Samuel Mariño

St Martin-in-the-Fields, London

Rating:

The Venezuelan male soprano Samuel Mariño’s London debut, in the sympathetic acoustic of St Martin-in-the-Fields, was one of the most remarkable recitals I have ever attended.

Because Mariño is the real deal: a male soprano of a kind so popular in the 18th Century.

But then, of course, surgery had to be employed to prevent normal maturation, thereby producing castrato singers, the best of whom were hugely popular and among the wonders of the age.

Mariño’s voice has never broken so his soprano range is totally natural. He can effortlessly sing all soprano roles but sounds quite different from a female singer.

His voice has great amplitude and penetrative power. And the absence of vibrato (in layman’s terms, ‘wobble’) makes his singing truly distinctive. He is not akin to a countertenor, or male alto, where the voice is an artificial construct.

Mariño has been very well trained, and his ability to produce all the vocal fireworks and trickery needed, particularly in 18th Century music, is nigh on faultless.

Though, at only 29, there were occasions when his technique failed a bit in a challenging programme that moved from Dowland and Handel to Dvorak (Song To The Moon) and Liszt via popular arias by Mozart and Gluck.

Ably accompanied by a fine pianist, Dylan Perez, he brought the house down, regularly receiving standing ovations.

Having been mercilessly bullied in his youth, Mariño has turned what was regarded as an affliction into a source of huge delight to himself and his audience, and has the prospects of building a stellar career.

He is a gender-defying artist, looking fetching in his high heels and a range of skirts and spangly slacks. He performs with the utmost assurance and confidence.

His first Decca album is released at the end of this month and isn’t to be missed. He is a real phenomenon.