Hugh Cutting: Reestablished Album Review – A Distinctive and Extremely Satisfying Collection | classical music

IIn 2021, Hugh Cutting was the first countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrer Award. Since then, he has been continually admired for his warm tone, easy musical line, and his theatrical authenticity. His debut EP continues this trend, but don’t expect the usual lineup of Handel arias or Dowland lute songs. On Refound, a collection of art songs with renewal at its core, his choices are eclectic, even idiosyncratic, but also deeply satisfying.

Links and similarities abound. Ravel’s reworking of Greek folk songs with Vaughan Williams’s Linden Lea, and Dvošák’s Biblical Songs reflect the setting of Howell’s medieval hymns, Come Sing and Dance. However, it’s Cutting’s sumptuous, supple voice that ties everything together. His handling of the text, his willingness to go deep, and his impeccable musical sensibility highlight every song, from Pierce Connor Kennedy’s wartime musings to Tom Lehrer’s Poisoning Pigeons in the Park (here sung as a baritone).

Audrey Hyland is a worthwhile partner throughout, whether she’s softening the vocal line in French Melodies by Hahn and Bonis or bringing drama to Wolf’s Lieder. Ending with spoken word—a rarity for Schubert for reader and piano—is a surprise, but if Cutting has taught us anything by this point, it is to expect the unexpected.