Presented by Revival
House Project
Drill Hall Gallery,
Acton, 1 July
Reviewed by Len Power
Revival House Project was established by Louise Keast in
2016 primarily as a tool for exploring the genre of art song. It also intends, amongst other objectives, to
provide opportunities for performance for emerging artists and to support
multi-disciplinary collaboration. Future
concerts will combine art song with film.
The Drill Hall Gallery concert was an evening of art songs performed
by sopranos Louise Keast, Louise Page and Keren Dalzell with accompaniment on
piano by Lucus Allerton and Colleen Rae-Gerrard. There were songs by Schubert, Brahms, Hugo
Wolf and Richard Strauss. All singers
were in fine form and the songs were well-chosen.
In the first half, Louise Keast sang ‘Seligkeit’ by Franz
Schubert with great feeling and she and Keren Dalzell sang the duet, Die Meere’
by Johannes Brahms very nicely. Louise
Page sang Brahms’ ‘Wiegenlied’ and her performance of this well-known song was
hauntingly sublime.
Pianist Lucus Allerton concluded the first half of the
program with ‘Danse Macabre’ by Camille Saint-Saёns. His playing of this atmospheric work was
excellent and he proved to be an adept comedian with his delightful introduction.
The second half of the program commenced with two well-sung and
humorous works by Hugo Wolf, but it was the performance of songs by Richard
Strauss that followed that made this concert especially memorable.
Accompanied beautifully by Colleen Rae-Gerrard on piano,
Louise Page sang ‘Ich schwebe’ expertly and with great feeling. Keren Dalzell gave a nicely controlled
emotional performance of ‘Allerseelen’ and Louise Keast gave the song, ‘Morgen!’,
a pleasing level of emotional intensity.
Louise Page, in the final song of the evening, pulled all the stops out
in a dramatic and exciting performance of ‘Cäcelie’.
This review was first
published in the Canberra City News digital edition of 2 July.
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7’s ‘Artcetera’ program (9am Saturdays)
and other selected Artsound programs.
