Ludlow English Song Weekend has been guided by its artistic director Iain Burnside since he founded it in 2002. They return for three days of song in the historic market town in Shropshire from 11 to 14 April 2025.
The weekend opens with Heart’s Haven from baritone Andrew Hamilton and pianist Iain Burnside, an intriguing programme that pairs Vaughan Williams with Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn on the theme of Venice in Jeremy Sams’ English translations , and the Venice theme continues with song from Reynaldo Hahn and Michael Head. Later on the Friday evening, soprano Mhairi Lawson and lutenist Paula Chateauneuf present Songs of Auld Lang Syne, exploring the musical repertoire of the courts of King James VI & I, including Italian song brought to England by Nicholas Lanier and Scottish courtly songs.
Saturday morning sees real life couple, baritone Dan D’Souza and mezzo-soprano Bethany Horak-Hallett, with Ian Tindale piano, exploring relationships in A Lover’s Tiff with songs from Wolf to Weill depicting a couple falling in and out of love. Saturday afternoon there will be a chance to see John Bridcut’s acclaimed 2019 film portrait of Janet Baker and then hear him live in conversation with her. The Saturday evening recital sees mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean join her father, composer and viola player Brett Dean, and Iain Burnside for a programme that includes Frank Bridge’ wonderful songs for voice, viola and piano, music by Sally Beamish, Britten’s Lachrymae and a work written by Dean for his daughter.
There is a chance to hear more from Brett Dean as he is in conversation with Katy Hamilton on Sunday morning, and Sunday also features a Young Artists Masterclass with Ann Murray. The festival ends with a focus on A.E. Housman. His collection A Shropshire Lad inspired generations of composers and though the poems were written in the context of the Boer War their popularity reached its zenith during the First World War. Housman himself was a complex and difficult man, and in One that kept his word, Iain Burnside has devised a programme interweaving settings of Housman’s poems with his letters, performed by tenor Liam Bonthorne, baritone Jolyon Loy and actor Alex Jennings.
Full details from the festival website.
