 |
 |
|
 |
||
|
Autumn Song Recitals at Wigmore Hall Sundays 25 September, 2, 9 & 16 October Sunday afternoons in the Wigmore Hall this autumn have been devoted to a series of song recitals (one hour or a little more) and have featured an appealing selection of young artists. Liz Watts - photo Richard Kendal
Beethoven Adelaide Op 46 Robert Murray is currently a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House and he opened his programme with Beethoven's aria-like Adelaida , obviously enjoying the dramatic nature of the piece. His is a rich tenor voice that he can colour freely. His natural bearing was well suited to the rather dour nature of Britten's Winter Words collection and he painted a wonderfully clear picture of The little old table with its pronounced creak and The choirmaster's burial complete with ghostly choir. The second part of the recital was devoted to Brahms' eight songs from opus 57. Murray sang this group of love songs ardently, and persuasively. When he came to the second song, If, only at times, you smile, I wished he had taken the opportunity to do just that, and establish a little more eye contact with his audience, but he more than made up with his encore, The Salley Gardens , delivering this lovely old ballad with the sweetest and most winning of smiles. Lindy Tennant-Brown 's playing was sensitive throughout. She is a member of the Wigmore Young Artist programme, and no doubt this talented young New Zealander will appear frequently on that platform.
Elizabeth Watts soprano / Gary Matthewman piano Brahms Five Lieder; Ophelia Lieder Elizabeth Watts showed every sign of enjoying her packed programme as much as her audience did. She established a warm rapport from the moment she stepped onto the platform and with a lovely clear voice, and equally clear diction, began her programme with a sequence Brahms' settings of five pastoral poems. She continued with Ophelia Lieder by both Brahms and Strauss. These are not performed as often as they should be, and hearing the two in sequence was particularly interesting with their separate translations of Shakespeare's words and the composers' differing treatment of the subject matter. They made a very satisfactory middle section to the recital. The Berg songs again returned the mood to pastoral, although the mention in Schilflied of drowning in the pond your sweet singing brought just a fleeting echo of Ophelia. The seven songs from the Italienisches Liederbuch were delivered in winningly coquettish style, bringing the recital to a lively conclusion. Elizabeth Watts has this year joined ENO's prestigious Young Singers Programme where she has access to the specialist support and guidance this unique programme offers. She recently made a successful debut as Papagena, and appears later in the season in Orfeo (Music/Hope) and King Arthur . Judging be her recital performance, she is a singer to watch out for. Gary Matthewman was a tower of strength throughout this long and varied recital, reacting with feeling to the score and his singer's interpretation.
Ronan Collett baritone / Nicholas Rimmer piano Schubert Auf dem See; Geheimes; Wandrers Nachtlied I; Rastlose Liebe Ronan Collett has still to complete his post graduate programme at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with Noelle Barker, but already he has all the instincts of a true lieder singer. He had chosen a varied and ambitious programme, but one which certainly demonstrated his potential and response to challenge. He tackled the Freh und Froh songs with lively bravado, equally matched by Nicholas Rimmer's playing of the fiendishly difficult piano part. The group of Brahms' songs had been neatly chosen and mirrored the clarity and sweetness of a nightingale. Undoubtedly the Samuel Barber songs were the real delight of the afternoon. Both singer and pianist painted a clear picture, and made sense of, those herds of black pianos up to their knees in the mire, and their performance of the setting of James Joyce's I hear an army was one the poet would have thoroughly approved.* Gweneth-Ann Jeffers soprano / Aoife O'Sullivan piano R Strauss Four Songs Op 27 Gweneth-Ann Jeffers was a member of the ROH's Vilar Young Artist programme and represented England in the 2001 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition . Her choice of programme for this Wigmore Hall recital was a sombre one, not quite in keeping with the mood of a Sunday afternoon audience. The one change of tempo with her effervescent performance of Caecillie was the high point , almost lifting spirits to the blissful heights she sang of. Aoife O'Sullivan appears to have spent most of her recent past working as a Repetiteur. She takes a no-nonsense approach to her playing, perhaps a little brusque and unsubtle for lieder. Her next engagement was scheduled to be the Wexford Festival, where she has no doubt been busy. Serena Fenwick * It is sometimes forgotten that James Joyce was a gifted and enthusiastic singer and his works are packed with references to music. RTE have issued a CD devoted to the songs Joyce performed or used in his writings. Listen to samples at www.rte.ie/readingulysses/insong.html |
