Oozing sophistication and charm

The ever increasing audience at the St John’s lunchtime concerts has been treated to some memorable music-making recently. Not least this song recital by soprano Harriet Mountford and pianist Ben Hordern, a team of highly compatible musicians who invested their performance with lightness and delicacy, sophistication and charm.

Harriet’s voice is flexible, nimble, and sweet-toned with only an occasional hint of vibrato. Not to mention her artistry in conveying the literary meaning of songs performed in three languages.

But, even better was her obvious enjoyment of the varied material and her connection with the audience, achieved by subtle movements, rhythmic gestures, and frequent smiles. Her busy programme, entitled A Lover’s Journey, included leider by Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, and chansons by Ravel and Canteloube. Further off the beaten track were two fascinating songs by the little known Austrian composer Joseph Marx, the second called Selige Nacht conveying an unmistakably erotic atmosphere.

Happily, there were also plenty of 20th century English songs on the programme, by Roger Quilter, Gerald Finzi, Benjamin Britten and, best of all, a delightfully upbeat version of It Was a Lover and His Lass by Madeleine Dring. Here, as ever, Ben Horden was hugely supportive at the piano, playing not just with exquisite refinement but also with carefree joie de vivre that made this refreshing song come to life to the obvious delight of the audience.

Seated at the same Steinway Grand a week later, Richard Allum presented a solo recital that was similarly varied but perhaps even more challenging.

In fact it’s a brave pianist who begins his programme with Bach’s Italian Concerto. The paradox about this three movement work is that the outer movements are so sunny and genial in effect yet so fiendishly difficult to play. Consisting as they do, of non-stop finger work with no respite. It was to Richard’s credit that he emerged from the welter of notes unscathed.

Nevertheless, I suspect he breathed a sigh of relief when turning to the pianistic pyrotechnics of Dvorak and Grieg. Much more showy and including magnificent writing for the instrument these romantic pieces are nevertheless more approachable for the player.

Richard Allum giving a particularly splendid account of Grieg’s March of the Dwarfs and Wedding Day at Troldhaugen.

He was at his best however in Mozart’s G major Sonata, with its pretty slow movement which reminded me of Lili Kraus’s advice that Mozart’s piano sonatas should be performed as if they’re miniature operas. Richard’s recital ended with a highly apposite encore, a cocktail lounge version of Joseph Kosma’s Autumn Leaves.