Spectacular Recital

One of our talented musicians and performers, Aldi gave a wonderful morning recital to a small, receptive and socially distanced audience. Aldi recorded her audition repertoire for the conservatoires, which due to the current restrictions are requiring all applicants to submit a video performance.

The programme was varied in style whilst being exceptionally challenging both musically and technically.

Handel              Oh! Had I Jubal’s Lyre

Berg                 Die Nachtigall

Verdi                Caro Nome

Schumann        Du bist wie eine blume

Mozart             Ach! Ich fuhl’s

Gounod           Ah! Je veux vivre

Aldi began the recital with the Handel, which was showed clarity and elegance throughout. The accuracy in Handel’s virtuosic scalic runs was exceptional as well as the purity of her interpretation.

Aldi has a naturally warm and charming voice and her understanding of the musical intricacies and tonal variety. Throughout the entirety of the recital she demonstrated a freshness with an easy flexibility in the high lyric coloratura range. Her understanding of the Romantic stylistic demands that both the Berg and Schumann present. She showed both maturity and sensitivity in her interpretation. Moreover, she maintained the stylistic integrity of the Mozart aria, being able to capture the emotional drama that it demands.

Verdi’s aria, ‘Caro Nome’ appears in Act I of his opera, Rigoletto. The song appears straight after Gilda falls in love with Gualtier Maldé, a poor student who is really the Duke in disguise. The aria is brief but plays a key role in the unfolding story. Aldi managed to capture both the romanticism and humour in her performance with cheeky repartee throughout, whilst maintaining musical integrity and focus throughout. The cadenza at the end was quite extraordinary. Her rapturous performance of the Gournod was quite simply, magnificent! She demonstrated wit, charm, elegance whilst exhibiting an abundance of panache and exceptional sass!

The music department would like to thank Mr Duncan White who accompanied Aldi so excellently. We would also like to thank Ms Alison Duguid, Aldi’s singing teacher. Her musical mastery and expert tutorage has been outstanding over the years and we are truly thankful and we know that Aldi is, also.

We are ever so very proud of Aldi and her musical achievements thus far and we wish her all the best of successes in her conservatoire applications and beyond. The entirety of Aldi’s performance can be found on the music department’s YouTube channel, and highlights have also been posted on our Instagram IGTV.