Various Composers - I Have Lived & Loved (Pénélope Thwaites; Kathryn Rudge; Alessandro Fisher)

Information

1. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 1, The Vagabond
2. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 2, Let Beauty Awake
3. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 3, The Roadside Fire
4. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 4, Youth and Love
5. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 5, In Dreams
6. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 6, The Infinite Shining Heavens
7. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 7, Whither Must I Wander?
8. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 8, Bright Is the Ring of Words
9. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Songs of Travel: No. 9, I Have Trod the Upward and Downward Slope
10. Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Poisoned Kiss: Dear Love, Behold
11. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Sir John in Love: See the Chariot at Hand
12. Ralph Vaughan Williams - Hugh the Drover: The Devil and Bonyparty
13. Peggy Glanville-Hicks - Come Sleep
14. Peggy Glanville-Hicks - Sappho: How Soon Will All My Lovely Days Be Over
15. John Raynor - Down by the River
16. John Raynor - Spring
17. Percy Grainger - Bold William Taylor
18. Percy Grainger - Weaving Song
19. Percy Grainger - Died for Love
20. Percy Grainger - Dedication II
21. Percy Grainger - Fair Young Mary
22. Percy Grainger - A Reiver's Neck-Verse
23. Percy Grainger - Under a Bridge
24. Percy Grainger - Hubby and Wifey
25. Percy Grainger - Up-Country Song

Kathryn Rudge, mezzo-soprano

Alessandro Fisher, tenor

Pénélope Thwaites, piano

Date: 2025

Label: Albion

_____________________

This recital album explores the influence of folk music on Ralph Vaughan Williams and his friend Percy Grainger. It opens with Kathryn Rudge’s pioneering recording of Vaughan Williams’s Songs of Travel—the first complete performance of the cycle by a woman, partnered by pianist Penelope Thwaites. The program continues with three operatic songs sung by Alessandro Fisher, plus rarely heard works by Vaughan Williams’s pupil Peggy Glanville-Hicks and the little-known John Raynor, whose music is recorded here for the first time. The album concludes with six solo songs and three duets by Grainger, ranging from pathos to humor, and culminating in a moving wordless homage to Australia.

Kathryn Rudge (b. 1986, Liverpool) is a British mezzo-soprano who trained at the Royal Northern College of Music with Susan Roper, graduating in 2011. A BBC New Generation Artist (2015–17), former ENO Young Artist, and YCAT artist, she has won major awards including the RPS Susan Chilcott Scholarship and the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary. Acclaimed for roles with English National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and Garsington, she excels equally in opera, song, and concert repertoire. She has performed at Wigmore Hall, major UK festivals, and with leading BBC and UK orchestras. Her recordings span recital, song, and opera, featuring works by Elgar, Strauss, and Vaughan Williams.

Alessandro Fisher, a British-Italian tenor, is a 2016 Kathleen Ferrier Award winner, 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Fellow, and former BBC New Generation Artist. A Cambridge graduate and Guildhall-trained singer, he has performed widely in opera, concert, and recital. Operatic highlights include roles at Glyndebourne, Royal Opera, Salzburg Festival, Garsington, and English Touring Opera. His concert work spans Britten, Mendelssohn, Roussel, Vaughan Williams, and tours with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. A committed recitalist, he regularly appears at Wigmore Hall and leading festivals. His discography includes acclaimed recordings for Opera Rara, Harmonia Mundi, Chandos, and Albion Records.