Vivid performances of songs and sonnets by Hubert Parry, Sterndale Bennett and Walter Battison Haynes, including world premiere recordings by the latter two, in both English and German from the reign of Queen Victoria, are given here by mezzo soprano Belinda Williams and tenor Mark Wilde, with accompaniment by David Owen Norris.
For more than a century, vocal music was sung in translation as a matter of routine. Constant Lambert's "Rio Grande" has a splendid German translation of Sacheverell Sitwell, and Benjamin Britten's "On this island" an even better French translation of W.H. Auden. Richard Strauss's songs were published in Germany with English words, while Elgar's songs were provided with German words. The man who started all this intelligibility was William Sterndale Bennett, who in the 1840s and 50s published in Leipzig and London 12 songs with English & German words, some of them composed originally in German. Sterndale Bennett's lyrical gift makes them a delicious addition to the song repertoire. The CD presents all his songs. Em Records have added Sir Hubert Parry's unique settings of Shakespeare Sonnets, which have two completely different vocal lines for Shakespeare's words and Bodenstedt's translation; and four songs by Walter Battison Haynes, Malvern's answer to Elgar. English and German words for all the songs are given in the CD booklet, and several of them are performed in both languages.
London-born mezzo-soprano Belinda Williams made her Wigmore Hall debut with a programme of English and Russian song at the age of 25, whilst still a student on the Royal Academy of Music Opera Course. Studying with ENO, Complicite Theatre Company, at Trinity College of Music, and privately with Yvonne Minton, Belinda was the recipient of many awards, and is an alumna of the Britten-Pears Programme. Belinda made her German debut as Dorabella at the Staatstheater Kassel in 2012, after which she was awarded the Nachwuchsforderpreis (Most Promising Newcomer). As a principal artist in Kassel, her roles have included Hansel, Rosina, Maddalena, Orlofsky and Baba the Turk. In the UK, she has appeared at Grange Park, Buxton and Sadler's Wells, and internationally with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, at the Bergamo Festival, and with International Opera Theater Philadelphia. In 2014, Belinda won a Wagner Society scholarship to the Bayreuth Festival, and gave a recital at the Bayreuth Stadthalle.
Born in Scotland, Mark Wilde studied at the Royal College of Music. His extensive operatic repertoire includes Candide, Albert Herring, Johnny Inkslinger (Paul Bunyan), Male Chorus (Rape of Lucretia), Flute and Snout (Midsummer Night's Dream), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Idamante and Idomeneo, Tito (Clemenza di Tito), Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Almaviva (Il Barbieri di Siviglia), Giannetto (La gazza ladra), Cat (Adventures of Pinocchio), Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Berenice (Hipermestra), and Frederic (Pirates of Penzance). He has performed with all UK houses and many throughout Europe. Mark's concert engagements have included performances with Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Ural Philharmonic. His repertoire ranges from Bach and Handel through Haydn and Mozart to Britten and Elgar.
Recordings include Fame's Great Trumpet (EM Records), Elgar songs, and Britten's Scottish Songs with David Owen Norris; Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's Day, The Fairy Queen, Sullivan's The Golden Legend and The Prodigal Son, Haydn's Nelson Mass and Paukenmesse, and Stainer's The Crucifixion. He appears on numerous recordings of Bel Canto repertoire with Opera Rara.
Mark is a Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy of Music and Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln
