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SEEN
AND HEARD RECITAL REVIEW
Yamaha
Birmingham Accompanist of the Year Prize-winners’ Concert
: Joseph Middleton (piano) and Julia Sporsén (soprano) Adrian
Boult Hall Birmingham 14.10.2008 (GR)
The latest in the Performance Platform Series run in
conjunction with Birmingham Conservatoire and held regularly at 1.05
pm on Tuesdays, featured prize-winning accompanist Joseph Middleton
in a varied programme of songs with soprano Julia Sporsén.
The pair began with Schubert and his two Suleika love songs.
The words originated from Marianne von Willemer, presumably
motivated during her brief affair with Wolfgang von Goethe, although
the great man revised them for publication in his West-östlicher
Divan. Whatever the origin of the final version, the words
inspired Schubert to produce what he did best – a couple of
memorable love songs. The initial bass rumblings on the
Conservatoire grand gave rise to a rapid succession of short notes –
the East wind had been well and truly stirred by Middleton. What
message would it bring to Suleika? Sporsén sounded as if her heart
was wounded and although the possibility of a tausend küsse
failed to raise her spirits, the hope that she would find her lover
came across with the final breath of wind. When the wind reversed
direction in Suleika’s zweiter gesang, its effect on the
natural world was greater cause for concern, but Middleton’s rhythm
remained rock-solid. There was more of the same from Sporsén who
implored the West Wind to tell her lover how much she cared.
Schumann’s Schneeglöckchen brought a complete contrast in
tone and demonstrated how well Middleton and Sporsén work together.
The gentleness of the snowdrop was delicately conveyed with
Middleton’s legato floating over the keys in perfect harmony
with the crystal clear diction of Sporsén. So short and sweet!
The major work in the programme was Debussy’s Cinq poèmes de
Charles Baudelaire, a work that demonstrated how Debussy
fashioned his notes to fit the words of a poet with whom he was in
total harmony. Theirs was a great partnership, something many
soloists and accompanists strive for. How would Middleton and
Sporsén fare in this formidable test? The six stanzas began with
Le balcon again featuring a troubled lover, reflecting on her
predicament from her balcony. Sporsén coped better when in the
higher registers and aroused a sense of poignancy and introspection,
although I expected more drama on ô poison. Yet there was
drama; with frequent breaks to the vocal line between successive
lines and particularly between the fourth and fifth verse, Middleton
raised the emotion stakes always present in Debussy’s piano music.
This impression was confirmed by the next Baudelaire poem
Harmonie du soir, containing as it does the line Les son et
les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir, the signature Debussy
penned to No 4 of his Préludes Book I. Middleton and Sporsén induced
the desired melancholy. The most vivid feature of the beautiful
Le jet d’eau was the watery effects created by Middleton – from
the bubbling, dripping and chattering of the fountain to the
metaphorical tears. Recuiellement followed and lived up to
its meditative mood; the notes of both artists wafted through the
auditorium. If this fourth number proves anything, it is that if
poetry in the home tongue is difficult to fathom, then its
translation will be even more so (the poet Stéphane Mallarmé, a
contemporary of Debussy, maintained that a poem conveys its meaning
through sound, rhythm and rhyme). The dark colours suggested by
Baudelaire and so exquisitely painted by Debussy climaxed in the
final elegy La Mort des amants. Completed in 1889 the year
after his visit to Bayreuth, the influence of Wagner was emotionally
captured by the two recitalists. The closing diminuendo was
particularly moving.
Having retired for only a minute or two, Middleton and Sporsén were
back for more. Perhaps relieved to have survived the passion of the
Debussy, the soprano now looked more relaxed in three numbers from
Swedish composer Ture Rangström (1884-1947). Singing in her native
tongue it was as if Sporsén was now in charge and Middleton was
following her rather than just one half of the partnership. Having
been on stage for over fifty minutes Sporsén really let it rip in
the final two songs from Sibelius. What is it about Sweden that
produces more that its fair share of superlative sopranos? Nilsson
and Söderström, Stemme and von Otter, and now the latest two
Persson’s, Annalena and Miah. How far will Julia Sporsén go?
What is it about the UK that produces such
good accompanists? Always the bridesmaid? Following the immortal
steps of Benjamin Britten and Gerald Moore, we now have the likes of
Malcolm Martineau and Roger Vignoles. How far will Joseph Middleton
go? Very far, I hope. He seemed equally at ease with Schubert and
Debussy. Little seemed to faze him; an error from the page-turner
who inadvertently skipped a page in the score, was immediately
rectified by himself without seemingly missing a note. May his
promising early career continue to flourish; it’s a pity there were
so few to witness his performance today.
Geoff Read