Soprano Kate Royal, tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Roger Vignoles' celebration of Schumann's bicentenary made a surprising diversion in the middle in the direction of the baroque.
Their first half consisted of a substantial trawl through his anthology Myrthen – myrtles being a symbol of love – written as a wedding present for his pianist fiancee, Clara, who attained her majority in 1840 and could then marry him, despite her father's displeasure. Taking turns to address songs that deal with love in elation and separation, as well as romantic scenes from Thomas Moore's Venice and Burns's Highlands, Royal and Padmore were astute in marrying the varied texts with Schumann's carefully chosen notes, and delivering both with the highest discrimination and poise. Their immaculate presentation made every song a highlight.
The second half added a clutch of rarely performed Schumann duets, unusual items written between 1840 and 1849 that brought out the best in all three performers. They charted the boisterousness of Tanzlied, the intimacy of In der Nacht and the erotic comedy of another Burns setting, Unterm Fenster, in which lover Findlay is allowed into his girlfriend's house for the night, provided he keeps quiet about it. Scrutinising these pieces for their individual colour, delicacy and humour, Royal and Padmore wrought magic with them, ably seconded by Vignoles, who was scrupulous in allowing the voices through the intricate pianistic textures.
Why Handel and Monteverdi intervened in this otherwise all-Schumann occasion is unclear, though so lovely was the vocal coupling in the final duet from Poppea, and so sharply drawn the humane wit of the Dialogue of a Nymph and a Shepherd, that it would be silly to quibble.
