Join our email list
“Passion, conviction and purity of tone enhance recital”read full review
3 May 2007
The beauty of voice was effectively demonstrated at yesterday's Marama midweek concert, in a recital by husband and wife musicians, soprano Goeknil Meryem Biner and pianist Tom McGrath.
This couple, who met while studying in Germany, have performed and recorded internationally, and since 2003 have made their home in Dunedin.
The recital opened with two "pantoums" for soprano and piano by Anthony Ritchie (2005). A pantoum has 4-line stanzas, rhymes, and unique order of repeated lines. Bluff Pantoum drew on images of the sea, and Mining Lament bemoaned the destruction of a "golden hill" in Riverton, Southland, by sluicing. Biner's interpretation of these very contemporary works (text Cilla McQueen) was convincing, but I felt she was not as comfortable in these songs as in the more traditional repertoire that followed.
Songs from Schubert were Suleikas erster Gesang D720 and Suleikas zweiter Gesang D717. Both are love poems, and were delivered with passion and conviction and purity of tone by this German-born singer.
The 50th anniversary of the death of Erich Wolfgang Korngold was marked with three songs. The first, Liebesbriefchen (Little Love Letter) was charmingly beautiful. Three songs by Debussy, Ftes Galantes 1,were originally written for his first love, a coloratura soprano.
Biner's nuance and articulation of French song was exemplary, and her portrayal of five songs by Ravel was particularly appealing. Cinq Melodies Populaires Grecques were based on folk songs, and yesterday's soprano delivery was visionary and imaginative, with pianoforte accompaniment to match. The final short Tout Gait was especially captivating.
All in all an enjoyable recital from exceptionally gifted local musicians.
