On the night-blue curtains behind the stage, the moon rose. An apt backdrop for In Heaven: Songs for a Trip into Space, the latest concert programme by mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen and pianist Jan Philip Schulze. Previously, they made the programmes and CDs of the same name together Dirty Minds (2020) and Hello Darkness (2022).
For this new programme, they once again drew from the broad history of songs, with not only classical works, but also music by pop artists such as David Bowie and Marianne Faithful. This resulted in a nicely varied programme.
Voice technique
It is not at all logical for a classical singer to also know how to perform pop songs well. Pop music requires a different vocal technique plus good use of a microphone - and if someone does not master that well, such a pop song can quickly sound too turgid and baroque. But Vermeulen effortlessly switched from classical to pop and back again. One moment she was singing her Schubert and Brahms in a classically full voice, the next she was climbing into the microphone in a husky voice for Life on Mars by David Bowie in a sultry lingering rendition. In this, the moon in the background coloured moody red. Schulze also knew how to make excellent use of both registers. It was noticeable that both musicians work together more often and are well attuned.
Night sounds
Not only in terms of genre, but also in terms of content, Vermeulen and Schulze explored the celestial theme from all sides. The beauty of the night sky next to the terrifying of the vast space beyond. A romantic hymn to the night by Claude Vivier on a text by Novalis, next to the futuristic synthesiser to Karlheinz Stockhausen's ‘Tierkreis’, from which the duo made their own constellations - Leo and Pisces - performed.
Heaven represents everything we desire and long for, but also everything we do not know and cannot comprehend. And sometimes it is a place where you can disappear, as Lucy Jordan does in the wonderful Ballad of Lucy Jordan, written by Shell Silverstein and immortalised by Marianne Faithful. By performing this song, Vermeulen and Schulze paid tribute to this singer who died early this year.
Trip through space
The ‘trip into space’ from the programme title literally came along in the latter part of the programme in the form of the mind-altering substances sung about in White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. The programme concluded with the wonderful Abendlied By Robert Schumann. Night sounds in which all themes are bound together:
Und gleich den Sternen lenket
Er deinen Weg durch Nacht;
Wirf ab, Herz, was dich krânket,
Und was dir bange macht!
Bea Ros
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English
