Duo Cantabrigia

Yesterday at St Paul’s, soprano Alecia Batson and organist/pianist Leonardo Ciampa gave a charmingly conceived (and ably executed) program of John Donne settings. The recital was about evenly split between composers of Donne’s own era, and recent settings by Dan Shore (in attendance at the concert) and Leonardo Ciampa himself. (Leonardo told me afterwards that Alecia had selected the entire program — thus modestly disavowing any selfish promotion of songs which he composed earlier this year.)

The concert was very nicely balanced, not only with the stylistic divide, but by the fact that Dan’s four settings were accompanied by piano. All the older settings were full worthy of being ‘dusted off’ for performance anew; and the new settings by Mssrs Shore & Ciampa are well written enough that we may hope they come to be sing again and again.