Last week I went to my first recital that included the vocals of Diane Kalinowski, part-time instructor of Voice and Vocal Literature at Mercyhurst University.
The biographies in the program were the same as always for Nathan Hess, D.M.A, and Joseph Kneer, D.M.A.
It was like reading the magnetism chapters of two different physics books. They always say the same thing.
When Hess, Kneer and Kalinowski walked out I think the whole audience was stunned by Kalinowski’s dress.
Hess and Kneer should have worn blue ties to match her gorgeous dress.
Kneer’s tie had blue stripes, so he tried. I give him an A for effort.
I sound like a dying cat if I try to sing, according to my boyfriend. I am so envious of Kalinowski for her amazing voice.
She sang in not one, not two, but five different languages: Italian, German, Russian, French and English.
Singing in a foreign language must be pretty difficult. I find it difficult to even pronounce words properly in normal speaking in my Intro to Spanish II class.
I was looking forward to the Sergei Rachmaninoff songs because the titles were in English, so I foolishly assumed that the songs would be sung in English.
They were not. They were in Russian of all things. Who knew with a composer named Rachmaninoff.
I liked these pieces because they were short and to the point. There were quite a few lyrics, but they were sung very quickly.
The lights were on the struggle bus during intermission. On the other hand, quick shout out to the two men reading The Merciad at the recital.
I do not think that they were professors (93% of our readers) so I thought it was cool that we are reaching a wider audience than I thought.
My favorite song of the night was “Hai Luli!” by Pauline Viardot.
I felt the message of the song on a spiritual level. The long distance relationship feel coming from that song was very strong and I could relate.
At the end of the show, the audience gave the faculty a standing ovation and Kalinowski’s reaction was precious and priceless.
I truly felt that I was given a worldwide tour through music, and that was an experience that I enjoyed.