Simon Collings, Weekend

'Brewer has a wide repertoire, including Handel, Gluck, Verdi, Wagner and Britten. Her versatility was evident in the contrasting halves of the concert. She has a powerful voice, wonderfully suited to the melting phrases and intense emotions of the music in the first half. The opening song of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Der Engel, was exquisite. Strauss’s Befreit (Freed) was another highlight. In the confines of the Holywell Music Room the effect of her voice was exhilarating. She and Vignoles were just as convincing in the ‘lighter’ pieces in the second half. The songs, all by American composers, were sentimental, witty, even downright bizarre. Brewer displayed a gentler, more relaxed, personality in this music. I loved the bluesy Happiness is a thing called Joe by Harold Arlen, and Frank La Forge’s passionate eulogy to hill walking. John La Montaine’s setting of the Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods included some nice sound effects in the accompaniment and ended with surprising jauntiness.'

Reviewer: Simon Collings, Weekend

Review Date: February 8th, 2011

Performance:

Wigmore Hall Recital, January, 2010