Fundación Juan March (live stream), 09/05/2021

Turina : Poema en forma de canciones

Debussy : Chansons de Bilitis

Britten : A Charm of Lullabies

Wagner : Wesendonck-Lieder

Marta Fontanals-Simmons, mezzo-soprano

Roger Vignoles, piano

In the cadre of the March Foundation's Young Artists programme, mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons offered this lunchtime recital, short but intense, with a heady selection of works, beginning with Turina's cycle Poema en forma de canciones, rich with Spanish musical imagery, whether in the piano, particularly in its introductory solo, or in the melismas of the second song, "Cantares".  Fontanals-Simmons brought a honeyed warmth to the songs, a pleasure to hear.  The piano part in this cycle is particularly colourful, and although the last song gave Roger Vignoles a little trouble, the rest was beautifully evocative.

For the Chansons de Bilitis, she chose to play the card of innocence, and I was not convinced by it.  These songs are all about the loss of innocence, both in terms of sexuality, and spirituality.  "La flûte de Pan" came across as too childish, while "Le tombeau des naïades" should, at the end, carry a sense almost of bereavement, an awareness that something wonderful has been lost, which was not there.  "La chevelure" is more blatantly erotic; Fontanals-Simmons was suitably grave in mood, but her voice lacks some weight at the lower end of her register, and came across as a little weak in this song, which exploits that low register. 

The Britten cycle, written in 1947, brought some welcome astringency to the musical opulence of the previous pieces.  As its title indicates, it is five lullabies, all very different in mood and set accordingly by Britten, giving his soloist plenty of opportunity to display a wide range of expression.  Fontanals-Simmons seized this with both hands, delivering a vivid reading.  As her name suggests, she is Anglo-Spanish, and lives and works in the UK, so her English was faultless, and she visibly took pleasure in the variety of the texts.  Particularly effective was "A Charm", to a text by the 17th-Century poet and wit Thomas Randolph, in which a clearly exasperated nurse threatens her charge with a dire fate should it not quieten down and go to sleep.

The recital ended with a limpid interpretation of Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder, delivered without affectation or histrionics, and again making the most of Fontanals-Simmons's warmth of timbre.  Again, I felt that the lowest part of the register lacked a little heft, but it did not detract from the overall quality of the piece, and the deep stillness that she was able to command.  This recital, as a whole, was an excellent introduction to this young singer, who clearly has much to offer.