Samling Arts Programme in Masterclass
Marchmont House 1/8/26
This second Samling Arts Programme in Masterclass of 2026, in the elegant Marchmont House in Berwickshire, represented the culmination of a week spent by our six performers and their leaders in this glorious setting.
Soprano Bella Marslen, accompanied by Samling Artist Archie Bonham, opened this afternoon’s programme with ‘Giunse alfin il momento – Deh, vieni, non tardar’ from ‘The Marriage of Figaro’. Having attended a performance of the opera in June, I readily pictured the setting and the other characters on stage. Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling’s critique was both substantial and exacting, among other things inviting Bella to listen to the piano and draw on the playfulness of the accompaniment. Bella responded graciously to the many interruptions to her performance – which could so easily have put her off her stride – and also offered her own observations, with something of a dialogue between the two emerging. Confidently and expressively sung, this was a beautiful opening to our afternoon at Marchmont.
This was followed by 'Erlkönig', Schubert's setting of Goethe’s poem, which relates the death of a child pursued by the supernatural Erlking, in European folklore a sinister figure who stalks and kills children who stay too long in the woods. I found myself immediately unsettled by the passionate intensity of baritone David Kennedy’s performance. Interestingly, pianist Roger Vignoles extended his critique of David’s performance to include the accompanist, Samling Artist Staff Pianist Daniel Silcock, at times replacing him on the ivories as David made adaptations to his performance. Vignoles suggested that he should not ‘give it all away’ at the start, there being scope for some nuance in the ‘softer’ earlier parts of the piece, adding that music itself can create a sense of danger as Schubert did with this piece. This shift in focus enabled the gradual development of the drama contained in the piece to its very chilling conclusion.
The highly topical ‘Dawn, Still Darkness’ (a.k.a. ‘The Refugee’s Aria’) from Jonathan Dove’s opera, ‘Flight’, apparently based on the true story of an Iranian refugee who lived in a Paris airport for 18 years, was arguably the highlight of the afternoon. One felt that nothing other than Will Prior’s magnificent countertenor, accompanied by Samling Artist Yihan Zhao, could adequately have served Dove’s music and April De Angelis’s intense emotional libretto so well. There was a discordance at times that assisted in conveying the fearful uncertainty that is the lot of the refugee. Will’s performance was nothing short of mesmerising! it was good to see actor James Garnon back again at Marchmont, always as entertaining as he is insightful. Even though I felt Will’s performance could not get any better, Garnon offered some possibilities for “extracting other colours” by, for example, viewing the audience as people who required to be won over. I’m not sure this input made a great deal of difference: no more sorrowful pleading was needed for me, as I had been totally won over the first time. Indeed, such was the impact of Will’s performance, it all rather felt like having been put through an emotional wringer and hung out to dry, something I later reflected had hitherto only ever happened to me with Wagner. Others in the audience appeared similarly affected. Happily at this point, half-way through our programme, we paused for the very much needed Marchmont House afternoon tea!
The second part of the afternoon opened with “Songs my mother taught me”, the fourth of Dvorak’s seven Gypsy songs, beautifully sung in the original Czech by soprano Maryam Wocial, accompanied by Archie Bonham. Roger Vignoles’s critique of her performance focused immediately on the dance-like rhythm of the accompaniment, with an emphasis on how “lightness” might be achieved in both piano and voice. I'm not sure I took in much else here – as it was just so delightful to listen to Maryam sing this very moving melody again and again until her time was up!
The penultimate performer was mezzo-soprano Sian Sulke, accompanied by Yihan Zhao, with Ernest Chausson’s bittersweet song of departed love, “Le temps des lilas”. For the second time this afternoon, the immediate impression was of music and voice being absolutely made for each other. Camilla Tilling’s input here was, as before, intensive and complex. Sian was invited to create slow motion in the piece through her delivery of it, rather than slowing the tempo. I liked Tilling’s analogy of the voice as being a place of many ‘rooms’, opening the doors to which can offer the performer new “colours” and “atmosphere”. Having a translation of the words to hand was particularly useful with this piece in following the subtle changes that Sian made in response to Tilling’s tutelage.
The Masterclass came to an end with a very lively “Musetta’s Waltz” from “La boheme”. Katrina Felsberga’s initial flirtatious portrayal (with accompaniment by Daniel Silcock) of Puccini’s flighty grisette was barely less lively than that of a fully-staged opera, missing only the standing on chairs and the smashing of glass that I’ve encountered in some productions. James Garnon gave full rein to his playfulness here; with the idea of less being more, Katrina was invited to look for other, more subtle ways for Musetta to win back the regard of Marcello. I don’t think I can do justice to the larks which followed, but suffice to say a good entertainment ensued, with all ending on a very high and joyful note.
Well not quite, as we were treated to the usual grand finale, this time with a lively Samling ensemble rendition of Irving Berlin’s ‘Dancing Cheek to Cheek’. It was a further treat to speak to many of these young artists in the course of the afternoon, who could not have been more enthusiastic about their week at Marchmont. Finally, hats off to Karon Wright, Artistic & Executive Director of Samling Institute for Young Artists, and her super team for yet another splendid afternoon at Marchmont!
photo credit: Mark Pinder Photography
