KEY POINTS:
There are few more rewarding pleasures in the concert hall than a song recital, taken from the overflowing repertoire of the lied, the melodie and the artsong.
Such events are rare in our musical calendar although last week, within just a few days, Aucklanders had two such evenings.
On Monday, soprano Patricia Wright and pianist Diedre Irons focused on the German lied in their contribution to the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's new Twilight series.
Radiant in blue, Wright was the supreme storyteller, whether catching the foolish and fancy-struck young girl in Schumann's "Die Kartenlegerin" or dashing off three Wolf miniatures as if they were a new genre of cabaret-lieder.
Irons, a musicianly and responsive presence throughout the evening, joined in the fun with her flamboyant coda to "Ich hab' in Penna einen Liebsten".
Wright has a lustrous way with a phrase and it was there from the opening sweep of Schumann's "Widmung". Richard Strauss' "Traum durch die Dammerung" took us from twilight gray to love's full glow, into a final "licht" spun to perfection.
The centrepiece of the evening was Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben and exquisite it was. Using a mellow mezzo register, Wright conveyed every shift of mood and emotion, from anticipation and exultation to anguish and acceptance.
Working in the Great Hall five nights later, Jonathan Lemalu and Malcolm Martineau did not have the benefit of the Concert Chamber's intimacy, and the ultimate delicacy and subtlety of Faure's Poeme d'un jour eluded the singer. Rough French pronunciation did not help.
Schumann's Dichterliebe fared better. Occasionally song ran into song for increased momentum in a highly dramatic conception which saw Lemalu delivering at full operatic voltage in "Ich grolle nicht" and the final "Die alten, bosen Lieder".
If the occasional lied, such as "Ich hab' im Traum", seemed a little over-wrought, there was also unaffected lyricism in "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen", crowned with a lingering Martineau postlude.
After interval, Lemalu displayed his very real gift for working with an audience, bringing the characters of Richard Rodney Bennett's Songs Before Sleep right on to the Town Hall stage.
The savage "Baby, Baby, Naughty Baby" was as chilling as any piece of Brittenesque villainy; the buoyant "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" could almost have slipped into the Alan Menken songbook.
Four Shakespeare Songs by Roger Quilter revealed Lemalu's special sympathy for the English artsong, with "Sigh no more, ladies" being particularly effective in Lemalu's relaxed presentation.
Three arias were predictable crowd-pleasers and showed the singer in prime form. A scampish Catalogue Aria from Don Giovanni drew laughs when he consulted his own programme booklet for Leporello's listings. A moment later, Tchaikovsky's Gremin was eloquently praising the beauties of his wife; finally, Falstaff was before us, energetically demystifying the falsity of so-called honour.
It was an evening to remember, and a welcome chance to experience the magnificent Martineau.
This British pianist has long been treasured on CD but, on stage, he proved quite the performer, swinging around on his stool after "Baby, Baby" to give us a mock glare and dashing off Mozart with a grace and sparkle that made one forget it was a mere transcription of the orchestral original.
Alas, we will not be having a week such as this again for a while and those who hanker for the unique joys of a lieder recital, might consider a trip down SH1 next month. On June 24, Patricia Wright reprises much of last Monday's programme, with Faure and Puccini replacing the Wolf songs, and Michael Houstoun at the keyboard, all set in the acoustical gem of Hamilton's WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts.