The BBC Singers at full throttle at Milton Court

The BBC Singers with Sofi Jeannin at Milton Court
© BBC/Mark Allan (2022)

Emma Tring (soprano)

Albert Soriano (tenor)

Iain Farrington (organ)

BBC Singers

BBC Concert Orchestra

Sofi Jeannin (conductor)

7.30pm, Thursday 26 February 2026

Milton Court Concert Hall, London

★★★★

MacMillan, James (b.1959): Who are these angels?

Shaw, Caroline (b.1982): To the Hands

Weir, Judith (b.1954): My Guardian Angel

Rautavaara, Einojuhani (1928-2016): Die erste Elegie

Howells, Herbert (1892-1983): Hymnus Paradisi (orch. Farrington, Iain (b.1977))

'There was much to celebrate in this evening’s demonstration of this outstanding group of singers’ virtuosity, under the assured direction of Sofi Jeannin as she approaches the end of her tenure as Chief Conductor'. 

Shaw:

'The BBC Singers upper voices in particular demonstrated their command with pure and precise onsets in the third section, and all voices communicated the emotion and intent of Shaw’s message with affecting immediacy'.

Rauavaara:

'The BBC Singers were impressively on top of its challenges, from shrieking tenors at the opening to high sopranos emulating violins, and faultless tuning and pitching of leaping intervals'.

Howells:

'The BBC Singers relished the opportunity for much full-throated singing here'.

'This was an impressive performance and a strong showing of the BBC Singers’ continued command and expertise'.  

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Emma Tring, Albert Soriano, Sofi Jeannin,
he BBC Concert Orchestra & the BBC Singers
© Nick Boston

CD Reviews - February 2023

John Wilson is back with the Sinfonia of London with a great new disc to follow up on their acclaimed 2021 recording of English String Music. This time, alongside two stalwarts of the repertoire, Vaughan Williams’ (1872-1958) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and Elgar’s (1857-1934) Introduction & Allegro for strings, are the sorely overlooked Concerto for String Orchestra by Herbert Howells (1892-1983), and a delightful gem, Late Swallows, by Frederick Delius (1862-1934). As with previous recordings, the Sinfonia of London string sound is rich, and the Chandos recording is equally full of depth. Wilson is precise and always clear as a bell, never allowing for any wallowing in the often thick textures of these works for strings. Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia has beautiful shimmering moments, but accents are strong, almost violent in places. Tempi are driven – Wilson never hangs about, avoiding the forementioned wallowing, so this is a less relaxed performance than some, but that brings out the precision and complexity of Vaughan Williams’ layered writing all the more. Wilson and the players give full weight when needed, but also exploit the contrasts between the three groupings – string quartet, and two orchestral ensembles, small and large. Their Elgar is similarly driven, right from the strident, energetic opening, yet the viola, immediately warm in contrast, has great emotional weight. This captures a key element of Wilson’s approach, always contrasting almost clinical precision and momentum with passion and emotional impact in the right places. Some recordings of this music achieve one or the other, but rarely both. The climaxes are quick – and the cold, spiky fugue builds to a phenomenal frenzy, with a thrilling race to the finish. Late Swallows is actually an arrangement by Eric Fenby (suggested by Barbirolli) of the slow movement from his String Quartet. It perhaps lacks the drama and contrasts of the other works here, but it is full of beautifully evocative swoops and dives, given lush expression here by the Sinfonia of London strings. Howells’ orchestral works have never achieved the same level of recognition as his choral works, which is a pity, as he clearly knew how to write for orchestral forces. He set out to write his Concerto for String Orchestra as a tribute to Elgar who had recently died, but he also then suffered the loss of his own nine-year-old son, and the resulting dedication of the work was to them both. He even said of the slow movement, ‘it was inspired by the countryside between the Malverns and the Cotswolds, and by two people – one old and one young – who knew and loved that part of England’. Yet the opening movement is strident, even harsh, with bursts of energy throughout, contrasting with a plaintive, slower central section. That central slow movement is definitely full of soulful yearning, with the passion increasing to pleading cries in places. So here, as before, Wilson delivers the emotional impact when it’s required, whilst maintaining the overall sense of direction of the work. The final movement launches off, immediately strident and angular once again, yet this is also full of contrasts, with jazzy rhythms, lighter, more plaintive moments, and urgent chords bringing things to a sudden conclusion. As with the Elgar, which clearly inspired Howells, the solo viola features strongly throughout, successfully providing a thread tying the work together. This recording is worth attention purely for the Howells, but lively and energetic readings of the Elgar & Vaughan Williams, and the Delius rarity, make this another strong release all round for Wilson and the Sinfonia of London.

Various. 2023. Music for Strings: Vaughan Williams, Howells, Delius, Elgar. Sinfonia of London, John Wilson. Hybrid Super Audio Compact Disc. Chandos. CHSA 5291.

The ensemble ZRI take their name from Zum Roten Igel, the 19^th century Vienna coffee house that was a hub for many composers, such as Brahms and Schubert, but also many folk and gypsy musicians of the time, creating a musical melting pot of influences and ideas. Here, in  Cellar Sessions, the five-piece ensemble, consisting of clarinet (Ben Harlan), violin (Max Baillie), cello (Matthew Sharp), accordion (Jon Banks) and santouri (a member of the dulcimer family) (Iris Pissaride), have embraced this idea of melding together classical repertoire with gypsy and folk material, but bringing that up to the present day, adding contemporary pop influences such as Donna Summer, Taylor Swift and Solange into the mix. This works remarkably well, with playful, dancing works such as Tokay by George Boulanger (1893-1958), and the swinging Horă din Budești by Aurel Gore (1928-1989), both Romanian violinists and arrangers, sitting alongside the ensemble’s take on classical works. They give a gloriously mysterious rendition of Schubert’s ethereal Andante from the Piano Trio No. 3, with a wonderful santouri introduction giving a nod to his nickname as the ‘Knight of the Cimbalom’, due to his fascination for Hungarian traditional music. From this introduction, Schubert’s slow movement emerges out of a gently pulsing rhythm, with burbling clarinet and sweet violin capturing the intensity of the original, and following some improvisatory exploration by the clarinet, low cello rumblings herald the return of the haunting sadness of the santouri. The Presto from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 receives the ZRI treatment too, with the clarinet swinging the cross rhythms over gentle plucking from strings, building to some great rippling flourishes from the clarinet. Donna Summer’s I Feel Love opens with a bouncing accordion, but it’s the cello that sets up the iconic driving rhythm, whilst ethereal violin harmonics take on the melodic line. This all builds to a crazy clarinet riff, before a gradual fade. Taylor Swist’s Shake it Off is combined with a klezmer melody Lebedik un Freylach by Abe Schwartz (1881-1963), from a mournfully atmospheric beginning through to a racing, dancing conclusion. Matthew Sharp even gives us an expressive, cabaret-style baritone for Jay Gorney’s (1896-1990) Brother can you spare a dime?, with a shimmering accompaniment developing into swinging jazz. Brahms makes an indirect appearance, in the form of Isteni Csárdás by Miska Borzó (1800-1864), itself no doubt drawn from an older Hungarian tune, but better known to us now from Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1, here full of the tune’s wildness and virtuosic energy in ZRI’s interpretation. They end with a delicate tango, Rote Rosen by Helmut Ritter (1907-1988), full of gentle nostalgia, before fading off into the distance. Overall, an extremely clever and inventive collection of repertoire, performed with joy and spirit throughout.

Various. 2022. Cellar Sessions. ZRI. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR136.

 

Greek-born pianist Alexandra Papastefanou studied in Moscow, Budapest and the US, and has had lessons from Alfred Brendel. She has performed all of Bach’s keyboard works, and recorded most of them too. Here she brings us a collection of transcriptions – so we’re immediately moving beyond the issue of performing his keyboard works on a modern piano, as here we have a trio sonata, chorales and cantatas, all in her own transcriptions, apart from Myra Hess’ famous arrangement of Jesus bleibet meine Freude (‘Jesu, joy of man’s desiring’), with which she ends her recording. Along the way, there are a couple of surprises too, with Papastefanou adding her own jazzy variation on top of her transcription of the chorale Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her, calling her addition appropriately Playing (with) Bach. The bouncy repeated figures here are effective, with the increasingly clashing harmonies providing an unusual counterpoint. We also get A Tribute to Bill Evans combined with An Wasserflussen Babylon (which also gives the album its title, Tears from Babylon). Here, she draws on Evans’ Peace Piece, with her own extemporisations entwined with the chorale melody in a particularly effective way, making this in fact the disc’s highlight for me. The Trio Sonata No. 5, BWV 529’s opening Allegro is clean, bright and lively, whilst the Largo that follows is tender and expressive. Papastefanou captures these contrasts throughout the recording, with joyful spirit for Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren, carefully bringing out the chorale melody from within the busy moving textures, whilst using a softer, more expressive tone for the Aria, Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen. The plodding bass line for Gott hat alles wohlgemacht from BWV35 works well, as does the energetic Sinfonia from BWV18. Ending with Myra Hess’ transcription is a fitting tribute to all those that have gone before, transcribing and arranging Bach’s music, and Papastefanou’s rendition of Hess’ classic is captivating. Throughout this collection, Papastefanou captures the essence of Bach’s music, whilst taking us in some new and unexpected directions too. 

Bach, J. S./Papastefanou, A. Tears from Babylon: J. S. Bach Piano Transcriptions. Alexandra Papastefanou. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR141.

Blissful daydreams on a hot afternoon: lullabies and dreams from Connolly and Middleton - Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 4

© Jan Capinski

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)

Joseph Middleton (piano)

Monday 6 August, 2018

Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 4

Cadogan Hall, London

★★★★★





Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924): A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140 - 'A soft day'
Hubert Parry (1848-1918): English Lyrics, Set 4 - 'Weep you no more, sad fountains'
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): The House of Life - 'Love-Sight'
Ivor Gurney (1890-1937): Thou didst delight my eyes
Arthur Somervell (1863-1937): A Shropshire Lad - 'Into my heart an air that kills'
Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Come to me in my dreams
Herbert Howells (1892-1983): Goddess of Night
Frank Bridge: Journey's End
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): A Sweet Lullaby
Benjamin Britten: Somnus, the humble god
Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Twelve Humbert Wolfe Songs, Op. 48 - 'Journey's End'
Benjamin Britten: A Charm of Lullabies, Op. 41
Lisa Illean (b.1983): Sleeplessness ... Sails
Mark-Anthony Turnage (b.1960): Farewell

'Connolly and Middleton held the audience’s interest ... through a strong sense of communication and commitment to the texts'.

'Connolly, in her Proms recital debut, and Middleton delivered their programme with assurance and conviction throughout'.

'Connolly always delivered the text with intensity and passion, without ever becoming mannered in delivery'.

Middleton:
'His rippling watery accompaniment to Parry’s Weep you no more, sad fountains, and the beautifully placed delicacy of the opening to Vaughan Williams’ Love-Sight are just two small examples of the subtlety of his touch throughout'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here. 

Selected CD Reviews

Canadian pianist Louis Lortie is now on the second volume of his planned complete Chopin collection, and this disc, as with the first, mixes and alternates Nocturnes with more substantial works – here we have the four Ballades, with the Barcarolle and Berceuse.  This approach makes for a much more satisfying listen, with pieces following in connected keys and flowing together more appropriately than the usual systematic working through of all the Nocturnes, say, in numerical order.  Lortie’s style is less overtly dramatic than some other Chopin interpreters – in fact, he allows the music to speak in a way that many other pianists do not achieve.  That is not to say that these are totally passive performances – virtuosity is certainly on display, and the Ballades in particular receive full-blooded expression.  I think it’s just that you’re left with a sense of ‘this is the wonder of Chopin’, rather than solely ‘this is an amazing pianist’, which is so often the case – and paradoxically, that is the sign of a truly great pianist.

Chopin, Frédéric. Louis Lortie plays Chopin, Volume 2.  Louis Lortie.  2012.  Compact Disc.  Chandos CHAN 10714.

The Gould Piano Trio have just celebrated their 20^th year performing together, and to mark this have released a first volume of Beethoven Piano Trios, with the ‘Ghost’ Trio and the Second Trio (Op. 1 No. 2), together with two single movement works – an Allegretto from 1812, and an early Theme and Variations.  These are in fact live recordings from performances at St George’s, Bristol, and it shows – in a good way.  There is a real energy to their playing, with spirited fast movements, and tender and sensitive playing in the slow movements.  The price is the occasional rough edge in the presto sections, and a slightly dry acoustic, but the payoff is a level of energy and immediacy rarely found in studio recordings.  The sign of a great live recording is one that makes you wish you were there, and also one that will survive repeated playing – this scores on both counts.

Beethoven, Ludwig van.  Piano Trios Vo. 1.  Gould Piano Trio.  2012.  Compact Disc.  Somm SOMMCD 0114.

Following on from complete sets of the songs of Butterworth and Delius, amongst others, baritone Mark Stone has now turned his attention to the rather trickier English composer, Havergal Brian (1876-1971), who ended his days in retirement in Shoreham.  Last year I sang in a performance in the Proms of his mammoth Gothic Symphony, which involves a massive orchestra, four choirs, a childrens choir, and four brass orchestras, as well as soloists – supposedly the largest symphony ever written.  This was certainly an event, but I remained unconvinced by the composer’s ability to maintain any sense of coherency over such a huge work So I was curious to hear how the composer managed the complete opposite end of the spectrum in terms of scale.  In fact, this disc proved rather a revelation.  I was particularly taken by the delicacy of his writing for the piano, sensitively performed here by Sholto Kynoch.  Little Sleeper is especially delicate and elegiac, with the almost Debussian harmonies in the piano supporting a beautifully wistful solo line.  Kynoch also performs Three Illuminations, and John Dowland’s Fancy for solo piano, as well as accompanying Stone’s brother, Jonathan Stone (violinist with the Doric String Quartet) in an impressively engaging Legend, and in fact these are the works that stand out for me in interest.  Mark Stone’s voice has a beauitful tone, with only an occasional loss of focus at the top of the range, and he performs these songs with great conviction.  He sings Day and Night with particular intensity, and once again, the piano writing here is very atmospheric.  This disc has certainly made me reconsider this underperformed composer anew – I look forward to the next volume!

Brian, Havergal. The Complete Havergal Brian Songbook, Volume 1.  Mark Stone, Jonathan Stone, Sholto Kynoch.  2012.  Compact Disc.  Stone Records.  5060192780154.

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha, are on fine form at present, as is evidenced in their latest disc of Mozart masses.  They perform the popular ‘Coronation’ Mass, and appropriately separate its movements with two Church Sonatas, where the movements would have been interrupted by the liturgy.  The boy trebles sound secure at the top, and the overall initmate sound, with period instruments (the St John’s Sinfonia), is very engaging.  Soloists Susan Gritton (soprano), Frances Bourne (mezzo), Sam Furness (tenor) and George Humphreys (bass) match the scale of the performance expertly.  The well-known Ave verum Corpus comes next, but unfortunately here they follow the ‘tradition’ of performing this beautiful gem at an incredibly slow speed, which is a shame.  The then follow this with the delightful F major Missa Brevis, and here they are back on form. They end the disc with the popular favourite showcaser for Susan Gritton, ‘Exsultate, jubilate’, and she doesn’t disappoint, providing a suitably joyous finish to and enjoyable programme.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.  'Coronation' Mass, etc.  Susan Gritton, Frances Bourne, Sam Furness, George Humphreys, John Challenger, Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, St John's Sinfonia, Andrew Nethsingha.  2012.  Compact Disc.  Chandos CHAN 0786.

Clarinetist Michael Collins begins his exploration of British Clarinet Sonatas in style, with works from John Ireland (1879-1962), Arthur Bliss (1891-1975), Charles Stanford (1852-1924), Arnold Bax (1883-1953) and Herbert Howells (1892-1983).  Michael McHale ably accompanies him on piano.  As ever, Collins produces an exquisite tone, combined with effortless and fluid virtuosity when required.  Ireland’s Fantasy-Sonata is particularly beautiful, and the slow movement of the Stanford Sonata is dramatically expressive.  Bliss’ Pastoral is typically English, with lilting and rolling lines, once again played here with a warm, liquid tone.  Another great disc from a soloist at the top of his game.


Various.  British Clarinet Sonatas, Volume 1.  Michael Collins, Michael McHale.  2012.  Compact Disc.  Chandos CHAN 10704.

(An edited version of these reviews first appeared in GScene magazine)