CD - Roger Quilter

Few composers - especially song composers - can claim to have written works that have remained in print since they were first published more than a hundred years ago. Roger Quilter is one such, though the number of his songs still in print is regrettably small. He wrote about 140 songs and arrangements, and all the songs on this CD show just what a loss it is that so few are readily available.

"Ms de Rothschild's timbre is appealing, fresh and youthful-sounding."
Music Web

Quilter was from a wealthy family, on the one hand this meant that Roger never had to earn a living and so could write what he chose to (at one time he was able to say - with pride - that he could have lived off his earnings) on the other hand this also meant that there was never any pressure to move out of his comfort zone and develop in other areas. Instead, matching his delight in the beautiful and small, he composed equisite miniatures.

Most of his songs sit best on tenor and baritone voices, most but not all, and many of the songs which are particularly suited to a woman's voice are included here. The selection ranges from songs from 1907 to one published the year before he died, with most from his middle years, when he was at his most vibrant.

Charlotte de Rothschild, soprano - Adrian Farmer, piano.

"This is a good representative selection of Quilter's songs beautifully sung by Charlotte de Rothschild, who is intelligently partnered by Adrian Farmer. The diction is exemplary, the melodic lines fluently delivered, the phrasing elegant and the pitching never faltering for a moment. Tempi make good sense and each song is presented with an obvious awareness of its musical as well as its emotional character, the texts cared for every bit as much as the notes. Coordination and balance between singer and pianist is immaculate and the recording clear and suitably warm."

"De Rothschild has a strong empathy with the idiom, she captures the essence of each song text beautifully and has one of those voices which you can enjoy for its own sake, without being too concerned about how it is carrying the musical detail. And I would imagine any singer would find in Adrian Farmer the ideal accompanist, always there, always supportive, always totally in sympathy with the demands of the vocal line. Taken individually, these are all very fine performances indeed."

November 2017 musicweb-international