Renaissance Singers

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Fantastic concert with The Renaissance Singers last night, to a sizeable and enthusiastic audience in the beautiful St-Giles-in-the-Fields.  Combining the polyphony of Byrd, Tallis, Taverner and Sheppard with the verse anthems of Gibbons and Amner, and a smattering of carol settings (from medieval to twenty first century!), this was a varied programme of Advent and Christmas music, directed from the organ where appropriate.  It's been a joy to be guest conductor to this excellent group for this concert!

Audition season

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Whilst it is wonderful to work in detail with regular duo partners on recital programmes, there is also a hectic side to the accompanist's schedule: picking things up and playing them on far shorter notice!  This is the season of entrance auditions at the music colleges, so there are several days coming up as one of the official accompanists at RAM, plus a fair dose of playing for diplomas etc.  Roll on the Christmas carols!

Teaching

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End of term for teaching at both Eton and the Academy; it's been a very busy term in both places, so a well-deserved break for everyone!

Reviews

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A couple of pleasing online reviews for recent concerts –  here for a recent Sussex concert with Cara Berridge (cello) and here for St John's Smith Square with James Turnbull (oboe). 

"An exceptionally rewarding, well attended recital at St John's, with an ideally balanced programme… Elizabeth Burgess' contribution to this recital gave huge pleasure." (Peter Grahame Woolf – Musical Pointers)

"The exquisite sound Cara produced on her 'cello and the wonderful range of colours from Elizabeth's piano playing coupled with the excellent acoustics at St Wilfrid's made this an unforgettable concert. This is certainly a duo to watch!" (Christine Colbourne – Mid Sussex Times)

Howells: Sonata for Oboe and Piano

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Howells: Sonata for Oboe and Piano
(i) Placido, teneramente, ma con moto
(ii) Lento; assai espressivo e tranquillo
Live performance
St John’s Smith Square | 24th November 2011
with James Turnbull (oboe)

 

November concerts

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Bit of a run of duo concerts with instrumentalists at the moment! Very enjoyable recital for Haywards Heath Music Society last week with Cara Berridge (cello) – a first half of Schumann, Beethoven and Bloch, and then the Rachmaninov sonata after the interval (our fourth performance of it this year – and it really does take that many goes to feel we truly have a handle on it: what a huge piece!). Tonight sees Brahms F minor sonata with John Slack (clarinet), as part of the series at St Peter's Church in Streatham, curated by the Berkeley Ensemble (of which he is a founder member). It's been great to revisit this after playing it together in Germany over the summer! And then Thursday holds a lunchtime concert with James Turnbull (oboe) at the beautiful St John's Smith Square, with a programme of English music, ranging from a Walmisley sonatina (the first performance of Christopher Hogwood's new edition, which we assisted him with) to music by contemporary John Woolrich, via Britten and the gorgeous Howells sonata.

Russian song

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Great recital of glorious Russian songs yesterday with Carris Jones, as part of a U3A study day in the Bechstein Room at the Wigmore Hall.  The directness and openness of these songs seems to speak to audiences very directly, as we found with the same programme in Somerset recently; looking forward to reprising this programme of Tchaikovsky, Medtner, Rimsky Korsakov, Borodin and Shostakovich for a repeat of this study day in the spring.

Vocal coaching

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Loving being busy with vocal coaching at the moment; it's a busy time of year for singers with auditions for colleges and for companies looking ahead to summer productions, and also for young artist programmes, so there's plenty to be working on!

Béatrice et Bénédict

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Privileged to be working with Sir Colin Davis and with John Copley this week, on RAO's production of Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict. Loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing, the piece furnishes the principals with some huge arias, as well as the chance to dabble in Shakespearean dialogue. It's always interesting to join a production at this late stage, coming in to give the singers some notes with an objective take on the show! Béatrice et Bénédict opens on Monday and runs until 28th.

Renaissance Singers

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Very enjoyable first rehearsal with the Renaissance Singers last night.  Delighted to be their guest conductor for the next few weeks, working on a programme of English Advent and Christmas music for our concert, 'A Boy is Born', on 10th December.