Recital
Gillian Zammit, soprano; Lucia Micallef, piano
Manoel Theatre

Lieder singing is perceived as a specialist field and so it is. Thus it felt so good to see a well-sized audience for this recital.

Although I speak no Russian, Zammit’s singing by heart of two Sergei Rachmaninov songs sounded so right!

It had all the right elements which make such an evening the success it turned out to be. I have always considered Gillian Zammit as an ideal vocal miniaturist. Her clear voice and involvement with an ability to switch from style to style are all highly commendable ingredients she uses to best advantage.

Her very fine presence adds lustre to her interpretative ability which enhances her singing with utter conviction. All are plus points and could be reduced to nil if a lieder singer were not to have a reliably sensitive and supportive accompanist such as that provided by Lucia Micallef, a concert pianist in her own right who is also an excellent duo partner.

Her role in this kind of vocal music is crucial because the piano is part and parcel of this artistic creation. It has the first word, and the last, sets the mood, accentuates the feelings and goes beyond the lyrics, extending the wide spectrum of emotions expressed by the voice.

The programme was chosen with care and started with a number of gorgeous songs by Paolo Tosti, beginning with the light romantic A vucchella, sung in Neapolitan, followed by the rather intense Ideale and a venturing out in the world of charm and magic in Malìa, blossoming powerfully in the very passionate Aprile.

Clarity of diction here was highly commendable but initially slightly less in Morgen! Op.27, No.4, which was the first of three lieder by Richard Strauss. It picked up in the rest of the piece and was fine in Zueignung, Op. 10, No. 1 and Allerseelen Op. 10, No. 8. This was in a completely different style to the Tosti, no less intense however, and Morgen! was endowed with such beauty of interpretation that it almost made the heart burst, no wonder the intensity of this song makes it one of the most loved ever written by Strauss.

Love remained the protagonist in the other two Strauss pieces, albeit expressed in different forms from different facets, angles and feelings. The crisp phrasing and attention to detail made every verse tell.

Although I speak no Russian, Zammit’s singing by heart of two Sergei Rachmaninov songs sounded so right! The serenity conveyed in Zdes’korovsho, Op. 21, No. 7 was tangible and the combination of pain and reassurance in love was no less well-projected in Ne ver’mne drug! Op. 14, No.7. Needless to say, the intensely romantic pianist-composer endowed the piano part with a very richly telling role.

This remained as intense as it was subdued in Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, where the vocal part is tested to the limit. Here Zammit could display all her versatility and power. This piece also spotlighted the mellow and warmer richness of her lower vocal reaches.

The set of Six Romances Op. 38 with which the duo opened the second half were sung by Zammit with the scores in front of her but she barely cast a glance at them.

The singing and the playing of these works touched upon various emotions and feelings, a kind of wide spectrum within the same set. The delicacy of Noch’yu v sadu Menya contrasted with the mischief inherent in Krysolov, voice and piano sparkling in Margaritki, the sense of loss in Kney, the sweetly enervating Son and the pain in the aptly titled A-Y (A-U)!

Even when resorting to Tosti for the last four items on the programme, all exquisitely interpreted, there was a different style and approach to the ones in Italian: the stark Vorrei morire and Tristezza and the two in French Je Pleure! and Malgré moi.

The encores were also by Tosti and in those two languages: Mattinata and Chanson de l’adieu.