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Kate Royal: A Lesson in Love

Kate Royal (soprano) & Malcolm Martineau (piano)

Awards:

Royal is on fine form in the Schumann and Schubert Lieder, with Malcolm Martineau at the piano stage-managing the show admirably, as indeed he does throughout.

Kate Royal: A Lesson in Love

Kate Royal (soprano) & Malcolm Martineau (piano)

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This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now lossless, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit

Awards:

Royal is on fine form in the Schumann and Schubert Lieder, with Malcolm Martineau at the piano stage-managing the show admirably, as indeed he does throughout.

About

A Lesson in Love tells the universal story of a love won and lost, and contains some beautiful and emotional German lieder, English and American songs and French mélodies.

Kate Royal’s first two orchestral discs for EMI have been critically acclaimed. Here she turns her attention towards a more intimate recital disc with piano.

A Lesson in Love charts the journey of a young girl’s relationship: from the first kiss and thrill of a blossoming love and initial intimacy through to the joy of a love fulfilled, to the disappointment and anger when the relationship breaks down - it ends with the girl’s acceptance and a cheeky sense of optimism about what her future love life might hold… Kate here creates her own unique song cycle, a thematic journey through the highs and lows of love, of young naivety lost and emotional maturity gained, feelings and experiences everyone can relate.

Kate leads us through her own personal choice of song, and her innate sense of drama and her passion for musical storytelling brings a fresh and youthful interpretation of the disc repertoire. A Lesson in Love contains a mixture of well-known songs as well as some surprising rarities, with a range of song styles and languages to appeal to a broad audience. She is joined by the most esteemed and respected accompanists, Malcolm Martineau.

Contents and tracklist

No. 11, Lied der Braut, "Mutter, Mutter! glaube nicht" (Sehr innig)
Track length2:17
No. 12, Lied der Braut, "Lass mich ihm am Busen hangen" (Larghetto)
Track length1:29

Spotlight on this release

  • Kate Royal: A Lesson in Love

    14th Feb 2011by Chris O'Reilly

    The British soprano and Malcolm Martineau present an eclectic programme of German, French, American and Italian songs tracing a young girl’s first love-affair, including music by Debussy, Liszt, Wolf, Schumann and Bolcom.

Awards and reviews

  • Presto Recording of the Week
    14th February 2011

April 2011

Royal is on fine form in the Schumann and Schubert Lieder, with Malcolm Martineau at the piano stage-managing the show admirably, as indeed he does throughout.

April 2011

Royal's idea of combining songs of disparate eras and styles to tell a single love story works beautifully...[She] sings with radiant beauty and powerful emotional immediacy. If the golden warmth of her voice shows a hint of tightening when pushed on her high notes, it doesn't detract from the overall impact.

11th February 2011

Royal, with Malcolm Martineau at the piano, finds a character and colour for each of her 28 songs...William Bolcom’s gentle “Wait in” at the start and finish is well justified, and her Bridge and Britten are heartfelt, but the gem is Amy Beach’s winsome “Ah, Love but a day!”.

March 2011

Kate Royal's beautifully sung new album, with finely characterised piano-playing from Malcolm Martineau, ranges imaginatively across a spectrum of composers who have captured the first pangs, the heartaches and the dashed hopes that can make life such a maelstrom of emotion.

March 2011

Royal is generally in fine voice...luscious warmth is much in evidence. Royal is an exception among the majority of lyric sopranos these days in boasting an especially substantial middle range, which really glows throughout this disc.

6th March 2011

An intriguingly fresh and unhackneyed programme...Kate Royal proves herself a compelling recitalist, colouring words with feeling and creating vivid atmosphere and character.
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