Stephanie Blythe, Mezzo-Soprano and Warren Jones, Piano at Classical Action’s 2010-11 Michael Palm Series


Ms. Blythe belts one out for the audience!

There was a day when the “Three Bs” were acknowledged to be Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

On Wednesday evening, April 6, Brahms was still in evidence, but the other members of the evening’s Trio of B’s were the irrepressible Irving Berlin and the incandescent Stephanie Blythe.  And add to that heady mix the irresistible Warren Jones on piano and you have the recipe for a truly unforgettable evening of music-making. From Brahms’ Eight Folk Melodies and his Rhapsody No. 2 for solo piano to vocal and piano gems of the 20s and 30s, among them piano rags of Scott Joplin and Berlin’s saucy “If You Don’t Want My Peaches,” never saucier than as delivered by the incomparable Ms. Blythe, eighty-five Classical Action supporters were treated to an evening of sheer vocal and piano magic.

As an encore, Ms. Blythe offered a haunting performance of Stephen Foster’s classic “Beautiful Dreamer,” which lingers in our ears and memories and is probably resonating still in the acoustically vibrant home of our gracious and generous hosts, Kevin Roon and Simon Yates.