Domine Deus, salutis meae - Mozart
Cinq melodies de Venise - FaurE
Premiere Rhapsodie - Debussy
Ariettes oubliees - Debussy
Clarinet Sonata - Poulenc
Der Hirt auf dem Fensen - Schubert
The first of the Belfast Festival's Saturday morning coffee concerts presented an interesting and well-thought out programme. Song cycles by Faure and Debussy offered Verlaine settings with a fascinating slight overlap of texts. The French connection was furthered in two of the staples of the clarinet and piano repertoire, by Debussy and Poulenc. And all of this was framed in works from the Viennese classical tradition which drew all three musicians together - a recently-discovered Mozart rarity and Schubert's Der Hirt auf dem Felsen.
The facility for clear high notes, which has made Patricia Rozario such an acclaimed performer of the music of John Tavener did not, alas, translate into a similar facility in the vocal range most commonly exploited by composers before the mid-20th century.
In fact, for most of this concert, Ms Rozario sounded ill at ease, ungainly in phrasing, and uncommunicative of text. Only in parts of the closing Schubert did the treasured purity appear with any consistency.
By contrast, Emma Johnson's playing, though not always technically tidy, was as responsive to the sensuality of Debussy as to the frolicking of Poulenc, which is shot through with darker moods. As the star of this very mixed morning, She managed at times, too, to spur the mostly pedestrian piano playing of Mark Troop into a livelier mode.
