Proms at … Cadogan Hall 5: Louise Alder - 19.08.19

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

13:00 Monday 19 August 2019
Royal Albert Hall

Franz Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade
Franz Schubert: Nacht und Träume
Franz Schubert: Die Forelle
Felix Mendelssohn: Auf Flügeln des Gesanges
Felix Mendelssohn: Der Mond
Felix Mendelssohn:Neue Liebe
Fanny Hensel: Bergeslust
Fanny Hensel: Warum sind denn die Rosen so blass
Fanny Hensel: Nach Süden
Franz Liszt: Freudvoll und leidvoll
Franz Liszt: O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst
Franz Liszt: S’il est un charmant gazon
Franz Liszt: Oh! quand je dors
Franz Liszt: Comment, disaient-ils
Frédéric Chopin: Zyczenie
Frédéric Chopin: Sliczny chlopiec
Gioachino Rossini: Canzonetta spagnuola

Louise Alder soprano
Gary Matthewman piano

As we reach the 19th century in our Monday lunchtime survey of music spanning over 800 years, soprano Louis Alder and pianist Gary Matthewman present a recital of songs from across Europe, including Lieder by Schubert, and by both Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny (published under her married name of Hensel), whose final song, ‘Bergeslust’ – completed just a day before her death at the age of only 41 – tempers joy with a poignant ending.

The many facets of love are exposed in Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Der Mond’ and ‘Neue Liebe’, as well as in Chopin’s ‘Sliczny chłopiec’ (Handsome Lad) and songs by Liszt and Rossini.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I suppose my only claim to fame is that I once taught Gary Matthewman. Clutching at straws - I know.

[bluestateprommer]

I suppose my only claim to fame is that I once taught Gary Matthewman. Clutching at straws - I know.

You obviously taught him well, since he proved a terrific pianist in this very fine recital with Louise Alder. Well worth a listen on iPlayer if anyone here missed it.

(Also, thank goodness for Hyperion Records, since I accessed the texts to all but the Rossini from various Hyperion albums. The Rossini is available on a Naxos album, Péchés de vieillesse - 10.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I suppose my only claim to fame is that I once taught Gary Matthewman. Clutching at straws - I know.

I thought he was the finer of the two performers today - Louise Alder made some singularly unpleasant sounds in her higher registers, I thought.

[edashtav]

I thought he was the finer of the two performers today - Louise Alder made some singularly unpleasant sounds in her higher registers, I thought.

I agree with you, ferney, Louise's upper register was not under her full control, today, especially at higher volume. What a shame... around the Liszt group, I decided that enough was enough.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

You obviously taught him well, since he proved a terrific pianist in this very fine recital with Louise Alder.

I didn't teach him the piano. There was a better piano teacher I was able to recommend, and the rest is history.

[bluestateprommer]

I too would rank GM as the stronger of the two, but I didn't have any issues with LA's singing. I might have been absorbed in following the texts so as not to notice any concerns regarding her voice, or maybe I was subliminally a lot more forgiving. Plus, she did sing well in 4 different languages, as Petroc noted.

[Constantbee]

Caught this live yesterday while painting some exterior woodwork and dodging torrential downpours that nearly washed the whole lot off I can’t recall having heard the Liszt songs before and liked them a lot Good to hear some appreciation on the forum for an accompanist for a change I sometimes think R3 could be doing its bit to raise their status or am I missing something? For example, how about some coverage of the biennial Gerald Moore competition?

[gurnemanz]

We heard Louise Alder and Gary Matthewman at the Wigmore a couple of years ago when she stood in at the last minute for an absent Andrei Bondarenko. (His intended Tchaikovsky programme would no doubt have been similarly worth experiencing). I was tempted to trek off and catch this Cadogan Prom recital but other things came up. I've just listened to the repeat which coincided conveniently with lunch at the Ashes Test. A most enjoyable and interesting programme. I didn't hear the "unpleasantness" mentioned above and was again delighted by her voice and powers of communication and, as mentioned, the sensitive accompaniment.