Catherine Bott: "London Pride" A celebration of London in songs by Monckton, Gershwin, Walton, Norris, Boyce, Dove, Bennett, Sherwin, Swann, Coward, others.(Sound Recording Review)

Catherine Bott: "LONDON PRIDE" A celebration of London in songs by Monckton, Gershwin, Walton, Norris, Boyce, Dove, Bennett, Sherwin, Swann, Coward, others. Norria, piano. Texts. Hyperion CDA 67547

I wish I could give this charming, ingeniously contrived recital an unreserved endorsement. Soprano Catherine Bott combines the intimate skills of a cabaret singer with the infinite refinement of a concert recitalist. Composer/pianist David Owen Norris, the singer's accompanist and occasional duet partner, matches her humor, sophistication and showmanship. My reservations? Chalk them up to a language barrier. The program, much of it recorded before a live audience, is varied, ranging from Baroque music to Victorian and contemporary airs, clever and sometimes naughty music-hall favorites, concert parodies, nostalgic ballads and other tasty miniatures, always entertaining if at times mystifying to us colonials not fully conversant with London lingo, chatter or gossip.

The program starts with Lionel Moncktons "Chalk Farm to Camberwell Green," a turn-of-the-century music-hall favorite celebrating the red bus, a familiar London icon. Eighteenth-century London is fondly evoked in Boyce's "The Pleasures of Spring Gardens, Vauxhall," while Jonathan Dove's "Five Am'rous Sighs" offers surprisingly sensuous lyrics ...