The first of two DMA recitals I attended on Tuesday in Walter Hall was given by contralto Nicole Percifield. It’s always interesting to hear this comparatively rare voice type; especially in an interesting and well thought out programme.
The first half of the programme was songs scored for contralto, piano and viola. It’s intriguing because the range of the viola is very similar to that of a contralto. In this case Grace Kyungrok Moon played viola with Joel Goodfellow at the piano for Brahms’ “Gestillte Sehnsucht” (from Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91). The text is by Rückert and it’s definitely at the romantic/sentimental end of the spectrum. It was pleasant to listen to with Nicole’s rich lower register brought out nicely. Continue reading
Thursday’s concert by members of the Ensemble Studio in the RBA was an all French affair (at least as far as language went) and it was rather good. Karoline Podolak iniated proceedings with Mattia Senesi at the piano with Kurt Weill’s “Youkali”. Now I’ve heard this sung by everybody from Barbara Hannigan to Benjamin Appl and I’d have to see that Ms. Podolak is right up there. There was 
After discovering a rare Viktor Ullmann video, the Shoah Songbook concert and seeing Ute Lemper live I decided to go off and have a look for more music from Weimar, the Holocaust and resistance to Nazis; past and present. It was an interesting haul and included a 2018 album from English cabaret singer/comedienne Melinda Hughes.
Dance to the Abyss is a show of music from the Weimar Republic currently on stage at Harbourfront Centre Theatre. It’s given by Art of Time Ensemble as part of their 25th and final season.
operaramblings 