Enoch Arden

I'm delighted to be returning to OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, London, SW13 on Wed 22 May at 7.30pm with amazing pianist Gamal Khamis to perform Tennyson's thrilling and deeply moving epic poem Enoch Arden, as set for speaker and piano by #richardstrauss in 1897. With words and music of haunting beauty, it tells the heart-rending story of a sailor lost at sea who eventually returns home to find his life has changed irrevocably. Enoch Arden is a hidden gem of the romantic repertoire and a masterwork of the now almost lost genre of musical melodrama.

We originally performed it as a livestream during the 2020 lockdown (when I first rashly agreed to commit all 7,000 words to memory). We have since given performances round the country (including Swaledale Festival, Three Choirs Festival & Jermyn Street Theatre) and recorded it as a critically acclaimed CD/streaming release for SOMM Recordings in 2022.

Please do join us. Tickets are now on sale at https://osoarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173654663

“A wholly exceptional and thoroughly engrossing achievement”

Robert Matthew-Walker, Musical Opinion

“A gift to hear the poem in its original language…a significant coup”

David Nice, BBC Music Magazine

"The performance by Gamal Khamis and Christopher Kent had me totally transfixed"

Alexis Paterson, CEO Three Choirs Festival

“Thought-provoking and riveting… you’ll be entranced”

Clare Seymour, Opera Today

“A performance that’s as gripping and ultimately moving as the story itself”

Ron Schepper, Textura Magazine