Love and struggle carried out with a number of ardour

Music / “Schubert and Britten – Love and Battle”, Tasman Soloists. At Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, February 26. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

A PROGRAM contrasting love and struggle with the work of composers Robert Schumann and Benjamin Britten resulted in a memorable, if at occasions, demanding live performance.

The Tasman Soloists are Kent McIntosh, tenor, Robert Johnson, horn, Sharolyn Kimmorley, piano and Rob Wilton, speaker. All of them have a formidable checklist of previous credit and collectively they proved to be distinctive.

This system started with Schumann’s “Adagio and Allegro for Horn and Piano”. The primary half was quiet and romantic after which the second half exploded with ardour. It was performed very effectively by Kimmorley on piano and Johnson on the horn. It was a fantastic work to open the live performance.

Kent McIntosh then sang Schumann’s Liederkreis Opus 39. An imposing man, McIntosh sang the primary two components with nice feeling and delicacy, then startled with the facility of his voice within the finale of the third half, “Dialogue within the Woods”. His high-quality efficiency was additionally notable for the way in which he maintained the sensation of the songs throughout piano interludes. The intention of every music was clear and carried out with trustworthy emotion in addition to a powerful technical capability.

Kimmorley’s accompaniment to this music cycle was spectacular, bringing out all of the sentiment and emotion within the music.

The most important work of the second half of this system was Britten’s “The Coronary heart of the Matter”. First carried out in 1956, the Edith Sitwell poems have been learn by Rob Wilton, a Canberran instructor who studied historical past and politics on the ANU and College of Sydney. His readings of the poems have been right down to earth and made an prompt reference to the viewers.

McIntosh demonstrated an incredible breath management and readability with the sung components of this vocally demanding work. His singing of the Canticle half, “Nonetheless Falls the Rain”, was haunting. As well as, the piano accompaniment by Kimmorley and the fanfares on the horn by Johnson added one other dimension to this extraordinary work.

Refreshingly, after the demanding “The Coronary heart of the Matter”, McIntosh sang three English people songs. His lengthy expertise in opera was clearly demonstrated along with his capability to breathe life and character into these songs. “The Oak and the Ash” was notably effectively sung. The piano and horn accompaniment was glorious.

The live performance completed with McIntosh’s stunning singing of the well-known aria,”Oh, is there not one maiden breast”, from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, “The Pirates of Penzance”.