CROSSING BORDERS, a review
Featuring: Maureen Batt (soprano) & Cheryl Duvall
(piano)
Saturday, January 24, 2015
St. Andrew’s Church, Halifax
Rather than Maureen Batt choosing her professional passion,
it seems like it has chosen her. And luckily her body, mind and spirit have
listened. Though no doubt she has devoted hours and years of sweat and drive to
hone her lifework, she performing seems as natural an expression as breathing
or blinking.
Saturday night was a very “dark and dreary” one in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While many
may have decided to hide under warm blankets rather than venture out in the
pounding rains, those fortunate to have found warmth inside St. Andrew’s Church
were treated to a very special recital.
Soprano Maureen Batt and pianist Cheryl Duvall presented a
wide array of pieces from North American composers, established and emerging, written
between 1989 and 2014. Some songs were contemplative, others funny, some so
traumatic—in theme, not presentation—they moistened the eyes.
Batt exemplified the versatility demanded of an opera singer
and musical theatre artist alike—vocal chops, beautiful counterbalanced with raw
emotional sounds, character-driven facial expression and movement, effectual
timing. Duvall’s palpable expertise and mutual fervour for music’s intricacies,
made for an ideal partner. Their chemistry was most obvious during the
performance of “For broken and tired am I” (Matthew Emery & Archibald
Lampman), a moving piece for both the artists and audience alike.
Those sitting in watch Saturday night witnessed songs
performed in Canada for the very first time; they observed shoes flying, eyes
speaking, laughter singing…animals almost hopping across a piano…a transfixing,
multi-layered montage created by a looper pedal and Batt’s gorgeous voice…Crossing
Borders was well worth venturing out on a dark and dreary night. ~MB
Maureen Batt & Cheryll Duvall present CROSSING
BORDERS again on March 26th at Heliconian Hall, Toronto.
Maureen Batt’s next Halifax performance will be on
February 14th with Opera Nova Scotia.
