This Sunday afternoon recital promised to be a true rarity. In all the time I’ve been going to Wigmore Hall – in fact, attending art song concerts anywhere – I’ve never knowingly seen Messiaen’s ‘Harawi’ programmed. Recordings also seem relatively scarce, with a handful of mentions on the esteemed Presto Music website, and some of…
Tag: art song
Latin translations: Julieth Lozano Rolong & João Araújo, ‘Alma: Ibero-American Songs’
This is a thrilling hour in the company of two artists who perform as if this music is flowing through their veins as well as their heritage. ‘Alma’ shines a spotlight on 20th-century repertoire mostly from Latin America, alongside a smaller selection from Spain and Portugal. Although, as the liner notes tell us, some of…
Song cycle: Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton, ‘Schubert’s Four Seasons’
Carolyn Sampson deftly sidesteps that ‘difficult 103rd album’ syndrome, teaming up with regular duo partner Joseph Middleton on the remarkable ‘Schubert’s Four Seasons’ – a worthy successor to their first two releases dedicated to this composer, ‘A Soprano’s Schubertiade’ and ‘Elysium’. Followers of this team will be well aware of their gift for programming, and…
Unbound: Mahan Esfahani & Carolyn Sampson on disc and in recital
For any listener, there’s a special kind of excitement reserved for when favourite artists – those you’ve been following separately for some time, collected their records and so forth – suddenly collaborate. Examples that spring to my mind include ‘The Marble Downs’, a masterpiece made by one of the UK’s greatest (and much missed, certainly…
Light fantastic: Mary Bevan, ‘Visions Illuminées’
It’s always a delight to come across an album so richly crafted and ingeniously programmed, you get an overwhelming sense that you’re hearing something intensely personal, a snapshot of what the artist wants to say ‘right now’. ‘Visions Illuminées’ feels like one of those records. Soprano Mary Bevan has featured on numerous recordings, but on…
Apart songs: Carolyn Sampson & Kristian Bezuidenhout, ‘Trennung’
Given the musicians involved, it should come as no surprise to learn that ‘Trennung’ is an immaculately crafted and beautifully performed album. But it’s also an unusual record, turning up at the party dressed as a recital disc, but as time goes on, revealing more and more of its unique character. It’s a considerable sonic…
Two of US: Lucas Meachem & Irina Meachem, ‘Shall We Gather’
This is a big, bold, beautiful beast of an album: a concept recital that uses song to grapple with belonging, community and how those noble aims align with what it means to be American. Let me say at the outset that this is a bravura performance by both singer and pianist. This may be a…
Heart songs: Elizabeth Llewellyn & Simon Lepper; Isata Kanneh-Mason
As soon as I read about ‘Heart and Hereafter’, Elizabeth Llewellyn’s debut recital album on Orchid Classics, I was excited and intrigued to hear it – for three main reasons. First, I had seen and heard her give a magnificent performance in the title role of Verdi’s ‘Luisa Miller’ for English National Opera back in…
Lieder among wo/men: Carolyn Sampson, Roderick Williams & Joseph Middleton in concert
At this year’s Leeds Lieder festival, I finally got to see – for the first time – a form of classical recital I’d been thinking, and even occasionally writing, about for some time: one that behaved like a rock concert. Fitting, then, that we were surprised, amused, shaken up and energised. But was it a…
Set free?
A couple of evenings before writing this, I had the privilege of attending the first art song recital with a live audience at London’s Wigmore Hall since it re-opened to socially-distanced audiences in line with the UK’s current ‘roadmap’ for ending lockdown. The concert was an all-Schubert progamme, performed by soprano Carolyn Sampson and pianist…
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