TT soprano thrills NY audience

Cooper was among several students who ventured out on a grey Manhattan winter’s day to hear De Bique sing. One Taiwanese pianist told him, “I had so many things to do this evening but I couldn’t miss this recital.”

Perusing the programme, Cooper saw that the accompanist was pianist Charity Wicks, a doctoral student from Temple University, and the clarinettist was Brendan Guy. The programme began with “Et Incarnatus Est” by Mozart and three lieder pieces by Wolf — “The Reformed Shepherdess”, “Flower Greeting” and “Nixie Sledgefoot”

Cooper was familiar with “Et Incarnatus Est” and he was curious to hear how De Bique would treat with it.

“She delivered it with an admirable control, cleanness, and the evenness of tone across the tessitura that was befitting a Mozartean oratorio. The trills were discreet and elegant. Long sustained notes crescendoed effectively from a clean pianissimo to a moderate loud or loud as the score demanded.

“It was as if Greenfield Hall were at once transformed into a Gothic German church. One was tempted to close one’s eyes and reflect indeed if not upon the mystery of The Incarnation, at least upon the effortlessness of Ms De Bique’s aptly contained expression and technique.”

The three lieder pieces which followed called for an about change from the religious to the secular and dealt with sadness in love, love and a playful water sprite, and a fisherman. The first half ended with “Der Hurt Auf Dem Felsen” (The Shepherd on the Rock), one of Schubert’s Cooper observed, “There seemed to me to be a bit of unsettledness between the clarinettist and pianist when they first set off. Initial teething out of the way, the first four to eight bars once passed, everything interwove nicely and they became true exemplars of ensemble music. . . Jeanine’s German was clear and energetic and she seemed to radiate with endearment for the piece.”

During the intermission, Cooper met Trinidadian soprano Natalia Dopwell, who is currently studying at Mannes College of Music, New York, TT’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Phillip Sealy, and various people from the United Nations. Jeanine is the outgoing UNESCO Youth Ambassador for Peace.

Said Cooper, “I also met several singers and accompanists that evening. The singers, predominantly black or mixed, seemed to view Jeanine as some sort of inspiration, another black person making it in the traditionally stark whitewashed world of classical music.

Evidently, the accompanists eye her as a rising star. They see greatness in her, And why shouldn’t they? Was it not the very Jeanine who led her alma mater, St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain, to victory in an international music festival in Vienna in 2004? And, was she not one of two students selected to give a recital at Carnegie Hall in June 2003, hand-picked by Warren Jones, pianist, accompanist and vocal coach, associated with Renee Fleming, Kathleen Battle and Deborah Voigt? Jeanine De Bique too, seems to be destined for musical greatness.

The second half of the programme opened with the impressionist music of Claude Debussy (1852-1918) - “Nuit D’etoiles,” and from a separate selection “Pierrot and Apparition.” Having worked with Jeanine on these songs several recitals back, Cooper was curious to see what would evolve some four years later.

“When Jeanine joined in, the works grew from the miniatures and vignettes that I had known into much larger, more emotionally moving works and perhaps solid centrepieces of a concert repertory.

“I had known salon Debussy, but this was the sort of Debussy who could rival Saint-Sans in his ‘Samson et Delilah.’ Although new to me, the interpretation was engaging and stirring. ‘Nuit D’etoiles’ reminded me of the Chopin ‘Nocturne in C Minor.’ Pierrot, a child’s song, was funny and light and Apparition left one lingering and yearning perhaps to hear more of Jeanine in French.

“I remember Jeanine once confessing to me that she was not overly fond of French. But this is a new Jeanine De Bique and of all places, it shows in her response to the beauty of French Art Song Literature.”

In response to thunderous applause, Jeanine and Charity collaborated once more on Chapentier’s “Depuis le Jour”, the only operatic selection, in which the character Louise sings of love, not unlike Debussy, but a warmer, richer love.

“All in all this was a satisfying recital by one who is among Trinidad’s most exquisite sopranos.” said Cooper.