NCH John Field Room By Martin Adams

John Elwes (tenor) and Benjamin Dwyer (guitar) gave an unusual and rewarding recital in the John Field Room last week. It was the third and last of Elwes's "Summer Schubertiade" concerts, all in this venue, and was devoted to Schubert's Die schone Mullerin. Performing these songs with guitar accompaniment was more common in Schubert's day. So while Dwyer and Elwes were largely responsible for this arrangement, some of their work was based on transcriptions by the composer's contemporary, Diabelli.

Most of this superb cycle works very well with these forces. The guitar has a much more confined dynamic range than the modern piano and Dwyer's command of the necessary subtleties was one of this recital's many rewards.

Elwes's light, yet finely coloured, singing was always pleasing. Best of all was his distinctive projection of the relationship between text and music