Nikola Printz En Travesti

A week ago, the mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz was featured at the Merola Opera Program's first Schwabacher recital series since the pandemic began, and they had a blast playing with gender and an unusual, wide-ranging repertory. She began with a 17th century song by Barbara Strozzi, Lagrime mie, accompanied by Jon Mendle on the theorbo. This was followed by a trio of songs by Rossini, La Regatta Veneziana, where a woman on a balcony urges her gondolier lover to victory in a boat race in the Venetian canals.

Printz was accompanied through most of the program by the pianist Erica Xiaoyan Guo, continuing with the 19th century Licht in der nacht by Alma Mahler which segued without pause into the 20th century lament, I was a woman from David Lang's 21st-century prisoner of the state, It was a strange, effective combination. While Printz changed outfits from the "Femme" portion of the program into the "Masculine", Erica Xiaoyan Guo played the lovely Etude in F-sharp Minor by Louise Farrenc, a 19th century French composer who was a welcome new discovery for me.

Printz returned with a trio of miniature songs by the still-living Ned Rorem set to short poems by Walt Whitman and Gertrude Stein, a remarkably queer triple play. This was followed by two Schubert lieder, Standchen from Schwanengesang and Schubert's Der Leiermann from Winterreise.

The highlight of the concert for me was Printz singing a pair of Mexican songs, Aquel amor by Agustin Lara and No soy de Aqui by Facundo Cabral that were popularized by the great ranchera singer, Chavela Vargas, a Mexico City street singer who lived long enough to become an international legend. If you have never heard Vargas, click here for her version of No Soy de Aqui.

After intermission, Printz returned in a bright fuschia jacket for the "Neutrois" section of the program that included Drei Lieder Korngold and Cabaret Songs by Britten with tricky, nonsense-verse texts by W.H. Auden.

The fuschia jacket was discarded early in the set "because it's too hot," and for a finale Printz kicked off their shoes as they sat down to the piano and accompanied themself on Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U. Art song recitals are not really my cup of tea, but I've been following Printz in performances around the Bay Area over the last decade, and they are always interesting to watch. It was nice to see this artist under the auspices of the San Francisco Opera Center.