Matthew Rose (bass), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

A winning combination, Martineau and Rose interpreted a vast range of song, from conversational to melodramatic. Schubert’s lovely ‘Three Italian Songs’ were a revelation. Rose’s rich bass voice easily coped with the first song’s fast ornamentation and the next’s sustained tension and horror. Then, as playful as Rossini’s Figaro, he told us ‘The way to choose a wife’.

Brahms’ ‘Four Serious Songs’ were very different but just as engaging and most beautifully wrought.

Drama and contrast continued in Schubert’s ‘Schwanengesang’ collection, in turn lyrical, mysterious and spine-chilling, ending with delightfully ironic yearning in ‘Pigeon-post’. This was a performance to remember.

Royal Pavilion Music Room, 13 May 2012

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