Wigmore Hall
Britten – A
Charm of Lullabies, op.41: ‘A Cradle Song’; ‘The Nurse’s Song’
Warlock – My
Sweet Little DarlingSchubert – Wiegenlied, D 498
Ives – The Children’s Hour
Schumann – Lieder-Album für die Jugend, op.79: ‘Marienwürmchen’
Poulenc – La Courte Paille; nos.4-7
Schubert – Licht und Liebe, D 352
Liszt – Tre sonetti di Petrarca, S 270/1: Sonnets nos 104, 47
Quilter – Five Shakespeare Songs (set 2): ‘It was a lover and his lass’
Britten – The Foggy, Foggy Dew; Soldier, won’t you marry me?
Schubert – Schwanengesang, D 957: ‘Kriegers Ahnung’
Schumann – Der Soldat, op.40 no.3
Wolf – Der Soldat I and II
Fauré – Les Berceaux, op.23 no.1
Poulenc – Bleuet
Barber – I hear an army, op.10 no.3
Liza Lehmann – Nonsense Songs from ‘Alice in Wonderland’: ‘Fury said to a Mouse’
Bolcom – Twelve Cabaret Songs: ‘Amor’
Brahms – O wüsst ich doch den Weg zurück, op.63 no.8; Alte Liebe, op.72 no.1
Barber – The Secrets of the Old, op.13 no.2
Copland – Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson: ‘Going to Heaven!’
Schubert – Nachstück, D 672; Der Tages Weihe, D 763
Kiandra Howarth (soprano)
Kathryn Rudge (mezzo-soprano)
David Butt Philip (tenor)
Benjamin Appl (baritone)
Andrew Foster-Williams (baritone)
James Baillieu (piano)
Ian Tindale (piano)
Malcolm Martineau (piano)
James Garnon (actor)
The Samling Artist Programme
has nurtured the careers of many a young artist, both singers and pianists (or,
if you will, accompanists), gathering them together (apparently, gathering,
collective, even assembly are possible translations of the Norse ‘Samling’)
with an array of senior artists. Part of that programme is an annual showcase
at the Wigmore Hall. For its twentieth anniversary, Samling Artists from 2000
(Andrew Foster-Williams) to 2016 (Kiandra Howarth) took the stage, joined by
Malcolm Martineau (one of those senior artists or ‘Leaders’) and the actor,
James Garnon. Thomas Allen, Samling’s Patron was to have joined the assembled
company, but flu put paid to that, and thus to an ensemble from Sullivan’s Trial by Jury. I cannot comment on every
single song, but hope to give a flavour of what was on offer in this particular
showcase.
The programme traced the ‘seven
ages of man’, prefaced by Garnon’s engaging reading from As you like it’s ‘strange eventful history’. Two songs from Britten’s
A Charm of Lullabies (Kathryn Rudge
and James Baillieu) opened ‘Infancy’, Baillieu’s piano making much of the
harmonic affinity of the Blake ‘Cradle Song’ with the world of The Rape of Lucretia, Rudge captivating
in the a cappella opening of ‘The
Nurse’s Song’. Her mezzo-soprano voice here and elsewhere proved both rich and
variegated of tone. The post-Mozartian simplicity of Schubert’s Wiegenlied was well captured by Kiandra
Howarth and Malcolm Martineau, paving the way for ‘Childhood’. Benjamin Appl
seemed not to come truly into his own until later in the recital. Although Ives’s
The Children’s Hour was beautifully
sung, he missed a certain lightness of touch. Four songs from Poulenc’s La Courte paille were more successful.
They were shared between Howarth and Rudge, the former seemingly relishing a
more absurdist side, the latter more seductive.
When we reached the stage of ‘The
Lover’, David Butt Philip joined Howarth and Ian Tindale for Schubert’s Licht und Liebe. Tindale proved equally
alert rhythmically and harmonically. The ardent quality of Butt Philip’s
singing carried into an unapologetically Italianate rendition of Liszt’s first
Petrarch Sonnet. Vocal passion was matched in Baillieu’s piano playing of that
and the second, for which Howarth returned, to give a similarly dramatic
performance. I cannot claim to care much for the music of Roger Quilter, but
Rudge and Appl gave a charming performance.
A welcome change of mood –
Britten folksongs are really not for me – came after the interval with ‘The
Soldier’. Following a reading from Henry
IV, Part I, Andrew Foster-Williams was heard for the first time, with
Baillieu, in Kriegers Ahnung. A
greater depth was immediately announced, carried into an especially commanding
performance (now with Tindale) of Schumann’s Der Soldat, sadness and anger in compelling balance. Appl seemed
much more at home in two soldier songs from Wolf’s Eichendorff-Lieder, using the words to excellent effect. Another
highlight, not just of this section, but of the concert as a whole, came with
the Rudge-Martineau performance of Fauré’s Les
Berceaux, its sadness deeply felt. Honesty and integrity of feeling were
equally apparent in Butt Philip’s Poulenc Bieuet.
Stylish, never mawkish, he impressed just as much as he had in the very
different music of Liszt. Much the same might be said of Foster-Williams, in
Samuel Barber’s Joyce setting, I hear an
army.
‘The Justice’ was missing the aforementioned
Sullivan number, so was confined to a charmingly despatched Liza Lehmann song
(Butt Philip/Tindale) and a cabaret song by William Bolcom: not my thing, I am
afraid, although Howarth was very much in her element. Lugubrious Teutonophile
that I am, I responded more warmly to ‘Old Age’ and Brahms. Foster-Williams and
Bailliue gave an unexaggerated, deceptively straightforward performance of O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück, Rudge
and Martineau displaying depth to match that of the Fauré song in Alte Liebe. Rudge’s Barber song, The Secrets of the Old, captured the
idiom perfectly: an equally fine performance, again well supported by Martineau.
Much the same might be said of Howarth and Tindale’s sincere, aware Going to Heaven!
Our revels now were ended, as
the final Shakespeare reading reminded us. ‘Oblivion/Second Infancy’ opened
with a fine performance of Schubert’s Nachtstück
from Appl and Martineau. With beautiful vocal shading, Appl offered ample
consolation for the misery of dotage. A heartfelt consecration of the day (Des Tages Weihes) concluded proceedings,
with a well-matched performance form Howarth, Rudge, Butt Philip,
Foster-Williams, and Baillieu. It seemed fitting to leave to the echoing
strains of a Schubertiade.