DIE SCHÖNE
MÜLLERIN
ALAN
BENNETT, Tenor
CHOI
HYE-SEON, Piano
SOTA
Concert Hall
Friday (14 February 2014 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 February 2014 with the title "Conveying unrequited love exquisitely".
How did you spend your Valentine’s Day evening?
Was it an expensive restaurant and overpriced roses with someone you were
hoping to impress, or in the company of the music of Franz Schubert? The
Austrian composer was one of the great Romantics, for whom Fate dealt a bad
hand in a tragically short life. His Lieder and song cycles dwelled on love,
but he was not to enjoy its fruits.
His 1823 cycle Die Schöne Müllerin (The Fair
Maid Of The Mill) of 20 songs after poetry by Wilhelm Müller was about
young love, unrequited and rebuffed, leading ultimately to despair and suicide.
Not quite the stuff for courting couples, but given the chemistry between the husband
and wife team of tenor Alan Bennett and pianist Choi Hye-Seon, one could be
easily persuaded.
The concert began with two solo Impromptus (from Op.90) performed by
Choi. The rippling right hand figurations over which lyricism ruled supreme
provided a prelude to the exquisite hour and a bit to follow, besides allowing
late-comers to settle in their seats.
Bennett possesses an unusually bright and
youthful voice, one with a clear ring in the topmost registers, belying his hefty
physical stature. Singing completely from memory and not fettered with a score,
he was able to convey a myriad of moods and emotions by communicating directly
at the audience.
From the unabashed optimism of Das Wandern (Wandering) and Wohin? (Whither) to hesitant uncertainty of Der Neugierige (Curiosity) and Ungeduld (Impatience), one could readily follow
the young miller’s descent into emotional turmoil. This was aided by a booklet
with the German texts and translations, but the downside was the rustling
caused by hundreds of leaves being noisily turned. At least people were paying
attention.
It was a testament to Bennett’s art and
endurance that each song sounded freshly minted, and there was little or no
evidence of strain as he progressed. The 14th and 15th songs
Der Jäger (The Huntsman) and Eifersucht und Stolz (Jealousy and Pride),
with indignant words spat out at a furious pace, were accomplished with
relative ease and facility. His partner Choi was sensitive and supportive
throughout.
The cycle’s last three songs, also its most
famous, were wonderfully portrayed. The bleakness of Tröckne Blumen (Wilted
Flowers), synonymous with love snuffed out, and the dirge-like rhythm of Der Müller und Der Bach (The Miller and The Brook) were allusions
of death itself. The final Des Baches
Wiegenlied (The Brook’s Lullaby)
provided an uneasy balm of terminal repose, with its waters obliviously washing
over hope and life itself.
The encore demanded by the audience was a teaser
for the next song cycle to come, Winterreise
(Winter Journey). A warm
reception for Bennett and Choi awaits.
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