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Kate Laird, Paul Doling and Laura Serpis
Francis Rayner
From an earlier Recital
MAYFIELD, Sussex, SONG RECITAL
Laura Serpis – Soprano, Kate Laird – Mezzo,
Paul Doling - Tenor
Three of Counterpoint’s young soloists gave an excellent recital in St
Dunstan’s, Mayfield on November 18th.
They made a powerful start with Purcell’s
Sound the Trumpet,
arranged as a trio by Aanna Colls, followed by largely operatic solos
and duets by Purcell, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Gluck which made an
interesting programme. The highlights of this first half were Paul’s singing
of Lensky’s aria from
Eugene Onegin,
and the trio
Love so tender
from Gluck’s
Orpheus and Eurydice. Each item had a well-written introduction and it was a pity that the spoken
voices were not projected as well as the singing voices.
The opening duet of the second half
Pur ti miro
from
L’incorazione di Poppea,
sung by Laura and Paul was breathtakingly beautiful. This was followed by
some Spanish folk songs of de Falla, sung by Kate. She really caught the
atmosphere and sang the final lullaby with a warm, sweet tone.
Two lieder by Schumann and Schubert were then stylistically sung by Paul and
Laura then gave a wonderful; performance of two solos by Duparc.
Then the mood changed. Paul lamented the loss of his French horn, Kate
sailed like a stately galleon across the old time dance
floor, and the three closed with a vocal determination to become prima
donnas, Paul wearing a long blonde wig for the occasion. It was perhaps not
a good choice to end with as the words were barely distinguishable and
rather let down what had been a very fine concert. All sung off the book for which all the singers must be congratulated.
The singers were brilliantly accompanied by Francis Rayner, who as usual
made the nearly impossible seem easy.
These three performed again in a Christmas Song Recital on December 9th
at the Victoria Baptist Church, Eldon Road, Eastbourne.