Singer Affirms worth of the solo recital: Superlatives are the only fair way to describe bass-baritone van Dam
November 12, 1997

By John Ardoin

There is no lack of naysayers to tell you that the day of the recital is passing; that audiences prefer big, glitzy music events to intimate ones; that the question now is one of quantity and not quality. If it is true, as I am afraid it is, it forms a sad commentary on life today.

Luckily, the Cliburn Foundation cannot be counted among those ready to hang crepe on the solo recital. Each season it reaffirms its belief of this special, conversational way of making music, and it does so thought some of the finest names among contemporary artists. Where else, for example, would you have a chance to hear such a miraculous night of song as we were treated to Tuesday at Ed Landreth Auditorium on the Texas Christian University campus, when the Cliburn presented one of the pre-eminent artists of our time -- bass-baritone José van Dam.

He sings all too little in America, and it was a coup to snag him for his first Texas appearance. He is a revered personality in the opera houses and concert platforms of Europe, and his recital here reaffirmed my contention that there are few pleasure in music more satisfying than a great singer in top form sharing his art, his wisdom, and his intellect.

Mr. van Dam's program was neatly divided between German (Brahms and Strauss) and French songs (Faure, Duparc, and Ravel). His command of his voice, his acute feeling for words and his ability to project them were consummate. His is a dark, somber sound that ranges from half-lit tones, which in his case are always fully supported, never crooned, through every imaginable dynamic to full-throated fortes.

The man is an encyclopedia of taste and style, yet at the same time his is a most vulnerable and human art that conveys itself with immediacy and ardor. But best of all, he is a superb teller or tales, which is what a gifted recitalist must be. Death, love, drink and hope were all the subjects of Mr. van Dam, and he gave each a fresh meaning and a soulful exposition. He was handsomely seconded by pianist Maciej Pikulski, a complete artist on his own and one capable of spinning an atmosphere and enhancing the magic of Mr. van Dam's singing.