Music to my ears
What the classical world has been listening to this month
Elin Pritchard Soprano
Over lockdown I’ve been indulging in music that I don’t normally have time to listen to. The bel canto era of opera and the singers who perform it fascinate me, so I’ve been enjoying a feast of Bellini and Donizetti. A real discovery has been Agnes Baltsa and Edita Gruberova in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi under Riccardo Muti. Their voices are to die for, and the delicate way in which they sing their last few minutes together is phenomenal.
I first came across the voice of tenor Giuseppe di Stefano a few years ago. He was such a class act in terms of musicality, phrasing and diction – the way he coloured the text was exceptional. I’ve been devouring all of his recordings, not least Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with
Maria Callas in 1957 and, in particular, the aria ‘Donna non vidi mai’. I’m rehearsing for the role of Manon this summer, and if I think I’ve done well, my treat to myself is to listen to a bit of Giuseppe!
Giuseppe di Stefano was a class act in terms of musicality, phrasing and diction
I love to have music playing in the house while I cook. Ray Charles was a phenomenal performer and composer, and the music on his 1958 album Ray Charles at Newport is so upbeat and uplifting. There is such a range of styles on it too – blues, jazz, R’N’B and gospel, all intertwined in one live album. When I put this disc on and pour myself a glass of red, I can’t help but smile, dance and simply let myself go.
And also…
To be honest, I’m not the sort of person who’d normally read Madeleine Miller’s Circe – I tend to prefer thrillers. But when I was given it in a book swap, I gave it a go. It’s superbly written and has really opened my mind to reading more widely about Greek mythology. Above all, however, it’s so inspiring with its story about a strong woman who, in a challenging situation, finds a way to navigate her life and succeed. Elin Pritchard plays the title role in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at The Grange Festival, 27 June – 9 July Augustin Hadelich Violinist
I find Schubert songs comforting – they take me back to my childhood, because my family would always sing them at the piano. It’s beautiful and emotional music anyway, but I think it has a particular power over me because it was some of the first music I heard. There’s a recording by tenor Fritz Wunderlich that I often go back to, especially the song ‘An die Musik’. It’s like an ode to music itself and Wunderlich sings it very simply.
I find Thomas Adès’s music really delightful and engaging. I have an album that has his Arcadiana string quartet on it and
I’ve listened to it so many times over the years. Once in a while
I put it on again and I feel like I always notice something new each time I hear it. It’s incredibly complex music, but also in some ways it seems very simple and is very genuine; I feel like it connects to me emotionally.
Last year I was recording the
JS Bach sonatas and partitas, so I was spending a lot of time with the composer. I had to get into the zone, so I listened to his keyboard works and cantatas. I always find I look at any composer’s violin music differently the more I look at their other stuff. I love the Bach cantata cycle by Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki. I think I have most of them – they’re beautiful recordings.
And also…
One of the best TV shows I’ve seen is a German Netflix show called Dark. It’s not quite what you expect initially; it seems like a thriller, but then it becomes very complex. I like things that are puzzles in general, so I found it very engaging. I’ve got better at controlling my binge-watching so that it doesn’t derail everything! Augustin Hadelich’s Bach album will be reviewed next month.
Yolanda Brown
Saxophonist & broadcaster
My first experience with opera was seeing Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe with my dad when I was four or five. Going to a performance of it has become a bit of a family tradition – we took my nephew to see The Mikado when he was a similar age. I recently found out that ‘iolanthe’ translates as ‘violet flower’, which is also what my name means, so I have a real affinity with it.
I present Yolanda’s Band Jam on Cbeebies, and on our Christmas show we were reminiscing about the Cbeebies Prom in 2019 in which Hans Zimmer’s Earth was performed. I was on stage that day and it shook me to my core – I love how it grows to create such a wall of sound from the children’s choir and orchestra. When you know that it was written to represent what Earth looks like from space, the music comes to life. Listening back to it at home with the family is really emotional. Everyone seems to respond to it.
In an episode of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s ‘Offstage’ podcast, we focused on Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony. I’d heard it before, but engaging with it in more detail by reading his diary and understanding the story helped me hear it in a different way. You can hear the sounds of nature, birds, insects, wind and water – particularly in the violins and horns.
And also…
I interviewed the author Melanie Challenger about her book How to Be Animal: A New History of What it Means to be Human. At a time like this when we’re all being reflective and relearning how to be social, this was the book I really needed. We are all animals – despite how much technology changes us – and having become a mum again last year, it was fascinating to read about the concept of giving life and the ways in which we grow.
Yolanda Brown co-presents English National Opera’s performance of Handel’s Messiah, which will be broadcast on BBC Two in the evening of Sunday 4 April.