11/21/2023 0 Comments Andy staples fresh heir![]() Sebastian Scotney, The Arts Desk, 05 August 2023 Tradition is not just being revived it feels renewed here. Connolly’s and Middleton’s way of understanding the flow and the story-telling always feels incredibly natural. I was wrong this stands on its own terms a very satisfying recital indeed. I am in awe of Connolly’s subtle variety of mood and feel across these songs Before I started listening I had wondered if this collection would pale in the shadow of, say, treasured orchestral versions by Janet Baker or Christa Ludwig, or the Fassbaender/Gage recording with piano from the early 1980’s. Sebastian Spreng, Miami Clasica, 04 July 2023 Likewise, in the Gesellen, the epic Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz acquires a philosophical, lacerating, desolate dimension in how the singer colours each phrase with infinite subtlety as in the dramatic peaks of Ich hab’ein glühend Messer.’ Resounding or subtle when it should be, her voice at once fathomless and luminous reflects tenderness, pity and despair meticulously and masterfully embodied in each song, the Rückert being especially memorable in fact, Um Mitternacht emerges as a shuddering existential question in the middle of the darkest inner night, Connolly’s majestic and ominous voice seems to be cradled by Middleton’s consoling piano that will provide a comforting final acceptance in the incomparable Ich bin der Welt abhaden gekommen. Not only this but it reflects a distillation of art and life, it is the voice of experience. This recording finds her at a remarkable moment in her career, close to sixty and after having gone through difficult times of health, she has returned triumphant with an acquired knowledge that can be appreciated in the interpretation and in the timbre, which exhibits a mahogany colour with a metallic edge that gives it a brilliant shine. ‘What else can be said about Dame Sarah Connolly, the seasoned Mahlerian is one of the current references in the interpretation of Lieder. John Quinn, Music Web International, 7 September 2023 Joseph Middleton’s playing is wonderful… These two fine musicians are deeply imaginative in their approach and they evidence an instinctive and very idiomatic partnership… and Sarah Connolly have set the bar very high for future releases and I look forward to further instalments with keen anticipation” Sarah Connolly is perfectly attuned to Mahler’s music and consistently identifies with the words in an ideal fashion. “This is an exceptionally fine Mahler recital. “No Mahler collector will want to pass it by” You also get beautifully nuanced piano playing from Middleton, a musician seemingly incapable of misjudging the careful balancing act necessary when accompanying lieder” “Isn’t there an extra urgency and depth of emotion about her delivery? Listen how she strokes and kisses the word ‘liebe’ …feel the intense sorrow engulfing her in the final Kindertontenlieder…whatever she sings, you get singing straight from the heart. ![]() In the opera house she returns to the Dutch National Opera as Jocaste in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and creates the role of the eponymous heroine Zarqa in the world premiere of Lee Bradshaw’s new opera Zarqa al-Yamama for the Arabia Opera in Riyadh. She gives recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Seville’s Espacio Turina, for the Fundació Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona and at the Leeds Lieder Festival with Joseph Middleton and at the Oxford Lieder Festival with Dame Imogen Cooper. Highlights in her 2023/24 season include Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the LSO/Sir Antonio Pappano Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon and orchestral songs by Alma Mahler-Werfel with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/John Storgårds. Opera engagements have taken her around the world from the Metropolitan Opera to the Royal Opera House, the Paris Opera, La Scala Milan, the Vienna and Munich State Operas and the Bayreuth, Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence Festivals. She has sung at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg and Tanglewood Festivals and the BBC Proms where, in 2009, she was a soloist at the Last Night. In 2020 she was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society in recognition of her outstanding services to music. Sarah Connolly was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours, having previously been awarded a CBE in the 2010 New Year Honours.
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