Dawn Upshaw's recital on August 8 at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival was a tribute to the festival's founding patron, Ellen Battell Stoeckel, herself a capable amateur singer and champion of vocal and contemporary music. Upshaw's varied program of twentieth and twenty-first century songs, with its largely American slant, was a fitting salute to Norfolk's visionary benefactor, who died seventy years ago.

In spite of the festival's early history as a vocal showcase (Metropolitan Opera stars as well as members of its orchestra were featured guests), the Norfolk audience is tough on singers, preferring string quartet concerts, piano recitals and varied ensemble programs. Unaccustomed to following translation handouts or holding applause until the end of a song group, the audience nevertheless responded to Upshaw's relaxed presentation and intense emotional commitment to the music.

Opening with a group of songs by Charles Ives, Upshaw and the outstanding pianist Gilbert Kalish painted colorful scenes of nostalgia and old-homey Americana with clear, immediate sound and an offhand naturalness that was just right, from the conversational style of "Songs My Mother Taught Me" to the bouncy energy of "Memories: a. Very Pleasant." "Tom Sails Away" showcased both artists' astounding listening skills (how different this version was from Thomas Hampson's recent Tanglewood reading) and Upshaw brought the internal fire of a charismatic preacher to "Down East."

John Harbison's Mirabai Songs (to Robert Bly's translations) brought Upshaw even deeper into expression, and she highlighted such lines as "Without the energy that lifts mountains, how am I to live?" with internalized pain and longing. Osvaldo Golijov's "Lua descolorida" ("Moon Colorless"), written for Upshaw and Kalish, showed the soprano's shapely phrasing and ability to turn on a dime from beguiling offbeats to improvisatory melismas.

Less successful was a group of French songs, where Kalish's tonal beauty and clarity of voicing seemed to vanish into dryness. Fauré's "L'aube blanche" was too earthy and jumpy for the ethereal writing, and both "La flute de Pan" and "La chevelure" (from Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis) lacked atmosphere. Upshaw didn't quite catch the Gallic irony of Ravel's "Le cygne," or the visionary esctacy of Messiaen's "Le collier" and "Prière exaucée" (from Poèmes pour Mi).

Back on home turf in three of Bolcom's cabaret songs, both artists exhibited ease and charm in the vernacular style, and their peaceful take on "Waitin'" was especially lovely.

JUDITH MALAFRONTE

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