The José Carbó Trio
José Carbó (baritone)
Andrew Blanch and
Ariel Nurhadi (classical guitars)
Art Song Canberra
Wesley Uniting
Church, Forrest 22 September
Reviewed by Len Power
With ‘L’Heure Exquise’, the premier Australian baritone,
José Carbó, joined with emerging classical guitarists Andrew Blanch and Ariel
Nurhadi to present a wide ranging program of classical works that, for the most
part, had never been heard with a guitar accompaniment. The trio first appeared together at Canberra’s
2015 Voices In The Forest concert.
Helpmann Award-winning baritone, José Carbó, has performed in
major opera houses internationally. He
has recently been seen in a new production of ‘Tosca’ for Opera Queensland and
in Graeme Murphy’s new production of ‘Madama Butterfly’ at the Sydney Opera
House for Opera Australia.
Andrew Blanch is recognised as one of Australia’s leading
young classical guitarists. Since making
his solo debut in 2017 at the Sydney Opera House, he has had a busy career
performing internationally. Ariel
Nurhadi is a Sydney-based classical guitarist who has performed in concert
around Australia. Both he and Andrew
Blanch are graduates of Timothy Kain’s renowned guitar class at the Australian
National University.
Their concert featured music by Schubert, Fauré, Debussy, De
Falla, Verdi and others. Carbó’s and the
guitarists’ relaxed manner and interaction with the audience gave the concert a
welcome intimacy.
Opening with ‘O my sweet ardour’ by Christoph Gluck, José
Carbó’s performance was full of romance and longing, perfectly complemented by the
beautiful guitar arrangement. Other works
sung superbly by Carbó included a haunting ‘Romance’ by Debussy and ‘The
Curious One’ by Schubert with its very moving final verse sung with quiet
sensitivity. Schubert’s nightmarish ‘The
Eriking’ was given a well-paced, dramatic delivery and the highlight of the
concert was a set of Spanish songs by Manuel de Falla which Carbó performed
magnificently.
 |
| From left: Ariel Nurhadi, Andrew Blanch and José Carbó |
The two guitarists demonstrated their extraordinary skills
with performances of three very different works by Rameau, Gnattali and
Piazzolla. Watching these superb artists
playing the most complex passages in these works was breath-taking.
The program finished with José Carbó singing ‘Cortigiani vil
razza dannata’ from Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’.
His powerful voice and acting ability demonstrated why he is one of
Australia’s foremost opera singers. Although
normally sung with a full orchestra, the accompaniment arranged by the trio for
guitar was fascinating and honoured Verdi’s original work.
Once again, Art Song Canberra provided a unique and
compelling concert.
Photo by Peter Hislop
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast on the Artsound FM 92.7 ‘In the Foyer’ program on Mondays
and Wednesdays at 3.30pm.