There’s nothing quite as heady as being at the Last Night of the Proms. As the summer comes to a close and this great annual festival in London concludes, the crowds gather in the park to watch this event broadcast in the park (and now, in other British cities too). And those that have been […]

Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear my prayer’ (or, in its English adaptation known as ‘O for the wings of a dove’) is a much loved piece of ‘Victoriana’, made famous by, among others, Master Ernest Lough. Often sung by boy sopranos, it is here performed by Felicity Palmer, traditionally a mezzo, but using the soprano register of her […]

This is a gem of an album, containing not only some glorious and seldom heard pieces but is also the only available recorded version of ‘Soberana Maria’ (anon.). ‘A piece of heart-breaking beauty, sung exquisitely a capella’ wrote a reviewer on Amazon.com of this admirable album made in 1968 – one of Roger Norrington’s earliest recordings. […]

The bass voice (basso, encompassing both baritone and bass in our modern terminology) occupies a special place in Bach’s sacred vocal music. As the two great Passion settings testify, it was the solo bass that represented the vox Christi or ‘voice of Christ’, following an established tradition in church music. Matthias Goerne is here at […]