Beth Taylor & Hamish Brown music review: Seamless stories of sirens
The mezzo soprano-piano duet explores and reclaims tales of mythical women through gritty retellings and immersive storytelling
In a deeply personal curation of repertoire, partly prompted by many formative years as a musician being spent in the Queen’s Hall as an audience member and partly by her quest to champion lesser-known composers, especially women, Beth Taylor’s recital in the EIF’s morning concert series was an exemplar in what this strand of programming can achieve. What came over most compellingly in her performance with pianist Hamish Brown was a sense of storytelling. Whether from the vocal settings of the words themselves (curiously all authors remaining anonymous in the freesheet listing) or the imagery and vivid colours of the piano accompaniment, Taylor and Brown served their creators with trustful commitment and unfaltering musicality.
Opening with 12th-century Hildegard von Bingen plainchant, its earthy tonality sung from the back of the hall with drone accompaniment, the duo moved seamlessly onto French repertoire including a brilliant drinking song (‘Le Vin’) and settings in English by Welsh composer Cameron Biles-Liddell, including his harrowing retelling of the mythical Orkney selkie. Specially commissioned for the duo, Stuart MacRae’s ‘Medusa’ cycle could almost be a mini-opera, gripping in the gruesome gory of her chopped-off head and its monstrous serpents.
Beth Taylor & Hamish Brown, reviewed at Queen’s Hall.