Jess Gillam with... Fleur Barron

This Classical Life

Jess Gillam meets mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron to swap some of their favourite music.

Singaporean-British mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron sings everything from opera to chamber music, from the baroque to the contemporary. She is mentored by Barbara Hannigan and has performed with LSO, Czech Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony. She joins Jess ahead of performing Freya Waley-Cohen's Spell Book with Manchester Collective in London. Her music choices include a contralto version of Schubert's Winterreise, a traditional Uyghur folk song, and a toe-tapping melody from the musical Kiss Me, Kate. Jess brings along 'stadium jazz' from saxophonist Donny McCaslin, elegant incidental music from Purcell, and a joyful explosion of sound from indie band Villagers.

PLAYLIST: HENRY PURCELL – Abdelazer Z 570 (2nd mvt, Rondeau) [Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner] COLE PORTER - Too Darn Hot (Kiss Me, Kate) [2019 Broadway Cast Recording] OLIVIER MESSIAEN – La mort du nombre [Sholto Kynoch (piano), Kaoru Yamada (violin), Rhona McKail (soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor)] TRADITIONAL UYGHUR – Derdi Tolidur Yarning (Such Pain My Love) [Sanubar Tursun (vocals and dutar)] WILLIAM WALTON – Symphony No 1 in B flat minor (4th mvt) [London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis] DONNY MCCASLIN – Stadium Jazz FRANZ SCHUBERT – Gute Nacht (Winterreise, D 911) [Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto), Inger Södergren (piano)] VILLAGERS – The First Day