EIF 26: Rising Stars of Voice
Queen's Hall 18/8/26
Louise Alder soprano and mentor, James Baillieau, piano and mentor
The first half of this year's Rising Stars concert belongs entirely to the six singers and one accompanist who've been mentored by Louise Alder and James Baillieu. The singers, all accompanied by Francesca Lauri, who won the Accompanist Prize at the 2025 Kathleen Ferrier Awards, take turns to provide a five-minute solo programme. Cretan soprano Theano Papadaki, a solo singer last year in 'The Veil of the Temple', sings three well-chosen songs, reveal ing her mastery of different vocal styles from Ravel's 'Cinq melodies populaires grecques', her flrtatious persona in the central song matching her seductive tones. Welsh tenor, Sam Britner, a fabulous soloist in the Festival Chorus's 'This Shining Night ', shows splendid Lieder story-telling in Liszt' s 'I' vida in terra'. Starting in his lower voice , his well-judged performnance later includes floating high notes. Francesca Lauri on piano builds up anticipation in her long dramatic introduction and provides a lovely quiet coda.
Samling Artist Louise Stuart-Smith shows off her mezzo to perfection in De Falla's flamenco inspired 'Jote'. In contrast Liszt's 'Ihr Glocken von Marling' is a solemn piece in which her higher voice rises in a prayer. French baritone, Paul-Louis Barlet, once a boy chorister, builds up the tension in Duparc's narrative 'Le Galop' delighting in the colours of the language, then demonstrates a smooth legato in Chausson's 'Le Colibri' lingering over the notes in the concluding diminuendo. Mezzo Lucy Gibbs who made her solo operatic debut recently with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, is poised and smiling at the beginning of Poyulenc's 'Sanglot '(sobs) and is convincing as she moves through the drama of a broken heart.
British Italian Filippo Turkheimer, recently appearing at Buxton Festival, sings well in Quilter's short 'Oh Mistress Mine’, but tends to over-act. On securer ground in Schubert's Du liebst mich nicht’ he makes the words count, and by singing the refrain differently each time, builds up to the heartfelt conclusion. He's ably supported by Francesca Lauri, who diminishes her accompaniment into silence at the end. Finally Scottish soprano Katy Carmichael sings Strauss's 'Standchen' with confidence from the beginning, with considered phrasing in her higher range, over Francesca's shimmering piano. She cherishes the words of Parry's 'My heart is like a a Singing Bird'.
After the interval soprano Louise Alder joins the singers, in a semi circle on the stage while James Baillieu and Francesca Lauri play four-hands on one piano to accompany them. The consolation that Brahms sought to offer in his 'German Requiem' is at the heart of Louise Alder's 'Ich habt nun traurigheit', with the singers supporting her soaring notes. 'Neues Liebeslieder', Brahms' nine songs in waltz time allows the singers to demonstrate choral singing, as well as solos, trios and quartets. It's a witty youthful piece about the traumas of love, described in stormy metaphors – not to be taken too seriously. There's banter and occasional temper shown between the four women and the four men, and much eye contact as they sing and listen to each other. A well-chosen twenty -minute show-case. Louise Alder again joins the singers and pianists in Leonard Bernstein's sublime 'Make Our Garden Grow' the conclusion of 'Candide'. Wonderful. Perhaps we in the Queen's Hall this morning are in 'the best of all possible worlds' !
