Elizabeth Llewellyn: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor & Friends
Soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and pianist Simon Lepper invite you to get to know the British composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Llewellyn and Lepper explore the works of Coleridge-Taylor, through the lens of his own songs of devotion, barely-repressed longing, and mercurial tales of love and loss, drawing on the rich story-telling traditions of the west coast of Africa and rural Spain, as well as the salons of 19th century London where desire and wit marked the lives of the British literary figures who lived there.
But there were other composers who influenced Coleridge-Taylor – his Irish composition teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford – and those whom Coleridge-Taylor admire; the Italian opera-composer Puccini for his sense of colour and the German composer Brahms, whom he considered to be a modernist. Fascinating too that Coleridge-Taylor has been called ‘the black Mahler’ as they both shared a love of folk-music in their writing.
Join the musical conversation, and enjoy an evening in the company of Coleridge-Taylor and friends!
Elizabeth Llewellyn is a British opera singer who debuted with the English National Opera in 2010. Known for her vivid portrayals of Puccini heroines, and for her full, distinctive voice, Elizabeth has quickly risen through the ranks since making her debut as Mimi/La Boheme in London in 2010, and established herself internationally as a dramatic and vocal artist of distinction.
Elizabeth’s 2020/21 season started with an acclaimed return to the role Mimi/La Boheme, and has continued with her reinvention as a celebrated recitalist, with debuts at the Wigmore Hall in London and at Snape Maltings. Her debut solo album of songs by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor will be released in May 2021 on Orchid Classics. Also this season, Elizabeth makes her debut as Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, directed by Sir David McVicar. Looking further ahead, Elizabeth reprises her role as Bess (Porgy and Bess) at the Metropolitan Opera in November 2021.
This performance will be followed with an interview with Elizabeth, hosted by Dr Hannah Marie Robbins (Assistant Professor in Popular Music, University of Nottingham).
Simon Lepper read music at King’s College, Cambridge before studying piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek at the Royal Academy of Music and later with Ruben Lifschitz at the Fondation Royaumont. He is a currently professor of collaborative piano and a vocal repertoire coach at the Royal College of Music, London where he also in charge of the collaborative piano course. Since 2003 he has been an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
