SONG RECITAL
DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN – SCHUBERT
THE DEVIL'S POOL – A NEW COLLABORATION BY STEPHEN MARSHALL (MUSIC) & JEFF REES (POETRY)
presented by Unicorn Singers with Special Guest Soloists Catherine King (Mezzo-soprano) & Paul Badley (Tenor)
The Chapel, Market Street, Abergavenny NP7 5SD
Friday, 6th July at 7:30pm
The first part of this evening's performance will be devoted to an unusual item. This will be the first performance of a home-grown collaboration, The Devil's Pool: A Rite of Passage. The music is by Unicorn's conductor, Stephen Marshall, and the poetry by Jeff Rees, another local. The solo items in this substantial work will be sung by Catherine King, a mezzo soprano of international fame. There will also be a book launch and signing of copies of the poetry, with prints of the illustrations by Abergavenny artist, Allison Neal, on sale.
The narrative is the tale of a boy obsessed by a mysterious pool, set against the cliffs between Ogmore-by-Sea and Southerndown. The stories attached to this place talk of bottomless depths, and of the recklessness of anyone who dares to enter the water, for he will never return, never escape the clutches of the Devil. The boy is attracted by the legend and by the tingle of fear. Between these narrative sections are poems that express the main themes of the work, with nebulous references to some of the books and stories of childhood.
One of Schubert's best loved works, Die schöne Müllerin, charts the advances of the poet who courts the Miller's beautiful daughter. The moods of the besotted lover swing from youthful optimism to heartbreaking despair and at every turn are mirrored in the sights and sounds of nature and the relentless turning of the Miller’s wheel. This wonderful classic receives a dramatic performance by lyric tenor Paul Badley and pianist Jeanette Massocchi.
Soloists
Catherine King
Catherine studied at Trinity College Cambridge and the Guildhall School of Music and lives near Ross-on-Wye.
Concerts range from Verdi Requiem in Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Elgar in Krakow to medieval songs in the USA and Spain, from Bach throughout Europe, and Italian Baroque arias in Genoa to Scottish 20th and 21st Century songs in Poland.
She performs across the world with recent and forthcoming concerts in France, Germany, Spain (medieval) and nearer to home at Worcester (Sea Pictures and Gerontius), and Wagner productions at Longborough in the UK.
Admission
Tickets from The Art Shop and the Chapel: £12 (students free)
Phone 01873 852690 or 736430