If you go thinking Baritones Unbound will imitate a famous tenors trio in a different key, are you in for a surprise! When Mark Delavan, highest toned of them, promises you “Some Enchanted Evening,” it means magic is ahead. With lowest-down baritone Jeff Mattsey, as well as Marc Kudisch, who musically gives a new meaning to sliding, the three produce a classy lead-up to ever-popular music in their classically American register. When it’s followed by a plea not just for revival but rescue, you’ll want to bind yourself to their cause.
They offer samples of everything Western, from Andrew Lloyd Webster stealing from monks to surtitled dramatic melodies by Mozart, Rossini (with the first unmistakable baritone lead in The Barber of Seville), Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Wagner and the rhyming wonders of Gilbert and Sullivan (with many baritones on board the H.M.S. Pinafore) to Offenbach’s lively “Can Can” and Lehar’s “Merry Widow Waltz”! And by this time, they’ve traveled to the mostly American second part of their show. Although terrific young pianist Timothy Spleen is still pounding out music off to one side, the scene gives the baritones a relaxing room. In between songs and beers, they can point to pics on a wall of singers famous for the tone belonging to them all. Not just know-it-alls about their history, the three up front share lyrical highlights you surely love.
Paul Robeson comes to mind when “Ol’ Man River” comes to the fore, flowing twice. With the advent of radio, Bing Crosby hits the airwaves and millions of Americans make his “White Christmas” the best selling record of all time. The Golden Age of Broadway turns that part of NYC into Oklahoma with a baritone as villain Jud. A carnival with a Carousel has the guy who runs it anticipating the birth of his first child, but all three Baritones Unbound sing the “Soliloquy” about it -- each awaiting his own boy or girl in his own way.
The singers unearth borrowing, like the French music for “My Way” getting English lyrics so well-phrased by Sinatra. They show how Elvis sang the Italian “O Solo Mio” as turned into “It’s Now or Never.” In a Sondheim triple treat, the debt of A Little Night Music to Mozart is revealed. But when Jeff Mattsey belts out “I am What I Am” by Jerry Herman, both prove singularly original.
Delavan, Kudisch, and Mattsey not only sing but play instruments during their time travels. So why shouldn’t pianist Spleen turn the tables on them with a boffo surprise? These are just two of the reasons you’ll want to change the history of the last ten years’ lack of baritones (except in revivals) on stages, radio, tv, and electronic deliveries of new music.
Baritones Unbound should send us all to go on seeking out these grand singers and songs, and to enjoy their importance to edifying, educating and, best of all, entertaining. You can certainly experience their magic during an enchanted evening or matinee with Asolo Rep this June of ’14.
