LIEDER HORSE TO WATER

What do you do when you exhaust the classical clarinet-piano repertoire? You explore music for voice, or art songs – which is exactly how the programs for Brisbane Music Festival’s Lieder Horse to Water was born. in the partnership between Alex Raineri (piano) and Luke Carbon (clarinet). The result is refreshing, inspiring and thoroughly entertaining.

This show focusses on the fantasy theme, so get ready for mermaids, fairies, golden slippers, and other things fantastical. Opening with Franz Schubert’s Erlkönig, based on the Germanic legend of a malevolent elf, it sets the scene for a musical journey that is filled with awe and emotion, both happy and dark.

Luke Carbon explores the full vocal range of the clarinet and the bass clarinet, sometimes giving the illusion of two voices within one instrument. A multi-instrumentalist, his credits include professional musical theatre, opera, and symphony orchestra appearances. Alex Raineri – also the Artistic Director of the Brisbane Music Festival – never ceases to amaze with his long and impressive repertoire, fueled by his desire to continue bringing chamber music, duos, operatic concerts, and fresh just-off-the-press contemporary music to the Brisbane audiences.

Listening to musicians so close to the audience really brings out the images conjured up by the inviting melodies. There are the soft, luscious rhythm of Fairy Lullaby by Amy Beach; the soft chords of Benjamin Britten’s I know a bank from A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the power of Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra; or the music exoticism of Karol Szymanowski’s Songs of a fairy princess. Imagine opening a book of fairytales and flopping through the pages to reveal more and more magical stories and characters.

The finale of three songs about mermaids provides a lively touch to this already diverse program. Joseph Haydn’s sweet, delightful, and mischievous The Mermaid’s Song is worthy of the prankster that Haydn was. Bizet’s tender melodies in La Sirène feel like a touch of warm chocolate on a perfectly baked dessert. And Clara Schumann’s Lorelei reminds us that these are songs written for the human voice, soaring with joy, to finish this concert on an emotional high.

Do yourself a favour and get your tickets to the next session of the Brisbane Music Festival coming up in October.