‘Out to Lunch’ concert

Press, 6 July 1985, Page 8

‘Out to Lunch’ concert

“Out to Lunch” with Rosalind Salas (soprano), Andrew Pask (clarinet) and Roger Buchanan (piano), presented by the Arts Employment Scheme at the Great Hall, Arts Centre, July 5, 1.10 p.m. Reviewed by Philip Norman. Diverse and meaty, the programme for yesterday’s “Out to Lunch” recital would have been ideal for an evening recital. For a lunchtime slot, alas, it was far too long and unwieldy. The programme was, in essence, a Cook’s Tour of some 900 years of musical history. Embarking in the twelfth century to the unaccompanied tune of Hildegarcrs “0 Euchari,” it attempted a demanding journey through Brahms’s “Four Serious Songs,” Schubert’s “Shepherd on the Rock” and Poulenc’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano before docking in a contemporary idiom. ■

By 2.10 p.m., visions of a windscreen decorated with parking tickets prompted an early, hasty departure. In a sense, I was the poorer for avoiding a parking fine; the closing item missed, Cathy Berberian’s “Stripsody,” was a work I especially wanted to hear. Rosalind Salas is without a doubt a versatile singer. The ease with which she switched from one style period to another was enviable. So too, was her ability to float the gentlest of notes at high altitudes, heard to excellent effect in particularly the third of the four Brahms songs. For a young singer, she has a voice of surprising power. However, she needs to nurse her tone more at dynamic levels above mezzo-forte. At these levels there is a noticeable deterioration in the tonal quality and a tendency towards uneven projection creeps in. Her stage presence is

confident and her mastery of the musical material commendable. She must, though, further develop her art of communicating the sense of the music and text. A dead-pan presentation dampened much of the emotional power of the Brahms songs. Andrew Pask is obviously a promising young clarinettist, as evidenced in his sympathetic obbligato line to “The Shepherd on the Rock.” Unfortunately, the proverbial mice-in-the-mouthpiece problem of reed instruments bedevilled his delivery of the Poulenc sonata. Squeaks aside, the account given of this challenging work was nevertheless vigorous. The finest performance of the concert came from the pianist, Roger Buchanan. His accompaniment work was at all times consistent and sympathetic to the solo lines.