This evening I attended PJ's end of course recital.
PJ has been our recording technician at OC for a number of years now - he was a secondary student at Aorere College and still sings in Terence Maskell's acclaimed Graduate Choir.
Tonight's recital was something special indeed.
PJ performed "Sound an Alarm" from Judas Maccabeus by Handel,
3 different settings of Shakespeare's "Sigh No More, Ladies" (Fisher, Keel and Bush),
3 songs by Faure (A Day's Poems),
Ah, la Paterno Mano, from Macbeth, by Verdi,
4 songs by Richard Strauss,
and Lensky's Aria from Eugene Onegin, by Tchaikovsky (this last was the aria with which PJ won the National Aria Competition in Rotorua about a week ago).
Right from the start this young man had his audience captivated - by means of power, beauty, expression, clarity and presence.
As might be predicted (especially with a student final recital), PJ covered a wide variety of genres, moods and style periods.
The heroic Handel, romantic British geezers, fluffy, wispy French sentiments, tragic and gut-wrenching Verdi, varied and high-powered Strauss and achingly, beautifully tragic Tchaikovsky...
PJ's versatility and communication skillsreached a climax as he moved from the sensitively hilarious reading of Strauss's "Ach weh mir, unglueckhaftem Mann" to the hopeless farewell uttered by Lensky to his beloved Olga as he prepares to die in a duel.
From the high to the low, PJ moved with conviction, and took us all along for the ride.
Every nuance of every word and phrase was captured by his voice (count 'em, FIVE different languages), and he knows how to "let it rip" when he wants to as well (the sheer strength of his voice was at times physically as well as emotionally overwhelming).
Afterwards I went up to say farewell.
I couldn't think of enough right words, so I (and he) settled for a hug instead - one of those big, powerful ones.
And then he thanked me for coming, and I thanked him for his concert.
This bloke will go as far as his dreams take him, and I'm sure the journey will be mutually enjoyable for both the performer and audience!
Fa'afetai Lava, PJ!
G.
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