Tag: Anna Fraser

Events, Music, Performances, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: The Song Company Presents SHIP TO SHORE

Be sure to get on board for their next stunning concert

By Anastasia Russell-Head

Once again The Song Company triumphs with an innovative and engaging performance at the Melbourne Recital Centre. As part of their year-long exploration of the theme of “water”, the final concert in their 2012 series was devoted to sea shanties and other songs about sailors and sea-faring.

Of course, many of these songs are folk songs – like Cockles and Mussels, What Shall we do with the Drunken Sailor? and Blow the Wind Southerly – which, with their simple form of repetitive verses, presents a challenge for an “art music” ensemble – how to make this material consistently musically engaging?

The Song Company rose to this challenge in fine form, with expert arrangements incorporating interesting harmonies, stunning solos and delicious humour. It was refreshing to see a group of ostensibly classical musicians really relishing being funny!

Guest Director Ruth McCall is to be congratulated on the superb and very effective blend of fun, pathos, rowdiness and simplicity in this performance.

Of course, as is to be expected from an ensemble who brands themselves “Australia’s leading vocal ensemble” the singing was faultless. Sopranos Anna Fraser and Susannah Lawergren were stunning, and guest mezzo Virna Sanzone’s jazz training came to the fore in an inspired version of Bobby Shaftoe.

Accompanying the singers were favourites of the classical guitar scene Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, providing harmonic support throughout and punctuating the vocal numbers with virtuosic instrumental duos.

As always, these two stellar performers did not disappoint – showing supreme mastery of their instruments and musical sensitivity.  For the audience, it was a real highlight to have these two brilliant musicians sharing the stage.

It was a pity that this performance was not particularly well-attended, with many empty seats in the (albeit rather large) Elisabeth Murdoch Hall. The Song Company is new to Melbourne, having built up a devoted following in their home town of Sydney, but they are well worth seeing, and I encourage you to take the opportunity to see them next time they are around.

The Song Company’s Ship to Shore was performed on 14 November 2012 at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall

Cabaret, Events, Music, Performances, Review

REVIEW: The Song Company Presents LOVE IN VENICE

 Sex, Comedy and… Classical Music?!

By Anastasia Russell-Head

Early Baroque music – madrigals, the sweet harmonies of Monteverdi, purity of sound, tra-la-la-la-la, etc… A bit twee, all sweetness and light, we might think?

…Oh no, it’s all about sex!

With racy lyrics involving “blazing ardour”, “biting teeth”, “thrusting darts” and lots of “death” (think metaphorically), it really helps to have the translation of the original Italian at hand to fully appreciate Monteverdi’s “erotic” madrigals!

Supplied with comprehensive program notes (with full translations) we were treated to an aural feast last night at the Melbourne Recital Centre’s intimate Salon, in The Song Company’s inaugural Melbourne subscription concert: Love in Venice. The first half of the program featured eleven of the aforementioned madrigals, performed with exquisite beauty and precision by the six seasoned singers of the company. Special mention must be made of sopranos Susannah Lawergren and Anna Fraser, whose performance of the duet O come sei gentile was one of the many highlights.

From the sublime to the ridiculous – the focus after interval changed to comedy. Including props, puns, crazy accents and general hilarity, the performance of Adriano Banchieri’s (1567-1643) A Boat from Venice bound for Padua conjured some genuine belly laughs from the audience – not what you generally expect from a classical music concert!

Just as Shakespeare and other literary figures are still relevant in the twenty-first century, so too can be the music from the past. This concert served to illustrate that humour from seventeenth-century Italy can still be funny in Melbourne in 2012, and that human lust and love hasn’t really changed that much in 400 years. The Song Company is to be commended for this accessible, high-quality and extremely enjoyable production. I just wish the audience were encouraged more to clap between songs!

The Song Company’s Love in Venice was performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre on March 12, 2012.

Clive Birch (bass), Richard Black (tenor), Mark Donnelly (baritone), Anna Fraser (soprano), Lanneke Jones (mezzo), Susannah Lawergren (soprano) and Artistic Director Roland Peelman. With Tommie Andersson (lute/theorbo/Spanish guitar) and Laura Vaughan (lirone/gamba).