New. Through the Centuries - Songs of Madeleine Dring
Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano), Julius Drake (piano)
I can confirm that Kitty Whately proves a wholly persuasive and personable exponent of some enticing repertoire, and Julius Drake provides characteristically deft and wonderfully sensitive support...
New. Through the Centuries - Songs of Madeleine Dring
Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano), Julius Drake (piano)
Purchase product
I can confirm that Kitty Whately proves a wholly persuasive and personable exponent of some enticing repertoire, and Julius Drake provides characteristically deft and wonderfully sensitive support...
About
English mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately presents an album of songs by Madeleine Dring. Born in 1923 to a theatrical family, Dring was admitted to the Royal College of Music at the age of nine. She went on to study composition with Herbert Howells, also taking lessons from Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams. She made her career in the theatre, earning a reputation for being able to create catchy numbers at short notice. Sadly, she died at the early age of fifty-three, of a brain aneurysm. The disparate nature of her musical legacy is often attributed to the piecemeal nature of her career; consequently, resurgence of interest in her work has lagged behind that of her contemporaries Elizabeth Lutyens, Elizabeth Maconchy, Grace Williams, and Ruth Gipps. Kitty Whately and Julius Drake have chosen widely from among her output, and end with Dring’s version of Cole Porter’s ‘In the Still of the Night’.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
-
An error occurred.
Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.
Awards and reviews
April 2026
I can confirm that Kitty Whately proves a wholly persuasive and personable exponent of some enticing repertoire, and Julius Drake provides characteristically deft and wonderfully sensitive support throughout.
19th March 2026
Whately’s warm, supple mezzo-soprano takes these frequently fervent outpourings in its stride while spotless diction and an intense connection to text draw the listener into an intoxicating world of rediscovered micro dramas. Drake knows just when to give the piano its head and when to offer more self-effacing support.