Musical Delight

Isabel Bradley in Open Writing Web Magazine, April 2010

At lunch-time on Friday 23 April, Leon and I attended the Lunch-Hour Concert at Crawford College. The venue for these excellent concerts recently changed from a small theatre to a school hall, which is far less salubrious though the acoustics are better. This was a performance by Diva-par-excellence, Michelle Veenemans, accompanied by Gerrit Koorsen on ’cello and Paul Ferreira on piano. The men arrived on-stage first, elegant in tuxedoes. Michelle made her grand entrance, sweeping through the gorgeous red-velvet curtains and sinking to the floor in a deep curtsey. Her shimmering pink ball-gown ballooned around her and diamantés glittered around her neck, dripped into her cleavage and dangled from her ears. It all seemed a little over-the-top for an audience seated on plastic chairs in a barn-like, multi-purpose hall.

Once the performance began, however, everyone was mesmerized by the fantasies Michelle wove with her voice. The first work was from Handel’s Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne: Eternal Source of Light Divine, a very difficult work, beautifully executed. The accompaniment was mellow and throughout the performance, piano and ‘cello replaced the orchestra with ease. Michelle announced her next Aria, ‘Ach Ich liebte’ by Mozart, saying that this was a ‘bravura’ aria. The term ‘bravura’, she explained, means the singer must have a perfect technique and ‘a huge amount of courage’.

She proceeded to sing five incredible bravura show-pieces: first the Mozart immediately followed by American composer Carlisle Floyd’s ‘The Trees on the Mountains’ from his opera Susanna. Then came Verdi’s ‘Caro nome’ from Rigoletto and Victor Herbert’s ‘Art is calling for Me’. Interspersed between these magnificent arias, Gerrit and Paul played short instrumental pieces, creating a pleasant contrast of sonorities and allowing Michelle a few moments to prepare for her next singing marathon. They ended the programme with Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Glitter and be Gay’ from Candide.

What a virtuosic performance it was. Michelle’s voice floated up to the highest of notes with an ease and sweetness that is seldom heard, she became the personalities depicted in each aria, singing sheer emotion into every note: grief, joy, love, passion, fun and laughter. The audience loved every moment, though a mobile phone ring tone and two patrons leaving during the performance momentarily took our attention...