Oberon's Grove

Alfreda Hodgson

The English contralto Alfreda Hodgson studied at the Northern School of Music in Manchester. She was mainly known as a concert artist, performing such works as Mahler's 2nd and 8th symphonies, Lied von der Erde, and Das Knaben Wunderhorn; Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, The Kingdom, and The Apostles; Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, the Beethoven 9th, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mozart's Requiem, Britten's Spring Symphony, and works by Monteverdi, Bach, and Handel. Her operatic roles included Ulrica and Orfeo.

Known for interpretive gifts, Ms. Hodgson worked with such renowned conductors as Klemperer, Giulini, Maazel, Haitink, Ozawa, Rattle, Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, and Zubin Mehta. Her career flourished in Britain, the USA, and Israel.

Alfreda Hodgson passed away in 1992 at the early age of 52.

Ms. Hodgson sings Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, conducted by Bernard Haitink, here.

From one of the few operatic roles Alfreda Hodgson recorded complete:

Alfreda Hodgson - Voce di donna ~ GIOCONDA - w Caballe-Baltsa-Pavarotti-Milnes-Ghiaurov

PARSIFAL ~ Act II

A concert performance of Act II of Wagner's PARSIFAL given in 2010 by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden (photo). Klaus Florian Vogt is Parsifal, Katarina Dalayman is Kundry, and Krister St.Hill is Klingsor.

Watch and listen here.

Hindemith ~ Sonata for Harp

Héloïse Carlean-Jones plays Paul Hindemith's Sonata for Harp at a 2017 recital given at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Watch and listen here.

Aside from his score for Balanchine's immortal Four Temperaments, I admit I am not really familiar with Hindemith's music. This harp sonata is truly intriguing.

Verdi REQUIEM @ Baalbeck International Festival

Above: basso John Relyea

A performance of the Verdi REQUIEM from the 2019 Baalbeck International Festival 2019. given at the Bacchus Temple on July 26th, 2019. The soloists are Maria Agresta, Daniela Barcellona, Giorgio Berrugi, and John Relyea, with the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Antonine University Choir conducted by Toufic Maatouk.

Watch and listen here.

Samuel Hasselhorn ~ Erlkönig

Samuel Hasselhorn sings Franz Schubert's Erlkönig with the Orchestre Régional de Normandie, conducted by David Wroe.

Watch and listen here.

I've had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Hasselhorn in two recitals here in New York City. As a Young Concert Artists winner, he sang at Merkin Hall in 2017, and at The Morgan Library in 2018.