New Zealand baritone Julien Van Mellaerts and South African pianist James Baillieu are bringing their unique pairing to centres around the country.
Julien Van Mellaerts and James Baillieu Photo: Supplied
The duo’s Chamber Music NZ tour began in Motueka yesterday and moves on to 10 more centres in both the South and North Islands through until April 16.
Julien Van Mellaerts says it’s an honour to be on tour with someone of James Baillieu’s calibre. “The more experienced the pianist, the easier it is,” he says. “You all have an understanding. Pianists who understand singers… they phrase [the music].”
“You feel totally supported… and trust that person.”
James Baillieu, who grew up on a farm in South Africa became “obsessed” with the piano as a child. That obsession has also turned into a love for opera music. “I grew up with the voice. When I first heard opera, I was hypnotised by this art-form,” he says.
Regarding his on-stage partnership with Julien, James says it’s exciting and something he hopes will communicate well with audiences. “It’s like an extreme form of tennis… throwing music ideas and see what comes back.”
Each is highly accomplished in his own right. Julien Van Mellaerts is notable for being the only person to have won first prize in both the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the Wigmore Hall Kohn Foundation International Song Competition.
And recently Andras Schiff asked him to sing the title role in The Marriage of Figaro at Salzburg’s Mozart Week in 2020.
Is this a bugle I see before me? Julien Van Mellaerts performs in NZ Opera's La Boheme Photo: Supplied
James Baillieu has a particular love of working with singers and is quickly gaining a reputation for being an exceptional accompanist in the mould of greats such Gerald Moore and Graham Johnson.
At one competition, he so impressed the judge that she immediately engaged him as her own pianist.
The duo will perform a new commission by New Zealand composer Gareth Farr, along with works by Schumann, Britten, Williams and Cole Porter. Their tour continues through to Warkworth, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Napier, Christchurch, Tauranga, Whanganui and Waikanae.
