Samling & Katerina Mina
Samling Institute for Young Artists Showcase - Wigmore Hall - 8 November 2010
Samling Artists Programme - Farlam Hall - 20 November 2019
Katerina Mina - Teatro Sperimentale - 20 October 2019
Image taken from the Samling Institute website
Samling Institute for Young Artists Showcase
For more than 20 years the Samling Institute for Young Artists has brought together emerging singers together with international artists who act as a bridge and tutor between the conclusion of studies and the beginning of professional life. The roster of Samling Artists who have forged an incredible professional life is impressive and this year the score of wonderful musical talent is unlikely to disappoint.
There was a Wigmore Hall show with the soprano Claire Lees, the mezzo-soprano Anna Stephany and baritone, Dominic Sedgwick. Filipe Manu the tenor was indisposed, but Nicky Spence, a 2006 Samling Artist and an outstanding Heurtebise at ENO’s current production of Philip Glass’s Orphee, took his place at short notice.
The artists brought together a beautiful programme of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each artist had their favourite pieces. For Claire Lees her singing of Richard Strauss’s Das Rosenband was clear, focused and bright and she joined Nicky Spence for an outstanding Robert Schumann’s Leibesgarten. Perhaps the rendition of the night was Spencer’s Proud Songsters from Benjamin Britten. The sweet mezzo-soprano sound of Anna Stephany gave us a great rendition of Liza Lehmann’s There are fairies at the bottom of our garden and Dominic Sedgwick was absolutely on point with his A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.
Samling Artists Programme
In another Samling week the Institute’s Concert at Farlam Hall gave us a different group of eight artists at various stages of their careers.
Milly Forrest’s sweet flexible soprano sound sang a strident Ombre pallide from Handel’s Alcina. Madison Nonoa was clearly in touching distance with a beautiful rendition of The Rose Song in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. The big voice of the mezzo-soprano Claire Barnett-Jones sang from Wagner’s Gotterdammerung as well as Sibelius – she is also a Harewood Artist and perhaps a spinto soprano in the making!
The mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor took on a role from Massenet’s Don Quichotte - recently seen at Wexford – as well as Harty’s Irish song The Sea Wrack, beautifully sung with a deep quality mezzo sound. The baritone Paul Grant has a deep voice of substance and schooling will be important to add that edge of colour and shade that will be required for his future roles. This was not necessarily the case for the baritone Joel Terrine, who showed great flexibility and quality, particularly with his rendition from Korngold’s Die tote Stadt.
All the artists were led through their week of masterclasses by Anne Schwanewilms, James Baillieu and James Garnon and some outstanding accompanying piano playing by Somi Kim, Domonkos and Ella O’Neill.
Katerina Mina
The journey of these young artists is a far cry from the presentation in Italy at Corelli’s favourite theatre, Teatro Sperimentale in Ancona. The wonderful artist Katerina Mina led a programme of Women in Music with her pianist Stavros Dritsas, concentrating on a Lieder programme by Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms before heading into a more vocally substantial programme, suited to her voice, which included Richard Wagner’s Elsa’s Dream from Lohengrin, Puccini’s Vissi d’arte from Tosca and Verdi’s Pace from La Forza del Destino. Her voice is one of real substance and quality and throughout this recital her musicality shone through with great shades of light and dark colour to match. This is a soprano who should be and undoubtedly will be heard on a greater stage.
So we go from Young Artists in training to Katerina Mina, whose training should propel her into a major career and the vocal teacher Anne Schwanewilms, whose major career was a joy to behold.
