Review: Leeds Lieder Spring Weekend Streamed from Leeds Town Hall, 26th/27th March 2021

LOCKDOWNS not withstanding, the intrepid Leeds Lieder organisation continues to enable freelance musicians to connect with their public via smartphones or laptops. The online streaming of live performances, potentially to a worldwide audience, is surely here to stay - long after we are all permitted to return to the concert hall and share music together.

Last weekend’s contrasting recitals were streamed from the atmospheric space of Leeds Town Hall, subtly lit to cast a discreet veil over the swathes of empty chairs. The singers performed facing the organ casing rather than the body of the auditorium - an astute move both visually and acoustically.

Egyptian soprano Fatma Said and pianist Joseph Middleton’s programme of Brahms songs and late Schumann Lieder was bookended by Ravel and eloquently introduced by Anna Lapwood.

The three songs comprising Ravel’s exotic Shéhérazade were projected with crystalline clarity and vivid colouring of the words. Said’s musky warmth of timbre and Middleton’s palette of shimmering textures created an intoxicating sense of eastern mystery. Ravel’s effervescent Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques - Five Popular Greek Songs - ended the partnership’s engaging recital in exuberant mood.

Earlier in the evening, a 15-minute recital was given by Momentum Young Artists, the mezzo soprano Bernadette Johns and pianist Alexandra Standing. They included songs by Schubert, Frank Bridge and Mahler - each one a model of poise and expression.

Kitty Whately’s recital was, quite literally, a family occasion. The creamy-toned English mezzo soprano and pianist Joseph Middleton were joined on stage by Kitty’s parents - the actors Kevin Whately and Madelaine Newton for “This Other Eden”. Their beautifully crafted landscapes-inspired programme was illustrated by English songs interspersed with readings from Shakespeare, Houseman, Hardy, and Walter de la Mare among others. Kevin’s wonderfully earthy reading of John of Gaunt’s famous “This Royal Throne of Kings...this sceptered isle” speech, prefaced Kitty’s performance of John Ireland’s Earth’s Call. Madelaine’s reading of Lady Macbeth’s “They met me in the day of success” speech was the precursor to the grandeur of Kitty’s realisation of Joseph Horovitz’s operatic Scena, Lady Macbeth.

The tenor Laurence Kilsby and pianist Ian Tindale occupied the Momentum Young Artists spot. Their recital of Schubert, Schoenberg and Hugo Wolfe included superbly articulated performances of three of Wolfe’s Morike-lieder.

These enjoyable recitals are being streamed until 12th April. Passes and further details are available from www.leedstownhall.co.uk