(Stephen Holden’s article appeared in The New York Times, 2/6; via Pam Green.)
From father to daughter to grandson: The Lincoln Center American Songbook program “Judy Kuhn Sings Richard Rodgers, Mary Rodgers and Adam Guettel” on Wednesday evening convincingly portrayed the lineage of the composer Richard Rodgers as more than bloodline; it is a proudly romantic musical tradition. The performer making the connections was that top-of-the-line singer Judy Kuhn, whose approach to theater music might be described as one of passionate restraint.
Ms. Kuhn conveys as much insight and empathy as more overtly dramatic singers without straining for a showstopping theatricality; her delivery is refined but not prim, her intonation impeccable. And the ensemble, led by the evening’s musical director and arranger Todd Almond, was flexible enough to embrace semiclassical ballads like an exquisitely wistful “Hello, Young Lovers” from “The King and I,” and Mr. Guettel’s bluegrass-flavored music from “Floyd Collins.”