© Thomas Phillips[/caption]
William Blake (1757-1827) was in his work as a poet as radical as he was mysterious, as profound as he was extreme and therefore controversial. He was regarded either as a genius or as a madman, but never as irrelevant. Blake's englishness, a combination of mystical tradition with a fresh pint of self-mockery, could therefore easily be taken up by typically English composers such as Ralph Vaughan-Williams (1872-1958) and Benjamin Britten (1913-1976).
The concert opened with Pan from Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for oboe. Kristien Ceuppens played tautly and perfectly linear. The instrument came into its own in the acoustically sometimes difficult conditions that a church brings with it. The Eastern-sounding intervals made the mysterious atmosphere palpable. Tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen dared to begin The Shepherd by Vaughan-Williams a capella, after which the song developed into a balanced duet between oboe and voice. This complementarity was also evident in Ah! Sun-flower by the same composer. Where Inge Spinette (piano) manifested herself with restraint and depth, tenor Van Mechelen deployed the power of relaxation to bring a crystal-clear melancholy across the footlights.
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© Wynold Verweij
© Wynold Verweij
© Wynold Verweij
A highlight was Britten's Last Rose of Summer in which the fan-shaped chord progressions on the piano provided a colourful foundation for the fluidity with which Van Mechelen also brought the baritone registers to the audience. Both musicians demonstrated that perfection sounds like a special kind of simplicity, a simplicity that lovingly conceals years of toil.
Also surprising was the combination of piano and English horn in three short pieces from Six studies in English folksong. The warmth of the wind instrument and the flowing touch of the piano found each other in a naturally felt love at first sight.
Heleen Van Haegenborgh was one of three Belgian composers who presented work inspired by William Blake. But in the Wine-Presses the Human Grapes Sing not nor dance for oboe d'amore, voice and piano begins with a long melodic line from the oboe d'amore, here and there stretched with minimal trills and hints of glissandi, which is virtually imperceptibly continued by the tenor and subsequently by the piano. Lightly dissonant seconds and modest use of the remaining musical material reinforce the impression of a contemporary version of minimal music. But the listener is soon returned to reality in which the oboe d'amore shows that it can jump and dance and the tenor lets the surprised concertgoers see all corners of the church. William Blake would probably have loved to hear this too.
WHAT: William Blake: visionary
WHO: Reinoud Van Mechelen (tenor), Kristien Ceuppens (oboe), Inge Spinette (piano)
WHERE: Sint-Pieter-en-Paulkerk, Mechelen
WHEN: 4 May 2023
ORGANISED BY: Lunalia, Festival van Vlaanderen Mechelen
Klara broadcasts this concert on 10 May at 20h00.