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Canterbury Festival - Song for Ceylon
October 2005
Canterbury Cathedral
"Vocal fireworks ignite an audience"
Some singers think that the aim of singing is to make beautiful sounds. Angeline Kanagasooriam does not fall into this error.
Whilst she does make sounds of extraordinary beauty, her wide range of vocal colours are there to communicate and not merely to be admired.
It takes courage to open a recital with Handle's Let the Bright Seraphim – a display of fireworks more usually let off before the interval, when the voice has warmed up nicely for the vocal gymnastics involved.
The intelligence was seen at once in the middle section, sung gently in warm, dark brown voice in which you felt the cherub's plump, sunburnt flesh, a genuine contrast to the coloratura passages framing it, rather than the neutral free-wheeling so often heard.
After some more fireworks (Mozart's Alleluia) we got down to the meat of the first half: Schumann's strange song cycle Liederkreis.
Here, too, not only was the singing intelligent – the milk chocolate turned to sharp, cold steel when Kanagasooriam sang of moonlight – so, too, were the chatty explanations of the German songs.
Spencer Payne's accompanying was sensitive, with singer and pianist communicating well.
After the interval she was dramatic in three opera arias, disturbing in the four strange haunting Holst songs, accompanied by violin (also intelligently played by John Mann), and soft compelling in the three Christmas lullabies.
Finally, in two Negro spirituals, she accompanied herself on the on the piano. Jazz and popular singers often do this; classical singers almost never. But it produced a unique and powerful effect, voice and instrument being controlled by one mind.
This was not just a recital for a good cause (victims of the Tsunami). It was stylish (how else can you describe a pink sari with matching candles?) all beautfully planned and executed.
Peter Toon
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Astor Theatre Week
"Supreme sublime Soprano"
Among those present at the lunchtime recital on Friday there was a general feeling that was planned as an experiment for Astor Theatre Week should become a regular feature.
It was, moreover impossible not to realise that it was the quality of the music presented by Angeline Kanagasooriam and Derek Hyde that has promoted this desire.
Angeline is a soprano of immense power and sensitivity. It is not given to all soloists to establish a rapport with the audience at once but from the very beginning of Schumann's song-cycle Frauenliebe und Leben she secured rapt attention.
Her voice was true across the whole range, as moving in the pianissimo sections as when she filled the hall with full-throated tones.
Her supreme confidence with the music she was singing enabled her to explore the depths of this moving story of a woman's love in an interpretation that did full justice to Schumann's music and to Chamisso's poetry.
The role of the accompanist cannot be over-rated and on this occasion Derek Hyde displayed perfect sympathy with the soloist and gave ample evidence of his recent success as accompanist at Trinity College. Following the theme of the song-cycle he contributed himself two pieces by women composers, Clara Schumann's Andaniecom Sentimento and Dora Bright's Liebeslied.
Angeline concluded the programme with two groups of spirituals in the first of which she accompanied herself on the piano. Here again the musicianly qualities revealed in the Schumann were unfolded.
If lunchtime music is to become part of the musical scene in Deal I could not imagine a more auspicious first occasion.
Sion G.W.
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World Vision - Fund Raising for Ethiopia
17th May 2008
What a treat at the supper on May 17th at Petham Village Hall in aid of Lideta, a poverty-stricken area of Ethiopia, to have such good music!
Angeline Kanagasooriam, glowing in her sari, gave us a range of songs, mostly spirituals and folksongs which conferred a distinctive air upon the occasion. We were fortunate to hear a recital by her.
She is an assured musician, covering the loss of an accompanist by accompanying herself. Her manner is relaxed and wining and she offers helpful introductions to some of her numbers, though a microphone would have made sure that her quiet speaking voice came across more audibly. Angeline's singing voice is warm, full, and expressive. Finely judged dynamics conveyed a wide range of light and shade to an appreciative audience.
Trevor Conway
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Fairtrade Celebrations
6th March 2006
Canterbury Cathedral
At the launch of this year's Fairtrade Fortnight celebrations, more than 1,000 people from many denominations squeezed into Canterbury Cathedral for an evening of African music, drumming and dance on Saturday. At the heart of the celebration was a performance of the Congolese Mass – the Messa Luba – by the Madridi singers and drummers, local churches & school children and, Angeline Kanagasooriam, the talented and silver voiced soloist, who sang this challenging and beautiful African mass. The festive spirit of African music filled the ancient Cathedral, as singers and dancers from 'Music for Change' engaged the audience in African rhythm and song. Speaking on behalf of Christian Aid, Holly Ellson said: “Every time you choose to buy Fairtrade, you may be adding a slight cost to your shopping basket. But because of you decision, somebody on the other side of the world has just received a fair wage for their hard work. Your purchase speaks of your refusal to exploit the poor.” She continued “The Bishop may lead us and encourage us, but he can't do our shopping for us! We all need to respond individually and, as part of this movement for justice, change the world in our own shopping baskets.”
Canterbury's Anglican Diocesan Synod voted overwhelmingly last May to support the campaign for Canterbury to become a fairtrade Diocese. Over 50 parishes have already pledged to use excusively Fairtrade tea and coffee. Only 35 more parishes are required to achieve Fairtrade status. “Put your faith in Fairtrade” is the key message of the campaign.
Canterbury has excellent reasons to celebrate Fairtrade fortnight. Canterbury district has just been declared as the 150th Fairtrade Town in the country and the first Fairtrade District in Kent. The University of Kent has recently attained Fairtrade University Status and Canterbury Cathedral has also been recognised as a Fairtrade Church.
Elizabeth Appleyard and Catholic Herald
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"Marvellous Angeline"
12th November 2005
Angeline Kanagasooriam
I have heard Angeline several times either as a member of the audience or as her accompanist. She has a marvellous voice, intonation and diction.
This concert revealed more of her talents – those of a pianist and accompanist. There are not many people who can accompany themselves but Angeline is one of them.
The concert was informal and the programme started with three arias from Handle's Oratorio Messiah. These were sung with intense clarity and feeling.
This was followed by three folk songs from Britten. The chord sequences in Benjamin Britten's arrangement of O Waly. Waly are not altogether straightforward but Angeline played them beautifully.
She completely changed her style in the next sequence, Lazy Days and Nights, leaving one's imagination conjuring up images of South Sea Islands.
I have not heard how Lovely are the Dwellings or The Holy City for many years. It made a difference to sit back and listen to them sung with such clarity.
Michael Cooke
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Canterbury Festival - Song for Emmaus
October 2004
The Canterbury Festival was well served in a recital by Angeline Kanagasooriam (soprano), Jonathan Duke (piano) and Grenville Hancox (clarinet) held in the Cathedral Crypt on Saturday 9th October 2004 in aid of the Dover branch of Emmaus, the charity for the homeless.
(Angeline) Kanagasooriam has a powerful range of lyrical and dramatic character, expressed most effectively in four Spanish Tonadillas by Enrique Granados and the Letter Scene from Tschaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. The influence of the eminent Glynebourne coach Jonathan Hinden, who once unforgettably coached me briefly, was clear.
Hancox was at his best in Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano by the undeservedly rarely heard composer Richard Walthew. The virtuoso partnership (“accompanist” would underestimate his contribution) by Duke was at its most delicate and passionate in the aria Casta Diva from Bellini's Norma.
(Angeline) Kanagasooriam accompanied herself skillfully on the piano in a delightful Summertime Medley of old favourites that she herself arranged and the closing rendering of A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square convinced me that this delightful bird had also visited Canterbury. Fortunately, she can be heard again on her CD 'Peace in Our Time'.
Robert Le Fever
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Canterbury Festival - Song for India
Kentish Gazette
October 2003
The Synagogue
"Evening of Song was One to Treasure"
One of Canterbury's hidden treasures is the Old Synagogue, secreted among the surrounding buildings in King Street. It was the venue for a performance by one of Canterbury's other treasures, Angeline Kanagasooriam.
The Old Synagogue was full to support this fund-raising event for the local charity Health for All.
Angeline was joined by her friends, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Appleyard and pianist Robert Scott and Peter Cox.
After Angeline and Elizabeth opened with Mozart's Domine Deus, Angeline gave a wonderful performance of Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben, sung in the original German.
Peter Cox ran across from the Shirley Hall and, having gathered his breath, joined the stage for Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.
The second half included performances by Bellini and Verdi and then Mozart's The Magic Flute, including the wonderfully sung performance of Pa-pa-pa-pa.
Angeline showed her wide range of talents by following with a couple of Britten cabaret songs and ended with four spirituals. For the latter she accompanied herself on the piano. It was a wonderful and intimate concert, enjoyed by everybody who packed into the Old Synagogue. Angeline's joy and enthusiasm was contagious and much appreciated.
Mark Jones
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Deal Festival - Astor Theatre
"Singers Talent"
Although it is sometimes suggested that singers are less popular than instrumentalists, there was no evidence that this was true at the last of the Astor Theatre's Autumn Concerts. Both the size of the audience and the manifest pleasure with which Angeline Kanagasooriam's recital was received made this evening a felicitous conclusion to a successful series.
This was not the first time that she has sung in this theatre, but since then the range of her program has expanded considerably and she now displays a rich talent capable of a first-class interpretation of songs of every genre.
After a relaxed rendering of a set of songs by Granados in which she captured the enchanting Latin rhythms, Angeline came to to the principle work in her recital Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben.
This celebrated cycle of eight songs depicts the stages in a woman's love life and makes huge demands not only on the technical ability of the singer but also upon the emotional involvement of the singer and throughout her rendering the soloist was able to communicate the inspiration of Schumann's composition.
The second half of the programme was a happy blend of the familiar – operatic arias by Mozart, Puccini and Verdi – and the less well-known in the form of songs by Holst and Bliss.
English songs are often a neglected genre in the repertoire and Bliss's five songs from seven American poems were a welcome inclusion in this programme.
The Holst songs were written for voice and violin and Ben Hancox displayed a precocious talent as he tackled a most demanding accompaniment.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of the accompanist in any song recital, and this one, with its vast range of styles and moods, imposed particular demands.
Derek Hyde offered a masterly exposition of the art of accompanied, attentive always to the pacing of the sings and adding intensity to the voice. No less appreciated was his scholarly and helpful introduction to the Schumann work.
A third series of concerts is already planned for the next spring and details will be published in the near future.
I.K.