Music / Seven Necessary Sins, composer and pianist Sally Whitwell, soprano, Rachel Mink. At Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, May 25. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

A concert in two parts, the first celebrated four female composers who made it in a man’s world and the second was the premiere of a new work by Canberra composer and pianist Sally Whitwell.

Whitwell is known particularly for her interpretations of the piano works of American minimalist Philip Glass. Her five solo albums on ABC Classic have garnered between them three ARIA wins.

She has been commissioned to compose for many vocal ensembles around Australia.

Whitwell, in her relaxed, engaging manner, gave us brief but interesting backgrounds to four female composers of the 19th and 20th centuries – Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Germaine Tailleferre and Cécile Chaminade.

Expertly playing one work of each of these composers, it was an enjoyable set of contrasts from the vivid imagery of Beach to the romanticism of Schumann, the tonal colours of Tailleferre and the technical wizardry of Chaminade.

After the interval, Rachel Mink joined Whitwell on stage for the new work, Seven Necessary Sins. Mink, who moved to Canberra from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore US during covid, is a freelance soprano and an ensemble member of Luminescence Chamber Singers. She is at home on the opera stage as well as performing as a soloist.

Inspired by Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins, the work was based on Mona Eltahawy’s 2019 book, The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls. According to Eltahawy, the seven necessary sins that women and girls are not supposed to commit but need to if they are to harness their power are anger, ambition, profanity, violence, attention-seeking, lust and power.

Whitwell’s new work focused on each of those sins with an additional introduction and epilogue, Defy, Disobey, Disrupt.

Whitwell’s music for this work showed that she is an excellent composer. One song in particular, Ambition: Sky Map soared with superb lyrics, beautifully sung by Mink.

While the music was excellent throughout and the songs were well sung by Mink, there was a sameness about the stream-of-consciousness lyrics that became progressively less interesting. While the audience could follow the lyrics in the program, the piano playing was often too strong, making the singer hard to hear.

The idea for this show was a good basis for a cabaret, but it would have been more effective if it had been presented in a more creative way. The readings introducing the songs seemed like sermons and the use of salty language to give the show an edge was tedious, not shocking.

Nevertheless, it was good to see Art Song Canberra present something new, adventurous and local.

The ‘necessary’ sins for women