Sanford Sylvan, fresh from his triumphs at this summer's Carmel Bach
Festival. This distinguished baritone's elegantly phrased recitative
-- every word counted -- and consummately musical treatment made the
score sound extremely important."
San Francisco Chronicle - August 14, 2001
Mendelssohn Elijah, Carmel Bach
Festival:
"Weil's translucent leadership and the extraordinary contribution
of American baritone Sanford Sylvan in the title role marked this
"Elijah" as a highlight of the conductor's 10-year tenure. It was
Sylvan who prompted this project; his supple baritone and matchless
projection of texts elevated this performance even beyond his
sterling work in Carmel during the past six years; call it a career
landmark."
San Francisco Chronicle - July 20, 2001
"Sanford Sylvan, embodying Elijah, carried
the story with a commanding presence in a prodigious and stirring
performance."
Monterey Herald &endash; July 19, 2001
"He was particularly fortunate in having the
world-class baritone Sanford Sylvan, whose warmly resonant voice,
commanding presence, well integrated dramatic understanding, mature
musicianship and superb diction carried out the main focus of the
oratorio. Sylvan's vocalism was refined and dignified. His heartfelt
'Lord God of Abraham' was gently yet vibrantly projected. The
phrasing was artfully molded and full of feeling. 'It is enough' was
delivered quietly as it passed through many thoughtful moods in heart
touching fashion."
Carmel Pine Cone &endash; July 27. 2001
Bach St. Matthew Passion, Carmel
Bach Festival:
"Sylvan sang the arias bringing poetic eloquence to these
jewels."
Monterey Herald &endash; July 18, 2001
Stravinsky Abraham & Isaac,
Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles and New York City:
"The highlight was an amazing performance of 'Abraham and Isaac,' a
pungent 12-tone setting of the biblical story, here sung poignantly
and with the intensity of an Old Testament prophet by Sanford Sylvan,
who performed the formidable work from memory."
New York Times - March 20, 2001
"Sanford Sylvan sang the 12-minute work from
memory with a rabbinical intensity that alone would have made this
performance impressive and gripping. But he brought something more to
it. In his focus on word and feeling, he showed an Abraham so
overwhelmed by the experience of nearly slaughtering his son Isaac
that he returns to Beersheba transformed. Having been in the presence
of the Lord, he now confronts the feeling of no longer belonging
among his own people, of being an exile in his own land. It was as
though, through complicated and difficult music, we could understand
Stravinsky's own struggle with identity, belief and nationality.
Here, where we least expected it, Sylvan revealed what it is that
gives Stravinsky his enduring power over us. Sylvan's struggle with
faith seemed to resonate in the hall."
Los Angeles Times - March 14, 2001
Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (Babi
Yar). Symphony Hall, Boston:
"Above all, there was Sanford Sylvan He sang with awesome force,
intense concentration and involvement, and a tonal quality that was
infinitely responsive to words and feeling - as he sang of Anne
Frank, his voice became as transparent as the image in the text;
warmth suffused his tone as he sang of the strength of Russian women.
He was terrifying as he expressed the pervasive power of fear, and
amusing, then noble, as he sang of Galileo, his rivals, and the
responsibility of faith and endeavor."
Boston Globe - Nov. 24, 2001
Bach St. John Passion, BBC Proms,
London:
"Sanford Sylvan, the suave American
baritone wa simported into Ivor Bolton's
firmly European St. John Passion. Just when it was really needed,
during the Crucifixion, he hit home with feeling."
The Times (London) August 25, 2000
Bach St. John Passion, Carmel Bach
Festival:
"Only baritone Sanford Sylvan achieved anything like the requisite
emotional depth, lending an air of passionate urgency to ``Eilt,
eilt'' and lavishing his rich, alluring tone on 'Mein teurer
Heiland'.''
San Francisco Chronicle - July 25
"Sylvan provided the emotional impact of
'betrachte, meine Seel,' invested with remarkable intensity."
San Francisco Examiner - July 17
Copland Old American Songs Detroit
Symphony:
"Copland's charming song settings were sung with impeccable
diction and panache by baritone Sanford Sylvan."
Detroit Free Press - May 22, 2000
Bach St. Matthew Passion,
Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival:
"Sanford Sylvan had vocal resources to spare. His tone was luxuriant,
his German diction exemplary." Cleveland Plain Dealer - April 17,
2000
Vores World Wheel, Cantata
Singers, Boston:
"Sanford Sylvan delivers text with unmatched eloquence and zeal."
Boston Globe &endash; January 25, 2000
"The Sublime Sylvan."
Boston Herald &endash; January 22, 2000
Steven Stucky, American Muse
(premiere), Los Angeles Philharmonic:
"Stucky's settings are lyrically pure, a highlighting of poetic
line and meter, and Sanford Sylvan's singing was amazing. Not a
single word was missed; indeed it was as if this powerful, direct and
hugely communicative baritone were delivering every word into the
audience's lap as a loving gift.:
Los Angeles Times - November 1, 1999
King of Scotland in Handel's
Ariodante, New York City Opera:
"As the King, he projected piquant poignancy: this reached a peak
in his Act II lament, a captivating outpouring of quiet grief."
Opera News &endash; February 2000
"Sanford Sylvan as the King of Scotland,
singing ardently."
NY Times, September 28, 1999
"His warm baritone made his character's good
intentions and feeling come through."
Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1999
"Sylvan gives a melancholic but august
performance as the King of Scotland."
New Jersey Star Ledger - October 2, 1999
"The fine baritone Sanford Sylvan gave the
king a certain sad majesty."
New York Newsday - September 28, 1999
Bach Christmas Oratorio, Pergolesi
La Serva Padrona, Carmel Bach Festival:
"Sanford Sylvan lavished his hugely resonant, ultra-sweet baritone on
his assignment to great effect."
San Francisco Chronicle - July 20, 1999
"For the past four years, Sanford Sylvan has
been one of the festival's secret weapons. The American baritone
possesses the rare talent for transmuting everything, into important
material. Sylvan's handling of Lo Schiavo's English translation
approached perfection, with every tongue-twisting phrase of Uberto's
tirades delivered to the delighted audience. As might be expected of
a major Mozartian, Sylvan gauged his effects and projection to the
size of the house."
San Francisco Examiner - July 26, 1999
Stravinsky Abraham & Isaac,
Netherlands Opera:
"Sanford Sylvan traverses this piece with uncommonly melodious
singing."
NRC Handelsblad &endash; June 16, 1999
"Abraham & Isaac with the glorious
Sanford Sylvan in the lead role."
Het Parool &endash; June 18, 1999
"The appeared the extraordinarily fine
baritone, Sanford Sylvan, who performed his extremely difficult solo
in this sacred ballet."
Haagsche Courant &endash; June 15, 1999
Mozart Requiem, Tafelmusik, Bruno
Weill, conductor
"The admirable vocal quartet was anchored by baritone Sanford
Sylvan. He is a naturally expressive singer and an experienced Mozart
stylist; he was the unforgettable Figaro in Peter Sellars's
controversial modern-dress Le Nozze di Figaro. His timbre seemed the
most human sound one had ever heard."
The Globe and Mail, Toronto - February 15, 1999
Adams, selections from The Death of
Klinghoffer, London Symphony Orchestra
"Sanford Sylvan sang the Aria of the Falling Body with
moving conviction."
The Times - November 3, 1998
"The Klinghoffer scenes had dramatic
force as delivered by Sanford Sylvan."
Financial Times - November 5, 1998
Bach Cantata: Ich Habe Genug (BWV
82), Carmel Bach Festival
"Ich habe genug found Sylvan drawing out the dark rapture of the
desire for death in phrases of extraordinary serenity and beauty.
Rarely has Sylvan's lustrous tone sounded at once so present and so
otherworldly."
San Francisco Chronicle - July 27, 1998
"Sylvan's bow at the festival signaled a new
generation of vocal sophistication. He long ago earned the right to
sing "Ich habe Genug"here, and this infinitely tender soliloquy
wanted nothing in eloquence. Sylvan's innate feeling for legato and
his bracing open vowels are balm for the soul. The second movement
must rank with the finest moments of the festival in recent
years."
San Francisco Examiner - July 20, 1998.
Bach Cantata: Ich Habe
Genug (BWV 82), Australian Chamber Orchestra:
"As the blossoming popularity of opera would seem to confirm,
there is something quite magical about a fine voice - and voices
don't come much finer than Sanford Sylvan's. The baritone made a
brief appearance on the Sydney concert scene. But it was enough to
leave you feeling like a drug addict craving the next fix. This is
surely the finest lyric baritone we have heard here since Olaf Baer.
The voice is wonderfully smooth and balanced right across the range,
and the texture is so rich it could almost be felt. Like all Bach, it
does require a very secure technique, and in particular, a seamless
legato, and Sylvan delivered all this to perfection. Only one
question remains. Is anyone doing anything about getting Sylvan back
to do a full recital (Schubert preferably) in, say, the Town Hall?
Please? Pretty please?" - The Australian - April 24, 1998
Bach Weihnachtsoratorium, Academy
of Ancient Music at the Munich Philharmonic:
"Hogwood's solo quartet included the fascinating bass, Sanford
Sylvan."
Munich Merkur - December 24, 1997
St. Ignatius in Thompson's Four Saints
in Three Acts, various locations: "Only Sanford Sylvan as
Saint Ignatius really enjoyed himself, putting eloquence into every
vocal and physical gesture."
New York Magazine - August 19. 1996
"Vocally, the evening belonged to Sanford
Sylvan, a consummate artist whose gorgeous authoritative delivery of
words and music made one believe in the transcendent spirituality
inherent in all the silliness."
Wall Street Journal - February 1, 1996
"Sylvan projects Stein's words and
Thompson's music with a true joie de vivre."
Time Magazine - February 12, 1996
"I am being influenced in this judgment by
Sanford Sylvan's marvelous vocal demeanor throughout the opera as
someone dazed but beautiful."
New Yorker - February 12, 1996
Press Comments - Vocal Recitals
Recital with David Breitman at Montclair
State University:
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan has been such a versatile performer in
his career, from avant-garde opera to lieder and back again, that the
specificity and technical integrity of his all-American song recital
at Montclair State University on Wednesday came as no surprise.
Sylvan sounded in fine voice. His is a smooth and velvety baritone
with remarkably even tone from top to bottom. This program showed off
the baritone's impressive ability to make language into a sensual
experience. He and Breitman are a dynamic duo. Breitman kept the
piano acerbic and dry, often given just the barest outlines of
harmonic or rhythmic patterns to support Sylvan. Sylvan is a master
of diction, an expert in balancing both the momentum of phrase and
the pulse within key words. He seems to love the click-click rhythm
of consonants and vowels, which he organizes more intelligently than
many other singers. From Harbison's 'Flashes and Illuminations,' a
1994 cycle written for Sylvan and Breitman, Sylvan extracted warmth
and poignancy, lingering over a lover's phrase. This would have to be
called the most imaginative, persistently forward-looking vocal
recital this state has seen in years. It could have been an academic
exercise, but Sylvan and Breitman crafted a delicate, occasionally
icy, yet intricate evening, one that the audience seemed to
thoroughly enjoy."
New Jersey Star Ledger - October 22, 2005
Schubert Winterreise, Chamber
Music in Historic Sites, Los Angeles
"Sanford Sylvan had the wisdom to let Schubert's songs draw the
audience's tears on their own. His singing was remarkably
straightforward and admirably vivid, strongly seconded by David
Breitman's piano. By the time his singing had filled in that chill
final picture, the wind-chill factor in the handsome precincts of the
Doheny Mansion had sunk out of sight. Brrr, as in brrravo."
LA Weekly - January 30 - Febraury 5, 2004
Recital, Oberlin College, Oberlin,
OH
Headline: "Song cycle voiced by masterful storyteller"
"Adventurous programming isn't always the hallmark of vocal recitals.
But when baritone Sanford Sylvan and pianist David Breitman take to
the stage, there is every likelihood that something unusual and
extraordinary is going to occur. Such was the case when these
musicians opened the 125th season of Oberlin College's Artist Recital
Series with a concert that was as far from hackneyed as one could
imagine. The evening contained only two works, Both were revelatory
experiences. What Martin has achieved musically in these 'scenes from
childhood' is quite remarkable. Employing a host of American idioms,
including gospel and jazz, he embraces the poems' atmospheres and
feelings in tellingly animated, probing and expressive gestures.
Martin couldn't have tapped a more ideal team to perform his songs.
Sylvan's beautifully textured baritone, elegant phrasing and
crystal-clear enunciation catapulted the fearsome and charming
aspects of the songs to our ears like arrows hitting the bull's-eye.
The vocal part sings and speaks, screams and whispers. Sylvan was
masterful storyteller and extensive cast of characters. The piano
part is equally challenging, full of honky-tonk spunk and lyrical
murmurings. Breitman vibrantly set forth every subtle and dramatic
nuance, as if he were a symphony orchestra of one."
Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 15, 2003
Schubert's Winterreise, Orange
County Performing Arts Center:
Headline: "Sylvan inhabits the emotions of
Winterreise"
"Sylvan has supplied vivid characterizations in stagings of the
Mozart-Da Ponte operas and in roles written for him by John Adams.
And that's exactly what he did in 'Winterreise' He has a strong lyric
instrument that can range from gentle introspection to declamatory
anger. He can spin out a long line or break it for dramatic effect.
He makes grace note turns sound effortless. He followed the feelings
in the texts and made them his own. Sylvan captured all these
emotions in detail."
Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2003
Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte,
92nd Street Y in New York City:
"Mr. Sylvan is a rare vocal artist able to use his voice like an
instrument, blending work and note into a unified and exact musical
expression. One wished they would do the whole thing again as soon as
they had finished."
New York Times - April 4, 2003
Schubert Winterreise, Eastman
School of Music, Rochester, NY:
"His performance was surely one of the most eagerly anticipated vocal
events of the season. Sylvan's prominence in the vocal world is easy
to understand. His voice is toffee-smooth, beautifully settled in its
deep baritone range yet steady in all registers and spectacularly
versatile. He's endowed with the most remarkable focus and breath
support. Technical razzle-dazzle aside, Sylvan is above all a
sensitive interpreter who know how to play with words, color the
voice and vary the sound. In no small way, Sylvan and Breitman
provided Rochester with an artistically satisfying and spiritually
enriching evening. On the eve of war, that's exactly what everybody
needed."
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - March 19, 2003
Recital, Modlin Center for the Arts,
Richmond, VA
"Sanford Sylvanis a good deal more versatile than many art-singers.
Sylvan and his accompanist David Breitman tinted the songs in a
remarkable variety of hues and explored emotional turbulence with
unusual range and subtlety of expression. The singer and pianist
communicated with such emotional authenticity and at such depth that
language was no barrier to understanding."
Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch - February 20, 2003
Recital, Emmanuel Music, Boston,
M
A"Breitman and Sylvan have always brought out the best in each other.
Sylvan's combination of literary, musical, and vocal gifts is
unusual, and the inward interplay of solo voice and other voices in
the piano part was marvelous. Breitman played up a storm, and Sylvan
took on the characters with gusto. His performance was a fabulous
display of musicianship, characterization, and sheer singing."
Boston Globe - January 7, 2003
Recital, Vocal Arts Society,
Washington, DC:
"A fabulous recital by baritone Sanford Sylvan. Martin has written
what seems a masterpiece -- a song cycle that lets the poems spew
forth naked childhood experience, but wraps that experience in music
of unforgettable purity and savage intensity. Sylvan exhausted
himself and the audience in a sweeping performance that delivered
every subtlety, every declamation, every sad, ironic twist of words
and music. Pianist Breitman showered the hall with sonic shards of
broken glass, with skittering, asymmetric rhythmic projectiles, with
stabbing repeated notes laden with pain, with gospel and honky-tonk
piano that did not so much suggest experience as embody it."
Washington Post - February 2, 2002
Schubert Winterreise, Corpus
Christi Church, New York City:
"A more instinctive singer like Sylvan searches out the governing
mood of a song or a cycle and channels it in an almost trancelike
fashion. This approach seems more reflective of the spontaneity of
Schubert. Sylvan's rending of 'Winterreise' was very austere, with
the velvety smoothness of his baritone supplemented by passages of
conversational roughness. Breitman, accompanying him on a tangy
fortepiano, stripped away all vestiges of sentimental melancholy and
underlined the striding rhythm. At a few scattered, unpredictable
climaxes, Sylvan hit tones of Wagnerian grandeur, showing Schubert's
wintertime walker as something more than a pitiable person on the
verge of death. His traveler begins by ranging against the world. I
have never heard 'Winterreise' taken quite so fearlessly for what it
really is &endash; a document of insanity."
New Yorker &endash; December 10, 2001
"Beauty isn't a word that always applies to
a baritone voice: strong, powerful or resonant is a more expected
accolade. But while all of these words could be used to describe
Sanford Sylvan's voice, its most striking quality is sheer beauty,
emerging in sudden flashes in rich, dark low notes or the majesty of
full high fortes. In Mr. Sylvan's performance of Schubert's
'Winterreise,' the voice's nuanced shimmer, with its golden depths,
seemed to mirror the veneer of the fortepiano behind him. Mr. Sylvan
sang with a fuller, more emphatic sound than some singers use for
lieder. He drew on a full palette of dynamic and emotional
expression, from soft falsettos to full operatic fortissimos that
gave a spine-chilling climax to 'Die Krähe.' 'Winterreise' is
not an easy journey, and Mr. Sylvan had mapped every step, his
diction and his expression deliberately calibrated to make the
experience rich."
New York Times - November 27, 2001
Bach Cantata No. 82 "Ich habe genug,"
Sarasa Ensemble, Boston:
"The concert brought that most eloquent of singers Sanford
Sylvan. Certainly the emotional heart of the evening came in Sylvan's
performance. Sylvan's voice offered passionate and sonorous comfort.
No one colors text the way Sylvan does.".
Boston Globe &endash; November 6, 2001
Metropolitan Museum of Art with the Aulos
Ensemble:
"He was consistently relaxed, intimate, caressing. Mr. Sylvan
expressed the joys of Christmas as gentle ones, tender and
reassuring, his voice like a warm, calming stroke over the ruffled
mind."
New York Times - Dec. 23, 2000
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall:
"The baritone Sanford Sylvan came to Weill Recital Hall recently
with a new work by another American, the Cuban-born Jorge Martin.
"The Glass Hammer: Scenes From Childhood Kept Against Forgetting."
Mr. Sylvan's performance was a shattering tour de force. Mr. Martin's
music had tensile strength, declamatory sweep and often poignant
lyricism. At a time when so many song composers are placating
audiences, Mr. Martin's ambitious and challenging cycle stands
out."
New York Times - June 11, 2000
"Sanford Sylvan is one of the most engaging
of singers, partly because his voice is so light and natural. Hence
the youthfulness of his vocal personality, and the innocence
remembered within a more mature soul. One can understand why
Martín's cycle 'Glass Hammer' appealed to him, for it presents
an adult character recalling a fraught boyhood. Mr. Sylvan's
investment of himself in these scenes was remarkable. The Ravel
offered the singer most: beautiful and expressive lines, which he
freshly sang, and a knowing tone he made delightfully comic. David
Breitman, at the piano, was also excellent here: precise,
imaginative, sensitive to his partner and highly effective on his own
account."
New York Times - May 11, 2000
With the Boston Museum Trio at the Museum
of Fine Arts:
"Sylvan's silvery voice floats like a halo over MFA
audience"
"Whenever Sanford Sylvan sings, it's a special occasion. But those
occasions have become rarer in Boston over the years. The baritone
has been increasingly busy in opera and concert around the world. So
yesterday afternoon it was a special occasion indeed when Sylvan
joined the Boston Museum Trio at the Museum of Fine Arts. In the
Rameau, the baritone plays the roles of the two rival gods, depicted
with all the musical finery of the French Baroque that Rameau could
muster. It suited Sylvan, who is vocal elegance personified,
perfectly. So, of course, did the Bach. In `Come, sweet Cross,''
Laura Jeppesen's marvelous viola da gamba accompaniment ideally
complemented the suave Sylvan, who sang as if with a halo around his
voice. Indeed, sometimes it seems like there's nothing, from Bach to
John Adams that Sylvan doesn't excel. His unique voice can sound
either crystal clear or luxuriously rich - sometimes, incongruously,
both at the same time. Add a clean, forward projection, impeccable
diction in any language and a profound sense of how each word and
note relate - and you have an exceptional artist."
Boston Herald - November 22, 1999
American Music Recital, South Bay Center
for the Arts, Torrance, CA
"Sylvan is a treasurable singer; he unapologetically makes
beautiful and varied sounds, colors words and utilizes a broad
dynamic range to expressive ends. Hearing him is a pleasure;
understanding him is a joy." Los Angeles Times - November 23,
1998
American Music Recital, CAL Performances,
Berkeley, CA
"The performances themselves could hardly have been improved
upon. Sylvan's warm, resonant baritone is one of the glories of the
recital world,and he was is especially fine vocal form on Sunday,
singing fluently and with expressive power. Breitmans' playing, too,
managedto be at once crisp and emotionally inviting."
San Francisco Chronicle - November 24, 1998
"Sylvan remains a superb communicator, not
merely of word values but of emotional inflections; interpretation
always precedes performance. And he projects meaning with an
instrument that can be stentorian at one moment and warmly comforting
at the next. Sylvan sings in glorious American English. The "Hermit
Songs" reaffirmed their lofty status, especially in Sylvan's
ravishing elucidation of "The Monk and His Cat" and the refined
dynamics of "St. Ita's Vision."
San Francisco Examiner - November 23, 1998
Schubert Winterreise, various
locations:
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan and pianist David Breitman brought their
lives to bear on the songs, finding in the cycle the stuff of
emotional devastation. Sylvan used his firm, dark baritone to
articulate the text clearly. He applied shadings and colors to words
to unify the emotion of single poems, to stress inner references and
even interior rhymes. It was a mark of the care with which he
presented them that an echo of the wind and snow of the fifth song
emerged in the 22nd song. From such details emerged the craggy whole.
Breitman clarified the ironies in the piano's role, just as Sylvan
enlarged the emotions of the text. Their reading developed momentum,
never losing the level of intensity &endash; and lyrical power."
Philadelphia Inquirer &endash; April 3, 1998
"Sylvan's
wonderful
'Winterreise' The art of the song-singer requires
an uncommon range of resources - the gifts of voice and
musical ability, and the hard-won attainment of technique,
diction in several languages, literary and musical insight,
and human understanding. The first-class recitalist is
therefore probably the rarest species of performing artist.
We are lucky because last night we heard Sanford Sylvan, who
over the last decade and a half has grown into America's
finest Lieder singer. so that it emerges as a completely
personal expression that he shares with us. His performance
with his careerlong collaborative pianist David Breitman,
was an extraordinary achievement because he had made this
interior psychological drama so completely his own. centered in real, living things.
Much of the singing was beautiful in a basic bel canto sense
- the phrases were long-breathed, the dynamics masterfully
controlled, the spin of legato immaculate - but most of it
was beautiful in a far larger sense: It was expressive of
states of soul. Sylvan's vocal colors came not from the
words but from what the words mean. One thought of the way
Russian singers perform Moussorgsky's 'Song and Dances of
Death.'
Sylvan is not the most famous - Thomas Hampson is - but the
difference between these two gifted artists is not just a
matter of voice, personality and hair.
Hampson is a performer who puts things over with
intelligence and flair. Sylvan has arrived at
interiorizing everything he sings
Breitman's clean, sensitive, intelligent, unexaggerated
playing seemed to represent a state of normalcy in which
Sylvan's alienated singer could not participate. In the
first song Sylvan constantly pulled ahead. That they were
not together was not carelessness or nerves; it was the
point.
Although Sylvan indulged in no gestures and dramatized
specifics only by letting his eyes follow
the circling crow in 'Die Kraehe,' his singing could afford
to be flamboyant because it was so
In a few privileged moments, Sylvan let us hear the pure
impersonal voice of the Russian holy simpleton, or a
Shakespearean fool, but in all of his fully human voices, he
told the whole truth."
November 22, 1997
Richard Dyer, Music Editor
Boston Globe
"Top 10 Classical Music Events of '97 - Sanford Sylvan: at
the Carmel Bach Festival, the great American baritone sang with
heartbreaking grace."
San Francisco Chronicle - December 28, 1997
"He is a literate singer who thinks deeply
about what words mean. Although his voice is warm and vibrant, with a
clear, tenorish top and a robust, bassolike bottom, he never simply
produces attractive sounds, however expressive. Every nuance of his
artistry is used to make words and images vital, as his communicative
performance of Schubert's great work made clear. For all its
expressivity, Mr. Sylvan's interpretation of this haunting cycle was
always refined and musicianly.
New York Times - April 15, 1997
Die schöne Müllerin,
various locations:
"Sanford Sylvan gave a dramatic, impeccable performance of 'Die
schöne Müllerin.' His diction was wonderfully clear without
being fussy. Sylvan's sweet baritone served him well in the
hopefulness of the opening songs. His strength made 'Eifersucht und
Stolz' fearsome. Even more impressive were the dignity of 'Trockne
Blumen' and the poignancy of the song cycle's conclusion."
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - May 5, 1997
"Baritone Sanford Sylvan and fortepianist
David Breitman emphasized the narrative urgency to splendid effect.
The recital was a tribute to Schubert, whose 200th birthday is
inspiring an avalanche of concerts. No one can argue, especially when
probing artists such as Sylvan and Breitman are in earshot. Sylvan
claims the intellectual and musical gifts to energize Schubert's
minidrama. And what a voice - a baritone of intense beauty, richness
and fluency from top to bottom. With such an instrument at his
command, Sylvan immersed himself in the cycle, stressing the work's
dramatic proportions and setting aside intimacy for bold, colorful
declamation. Throughout the cycle he gave Muller's texts delineation
and animated the emotions through telling inflections.
Cleveland Plain Dealer - March 8, 1997
"If Sylvan is great on record, he is even
better live. He showed riveting dramatic flair. His voice was
extraordinarily full and fluent. Effortlessly, Sylvan brought across
the flirting of the miller girl, the shyness of the boy. With
flawless grace, he sustained lyrical melodies. Sylvan put his own
stamp on these songs by singing them with strength. No 'Schöne
Müllerin' enthusiast could ask for more.
Buffalo News - September 28, 1996
Emanuel Music, Boston:
"For sweetness and clarity, for immediacy of communication and
openhearted singing, Sylvan commands attention. The baritone
presented a program that deftly illuminated his appealing artistry.
Sylvan savored the words and with the lightest of touch tinted the
music with flecks of color. How wonderfully the texts rolled off his
tongue; he has just the right timbre for this music.
Boston Globe - April
1996
Press Comments - On Record and on Film:
Bach Cantatas with Dominique Labelle and
the Sarasa Ensemble:
"In many ways, this is Sylvan's shining hour, for his performance
of 'Ich habe genug' si the strongest of the three. Yet both singers
perform masterfully in the final cantata."
Early Music America - Winter 2006
"Labelle and Sylvan are prominent and
experienced Bach singers, and both perform with their customary
beautiful tone, scrupulous musicianship, and verbal
communicativeness."
Boston Globe - May 12, 2006
Figaro in the reissue of Peter Sellar's
production of Le Nozze di Figaro on DVD:
"Sanford Sylvan, a fabulous Figaro, sets the tone for the funniest
version of the first two acts you are ever likely to see."
Dallas Morning News, September 7, 2005
Klinghoffer in John Adams' The Death
of Klinghoffer, Blast Films, Channel 4 Television:
"Sanford Sylvan should have received an Oscar nomination for his
courageous portrayal of the murder victim Leon Klinghoffer."
New York Times, April 24, 2005
"The cast seems to be absolutely
caught up in the performances they give.
There are exceptional contributions from Sanford Sylvan as Leon
Klinghoffer."
Opera - August 2004
"Much of this is brilliant, and Woolcock
gets performances out of her singing cast that redefine the
possibilities of operatic acting. Baritone Sanford Sylvan is
magnificent as the loving, terrified, essentially decent Klinghoffer,
and his singing of the posthumous underwater aria is touched by rare
spiritual grace."
Boston Globe, February 8, 2004
"Nerve-tingling urgency is added by the use
of handheld cameras, with Sanford Sylvan (Klinghoffer) and
Christopher Maltman (the captain) outstanding among a large cast who
can all, for once, act as well as they can sing. This stunning
realisation of a brave and very moving work deserves to win every
award going."
London Observer - May 18, 2003
"The camera reveals the sweet dignity of
Sanford Sylvan's Klinghoffer with greater poignancy than I remembered
from the staged production, The music emerges not as a soundtrack,
but as the characters' thoughts and actions, never more effectively
than in the sequence of Klinghoffer's drowning, during which Mr.
Sylvan sings a serenely beautiful aria, which begins "May the Lord
God / And his creation / Be magnified / In dissolution," while his
corpse descends with eerie majesty to the bottom of the sea."
New York Observer - May 28, 2003
"Sylvan, who created the role in the
original production, and Howard, give stellar dramatic performances.
Sylvan sings with transcendental lyricism."
Los Angeles Times - April 19, 2003
Jorge Martin's The Glass Hammer, Koch
International Records:
"The Glass Hammer is the most perfect match of word and music in
an art song cycle of this length that I know by any American
composer--ever! Furthermore, Sylvan and Breitman seem a perfect match
to perform it. Breitman's piano virtuosity is stunning but never
takes center stage. He lines and underlines and moves forward and
characterizes the baritone's words, but the words are where the
story, journey and action are. Sylvan, meanwhile, shapes his phrases
through jazzy syncopations, gospel-like harmonies, declamations, and
falsetto leaps, as if what his voices performs is as effortless as a
well practiced recitation of poems that he loves. Not having seen
Sylvan and Breitman perform this work in the recital hall, I can only
imagine the focused attention they must draw. Disembodied from a set
of CD speakers, Sylvan's voice registers the diverse facets of
Hudgins' developing persona in the poems from child to adolescent to
backward-reflecting adult. Anyone reading this who admires good
writing, good music, good singing and good playing--and who looks for
listening experiences that can absorb attention and reward it
fully--and repeatedly--cannot go wrong in seeking out this
recording."
Eclectica Magazine - January /February 2002
"Sanford Sylvan is a wonderful singer.
Throughout, he faces the gaucheries of the text unembarassed and
fully in the moment. He brings great vocal variety to his delivery,
and his diction remain as always impeccable. This is a great singer
giving his all."
Fanfare &endash; November / December 2001
"This is a truly remarkable recording, one
of the most enjoyable I've ever reviewed. The program is sung with
elan by renowned baritone Sanford Sylvan and played with authority by
pianist David Breitman."
American Record Guide &endash; November 2001
"Sanford Sylvan gives a masterful
performance - complex, deeply felt and spilling over with humanity.
Breitman plays the difficult piano parts superbly. In the last song
composer and performers achieve a lyricism that flower fully at the
end . It provides closure in a musically and spiritually satisfying
way."
Opera News - November 2001.
Fauré, L'horizon
chimérique, Nonesuch Records:
"It is enough to listen to this recitals' first song - so
difficult to render evocatively - to recognize an exceptional
interpreter: great vocal bearing, accuracy and feeling. His concern
for nuance and line are much to be admired. The warmth and charm of
his timbre, the intuition in his phrasing are remarkable. Full of
fervor, La Bonne Chanson offers a kind of melancholy totally lacking
in Wolfgang Holzmair's recent version. The goods delivered by this
beautiful recording are unquestionable and put Sanford Sylvan at the
top of all contemporary Fauréans."
Diapason - February 1997
"Once again, a foreign singer happily
surprises us with his understanding of the language and style of a
French musician's songs. We can find in him the spirit, the warmth,
the honesty required by those songs. The nuances are shown perfectly
and the singer's legato is impeccable."
Le Monde de la Musique - February 1997
"His is a light, unusually high baritone,
that, once experienced, engraves itself in memory; if you've heard
Chou En-lai's soliloquy at the end of Adams' Nixon in China, you know
how haunting Sylvan's voice can be. Sylvan thrives in intimate
settings, like these turn-of-the-century arts songs. Fauré's
songs are masterpieces of atmospheric understatement, and Sylvan's
luminous tone and refined sensibility are so exquisite as to verge on
the unearthly."
Out Magazine - September 1996
"La Bonne Chanson and other songs have found
an exceptional interpreter. Let us not speak about Sylvan's generous
and warm tone; rather, let us linger over his shimmering musicality.
He quietly captures the Fauré songs and allows them to fly
away into the nostalgic wind of intact memory."
Telerama - February 26, 1997
Schubert Die schöne Müllerin,
Nonesuch Records:
"Sylvan has said that he has a long association with this cycle;
that is obvious from his probing, inquisitive performance, full of
perceptive thought about the work."
Gramophone - March 1993
European Representation:
Andrew Rosner, Allied Artists
42 Montpelier square, London SW7 1JZ, England
tel: 011 44 171 589 6243 / fax: 011 44 171 581 5269
andrewrosner@alliedartists.co.uk
Mr. Sylvan's collaborator since 1979, David Breitman enjoys an active career performing on the modern piano and fortepiano. Recent and forthcoming performances include the Dvorak piano quintet as guest of the St. Petersburg String Quartet, Mozart and Beethoven wind quintets with members of Tafelmusik, as well as lectures and masterclasses at schools of music across the United States and Canada. Other engagements in recent seasons have included the Tulsa Philharmonic (a performance of two concertos in a re-creation of Mozart's 1784 benefit concert), Orchestra New England, and annual solo recitals for CBC Radio in Montreal.
In addition to his growing discography with Sanford Sylvan for Elektra/Nonesuch (the fourth, devoted to music by Fauré, released in 1996), Breitman has recorded the complete Mozart violin-piano sonatas with Jean François Rivest, a 4-CD set on the Amberola label and Chopin's music for piano and cello with Kim Scholes for Titanic Records. As part of a seven-fortepianist team led by Malcolm Bilson, he participated in the first-ever complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on original instruments. This series, presented by Merkin Hall in New York City, was subsequently recorded for CLAVES in 1997. The cycle was repeated recently at the Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence.
A native of Montreal, Mr. Breitman did his undergraduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. H holds a Masters in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory and a doctorate in Historical Performance Practice from Cornell University. He currently teaches at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music where he is also Director of the Historical Performance Program.
Praise for David Breitman, pianist:
Martin's The Glass Hammer, Koch
International Records:
" Breitman plays the difficult piano parts superbly. In the last
song composer and performers achieve a lyricism that flower fully at
the end . It provides closure in a musically and spiritually
satisfying way."
Opera News - November 2001.
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York:
"Breitman, at the piano, was also excellent here: precise, imaginative, sensitive to his partner and highly effective on his own account." New York Times, May 11, 2000
Beethoven Piano Sonatas with Malcolm
Bilson - Claves Records:
"Of the other performers I was especially impressed by Breitman.
Breitman's thoughtful reading of op. 110 is one of the finest I know,
expressive at every tempo but nowhere more so than in the adagio
sections of the last movement, where the small rests are audible, but
barely so - an effect that is virtually impossible on a modern piano;
and the tempo adjustments in the final fugue, at bars 168 and 172-74,
have rarely been so convincingly achieved. Breitman's performance of
op. 2, no. 3 is also outstanding, with a superclean finger technique
and interesting pedal ideas in the first movement, and great sweep
and dexterity in the trio section of the scherzo."
Fanfare - Jan/Feb 1998 complete
review
"He brought a great variety of touch, a rich
range of colorings, honest supple pianism, and intellectual clarity
to his work."
New York Times - April 15, 1997
"Fortunately Breitman is an artist,
imaginative and disciplined."
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - May 5, 1997
"The vibrancy and poignancy of Sylvan's
singing were matched in musical terms by Breitman, whose attention to
Schubert's atmospheric settings was keen, eventful and surpassingly
sensitive."
Cleveland Plain Dealer - March 8, 1997
"Breitman accompanied him with agility. He
had begin the concert with Schubert's 'Drei Klavierstücke' in
which he had displayed his awe-inspiring taste and technique, and he
brought the same adept delicacy to 'Schöne Müllerin.' He
must be used to the fortepiano, because he knows how to make it
sing."
Buffalo News - September 28, 1996
"Breitman played splendidly throughout,
proving an equal partner to Sylvan;s subtle musicianship."
Boston Globe - April 1996
"David Breitman was a forceful and more
independent voice at the piano when he accompanied baritone Sanford
Sylvan."
Financial Times (London) - February 2,. 1995
"The spell Sylvan wove with five selections
from The AIDS Quilt Songbook also infused his Fauré, Schumann,
Ravel and Brahms - performances made all the more absorbing by David
Breitman's shapely accompaniment."
New York Magazine - October 17, 1994
Adams |
The Death of
Klinghoffer, Kent Nagano, conductor |
Nonesuch 79281 |
Adams |
Nixon In China, Edo
De Waart, conductor |
Nonesuch 79177 |
Adams |
The Wound Dresser,
John Adams, conductor |
Nonesuch 79218-2 |
The AIDS Quilt Songbook, David Breitman, piano |
Harmonia Mundi 907602 |
|
Bach |
Magnificat in D,
Cantata 140, Blanche Honegger |
Musicmasters 7059 |
Beloved, That Pilgrimage,
David Breitman, piano |
Nonesuch 79259-2 |
|
Crumb |
Songs, Drones and Refrains of
Death |
Bridge BCD 9028 |
Fauré |
L'Horizon
chimérique, David Breitman, piano |
Nonesuch 79371-2 |
Fussell |
Specimen Days, Being Music, Cantata Singers and the Lydian String Quartet |
Koch International KIC 7338 |
Harbison |
The Flight Into
Egypt, David Hoose, conductor |
New World 80395 |
Harbison |
Words from Paterson,
Gilbert Kalish, piano |
Nonesuch 79189 |
Ives |
Vocal Versions, Alan Feinburg, piano |
Decca 466841-2 |
Kernis, A. |
Brilliant Sky, Infinite
Sky |
CRI 635 |
Martin, J. |
The Glass Hammer, David Breitman, piano |
Koch International 3-7519-2H1 |
Music from Aquitanian Monasteries, with Sequentia |
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 77320 |
|
Schubert |
Die schöne Müllerin, David Breitman, piano |
Nonesuch 79293-2 |
Thompson |
Mostly About Love |
Northeastern (Koch) 250 |
Tippett |
The Ice Break, David
Atherton, conductor |
Virgin Classics 7 91448-2 |
York, W. |
Native Songs |
New World 80439 |
|
||
Mozart |
Cosi fan tutte, Craig
Smith, conductor |
London/Decca 071-513 |
Mozart |
Le nozze di Figaro,
Craig Smith, conductor |
London/Decca 071-512 |
Adams
The Death of Klinghoffer Klinghoffer
Nixon in China Chou En-Lai
Berlioz
Les Troyens Choroebus / Narbal
Debussy
Pelléas et Mélisande Golaud
Handel
Ariodante The King
Hindemith
Cardillac Cardillac
Massaien
St. François d'Assise St. Francis
Massenet
Werther Albert
Monteverdi
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria Ulisse
Mozart
Cosi fan tutte Don Alfonso
Don Giovanni Leporello
Le nozze di Figaro Figaro
Die Zauberflöte Papageno / Sprecher
Purcell
Dido and Aeneas Aeneas
Rossini
La Cenerentola Dandini
Strauss, J.
Die Fledermaus Falke
Stravinsky
The Rake's Progress Nick Shadow
Wagner
Tannhäuser Wolfram von Eschenbach
Solo baritone with orchestra:Concert repertoire with orchestra:
Adams
Wound Dresser
Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Kindertotenlieder
Martin
Sechs Monologe aus Jedermann
Poulenc
Le Bal masque
Chansons Gailliardes
Ravel
Don Quichote á Dulcinée
Deux mélodies Hébraic
Stravinsky
Abraham & Isaac
Bach
Cantatas
Christmas Oratorio
Magnificat
Mass in B Minor
St. Matthew Passion
St. John Passion
Berlioz
L'Enfance du Christ
La Damnation du Faust
Bloch
Sacred Service
Brahms
Ein Deutsches Requiem
Britten
War Requiem
Duruflé
Requiem
Dvorak
Stabat Mater
Elgar
Dream of Gerontius
Sea Pictures
Fauré
Requiem
Handel
Messiah
Oratorios and Operas
Haydn
The Creation
The Seasons
Masses
Hindemith
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd
Mendelssohn
Elijah
St. Paul
Mozart
Requiem
Masses
Schubert
Masses
Shostakovich
Symphony No. 14
Stravinsky
Requiem Canticle
Pulcinella
Tippett
A Child of our Time
Vaughan Williams
Five Mystical Songs
Dona Nobis Pacem
Sea Symphony
Donald E.
Osborne |
Susan Endrizzi |
Chamber Music Early Music Vocal Music World Music Instrumentalists Theater Singers Jazz Conductors