Number 202: July 2011 - Wagner Society of England

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Mastersingers “Living in Exile” weekend “THE WANDERER” A RECITAL BY JAMES RUTHERFORD Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, 13th May 2011 Elaine Fairless This was the first event of the Mastersingers “Living in Exile” weekend. In an atmosphere of barely suppressed excitement the theme of the weekend – works created away from home – was explained by David Edwards before he introduced the performers: bass baritone James Rutherford accompanied by Kelvin Lim on the piano. Both were previous winners of Bayreuth Bursary awards. The programme reflected his journey as a singer starting with Schubert Lieder progressing to Mozart and finally Wagner. James started with two songs from Schwanengesang: Ständchen and Aufenthalt. Both were beautifully executed although his voice had almost grown too big for the former and seemed much more comfortable with the latter. Mozart came next with Figaro’s Non piú andrai from Le nozze di Figaro and Leporello’s Il catalogo from Don Giovanni. It was amusing that Don Giovanni’s conquests were recorded on a smart phone displaying the number 1003 to the audience. These allowed James’ voice to come more into its own. There was then a change of pace as well as tone as we moved on to Wagner. First we heard Wolfram’s Abendstern from Tannhäuser and this was followed by, for me, the highlight of the evening, the Hans Sachs’ Fliedermonolog. James is currently singing Sachs at Bayreuth and this rendition made it obvious why. He was completely on top of the part which he sang with subtlety and sensitivity. Interviewed by David Edwards about his career to date, James came over as a very personable and amusing young man. We learnt about the money side of singing (recitals are less lucrative than concerts or opera) and the joy of singing in Wagner competitions – ‘no pretty little sopranos to run off with the prizes’. James’ final piece was Wotan’s Farewell from Die Walküre. This was clearly still work in progress and was sung with less confidence although the range was there and it bodes well for a glorious Wagnerian future for him. A word should also be said of Kelvin Lim’s virtuoso performance, particularly during the Wagner but much more was heard of him later in the weekend. As we walked along the seafront back to our hotel we all agreed that it was a wonderful opening night concert. Julian Black shared accompaniment duties with Kelvin Lim throughout the Aldeburgh weekend Photography: Peter West donningtonart@aol.com – 12 –
COVER STORY The Mastersingers “Living in Exile” weekend KELVIN LIM PIANO RECITAL Jubilee Hall, 15th May 2011 Nina Vincent We are used to seeing Kelvin accompanying and supporting the vocalists. The first time I heard him play was at the auditions for the Bayreuth bursaries in March at the Royal Academy of Music. I commented then to others in the small group who had gathered to hear these talented young artists how much I was enjoying his playing. In fact Kelvin himself was the first UK pianist to be awarded the Bayreuth Bursary prize in 2007. This talented artist plays with so much feeling and sympathy and obvious love of the music. In a brief discussion with Kelvin after the performance he told me that he really prefers the role of accompanist as he enjoys working with other musicians. A solo concert can be quite lonely and the practice required (especially for a new piece such as the technically challenging Wanderer Fantasy) takes many hours. He told me that he started learning the piano when he was seven, and even then only under pressure from his parents. It was not until his teens that he realised that playing the piano would be his career choice. The Wanderer Fantasy was suggested by David Edwards to fit in with the theme of the artist exiled from home. The other two pieces were Kelvin’s choices: Parsifal was cursed to wander for years before finally returning in the final act and Tannhäuser, in spite of the pleasures offered by Venus, longs to return to the world. Thus the narrative of the programme fitted perfectly into the theme of the weekend. Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy was played with great dramatic intensity. His detailed reading gave a great sense of the architecture of the piece, and took us on a journey which had moments of passionate yearning, coupled with delicate intimacy. The final movement sounded out with thrilling arpeggios spanning the breadth of the whole instrument. This was followed by an addition to the programme: Liszt’s transcription of the Solemn March to the Holy Grail from Parsifal. This is not so much a direct transcription as much as a musical fantasy on the themes from this great opera. Kelvin’s beautiful rendition evoked the hushed atmosphere of reverence from the opening tolling of the Grail bells to the great chords of the central motif. The final piece was Liszt’s virtuoso transcription of the Overture from Tannhäuser. Kelvin has played this piece several times now and there was a great assuredness from the opening solemnity, where one could almost hear the brass in those haunting chords. He thrilled us on this epic journey across the whole range of orchestral colours from keyboard, and the final minutes, with those huge cascading octaves crashing around the majestic theme, were hugely exciting. The last chords brought the audience cheering to their feet. – 13 –
Page 1 and 2: Number 202: July 2011
Page 3 and 4: NEW AND RETURNING CONTRIBUTORS Matt
Page 5 and 6: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Highlights f
Page 7 and 8: I have the pleasure of bringing you
Page 9 and 10: At whatsonstage.com Simon Thomas wr
Page 11: Simon Lobelson (Baritone) Thomas Hu
Page 15 and 16: The Mastersingers “Living in Exil
Page 17 and 18: The Mastersingers “Living in Exil
Page 19 and 20: Scene 2 saw the arrival of Fricka i
Page 21 and 22: let’s do, as Cosima (not Richard)
Page 23 and 24: Pleased to meet you PETER WEST: WAG
Page 25 and 26: Its most distinctive feature, the C
Page 27 and 28: BARCELONA PARSIFAL Report by Garth
Page 29 and 30: BAYREUTH NEWS 110 Years of the Rich
Page 31 and 32: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG AT
Page 33 and 34: successfully built up this producti
Page 35 and 36: Alwyn Mellor (Isolde) and Richard B
Page 37 and 38: Wolfgang, possibly in consequence o
Page 39 and 40: now, “Many would prefer to forget
Page 41 and 42: LETTER I would like to share Bill B
Page 43 and 44: President: Dame Gwyneth Jones Vice

Number 202: July 2011 - Wagner Society of England

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?