Your experience may vary widely, but I think English music audiences on the whole are rather delightful. That was certainly the case Saturday evening in Wigmore Hall, when Christopher Maltman gave a recital, to be recorded live, and the request went out for coughs "to be held until the music stops." Lo, they were! The chief cough-er, by the way, was Maltman himself, clearing his throat and all nasal passages vigorously between songs, but indeed holding back as long as the music was on. And what music it was! The baritone with the big, warm, personable, mellifluous voice set Wiggie on its ear, supported simply, beautifully, elegantly by Julius Drake, one of the least intrusive pianists around. However excellent Maltman may be, an exciting thing about him is that clearly he is still a work in progress, with places to go. For example, the exciting opening selection of four songs by Peter Warlock (a.k.a. Philip Heseltine) was marvelous, with a diction making the text unnecessary (Wigmore's practice of leaving the lights on be praised nevertheless), but "perfection" eluded the singer in not trusting the hall's sensational acoustics, oversinging louder passages unnecessarily and rather counterproductively. "The Singer," "Late Summer," "The fox" (what a strong, bitter song that is!), and "Captain Stratton's Fancy" went marching by, gloriously articulated, with shaded, nuanced high notes - and yet Maltman's exemplary diction suffered when he needlessly increased the volume instead of broadening the sound. However dramatic delivery of the final passage was - "You will not call / I shall not stir / When the fangs fall / From the brown fur" - the unwise din of the forte diminished the text's essential clarity. My bet is on Maltman fixing that problem very soon, allowing objection-free enjoyment of his exceptional talent. The singer's (extra-musical) clearing of the throat became even more marked during a Debussy cycle, but did not interfere with the delbivery. "Romance," "Les cloches" (again, too loud at times), and "Mandolin" set up an even great set, by Henri Duparc - Maltman's voice floating georgeosly in "L'Invitation au voyage," with affecting simplicity in "Le manoir de Rosemunde" (one loud passage interfering) and "La vague et la cloche," but then - glory be! - the finale of "Phidyle" came in "big" without being "noisy." Schubert and Wolf constituted the second half of the recital, singer and audience holding coughs back well, Of the Schuberts, the two "Wandrers Nachtlied" were the most memorable; Wolf highlights included an appealing performance of "An die Geliebte" and a riotous one of "Der Rattenfanger." The live CD should be published soon - when you listen to it, please marvel at my contribution of being ever so quiet during the performance. Janos Gereben/SF www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html