Recital
Les Bougies Baroques ensemble;
countertenor Cenk Karafareya;
guest singer soprano Nicola Said
Fortepiano and dir. Ian Peter Bugeja
Guildhall Scholl of Music and Drama
Milton Court Hall

Ian Peter Bugeja’s London-based ensemble is going strong. Apart from several concerts in the UK, the ensemble is also familiar with Maltese audiences for concerts held here. They will also be performing in Germany in the near future. These also included Turkish countertenor Cenk Karaferya, who this time was giving his final exam recital leading to a Master’s degree in performance. All the music performed was by Joseph Haydn.

The recital was brief but very intense. Directing from the fortepiano, Bugeja’s ensemble provided just the right sort of accompaniment in the first work chosen. This was the aria Qualche volta non fa male from the opera Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon). Haydn’s operas may not be as well-known as his symphonies and chamber music, but they are delightful works needing more recognition and airing.

Ever the pioneer, Il mondo della luna could be considered as the first operatic space probe. In this aria, the singer sang with fluidity and conviction underlined by a very sound technique. His singing was very much in style and as was to be confirmed later, he gave possibly his finest performance in my experience.

For the next piece Karaferya had Bugeja’s sole accompaniment at the fortepiano. This was the very taxing cantata Arianna a Naxos, Hob. XXVI, b:2. It takes some 20 minutes and consists of two recitatives and two arias. It requires a lot of agility, of which the singer had plenty, yet articulation was never sacrificed and diction remained clear. He was obviously giving all he had to produce a convincing interpretation and must have been relieved when it was over.

That was the countertenor’s last work because the one concluding the recital was a duet with guest soprano Nicola Said and the ensemble. This was Va, mi tremo al tuo periglio from the opera Ezio (1763). This was not the first time the pair sang together so there was a familiar understanding which rendered the duet a highly effective and convincing one. The vocal interplay and dialogue was very balanced and harmonious in every way.

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