Sunday 4 December 2022 Holywell Music Room

The House of Life

Kitty Whately & William Vann

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ monumental song cycle The House of Life – which sets poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti – sits at the heart of this recital. It was first premiered in 1904 at Bechstein Hall by Edith Clegg, but was never recorded by a female singer until Kitty Whately’s and William Vann’s 2019 recording for Albion Records. The programme also includes songs by Vaughan Williams’ contemporary Rebecca Clarke, and his pupil Grace Williams. This programme is part of a year-long celebration of Vaughan Williams’ 150th anniversary.

‘Whately is a captivating live performer… In an age of glossily interchangeable international artists, this one isn’t afraid to tell us her story. I, for one, want to hear more.’ Gramophone (on Kitty Whately’s debut recording, This Other Eden)

About the artists

Kitty Whately trained at Chetham’s School of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal College of Music International Opera School. She won both the Kathleen Ferrier Award and the 59th Royal Overseas League Award in the same year, and was part of the prestigious Verbier Festival Academy where she appeared as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. Kitty was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2013-15, during which time she recorded her debut solo album This Other Eden, made recordings with the BBC orchestras, commissioned a new song cycle from Jonathan Dove, and made several appearances at the Proms.

Kitty is in high demand as a recitalist and concert artist. She made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, singing Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as a recital alongside Malcolm Martineau at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She made her BBC Proms debut in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Suite from Act II of Caroline Mathilde, and also appeared in a Chamber Music Prom singing the music of Stephen Sondheim. In 2017 Kitty released her second album, Nights not spent alone, to critical acclaim. Recorded in a co-production between Champs Hill Records and the BBC, and accompanied by distinguished pianist Simon Lepper, the disc presents complete works for mezzo-soprano by Jonathan Dove. It includes a song cycle of the same name dedicated to Kitty, which she premiered at the Cheltenham Music Festival in 2015.

A multiple-prize winning and critically acclaimed conductor and accompanist, William Vann is equally at home on the podium or at the piano. Gramophone’s review of his 2020 recording of folk song settings by Ralph Vaughan Williams noted: “William Vann’s stylist and responsive support is a delight throughout”; his recent revival of Hubert Parry’s oratorio Judith at Royal Festival Hall “was an unalloyed triumph for William Vann…he had complete command of the score and evident belief in the music” (Seen and Heard International).

His prizes for piano accompaniment include the Wigmore Song Competition Jean Meikle Prize for a Duo (with Johnny Herford), the Gerald Moore award and the Royal Overseas League Accompanists’ Award. His extensive discography includes recordings for Albion, Champs Hill, Chandos, Delphian, Etcetera, Navona and SOMM with artists including Mary Bevan, Jack Liebeck, Nicky Spence, Kitty Whately, Roderick Williams, Britten Sinfonia and the London Mozart Players.