Huw Montague Rendall & Carrie-Ann Matheson

“An astutely curated recital in which lyrical poise and nuanced but natural interpretations are not only a winning combination, but promise of a great future.” “Again Matheson…Made the piano an equally expressive voice.” Baritone Huw Montague Rendall and pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson present an evening of searching song, opening with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s beloved Songs of Travel — settings of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poetry that follow a wanderer’s journey through the English countryside and beyond. The program continues with Jonathan Dove’s Three Love Songs, works of lyricism and harmonic freshness from one of Britain’s most gifted and approachable contemporary composers, before turning to Arnold Schoenberg’s Vier Lieder — intimate and harmonically adventurous songs that find the composer at a pivotal moment of transition, one foot still in the lush world of late Romanticism, the other reaching boldly toward a new musical language. The evening culminates in one of the great song cycles of the orchestral repertoire: Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen — Songs of a Wayfarer — here performed in the rarely heard but deeply rewarding version for voice and piano. This aching set, written in the shadow of a lost love, follows its wanderer through grief and fleeting consolation, ultimately finding a kind of bittersweet peace beneath a linden tree. Rendall, whose voice combines natural warmth with keen interpretive intelligence, is ideally suited to this music of restless longing, and Matheson’s pianism ensures that every nuance and poetic image finds its full expression. Songs of Travel – Vaughan Williams Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen – Mahler *Selections subject to change* One of the most exciting talents to have emerged in recent years, British baritone Huw Montague Rendall has already made hugely acclaimed debuts on some of the world’s most important stages such as the Royal Ballet & Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opéra National de Paris, Festival d’Aix en Provence, and the Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals, earning rapturous acclaim for his compelling artistry, stage craft and musicianship. One of the most exciting talents to have emerged in recent years, British baritone Huw Montague Rendall has already made hugely acclaimed debuts on some of the world’s most important stages such as the Royal Ballet & Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opéra National de Paris, Festival d’Aix en Provence, and the Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals, earning rapturous acclaim for his compelling artistry, stage craft and musicianship. Montague Rendall’s debut album Contemplation (2024) received 5-star reviews saying it ‘lives up to the hype’ and most recently won the Voice and Ensemble category at the Gramophone Classic Music Awards 2025. Montague Rendall’s 2025/26 season begins with his return to the Royal Ballet & Opera for David McVicar’s loved production of Die Zauberflöte before making his debut at Gran Teatre del Liceu as Belcore L’elisir d’amore and then later as Dandini La Cenerentola at Opéra national de Paris. He also appears as Il Conte Le nozze di Figaro at Wiener Staatsoper and Pelléas Pelléas et Mélisande at Opéra de Monte-Carlo. On the concert platform, Montague Rendall performs Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Raphaël Pichon; Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin with Joseph Middleton and then later in the year they are joined by Louise Alder for a recital at the Howard Assembly Room, Leeds; concert performances of Pelléas et Mélisande with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony with the Hallé Orchestra; and three recitals with pianist Hélio Vida at Opéra national du Rhin, Teatro de Zarzuela and Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, Paris. Winner of the 2024 Oper! Awards for Best Newcomer, last season saw Montague Rendall perform as Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Ballet & Opera and then he made his house and role debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in the title role in Billy Budd. Other engagements included a new production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opéra national de Paris; Eisenstein Die Fledermaus with Les Musiciens du Louvre and Marc Minkowski; Count Le nozze di Figaro in a new production at Glyndebourne Festival and at the BBC Proms; a European tour with Pygmalion Ensemble and Raphaël Pichon of Bach’s Johannespassion; his Wigmore Hall recital debut; Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with Erin Morley and Malcolm Martineau; and solo recitals with Joseph Middleton. Other recent highlights include Eisenstein Die Fledermaus with Staatsoper Hamburg and Les Musiciens du Louvre on tour at the Teatro Real and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro; his first Don Giovanni in concert at Opéra de Rouen; and a huge triumph in the title role of Pelléas Pelléas et Mélisande at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. On the concert platform, he performed a solo reci