Mikhail Svetlov is the most unassuming of artists and yet, throughout Gremin's great aria from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, one was struck by the supreme effortlessness of this Russian's voice, right through to that final low F sharp.
Many Aucklanders saw the Russian bass as Mephistopheles in last year'sNBR New Zealand Opera production of Faust; on Saturday he returned for a recital of arias and songs.
Gremin was one of seven characters who lived again on the Concert Chamber stage. We sensed Banquo's forebodings in "Come dal ciel precipita" from Verdi's Macbeth, and were moved by the lyricism of Giorgio's Act II aria from Bellini's I Puritani.
Gounod's Mephistopheles dashed off his diabolic serenade, a la Russe, while Mozart's Osmin and Rossini's Don Basilio, jolly in their viciousness, gave Svetlov ample opportunity to flourish his vocal wares.
The first half of the evening ended with the aria "Ves tabor speet" from Rachmaninov's Aleko, a prime piece of Russian soul-baring.
After interval, we emigrated to Russia. A selection of 10 songs had some infallible and gorgeously sung lollipops from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. The older composer's Don Juan's Serenade was given the full dramatic treatment while Rachmaninov's "I came to her" managed a climax of operatic proportions.
The high point came with two Mussorgsky songs. Svetlov, the actor, relished the irony of The He-Goat, with a peasant girl happily accepting an old husband if his bank account is healthy and his days on Earth severely limited.
This was allotted as many facial expressions and gestures as the composer's Song of the Flea featured endlessly inventive laughs and chortles.
A tumultuous reception was rewarded by two encores. Malashkin's O could I in song tell my sorrow was a sentimental charmer, while a Russian folk song, which provoked some lively response from the hall, gave us all the thrills of the tavern, especially when Svetlov outrageously swelled his tone on notes that it seemed he could have held for ever.
