Voice can be so touching, so true to humanity, so close to emotions and telling in a way only words can do. That's particularly how I felt about the first song, a trad. song from USA dated around WW1 telling the thoughts of a dying soldier as he speaks to his brother and passes messages to wife and family. Deeply touching and very apt to be sung by a baritone, strong and male as it is. Almost tear-jerking, thinking of tunnels and trenches and huge losses. The baritone was Alasdair Stretch, of Luminesence and more, accompanied by Callum Tolhurst-Close on piano. Both deeply emotional, sometime behind the beat, always precise in note formation and pitch and apt timing. Highly trained and serious in using that training. The concert proceeded to German artsong (R Schumann and R Strauss) then to English (Howells and Vaughan Williams) to a finale using the final word Adieu (Faure). The artsong is more complex with stories and lyrics that place the music distinctly in another era, not C20th and way from C21st. I find it a hard style to warm to, even if I hugely respect the performers and performances which I certainly did here. But that's my bad. This was a wonderfully intimate and musically precise concert and I enjoyed it immensely for that.
Alasdair Stretch (baritone) was accompanied by Callum Tolhurst-Close (piano) at Wesley.
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