London Jewish Cultural Centre

Ivy House, North End Road, London
Sunday, 14 November 2010, 3:30pm

Clara Mouriz (mezzo) – standing in for indisposed Andrew Kennedy
Julius Drake (piano)

Programme

Joseph Haydn: Arianna a Naxos, Cantata a voce Sola, Hob. Xxvib:2

Manuel de Falla: Seven Popular Spanish Songs
El paño moruno
Seguidilla murciana
Asturiana
Jota
Nana
Conción
Polo

Maurice Ravel: Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques
Chanson de la mariée
Là-bas, vers l’église
Quel Galant m’est comparable
Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques
Tout gai!

Xavier Montsalvatge: Cinco Canciones Negras
Cuba dentro de un piano
Punto de Habanera
Chévere
Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito
Canto Negro

Encore

Féderico Mompou: Damunt de tu només les flors

What the critics say

Barry Millington, The Evening Standard, 15 November 2010

Julius Drake calls Clara Mouriz to take control

Ivy House, former residence of star ballerina Anna Pavlova, is also the new home of the London Jewish Cultural Centre. The refurbished house is now a venue for recitals under the resourceful direction of Irene Newton.

Julius Drake was due to be accompanying the tenor Andrew Kennedy in yesterday’s recital but on the latter’s indisposition Drake fielded a highly acceptable alternative: the prize-winning young Spanish mezzo-soprano Clara Mouriz, who is rapidly making a name for herself.

A lustrous beauty of tone and an engaging stage presence make Mouriz a magnetic performer, especially in an intimate venue such as this. Her charmingly delivered programme of folk-inspired song was received with enthusiasm, even if Drake’s accompaniments did not always match the vocal line in terms of warmth of tone and subtlety of inflection.

Manuel de Falla’s Seven Popular Spanish Songs run the gamut of love, sorrow, lullaby and village gossip; a range reflected in Mouriz’s idiomatic accounts. In Ravel’s Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques she likewise caught the note of rustic simplicity.

Returning to her native tongue, Mouriz presented Xavier Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras, a group of songs evincing a non-politically correct nostalgia for the lost days of the Spanish colonies, in particular those of the Caribbean. The gentle tug of Cuban rhythms was nicely captured by the performers.

Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos, though not quite belonging here, was done with passion and a sense of drama.