Howard Assembly Room- 22nd November 2018
Christopher Maltman
baritone
Joseph Middleton
piano
THIS thought provoking programme of 20 songs from the 19th and 20th centuries traced the mythical soldier’s journey from boyhood awakening in idyllic Edwardian rural England to early death at the 1916 Battle of the Somme.
Acclaimed English baritone Christopher Maltman is celebrated as much for his interpretation of Lieder as for his intensely physical – sometimes shirtless – portrayals of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Gluck’s Oreste and Britten’s Billy Budd.
The focus was on the words and music in the warmth and intimacy of Opera North’s splendid mahogany barrel-vaulted Howard Assembly Room. Maltman, sensitively partnered at the piano by Leeds Lieder director Joseph Middleton, projected the tiniest nuances of atmosphere and mood.
Read the full Ilkley Gazette review here.