Melanie Stephenson, sop, Karen Kingsley, pno, St. Mary's Fratton, Nov 19th
The winter afternoon faded colourfully and became dark outside while Melanie Stephenson and accompanist, Karen Kingsley, presented an hour's worth of songs that took us through the livelong day in, I think, 6 languages including the Scots of the encore, by 11 composers, Arthur Sullivan being given two pieces.
Having questioned Purcell in Britten's piano settings on the new Sampson/Davies disc, Vivaldi worked very well in the motet Nulla in mundo pax sincera, the most profound and moving piece on a programme that was mainly C19th Romantic but included Elizabeth Maconchy as its most recent contributor. Karen Kingsley is gentle and considered and played the Vivaldi especially well.
Melaanie Stephenson is no more dramaatic than she needs to be, either, but is expressive and showed she could stretch to some heights when the opportunity arose and if, as the programme said, she's done The Magic Flute, he must be more than capable.
She had a break midway while Karen played Peter Warlock's Folk-song Preludes, lyrical but with bleak undertones that his biographical note would lead one to expect. They suited Karen's thoughtful technique very well and were an essential ingredient in the mix of requited, unrequited and dark moods.
Maconchy's Ophelia's Song isn't mad enough by half. There was not enough distraction in the song for Melanie to bring out but, as usual in lieder, Robert Schumann was among the foremost, Karen was delicate in Hugo Wolf and Melanie brought the same conviction to Mahler in German as she did to Bellini in Italian.
Top marks to the St. Mary's Music Foundation concerts, providing fine music on a Sunday afternoon. There should be more of it and more people should turn up to listen.