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Héloïse Werner’s Top Five: Voice and Strings

Soprano and composer Héloïse Werner shares her favourite recordings for the intimate setting of voice and strings. 'The combination of voice and strings can take so many forms, colours and styles, and that’s what excites me about it. My latest album ‘close-ups’ is an exploration of music for voice and strings, from the very old to the very new. When putting together this playlist, I was trying to think who were the performers and composers who have inspired me to make this new album and more generally have had a big influence on my music.'

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5 Tracks • 20:22

I’ll start with the Barbara Strozzi track, masterfully performed by one of my favourite mezzos and colleagues Helen Charlston, beautifully accompanied by Toby Carr on the theorbo. Strozzi’s music has the power to speak directly to your heart while allowing you to drift into your own thoughts and just lose yourself in the music. A Strozzi track opens my new album too…

Next, we have Mary Bevan and The 12 Ensemble’s fantastic recording of Britten’s 'Les Illuminations,' from which I’ve picked the second song. As a native French speaker, I’ve always been drawn to the poetry of Rimbaud – it’s very abstract and ahead of its time, yet it manages to provoke vivid images in your mind. Britten’s setting for strings and voice then brings a whole other dimension to this and it’s exhilarating to experience.

Something different now – the force of nature that is cellist, singer and composer Abel Selaocoe. He’s a unique artist whose stunning music and approach has inspired me so much over the past few years. I’ve almost never been so mesmerised as I was when watching Abel perform an improvised solo set for voice and cello at the Wigmore Hall a couple of years ago.

Going back to something early now, this Chelleri track from Adèle Charvet (another of my favourite mezzos) and French baroque ensemble Le Consort is just dazzling. I remember spending an entire train journey listening to just this one track, on repeat. It’s so good!

My last choice, from my debut album ‘Phrases’, is a piece for voice and cello called 'yhyhyhyhyh,' written especially for me and Colin Alexander by the brilliant Oliver Leith. It doesn’t sound like just one cello, right? Oliver’s music is so cool and moving at the same time, I don’t know how he does it.