★★★★★ Intimate recital by Siobhan Stagg and Eidit Golder a real treat.

Melbourne Recital Centre
July 23, 2015

Siobhan Stagg: super star. Seriously spectacular. So many alliterations come to mind when listening this young Melbourne soprano. Stagg performed a selection of early 20th-century German repertoire to the near-capacity audience at the Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, last night, and many will agree that this intimate, under-advertised recital was a treat.

Having only just landed in Melbourne (Stagg regularly sings with the Berlin Deutsche Oper and several other opera houses around Europe), the soprano bore no visible signs of jet lag or fatigue. Instead, she stepped on stage resplendent in a glorious magenta gown, and shortly dazzled with her fresh and bright voice, from the beginning of the recital right through to the end.

Stagg, accompanied by pianist Eidit Golder, opened the program with Korngold’s exquisite Lieder des Abschieds. Although often performed by mezzo-soprano or baritone, Stagg handled the lower-lying passages well, revealing a luscious and full-bodied tone. However, it was not until the following Glück das mir verlieb (Marietta’s Lied) from the opera Die Tote Stadt that we really experienced the power, beauty and bloom of Stagg’s soprano. This, along with the violin...