In Concert – Marianne Crebassa, The Mozartists / Ian Page @ Wigmore Hall: Mozart & Haydn

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Marianna Crebassa (mezzo-soprano), The Mozartists / Ian Page

Mozart Lucio Silla K135 (1772): Dunque sperar poss’io…Il tenero momento
Haydn Symphony no.34 in D minor Hob.I:34 (1765)
Mozart Idomeneo K366 (1781): Ah! qual gelido orror; La clemenza di Tito K621 (1791): Parto, parto; Lucio Silla K135: Ah! se morir mi chiama; Le nozze di Figaro K492 (1786): Voi che sapete che cosa e amor
Haydn Symphony no.26 in D minor ‘Lamentatione’ (1768)
Mozart La clemenza di Tito K621: Deh, per questo istante solo

Wigmore Hall, London
Thursday 26 February

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Photo (c) The Mozartists

It was a matter of time before Marianne Crebassa and Ian Page appeared together on the same stage. Indeed, as Page confided in the pre-concert talk, the French mezzo-soprano was top of his ‘wanted’ list for performing with his band, The Mozartists. With dates aligned, the pair constructed a typically stimulating programme.

Page’s eye for historical and orchestral detail proved the ideal foil for Crebassa’s characterisation of four operatic characters from early, middle and late in Mozart’s career, with each role written for castrato singers. Supporting these operatic excerpts were two symphonic examples from Haydn’s ‘Sturm und Drang’ period.

Diving straight in at the deep end, Crebassa embraced the many twists and turns of the 10-minute epic Dunque sperar poss’io…Il tenero momento, from Mozart’s teenage opera Lucio Silla. Her lower range notes were sumptuously delivered with impeccable poise, while Crebassa’s upper range was thrilling in the exposed virtuoso passages, delivered with a flash of the eye and a smile.

‘Enjoyment’ was a key word for this concert, as players, conductor and singer alike shared musical asides with obvious pleasure – not always the case in the concert hall! Some of the biggest smiles were reserved for Crebassa’s coy account of Voi che sapete, from Le Nozze di Figaro, subtle but winsome. Meanwhile the tragic Ah! qual gelido orror, from Idomeneo, had the appropriate gravitas and a weighty orchestral tone to match. A second aria from Lucio Silla, Ah! se morir mi chiama, was given with exceptional voice control and attention to detail from Page, including tasteful harpsichord continuo from Steven Devine.

Crebassa also triumphed in two arias from Mozart’s final opera La clemenza di Tito, hailed by Page as a long-underrated masterpiece. In Parto, parto her accomplice was basset clarinettist Emily Worthington, taking the part of Mozart’s friend (and Clarinet Quintet dedicatee) Anton Stadler. Player and singer engaged in a compelling sequence of musical cat and mouse, Worthington projecting well from the back of the stage. Meanwhile Deh, per questo istante solo found Crebassa drawing the audience in with its dynamic contrasts, high on drama. As a considerable bonus she gave a serene account of Qui d’amor from Handel’s Ariodante as an encore.

Complementing the Mozart selection were two examples of Haydn’s invention from early on in his tenure as Director of Music at Esterházy. Both D minor works share a weighty tone, and the earlier work, Symphony no.34, began with a heavy heart. The sparse tone of the orchestra was a stark contrast to the Mozart, only briefly relenting as the first movement developed its ideas. Even when D major appeared as the key of the resulting Allegro the music still bristled with anxiety, expressed through the violin tremolos. The Minuet and Trio – with lovely tone from oboists James Eastaway and Rachel Chaplin – eased the strain with brighter tones, as did the finale, in spite of its brief minor key recollections.

One of few Haydn symphonies to receive a nickname from the composer himself, Symphony no.26, the ‘Lamentatione’, took us to church in an interpretation reaching profound emotional depths. Page and the Mozartists moved from the brio of the lean first movement to rapt concentration in the second, where the music has a similar gait to the chorale of J.S. Bach’s famous cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. Page gave the phrasing appropriate room for contemplation. Haydn’s wit and invention made a welcome reappearance beneath the surface tension of the Minuet and was expressly felt in the syncopated trio, where oboes and horns excelled.

This was a memorable evening of music making, captured by microphones – presumably for broadcast on BBC Radio 3 or recording. Either way, a memento is well worth seeking out!

You can listen to the music from this concert in a Tidal playlist, including some of Marianne Crebassa’s own Mozart recordings made for the Erato label.

Published post no.2,811 – Friday 27 February 2026

In Appreciation: José van Dam

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by Ben Hogwood picture courtesy of Colbert Artists Management

Last week we learned the sad news of the death of the great Belgian baritone, José van Dam, at the age of 85. A suitable obituary can be read at the Presto Music website

van Dam’s discography is extremely impressive, and the Tidal playlist below taps in to a number of elements of it, not least his many recordings made with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan. Yet there are landmark recordings of French opera and melodies too, which are also included – with music by Massenet, Ibert and Ravel:

José van Dam – Tidal playlist

Published post no.2,810 – Thursday 26 February 2026

New music – Squarepusher: Kammerkonzert (Warp Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

We bring intriguing news from Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher, who has announced a new album release.

It is described on Bleep.com, as “a riot of onyx-hard, hyperfast riffs, fiendish orchestral themes and handbrake turns through varieties of progressive, ambient, electronic and experimental music.” This quote, presumably from the press release, reflects the thoughts on an album whose title is German for ‘chamber concert’, and harks back to the Kammermusik series of compositions published by Hindemith in the 1920s.

The headline piece from Kammerkonzert is K2, where virtuosic bass work is set against a laid back electro beat that nonetheless contains a great deal of suppressed energy, like a coiled spring. This is the track whose intentions are described as “the liquid fusion of Weather Report in their Body Electric phase”.

It is certainly a striking piece of music, with a rigorous construction and severity reflecting the album title, but also with plenty of room for movement, as the increasingly fractious percussion shows.

Kammermusik will be released on 10 April 2026 on Warp Records – and you can listen to K2, along with further releases from the album when announced, at the Squarepusher Bandcamp page below:

Published post no.2,809 – Sunday 25 February 2026

On Record – Geneva Lewis, Clare Hammond, BBC National Orchestra of Wales – Grace Williams: Violin Concerto, Elegy, Sinfonia Concertante (Lyrita)

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Geneva Lewis (violin, Violin Concerto), Clare Hammond (piano, Sinfonia Concertante), BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Jaime Martin (Violin Concerto), Ryan Bancroft (Elegy), Jac van Steen (Sinfonia Concertante)

Grace Williams
Violin Concerto (1949-50)
Elegy (1936, rev. 1940)
Sinfonia Concertante (1941)

Lyrita SRCD447 [59’09”]
Producer Mike Sims Engineers Andrew Smilie, Simon Smith (Violin Concerto)

Broadcast performances at Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff on 12 February 2022 (Elegy) and 22 September 2022 (Sinfonia Concertante); live performance from Royal Albert Hall, London on 8 August 2023 (Violin Concerto)

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Lyrita continues its exploration of Grace Williams with this enticing collection of orchestral works dating from before, during and after the Second World War. All the pieces feature the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which has championed this composer over nine decades.

What’s the music like?

Earliest here is the Elegy for strings that, evidently overhauled and re-scored after several hearings, falls within an extensive lineage of such miniatures (in length but not expressive scope) by British composers. Scored for muted violins and violas, the initial idea evinces a ruminative austerity such as persists to the main climax; after which, a heartfelt passage for solo strings presages the more conciliatory mood setting in near its end. Ryan Bancroft has the measure of a piece whose emotional depth is out of all proportion to its modest duration.

Although conceived prior to the above, Williams did not commence work on what became her Sinfonia Concertante until the turn of the next decade. With its compact dimensions and intensive integration of piano and orchestra, its title (actually suggested by pianist Michael Mullinar) is well chosen. If the opening Allegro never quite finds the right balance between its impulsive and yielding main themes, the central slow movement is Williams at her most characteristic with its unfolding as terraces of mounting intensity toward a powerful climax which subsides into pensive resignation; the final Alla Marcia duly maintaining its impetus through to a forceful if never hectoring close. Clare Hammond is at her inquiring best in an account as finds Jac van Steen handling some passing issues of balance with real adeptness.

For its part, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is no less attuned to the very different ethos of the Violin Concerto, which it premiered with soloist Granville Jones almost 75 years back. New Zealand-born Geneva Lewis proves to be a sympathetic advocate – even if the opening Liricamenta surely requires a more purposeful sense of direction for its enfolding inwardness not to risk inertia. Not that her unforced manner and tonal elegance are other than appropriate, as is even more evident in the central Andante with its impressionist eddying of phrases and fastidious timbral shading. Following on attacca, the final Allegro sees the work’s only swift music in which Lewis’s deftness gains from her assured co-ordination with Jaime Martin. Its cadenza is incisively despatched, and the coda more satisfying for its teasing unexpectedness.

Does it all work?

Almost always. The Violin Concerto is a work with which its composer never seems to have been wholly satisfied, but such reservations as there are centre less on its actual content than on the difficulty – at least in its opening movement – of controlling overall momentum such that the music coheres overall. Lewis is by no means unsuccessful, though comparison with earlier performances that are available online suggests other soloists may have gone further in this respect. A reminder, moreover, that Williams’s music does not necessarily ‘play itself’.

Is it recommended?

Indeed. The Cardiff broadcasts benefit from the superb acoustic of Hoddinott Hall, while the Proms account of the Violin Concerto has far more immediacy than ‘on the night’. Typically informed and informative notes by Paul Conway round out what is a mandatory acquisition.

Listen / Buy

You can hear excerpts from the album and explore purchase options at the Lyrita website and the Presto Music website, and click on the names for more information on violinist Geneva Lewis, pianist Clare Hammond, conductors Jaime Martin, Ryan Bancroft and Jac van Steen, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and composer Grace Williams

Published post no.2,808 – Tuesday 24 February 2026

On Record – Julia Kogan, Britten Sinfonia / Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez – Britten: Les Illuminations – en français and in English; Barber (First Hand Records)

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Julia Kogan (soprano), Britten Sinfonia / Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez

Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915 Op. 24 (1947)
Britten Les Illuminations Op.18 (1939) – French and English versions

First Hand Records FHR150 [60’04’’]
English/French texts and English translation included
Producer Andrew Walton Engineer Debs Spanton

Recorded 8-10 October 2023 at Henry Wood Hall, London

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

First Hand Records releases a recording of Britten’s Les Illuminations with a difference – this reading of its original French version being heard alongside one of a new English translation, and with Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 included as far more than a mere makeweight.

What’s the music like?

Second of Britten’s song-cycles, Les Illuminations sets poems from the eponymous collection by Arthur Rimbaud and was among the earliest works written during his three years in North America. Although most often performed with tenor, this was conceived for soprano and Julia Kogan amply underlines the emotional frisson possible when sung thus. Such is immediately evident from the simmering anticipation of Fanfare, its single-line setting recurring midway as the sensuous Interlude then as impetuous conclusion to the sardonic Parade. Elsewhere, the feverish excitement of Villes, knowing elegance of Antique and rapt longing of Being Beauteous are tangibly rendered – as is the inherent fatalism of Départ which evanesces into sombre repose. If not Britten’s defining vocal work, this is surely among his most engrossing.

All the more surprising, then, it should never have received an English translation – until now. Long established as translator and poet, Timothy Adès has come up with one that is idiomatic and conveys the essence of each setting to often startling degree. That said, these translations read arguably as explications of the poem at hand rather than as linguistic equivalents for the purpose of singing, which is not to deny the conviction that Kogan puts into their realization. Whether or not this establishes itself as a viable alternative is for future exponents to decide.

Cannily interspersed between these performances, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 finds Barber setting extracts from James Agee’s prose-poem as a ‘lyric rhapsody’ that offsets its evoking of idyllic contentment with a bittersweet acknowledgement of what can arise in the light of experience. Interesting to recall Agee was barely a decade older than Rambaud at his death, and that the trajectory of his life moved in something of an opposite direction as regards its unfolding from outward security to inner upheaval. There have been memorable recordings of this work across the decades, and that by Kogan is surely set to join them in terms of the imaginative insight she wrests out of Barber’s setting along with its undoubted vocal allure. Whatever their virtues, few earlier accounts get to the heart of this matter with such acuity.

Does it all work?

Pretty much always and not forgetting the contribution of Britten Sinfonia (whose association with its namesake’s song-cycles goes back to recordings from John-Mark Ainsley some three decades ago) – all directed here with no lack of perception by Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez, whose discography features worthwhile accounts of Shostakovich’s Sixth and Ninth Symphonies for FHR. The balance of voice and orchestra – whether with or without wind instruments – could hardly have been bettered, while Kogan contributes a succinct though revealing booklet note.

Is it recommended?

Indeed. Kogan has previously recorded a collection by Isabelle Aboulker for FHR, and it is to be hoped her association with the label will continue. Certainly there is much in the repertoire of English and French orchestral song to which her distinctive response would be well suited.

Listen / Buy

You can read more about the album at the First Hand Records website, and explore purchase options at the Presto Music website, and click on the names for more information on soprano Julie Kogan, the Britten Sinfonia and conductor Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez

Published post no.2,807 – Monday 23 February 2026