Review Details
MUSIC IN THE UNIVERSITY VOCAL MYTHS AND VOCAL LEGENDS NICHOLAS CLAPTON Counter Tenor DAVID J. SMITH Harpsichord and Piano
Alan Cooper
10 May 2009
Elphinstone Hall
I had been looking forward to the recital by Nicholas Clapton ever since I saw from the concert brochure that he was coming to the Elphinstone Hall in May. I attended a number of previous concerts which he gave in collaboration with David Smith at Cairness House near Lonmay, sadly no longer a concert venue. I also enjoyed his recent television programme on the subject of the castrato voice. I was not disappointed. He is possibly a unique artist in that he applies counter tenor techniques to the performance of music that is not normally tackled by such voices; and why not? I attend many brass and wind band concerts and their repertoire is regularly “stolen” from other musical sources. Without that, they would have little of interest to play. It is musicianship that counts and as we would soon discover, Nicholas Clapton is an enlightening interpreter of the romantic repertoire.
He began his recital with five song settings by Purcell who in our time is often more closely associated with the counter tenor voice, going back to Alfred Deller. Nicholas Clapton’s amazing technical prowess made the ornamental intricacies of Purcell’s music flow effortlessly. His vocal range itself is quite remarkable and the clear delivery of the lower register is perhaps even more testing than the highest notes, and Nicholas Clapton’s lowest notes were sung without the slightest crack or waver. I remember in his television programme he lamented that the counter tenor voice is unable to reach the higher register while still singing softly, yet time and again he proved in his recital that he was rather good at doing just that. “Sweeter than roses” was beautifully turned and favourites such as “Fairest Isle” and “If music be the food of love” were surely a revelation to older as well as younger listeners.
Handel’s Cantata: Lungi da voi, che siete poli del mio pensier saw a more open and flamboyant style of singing related to the operatic stage and again the counter tenor voice was totally at home with this music. David Smith’s harpsichord playing complemented the vocal performances nicely in the music of both composers. I was not really aware that it was possible to play quite so expressively on that instrument.
In the second half, David Smith moved to the piano and on that naturally more expressive instrument he made the most of its possibilities. The duo began with five songs by Haydn. What startled me was how close an affinity these Haydn’s songs have with those of much later composers. The emotional charge of songs like “She never told her love” or the visions conjured up by “The spirit’s song” could well have come from the romantic era and then, just listen to the piano writing in “Fidelity”. Is it really that far away from Schubert? As I have just said, Nicholas Clapton’s powerful and intense interpretations of these songs helped throw a fresh light on them for me.
And so it was with his interpretations of the five songs by Mendelssohn. Lieblingsplätzchen was deeply moving while the brazen energy of Wartend or the fantastical vision of Neue Liebe both gave an electric jolt to the imagination. Nicholas Clapton’s performance received a warm ovation from that audience, young and old, and he rewarded us with another Mendelssohn favourite, this time from Lobgesang (The Hymn of Praise), “I waited for the Lord”.