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April 16, 2011

April 16, 2011

Filed under: Sarah Connolly,Simon Keenlyside — Administrator @ 7:39 am

Zachary Woolfe, for the New York Times writes about Sarah Connolly’s recital last Thursday, that “she achieved profound ends through the simplest of means, showing the instincts and communicative power of a born performer during a masterly recital on Thursday at Alice Tully Hall, accompanied by the excellent pianist Malcolm Martineau.

“Ms. Connolly's voice was strong and steady through its range, velvety, but with a soft, subtle graininess that gave weight and presence to even her most ethereal floated notes. Her diction was clear, her phrasing natural. You were not aware of any calculated artistry. She just sang.”

L’Orchestre de Paris has posted a video clip from rehearsals of Pelléas et Mélisande.

Jouer un opéra en concert, c’est dévoiler les gestes des musiciens qui seraient invisible dans la fosse, voir en même temps qu’on écoute comment le compositeur a articulé le chant aux instruments. Pour cette mise en lumière, l’expérience est toujours intéressante. Elle l’est encore plus quand les chanteurs — comme Laurent Naouri ou Alain Verhnes — ont interprêté leurs personnages en scène et les livrent ici concentrés dans quelques expressions du visage. Avec Natalie Dessay, Simon Keenlyside, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, ils rejoignent pour deux soirs l’Orchestre de Paris et le chef d’orchestre Louis Langrée pour Pelléas et Mélisande de Debussy au Théâtre des Champs Elysées, avant une reprise à Londres.

April 15, 2011

Sarah Connolly at Alice Tully Hall

Filed under: Sarah Connolly — Administrator @ 10:27 am

Delightful recital last night at Alice Tully Hall, New York, from Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano, and Malcolm Martineau, piano. The program was a little different from what Lincoln Center had previously announced. The program was as follows:

SCHUMANN Three Lieder from Myrthen
Widmung
Die Lotosblume
Hochländisches Wiegenlied

SCHUMANN Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart

SCHUMANN Frauenliebe und -leben

Intermission

HOWELLS Come Sing and Dance
King David

GURNEY By a bierside
Sleep

BRITTEN A Charm of Lullabies

BENNETT A History of the Thé Dansant

Encores:
POULENC Hôtel
MULDOWNEY In Paris with You


April 10, 2011

April 10, 2010

Filed under: Sarah Connolly — Administrator @ 3:33 pm

Sarah Connolly's recording of Benjamin Britten's Phaedra, Op. 93, and A Charm of Lullabies for mezzo-soprano and pianoforte, Op. 41 (1947), on the Chandos label is scheduled for release in the U.K. on 26 April 2011.

April 2, 2011

April 2, 2011

Filed under: Nathan Gunn,Renee Fleming,Sarah Connolly — Administrator @ 9:12 am

Arthur Kaptainis write for montrealgazette.com about Renée Fleming in the Met’s Capriccio, “Made for the role, right? Well, everyone seems to think so, which leaves me in the awkward position of being underwhelmed once again by her low-voltage voice (the British mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, as the actress, blew her off the stage) and an acting style that seems to begin and end with a wistful smile.”

I think it likely that the sound engineers of the HD broadcast will make Renée much less than underwhelming. She sounded quite good on the web stream of the run’s first performance.

NY1 reports on appearances of Nathan and Julie Gunn at the Cafe Carlyle in New York.

Sarah Connolly speaks about her love of Gustav Mahler’s music in anticipation of her performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra on 5 May and 9 October 2011.

March 29, 2011

Songs to be sung by Sarah Connolly at Alice Tully Hall

Filed under: Sarah Connolly — Administrator @ 10:59 pm

Here are some of the songs that Sarah Connolly is scheduled to sing at Alice Tully Hall on April 14 (but sung here by people other than Sarah Connolly):

Schumann: Maria Stuart Lieder, Op. 135

1. Abschied von Frankreich
2. Nach der Geburt ihres Sohnes
3. An die Koenigin Elisabeth
4. Abschied von der Welt
5. Gebet

Only the first of the three songs on the following video are scheduled for the April 14 recital:

Here is the great Welsh tenor Richard Lewis singing three songs by Peter Warlock from a recital in 1970 with Martin Isepp, piano.

- “Sleep”
- “Away to Triver”
- “The Fox”

I could not find a video of the following song. Here is a brief excerpt:

Again a song of which I could not find a video. Here is a brief excerpt:

Again I couldn’t find a video. Here is a brief excerpt:

Again I couldn’t find a video. Here is a brief excerpt:

Again no video, but here is a brief excerpt from “There was an old woman.” The Lincoln Center program says “There was an old lady.” I don’t know why the difference.

UPDATE: At first I was unable to find either a video or an MP3 excerpt for Dominic Muldowney’s “In Paris with You,” but commenter Melodiaavis kindly pointed out the following video is indeed at youtube:

It is one of the songs on the CD Tell Me the Truth about Love, an album of cabaret songs sung by Mary Carewe.

UPDATE: The actual program turned out to be a little different from the above. See entry of April 15.

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