Christ Church Cathedral brought Lieder singer Dermot Doyle and piano perfectionist Deirdre Long together for a noon Coffee Concert that showed off their bright talents. However, a faulty damper or untuned note on the piano took from the excellence of the occasion.
The choice of music suggested a more evening setting with bitter sweet romantic songs with nightingales, iridescent by the moon. Doyle is an integral part of the vocal quartet Concordia and his opening Purcell song Come All Ye Songsters Of The Sky gave way to an arrogant Aubade and an overly romantic Mozart piece from Don Giovanni.
A central selection of seven Schumann sickly sweet romantic songs from Dichterliebe was for an evening ambiance and Doyle showed his class with them.
At all times Deirdre Long’s accompaniment on piano was precise and her solos Debussy’s Deux Arabesques were dancing and dreamy in the winter sunshine.
Doyle shone on Hahn’s L’Heure Exquise – and it was a compressed exquisite emotion made iridescent by the moon. His three Barber songs had a surreal quality especially A Green Lowland of Pianos.
Their encore of Wallace’s a Flower That Bloometh suggested a missed opportunity to entertain.
