Pamela Gore captivated a small audience in Rollins Chapel on Sunday evening with her expressive singing of German songs from the nineteenth century. One could easily tell from the program's broad repertoire and the intensity in her performance that Gore is a committed musician of talent and stamina.
The first part of the program consisted of selected songs from Wagner's "Wesendonk Lieder," a set of songs written for the poems of Mathilde Wesendonk. Wagner wrote these songs in a period he described as "the culmination point of his life." Two songs from this set, "Traume" and "Im Treibhaus" actually became parts of Wagner's great opera, "Tristan and Isolde."
"Traume," or "Dreams," was one of the most moving songs in the performance. Deep, rich piano chords resonated with Gore's voice to give a full yet gentle sound. William Merrill, her accompanist on piano, was a constant musical support that enhanced and strengthened the performance. What was especially impressive was their ability to capture the nuances in Wagner's piece.
Both Gore and Merrill were able to encompass a broad range of dynamics within the soft, dreamy mood. One could hear the subtle contrasts between the louder and softer passages and the varying intensity in Gore's voice, truly capturing the essence of an artistic definition of dreams.
A unique part of the program was the singing of a Dylan Thomas poem set to music by Pamela Gore's father, Richard Gore. It was at this point that Gore began to establish an intimate relationship with the audience and herself. "Poem in October" was first read before Gore's musical rendition was added. She told the audience that she would rather they hear the original before hearing her father's work.
It was clear that careful thought was given to audience impact and understanding. The song itself was mellifluous and lilting, especially because it spoke directly to the audience in English. One could hear more immediately how the music portrayed the visual images in the poem and the poet's desires.
Gore performed Robert Schumann's "Liederkreis" in the second part of the program. This is a set of songs composed from Joseph Eichendorff's poems. It is called a "song cycle" because Schumann wanted to relate the beginning of the song cycle with the end, and have various musical interrelationships in between. Again, program notes were read aloud so that the audience could grasp as much as possible.
The performance of the Liederkreis, while rather long, was actually very educational. The program notes were well written, teaching the audience of the relationship between keys and major and minor modes among the pieces.
Piano demonstrations were done so the audience could visualize a certain character in the story with a musical motif or mode. The reader informed the audience of Schumann's specific intentions in many places and what was his overall aim.
One striking example was having the audience listen for sorrow being portrayed in a major key. These intermittent readings were very effective in alerting the audience on what to listen for, and teaching them about how the songs musically relate.
One could clearly tell the diligence that went into preparing such program notes to such specific detail. However, this made full appreciation of the performance very limited, as only people with some musical background could understand the theoretical relationships between the keys.
Still, the piano demonstrations were very helpful and could be appreciated by any music lover. And the overall enthusiasm and friendly warmth going into each musical piece made Pamela Gore's performance one to remember.
