Contralto charms with recital

Press, 5 November 1977, Page 4

Contralto charms with recital

By C. FOSTER BROWNE Lauris Elms, an Australian contralto, accompanied on tlie piano by Wallace Woodley, sang to a fairly large audience at the State-Trinity Centre on Thursday. As a tribute to the late Benjamin Britten, she began her programme with his “Charm of Lullabies,” a set of poems by five writers, giving wide modes of expression. Some could scarcely be regarded as sleep-inducing but all had interestingly beautiful things to say and moods to create.

Both singer and pianist gave intense expression to them, rising at times to an impressive climax, with sometimes a hint of “sleep, or else” in the background. The “Highland Balou” was particularly charming. Seven classical Spanish songs ranging from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries were of particular charm and interest, and were far from the beaten track. These all had individual attraction and were set with beautiful accompaniments, played with artistic sensitivity by Mr Woodley. Miss Elms gave them colour and widely ranging style of expression. Although Miss Elm’s voice and her powerful range of expression lie more in the realm of operatic rather than lieder singing, she gave very acceptable renderings of five songs by Brahms from his Opus 105. She phrases with fine sense of shaping and has the breath control to sustain very long passages with security.