LSO Discovery

Friday
Lunchtime Concert
Friday 18 June 2021 12.30pm

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Friday 18 June 12.30pm to 1.15pm
LSO Discovery Lunchtime Concert

Francesco Paolo Tosti La serenata
Franz Schubert
Des Sängers Habe
Gabriel Fauré La lune blanche luit dans les bois from 'La bonne chanson'
Herbert Howells King David
Hugo Wolf Heimweh; Gebet; Nimmersatte Liebe
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Glückwunsch
Michael Tippett Songs for Ariel
George Frideric Handel Where Shall I Fly?

Michael Lafferty-Smith baritone
Connor James Smith tenor
Katie Macdonald mezzo-soprano
Matthias De Smet piano
Janice Tsui piano
Thomas Eeckhout piano
Rachel Leach presenter


Guildhall School logo

LSO St Luke's Jerwood Hall

© Matthew Weinreb

LSO St Luke's Jerwood Hall

© Matthew Weinreb

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Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 to 1916)

La serenata

✒️ 1888 | ⏰3 minutes

Michael Lafferty-Smith baritone
Matthias De Smet piano

Italian-British composer Francesco Paolo Tosti’s life story was a rags-to-riches roller-coaster ride. His promising career as violinist was cut short due to ill health. He then became so poor that he could only afford to eat oranges and stale bread. A chance meeting with royalty, however, gave him enough money and notoriety to travel to England where he wrote songs so famous that within a few years he was knighted by his ‘friend’ King Edward VII. By 1906 he was one of the most popular song composers in the world with staggering fees to match. La serenata is one of his most famous tunes

Note by Rachel Leach

Franz Schubert (1797 to 1828)

Des Sängers Habe

✒️1825 | ⏰3 minutes

Michael Lafferty-Smith baritone
Matthias De Smet piano

Franz Schubert is now one of the most performed and popular composers of the Classical period, but in his lifetime he struggled to be taken seriously outside of his small circle of musician friends. He wrote an amazing amount of music, including more than 600 songs – many of which are the jewels of German Lieder. Des Sängers Habe was written in 1825. It was a difficult time for the composer. He was gravely ill and the words, from a poem by his friend, really spoke of his plight. The song is at times angry, at times resigned, and the message is: 'You can take everything from me but if I have my music, I will still be rich’.

Note by Rachel Leach

Gabriel Fauré (1845 to 1924)

La lune blanche luit dans les bois

✒️1894 | ⏰3 minutes

Michael Lafferty-Smith baritone
Matthias De Smet piano

Gabriel Fauré’s career started when pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin was still alive and ended when Arnold Schoenberg was causing controversy with his Serial techniques. No other composer’s career so neatly bridges this stylistic gulf. Without Fauré’s harmonic and melodic innovations there would be no Claude Debussy, no Maurice Ravel, no Francis Poulenc – all composers who came after Fauré. It was Fauré, during his role as Head of Composition at the Paris Conservatoire, who pushed the boundaries further than anyone else and encouraged the next generation of composers to follow suit. He was also a master of the French art song. This song, which translates as ‘The white moon gleams in the woods’, is from a collection of nine songs from 1894. The words are from symbolist poet Paul Verlaine and the topic is love.

Note by Rachel Leach

Herbert Howells (1892 to 1983)

King David

✒️1923 | ⏰4 minutes

Michael Lafferty-Smith baritone
Matthias De Smet piano

This song was recently called ‘the greatest British art song ever’ by mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly. Composer Hebert Howells said it was the thing he was most proud of and Walter de la Mare, the poet whose words are so wonderfully set, said it was simply ‘perfect’. Howells was an English composer who is now perhaps best known for his religious works. He was one of a group of up-and-coming composers at the Royal College of Music who all had an interest in art songs. Howells’ life and career was halted by disease in 1914 and he was prevented from fighting in the First World War. Many of his friends were not so ‘lucky’ and did not return from war, leaving Howells one of the few to survive. King David was written in 1923. The words talk of sorrow and of solace found in nature.

Note by Rachel Leach

Hugo Wolf (1860 to 1903)

Heimweh;
Gebet;
Nimmersatte Liebe

✒️1889; 1888; 1888 | ⏰8 minutes

Connor James Smith tenor
Janice Tsui piano

In his adult life, Hugo Wolf lived with mental ill health and depression, leading to his withdrawal from public life aged just 37. Wolf’s true genius was in the creation of Lieder (art songs) and he wrote hundreds of these despite being concerned that the genre was second-rate to the larger scale opera and symphony. His unique talent lay in putting the words first and writing music to suit the drama of the text, regardless of whether or not it followed the 'rules' of harmony and form. Today we hear settings of poetry by Joseph Eichendorff and by Eduard Morike. These were written during happy times living with supportive friends and in good health.

The song titles translate as Homesick (Heimweh), Prayer (Gebet) and Insatiable Love (Nimmersatte Liebe).

Note by Rachel Leach

Erich Korngold (1897 to 1957)

Glückwunsch

✒️1940 | ⏰3 minutes

Connor James Smith tenor
Janice Tsui piano

A child prodigy, who had caught much attention in his native Austria and across Europe by his early teens, Erich Korngold accepted an invitation from film director Max Reinhardt to adapt Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a 1935 movie. In doing so, he ‘invented’ film music as we know it today. Once in Hollywood he went on to have a stellar career winning several Oscar nominations and many awards. Despite considerable fame and riches, Korngold missed Europe and desperately wanted to be taken seriously as an orchestral composer. However when he tried to return after the Second World War his ‘serious’ works were deemed desperately old-fashioned by the critics. Glückwunsch (Congratulations) was written during the peak years of his Hollywood fame and its gorgeous melody was later re-used in a film about the Brontë sisters.

Note by Rachel Leach

Michael Tippett (1905 to 1998)

Songs for Ariel

✒️1962 | ⏰5 minutes

Katie Macdonald mezzo-soprano
Thomas Eeckhout piano

1 Come unto these yellow sands
2 Full fathom five
3 Where the bee sucks

Michael Tippett was born in London to an entrepreneur father, whose business ventures led to a slightly nomadic life for the family. Tippett announced his intention to be a composer at the age of ten: this came out of nowhere along with other young pronouncements that he stuck to, namely his homosexuality and his atheism. He came to prominence during and after the Second World War, and is now often thought of as one of the England’s finest 20th-century composers, alongside Benjamin Britten. Songs for Ariel was written for the Old Vic’s 1962 production of The Tempest. Ariel is a powerful spirit and these three very short songs neatly capture his mischievous personality.

Note by Rachel Leach

George Frideric Handel (1685 to 1759)

Where Shall I Fly?

✒️1744 | ⏰6 minutes

Katie Macdonald mezzo-soprano
Thomas Eeckhout piano

Born in Germany, George Frideric Handel studied for a law degree and only took up music after the death of his father, who had objected to the pursuit of music. After gaining a little fame at home, he travelled to Italy and was declared a genius by his rival, Arcangelo Corelli. He then travelled to England and, realising the potential for fame in a country with no composers of his stature, he settled in London and championed the British music scene. His first successes were with Italian-style opera before moving on to oratorios (unstaged operas with an often sacred topic). This incredibly dramatic song is from a music drama called Hercules. It is sung by the main female character as, wracked with guilt, she wishes for madness.

Note by Rachel Leach

Artist Biographies

Katie Macdonald
mezzo-soprano

Katie Macdonald

Mezzo-soprano Katie Macdonald is studying for her artist masters postgraduate degree in Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School under the tutelage of Sarah Pring. Her relationship with singing began at an early age as a chorister at Wells Cathedral. She then received a scholarship to attend Junior Guildhall. In 2015 she was selected to participate in Glyndebourne Academy, a residential scheme at Glyndebourne for young singers led by renowned vocal coach Mary King. Katie was a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Competition for Young Singers, won the Audience Prize in the Chartered Surveyors Competition, sang chorus for the London Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder and performed as a soloist in Carols by Candlelight at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Recent projects include a recording project for SWAP'ra, recording Christmas music for Classic FM, playing Marcellina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (GSMD) and Sister Agatha in Loesser's Guys and Dolls for West Green House Opera. She was recently the alto soloist for Bach’s Cantata 147a at St John’s Waterloo and Vivaldi’s Gloria at St Marys, Andover.

Connor James Smith
tenor

Connor James Smith

Connor James Smith is a Scottish tenor and postgraduate Vocal Studies student at the Guildhall School, where he is taught by Robert Dean and Adrian Thompson. His studies are generously supported by a scholarship from the School, and the Sydney Perry Foundation. He has worked extensively around the country with companies including Scottish Opera, the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, Fox Opera, the About Turn Theatre Company (in Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice at the Edinburgh Fringe) and Opera Bohemia. His recent operatic roles include Tamino in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Third Jew in Strauss Salome and Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata.  As well as enjoying an increasingly busy singing schedule, Connor is musical director of Cathures Choir in Glasgow, having also been Assistant Conductor for Ayr Choral Union.

Michael Lafferty-Smith
baritone

Michael Lafferty

British-born baritone Michael Lafferty is a dynamic artist praised for the 'melting warmth' of his voice, and 'demonstrable affection and involvement' of his performances (Opera Today). He currently studies on the masters programme at Guildhall School under the tutelage of David Pollard, where he is generously supported by the Sidney Perry Foundation and the Joaninha Trust. He plans to continue his studies at the Guildhall on the prestigious Opera Studies programme. Previously, Michael studied at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin under the tutelage of Thomas Quasthoff, and graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire with a first-class honours degree in 2018. He has had success in numerous competitions, including winning first prize at the Freda Parry Foundation Competition 2017, being a finalist in the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards 2020, and winning second prize at the Hurn Court Opera Competition 2018.

Matthias De Smet
piano

Matthias De Smet

Matthias De Smet is a Belgian pianist/accompanist born in Ghent. Matthias obtained a masters degree in piano performance with great distinction at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent where he studied with Vitaly Samoshko. Over the years, Matthias has developed a passion for art song which led him to the Udo Reinemann International masterclass, organised by mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn at La Monnaie in Brussels. Matthias is currently studying with Julius Drake and Andrew West at the Guildhall School where he is on the artist diploma Piano Accompaniment course. Matthias has worked with Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau, Joseph Breinl, Hans Eijsackers, Christine Schäfer, Thomas Oliemans, Roderick Williams, Urszula Kryger, Valérie Guillorit, David Kuijken, Jetske Mijnssen, Kate Royal and Julia Bullock.

Thomas Eeckhout
piano

Thomas Eeckhout

Thomas Eeckhout studied piano with Levente Kende and Heidi Hendrickx at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, where he graduated with honours in 2016. Since then, Thomas has regularly worked as an accompanist and pianist throughout Europe, including performing in a number of theatre shows. Thomas is active as a song accompanist and has enjoyed classes with Jozef de Beenhouwer and Lucienne Van Deyck. In 2019, Thomas was a finalist of the Paola Salomon-Lindberg competition ‘Das Lied’ with soprano Lisa Willems. He has played in masterclasses with Till Fellner, Christianne Stotijn, Stephen Hough, Anne-Sofie von Otter and Julius Drake. In September 2020, Thomas started his postgraduate studies in Piano Accompaniment at the Guildhall School where he won thePiano Accompaniment prize in 2021.

Janice Tsui
piano

Janice Tsui

Janice Tsui is pursuing the master of performance degree at the Guildhall School, specialising in piano accompaniment under the tutelage of Pamela Lidiard. She has taken part in vocal projects directed by Julius Drake, Eugene Asti and Roderick Williams. Janice completed a music degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, majoring in piano under the tutelage of Julie Pun-Man Kuok. She is a former pianist of Opera Hong Kong Children Chorus. In June 2019, Janice collaborated with the Hong Kong Harmonica Association and performed in Heilongjiang China and Blagoveshchensk Russia for the tenth Sino-Russia Culture Fair. She was also a frequent guest performer for the Afternoon Series-Noon Performance in Taikwun, Hong Kong.  

© Neil Wilkinson

© Neil Wilkinson

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Next Lunchtime Concert

Friday 16 July 12.30pm
LSO Soundhub

Jasmin Kent Rodgman The Spell and the Promise (world premiere with live audience)
Electra Perivolaris new work (world premiere)
Darren Bloom Rising (world premiere with audience
Ben Gaunt new work (world premiere)
Carlos Simon Stir Crazy

Gareth Davies flute
Fenella Humphreys violin
Rachel Leach presenter

We hope you will join us at LSO St Luke's. Or watch the live stream on YouTube from the comfort of your own home.

Join us in the Jerwood Hall by booking a free ticket in advance. Available from 10am Friday, two weeks prior to each concert.

The London Symphony Orchestra is hugely grateful to all the Patrons and Friends, Corporate Partners, Trusts and Foundations, and other supporters who make its work possible.

The LSO's return to work is generously supported by DnaNudge.