Ailish Tynan - soprano / Julius Drake – piano

Strauss – 7 Lieder: Standchen; Ich trage meine Minne; Die Nacht; Schlechtes Wetter; Mit dienen blauen Augen; Allerseelen; Hat gesagt 0 bleibt's nicht dabe

Duparc – 4 Melodies: Chanson triste; Extase; La vie anterieure; L'invitation au voyage

Copland – 6 Old American Songs: The Boatman's Dance; Long time ago; I bought me a cat; The little horses; At the river; Ching-a-ring Chaw

Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert at Wigmore Hall 28 November 2005

Ailish Tynan was the Rosenblatt Recital Prize Winner in Cardiff in 2003 and she is certainly an expert in the art of engaging the attention of an audience and of using her expressive face to mirror the words of each poem. She began her broadcast lunchtime recital with a well chosen and contrasted selection of Strauss songs. All went well in the more tranquil pieces, Mit deinan blauen Augen and Allerseelen , illustrated with subtle phrasing and colouring, but there appeared to be some real vocal concerns as she turned the power up and some rather harsh high notes intruded.

Her next group of songs by Duparc were drawn from the best known works of his slender output. The two Baudelaire settings were vividly presented, summoning up the vast colonnades and colours of sunset in the poet's imagined previous life and the land of abundance, calm and sensuous delight promised in his invitation to journey. Here the artistry of Julius Drake was much in evidence, revealing the refinement of harmonic structure.

Copland's American Folk Songs were not a good choice for a three-quarters empty Wigmore Hall on a winter lunchtime. They are deliberately “folksy” in character, best presented in an American accent, with the mood swings from soulful longing to sharp comedy made very distinct. During them I wondered if they might have gone better in "Irish" instead of ‘elocutional' English, if she hasn't got American to offer?  Then, in beautiful broad spoken Irish she told us that she regarded The Salley Gardens as an Irish song - and went on to sing Britten's version of it in her impeccable English......

Serena Fenwick

Gerald Finley - baritone / Julius Drake - piano

Schumann – Dichterliebe Op 48

Barber – Hermit Songs Oop 29

Ives – The Side Show; Memories; Tom Sails Away; Swimmers; A Song for Anything

Wigmore Hall 1 December 2005

Gerald Finley, the Canadian baritone, chose an interesting programme for his recital, combining Robert Schumann with Samuel Barber and Charles Ives.

One supposes that every singer feels obliged to include a composer of ‘classic' lieder, based on the canard still current in some quarters, that no piece of vocal writing is worth anything unless it is at least half an hour long and sung in German. Gerald Finley passed the test with flying colours, singing with commitment ranging from the frenzy of Die rose, die Lilie to the final bitter misanthropy of Die alten, bosen lieder . Perhaps the only thing missing was a sense of Heine's detachment – the feeling that he is viewing his soul from outside, as if he was a stranger. After all, the singer is not the sort of person who would have mooned over the cloisters of Cologne cathedral or drowned his sorrows in a nearby bierkeller; he would no doubt have leapt on his white horse and galloped across the prairie until he found a girl of more amenable disposition.

Gerald Finley was generous with his encores, one of which (Ives' Charlie Rutledge , a rip roaring cowboy song) probably gave rise to the above thoughts. Ives made his living as an insurance man, reminding me of a popular song which rhymed ‘insurance' with ‘endurance'. Ives needed plenty of that in his musical career, recognition only coming at its very end. Gerald Finley obviously has a feeling for these quirky compositions and displayed a proper North American vitality and humour in the songs which are like extracts from a diary, dealing with everyday events and experiences. Memories drew sighs of recognition from the audience; the pleasant memories of their childhood and sad reminders of old age and its infirmities. The programme ended with A Song for Anything which combines a farewell with a prayer – incongruous but somehow deeply moving.

Gerald Finley is a singer who enjoys his appearances before the public and is adept at winning their affection; a crowd pleaser in fact. This does not mean that he is not a highly conscientious musician; I look forward to his Don Giovanni and Eugene Onegin at Covent Garden next year.

Finally, the devoted work of Julius Drake must not be overlooked – he was an equal partner in this recital which called for the highest standard of accompaniment. We were not disappointed.

S Jenkins

See this duo's CD recording of Ives Songs at http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews/cddvd/IvesSongs.htm