Jerwood Foundation young singers have become a highlight of the Brighton Festival: operatic stars of the future are heard here each year, live at lunchtime in the Brighton Dome Studio.
Angharad Morgan, Angharad Lyddon, Stuart Jackson and James Platt, with pianist Helen Collyer, would distinguish any opera house and delight any audience. Their programme was a careful selection from opera, folk tradition and songs from Edwardian England, each chosen to highlight particular vocal ability, personal affinity or national idiom.
James Platt’s fine bass baritone took a few moments to warm up before the enchanting long-weave Handelian melodies from Orlando caught fire. He did justice to the Catalogue Aria, yet Peter Warlock’s jolly drinking ballad was a reminder that song recitals are actually great fun.
Angharad Morgan sang about spring in Welsh with a pure strong soprano voice that sounded like a crystal fountain and Angharad Lyddon sumptuously picked the mezzo plums of Gluck and Bizet with a dark, rich sound that made Dido’s fate all too likely.
Lyric tenor Stuart Jackson won the Pavarotti Prize at the Royal Academy and I’m not surprised. His Ottavio would win Anna any day, and this critic, too. Brilliant and sensitive accompaniment from Helen Collyer.
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