Music / “Journey’s End”, Art Song Canberra, at Wesley Music Centre, November 24. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

EVERY concert is a journey, and the voyage in this concert crossed almost 200 years with the music of six distinctive composers taking the audience to a destination of intimate music.

Opening with Henri Duparc’s “L’invitation au Voyage”, husband and wife team of Alan Hicks on piano and Christina Wilson mezzo-soprano set the audience adrift on a sea of gloriously performed art song. The flowing, floating music of Duparc subtly set up this concert of romanticism through song.

While not told as a consecutive story, Robert Schumann’s “Liederkreis” Op. 39 is linked by love and lightness. The 12 songs in this cycle offered a sensitive portrayal of the romantic poems of Joseph Eichendorff, and the love that Robert and Clara Schumann had for one another.

Every song had a high degree of intimacy and came across as a personal tribute. It was like the retelling of the relationship between Robert and Clara was being played out before this audience.

After the interval, moving forward around 50 years were Claude Debussy’s “Chansons de Bilitis”. These were based on mythology, imagination and a sensual mood. The transcendent sound of Debussy’s music, which at times was replete with a powerful tension and always with his suspension of sound, came across as light and playful as air.

Going from the German to French for Wilson posed no problems with inflection or expression. She did seem more at home with the French; it was a powerful and passionate performance.

“La Maja Dolorosa” by Enrique Granados from his 12 Tonadillas en estilo antiguo, represent a journey of loss, anger and sad memories through the three songs performed. The highly dramatic and dark sounds of the music of Granados filled the room with a tragic tale that was palpable in the ears and the heart.

Even though part of the music was quirky with an odd repetitive motive, the songs and the performance remained telling and heart wrenching.

Back to the theme of love with Peter Sculthorpe’s lyrical “Four Shakespeare Songs”. Sculthorpe’s music could be said to be a mirroring of all the music that was previously played in this concert. These songs showed just how good and colourful Sculthorpe’s music is. The character of Australia shone through these songs. That laconic attitude and style attributed to Australian’s was clearly evident, even though the songs were set from Shakespeare’s plays.

It is always a delight to hear Wilson sing and Hicks play. If it’s possible, they seem to be getting better. The concert ended with a tribute to music itself with a performance of Schubert’s, “An die Musik” – To the Music.