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Recital
22 August 2004
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Simon Keenlyside (baritone)
Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Songs of Schumann
Harfnerlieder (Harpist’s songs)
Kernerlieder (Kerner songs)
What the critics say
Edinburgh Song Recitals: Violeta Urmana Thrills, Simon Keenlyside Broods, Bejun Mehta Camps It Up.
Rowena Smith for The Herald [Glasgow], 24 August 2004
There was one serious flaw in Sunday's late-night concert and it had nothing to do with the performances but rather with the lighting in the Usher Hall. While praise has previously been given to the late-night series for the atmospheric use of spotlights on the stage in a darkened auditorium, this time it was a policy that rather backfired.
The problem lay in the fact that, while spotlights were still being used to illuminate the stage, the main hall lights had been left on to allow the audience to follow the texts and translations of the songs. The result was that baritone Simon Keenlyside was left standing in disconcerting half-shadows, rather diminishing the element of visual communication that is usually an integral part of a lieder recital. It also seemed to emphasise Keenlyside's awkward, at times alienating stage presence, which is both restless and introverted and takes some getting used to.
After successfully confusing anyone in the audience who was attempting to follow the texts with the unannounced addition of an extra song at the beginning, Keenlyside and pianist Malcolm Martineau performed selections from Schumann's Harfnerlieder and Kernerlieder. This was a considered, sensitive performance, with Keenlyside using the full measure of his rich, well-rounded baritone, although his tendency to throw away endings of phrases and quiet passages seemed careless rather than expressive.
These collections don't rank among Schumann's greatest works of lieder but, as Keenlyside and Martineau demonstrated, there were some attractive songs. However, they didn't seem to make an ideal pairing. With one melancholy-tinged song following on from the last, the overall effect of the recital was one of rather unremitting gloom.
By Anna Picard for The Independent, 29 August 2004
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article53908.ece
“Which leaves space for barely a nod to the absolute artistry of Simon Keenlyside and Malcolm Martineau; whose Schumann lieder followed Capriccio. As stripped of theatricality as Mehta's recital was laden with it, their performance occupied a plane of concentration, engagement, seriousness and intensity that is timeless. Do I believe that Keenlyside's sudden intake of breath on the playout of Alte Laute was rehearsed? Not for one second.”
EIF Review by Iain Gilmour
http://www.edinburghguide.com/festival/2004/eif/review.shtml?04_08_22_songs_by_schumann
“ Keenlyside captured the profound melancholy Schumann required, particularly in An die Turen, but it is a pity so many nuances of his phrasing and expression were destroyed by the venue.”
”There is exhilaration in Lust der Sturmnacht, delicacy in Stille Liebe and grief in Stille Tranen -- technically the most demanding song, though the listener would not have grasped this from Keenlyside's superb breath control.”
Carol Main, The Scotsman, 24 August 2004
“Keenlyside’s voice is rich and velvety, particularly in the lower registers... Keenlyside’s strong sense of line and beautiful phrasing coloured the dramatic swings of the Kernlieder.”
Frank Carroll, The Sunday Herald, 29 August 2004
“...the beautiful velvety baritones take over. His subtlety of phrasing and colour, coupled with Martineau’s sensitive and perceptable accompaniments with their almost singing vocal quality, roduced beautifully measured Lieder performances, taking us to the soul of these poems by Goethe and Kerner.”