One of the defining features of Opera in Song at Holland Park is imaginative programming, and this second recital for 2025 embodied that. Ahead of the new production of Lucia di Lammermoor in July, we were asked to consider what the backstory might have been between two of its lead characters, siblings Lucia and Enrico. Jennifer France and Morgan Pearse are playing these parts next month, and we now got an early sense of how they will approach these demandingly rivalrous romantic roles. The evening was divided into sections in which innocence and companionship were contrasted with the pains of adolescence, the joys of love and then finally madness and death. These proved to be very convenient pegs on which were hung many classic items from the song repertory, but also some rarities that deserve much greater exposure. And throughout the focus remained on song as storytelling with each item a true scena in its own right.
In a brief review it is impossible to do more than touch on a few items and I shall deliberately focus on the less familiar ones. So in the early phase of the evening, very much in line with the twilight atmosphere, songs by Debussy and Fauré were delivered with particular grace and skill, with both singers finding the refinement and delicacy that the poetry demanded.
At the core of the programme lay a whole group of wonderful songs by Richard Strauss, but very few of them among the familiar ‘peaches & cream’ numbers, and serving as a reminder of just how deep the reservoir of his compositions is in this genre. France gave a wonderfully gamine and playful rendition of Amor, a reminder of what a fine Zerbinetta she was when Opera Holland Park embraced Ariadne some years ago. Likewise Heimliche Aufforderung was an excellent fit with Pearse’s voice. Towards the end of the programme it was a delight to hear the three Ophelia Lieder, which added extra dimensions to Shakespeare, something that usually only the finest song composers can manage.
Other highlights included a selection of Barber’s Hermit Songs, made immediately accessible by Pearse even though their meaning and suggestions always remain slightly out of reach. You also have to mention a number of deft duets by Schumann, whether comic or gently melancholic, that slipped naturally into the programme, and demonstrated the excellent, effortless rapport between the singers. There can be few better songs to close an outdoor evening recital than Schumann’s setting of Geibel’s In der Nacht, which tucks the audience up as romantically as the Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel.
Throughout the singers were partnered by pianists Sooyeon Baik and Dylan Perez, both of whom found the stylistic diversity and supportive suppleness needed to interleave and mesh their own individuality with the interpretations of France and Pearse.
One word of advice for the future. While the twilight noises off at Opera Holland Park can take the delightful form of roosting peacocks, if you start a recital at 6.30 pm this is still the time when children and dogs dominate to the detriment of singers. Operas in this venue never start before 7 or 7.30, and with good reason.
Opera in Song: Opera Holland Park
Curators: Julien Van Mellaerts & Dylan Perez
Singers: Jennifer France & Morgan Pearse
Pianists: Sooyeon Baik & Dylan Perez
23 June 2025
Photo Credit: Charlie Lyne