CLASSICAL MUSIC: Coenraad Visser
IT was only with her last two encores, a hilarious=20 performance of Victor Herbert’s comic Art is Calling=20 for Me and a sweetly introspective rendition of a Maori=20 traditional song, that Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s recital=20 before an overjoyed Pretoria audience came to life.
Not that there wasn’t much to admire before then. After=20 a long career in opera, her voice still does not show=20 any seams between the registers, and its legendary=20 creamy quality remains unblemished, still without its=20 equal. To these qualities she has added a phenomenal=20 technique — each note is carefully placed, the lifts=20 to top notes are effortless and gently expressive by=20 themselves, her tonal palette knows no bounds, and a=20 supreme breath control enables her to spin long phrases=20 without pressure on her voice.
Her programme for this recital was varied as far as the=20 composers were concerned, but too monochrome (even=20 monotonous) as far as the actual works were concerned.=20 The selected songs and arias were safe choices — in a=20 comfortable register and without too many demands for=20 agility and vocal power.
So it is no surprise that the two Mozart concert arias,=20 the selection from Berlioz’ sensuous Les nuits d’ete=20 and Guastavino’s La Rosa y el Sauce fared best. Here=20 her steady pouring of creamy tone, marked only by the=20 most discrete changes in timbre and volume, was almost=20 sufficient expression.
But the three Vivaldi arias were just too generalised,=20 and the Strauss and Copland songs needed more attention=20 to the words. After all, the art of subtle wordpointing=20 sets a supreme lieder singer apart from the rest of the=20 pack. It is only in this respect that Dame Kiri fails=20 to measure up to the lofty standards set by the leading=20 exponents of this almost elusive art form.
In all fairness, she was badly served by Grant=20 Gershon’s bland accompaniment. His brittle piano sound=20 hampered the Strauss songs and virtually ruined the=20 Berlioz ones.
Te Kanawa sings opera arias and cabaret songs with the=20 National Symphony Orchestra at 7pm on Sunday at the Sun=20 City Superbowl=20