A very special song recital, Songs from the Depths, will be given by Beth Taylor, currently appearing as Cornelia in the 5 star-rated opera ‘Giulio Cesare’ at Glyndebourne, in All Saints Church, Laughton, BN8 6AH at 6pm on Friday 9th August (please note new venue).
Beth was a finalist in the 2023 Cardiff Singer of The World.
The recital features songs inspired by the sea, by composers including Elgar, Debussy, Schubert, Rossini, Faure and Brahms. She'll be accompanied by award-winning composer
and pianist Hamish Brown.
This is a unique opportunity to hear a rising star of the opera and singing world.
Tickets available online, from Ripe Village Stores or 01323 811835.
Please email info@villagesmusicalfestival.org
for further information.
PROGRAMME Beth Taylor, Mezzo-Soprano & Hamish Brown, Piano
“Songs From the Depths”
Hamilton Harty:
My Lagan Love
“Where Lagan stream sings lullaby, there blows a lily fair”
Claude Debussy:
Trois Melodies de Verlaine
La Mer est Plus Belle
“It has all the gifts both terrible and kind.I hear all its forgiveness scolding its wrath...In this vastness, there is nothing stubborn »
Le Son du Cor s’afflige vers les Bois
« So mild is this monotonous evening in which a slow landscape indulges itself.
With an agony one would think tender, and which delightes and distresses all at once . »
L’échelonnement des Haies
« The spreading of the hedges, ramble endlessly like a fleece
Clear sea in the bright mist rich with the fragrance of fresh berries. »
Franz Schubert:
Meeresstille
“Even the stillest waters summon fear and uncertainty to the humble boatman”
Gruppe aus dem Tartarus
“Welcome to the Underworld”
Lied eines Schiffers an die Dioskuren
“Twin stars, your presence brings comfort and strength on my voyage, even in the most treacherous depths”
Gioachino Rossini:
La Regata Veneziana
Anzoleta avanti la Regata
“Go and win the regatta prize for me, your beloved Anzoleta”
Anzoleta co passo la Regata
“This is the most thrilling moment. He simply can’t lose. Go Bendetto and don’t look back”
Anzoleta dopo la Regata
“Of course, my talented and skilful boatman won, he was inspired by me and I’m his greatest prize!”
Beth Taylor, Mezzo-Soprano
Lauded by The Guardian for her “dark and focused” voice, “sensational coloratura” and “spectacular singing” and by The Times for her “fierce, indeed terrifying, cane-swishing” characterisations, Beth Taylor is one of today’s most electrifying young mezzo-sopranos.
In the 2023/24 season, Beth makes her role debut as Anna in Les Troyens with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, embarking on a tour that leads her to the Berlioz Festival La-Côte-Saint-André, the Salzburg Festival, the Berlin Festival and the BBC Proms. She also is the contralto soloist of Mozart’s Requiem with Raphaël Pichon at the BBC Proms, Paris Philharmonie, Palau de la Music of Barcelona and Valencia, Konzerthaus Dortmund, in Versailles and Bordeaux; of Mahler’s Symphony No 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner, Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with John Nelson at the Gulbenkian Lisbon, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Proinnsías O’Duinn in Dublin, Bach’s B minor mass with Gabriel Feltz in Belgrade and with Raphaël Pichon in Aix-en-Provence, Versailles and the Thüringer Bachwochen Festival.
In her native Scotland, Beth appears in Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion and St John’s Passion in Edinburgh and Glasgow. With the London Handel Festival, she stars in Ariana in Creta. The mezzo-soprano also returns to the Opéra de Lyon in a new staged production of Mendelssohn’s Elias by Calixto Bieito and led by Constantin Trinks and sings Sorceress in concert performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Il Pomo d’oro, also recording the work. In summer, she returns to Glyndebourne as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare.
In the last three years, the mezzo has made a number of important debuts at prestigious venues: In summer 2022, Beth made her acclaimed debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Bradamante in a new production of Alcina. Following her Deutsche Oper Berlin debut as La Cieca in La Gioconda, she returned to this theatre to make her role debuts as Arsace in in a new production of Rossini’s Semiramide, as Erda in Das Rheingold, Erste Norn in Götterdämmerung and Schwertleite in Die Walküre in Stefan Herheim’s new Ring cycle under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles.
She also made her debut at the Opernhaus Zürich as Giuliano Gordio in a new production of Cavalli’s Eliogabalo, sang her first Falliero in Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero in a new production at the Oper Frankfurt, where she made her house debut as Dardano in a new staging of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula. At the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, she performed Argia in the first performances of Giacomelli’s La Merope in modern times with La Cetra and Andrea Marcon, while at Theater Basel Beth sang the contralto solo part in a staged version of Bach’s Matthäuspassion. She will make her make her Carnegie Hall debut in 2025 with the English Concert and Harry Bicket, performing her acclaimed interpretation of Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare.
She is a grand finalist of the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, the winner of the 2022 Elizabeth Connell Award, 3rd prize winner of the 2019 Wigmore Hall Competition and the winner of the 2018 Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Awards. She was recently shortlised for the “Newcomer” award at the International Opera Awards 2023.
Hamish Brown, pianist & composer
Hamish Brown is an award-winning British pianist, arranger, and composer. Hamish has won prizes at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, ROSL Annual Music Competition, Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition, Mozart Singing Competition and Somerset Song Prize.
His work as a song accompanist has taken him to Wigmore Hall, Oxford International Song Festival, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Kings Place, International Lied Festival Zeist, Three Palaces Festival (Valletta), Beethovenfest Bonn, Heidelberger Frühling and more, with multiple broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
As a chamber musician, Hamish has performed at Cadogan Hall, Saffron Hall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Klosters Music Festival and the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, with broadcasts including BBC Radio 4 and BBC Four. As a concerto soloist, Hamish has recently performed the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (Mozart), with forthcoming plans for the Piano Concerto in A minor (Schumann) in 2025.