Welcome to a selection of my older performances which I hope that you will enjoy. I would love to hear what you think so please leave your comments.
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Green Finch and Linnet Bird – this is from a concert that I performed in alongside the Tideswell Male Voice choir on the 27th July 2013 in St John’s Church, Tideswell.
This song is from the Sondheim Musical ‘Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ where my character, Johanna, is the ward of Judge Turpin, the man who falsely convicted her father – Sweeney Todd – in order to have his way with her mother Lucy once Johanna’s father had been exiled to Australia. Her mother is driven insane and the judge raises Johanna as his own. He keeps her like a prisoner, with only a window to view the outside world. The judge plans to make Johanna his wife once she is of age but she rejects him. Green Finch and Linnet Bird is a beautiful song and I hope that I reflect the fact that Johanna has been suffering and is kept under lock and key and longs for her freedom.
O Mio Babbino Caro ( Oh My Beloved Father ) – this is another video from the above concert where I was accompanied on piano by the fabulous Christopher Ellis GRAM.
This song is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918), by Giacomo Puccini, to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. My character is Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from him. I love to sing this song as it really allows me to express the emotion of the character at a key point in the opera.
Danny Boy – this performance is taken from my concert on the 5th August 2013 at St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Edinburgh. I was accompanied on the day by Marcus Kitchen who also attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Danny Boy is a ballad written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly in 1910. It was set to the tune of ‘Londonderry Air’ in 1913.
The musical genre is ‘Folk Song’. There are a few variations to the lyrics and various theories to the meaning. Whatever it means to you personally I hope that you enjoy my performance.
Art is Calling For Me (I want to be a Prima Donna) is from the Broadway Comic Opera ‘The Enchantress’ (Victor Herbert / Harry B Smith). First performed in 1911 in the New York Theatre, New York. The style of the piece is ‘Romantic’.
I absolutely love this piece of music, I feel it was written for me 
I would like to thank everyone for their help in selecting which of my two versions of “Art Is Calling For Me”. The first performance received 3844 votes and the second received 1828 votes. I will leave both recordings in my original post ( Link ) .
Per la Gloria d’adorarvi is an aria from the opera Griselda by Giovanni Bononcini and is probably one of the best known from the opera. I hope that you enjoy the performance
Freundliche Vision
I chose to sing two Lieder composed by Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949 ) “Zueignung” and “Freundliche Vision” for my entry into the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary competition in November 2013. Here is a video of my performance of “Freundliche Vision” (A Pleasant Vision) from the final round.
The strong lyrical melodies and the rich harmonies within this song made it a joy to perform. To perform Lieder well you need to have a seamless relationship between piano and voice, the piano does far more than accompaniment, it forms an equal partnership with the voice and the skill of the pianist is very important to how the song is portrayed. The accompanist in this performance was a talented RCS student from Romania, George Todica, and I hope you enjoy our version.
Antonin Dvorak – Rusalka
The Royal Opera House’s article says “Rusalka is an opera about singing. Or rather, what happens when you cannot sing”. It echoes the story of The Little Mermaid. I loved Disney’s ‘Ariel (The Little Mermaid)’ as a child. I enjoy singing the aria ‘Song to the Moon’ even more. This aria comes at the start of the story as Rusalka, a water nymph, sings to the moon. It is a plea to the moon to reveal her love to the Prince. Rusalka gives up her voice to be united with the Prince, but he is put off because she cannot say a word and he accepts the hand of a Foreign Princess. The witch Jezibaba’s curse is for Rusalka to live in the depths of the lake forever.
I sing this aria in Czech which makes it even more beautiful as I have to demonstrate the intense feeling to my English speaking audiences. Classical Music says “Rusalka is the most popular Czech opera in circulation.
Christopher Bruce – Set Dance 2012 – I have found a recording of me dancing my set piece for my A level dance pre-exam performance evening, it’s not a great copy but I have posted it for anyone who wishes to have look 🙂 I had broken my right foot 12 weeks before this evening and had only been able to learn the dance choreography and get my strength back for four weeks, so I had my Dad record it so that I could see where I needed to concentrate my efforts on improving before my exam. But it will give you an idea of the contemporary dance that I studied at school and college.