Lunchtime Recital

Date: Thursday 28 January 2010

The series of lunchtime recitals continued today with an enjoyable concert that made up in quality what it lacked in length, abbreviated as it was by the indisposition of two of the programmed performers.

The concert opened with a pure-toned, musically responsive item from Eleanor Blanning, who sang Schubert’s “Das Rosenband”. Eleanor’s musicianship shone through in her response to both text and music. The symbiosis of singer and accompanist is always essential in Schubert Lieder, and here, and indeed throughout the programme, the performers enjoyed the accomplished pianism of Spencer Payne.

A contrasting vocal solo came from Alex Gibson, who gave us Einarsson’s “The landscape of my heart.” When a boy soprano, Alex had a heart-breakingly true treble. His voice is now on the inevitable migration down in pitch, but this alto phase shows us he still has the capacity to move an audience. The top of his range is strong, well-projected and velvety, but the strength of his low register suggests we may not be able to enjoy it for much longer. There was lovely control here, not only of the voice technically but of the musical line. This, together with the sincerity of the delivery, made for a memorable performance.

The two solo songs were interspersed by two different vocal ensembles. A group of seven female voices tackled Orlando Gibbons’s marvellous madrigal, “The Silver Swan”, as a consequence of whose death “more geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.” This swan lives on crystal-clear water created by the vertical harmonies of a choral texture that is maximally unforgiving. The ladies rose very well to the challenge of the piece, helped by the appropriately crystal clear sopranos, supported by a confident and firm alto foundation not usually found in performers of this age.

The concert closed with a performance of Preatorius’s “A safe stronghold our God is still.” Three confident performers (Matthew Roberts, Joshua Best-Shaw and Joel Whitewood) delivered this piece with great conviction, navigating with apparent ease both the chordal and the contrapuntal sections. In the latter, there was a lovely intertwining of well-blended voices. This performance constituted part of their GCSE Music examination, where candidates must offer an ensemble performance. If it were up to me, my mark would be high!

My thanks to all involved for providing a splendid way of passing a lunchtime.

Janet Mander