MUSIC REVIEWS : Villanueva Performs at Cal State Fullerton

The spirit of Nostradamus was alive and well at Cal State Fullerton Sunday afternoon.

The Los Angeles chapter of the National Assn. of Teachers of Singing sponsored its latest competition winner, baritone LeRoy Villanueva, in a send-off recital replete with prognostications of imminent stardom and the stated opinion that the honoree is already a “national artist.”

This hoopla proved a bit too much for the young singer to live up to at the moment.

Villanueva has the goods, but the road looms long. His voice is warm, vibrant, smooth, alluring in timbre, but it is not yet free. Cause for concern: consistent loss of body and focus at both top and bottom and the tendency to tire perceptibly in sustained legato passages.

For now, manifest concentration on clear enunciation is Villanueva’s offering in place of a convincing expression of deep human emotion. Thus, Beethoven’s “In questa tomba oscura” and several Mahler songs emerged as exercises in pleasing sound rather than insightful interpretations.

Through no fault of his own--illness canceled the string quartet--Villanueva performed Barber’s “Dover Beach” with piano. Neither he nor accompanist Grant Gershon (perhaps hampered by short notice) came near the heart of this profound, problematic piece.

Concluding his short program with Kurt Weill songs, Villanueva blossomed: assured, dashing, communicative, producing better, more secure sound than previously. The broad stroke repertory clearly reveals his full promise.