David Butt Philip Gala: thoughts from the audience

We thought it was a wonderful evening, of course. But what did our attentive and appreciative audience make of our fundraising gala concert?

Stephanie Wake-Edwards

Church and music go together like salt and pepper. But real robust operatic singing is unusual in church. Except that’s exactly what’s on offer at St Paul’s Clapham with its hall-like shape, multiple windows, and acoustically helpful wooden ceiling 

The reason is St Paul’s Opera. Yes that’s right. This is a church that does opera too. Opera may indeed be rare among ecclesiastical goings-on. And certainly opera is more Italian or German than British. But Father Jonathan, vicar at St Paul’s, spent two decades as Anglican parish priest in Rome at All Saints near the Piazza del Popolo, and Ogni Santi, via del Babuino, had lots of opera during his time in charge, just as there is now at St Paul’s a hop and a skip from Clapham Common.

At a Thursday evening Gala concert late in March I heard a fabulous feast of operatic singing by a quartet of professionals with an enticing selection of hit songs from romantic operas by Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Dvorak, Humperdinck, Saint-Saens, Puccini, Lehar and even Rogers and Hammerstein.  

The singers were led off by the powerful young heroic tenor David Butt Philip, with Lauren Fagan serenading the moon (also in Rusalka, a hit opera at ENO on St Martin’s Lane). Then Stephanie Wake-Edwards brought her gorgeous mezzo colouring to ‘Mon coeur s’ouvre’ from Samson and Dalila, while bass-baritone David Shipley glowed - and perhaps glowered - in Il lacerate spirito from Simon Boccanegra.

My days as opera critic on the Guardian and Evening Standard were last century. But I have to say I have never heard in a church before, and been able to really enjoy, such fabulous renditions of the meat at the heart of so many great operas at one single sitting!

Tom Sutcliffe (still writing when the word needs to get out!) 

David Butt Philip

A treat of an evening! All four soloists were absolutely superb and the programme was extremely well judged and flowed very smoothly. 

Lauren Fagan’s gorgeous, creamy soprano held us spellbound in Dvorak’s ‘Song to the Moon’, reeling us in mermaid-like with her mesmerising stage presence.  Stephanie Wake-Edwards is a brilliant singer/actor and completely inhabited every character she portrayed, with an amazingly expressive face as well as a beautifully rich mezzo voice. 

We were also treated to some wonderfully dramatic singing from David Butt Philip, whose thrilling voice could have filled St. Paul’s Church three times over. (It’s not surprising he’s already been talent spotted by the Met.)  Bass David Shipley displayed his glorious lower register in Sarastro’s aria but also demonstrated his emotional range in his moving account of Schaunard’s ‘Vecchia Zimmara, Senti’. 

Many congratulations to St. Paul’s Opera’s new patron David Butt Philip on bringing such brilliant friends along.

Antonia Cviic

Lauren Fagan

A beautiful sunny Spring day was made even better by a visit to St Paul’s Opera in Clapham to hear a Gala Concert given by David Butt Philip and colleagues. 

David Butt Philip opened the gala with the Prince’s Aria from Rusalka. His burnished tone immediately catching our ear and attention, and his lyric/dramatic voice revealing a magnificent upper voice, leading to immediate and deserved bravos.

Following David’s aria Lauren Fagan sang the familiar ‘Song to the Moon’ from the same opera, her lyric soprano matching warm lower and middle registers with a thrillingly beautiful top, spun like the finest silk.

In her next aria, ‘Signore Ascolta’, from Puccini’s Turandot, Lauren engaged us with Liu’s entreaties to Calaf (David). When she warned that they - she and Calafs father: David Shipley - could die on the road to exile, ‘Ei perdei suo filglio…io l’ombra d’un sorriso’ – (He will lose his son…and I, the shadow of a smile) she pierced out hearts. This was not ‘merely’ beautiful singing, it had contemporary resonance. And it was very beautiful indeed.

David followed this with Calafs response, ‘Non piangere Liu’ (Do not cry Liu).  His breadth of phrasing and tone was both reassuring and riveting. A real sense of the aria building.

Bass David Shipley had already been heard with David and Lauren in a trio from Die Zaubeflöte and he then sang Sarastros ‘In diesen heil’gen Hallen’ from the same opera. His bright and dark voice allied with a sense of presentation, of drama and of fun. David also sang arias from La Bohème, Simon Boccanegra  - where his voice rolled out magnificently, ending with a firm, resonant low F#, which we felt as well as heard, and ending with ‘A Fellow Needs a Girl’ from the lesser known Rodgers and Hammerstein show, Allegro, showing that basses are not just fathers, Fathers, priests and demons, but also lovers.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Wake Edwards has an engaging stage presence and presented a range of arias showcasing her versatility. The coloratura of Rosina’s ‘Una voce poco fa’ was clean, playful and, when needed had real bite ‘Mon Couer s’ouvre a ta voix’ from Saint-Saens’ Samson et Dalila was sung with luxuriant tone and passionate vocal detail. Stephanie’s expressive eyes were an aria in themselves, communicating the characters innermost thoughts. A rare talent in itself. Her Carmen was a woman who used every trick in the book to get the result she wanted, not least a luxuriant sound. Stephanie’s last solo item was the heart-breaking ‘Va, laisse couler mes larmes’ from Massenet’s Werther. She brought the audience to her and time stood still: fragile and strong.

David BP had sung ‘Pourquoi me revellier’ from the same opera. As Werther reads Ossian’s poetry to Charlotte he realises that she loves him. David’s opulent singing, and his emotional progression of the aria was shattering.  

Lauren’s final aria, ‘Meine Lippen sie Kussen so Heiss’ from Lehar’s Guiditta, and David BP’s ‘Dein ist mein ganzes Herz’ from The Land of Smiles are real crowd pleasers, particularly when sung with such generosity of tone and elan.

David Shipley

I have spoken of arias and song, but there was wonderful ensemble singing too with Duets from La Bohème, and Hansel & Gretll, Trios from Die Zauberflöte and Così fan Tutte and the ‘Brindisi’ from La Traviata bring all the singers together for the final number.

The four singers worked in collaboration with two wonderful pianists, Genevieve Ellis from the Royal Opera House and St Paul’s Opera’s Musical Director, Panaretos Kyriatzidis, who both played with sensitivity and strength, passion and precision.  These were not ‘just’ accompanists but active participants, their songs-without-words illuminating the depths of the music and text.  

“Thoughts from the pew towards the back”