My third Rosenblatt Recital of the series

Tuesday evening's performance by Vuyani Mlinde was yet another example of what the Rosenblatt Recital Series does so well. They choose talented up-and-coming preformers from around the globe, match them with well-respected accompanists, provide in-depth and extensive information about the music you are about to listen to, then put it all together in a great venue.

In addition, most (if not all) of these performances are recorded for the Rosenblatt Recital Series video channel, so you can relive the performance or send a link to give someone an idea of what they missed.

And Tuesday night, if you weren't at St. John's, Smith Square, you missed a great performance.

Vuyani's voice is a deep, rich baritone which was up to the task of solo recital. The recital differs from an opera performance in being that much clearer to the audience. There is no orchestra to drown out the nuances of richly textured voices, such as those I've heard at this recital series.

The program for the evening is listed below, in the order the songs and arias were performed. My favourites were the Tchaikovsky piece from Iolante, Respighi's Nebbie and the songs by Tosti and Gastaldon. Not to say he sung these any better than the rest of the programme, just pieces I preferred listening to.

A strange thing happened during the first Mozart aria, I found myself wanting to sing along. I don't know the word and I wasn't looking at the libretto, I just found myself wanting to sing along. I suspect that the reason is my own vocal range. I've heard a great deal of opera which highlights tenors, mezzos and sopranos and just enjoyed the music. But last night I realised I was listening to someone who had a similar range to mine. I would have failed terribly had I tried, but that gut-feeling was there throughout. Perhaps that is the enduring quality of opera, that everyone who listens hears something they want to, and perhaps can, sing along to? Not forgetting the great melodies, of course!

The programme for the evening showcased Vuyani's voice perfectly, no lack of strength in the lower register, no tailing off, and lots of humour too. Especially the encore. A degree of emotional intensity was required for Respighi's Nebbie, this didn't ruffle his feathers in the least. The Verdi arias possessed all the colours you would expect, Mozart's lightness, Tchaikovsky's lyricism were all there in technicolor.

Vuyani was in playful mood for the encore. A traditional german drinking song, 'Der mann im keller'. A man sits in a cellar rhapsodising upon the excellent qualities of his favourite alcoholic drink. Dropping from one octave to another with great precision. The audience wouldn't let him leave so he sang again the closing chorus of the drinking song, this time using different registers, rising to falsetto in places, dropping through a scale to the bottom of the register. In german and english. Seemingly comfortable singing both. And apparently more drunk on the song than the first rendition.

Praise must also go to Ingrid Surgenor, the pianist who provided accompaniment for the evening. Masterfully played throughout, never overpowering the songs.

I will follow this post very soon with a re-cap of the Rosenblatt Recital Series. Here is the list of work from the evening:

Mozart:
Se vuol ballare, Le nozze di Figaro
Madamina il castalogo e questo, Don Giovanni
Cosi dunque tradisci, Concert aria

Tchaikovsky:
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Gospod moj, esli gresen ja, Iolanta

Verdi:
Come dal ciel precipita, Macbeth

INTERVAL

Verdi:
Infelice! E tu credevi

Respighi:
Nebbie

Tosti:
L'ultima conzone

Gastaldon:
Musica proibita

Verdi:
Mentre gonfiarsi l'anima, Attila

ENCORE
Der mann im keller, Anon
Text: Carl Müchler, 1802
Musik: Ludwig Fischer, 1802


For those of you who missed Elizabeth Llewellyn, here is a video of her singing Walton:

And here is Serena Malfi singing the Vivaldi I enjoyed so much:

Yes. More opera tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'll be going to the last Rosenblatt Recital until September, Vuyani Mlinde, at St John's, Smith Square.

Here's a bit of background, a review, a short video and even an offer for tickets!  I'm hoping I get a chance to have a little chat with him after the concert, but if not, you'll find the review here.

If you do go, make sure to get a program.  They're the best I've ever seen; very informative and useful if you've never heard opera before, even if you have.

A little more Opera.....

Last night I attended a concert at Cadogan Hall.  A beautiful venue, always a pleasure to hear music there.

Opera UK were providing an evening of entertainment presented by Natalie Wheen.  Yes, that's her, the knowledgable and conversational presenter for Classic FM.  She clearly loves opera, and made sure we were all informed as to the arias, the background of the opera, characters, the composers etc.  Thank you Natalie!

Before I begin, I'd like to mention the person who is usually ignored or forgotten throughout performances like this, the accompanist Stephen Hose.  The evening was about music, the singers provided the voices, he provided the music for all of them.  As a highlight, his playing during Dvorak's 'Song to the Moon' was outstanding, to the point where I couldn't remember the orchestral version afterwards.

The program was romantic, no Haydn or Handel, and none the worse for that.  Mozart, Bizet, Puccini and Rossini. Verdi, Delibes, Lehar, Gounod and Bernstein.  A showcase for great voices, but also for opera too.  I won't list each piece, all will be familiar to any music lover, but there were some notable exceptions.  Adam Miller's rendition of 'Factotum' was made especially entertaining as he juggled oranges whilst singing a particularly difficult part.  'The Flower Duet' from Lakme, (Nicola Pulsford and Clare Presland) despite its relentless use in adverts was (for me) tear-jerking.  Clare Presland's rendition of the 'Segadilla' from Bizet's Carmen was wonderfully lusty.  The two most impressive pieces, for me, were Alison Guill's 'Song to the Moon' mentioned earlier, and Anando Mukerjee's 'Nessum Dorma'.

Although I've singled out a few favourite pieces, I haven't chosen a favourite singer, my choice was based upon my favourite songs and music.  All the singers were excellent and will be heard from in the future.  In fact, some of them are already making noises.

If there is one thing that the evening reminded me, it's that listening to music on the radio or CD is absolutely no substitute for hearing and seeing music live.

Another thing is that opera has a class thing attached to it.  Maybe it's seen as being a purely middle-class form of entertainment.  That may be true of the Royal Opera House (though you can get tickets for under £10 if you're quick enough) but there are many other places that offer opera, at much more affordable prices.  Not just in London either!

And a small bit of advice (I recently learnt), choose what you want to see, download the libretto/lyrics, look on Wikipedia for the story, get the general gist of what's going to happen, and then.................

......sit back and enjoy the music.

The performers were:

Belinda Evans
Alison Guill
Patrick Mundy
Adam Miller
Anando Mukerjee
Clare Presland
Nicola Pulsford

Great music and great company.

Rolando Villazon on tenors in Opera

Here is a BBC programme narrated by Villazon, explaining the history and technical aspects of the tenor in Opera.  It features a great number of fantastic singers, there's also a lot of information here about opera in general.  A great introduction to opera, some lovely arias sung by fantastic singers.  If anyone can explain opera and singing to the general public, it's Maestro Villazon.

Here's the whole of 'Werther' with Villazon. Available until later this evening. Search for Villazon on YouTube to find more.

If you want to sample some opera, here is the next of the Rosenblatt Recital Series.

Julia Lezhneva sings Rossini

I've been listening to the new CD by Julia Lezhneva for the last couple of weeks.  When it comes to music, there are always pleasant surprises in store.  Julia is a very young soprano with the voice of someone much more experienced.  The CD itself is a collection of Rossini arias which show off her vocal range, the variety of the music demands accuracy, strength of tone and a delicate touch. She handles the dynamics of the arias effortlessly, drawing comparisons to Callas from critics.  Her voice seems naturally higher in range than Callas', without any weakening in the upper register, strong and fluid with a great deal of depth for such a young singer.

Julia has had a very full career already, despite her youth, winning many awards and garnering praise from many quarters.  It appears Rossini is a favourite of hers, performing his arias at the Classical Brits last year and here performing at the St Petersburg competition for opera singers in 2007.  She doesn't have the richness of voice that we associate with mature singers like Bartoli or Netrebko, what she has is a brilliance more associated with young voices, a brightness that has warmth.  As she gains experience, I hope she keeps that brilliance, it will be the one thing that sets her apart from other singers of her generation.

Another thing to bear in mind is her range.  She appears to glide from soprano, through mezzo, down to contralto and back without sounding strained or stretched in any way, no tiny compromises.  She has a clarity of voice that is unusual in any vocal range.  I cannot recommend this singer highly enough.

I'd encourage everyone to see more opera, try something you've never heard before, preferably sung by a singer you've never heard before.  Later this month I'll be going to see my third Rosenblatt Recital, featuring Vuyani Mlinde.  If the previous recitals are anything to go by, I'll be in for a treat.

Cigdem Aslan sings Rebetiko

Upstairs at Ritzy (the cinema in Brixton) was the venue for the Cigdem Aslan Trio last Wednesday.  True to form for musicians, there were four performers; Cigdem herself on vocals, Meg Hamilton (also of Kosmos and She'Koyokh) on violin, Angelos on bouzouki and Pavlos on guitar.

Rebetiko is a relatively new music form, emerging in the 1960's, combining Greek folk traditions and Turkish (Ottoman) café music.  It has been described as a Greek/Turkish blues, mainly due to lyrics, not the music itself.  Plenty of info in the 'net.

The venue itself is quite small and intimate, a perfect setting for the four-piece trio, Garth Cartwright provided the music while we waited for the performance.

The music itself was new to me, plaintive songs of loss and love from Smyrna and Istanbul, the guitar providing a pulsing rhythm, the bouzouki accompanies and complements the voice, the violin answering the guitar and at times almost vocal itself.  At the heart of the songs is the voice.  The audience were given brief introductions to each song, such as the song where a boy compares his love to an orange in turkish, but an apple in greek (or maybe it was the other way around).  Or the song where the boy has to sneak around to see his girlfriend, but he must be careful of her mother "because mediterranean mothers are hardcore" explained Pavlos.

I found it strange that the music itself sounded so different from what we usually listen to un the UK and the US today, bearing in mind that pretty much all of 'western' music is derived from greek 'modes'.  The Turkish songs in the set didn't sound any different than the Greek songs musically, only the language of the lyrics.  At some point, I really must ask Cigdem how many languages she sings in!

I swear, at one point, Angelos either sprouted an extra two fingers on each hand, or slowed time down for himself.  His fingers blurred on the bouzouki and made my inner guitar player wither and die for a moment.  A similar experience watching Pavlos on guitar.  Meg Harrison obviously loves playing, this is the third time I've seen her play in two weeks.  Viola with Kosmos, violin with She'Koyokh and violin tonight.  The same is true of Cigdem, she sings constantly from what I can gather, thank goodness.

The only song title I remember is 'Emine' and that's because it was dedicated to the young lady of the same name sitting next to me, who kindly provided the photos you see here.  The musicianship of these four people was of a very high standard, and yet the atmosphere was much more relaxed than you would find at many recitals or 'classical' music performances.  They seemed to be enjoying the performance as much as the audience.

These days, it's easy to find new music to listen to, if you have a computer and some idea what you are looking for.  I suggest you have a look for Rebetiko, keep any eye out for Cigdem, Meg, Angelos and Pavlos for further performances, and search out She'Koyokh for their next performance near you.

After the gig, I got to the tube at Brixton, stuck Dylan's 'Blonde on Blonde' on the ipod and opened a book.  A couple of minutes later, a rag-tag bunch of musicians and friends piled into the carriage.  Within about 60 seconds they had their instruments out and the gig continued.  They're probably still northbound on the Victoria Line, and probably still entertaining confused tourists.  We need more people like this and more people should listen to music that is new to them.

Thanks to Emine Arikan for the photos.

The 100 Club 13.5.2011 UPDATED with VIDEOS

This club, for me, is one of the genuine articles. A piece of history. Not the photos that adorn the walls, but the acts I've seen here myself. First was Siouxsie and the Banshees, supported by John Cooper Clarke. Next was Nicola Benedetti. Natalie Clien and an Azerbaijani ensemble led by Sabina Rakcheyeva was the last time I was in the 100 Club.

The evening consisted of 5 acts, (a full list is here) beginning with JC Ryan, fresh from her residency at The Castle in Portobello. Tonight she was sporting a full band line-up and the magnificent Babs on backing vocals. Her self-penned tunes in a similar vein to other female singer-songwriters are given an added attraction, which is her unique, soulful voice. Try to catch her at The Castle if you get a chance.

Video 1   Video 2   (Thanks Elena)

The next act that caught my attention was Rhys Williams. Easily the most experienced performer of the evening, a tight, well-rehearsed band, crafted songs and a history that includes playing with Morrissey. Friday the 13th saw the release of his 2nd CD on Vinegar Alley Records, Great Falls, recorded in Virginia and London, and finished at Abbey Road. One to watch out for, make sure you bookmark his website.

Wolfette was certainly full of energy and enthusiasm. I assume she writes her own material, but her voice was overpowered by the rhythm section. A better balance of sound would have improved the clarity of her performance. Similar problems also beset the remaining two bands.

The Empty Headz gave the audience a lively set (one or two fans in the house, I think) giving it their all, though again the bass and drums were overpowering. Probably down to lack of experience and a firm guiding hand in rehearsals. Nothing wrong with the music, just a full-on presentation with amps set to 11. Oh, and they're lovely people.

Top of the bill were The Electric Flowers. The 80's were worshipped with full abandon, even sartorially. I was unsure if they were doing this ironically, but was assured there was no irony intended. This is much the same confusion that surrounded Ladytron when they began their career. Ladytron's way to drive the message home was to record and gig constantly, silencing the critics with their enthusiastic and unashamed keyboard driven tunes. Once again, most of what I heard had the full-on sound of unbalanced drums and bass. I swear my eyeballs were vibrating. Experience will make all the difference, and these guys will have lots of gigs to refine their sound. Hopefully they'll have as much success as Ladytron in the future.

The whole evening was well-balanced between the up-and-comers and the more experienced performers. Folk, electronica, rock and ballads made for an eclectic mix of musical styles. Each of the acts performed well and I expect to hear more from all of them, Rhys Williams and JC Ryan especially, that's just my taste.

Wolfette, Empty Headz and The Electric Flowers only lack experience and possibly a guiding hand in the recording/rehearsal studio. Fingers crossed for all of them.