Andreas Scholl live at Wigmore Hall: Monday 17th

[doversoul1]

Monday Lunchtime Concert
A bit early but this will be interesting. Whether I like it or not will be another matter.

Andreas Scholl (countertenor)
Tamar Halperin (piano)

Joseph Kilna MacKenzie: Sergeant MacKenzie
Randy Newman: In Germany Before the War
Chava Alberstein: Ikh shtey unter a Bokserboym
Machaut (arr.Theo Bleckmann): Douce Dame Jolie
Trad: The Death of Queen Jane
Janacek: Our Evenings from On an Overgrown Path
Sasha Argov: Shir Éress - "Lullaby"
Britten: Down by the Salley Gardens
Britten: Greensleeves
Britten: The Ash Grove
Debussy: Jimbo's Lullaby from Children's Corner
Trad (arr. Tamar Halperin): Black is the colour of my true love's hair
Trad (arr. Tamar Halperin): I will give my love an apple
Brahms: All mein Gedanken
Brahms: Da unten im Tale
Brahms: In stiller Nacht

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04p525z

Incidentally, this might be of interest to those who like contertenors

Lunchtime Concert live from Wigmore Hall: Monday 8 December
Philippe Jaroussky and Ensemble Artaserse
Vivaldi
Concerto for strings in C minor RV120
Stabat Mater RV621
Concerto for strings in D RV123
Longe mala, umbrae, terrores RV629

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/philippe-jaroussky-countertenor-ensemble-artaserse-35711

[Miles Coverdale]

I don't think I've ever seen Randy Newman and Machaut in the same programme before.

[doversoul1]

Today at 1.00pm

Anyone planning to listen? I am rather apprehensive about the programme but will listen if on iPlayer.

[vinteuil]

Anyone planning to listen?

... nope. It is an odd congeries of works and styles. I might try and catch the Brahms at the end.

[jean]

I will listen because I'd listen to anything he did, but I may not like much of it.

Is this one Yiddish? I might like that:

Chava Alberstein: Ikh shtey unter a Bokserboym

[jean]

'The Yiddish title of this song is "איך שטײ אונטער אַ באָקסערבױם". The English translation is "I Stand Beneath a Carob Tree". '

[Nick Armstrong]

Wonderful sequence, esp the final Yiddish one...

But did I hear some sort of disturbance in the hall? A woman's voice loudly speaking German could be heard a couple of times....

[Mary Chambers]

I was completely mesmerised. Those who didn't listen because of the unusual repertoire missed something special, I think. Only the other day I was complaining to a friend that there are no really individual performers, particularly singers, any more. Well, here's one.

(I could quibble about his Sally Gardens, though. Needed to be more legato.)

[french frank]

'The Yiddish title of this song is "איך שטײ אונטער אַ באָקסערבױם". The English translation is "I Stand Beneath a Carob Tree". '

Thank you - I was about to ask what a Bokserboym was (Barenboim means Pear Tree, doesn't it?).

[jean]

I think his English pronunciation has improved a lot since he first recorded English folk songs a while ago, but it still has some oddities.

I have Alfred Deller singing that lovely song about Queen Jane (Seymour, it must be) and he stands comparison.

I wish he had not used the Britten settings of the other English folksongs, though. They're really horrible.

[Tony Halstead]

I was completely mesmerised. Those who didn't listen because of the unusual repertoire missed something special, I think. Only the other day I was complaining to a friend that there are no really individual performers, particularly singers, any more. Well, here's one.

(I could quibble about his Sally Gardens, though. Needed to be more legato.)

Superb throughout!
I particularly enjoyed his singing of those wonderful, enchanting Britten arrangements.

[Mary Chambers]

I wish he had not used the Britten settings of the other English folksongs, though. They're really horrible.

What? Actually I didn't know the Greensleeves one, and didn't like it much at first hearing. I love the others, and have a particularly soft spot for The Ash Grove, especially the blackbird.

I remember in the '60s and '70s there was a bit of an outcry from 'genuine' folk singers of the more traditional kind about the Britten settings. Far too arty and not earthy enough.

[teamsaint]

I do hope somebody here writes something thoughtful and in a bit of depth about the performance of the Randy Newman song.

if not I will try......

( heard the first half of the concert, and you certainly can't fault the attempt to do something interesting, at least.....)

[Stanley Stewart]

A most refreshing Lunchtime Concert with so many novelties. I managed to record the Britten arrangements on MD and Tamar Halperin's inclusion of Debussy's Jimbo's Lullaby was a particular delight. I'll listen again to next Sunday's repeat, (23 Nov) on R3, 1pm.

In the meantime, I've got the Randy Newman Songbook CD, Vol 1, off the shelves as it also contains Germany Before the War and, more apt, I Think It's Going To Rain Today!

[doversoul1]

I do hope somebody here writes something thoughtful and in a bit of depth about the performance of the Randy Newman song.

if not I will try......

Yes, please. And what are we (am I) to think about the switching between baritone and countertenor (falsetto)? I found it all rather disconcerting.

( heard the first half of the concert, and you certainly can't fault the attempt to do something interesting, at least.....)

Quite agree. However, I don’t mind a folksong arrangement or two for the encore but I find almost an hour of it quite honestly boring (just my taste). Out of comfort zone, says SMP. I find this rather too comfortable (Scholl has been singing folksong-like repertoire for some 20 years).

This is entirely my taste but now that I have become so used to the voices of the likes of Iestyn Davies, Scholl's voice (as it sounds now) sounds distinctly previous-generation like (to me).

Oh, we were told by the presenter that Andreas Scholl was known by his perfectly tuned voice…. You’d have thought we were about to hear one of the New Generation Artists…