Tenor Mlles Mykannen, currently on the COC main stage as Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer performed in the RBA on Tuesday accompanied by Sandra Horst.  It was a bit unusual.  There was no published programme and Mykannen talked a lot.  Also a quiz at the end (really).  He’s extremely engaging, even funny, and an excellent singer.  His opera choices were unusual; Arnalta’s lullabye from L’incoronazione di Poppea, an “aria” from Silent Night and “Miles, Miles” from The Turn of the Screw.  The last was particularly good with maximum spookiness achieved (though not for the first time I noticed just how “wrong” TotS sounds on piano!)

The rest of the programme was musical theatre which Mykannen clearly enjoys and is very good at.  There was Sweeney Todd (with a passable London accent), Hamilton, Into the Woods and more. The encore was a German Lied which I’ve heard before but couldn’t recall the name.  Sandra Horst at the piano was her usual excellent self.  The audience was a bit thin though.

Photo credits: Karen E. Reeves