SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW

Mendelssohn, Schubert, Ireland, Duparc, John Casken, Ian Venables and Rodrigo: Patricia Rozario (soprano) Mark Bebbington (piano) Lin Piano Trio, Birmingham Chamber Music Society, Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham 14.1.2010 (GR)


The aim of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society (BCMS) is to give local concertgoers the opportunity to hear first hand the finest music composed for soloists and small groups. They promote six recitals a year, predominantly geared toward instrumental performances as their programme details for 2009-10 show (www.chambermusicbirmingham.org.uk). Engaging both established and emerging artists, a consistently high standard of performance is achieved, just one aspect of Birmingham’s gathering contributions to their renewed quest for UK City of Culture 2013. In existence for over half a century BCMS has also gained a reputation for spotting and encouraging new artists. The entertainment on Sunday Jan 17^th 2010 at the Adrian Boult Hall (integral with the Birmingham Conservatoire) fulfilled both of their goals.

The concert opened with an excellent offering from the best in young local talent. Two movements of the Mendelssohn Trio in D minor, Op 49 saw the Lin Piano Trio occupying centre stage – Kiyam Lin (violin) Olivia Newton (cello) and Jinah Shim (piano) all students of the Conservatoire Junior School. Including the well-known Andante, they delivered a relaxed and flowing rendition, much appreciated by the 200+ audience.

BCMS endeavour to repertoire classical music from all periods; Patricia Rozario accompanied by Mark Bebbington featured a wide variety of items from two centuries ago up to the present day. Rozario began with four Schubert songs. I thought she lacked sparkle in Die Sterne, but the romanticism of Goethe’s An der Mond came across very well. Nacht und Traume and Who is Sylvia? completed this group from the early 19th century, but for a soprano with such an impressive CV I thought she lacked both dynamic and expressive range.

More than one critic have described the lines of Christina Rossetti that comprise John Ireland’s song cycle Mother and Child – a brief journey from birth to death – as ‘artless’. Although the music is natural it is however anything but crude. The tender line and clarity of Rozario plus the sympathetic backing of Bebbington reflected this and conveyed the images of domesticity and despair that had greatly influenced the music of Ireland post First World War.

L’invitation au voyage featured the verse of Baudelaire, another poet whose words have been frequently set to music, here by Henri Duparc. Rozario allowed the inherent drama of the piece to emerge from the fluent arpeggios and delicate pauses of Bebbington – the refrain Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté was a poignant moment indeed. However, I was disappointed they omitted the second stanza. While many of the most beautiful songs have been laments, it is possible to have too great an emphasis in a recital upon melancholia. As Duparc’s Chanson Triste and Phidylé followed, this impression emerged, but there was admiration for the stamina and recall of Rozario.

Two twentieth century British composers, John Casken and Ian Venables, both unfamiliar to me, dominated the second-half, but credit to BCMS for providing a well-needed platform. Hearing a modern piece for the first time is always difficult and Casken’s Chansons de Verlaine was no exception. Comparison with Debussy’s scoring of Verlaine’s text was also inevitable. Dedicated to John Joubert, it was premiered at the Wigmore Hall in 2007 by Rozario and Julius Drake. Although Rozario summarized the libretto (not printed in the programme) it was as hard to follow, as it surely was to sing. Casken had come along to hear his composition and duly took his bow.

Ian Venables was also present for his three songs: The Way Through, At Midnight and Friendship. The final one of this trilogy was written with Rosario in mind and exploited her free lyrical top to full advantage, her rendition again at one with the ever-reliable Bebbington.

The duo finished on a high with the Cuatro Madrigales of Joachim Rodrigo, four songs that cleverly provide contrasting emotions, all captured by Rozario and Bebbington – the tears and pain of Con qué la lavaré, the desolation of Vos me matásteis, the high jinks of De dónde venis and the resolution of love and nature in De los Alamos.

Geoff Read