Fire and darkness of Spanish soul

By WILLIAM DART

Watch out for the Mrkusich painting on the cover of Trust CD's Canciones Espanolas from local soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe and pianist David Harper.

Five Spanish composers are represented, two (Rodrigo and Granados) are well known and three (Montsalvatge, Obradors and Guridi) are rather more obscure - not that the handsome 20-page booklet obliges us with any information on them.

The music is a revelation, from the brooding politics of Montsalvatge's Cuba inside a Piano to the grim fatalism of Guridi's Watchman! (Harper is a splendidly volatile partner here).

Kapohe gives each of the 26 songs a character of its own, combining flamenco-like fire with a lustrous, dark tone that seems to come from deep within the Spanish soil. Even the occasional tired intonation doesn't detract from this immensely enjoyable recital, captured beautifully in Wellington's Ilott Chamber.

There's more information provided in While I Dream, the latest Decca outing from American soprano Barbara Bonney and pianist Antonio Pappano.

The brave Bonney is tackling tenor territory with Schumann's Dichterliebe, and pleads her case eloquently in the booklet, talking of a chance to explore her male side and what goes on in the thoughts of the other half.

Well, other women have been there before - Nathalie Stutzmann was alarmingly stolid where evanescence was called for. Bonney, however, is all lightness and grace. Like the English tenor, Ian Bostridge, whose 1998 recording might have seemed the definitive interpretation, Bonney is responsive to every inflection of word and mood. Her Sacred Rhine is a watercolour rather than an imposing oil; her Ich grolle nicht more reflection than rancour.

The Liszt songs are glorious and you could almost imagine the composer might have written them to showcase Bonney's virtuosity.

From the breathless intimacy of Comment disaient-ils to a more forceful portrait of Heine's Rhine, this is superb artistry.

There's a hint of the later Richard Strauss in the final line of Oh! Quand je dors and Bonney is just the singer to make it apparent. Pappano, the soul of subtlety in the Schumann, responds bracingly to Liszt's fearsome challenges.

Atoll's Ko Ngati Poneke Hoki Matou is a collection of classic concert party recordings of the Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club, produced by the late Jonathan Dennis. Recorded between 1939 and the early-50s, they include a lusty Ka Mate Ka Mate, a stirring Tama Ngakau Marie and some heart-stopping solos by Witarina Harris.

Harris offers unaccompanied waiata and, extraordinarily, Brahms' Lullaby, in which she reminds me of the great Marian Anderson. This is the third release in a series entitled He Puiaki Puoru Treasures in Sound - never was a title more justified.

* Canciones Espanolas (Trust MMT 2038): Soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe and pianist David Harper in a programme of Montsalvatge, Obradors, Guridi, Rodrigo and Granados.

While I Dream (Decca 470 282-2): Soprano Barbara Bonney and pianist Antonio Pappano in a programme of Schumann and Liszt.

Ko Ngati Poneke Hoki Matou (Atoll ACD 701): Classic concert party recordings of the Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club with solos by Witarina Harris.