Golda Schultz Sings Gershwin and Bernstein
Royal Albert Hall
It's Saturday night, and I'm half cut. Had a pint and a half of Guniness at the Irby Club with my Dad and brother, and washing it down with my new friend, the Ayinger dunkel, a bottle of which I purchased at the Crafty Tavern earlier this evening. And I can't enjoy a dark ale without a bag of Maltesers and a Wispa.
Anyone expecting a cerebral analysis of this evening's offerings at the Royal Albert Hall have come to the wrong place. But that won't stop me giving it a go. Incidentally, I am listening to this on BBC Sounds, about an hour behind the live broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Tonight it is the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and they will be playing a veritable selection of numbers. Joining them for a couple is Golda Schultz, a soprano singer.
The first piece played is Franz Schreker's Chamber Symphony. It does not put a foot wrong.
Next we have 'By Strauss' - a composition by George Gershwin [you've no idea how long it took to get my head round that one]. This is where Golda Schultz comes in, and I'm taken aback by her vocals. I'm not actually sure what my ear was expecting from a 'soprano,' but I don't think it was quite this. It's got a Julie Andrews resonance to it, which is surely something to celebrate. And there's something near the end that reminds me of Oom-Pah-Pah from the 1960 musical, Oliver!
To tell you the truth, these resonate vocals are casting me back to the Viennese Waltzes Prom, earlier in the season. That is not a bad thing!
There's an edition Summertime from the opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin. Good grief, was that that Gershwin?! Thought it was Lana Del Ray? [Joking aside, Lana has done a pleasurable variation of this].
After the interval I pick up on Somewhere from West Side Story - watched that a couple of Christmases ago.
Stravinsky's Firebird is neither here nor there.
