Autumn 2013

 

Sorry my news page has been blank for months! I have been busy though, and all my good intentions to write something, fell by the wayside. The summer was glorious and full of interesting concerts and events. I went to Cheltenham for a lovely concert with Joe Middleton and the Choir of Royal Holloway. We performed a beautiful new work specially composed for us by Gabriel Jackson, in Pittville Pump Room, where I used to sing a solo on school speech days many years ago. I found it very moving to be singing there with the Choir from Royal Holloway where I studied French before going on to try to be a singer.

After that I went to India for four days to give a recital with Maciej Pikulski. One day I hope to visit somewhere other than Mumbai, but the people there are so warm and kind and I want to go back and stay a little longer! Then it was back to the Cotswolds for the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester- my mother and I attended some great concerts. I went back to Gloucester at the end of August to take part in Sarah Connolly's brilliant Ivor Gurney celebration, with James Gilchrist, Neal Davies and Joe Middleton, as well as the lovely young soprano  who joined us to sing in Stanford's The Bluebird. Graham Johnson and I gave a recital in Tours as part of the Académie François Poulenc, for François Le Roux. It was so lovely to be singing Britten and Poulenc with Graham again; they have been such a huge part of our lives for so many years.

I am writing this on the way home from a wonderful week in Bayonne, for the Festival Musique en Côte Basque. I gave a recital with Sebastian Wybrew and then we spent  five days working with some wonderful young singers from the Studio at Lyon Opera. I really enjoyed it and I think they did too. They gave a brilliant concert of French song last evening and we were sad to have to say au revoir.I am very proud to have been chosen to attend the Women of the Year Luncheon on October 14 in London and I look forward to meeting and hearing about some of the inspirational women who really work for the good of others.And in November I have my last recital  with Graham Johnson at Wigmore Hall. Unbelievably our first one was in 1975 so I wish we could have postponed this until 2015 to make things more tidy! I am not retiring yet, however, just not doing another solo Wigmore recital. I think perhaps this was not clear on the publicity- although it does say that it is not necessarily my last appearance on the Wigmore stage! 

Best wishes to you all, and let's hope we get that Indian Summer people mentioned a few weeks ago!
FL