FIRST CONCERT

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25878, 10 August 1949, Page 8

FIRST CONCERT

MARJORIE LAWRENCE FIRST-CLASS ERAMATIC SOPRANO A fairly large audience who heard Marjorie Lawrence’s first recital in the Theatre Royal last evening will not be likely to forget the experience. She has a dramatic soprano voice which has every attribute for a fully authentic rendering of Wagner’s work. This calls for tremendous power and she has that; it also demands control so that climax may be built upon climax—and this was given with most thrilling effect in *Brunhilde’s final scene from Gotterdammerung. She showed dramatic ability of the same quality as her singing and the impact of this work was felt in all its tragic majesty. One can readily understand Sir Thomas Beecham’s appraisal of Miss Lawrence as the "greatest living dramatic soprano.” This was the work which impressed one the most and its like, from a woman singer, has not been, and will not be, heard here in a long time. Tribute must be paid to the work of Mr Raymond Lambert, who managed the difficult—almost impossible—task of reducing the huge orchestral scoring to pianoforte idiom successfully. All who have regard for great singing should hear Miss Lawrence for they will hear singing in the grand manner and there are not many nowadays who can produce it. Her voice, apart from its power, is also remarkable for its range of tonal quality. As one would expect there is a warm and mellow beauty in the low notes. Such tone can be produced only when there is such wealth of high overtones. There are no “breaks” m the voice, no obvious “registers,” and no artificial sounds due to overcovering. All is out in the open and aoverned by finely polished technique. It is full of the most refreshing sounds.

At the beginning of the programme in “Dido’s Lament” by Purcell. "To Chloe” by Mozart, and "She Never Told Her Love” by Haydn, Miss Lawrence departed somewhat from the traditional style of singing these works. No doubt much can be said for her reading of them but personally one prefers the traditional style. One would call in question the passing notes in the pianoforte ending of "Dido’s Lament.” They are not in tffe original score and are out of character. She gave attractive renderings of “Mignon” and "Er Ists” by Wolfbordering on the over-dramatic but not going out of bounds. Brahms’s ‘Sapphic Ode” was a lovely gem of pure legato singing, warm, and deeply felt. “The Vain Suit” had a scintillating gaiety, and in the “Blacksmith” Miss Lawrence gave telling illustration of ringing power under firm tonal control. Her Grieg songs were most pleasing although, strangely enough, the words were not clear in "Midsummer Night.” Kennedy Fraser’s “The Road to the Isles’’ was sung with rhythmic pulse, but in “Because I Was Shy” there seeme® no apparent reason for the rhythm to be so jerky. In “Velvet Shoes” by Randall Thompson, Miss Lawrence charmed her hearers with nicely-modulated soft singing. Mr Raymond Lambert is a fine accompanist and an interesting solo pianist. His touch is clean and crisp, he is sensitive to nuance and plays with admirable clarity. Two Preludes by Shostakowicz do not impress at a first hearing, nor does Granados’s Allegro de Concert escape from its thematic banality by means of technical brilliance, but in Chopin’s Study in C Sharp minor. Nocturne in F sharp major, and Debussy’s "La Cathedrale Engloutie,” Mr Lambert took every advantage the music gave to express his own musicianship t’..rough faithful interpretations. Miss Lawrence said how delighted she was with the new Weimar piano, and considered it the best she and Mr Lambert had encountered on their present tour. It certainly sounded very beautiful, and one cannot imagine parts of this recital being possible with some of the instruments which had to be used in the past. The next recital will be on Thursday night. —C.F.B.