Blackwell is stunning. Not only is she a lovely young woman with a special radiance all her own, but she has a magnificent voice and with this combination is surely destined to become one of the leading singers of our day.

She has a natural gift of course in the voice itself, but she also has a refined technique, intellect, insight and that rare quality of being able to communicate with an audience on intimate terms. Her appearance is a triumph for the Bermuda Festival 1993.

The art of the concert singer is very complex. Given the stark reality of an empty stage without benefit of set, scenery and costumes, the soloist has to reach out, touch and command the attention of the audience throughout an entire evening, where the programme can run, as Miss Blackwell's did, a whole gamut of musical language and style. If they are lucky and she was, they will have a friend in a skillful and sympathetic accompanist. Needless to say, the recital artist engages in one of the most demanding and aristocratic forms of musical expression and with singers like Harolyn Blackwell and pianists like Neal Goren, the art and it is a sublime art, is alive and well.

She began her programme with a group of songs by Purcell. These were well contrasted and ranged in character from the serene "Music for a While'' -- one of my favourites -- to the most dexterous "Hark the Echoing Air'' I'd ever encountered. Despite the fact that now and then a slight edge of North American accent diminished their authenticity, these were beautifully sung and very stylish.

Rachmaninoff is a name we associate with the piano but in fact, he wrote many lovely songs, four of which Miss Blackwell included in her programme, namely "Lilacs'', "How Fair This Spot'', "the Pied Piper'' and "O Never Sing To Me Again''. Neal Goren's playing here was splendid and contributed to an excellent performance.

An aria from "Cendrillon'' by the minor Maltese composer Isuard Nicolo followed. Considering that Nicolo lived most of his life in the eighteenth century, this was remarkably Romantic in style. It is really a virtuosic bubble of a piece which lacked the depth of anything that the contemporary Mozart would have written, but the audience loved it and it brought the first part of the programme to a sparkling conclusion.

Three things about Harolyn Blackwell impressed me particularly, the quality and richness of her voice, the perfect line unbroken throughout an impressive range, and the superb contrast of dynamics within a, sometimes very short, phrase.

Nowhere were these attributes more evident than in the formidable four songs of Richard Strauss with which she resumed after the intermission. Starting with "Standchen'' with his gentle rippling accompaniment and "Du Meines Herzens Kronelein'' both tranquil in character, she moved to the more dramatic "Sausle, Liebe Myrthe'' and ended the group with the humorous and vibrant "Schlagende Herzen''.

It was with some trepidation I read in the press kit that Miss Blackwell intended to devote the remainder of her programme to the World Premier of the cycle "The Genius Child'' by Ricky Ian Gordon on poems by Langston Hughes. I thought she was taking a risk especially in giving this untried work pride of place as her final musical statement. My fears were somewhat allayed when I obtained a copy of the poems a few days ago and read them, once out of interest, and then again for sheer pleasure.

The poems as Ricky Ian Gordon says, about "achieving in spite of and finding joy and love'' are both poignant and funny, and like the music, beautifully crafted. In performance this cycle had everything -- rich text, inspired musical invention and in Harolyn Blackwell and Neal Goren the perfect instruments.

It is a pity the audience failed to realise that although it is acceptable, and even desirable, to applaud after songs in an unrelated group, it is really just not done to clap during the singing of a Song Cycle.

A song cycle is supposed to be an uninterrupted musical journey, in this case, through ten linked poetic cameos. The performer needs a four second silence between each to sustain atmosphere or to change mood. Fortunately Miss Blackwell sailed on regardless.

Singers must love the written word before it is sung and Harolyn Blackwell certainly revelled in the language of Langston Hughes. I was impressed by all the Gordon settings of these very powerful poems, but particularly enjoyed the rhythmic vitality of "Genius Child'', the sprightly humour of "To Be Somebody'' with voice and piano echoing scale passages, the dramatic tango of "Strange Hurt'', "Prayer'' with shades of the "Agnus Dei'' from Britten's "Missa Brevis'' and the brilliant "Joy'' which brought the work to an exciting conclusion.

The evening ended with an enthusiastic audience demanding and receiving two encores, an energetic spiritual and "Summertime'' from "Porgy and Bess''.

Harolyn Blackwell is an exciting performer and I strongly recommend anyone who has not heard her try to acquire a ticket for tonight's performance. -- Marjorie Pettit.