I know a good number of singers who could benefit from the virus that laid
low Matthias Goerne tonight.  It appears now that he sang both Tuesday's
superb Schumann recital in Herbst Theater and tonight's Schubert program
while fighting a viral infection.  If only healthy baritones would sing
this well!

What is truly noteworthy in this is that nobody in the audience
suspected the probem - at least, that was the impression gathered from
the collective.  loudly expressed surprise when the lights went up in
the hall midway through the second half of the program, and San Francisco
Performances' Ruth Felt conveyed Goerne's regrets that he cannot continue
the concert.  The last song (wiht the last verse cut short) was "Im Walde,"
and it - along with the rest of the evening - sounded fine, with no hint of
vocal trouble.  As on Tuesday, the brilliant pianist was Eric Schneider,
and in retrospect, there was just the slightest hint tonight of his
attention being diverted by his concern over Goerne.

The program consisted of a journey through early-19th century German
literature, as set to music by Schubert - groups of songs by Schiller,
Klopstock, Schulze, Schlegel and (what we didn't get to hear) Mayrhofer.
At the beginning of the evening ("Der Kampf" and "Schusucht"), I noticed
something of a fallback to the Goerne-before-Tuesday, meaning that I heard
Singing instead of singing, but even so, the performance was exceptional:
warm phrasing, gorgeous legato, crystalline diction.  Things got even
better, especially with "Tiefes Leid"; apparently, Goerne is at his best
when the music quiet, slow, and sad - which was pretty much the whole
Schumann program, in a bold and successful move to sustain a mood, a
feeling through an entire concert.

The best part of the evening came after the intermission (in hindsight,
again, a bit longer than usual, as Goerne must have been struggling with
the decision whether to continue) with a magical "Abendroete" and "Die
Gebuesche," an intense "Der Wanderer," and gorgeous ode to the stars in
"Die Sterne."

With 60-degree days and 30-degree nights in the city, there was a lot of
understandable, if annoying, coughing and throat-clearing in the audience
all evening, while the really sick man, the one on the stage, gave no hint
of his problems.  I am sure it was a difficult decision to give up, and
Goerne had no choice.  In retrospect, what happened tonight made Tuesday's
very special concert even more remarkable.  I hope he and Schneider will be
back soon, and let us hear what we missed tonight - "Nachtstueck," "An die
Freunde," "Aufloesung," and "Abschied" but who is counting?

Janos Gereben/SF, CA
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