Carnegie Hall (Zankel), New York
5 April, 7:30 pm
Alice Coote (mezzo)
Julius Drake (piano)
After the show. Photo courtesy of www.juliusdrake.com
Programme
Edward Elgar:
Speak, Music from Op. 41
Pleading Op. 48
Roger Quilter:
There be none of Beauty’s Daughters Op. 24 No. 1
Now sleeps the crimson petal Op. 3 No. 2
Love’s philosophy Op. 3 No. 1
Charles Villiers Stanford: La belle dame sans merci
Edward Elgar: Sea pictures
Sea Slumber-song
In haven (Capri)
Sabbath morning at sea
Where corals lie
The swimmer
Dominic Argento: Songs from the Diary of Virginia Woolf
The Diary
Anxiety
Parents
The Last Entry
Liza Lehmann:
Love if you knew
Ah, Moon Of My Delight
Maud Valérie White: So we’ll go no more a’roving
Graham Peel: The early morning
Charles Villiers Stanford: A soft day
Peter Warlock: Late Summer
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon from ‘The House of Life’
Ivor Gurney:
The boat is chaffing
Lights out
What the ccritics say
Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times, 6.4.2010
Tenderness and Flair for British Composers
The superb British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote has been justly acclaimed for her operatic trouser roles. So it seemed fitting that for her recital at Zankel Hall on Monday evening she wore tight black trousers, a long, glittery silver top and killer heels — abandoning both sartorial and repertorial tradition in her unusual program.
Ms. Coote focused on lyric songs by 19th- and 20th-century British composers, including a nuanced rendition of Elgar’s “Sea Pictures.” The cycle revealed the beauty and darkly sensual timbre of her voice, with its earthy lower range, burnished smoky middle and ringing top notes.
She brought a vivid sense of drama to the program, singing with clear diction and imbuing the texts with meaning. She had fine support from the pianist Julius Drake, with both musicians conveying the contrasting character of each section, from the eerie, plaintive nature of “Where Corals Lie” to the turbulence of “The Swimmer.”
Elgar was also represented by “Speak, Music” (Op. 41, No. 2) and “Pleading” (Op. 48), tender songs evocatively rendered here.
Mr. Drake gracefully played the piano part of Roger Quilter’s “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” (Op. 3, No. 2). Ms. Coote had a few false starts at the beginning of Quilter’s “Love’s Philosophy” (Op. 3, No. 1), dashing over to the piano to look at the score. But she charmingly made light of the situation — saying with a laugh, “I’m going home now.”
The program also included excerpts of “From the Diary of Virginia Woolf” by Dominick Argento, the one American (and only living) composer on the program. Ms. Coote offered a richly hued interpretation of this dramatic cycle, her voice taking on a suitably harder edge to convey the agitation of “Anxiety.”
Her attention to text was also notable in songs like Charles Villiers Stanford’s “Belle Dame Sans Merci,” in which she sang the phrase “and her eyes were wild” with theatrical flair.
Ms. Coote and Mr. Drake also offered powerful renditions of songs by Liza Lehmann, Maude Valérie White, Gerald Peel, Vaughan Williams and Peter Warlock.
Ms. Coote’s control and use of a wide dynamic range was another hallmark of her recital, with carefully shaded pianissimos and surging crescendos. The evening concluded on a whisper with “Lights Out” by Ivor Gurney, a World War I poet and composer.