The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

This year’s very well attended Sidwell Recital was given by the soprano Charlotte Ives and her accompanist Susanna Stranders.

They began with Purcell’s setting of ‘Music for a While’ from Oedipus by Dryden and Lee. In Oedipus the song was intended both to comfort the souls in torment and to stay, momentarily, the hand of the Furies. For the purposes of a concert it fulfils the no less important Orphean function (in the outer sections at any rate) of calming and charming the audience. Purcell’s extremely sophisticated chromatic line was beautifully shaped by Ives above a stately, and when appropriate, menacing ostinato by Stranders. It was safe to say that we were all thoroughly calmed and charmed.

Somewhat lighter relief from the application of Alecto’s whip came next in the form of Danza, danza, fanciulla gentile, a spritely late nineteenth century makeover of a singing exercise by the eighteenth century Neapolitan composer Francesco Durante. Ives and Stranders gave us a cheerful and uplifting account of the setting, which is great fun, having a decidedly jaunty Spanish feel (touches of Soler and Domenico Scarlatti) that Durante and his Neapolitan colleagues would have warmly approved.

Having given us a glimpse of their considerable abilities in these two very different pieces, Ives and Stranders revealed all with a memorable rendering of Mozart’s great concert aria and rondo, ‘Ch’io mi scordi di te?… Non temer, amato bene’.

Mozart wrote this as a farewell gift to the Italian-Irish soprano Anna Selina Storace, prima donna at the Italian opera in Vienna and ‘Nancy’ to her friends. She was a spirited, attractive and interesting young woman who had a number of admirers, including Francesco Benucci (the first Figaro) and the Duke of Cleveland, who was as passionate about her as an Englishman can get (” at Supper with La Storace; the Weather was very Fine and Mild.”). It is sometimes said that Mozart was in love with her, which I can very well believe, considering this piece (which he performed with her in Vienna in 1787) and knowing his predilection for pretty sopranos.

For the vocal part of ‘Ch’io mi scordi’, Mozart abandoned coloratura fireworks in favour of great expressiveness, sensitivity and restraint, which in some ways is a great deal more difficult to bring off. Ives was very much at home in this, giving us unerring interpretations of Mozart’s complex and unpredictable ideas, all of which soar way above and beyond the rather formulaic words supplied by Varesco. The piano obbligato, which Mozart wrote for himself, definitely is, as Einstein described it, “a souvenir of the taste and depth of his playing”. Throughout the recital Susanna Stranders consistently proved herself to be a versatile and original accompanist, but in this piece she truly came into her own as a fine, stylish and exuberant pianist. This was no mean achievement, since Mozart’s keyboard writing here is every bit as difficult as it is in his late, great piano concerti.

The second half began with A Garland for Marjory Fleming by Richard Rodney Bennett. If an enthusiast were to say to you “I know! We’ll commission a contemporary Brit composer of the neo-romantic persuasion to set some poems by an eight-year-old Scots girl who died in 1811” you might make little more than a few polite noises. However, this unlikely marriage works very well indeed, the resulting ‘garland’ being a pleasing amalgam of whimsy, good humour and affecting pathos. Ives gave us a shining account of this sad, funny little girl and her poems, helped by Stranders’ perfect reading of the clever, understated Bennett score.

The evening closed with a perfectly judged and extremely entertaining rendition of two pieces by Kurt Weill, ‘What Use Would the Moon Be?’ from Street Scene and ‘The Saga of Jenny’ from Lady in the Dark. This is good to report, since Weill has been ill-served over the decades by a succession of huskily self- indulgent singers who can leave you feeling as though you’d missed the last bus home and had been forced to spend the night in an Otto Dix painting.

When Weill left Nazi Germany and arrived in the US, he set about immersing himself in the local vernacular, touring the jazz clubs and bars of Harlem in the company of Langston Hughes, the author of Street Scene. After a few false starts, he got to grips with the American way of doing things, ‘What Would Use Would the Moon Be?’ being one of the first fruits. There is still sufficient resonance of Weimar to temper the shmaltz of Broadway, and Ives’ rendition caught the balance flawlessly. When it came to ‘Jenny’, it was a perfect treat to hear Weill sung with such impeccably good comic timing, perfect taste and total lack of pretentiousness. The audience visibly and audibly responded to this great showpiece and it was a very fitting way to end the evening.

The performance revealed Charlotte Ives to be a great and joyful young singer whom we look forward to hearing here again. We all thank her and Susanna Stranders for a wonderful evening and shall follow both of their careers with interest and affection.

Above all, we were mindful as we left the recital that it was given in memory and celebration of Martindale Sidwell, who was Organist and Choirmaster of Hampstead Parish Church from 1945 to 1992, and who would have been 90 this year. It was he who restored and nurtured the musical tradition we enjoy at Hampstead, building it up to a standard that is universally admired. He would certainly have enjoyed this evening, and in a broader sense I feel sure he would contemplate with great satisfaction the strength, depth, quality and continuity of our musical life here today.
Robin Saikia