A Gardener’s World
Alessandro Fisher (tenor), Anna Tilbrook (piano)
rec. live, 30 July 2021, Wigmore Hall, London, UK
Texts and English translations included
Rubicon RCD1087 [59]
I first encountered Alessandro Fisher in October 2022 when I heard him give a recital in Oxford devoted to songs by Vaughan Williams and the world premiere of a song cycle by Ian Venables; shortly thereafter, those performances were committed to disc in a fine studio recording (review). I’ve been familiar with the artistry of Anna Tilbrook for rather longer, not least as the expert recital partner of another tenor, James Gilchrist. Fisher was a member of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme between 2018 and 2020 but though the logo of that scheme is prominently featured in the booklet accompanying this disc, the recital here preserved was given, I think, when he’d transitioned to being one of the many notable New Generation alumni.
Fisher explains in the booklet that this programme had its origins in the restrictions of the Covid lockdowns of 2020. Confined largely to their home, he and his wife enjoyed spending much time cultivating their garden. As Fisher’s thoughts turned increasingly towards the inspiration that horticulture has provided to composers, he discovered that Anna Tilbrook shared his enthusiasm for gardening. Thus, if I may be forgiven an outrageous pun, were sown the seeds for this recital programme.
The programme has been put together with imagination and offers an ideal blend of the familiar and the less well-known. I encountered two composers for the first time: the Catalan, Eduard Toldrà and the Argentinian, Carlo Guastavino; I enjoyed all the songs by those two composers. Fisher ranges widely in linguistic terms, singing in five languages besides English.
He opens with a German group. Schubert’s Die Blumensprache is delivered with a pleasing, open and light sound; Fisher sings eagerly. He’s no less appealing in the way he presents Mendelssohn’s Das erste Veilchen; he portrays the nice, easy charm of the first stanza but then brings out the touch of melancholy in the second verse. It might have been obvious to follow Mendelssohn’s song about a violet with Clara Schumann’s Das Veilchen; but Fisher is more subtle than that. First, we hear Robert Schumann’s ‘Die Lotosblume’, a touching song to which Fisher brings an expressive vocal ring. Then Clara’s song is heard; Fisher tells the story characterfully. Then it’s back to husband Robert for the lovely Meine Rose; this is poetically performed.
The Sibelius songs are, like most of his compositions in the genre, settings of poems in Swedish. As Alessandro Fisher points out in his booklet essay, half of the set consists of settings of poems concerning one flower: the anemone. ‘Blåsippan’ (Blue Anemone) is an attractive little song; I think Anna Tilbrook displays delightful lightness of touch in her playing. The third song, ‘Vitsippan’ (The Wood Anemone) strikes me as the most intense of the set; Fisher is most expressive here. I love the touching melancholy of the final song, ‘Blommans öde’ (The flower’s fate). Both singer and pianist are very inward in their performance of this song. These Sibelius songs are very good, both individually and as a group; I’m delighted they were included.
Then we leave the chilly climes of Scandinavia and head for the balmier climate of France. Fauré’s Le papillon et la fleur is a delightful, light-as-air creation. Here it receives a graceful, lilting performance. Chausson’s Les Papillons gets exactly the right lightness of touch from both performers. Poulenc’s ‘Fleurs’ is a gorgeous song; the music has that slow, beautiful melancholy which is one of this composer’s trademarks. Fisher spins a lovely vocal line. I loved the sensitivity which he and Anna Tilbrook bring to this little musical gem.
Fisher and Tilbrook then venture into less familiar territory with three songs by the Catalan, Eduard Toldrà. This composer and his music were previously unknown to me but I liked what I heard here. I’ve not been able to discover much about ‘A l’ombra del Leidoner’ (In the shade of a hackberry) although I infer from the way the title is shown in the track listing (as reproduced below) that it may be part of a cycle or collection of songs. It’s a very attractive, melodious composition and Fisher’s open-throated delivery seems most idiomatic. Menta i farigola (Mint and thyme) is a short song; in the poem an old woman thinks back to a young man who, it seems, stole her heart when she was just a girl. Floreix l’ametller (The almond tree blossoms) is another appealing song; like its two companions, it finds a strong advocate in Alessandro Fisher. He then switches from Catalan to Spanish for two songs by the Argentinian composer, Carlo Guastavino, another composer who I have encountered for the first time on this disc. La rosa y el sauce (The rose and the willow tree) is a very fine song. The music is slow and ardent; it suits Fisher’s voice and he sings it with no little feeling. ‘Cortadera, Plumerito…’ (Little cutting, little feather) comes from what I believe is a song cycle, Flores Argentinas. The music breathes a palpable Latin American spirit; Fisher and Tilbrook do it really well. I’m really pleased they selected songs by these two composers for their programme.
I love English song but I have to say that while the songs by the English composers fit the theme of the recital well, they are a bit of a mixed musical bag. With a few exceptions Elgar’s songs are not among his strongest compositions and I’m afraid The Language of Flowers is far from being one of those exceptions. In fairness, though, Elgar was very young when he wrote it. This is a strophic song of no real depth but Fisher pays Elgar the compliment of lavishing care and attention on it. Both of the two songs by Muriel Herbert have charm and are sung with conviction. Haydn Wood’s Love’s Garden of Roses is a sophisticated parlour song, which Fisher does very well and it furnishes his scheduled programme with a suitably ardent finish. In response to vociferous applause (the first time we’ve heard anything to betray the presence of an impeccably behaved audience), he and Anna Tilbrook offer a delightful encore. This is Flanders and Swann’s witty cautionary tale, ‘Misalliance’. To make its full effect the delivery of this song needs an impeccable sense of timing and that’s just what we get here. It’s a most entertaining way to end a thoughtfully constructed programme.
I enjoyed this CD very much. Alessandro Fisher sings really well throughout the programme, embracing a variety of languages and musical styles. His ringing, open voice and excellent diction gave me consistent pleasure. Anna Tilbrook is an ideal and wholly supportive partner. Together, these fine artists present a varied and engaging recital, performing everything with style and commitment. The recital was recorded live but, as I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the audience are commendably silent throughout. The recorded sound is ideal; there’s an excellent balance between voice and piano and both musicians are very clearly heard. The engineers have also conveyed a nice sense of the hall’s acoustic. The only presentational flaw is that the booklet, the contents of which are good, is compromised by the use of a minute font; I found the booklet very difficult to read and it’s certainly not suitable for following about an hour’s worth of songs.
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Contents
Franz Schubert (1797-1831)
Die Blumensprache D519 (1817?)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Das erste Veilchen, Op. 19a No. 2 (1832)
Robert Schumann (1810-18560
Die Lotosblume, (Myrthen) Op. 25 No. 7 (1840)
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Das Veilchen (1853)
Robert Schumann
Meine Rose, Op. 90 No. 2 (1850)
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Six Songs, Op. 88 ‘Flower Songs’ (1917)
No. 1, Blåsippan
No. 2, De bägge rosorna
No. 3, Vitsippan
No. 4, Sippan
No. 5, Törnet
No. 6, Blommans öde
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Le papillon et la fleur, Op. 1 No. 1 (1861)
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Les Papillons, Op. 2 No. 3 (1880)
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Fleurs (Fiançailles pour rire) (1939)
Eduard Toldrà (1895-1962)
A l’ombra del Leidoner (No 1 from A l’ombra del Leidoner) (1924)
Menta i farigola (1913)
Floreix l’ametller (1929)
Carlo Guastavino (1912-2000)
La rosa y el sauce (1942)
Cortadera, Plumerito… (from Flores Argentinas) (1969)
Muriel Herbert (1897-1984)
Violets (1927)
To daffodils (1916)
Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
The Language of Flowers (1872)
Haydn Wood (1882-1959)
Love’s Garden of Roses (1914)
Michael Flanders (1922-1975), Donald Swann (1923-1994)
Misalliance (At the Drop of a Hat)
