With less than a week to go before our summer concert, the temperature is currently forecast to hit 28C on the day itself. But if a description of our distinguished soloist, mezzo-soprano Clare Presland in The Times is anything to go by, “mesmerising with an intensity that almost sears the flesh”, her stage presence will create a heat all of its own for our audience on Saturday night at St James Church, Muswell Hill.
Clare first features in the second of three programmed pieces, a popular work for solo voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). A setting of four poems by the composer, it tells the story of a youth going through the agony of lost love and finding consolation and eventual resolution in nature.
NLC: Hi Clare, these poems reflect on the experience and consequences of unrequited love. How do you go about tapping into the emotion to convey that feeling? The songs were written to be performed by either a female or male singer, what particular quality do you think a mezzo-soprano voice brings to their performance?
CP: I love exploring complicated characters and depths of expression. I guess tapping into the emotion of unrequited love starts with being willing to sit with a feeling that’s often quiet, raw, and unresolved. I try not to ‘perform’ the sadness but feel the love underneath it, the part that still hopes, even when it knows better. When it comes to a mezzo-soprano voice, I think there’s something uniquely suited to this kind of emotion, an earthy, textured quality.
Clare rehearsing with Murray before the big day
The climax of the concert is Edward Elgar’s 1912 paean to art and artists for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra The Music Makers in which stanzas from Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s Ode are set to some of the composer’s finest music. To quote choir member Paul Filmer’s very fine programme notes: “The poem asserts and expounds throughout its nine stanzas, all of which Elgar set, the thesis that imaginative, creative artists (‘the music makers, the dreamers of dreams’) are the true authors and real inspiration for all the achievements of human society and culture (‘the movers and shakers/Of the world forever, it seems’).”
NLC: You make your entry in the fifth stanza after the chorus has established the theme of the poem. What’s your role in the narrative at this point and beyond? Are there any particular lines or moments in the solo that really resonate with you? Having sung the mezzo-soprano role in The Dream of Gerontius a few months ago, what is it about Elgar’s work that keeps you coming back for more?
CP: When I make my entrance in the fifth stanza of The Music Makers, it feels as though I’m stepping into a stream that has already begun to flow—carried by the voices of the chorus and Elgar’s sweeping orchestration. My role is to take up the thread of the poem’s as a participant in this collective creative force that the piece so eloquently exalts. Having recently sung the Angel in The Dream of Gerontius, I’ve come to appreciate how Elgar writes not just for the voice, but for the soul of the singer. His music always seems to tap into something profound, there’s an emotional sincerity in his work.
NLC: In 2014 you won the Chilcott Award given to young British opera singers who show outstanding international potential. How formative was that in influencing the direction of your career? You’ve clearly enjoyed success on the international stage since then – do you have a favourite memory of visiting a particular country on tour? What’s coming up next?
CP: Winning the Chilcott Award in 2014 was a real turning point for me. Not only was it an incredible honour to be recognised among such a talented field of young singers, but it also gave me some well needed confidence and encouragement as well as practical support. Since then, I’ve been lucky to perform in some extraordinary places with some wonderful people—I honestly couldn’t single anything out! Every project brings something new, whether it’s the music, the setting, or the colleagues you’re collaborating with. Further ahead, I’m especially excited to be heading to Japan in just a couple of weeks for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What makes this trip even more special is that my husband and our two children—aged four and seven—will be coming too. It’s going to be quite an adventure!
NLC: Finally, what would you say to a potential audience member who is wondering whether to give our concert a try?
CP: You should absolutely come!!! It is such a wonderful programme full of delicious music!
Tickets for the performance on 12 July can be purchased here.
