IRIS MOXLEY

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24653, 24 August 1945, Page 3

IRIS MOXLEY

* ENJOYABLE SONG RECITAL j A most enjoyable song recital was given by Iris Moxley in Beggs Con- i cert Hall last evening. Frederick Paga : was the assisting artist. The programme centred on a single tradition of song-writing contained between Schubert and Strauss, but within these limits.the songs were chosen with a feeling for their variety and the continuity of the whole. Miss Moxley has a voice of beautiful and unusual quality. The tone has a contralto richness and warmth witnout any of the usual associated huskiness. It is unexpectedly hgrit in the lower register, but has an easy upward range and an even scaling, and it is used with considerable flexibility and very clear articulation. Intonation needs some control. _ The singer sometimes catches the mood of a song to perfection, as m Wolf’s "The 1 Forsaken Maiden,” or m the cheerfully contrasted Brahms song "O Rose-lipt Maiden.” Three songs from Schumann’s Dichterhebe showed this same ability to combine mood and music into something pleasurable and convincing to the audience. But the changing moods within longer .songs, Schubert’s “Hymn to the Almighty and Elgar’s ‘‘The Swimmer,” were only half conveyed, Miss Moxley uses her voice too consistently in the one colour of tone, and perhaps does not identify herself completely with the atmosphere of the words she is singing. Or perhaps she merely lacks the sophisticated technical tricks that give most of the appearance of this. From a general impression of phrasings, rhythmic detail, and interpretation, it was obvious that the programme had been worked upon very carefully, and one is grateful for any music-making that bears this stamp. Mr Page’s accompaniments were sensitive to timing and balance, though a bit apt to remain at accompaniment level when the singer was silent. His playing of Ravel’s Sonatine made pleasant contrast in a programme so impeccable as to be in danger of becoming a little dull in its later stages.