Frederica von Stade Shows Grace in Distress at Marsee : Music: Cold symptoms fail to foil the artistry of the esteemed mezzo-soprano.

The apparent remnants of a cold took the bloom off a recital by Frederica von Stade on Saturday at Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College in Torrance.

The esteemed mezzo-soprano could be heard coughing at the end of several selections as well as when she was off stage between groups of pieces on a program that duplicated much of what she sang last March at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena.

Some hootiness and pitch problems in the lower range, blurring of focus in the heights, especially when under pressure, and cautious agility betrayed her uncharacteristic state of vocal stress.

Still, her uncommon artistry, musical intelligence and warmth of communication remained largely intact and prevailed.

In three of Schoenberg’s cabaret songs, Stade traced the stages of impassioned attention of “Galathea,” the wicked innuendoes in “Gigerlette” and the playful, mock-chanteuse take-off of “Aus dem Spiegel von Arcadia,” with its provocative “boom, boom” chorus.

Three melodies by Messiaen gave her opportunities to traverse the subtleties of chromaticism (“Pourquoi?”), meditation (“Le sourire”) and loss (“La fiancee perdue”). Two songs by Poulenc found her shifting from impacted, languid sensuality (“Hotel”) to boulevard charm and condescension (“Les gars qui vont a la fete”).

Throughout, Martin Katz offered piano accompaniments that were models of discreet support yet fully shaped and probing accounts on their own.

Completing the program were previously reviewed sets of 20th-Century Italian songs by Respighi, Puccini and Pizzetti, a group of Schubert lieder, melodies by Honegger and Satie and the optional aria “Al desio di chi ch’adora” from Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.”