THE NEW ZEALAND OPERA SOCIETY

The Opera Factory, Newmarket, Auckland. Saturday 23 April
Review by Katherine Watts

This exceptional programme was the first “Gala Recital” presented in the new (ex-warehouse) home of Opera Factory. It proved a deserving and dazzling choice, as the two artists combined for a very generous evening of art song, leaving the audience wanting more. Sally Burgess appeared by courtesy of Christchurch Civic Choir, with whom she was to present a quite different programme of operatic numbers. Here she revelled in the more intimate recital form and gave us an eclectic selection ranging from Duparc and Canteloube to Rorem and Kern. She was accompanied with virtuosity and panache by pianist Rosemary Barnes.

After a fiery opening aria from Carmen, L’amour est un oiseau rebelle, it was a delight to stray from the well-travelled path and enjoy little-heard treasures by American Ned Rorem, among which My Papa’s Waltz and Early in the Morning made a poignant contrast in mood.

Duparc’s small legacy of luxuriant songs was represented by three, impeccably performed, with a close and flexible relationship between singer and pianist. A choice of four of the Songs of the Auvergne by Canteloube showed fine control of dramatic colour and intensity from both performers, Rosemary Barnes dealing adroitly with the testing piano reduction of the orchestral part.

The Romantic colours of three Grieg offerings, Ich liebe dich, Ein Schwan and Ein Traum, were followed by a surprise inclusion as a gesture towards the approach of Anzac Day: the heartstopping lament The Field of the Dead from Prokofiev’s film score Alexander Nevsky. Appropriately, New Zealand mezzo Helen Medlyn, who has also performed this song tellingly, was in the audience. Ms Burgess powerfully conveyed the aching grief of a young Russian woman gazing on a battlefield strewn with the victims of war. This performance was pure vocal mastery, keeping its hearers transfixed throughout.

A lighter note was sounded in the charming and piquant songs of Chabrier, hugely admired by his contemporaries and too little sung today. Comical ducks and chirping crickets came vividly to life, with only a small quibble about the crickets’ accompaniment being a little strong for their song.

The music theatre offerings which closed the programme were varied and performed with unrelenting integrity and skill. Ms Burgess demonstrated her ability to convey text, character and meaning in a host of colourful ways, aided by her wide dynamic and emotional range, and above all, by the depth of thought that had gone into the preparation of a fascinating recital. I hope Opera Factory hosts recitals of this calibre again.