Part of the 2025 Norfolk and Norwich Festival, this sold out duo concert took place in the intimate and very historic setting (circa 1430) of the restored medieval trading building Dragon Hall in Norwich. Mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, is Artist in Residence at this year’s festival. Dimitris Soukaris is an outstanding Greek classical guitarist, now resident in London.
Their programme was something of a world tour of song, representing eleven nationalities and sung in six different languages. Genres represented were similarly diverse, from modern classical to folk song, Great American Songbook, bossa nova and diverse points between. Alongside the instrumental and vocal virtuosity and charm, for the most part unamplified and unmodified, this made for a very enjoyable evening indeed. It was no surprise to learn that the two have been working together for several years.
The juxtaposition of opener “Second Lute Song of the Earl of Essex” from Britten’s opera Gloriana with the heart rending interpretation of Bacharach’s “A House is not a Home” which followed was typical of the diversity of the whole, the latter distinguished by a beautiful, yearning guitar solo. As Lotte explained, a unifying theme of their forthcoming album, due in September, as with tonight’s show, is “the space between consciousness and sleep” and the persistence of childhood in the mind – a “very personal programme” as she put it. In this vein, Portuguese lullaby “Para Ninar” was short but very sweet, exemplifying the emotional range the singer commands. Folk songs, all delivered in the original language, included three by Manuel de Falla and others by Maurice Ravel, sung in Greek (with prior tutoring by the guitarist, who added some beautiful harmonics). Following this, “Reveillez toi” was a selection of four French folk songs in arrangements by Hungarian-born British composer Matyas Seiber.
Interesting personal anecdotes illuminated and set the tone for several of the pieces. Solo guitar piece “Milonga” by the Argentinian Jorge Cardoso was introduced by Dimitris as the piece that first made him want to take up the guitar, when played to him by his father – a beautiful, atmospheric melody over shifting arpeggios. The mood was sustained and developed into the next song, a keening melody “Uzun ince Bir Yoldayim” , sung in Turkish by Lotte with great depth of feeling and restraint – a real high point.
Careful attention was paid throughout to balance and variety of mood, with renditions of popular songs (Sinead O’Connor, Shara Nova) alongside folk and classical pieces of diverse periods. The final three items built very effectively to a climax, starting with Baden Powell’s “Canto de Ossanha” with its rousing chorus, Latin rhythms and percussive guitar slapping – a real showcase eliciting the biggest response yet. Rogers and Hart standard “Blue Moon” maintained the mood in highly infectious and crowd pleasing style (A minor point – electronic guitar effects were used sparingly, for example on this tune, but to my mind unnecessarily. There was already tonal variety to spare in the natural sound of guitar and voice). Cesaria Evora’s “Saudade” was a very well deserved encore. This account of the Cape Verde Portuguese Creole classic was full of feeling and distinguished by a beautiful guitar solo and a highly dramatic diminuendo to close the show in fine style.
