One of the UK’s most distinguished mezzo-sopranos, Dame Sarah Connolly, takes the stage with a star of the next generation, Beth Taylor. Sarah was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours and has sung in most of the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls. Notable among her stellar career was her appearance as guest soloist at the BBC Last Night of the Proms in 2009.
Beth recently came to prominence in the grand final of the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, and since that moment has made debuts at Carnegie Hall and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and worked with conductors including Edward Gardner, Sir Simon Rattle and Kirill Petrenko.
No stranger to Temple Music, Julius Drake enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. His passionate interest in song has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall, London; The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; 92nd St Y, New York; and the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin.
This Concert is sponsored by Rosamund Horwood-Smart KC.
PROGRAMME
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Hans Christian Anderson Lieder op 40 (Sung by Dame Sarah Connolly)
Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart op 135 (Dame Sarah Connolly)
Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)
Trois Mélodies (Beth Taylor) - Néere (from Études Latines); Quand je fus dans le Pavillon (from 12 Rondels); L’Heure Exquise (from 7 Chansons Grises)
Hedwige Chrétien (1859-1944): Petites Poemes au bord de l’eau (Beth Taylor)
Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Sea Pictures (shared by both mezzo-sopranos)
INTERVAL
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976):
Mother Comfort (duet)
Charm of Lullabies (shared by both mezzo-sopranos)
David Matthews (1943-):
Three Hopkins Sonnets (First London Performance) (Dame Sarah Connolly)
FIVE FRENCH SONGS (Beth Taylor)
Germaine Taileferre (1892-1983): Deux Poemes de Lord Byron (Beth Taylor) - In Moments; Remembrance
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944): Viens, mon bien-aimée
Augusta Holmes (1847-1903): Le Vin
THREE DUETS
Gabriel Fauré (1945-1924): Pleurs D’Or
Enrique Granados (1867-1916): La Currutacas
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): El Desdichado
The concert will finish at approximately 9.30pm.
"Connolly proves herself a worthy heir to Janet Baker...sumptuous tone, insight and perfect diction."
The Sunday Times"Last night the mezzo-soprano was Beth Taylor...She sang with a perfectly natural fullness of tone that was tender and magnificent at once, though she had already melted us in the preceding hushed prayer."
The Telegraph"The pianist Julius Drake, a collaborator gifted with sensitive phrasing and insight."
New York Times