Wyastone Concert Hall Friday 12th May 2006
Stephen Wells (Baritone) and Lindy Tennent-Brown (Piano).
The final concert of the Merlin Music Society’s 43rd Season was a recital of mostly English Song given by Stephen Wells (Baritone) and Lindy Tennent-Brown (Piano). A word of praise should be offered to the performers for their programming; the concert was an opportunity to hear some infrequently performed works which surely merit more time on the concert platform.
The five Ivor Gurney songs were, quite simply, a treat, showing by their lyrical flow and creative sensitivity just how under-performed these songs are. It was interesting to hear them in such close proximity to five songs by Gerald Finzi. This was something of a lesson in what it is that makes a song ‘English’ (or should we say ‘British’?); the smell of the pasture and the openness of the field, the flow of the river is never far away. Gurney seems to use pastiche more freely and creatively than Finzi and the particular quality of Wells’ rich dark baritone suited this well, especially in Sleep and the famous Hawke and Buckle.
Finzi is a more self-conscious composer but, like Gurney, generates moods from text very easily. Hearing the familiar words of O mistress mine from Twelfth Night set in this easy, rhapsodic way is to hear the words again for the first time. These Shakespeare Sonnets allowed Wells to show how easily he could change the mood by changing his tonal colours. Other songs sung during the course of the recital included Purcell’s Let the dreadful engines, Three Scots Ballads by the New Zealand native (as were the two performers) David Farquar, and Three Songs by Taneyev, a brave choice and a successful one.
The Coward songs were a well-pitched end to the evening. Wells pointed out that in money terms Coward was probably the most successful composer on the programme, and on hearing Sail Away, Nina and, more daringly, Matelot, one can see why. These songs should not be neglected on the platform merely because they are popular. Wells’ diction and Tennent-Brown’s technique carried them off admirably
Tennent-Brown’s playing throughout was bold in the right places and subtle when needed, with never a moment when the audience was made to wonder if she could carry something off. Wells’ is a convincing and adaptable performer, although once or twice, at the top of the range, we could have done with a little more flair. Such a programme reminds us that British art song as a genre stands up securely to comparison with anything from the continent, and refreshingly, is less introspective.
R. Mansel,
Monmouth School