From a Parisian salon to South America: Julieth Lozano Rolong charms & engages in her Salon Concert for Opera Rara with Anna Tilbrook at Bechstein Hall

Schubert, Donizetti, Yvette Souviron, Babi de Oliveira, Modesta Bor, Borja Mariño, Lia Cimaglia Espinosa, Jaime León, Zully Murillo, Margarita Lecuona, Maria Grever; Julieth Lozano Rolong, Anna Tilbrook; Opera Rara at Bechstein Hall 
Reviewed 26 February 2026

Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong mixes songs from Opera Rara’s Donizetti Song Project with song more recent South American composers in an engaging recital full of charm the proved a lovely introduction to relatively little known repertoire

Opera Rara‘s Salon concerts are a chance to hear artists in concert in relative intimacy, often showcasing younger artists and providing a platform for the type of repertoire for which the company is known, not just rare operas but neglected 19th century song.

Its 13 volume Il Salotto on disc provided a delightful overview of 19th century salon life, and now the company is combining this effort with scholarship as Roger Parker and Ian Schofield have been creating a new edition of Donizetti’s songs, all 200 of them (!), for Opera Rara’s Donizetti Song Project. There are recordings, volumes 5 (in Italian) and 6 (in French) were issued last September and the project will culminate this summer when, following the release of Volume 8 with Nicola Alaimo and Carlo Rizzi on Friday 5 June, Opera Rara presents its final ‘Donizetti & Friends’ recital with the two artists at Wigmore Hall on Tuesday 16 June. And in February, the OPER! Awards honoured the Donizetti Song Project with the Best Complete Edition Award (replacing the usual Best Complete Opera award).

There was a chance to hear a pair of songs from the Donizetti Song Project in context at Opera Rara’s Salon concert on Thursday 26 February 2026. This was at the new Bechstein Hall in Wigmore Street, the first of a planned series of collaborations between the hall and Opera Rara. Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong was accompanied by pianist Anna Tilbrook in an eclectic programme that mixed Donizetti and Schubert with songs by South American composers including four UK premieres.

Julieth Lozano Rolong made her debut with Opera Rara in the recording and performance of Puccini’s final (1921) version of La rondine late last year and earlier this year she sang in the premiere of Dai Fujikura and Harry Ross’s The Great Wave at Scottish Opera. In summer 2025 she sang in Campra’s Le Carnaval de Venise with Vache Baroque and wrote an article for Planet Hugill about combining opera with circus skills [see Julieth Lozano Rolong’s article]

At Bechstein Hall we heard songs by Yvette Souviron (1914-2010), Babi de Oliveira (1908-1993), Modesta Bor (1926-1998), Borja Mariño (born 1982), Lia Cimaglia Espinosa (1906-1998), Jaime León (1921-2015), Zully Murillo (born 1944), Margarita Lecuona (1910-1981) and Maria Grever (1885-1951), alongside Schubert’s Heimliches Lieben and Gretchen am Spinnrade, and Donizetti’s Les Billets doux and La Mere et l’enfant. All exploring themes of love, exploring the different angles of human expression through the lens of feminine voices.

We began with Yvette Souviron, an Argentine soprano of French parentage. Her song Al banco solitaro (On that lonely beach) proved to be a sophisticated piece of romanticism with a nice use of tonality in the harmony. Rolong really sold the song making it more than just a piece of lyric melancholy, and throughout the concert she took advantage of the relative closeness of the audience to project stories with great vivacity and charm.

Schubert’s Heimliches Lieben was sung with a lovely vibrant line and beautiful tone quality. She really projected the narrative in the song and the emotions, though her German was somewhat occluded. There are two surviving versions of Donizetti’s Les Billets doux “Billets chéris, interprètes de l’âme”, both with the same vocal line and different piano accompaniment, and Roger Parker postulated that Donizetti may have given the first manuscript away and then written it out again. We heard the second version, with a straightforward arpeggiated piano accompaniment supporting a flowing melody. There was plenty of charm here and lyricism, with Rolong telling the story and heightening the emotions (it’s about a woman burning a lover’s letters to keep them secret).

Babi de Oliveira was a Brazilian songwriter and her song Recomendação proved to be a haunting ballad, popular in style but sophisticated in mood. Rolong brought a lovely sense of storytelling to Schubert’s Gretchen am Snrade. Her words were more communicative here, and she moved from quite intent to real intensity at the climaxes, sometimes overwhelmingly so.

Venezuelan composer Modesta Bor studied in Caracas and then at the Moscow Conservatory with Aram Khachaturian. Her Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito (Lullaby for the little black boy) was a touching, rather laid-back piece with interesting chromatic harmony. Borja Mariño is a Spanish pianist and composer. His song Bola de nieve (Snowball) comes from his song cycle Versos de mujer setting poetry by women. The song was approaching free, lyric arioso with rich harmony and the influence of popular song not far away.

Lia Cimaglia Espinosa was an Argentine pianist and composer whose teachers included a disciple of Rimsky Korsakov. Her European career was cut short by the Second World War when she was forced to return to Argentina. Her piano solo, Tango 70 proved to be a slow, laid-back piece full of rich detail and reflecting a myriad of influences.

Jaime León was a Colombian composer, conductor and pianist who studied in Colombia and at the Juilliard School, where he studied piano with one of Clara Schumann’s last disciples. His song La tunda para el negrito (La tunda for the little black boy) had what Rolong assured us was a typical Colombian combination of serious, intense subject matter and catchy rhythms. It did, indeed, feature rather lively Latin-American rhythms and Rolong’s performance was captivating. We returned to Lia Cimaglia Espinosa for Canción del chingolo (Song of the little bird), a rather sad, haunting number.

The second Donizetti song was La Mère et l’enfant “Un voile blanc couvrait la terre”, a rather striking piece where Donizetti reflected the seriousness of the words in the austerity of his setting contrasting with an urgent chorus. Again this was all about the voice, but Rolong developed it into an intense, powerful drama created with simple means.

Zully Murillo is a traditional singer, composer, poet and dancer from the Pacific coast of Colombia. Her touching song Dormite (Go to sleep) was performed by Rolong to her own guitar accompaniment bringing out the folk resonances in the song and creating a really intimate atmosphere. Margarita Lecuona was a Cuban singer and composer best known for her songs with African themes of which Babalú is one. This referred to a Yoruba deity and proved to be a catchy piece with strong rhythms and a sing-along chorus!

The evening ended with a song by Mexican composer Maria Grever who, after formal training in Europe including studying with Debussy, would go on to be one of the few Latin American composers to achieve commercial prominence in the mainstream US music industry. Her song Cuando vuelva a tu lado  (When I return to your side) with its haunting melody and rhythm was made enchanting by the way Rolong sang it.

This proved to be a delightful evening in intimate company.  Julieth Lozano Rolong proved an engaging performer who, whatever the style of the music, really captured its essence and conveyed it to us.  She is a singer of great charm who managed to capture the entire room. She was wonderfully partnered by Anna Tilbrook who successfully moved between styles in a way that made the programme feel all the more natural.

There was an encore, Amar y vivir by the Mexican composer Consuelito Velázquez best known for the song Bésame mucho.