Mauro Peter (what, a tenor?!) (Wigmore Hall, 3 May 2018)

Contrary to popular belief, I sometimes pay attention to tenors. Even more unusual, sometimes I go to a show based on a single item on the menu. I’ll let you guess what that was.

Other than having noticed he’s said some silly things about Don Giovanni the character, I hadn’t heard Peter at work before. But I’m cool like that and didn’t let silliness deter me from hearing a potentially exciting Mozart tenor.

Mauro Peter tenor
Helmut Deutsch piano

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
An Silvia D891
Stimme der Liebe D412
Dass sie hier gewesen D775
Über Wildemann D884
Die Liebe hat gelogen D751
Wandrers Nachtlied D224
Im Frühling D882
Die Sterne D939
Hoffnung D637
Fischerweise D881
Auf der Brücke D853

It turned out open mindedness can pay off handsomely. As far as I’m concerned, he’s got a superb tone and a lovely placement of the voice, specifically tailored for those bright eyed, youthfully energetic yet rather dopey Mozart young tenor roles. I’m aware he’s currently hung up on Belmonte and I can definitely see why. If he sings him anywhere near me I will make sure to attend. All in all, a pleasure to listen to, kept me engaged all evening. He really has a lot of energy to spare!

There is enough heft to the voice and very good projection (no problems hearing him from the last row, overhang be damned), with superior diction in both German and French, but his pps are especially soulful and they were wonderfully supported by Deutsch. I’ve made an effort lately to pay attention to the piano accompaniment and I can say I enjoyed Deutsch light touches a great deal, along with his exciting story telling.

Sounds like Peter should stay in the German rep (don’t know enough about the French one to suggest, but I think tenors tend to be a bit lighter there? or am I discounting all French tenor roles in favour of the haute contre?), though I guess it would be interesting to hear some Italian stuff from him, just to see how it works out.

To conclude the first part, I was very happy with his bright eyed-cheerful rendition of my favourite Schubert ditty. Smiles all around.

Interval

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
S’il est un charmant gazon S284
Enfant, si j’étais roi S283
Comment, disaient-ils S276
Oh! quand je dors S282

Im Rhein, im schönen Strome S272/2
Es war ein König in Thule S278
Über allen gipfeln ist Ruh S306/2
Vergiftet sind meine Lieder S289
Die stille Wasserrose S321
Ihr Glocken von Marling S328
Die drei Zigeuner

Encore:

something soft and sweet I didn’t recognise (sorry!)

Liszt’s French songs are all good and ever since discovering how much I like French song in general I was happy to hear them. He was very fine here as well and his French wasn’t bad at all (perhaps being Swiss helps).

One of those funny things particular to song recitals is having people (re)position themselves centrally only to have their noses stuck in the programme. It’s even funnier if said person is very tall and swings mysteriously into your line of vision. Luckily my seatmates on the left were defeated by part I (apparently it was very consistent-intense). As opposed to the fizzle surrounding the well established duo I’d seen two days before, this performance was a much quieter affair. However, those who did show up seemed very satisfied. I say check him out, if you trust my tenor picks.