Ben Johnson at Kings Place

[ardcarp]

Did anyone hear the recital by tenor Ben Johnson live from Kings Place on Easter Monday? It's one heck of an undertaking for a young singer (maybe especially a tenor) to sustain a whole evening's concert live on air. Interesting choice of music. Purcell, Britten, Schubert obvious enough, but the Victorian/Edwardian women composers were a nice idea. I wasn't wholly convinced by the Schubert...maybe a little strain in the voice?...but the whole was beautifully accompanied by James Bailleu.

[Chris Newman]

I agree, ardcarp. A beautiful voice. We are lucky in the UK with fine young tenors. I thought BJ pushed a bit too hard in Schubert's Der Zwerg. He showed a touch of croakiness before the interval but recovered well in the second half. I thought he would have been wiser to share proceedings with another young singer. It was an interesting and beautiful selection, thoughI find Britten's Purcell arrangements sounds more like Britten than Purcell. He was also unusually slow in Purcell's I attempt from love's sickness. The Victorian ladies turned up trumps as composers: better than many of the British Victorian males IMO. Perhaps a recording would popularise them.

[ardcarp]

Hyperion seems to have done something:

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W4388

Haven't heard them, though I guess Anthony Rolfe Johnson would be a delight to hear.