Brighton Festival: 'The South Country' recital with Hugh Cutting and George Ireland - 5 stars

'We expected good – very good – and got more than excellent! Two years ago Cutting and Ireland delighted us with a beautifully crafted programme ranging from Monteverdi to George Benjamin. This year, with Sussex bred mezzo-soprano Rebecca Leggett, they presented a winning collection of Sussex songs and poems. Some were whimsical, others passionate, all delivered with beguiling musicality and acted with great charm. Using the whole platform, with just two stools, a book and the piano as props, they evoked the breadth of Sussex, the Downs, the Weald and the sea.

Songs I learned in class as a boy came across as new: Ireland’s ‘Sea Fever’ sung by a countertenor now had a spooky, wistful air; Parry’s ‘Love is a bable’ was actually humorous; Vaughan Williams’s ‘The Water Mill’ made so much more sense being sung by a swain to his lass. Handel’s ‘Streams of pleasure’ and Bernstein’s ‘Adonai ro’i’ demonstrated how well matched these beautiful voices were. Some songs, like Leo Sayer’s ‘When I need you’, definitely of Sussex origin, were sentimental, others like John Sturt’s ‘On the Sussex Downs’ and Frank Bridge’s ‘Where she lies asleep’ were tenderly poignant. George Ireland, facing the audience, presided from the keyboard like a generous host. For me the Bridge and the Britten were the highlights of this excellent programme. The rambunctious encore sent us away most jolly.'
​
thelatest.co.uk/brighton/2024/05/09/brighton-festival-the-south-country-hugh-cutting-rebecca-leggett-george-ireland/