The last five songs of this performance in Waikanae by Keith Lewis and Michael Houstoun of Schubert's song-cycle Winterreise brought us right to the heart of this great work - that numbed, essential bleakness of spirit was tellingly conveyed by both singer and pianist, not with histrionics or gloom-laden darknesses of tone, but with a kind of other-worldliness symbolized by the traveller's "passing-over" into the realm of the ghostly... read more

Another highlight of the festival (there were almost daily) was the presence of Keith Lewis and Michael Houstoun to perform Schubert's Winterreise... read more

I heard the lark's song from afar as I dashed towards St.Andrew's Church and eased myself through the doors, just as the singer was coming to the end of what sounded like a tiny Slavic frisson of avian abandonment - so, thanks to my lateness I had all but missed the first item, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Sound of the Lark's Singing. Which wouldn't have been too much of a tragedy... read more

It must have been very gratifying to Catherine Norton to have had  such a line-up of established and emerging singers to sing, as she said in her short speech, songs where she chose the music, not the singers.  These were her favourites. The programme began with Rossini’s La regata veneziana, made famous by another farewell concert – Gerald Moore’s farewell to the concert platform, when the singers were... read more

It's said that piano recitals and song recitals don't draw the crowds sufficiently for them to be financially viable undertakings on a regular basis - just why this is, when some of the world's greatest music has been written for each of these genres by nearly all of the great composers taxes my understanding somewhat. The perception seems to be that with chamber music there are a number of... read more

The performers were brave to tackle a difficult and unusual work such as this cycle of nine songs, and perhaps it was not only the recent bad weather that deterred some from attending the lunch-time concert. However, it proved to be an interesting and worthwhile recital. Messiaen’s songs were written in 1936 for his wife, violinist and composer Claire Delbos, whose nickname was Mi.  He wrote the words himself, with Biblical... read more

Despite the rain and cold doing its best to dampen people's concert-going inclinations, soprano Janey MacKenzie got a heartening and enthusiastic attendance of determined music-lovers at her lunchtime recital with pianist Robyn Jaquiery at Old St.Paul's Church. The performers very quickly made up for the inclement weather through their communicative warmth and whole-hearted enjoyment of what they were presenting for their audience's grateful pleasure, an interchange evident from the response... read more

 

A delightful recital by two well-qualified young musicians, both already having quite impressive track-records took place on Saturday.