I Heard You Singing
English Songs
Ben Johnson (tenor), James Baillieu (piano)
Johnson's full, lustrous tone and floating higher notes, decidedly unlike today's typical 'English' tenor, suit this repertoire well. With James Baillieu's strong if unobtrusive support, he...
I Heard You Singing
English Songs
Ben Johnson (tenor), James Baillieu (piano)
Purchase product
Johnson's full, lustrous tone and floating higher notes, decidedly unlike today's typical 'English' tenor, suit this repertoire well. With James Baillieu's strong if unobtrusive support, he...
About
Audience Prize-winner at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (2013), accomplished young English tenor Ben Johnson lends his dulcet tones to a programme featuring a bouquet of ballads from the British Isles. This song form enjoyed extraordinary popularity in private homes throughout the Victorian, Edwardian and Modern eras, inspiring generations of talented composers – men and women – to marry words and music in a delightful variety of styles. Presenting the major singers of today and the stars of tomorrow, the Rosenblatt Recitals are London's only world-class season of opera recitals.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
March 2016
Johnson's full, lustrous tone and floating higher notes, decidedly unlike today's typical 'English' tenor, suit this repertoire well. With James Baillieu's strong if unobtrusive support, he sings with expressive sincerity and restrained elegance, avoiding camp even where cheesy sentimentality lurks
March 2016
Accompanied with ideal presence by James Baillieu, Johnson displays an easy mastery of the genre, pointing the words in a way that is touching without sounding arty. If the prospect of so many ballads in a row seems forbidding, do not despair. Johnson's choice of songs keeps an eye out for variety...The talent scouts at Rosenblatt Recitals are not losing their touch.
10th January 2016
Tenor Ben Johnson, light-voiced and lyrical, with high notes to make you swoon, and pianist James Baillieu, alert and responsive, are ideal duo partners on this Rosenblatt Recital disc of late Victorian and Edwardian ballads…these songs may veer towards the sentimental but they capture a mood and a moment
