The concert held by La Dante in Cambridge on Sunday evening featuring the Trio Panormus promised an interesting programme of Italian Opera ranging from Monteverdi to Rossini. The performance essentially comprised two duets, one with vocalist (Tenor, Alessandro Mocera) and pianist (Rosario Pavone) and the other with recorder (Maurizio Parisi) and pianist (Rosario Pavone).

Their choice of instrumentation was presented to the audience as an “experiment”. Certainly the combination of vocalist and accompanist is a familiar musical partnership, but the transcription of Italian opera for a union such as recorder and piano posed a predicament. The alliance of instruments, for me, struggled to draw out the beauty and florid passion of the Romantic Italian repertoire. Long cantabile phrasing and elongated melodic lines felt somewhat curtailed, giving the impression of abrupt shifts and rendering the music constrained and on occasion, stifled.

At times, I felt this recorder/piano duet rather than complementing and assisting with the appreciation of the music, could even be said to border on discord. Here, the timbres were set in constant juxtaposition against one another. That said however, I should make clear that the skill and musicality of the performers themselves prevented me from dwelling too extensively on such criticism.

The second half of the concert presented more cohesive programming. Tenor, Alessandro Mocera, gave a musically vivid portrayal of Italian drama, through his delivery of the Verdi and Rossini. The rich tone and intense lyricism of his performance carried the audience away, allowing us to escape within the musical language of Italy. Pavone’s delicate finger work formed a pleasing framework from which Mocera’s impressive voice arose, while the commanding acoustics of the Church helped to emphasise the dramatic power of these arias. Overall the Trio’s portrayal of Italy proved a brief but rewarding aural visualisation.