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MUSIC
Robyn Archer continues to
range into new fields
By W. L HOFFMANN
That unique artist Robyn
Archer returned to Canberra
on Saturday night in her new
presentation 'Robyn Archer
Sings Brecht1, and showed yet
another side to her formidable
talents.
Some performers, having es
tablished a successful formula,
are content to go on repeating
that formula for ever, never
changing, and with their faithful
adherents coming along for the
"same again". But the truly
creative artist is always develop
ing, continually ranging into new
fields and different approaches.
Such an artist is Robyn Archer.
This new presentation is the
result of her year's study in
Europe of Brecht and his songs,
and brings us a new, more classi
cal Archer— which may well
have nonplussed many in the
packed audience in the Llewellyn
Hall who had come expecting
more of the 'Star is Torn' or
'Rough as Guts' Archer. These
songs are sung, in her own words,
"straight down the middle". In
true Brechtian style, it is the
song, not the singer, that is impor
tant.
Another notable difference
from previous Archer per
formances was the improved vo
cal quality which is no doubt the
result of the voice studies she
undertook in the US: there is now
a finer tonal control which was
most apparent in the Brecht set
tings by Hanns Eisler which are
quite distinctly in the lieder tradi
tion (songs such as 'The Flower
Garden' or 'The Hollywood
Elegies'). With just piano accom
paniments, these excellently
played by David King, they arc
very demanding on the singer and
their performance was striking
evidence of the "new" Robyn
Archer.
The songs in the program,
interspersed with the occasional
reading, were a chronological sur
vey of the work of Brecht and his
musical collaborators — Weill,
Eisler and Dessau. But it opened
most interestingly and amusingly
with three early songs for which
Brecht himself wrote the music.
All three raised a smile with
their patent borrowings fronv oth
er composers, and particularly
the 'Benares Song' which started
happily with 'A Tavern in the
Town' and then dropped into
phrases from Puccini's 'Madame
Butterfly'. Kurt Weill's settings
of Brecht's verse have achieved
the widest popularity, and it is
easy to see why; the Jazz and
popular elements, with the pccul
iar turn of melody that is their
characteristic sound, such as in
the 'Alabama Song' from
'Mahagonny' or the 'Threepenny
Opera' songs, capture the Ger
man cabaret sound of the 1920s
and early 30s when the Brecht
Weill collaboration was at its
best.
The six-piece band, which was
the backing in these songs, pro
vided this characteristic sound
behind the vocalist! She also in
cluded some of Weill's later
songs, not to Brecht's verse,
which afforded just that touch of
contrast — the lovely 'September
Song' was delightfully sung and
received the biggest ovation of
the evening from the audience.
And 'The Petroleum Song' and
'The Saga of Jenny' brought the
only glimpses of Archer the sing
ing-actress of 'Lola Blau' or 'A
Star is Torn'.
In all, it was a most effective
compilation which illustrated
Brecht's distinctive approach to
music as a medium for his
message, and, too, showed some
thing of the man himself. It was
a presentation that was both stim
ulating and entertaining, and an
other memorable performance to
add to those that Robyn Archer
has provided for us in the past.
$