Mezzo surprise

Right. When I turned up to First Church today for a free recital, when I declined the offer of tea at the door, when I squeezed past the tourists in the aisle, when I sat myself down among a smallish and mostly white-haired churchgoing audience, I was never expecting to hear 'Arianna a Naxos' or Berlioz' 'La Mort de Cléopâtre'. That kind of recital just doesn't happen in this city. It doesn't happen in the evenings in a concert hall. It certainly doesn't happen in a church at lunchtime and free of charge. Except that apparently it does. Amanda Cole, a mezzo soprano from Melbourne here in Dunedin to do her Masters in Performance Voice, sang those two cantatas. On its own, cause enough for celebration. As it happens, she also sang them beautifully. Hers is a darkish velvety sound, not a huge voice but nicely focused, and it found a perfect partner in First Church's excellent acoustic. Her sweetly voice Arianna could at times perhaps have done with a little more dramatic bite, but was touching and attractive all the same. In the Berlioz she was compelling, both vocally and visually. If a few higher passages sat slightly uncomfortably, they were more than compensated for by the richness of the rest; the Méditation 'Grands Pharaons' in particular was shaded to bone-chilling perfection. As she stared in the face of impending death I almost felt that if I turned and looked down the aisle, I'd see it too. The element of (utter) surprise had me ready to enjoy this recital regardless, but Amanda surpassed that factor and was excellent in her own right. I like! I'd gladly have payed proper ticket price for this.