Keyboard, vocals work well together

THIS week’s lunchtime concert in Marama Hall was a lieder recital of German, French and Spanish repertoire, from Dunedin husband and wife musicians soprano Goeknil Meryem Biner and pianist Tom McGrath. Although billed as a soprano, I feel Biner’s voice achieves its natural timbre best in mezzosoprano range, and indeed this week’s repertoire was wisely chosen to sit mostly in that range.

The programme opened with six songs by Franz Schubert including two of his best known — Die Forelle D550 and Gretchen am Spinnrade D118. Schubert’s lieder are renowned for piano accompaniments which reflect subject and sentiment of poetic text, and inspired artistic interpretation is dependent on both performers. McGrath’s ‘‘rotating wheel’’ and ‘‘clicking bobbin’’ were an impressive example of this.

Romantic composer Robert Schumann wrote many beautiful songs with lush harmonic accompaniment and interwoven melodic support. The four chosen songs were Widmung, Die Lotusblume, Jasminenstrauch and Marzveilchen. Passionate piano soundscapes and vocal lines were sensitively delivered to match the poetic sentiments of English translations in the programme notes.

A change of direction came with five songs by Gabriel Faure. The character and style of French song was immediately apparent, with the articulated flow of language so different. Biner has great fluency in languages and vocalises the poetry with instinctive sincerity in facial expression. Included were three songs with texts inspired by rococo paintings from Cinq Melodies ‘‘de Venise’’ op.58. Spanish composer Manuel de Falla drew inspiration from popular regional songs. Four contrasting songs from Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas written before his departure at the outbreak of World War 1 ended the recital.