Surrounded by valuable paintings of dogs at Bonhams Gallery were a statuesque  mezzo-soprano, a pianist, a guitarist and a delighted audience.  The occasion was a recital by the talented Silvie Jensen, accompanied by Taisiya Pushkar at the piano and Joao Luiz Rezende Lopes on the strings.  The choice of material was adventuresome and the outcome most satisfying.

Ms. Jensen opened the program with a set of Spanish folk songs arranged by Federico Garcia Lorca of which my favorite was the lullaby “Nana de Sevilla”.  More lullabies were to come, a lovely one by Ben Yarmolinsky, a setting of poetry by William Butler Yeats,  and an equally lovely one by the singer herself, arranged by the guitarist who accompanied Ms. Jensen for the first half of the program.  

Ms. Pushkar offered a piano interlude of Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in G# minor” and then Ms. Jensen returned for Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death which were doubly sad after the light-hearted Spanish set.  All four were sung with passion and conviction, as was Joan of Arc’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Orleanskaya Dyeva, The Maid of Orleans as it is know in English.

“My man’s gone now” from Porgy and Bess was especially moving and was followed by “I don’t feel no-ways tired”, arranged by Rev. James Cleveland and Jacqueline B. Hairston. As encore Ms. Jensen gave a fine rendition of the Habanera from Carmen.  Her phrasing was impeccable and her voice rich.  I was left with the impression of a gifted singer with wide-ranging taste who is unafraid to tackle the rare, the difficult and the seldom-heard, yet just as gifted with an old chestnut.

Ms. Jensen will be giving another recital with Ms. Pushkar and Mr. Lopes on May 12th at 4PM as part of the Sorel Salon Series at the Church of the Ascension  (12 W. 11th St.) Reserve by emailing judy@sorelmusic.org.  Be there or be sorry!