William Smith – tenor
Bernard Robertson – piano

The Programme

William Smith – tenor

Bernard Robertson – piano

Five Elizabethan Songs (1912)
1. Orpheus
2. Tears
3. Under the greenwood tree
4. Sleep
5. Spring

Chapels

from Cinq Mélodies ‘de Venise’ (1912), Op 58
1. Mandoline
2. En sourdine
3. Green
4. À Clymène

Irish Folksongs
Avenging and bright
At the mid hour of night
The last rose of summer

The Artists

William Smith trained at the Birmingham Conservatoire and continued his studies in Paris. William is now a freelance tenor based in London training with David Pollard. William specialises in art song and is the founder and a director of ‘The Marches Songbook’ – an organisation that forms creative partnerships between Poets and Composers of the English and Welsh border counties to create new songs. The work of ‘The Marches Songbook’ builds on the heritage of local composers such as the Gloucestershire composer Ivor Gurney (featured today) who was not only a composer but also a respected poet. The ‘Songbook’ seeks to evolve the canon and support contemporary authentic creative voices of this historically and artistically important borderland region.

William’s previous operatic roles include El Dancaire in Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, Belmonte in Mozart’s ‘Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail’, Mozart in Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Mozart and Salieri’ and Tom Rakewell in ‘The Rake’s Progress’ by Stravinsky. Recent oratorio roles include the tenor solos in Elgar’s ‘Dream of Gerontius’, Vaughan William’s ‘Hodie’ and Handel’s ‘Jephtha’.

Bernard Robertson enjoys an exceptionally varied career at the highest musical levels. He’s been assistant conductor/coach/continuo player (sometimes all three!) for productions at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, the Bolshoi, Bavarian State Opera and especially at Madrid’s Teatro Real. He’s played principal piano in virtually every British orchestra, with broadcasts, CDs, and concerts throughout the UK (including numerous appearances at the Proms), Europe and the USA. His continuo playing also includes work with English Chamber Orchestra and Salzburg’s Mozarteum Orchestra.
He’s played at Sadler’s Wells for many Matthew Bourne dance productions, notably ‘Edward Scissorhands’ & ‘The Red Shoes’ (forthcoming: ‘The Car Man’) and for productions by Carlos Acosta and the Pet Shop Boys. Film credits include ‘The Duchess’ and ‘Sweeney Todd’.

www.williamsmithtenor.com
www.themarchessongbook.co.uk