Lieder? Songs?
Poetry? It’s all the same kettle of fish, really, a fact recognized
at Great Songs Great Poets on Saturday evening at the Heart
Centre in Headingley, where the emphasis was on performance. Call it
a recital if you like. It’s a word which might please them down at
Leeds Lieder+, the co-organisers with the LitFest, and to whose
founder, Jane Anthony, the whole thing was dedicated. It had
everything necessary to transform the kettle of fish into a perfect,
satisfying bouillabaisse, with not just smart chefs but a subtle
blend of themes: war and peace, love and death, the well established
and the fresh and new.
Jonathan Fisher, Richard Wilcocks, Kimberley Raw, James Berry, Hollie-Anne Bangham, Jane Oakshott Photo by Ian Garvey |
Headingley
resident Jane Anthony, who died so tragically last year, would have
approved of this event, which was originally intended for autumn last
year. At a meeting which turned out to be final, she agreed a general
outline of a programme with LitFest secretary Richard Wilcocks in
July 2014, and it was this draft which was taken up in 2015 in
meetings between Wilcocks and Jonathan Fisher, who is
pianist-in-residence at the University of Huddersfield and staff
pianist at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is
also an honorary fellow of the Association of English Singers and
Speakers. The result was a programme of singing and speaking which
included some Shakespeare along with the relatively new and the
relatively old.
The singers
- all of them from the RNCM - could be described as “relatively
new” because they are students there, but they performed like
seasoned virtuosi, with great maturity and with a force which would
impress on any stage or in any grand theatre. Music which was
sometimes tricky and difficult gave them few problems. Baritone James
Berry was particularly masterly in delivering War
Scenes ,
composed in 1969 with the dedication “To those who died in Vietnam,
both sides, during the composition: 20 – 30 June 1969”. Ned
Rorem used texts from Walt Whitman’s Specimen
Days, a
memoir of his time as a nurse in the American Civil War, and
Whitman’s words, describing the grotesque sights and sounds in a
field hospital, were very effectively conveyed to the audience (an
intimate one, around tables) through Rorem’s modern recitative
style. The diction was excellent, the voice rich. The same
voice became more lyrical when it came to Let
Us Garlands Bring,
five songs by Gerald Finzi taken from various Shakespeare texts.
Mezzo Hollie-Anne Bangham was strong on the diction too, dealing with
Robert Schumann’s Gedichte
der Königin Maria Stuart
as if she had just spent the last six months in some conservatoire in
Germany. Die
Sängerin sang mit echtes Gefühl. Her
tones were mellow, just right for the story of the Queen of Scots who
lost her head, and her engagement was intense. Abschied
von der Welt
was especially moving. Soprano Kimberley Raw really lived the songs
which resulted from a collaboration between Benjamin Britten and W H
Auden, as if she was singing operatic arias, and she gave the
audience a really passionate finale with three of the pair’s
Cabaret
Songs. The
last one of the evening was Funeral
Blues, well
known to anyone who has watched the film Four
Weddings and a Funeral.
Throughout, the songs were interspersed with poems. Each of the
singers also read (or rather performed) these beautifully.
Hollie-Anne read Emily Dickinson’s Nature, the gentlest mother
and Sara Teasdale’s There Will Come Soft Rains (with
Kimberley), and James read a series of Shakespeare lines (from
Hamlet, Richard II and Measure for Measure) alongside
Richard Wilcocks.
The two readers
representing the LitFest were Richard Wilcocks and Jane Oakshott.
Richard read an extract from Whitman’s Specimen Days (The Battle
of Chancellorsville) and delivered passionately a poem famous in
the United States since the nineteenth century and made even more
famous because of its misuse in the film Dead Poets Society – O
Captain! My Captain! He explained that this was dedicated
to Abraham Lincoln by the poet, but that some people thought it was
originally written after Whitman had finished Herman Melville’s
Moby Dick. He also read W H Auden’s emotive Refugee
Blues, written in 1939 but with an obvious relevance to the world
of today. Jane brought a
considerable amount of dramatic finesse to both Sonnet 129, bringing
all its nuanced feelings to the fore, and to the last letter written
by poor Mary. For this Jane entered completely into the role, even
beginning with a line of the original French, becoming a royal woman
trying to come to terms with the fact that she was just about to meet
the headsman. Tears glistened in plenty of eyes.
Jonathan Fisher
was an adept accompanist for all the pieces, and we owe him our
sincere thanks and appreciation for all his work rehearsing with the
singers over in Manchester and generally sorting the music out.
Hopefully, there will be another occasion in the future when the
participants can get together again.
Audience comments
Audience comments
A nice varied programme with splendid
performers. It was especially good to hear a trio of very capable young
singers, and I’m sure that we shall hear more of them. Altogether a fitting
memorial to Jane Anthony too.
An enriching evening’s
entertainment that provided a rare and valued opportunity to relate to poetry
in the context of music and a lovely tribute to Jane Anthony.
A thoroughly enjoyable
concert/recital – splendid singing and an interesting variety of interpretation
and performance. Difficult to specify a single performance – all were most
professional and I hope will have very long and successful careers. Thanks must
also go to the Arts Council and its support.
While Leeds has a reputation for
fine music, such quality doesn’t often filter down to
the suburbs. I hope there
are many more great performances by trained singers as
at this evening’s event.
As I’ve not come to any previous
Leeds Lieder performances – I found this
informative and mostly enjoyable. Good
to have my cultural life extended. I was
sitting near the front and thought
maybe I would have heard the words of some
Lieder more clearly from further
back. Perhaps that is because I am not used to this
medium. The Shakespeare
were wonderful - the Schumann fascinating (I may now
read them) and the Britten
caught you ‘unawares’ – at time amusing and the pianist
was a treat to listen
to as an accompanist.
A challenging evening themed
around war and death! A real commitment from all
the performers who presented a
high standard of musical and poetic talent. Good to
experience something
different!
An enjoyable programme with
uncluttered presentation of poetry, not overpowered
but enhanced by the simple
musical accompaniment. Excellent performances.
Intimate event. Singers sang with
great emotion in a largely somber programme!
And readers showed great
expression. Just enough ‘lighter’ content to lift tone of the
evening!
Much enjoyed the mix of composers
esp. cabaret turns. We should have a few more
recitals like this in the wide
open spaces between Lieder festivals. PS. We didn’t need
the printed copies of
Death, though the words of some soprano songs didn’t come
over clearly.
A script or copy of the
translation (in English) of Schumann’s Final cycle of songs for
voice
….(1,2,3,4,5) would have been useful as I don’t speak or understand German.
Enjoyed
the reading of Auden’s Refugee blues by Richard Wilcocks -
read/performed with
real feeling and understanding. A surprising evening!! Not
quite what I expected.
I wasn’t sure what to expect but
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening –some outstanding
performances, both reading
and singing. Hope the HLF put on more events like
this: very different!
Classical and classy, this
programme was top notch. Personally, I find it very hard to
follow words that
are sung and would have been glad if more songs were prefaced
by Richard and
Jane reading the text out first. Or else, another time, the texts can be
given
in the programme. However, an evening of brilliant talent.
Pianist, singers and readers all
excellent. Loved the Britten sings. The subject matter
was really dark mostly –
a bit of lightness would have been welcome – but lovely
evening.
Very good quality of singers and
poetry readers. Not very happy about the theme
which was about death in the
first half and a bit gruesome. Second Half – execution
of Mary Queen of
Scots, Refugees. Problem of words in Cabaret songs.
Great singing by all and lovely
readings. Particularly enjoyed Finzi and cabaret
songs. Jane was very vivid and
really brought her scenes to life!
Great performance of Britten
especially and Jane Oakshott was a fantastic reader
Singers were technically
brilliant. Pianist was great. Refugee poem and male
reader were fantastic.
Wonderful to see young singers
given an opportunity to perform.
Very enjoyable esp. Schumann and
Britten.
Amazing performances by all. I
particularly enjoyed the music.
A most appropriate and intimate
venue for chamber music.
Great evening. Thanks!