Bliss International Song Series

Thursday 2 May 2024
The Auditorium, Pembroke College
Divine Music - A wealth of music from different traditions exploring the heavens and the divine with music by: Dowland, Purcell, Britten, Adès, Helen Grime and Cheryl Frances Hoad

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Iestyn Davies - Countertenor

Joseph Middleton - piano

 

Programme:

WILLIAM CROFT

A Hymn on Divine Musick (realised by Benjamin Britten)

 

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Canticle I: My beloved is mine Op. 40

 

THOMAS ADÈS

Darknesse visible

 

JOHN DOWLAND

In darkness let me dwell

 

HELEN GRIME

Harp of the North

 

GERALD FINZI

Let us garlands bring Op. 18

 

INTERVAL

 

CHERYL FRANCES-HOAD

Star Falling

 

HENRY PURCELL

A Fool's Preferment Z571:

–I'll sail upon the dog-star (realised by Benjamin Britten)

 

NICO MUHLY

New-Made Tongue

Falling Berceuse

 

GEORGE BUTTERWORTH

6 Songs from A Shropshire Lad

 

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Night Piece (Notturno)

 

NICO MUHLY

From 4 Traditional Songs:

–A brisk young lad

–The bitter withy

 

HENRY PURCELL

Now that the sun hath veiled his light (An Evening Hymn on a Ground) Z193 (arranged by Thomas Adès)

 

“Iestyn Davies is one of the most distinguished countertenors to emerge in the past two decades” – Gramophone Magazine, 2023

 

After reading Archaeology and Anthropology at St John’s College, Cambridge, Iestyn Davies studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London.  Iestyn has gone on to perform on the world’s leading opera and concert stages and is widely recognised as one of the world’s finest singers, celebrated for the beauty and technical dexterity of his voice and intelligent musicianship.

 

A celebrated recitalist with repertoire ranging from Dowland to Clapton, he has twice been awarded the Gramophone Recital Award. He is a regular favourite at London’s Wigmore Hall and Kings Place where he has curated residencies. In 2017 he won the Gramophone Baroque Vocal Award and was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his services to Music.   He is also the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award and was nominated for an Olivier Award for his singing role in Farinelli and the King opposite Mark Rylance (premiered at London’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and transferring to the West End and Broadway).

 

Pianist Joseph Middleton specializes in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been internationally acclaimed as one of the finest musicians in this field. Described in Opera Magazine as ‘the rightful heir to legendary accompanist Gerald Moore’, by BBC Music Magazine as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’, he has also been labelled ‘the cream of the new generation’ by The Times.

Event type:
Running time:

Approximately 2 hours