Bryn reviews

xcept · Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:55 am Post subject:

Usher Hall review - Aug 2009
There's something terribly reassuring about hearing Bryn Terfel sing. So in command of his vocal ability is the Welsh bass baritone, that he instantly passes that relaxed demeanour on to his audience.

There's also something of the gentle father about him (which, of course, he is) that gives the impression he could do a jolly fine job of singing you to sleep.

Not that there was anything soporific about his Festival performance. Just a steady stream of poetry-inspired songs from the likes of John Ireland, Roger Quilter and Vaughan Williams – English composers who knew how to wrap a tune around a line of verse without strangling it.

The songs themselves are pleasing, rather than spectacular, but Terfel and pianist Malcolm Martineau make the most of what they've been given.

The latter's sensitive playing gently riding alongside the former's full-bodied, and believable, singing. When Terfel emotes "I wish I was there" in Port of Many Ships, it rings true, as does a cheeky song about his love of rum.

Closing with five Celtic songs, he solicits the audience to join him in a moving rendition of Loch Lomond and rousing chorus of Molly Malone – which is almost as much fun as his New Zealand farm joke.

Source: The Scotsman