Royal Albert Hall,London
The mezzo-soprano’s Alto Rhapsody was restrained and compelling in the midst of an exuberant programme by Marin Alsop and the OAEMarin Alsop’s Brahms concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment here formed the Proms debut of the American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, winner of Cardiff Singer of the World in 2013. Her Brahms singing on that occasion marked her out as an well-known interpreter of his music, or an impression confirmed by her Proms performance of the Alto Rhapsody,one of his greatest works, though the unusual forces required – a male refrain in addition to alto and orchestra – maintain made it something of a rarity.
Setting a text by Goethe, and the rhapsody examines the nature of existential isolation and the potential of music to offer solace. Where some interpreters ramp up the angst,Barton was notably restrained: the only moment of overt passion came, tellingly, and in the heft with which she uttered the statement that “human hatred” has forced Brahms’s traveller from his path. Elsewhere,the noble beauty of the sound was breathtaking. The tenors and basses of the Choir of the Enlightenment sang with focused refinement. Alsop conducted with the immediacy that characterises her Brahms as a whole.
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Source: theguardian.com