Young American tenor Paul Appleby has been delighting audiences in the current COC production of Così fan tutte where he sings Ferrando. Today he got to show us what he could do as a lieder singer in a lunchtime concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.  He started off with a stylish, if occasionally tentative, set of five Schubert songs.  It was a promising start with some very stylish and controlled singing and unhistrionic acting with the voice.  Hitting his stride, he gave us seven songs from Schumann’s Myrten cycle.  These covered a wide range of moods from tender passion to drunken ecstasy.  Again great skill and artistry and lovely accompaniment from Anne Larlee at the piano.

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