SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

BBC Lunchtime Concert -  Schubert: Katarina Karnéus (mezzo soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano), LSO St.  Luke’s 23.4.2009 (BBr)

Schubert: Der Musensohn, D764 (1822); Nähe des Geliebten, D162 (1815); Klärchens Lied, D210 (1815); Rastlose Liebe, D138 (1815); Drei Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister, D877 (1826); Im Frühling, DD882 (1826); Bei dir allein, D866/2 (?1828); Die abgeblühte Linde, D514 (?1817); Heimliches Lieben, D922 (1827); Du liebst mich nicht, D756 (1822); Der Zwerg, D771 (1822/1823); Im Abendrot, D799 (1824/1825); Frühlingsglaube, DS686 (1822); Auflösung, D807 (1824)


Katarina Karnéus is one of that rare breed of operatic singers – she understands the discipline of concert singing and can actually perform Lieder with great success, and not in an operatic way.

This show was a real treat, the second in a series of four Schubert Lieder recitals sponsored by the BBC at LSO St Luke’s, and was a wonderful follow – up to last week’s recital by John Mark Ainsley. There was a lot of what Roger Vignoles described as “storm and stress” here but at no time did one feel any oppressiveness from the heavyweight material we were offered.

Karnéus sang magnificently throughout, using a wide variety of tone colour and shading, from almost childlike innocence to the mightiest despair of the lover. If I have one reservation it was not with Karnéus but with her voice and how it lays within her. The mezzo – and Karnéus is a real mezzo with a fruity lower register and a ringing top – voice is strangely placed within the mouth. The break of the voice can, with some singers, not bother them at all, but this strange change from head to chest register can cause problems and our unfortunate singer gave us two songs which did her less than credit. Der Musensohn is a fast song with the words racing past us in rapid movement low in the voice. Because of the constitution of Karnéus’s voice several of these passages were placed right on the break and she had trouble articulating the notes and making the words understood – otherwise her diction was exemplary – and it happened again in a later Lied. However, by the time we reached Auflösung, a similarly fast song but with a more sustained vocal line, we heard her voice to its best advantage. I only mention this for anyone listening without a knowledge of the working of the human singing voice it might be thought that we were hearing bad singing. Make no mistake, Karnéus could never sing anything less “than lovely”.