On Tuesday, the Matinee Musicale Club celebrated its 90th anniversary with a recital in the Scottish Rite Auditorium, downtown.

        Formed in 1911, the group of Cincinnati women has presented nine decades of a remarkable list of artists in their Cincinnati — and even American — debuts. The daytime series, which once attracted more than 1,000 patrons, now struggles to fill seats (about 150 were there). The series still, however, presents first-rank talent.

        American bass-baritone Dean Elzinga returned for his third appearance with a captivating program sung in four different languages.

        Mr. Elzinga made a big impact with his distinctive voice (especially a powerful low and mid-range) and his theatrical presence; he is clearly an artist to watch. The Metropolitan Opera has already noticed him: he appeared in Tannhauser with maestro James Levine in 1997.

        Mr. Elzinga opened with Songs for Children, a charming cycle by Spaniard Xavier Montsalvatge to poems by Federico Garcia Lorca. The songs were evocative in the style of Ravel. The singer and his pianist, Victoria Kirsch, created imaginative vignettes with humor and a range of color.

        Mr. Elzinga's central theme involved journeys. The first set, Lee Hoiby's I Was There, to texts by Walt Whitman, went by sea. As the sailor, Mr. Elzinga perfectly captured moods such as the awe of midnight on the ocean, and the sheer joy of the wind in one's face.

        Then, he balanced power and subtlety in Conrad Ansorge's Waller in Schnee, a Brahmsian cycle that took a journey through snow.

        Ibert's charming Don Quixote Songs concluded the program. The duo beautifully summoned vivid moods; most memorable was the “Song of Don Quixote's Death,” a lament that, under Mr. Elzinga, was both macho and poignant.

        But the real treat came in the encores — two arias from Gounod's Faust — a nod to Halloween.

        As the Devil, Mr. Elzinga mesmerized with his wicked laugh and expression in Mephistopheles' mocking Serenade. He swaggered and mugged in the “Song of the Golden Calf.”

        Matinee Musicale presents pianist Polina Bespalko on Nov. 29. Tickets: 961-0622.

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