Nicky Spence tenor; Malcolm Martineau piano. Howells The little boy lost; Britten Midnight on the Great Western; Fauré Les berceaux Op. 23 No. 1. Tippett, Songs for Ariel: Full fathom five. Orr, Songs of a Childhood: No. 5 Shy Geordie; Frederic Rzewski, Dear Diary: No Good; Britten, Who are these Children? Op. 84: No. 8 The Larky Lad; Tchaikovsky Sred’ shumnovo bala (Amid the din of the ball) Op. 38 No. 3; Wolf Ihr seid die Allerschönste; Britten, Proud songsters; Larsen, Pregnant; Wood, Litter Bin; Wolf, Storchenbotschaft. Bolcom Waitin; Dunhill, The Cloths of Heaven; Ireland, Baby; Schumann An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust; Barber, A slumber song of the Madonna; Britten The Highland Balou; Mahler, Um MitternachtL Previn, Will there really be a morning? Minchin, Lullaby; Orr, The Boy in the Train; Legrand, Pieces of Dreams (Little Boy Lost)
This was a delightful concert – I sort of expected it to be but was still enthused by the panache and intelligence brought to bear on it. The theme of the concert was fathers and sons, perhaps more generally parents and children. Nicky Spence is of course a distinguished performer on UK opera stages and elsewhere, as well as a recitalist. The theme of the concert was very close to Mr Spence’s heart (he told us near the end, rather wisely perhaps rather than at the beginning of the recital) as he and his husband had a year or more ago adopted a child as their own. The recital was therefore conceived around that profound new relationship and explained why a song like ‘Frauenliebe und leben’’s ‘An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust’ was included. Some of the songs reflected on the broader feelings and moral choices involved in parenthood, like Mahler’s Un Mitternacht’. There were two more cabaret’- style songs by contemporary (more or less) comedians – the late Victoria Wood’s ‘Litter Bin’, and the wicked, and very funny, ‘Lullaby’ by Tim Minchin (about a father’s feelings trying to get his baby to go to sleep). The songs were well placed in their chosen spots to contrast with each other, and Mr Spence delivered them all with sensitivity an character. Malcolm Martineau accompanied with deftness, and in one number had a spoken role to play too…… A pity the Hall wasn’t fuller, but the recital was very well received by those there
John's musical journey 