EVGENIA GREKOVA RECITAL

Evgenia Grekova and Irina Puryshinskaja perform evening of rare pleasure for Friends of Music (review by Michael Green)

Two young Russians provided an evening of rare pleasure in a programme of lieder for the Friends of Music, given at the Durban Jewish centre.

Evgenia Grekova has a splendid and admirably disciplined soprano voice that is capable of great power and also of great delicacy. Irina Puryshinskaja is a pianist of high skills and impeccable taste, always serving the demands of the music and the role of her partner.

These two dedicated musicians presented 22 songs by Richard Strauss, Schubert, Rachmaninov and Leonard Bernstein, and they covered a wide range of moods and emotions.

I would guess that about one-third of the programme was familiar to most of the listeners, and some of the other items must have come as something of a revelation to them. In fact, the choice of songs was further evidence of the good judgment of the performers. They opened with six songs by Richard Strauss, one of the last of the great romantics. Evgenia studied for a time with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and her delivery often reminded me of that great German soprano of yesteryear. Irina showed the audience at once how accomplished a pianist she is and, no doubt, she was assisted by having at her command the resonant Kawai grand piano acquired recently by the Friends of Music.

The last item in this group was Strauss’s most famous song, Morgen, Tomorrow the sun will shine, and here the performers cast a spell over the audience with their vocal purity of tone and poise at the keyboard, the pianist playing the part usually assigned to an orchestra.

This was followed by five rather mystifying songs by Leonard Bernstein, called collectively I Hate Music. Apparently they are intended to reflect, in humorous fashion, the perceptions of a child. Written 60 years ago but new to me, they were not, I thought, particularly attractive, but they were certainly well sung.

Franz Schubert, the matchless composer of lieder, was represented by five songs, the best known of these being To be Sung on the Water and Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel. Again, the performers successfully interpreted a wide range of moods, from the intense drama of Gretchen, her peace of mind gone, to the meditative calm of Nacht und Traume, Night and dreams.

Finally, the singer and pianist turned to their celebrated compatriot Sergei Rachmaninov. I have the feeling that Rachmaninov’s songs are not as well known as they deserve to be. I have known some of them for many years, and the best are in the front rank in the repertory of song. The audience obviously enjoyed the pensive Before My Window, the exquisite Lilacs and the exuberant Spring Waters, with the pianist contributing just the right touch of virtuosity in the accompaniment.

The evening’s prelude performer, funded by the National Lottery, was yet another gifted young violinist of eastern origins, 14-year-old Yea Kyung Kim, a pupil at Durban Girls’ College. Accompanied by David Smith, she displayed a full tone and considerable technical skill in items by Wieniawski and Schubert. - Michael Green