Cheltenham Music
Festival (3) : Schumann, Mahler, Francis George
Scott and Finzi. Roderick Williams (baritone) &
Iain Burnside (piano). Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham.
08.07.2006 (JQ)
Before the start of this Sunday morning recital I overheard
some snippets of conversation among the audience that
indicated that some previous events at this year’s Cheltenham
Festival have been poorly attended. There was no danger
of that happening on this occasion: a full house greeted
Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside. The setting of the
Pittville Pump Room is absolutely ideal for chamber music
as it has good acoustics; it is sufficiently large to
accommodate an audience in comfort and yet has just the
right degree of intimacy.
I’ve seen Roderick Williams in concert several times and,
of course, his fine voice is very familiar through broadcasts
and recordings. But I’d not previously had an opportunity
to catch him in recital so this was an event keenly anticipated.
He began with Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 24. Right
from the start it was evident that he was in fine voice.
As well as his vocal prowess I admired very much his body
language and effective but far from excessive use of physical
gestures and facial expressions to enhance and discreetly
underline points in the text. The physical aspect of his
delivery was beneficially in evidence as early as the
second song, ‘Es triebt mich hin’. He brought a splendid
line and tone to such songs as ‘Ich wandelte unter der
Bäumen’ and his gift for vivid communication was nowhere
better illustrated than in the sixth song, ‘Warte, warte,
wilder Schiffmann.’ Right at the heart of the cycle in
several respects is the fifth song, ‘Schöne Wiege meiner
Leiden’. I thought Williams was quite splendid here. He
deployed a wide range of vocal colouring, exhibited splendid
dynamic control and was keenly in sympathy with the text.
The seventh song, ‘Berg’ und Burgen schau’n herunter’
was beautifully sustained and here again, he deployed
small but telling physical gestures in a wholly natural
way but most effectively. In all this was an excellent
realisation of Schumann’s cycle, which was appreciated
by an evidently discriminating audience.
More lieder followed in the shape of a selection of five
songs from Mahler’s early Lieder und Gesange. The
chosen songs formed a well-chosen and satisfying group.
First came one of Mahler’s soldier songs, ‘Aus! Aus!’,
in which Williams conveyed splendidly the bravado of the
young soldier and the pathos of his sweetheart who bids
him farewell. In this song we glimpsed, for the first
time, Williams’s sense of humour. His aptly cheeky delivery
of the last line of the song brought a laugh of genuine
enjoyment from the audience. The third song in the group,
‘Um schlimme Kinder artig zu Machen’ clearly appealed
to the singer’s sense of fun for Mr Williams gave a broad
beam even before the song commenced. After this humorous
song, which he delivered with relish, much to the delight
of the audience, ‘Erinnerung’ made a splendid and effective
contrast. This emotional song was sung with a marvellous
command of legato. It was back to broad humour for the
final item in the group, ‘Selbstgefühl’. This gave Mr
Williams ample opportunity to display to the full his
talent for light heartedness and storytelling and rounded
off a most successful and enjoyable group.
The Festival this year has a Scottish theme and this,
presumably, warranted the inclusion of a group of songs
by the Scottish composer, Francis George Scott (1880-1958).
I freely confess I’d never heard of this composer but
Iain Burnside, who contributed a short and delightfully
witty spoken introduction, declared him to be an “unsung
hero” of twentieth-century British music. According to
Burnside, Scott was writing “European” music in Scotland
in the 1920s and 1930s and was thus quite seriously out
of step with much of the British musical establishment.
I read in the programme note that Scott was a committed
Scottish nationalist and that in his music a number of
elements of Scottish culture were “blended into a musical
language which also showed a keen awareness of Bartok
and Schoenberg.” Scott’s main compositional interest lay
in song writing and he composed some 300 songs. Of these,
Burnside told us, the most experimental tended to be settings
of poems by his friend, Hugh MacDiarmid. Four of those
settings, in the Scots language, were included in the
group chosen by Williams and Burnside.
At a first hearing I found it hard to come to terms with
the MacDiarmid settings. The first, ‘The Eemis Stane’
– which Iain Burnside helpfully translated for us as ‘The
loose tombstone’ is a cold and eerie piece in a slow tempo.
The singer has a strong melodic line but the piano part
is more fractured and rather spooky. The second song,
‘Crowdieknowe’, is a description of the dead awakening
from their graves in Crowdieknowe cemetery at the Last
Judgement. It’s a graphic, uncomfortable piece in which
both poet and composer sound to be shaking a fist. The
third MacDiarmid setting, ‘An Apprentice Angel’ struck
me as a dark, even bitter piece and, if I understood the
words correctly, something of a contemptuous sneer at
the Presbyterian church.
We were not told who were the authors
of the poems that furnished the texts for the fourth and
fifth songs but here we were on more conventional and
accessible musical ground. ‘The Old Fisherman’, another
slow song, was a touching piece in which the old fisherman
of the title contemplates his life’s work fishing in the
sure knowledge that age and infirmity will prevent him
from ever setting sail again. I thought this was a really
lovely and most eloquent song. ‘First Love’, which followed
it, began relatively innocently with two stanzas of gently
lilting music. But in the third verse the singer’s reflections
on his first love become more melancholy. Back to MacDiarmid
for ‘Wheesht, wheesht’ – no, I don’t know what it means,
either - in which, I think, the singer chides himself
for his foolishness in ever falling in love. Iain Burnside
told us that he and Roderick Williams shared an enthusiasm
for Scott’s music and this, no doubt, inspired them to
add an extra, unplanned song, a setting of Burns’ poem,
‘My Wife’s a Winsome Wee Thing’. This, as Burnside said,
spoke for itself and gave Roderick Williams another opportunity
to demonstrate his gift for humour and his ability to
put a song across to his audience.
At just one hearing I don’t feel qualified
to judge Scott’s qualities as a songwriter. However, the
seven songs that were given here intrigued me and I’d
be interested to hear them again.
And finally to much more familiar fare in the shape of
Finzis cycle of Shakespeare setting, Let us Garlands
Bring. These artists have made a fine recording of these
songs, which I and others warmly welcomed only last year
(see
review.) The opportunity to hear them perform the
songs in recital was something to which Id been
looking forward. I wasnt disappointed. Williams
conveyed admirably the restrained grief of Finzis
treatment of Come away, come away death. He
and Burnside brought a delightful clarity and lightness
to Who is Sylvia. Then we reached Fear
no more the heat o the sun. As I commented
in my review of the CD, I believe this to be one of the
very greatest of English songs. Williams sang it quite
wonderfully and as I listened I was grateful that such
a voice and such intelligence were at the service of such
a song. O mistress mine was prefaced by another
of the singers broad smiles. How nice to see a performer
so evidently enjoying the prospect of what hes about
to sing! The enjoyment came out fully in his performance
and then the programme ended with a relaxed and
wholly engaging rendition of the final song, It
was a lover and his lass.
The audience’s response was deservedly enthusiastic and
there was no way that the performers were going to be
allowed to leave us without an encore. This took the form
of an arrangement by Williams himself and we reverted
to the Scottish theme and to Burns for ‘My love is like
a red, red rose.’ Williams introduced this by relating
that he’d sung this arrangement – not his only one of
the same poem – at a friend’s wedding in Kent. Afterwards
the Scots lady who was the verger at the church approached
him and told him that Rabbie Burns would have turned in
his grave to hear the arrangement! Well, unless Burns
was a complete Philistine, which I doubt, I can’t believe
that he would have “turned” other than in pure pleasure
for this was a wholly beguiling arrangement featuring
what Williams called a “Glenn Gould two-part invention”
as the piano accompaniment. This Bachian adornment of
the lovely vocal line was realised perfectly by Iain Burnside.
So ended a lovely and all-too short recital, which confirmed
the splendid artistry and personality of one of the finest
British baritones currently before the public. My apologies
to Iain Burnside that I have concentrated on the singer
so much. His piano playing was quite splendid throughout
and he formed a real partnership with Roderick Williams.
It’s evident that they enjoy making music together both
from their respective demeanours and from the quality
of their performances.
One final thought. I am 54 years old
– just! I mean absolutely no disrespect to my fellow members
of the audience but it struck me quite forcibly this morning
that well over 75% of the audience must have been older
than me. Where were the younger music lovers? I do hope
this isn’t an indication that the song recital is the
preserve of older aficionados. Any young musician would
have learned a copious amount from Roderick Williams,
not just about singing but about the difficult art of
conducting a recital.
A most satisfying and stimulating recital.
John Quinn