Sinead Campbell's voice made an immediate impact in her lunchtime recital at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre last Wednesday. It is not common to hear a student singer (she is in her third year at the DIT Conservatory) who, within seconds, shows such certainty and potential.
She opened with Mozart's Vado, ma dove?, making an enormous and apt sound. But she could also maintain tone at the smallest pianissimo, as was heard in Duparc's Chan son triste, and she can handle everything in between. There was a telling difference between the bright tone of Rusalka's Song to the Moon from Dvorak's opera and the veiled sound of Wolf's Ver borgenheit.
But the most striking aspect of this recital was that Sinead Campbell knows how to use technique for true musical and expressive purposes. Her rubato was affectingly natural and the characterisation of each song was precise. She had a great partner in pianist Mairead Hurley, with whom she works regularly.
There are several areas which need to be developed if Sinead Campbell is to fulfil her considerable potential. Quiet singing was sometimes a little restricted - too nasal. Most of all, there is diction. Vowels are not well-differentiated, and the sound is almost entirely tone-driven. This does not allow words to speak clearly, to float on melody, as they should in the Duparc. Nevertheless, this was an impressive recital. Sinead Campbell is someone to watch over the next few years.