Neil Balfour, baritone / Sholto Kynoch, piano

Saturday 6 July, 3.00pm

Sholto Kynoch image © Fran Marshall

Sadly, Neil Balfour has COVID and so this concert is now CANCELLED. We will contact all those who have booked.

Rising star baritone Neil Balfour is joined by sought-after pianist Sholto Kynoch in songs encompassing Fauré and Schumann, together with new compositions.

Fauré: Cinq melodies ‘de Venise’
Robert Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben
- interspersed with selections from
Cheryl Francis-Hoad and Sophie Hannah: One Life Stand

Award-winning baritone Neil Balfour presents a varied programme, beginning with five well-known Fauré songs, and then an innovative arrangement of Schumann’s Romantic song cycle Frauenliebe und -leben, interspersed with a selection from contemporary British composer Cheryl Frances Hoad and poet Sophie Hannah’s work One Life Stand. This piece began as a modern take on the rather outdated poetry that Schumann set, and is musically inspired by Schumann’s piano textures.

Neil’s career to date has seen him appear in major concert and recital settings, as well as in opera and oratorio, as well as at the Glastonbury Festival. He is joined by much sought-after pianist Sholto Kynoch, a specialist in song and chamber music, and founder of the Oxford Lieder Festival. With an established international career, Sholto appears regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in major concert halls, and is much in demand to work with solo artists; he is highly regarded as a partner in these performances, the term ‘accompanist’ hardly doing his work justice.

‘We ended with Balfour's tour-de-force in Buddy's Blues (from Follies), terrific! A sense of intimacy ... just the right amount of voice yet bringing out the text, and some dazzling patter moments!’ Planet Hugill

‘Kynoch’s accompaniments are beautifully sensitive, flexible and transparent throughout…’ Gramophone Magazine / Hugo Wolf: The Complete Songs, Volume Eight

Venue: United Reformed Church, Bolford Street, Thaxted CM6 2PY
Tickets: £22. Age 30 and under: £10. Unreserved seating.

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