Edinburgh Fringe 2024
2 Concerts, 2 Artists, 2 Premieres
Johan Hartman with Ailsa Aitkenhead
Genre: Music
Venue: Greyfriar's Kirk
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Compelling bass baritone Johan Hartman along with pianist take the audience on a beautiful and dramatic musical journey through two centuries of vocal music, including two new compositions by Hartman set to works by famous poets.
Review
Johan Hartman is a young bass-baritone who is a rising star in the American opera scene. In Edinburgh he is premiering two song cycles at the Fringe that he penned. I caught the first of the two concerts in the magnificent setting of Greyfriars Kirk, which complimented the music with its round acoustics, making it possible for the audience to clearly hear and appreciate the subtleties of each piece. The accompanying pianist is Ailsa Aitkenhead.
Hartman engaged the audience throughout the performance. He described each of the pieces and created a visual setting for the listeners to imagine each story line. Attendees received a printout of all of the lyrics in both the original German and the translations, making it easier for audiences to understand the storylines.
“Blood and the Moon” is a 1927 tome by Irish poet William Butler Yeats that Hartman set to music. It was written in response to the 1927 assassination of Kevin O’Higgins, the Vice-President of the Free State, whom Yeats had known personally. The poem references a tower: “Alexandria’s was a beacon tower, and Babylon’s An image of the moving heavens, a log-book of the sun’s journey and the moon’s; And Shelley had his towers, thought’s crowned powers he called them once. I declare this tower is my symbol”. The towering voice of Hartman is fitting for the delivery of the narrative. The beautiful and intricate composition is both modern and dark. The drama is created effectively through the use of dynamics.
Browning’s “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” is the second piece that Hartman adapted into a song cycle. The narrative voice is that of a Spanish monk who is angry at another monk, who he believes is immoral. Browning was a playwright and poet whose later work earned him fame, He developed important techniques in the use of diction, rhythm, and symbolism in his dramatic writings.
This well-balanced and varied program includes additional pieces. There are excerpts from “Die Schöne Müllerin” by Franz Schubert, a 19th-century Austrian music composer and key figure in bridging the Classical and Romantic periods. He is noted for the melody and harmony in his songs. “Let us Garlands Bring, Op. 18” by 20th century British composer Gerald Finzi sets several of Shakespeare’s songs from his plays. It took 18 years for Finzi to compose these pieces “3 Songs, Op 10” by 20th century composer Samuel Barber consists of pieces based on the poetry of James Joyce. The duo masterfully interprets these iconic composers, bringing them to life with expressive dynamics and powerful, emotional performances. Some of the pieces have very complex and demanding scores. Hartman and Aitkenhead are sensitive to the variations and use the dynamics effectively to emphasize the texts.
Hartman’s vocal control is impressive. He explores his full baritone range and uses it well in portraying the words of the poems. He effectively imparts the emotion of each piece, using subtlety in the gentle passages and forcefulness in the highly dramatic moments. These truly engage the listener and transport the audience to the world that Hartman is portraying.
The stirring piano accompaniment is impeccably performed by Edinburgh’s Ailsa Aitkenhead. The piano and vocals are well-balanced and well-matched, despite the fact that the two only began collaboration a few days before the performance. Aitkenhead. is clearly sympatico with Hartman, breathing with him in the gentle spots and strongly supporting him in the more grand and powerful segments. Aitkenhead is an award-winning professional pianist, accompanist and piano teacher. She is a frequent live performer in Scotland, including the Fever Candlelight Concert Series and appearances at St Giles Cathedral, St Mary’s Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirk, Balerno Music Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe.
An absolute delight was the encore piece from Puccini’s opera “Barber of Seville”. The duo had fun with the very challenging aria, charming the audience with their elegant and lively performance.
Hartman is an exciting new voice on the opera scene, both as a dramatic performer and as a composer. He trained at the New England Conservatory and earned his Master of Music degree in Voice at the University of Cincinnati. He has already undertaken an impressive number of operatic roles in both the U.S. and Europe, as well as performing in numerous recitals and concerts on the U.S. East Coast. However, his passion is the performance of new music. Edinburgh Fringe affords a wonderful opportunity to hear this world-class classical singer and his compositions in an intimate setting. I predict that we will soon see him in the International Festival.
