(Vanessa
Tait-Jones)
An evening of varied and considerable
pleasure. (Review by Michael Green)
A newcomer to the Durban musical scene, the
soprano Vanessa Tait-Jones, and a well-known Durban pianist, Liezl-Maret Jacobs,
provided an evening of varied and considerable pleasure for a Friends of Music
audience at the Durban Jewish Centre.
Their programme presented 19 songs ranging
from Henry Purcell in the 17th century to Richard Strauss in the 20th.
Vanessa Tait-Jones (formerly based in Cape Town, now living in Durban) is an
experienced singer in many musical forms – lieder, opera, oratorio --- and she
has a splendid powerful voice that is projected to great effect.
Her two opening items, a song by Purcell
and an aria by Handel, were impressive, with a little too much vibrato for my
taste. But the three Schubert songs that followed showed her voice at its best,
with pure, accurate intonation and well-judged phrasing.
Here, and elsewhere, Liezl-Maret Jacobs
made an important contribution at the keyboard, playing with skill and
sympathy. In a composition like
Schubert’s “To be sung on the water” the piano part is not a mere accompaniment
but an integral part of the musical structure, and these two performers were an
excellent partnership.
Four songs by Richard Strauss were a
striking contrast to four by the Spanish composer Obradors. They were all
delivered with great panache and were further evidence of the singer’s
versatility.
The second
half of the programme was devoted to operatic arias by Dvorak, Gounod, Puccini,
Lehar and Johann Strauss, all well-known and all much enjoyed.
A
commendable feature of the programme notes was the provision of the words of
the songs in the original German, Italian or Spanish, with English
translations.
The Prelude
Performer of the evening, created by the National Lottery Distribution Trust
Fund, was Ellen Pretorius, a soprano from Crawford College, La Lucia. She was
joined by Rebecca Lee in the celebrated Flower
Duet from Lakmé, the opera by Delibes. - Michael Green
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