Jubilant Sykes’ parents must have known his future when they picked his name.
The twentysomething baritone from Venice, Calif., has a sturdy, excitable voice adept at exuding joy. It’s a tony instrument that may not be seasoned enough for lead roles in big opera houses, but when combined with Sykes’ choir-boy demeanor, can brighten up many a pops concert.
The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra’s two Independence Day jamborees this week provide just the right venue for Sykes’ local debut.
The first took place Wednesday evening at Medinah Temple–a change in location to accommodate the orchestra’s first CD project, but also a fortuitous switch that spared Sykes from traffic din and crowd noises. Even the orchestra and its chorus benefited from a loss of distractions. (Much of this program will be repeated on Friday at the Petrillo Music Shell.)
To their credit, the folks who compiled the selections for this holiday salute shied way from the predictable pop items. Instead, the spotlight was on Ives, Copland, Morton Gould and George Chadwick–genuine American masters, major and minor.
Sykes took center stage in the first half with a medley of excerpts from Copland’s kaleidoscopic “Old American Songs.” He couldn’t quite negotiate the tongue twisters in “The Dodger.” And there wasn’t enough heart and soul–and polish–in his renditions of “Simple Gift” and “At the River” to put them in the same league with Marilyn Horne’s renditions. But he did turn “I Bought Me a Cat” into a mirthful joy ride, replete with uncanny animal mimicry.
The orchestra, under the baton of David Loebel, accompanied him ably, if at times listlessly.
Sykes was far more poignant when he sang a set of spirituals. With songs of innocence and experience, of devotion and despair, he let loose–alternately whispering, cooing, or belting out their fervent sentiments.
Exhorted by the orchestral playing, his delivery of “Were You There?” touched the heart with each sorrowful bellow. Comparison to Paul Robeson is not at all premature.
Well prepared by Welborn Young, the chorus, too, had its shining moments, first with a stirring performance of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” that brought to mind the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and, later, showing plenty of religious zeal in the hymnal sections of the “1812 Overture.”
The orchestra, though not always a first-rate classical ensemble, proved itself a marvelous pops band. Loebel, who delighted the audience with his witty, amiable commentaries, knows how to pace his players. They whipped up fast-and-furious frenzy (in Chadwick’s “Jubilee”) just as easily as they indulged in elegiac nostalgia (Copland’s “Down a Country Lane”).
But the evening belonged largely to Sykes. He is a rising star who earned his stripes.
