Very intense and emotional Live at Lunch (Royal Opera House, 30/09/2022)

I was blown away by the choice of music and the power of interpretation of Sara Richmond (mezzo-soprano) and Florent Mourier (piano). I must admit I'm not very familiar with R. Strauss and B. Britten's songs, but I was utterly taken in by the sheer drama and deep emotions they unveiled. Sara Richmond performed the music of her favourite composers and soon we understood why.

She started with Britten's song cycle A Charm of Lullabies - 5 pieces representing a huge variety of rhythms - from traditional Scottish-song rhythm to a very lullaby-like, calm and peaceful one, dynamics - through the scale of pianos in storytelling, dramatic graduations ending in fortes (cries or almost screams) and melodies - from spoken words to a beautiful melancholic line. A few months ago, I saw Britten's Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House and I was amazed at how stylistically varied yet beautifully written his music was, and this concert just confirmed the same. Sara Richmond also added Britten's Irish song The Salley Gardens and Hermia's aria from Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream and a very intense, dark piece from (Britten again) The Rape Of Lucretia.

Sara alternated Britten's pieces with four Strauss songs and Octavian's aria from The Rosenkavalier. Strauss, very much like Britten, wrote very emotional, contrastive songs: sometimes comical, playful, sometimes joyous, almost cabaret-like and sometimes deep, full of psychological trauma and struggle. The difference between Britten and Strauss is their style, Strauss is more romantic and so the line of music is more coherent, and fluid with a large legato. Both of them, though, wrote every musical detail in their pieces: every dynamic, pause, and rhythm change, which facilitates the work for singers (as Sara mentioned). This might be true, the more detailed the indications in music, the more accurate singers might perform it, however - they have to make it their own. Sara Richmond truly found her voice and her stance in their magnificent music. She was accompanied by very skilled pianist Florent Mourier. One probably does not pay too much attention to an accompanist of a singer because he or she is taken for granted, but their musical interpretation is equally important.

Both of them had real success - the public was quiet during their performance because it was really something else. When we hear the most famous songs or opera arias, we probably judge the singers on how they sing the high notes or how emotional they can get with the piece. But with Britten's or Strauss' music, we, slowly but surely, acknowledge that emotions, stories or thoughts can also be conveyed differently, and (if performed as it should) it definitely stays with us. I'm really grateful to the Royal Opera House for organising such enriching and engaging afternoons.