Competent But Not Enough

Under the auspices of the George London Foundation, soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian, offered a pleasant recital at the Morgan Library on Sunday afternoon.

Although usually described as a great American baritone, Mr. London was actually born in Montreal and the foundation takes pains to include Canadians such as Ms. Bayrakdarian and Mr. Kradjian in their aspirant base. For this program, there was supposed to be another couple from up north, baritone Russell Braun and his wife, pianist Carolyn Maule, but Mr. Braun was detained by visa problems and so, with very little notice, the two performers had to tack on pieces to fill out their now exclusive afternoon.

In the first half, they presented what they had intended to be their portion of the original event. Ms. Bayrakdarian began with a short set of Schubert, which ranged from the dramatic Sei mir gegruesst, intoned a little heavily, to a much more satisfying and lyrical Nacht und Traume and the familiar An die Musik. The soprano quickly exhibited the qualities that would characterize this performance. She has solid pitch control but a bit of difficulty with nimbleness and a rather timid approach to vocal characterization.

The most interesting part of the afternoon was the inclusion of five songs by Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Madame Viardot was the daughter of the famed tenor Manuel Garcia and the sister of Malibran, a favorite of Rossini. She studied composition with Liszt and appeared in concert with Chopin. Later she became the obscure object of desire of Ivan Turgenev. Her songs this day fell into three categories, the Spanish, the French, and the Chopin mazurka. Ms. Bayrakdarian put them over with great pluck and a voice often too big for the room.

Then, after a short pause, the artists in attendance served up a Spanish menu to fill the space intended for Mr. Braun and Ms. Maule's presentation of a substantial amount of Robert Schumann. First, songs by Rossini in a decidedly Iberian mood. Ms. Bayrakdarian did a good job with La Partenza and Bolero but was not adept enough at alliteration and rapid fire diction to successfully navigate the one truly Italian number, Tarantella Napoletana. My only previous encounter with her was at the opera house, and I remembered her portrayal of Teresa in the opening night of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini in 2003. Then her cavatina in the first act was fine, but her cabaletta sloppy. She may want to concentrate on lighter, slower fare going forward.

Mr. Kradjian had his chance to shine as soloist in The Maiden and the Nightingale from Goyescas by Enrique Granados. It was after attending the world premiere of the opera version of Goyescas that Granados died when his ship was sunk by a German u-boat. This rendition was quite well played but a bit gingerly for my taste; it never really achieved the level of passion suggested in the score. Like the singing of the day, it was competent but not inspiring.

Ms. Bayrakdarian chose to end her program with another Spanish set, which included the Malaguena by Lecuona — ubiquitous in the 1950s as an encore piece for opera and pop stars alike. This is a familiar work that requires a great deal of showmanship, which does not play to this particular singer's strength. She seemed almost embarrassed by her own attempts at saucy gesturing. Much more in character was her lovely encore, a simple Armenian lullaby sung with genuine and heartfelt emotion.

This was my first experience at the new hall in the basement of the Morgan. It is freshly appointed and boasts if not warm, at least true acoustics. However, I was forewarned about one of its aspects that should be passed along to all readers: With the possible exception of the upper level at Madison Square Garden, this auditorium has the steepest stairs of any concert venue in New York.