Music more than words: Britten and Tippett at Snape

By Charlotte Valori, 20 June 2016

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“larger notes fell like huge raindrops scattering onto a wind-harried sedge”

Reviewed at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape on 16 June 2016

Tippett, The Heart's Assurance

Britten, 6 Hölderlin-Fragmente, Op.61

Britten, String Quartet no. 1, Op.25

Tippett, Piano Sonata no. 2

Britten, Winter Words for soprano or tenor and piano, Op.52

Ian Bostridge, Tenor

Julius Drake, Piano

Steven Osborne, Piano

Arcadia Quartet

Bumpy love songs from Roderick Williams and Julius Drake at PCMS

Cameron Kelsall, 12th February

A fully produced performance of Brahms' Die schӧne Magelone in Philadelphia, complete with on-stage narrator and bespoke drawings, proved less than the sum of its parts.

**111

Fauré Song Gala a showcase for the composer's mélodies

Mark Valencia, 13th September

Fauré was the finest of French songwriters. Stéphane Degout and Véronique Gens shine in a full-length evening in a packed Wigmore Hall.

****1

Gerald Finley and Julius Drake bring Night and Day to London

Mark Valencia, 24th November

Heinrich Heine settings by Schumann and Schubert are counter-balanced by Duparc and Cole Porter in a Temple Song recital reflecting on night and day.

*****

A scorching Diary of One Who Disappeared at Janáček Brno Festival

Gianmarco Segato, 12th November

Tenor Nicky Spence and mezzo Václava Krejčí Housková thrill with a theatrical take on Janáček's The Diary of One Who Disappeared with pianist Julius Drake.

****1

Alice Coote and Stuart Jackson bring Mahler to Middle Temple Hall

Mark Valencia, 11th November

Pianist Julius Drake and his two singers probe the audience’s collective soul with the depth of their Mahler performances.

*****

An intense Winterreise from Fleur Barron and Julius Drake

Edward Sava-Segal, 27th February

A young mezzo and a seasoned pianist performed a rendition of Winterreise that sounded very fresh indeed.

***11

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Charlotte Valori

Charlotte Valori read Classics at Christ Church, Oxford. As a classicist, her main interest is Greek tragedy and its reception by later cultures, which has led to a continuing passion for theatre and opera. Charlotte reviews for several online magazines, and won the Bachtrack Opera Award 2015 for Best Written English Review. Follow her on Twitter @operissima.

Music more than words: Britten and Tippett at the Aldeburgh Festival