Media

Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul,
In my most loving arms I now enfold thee,
And o’er the penal waters, as they roll,
I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee.
And carefully I dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a resistance,
Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance.
Angels, to whom the willing task is given,
Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest;
And Masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven,
Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest.
Farewell, but not for ever brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

The Angel's Farewell - The Dream of Gerontius (Elgar)

Recorded in February 2024 in rehearsal with Saffron Opera at the Saffron Hall for their concert performance of Le nozze di Figaro.

Cherubino: Emily Hodkinson

Conductor: Michael Thorne

Voi che sapete Le nozze di Figaro

00:00 / 03:00

Emily as Sylviana in Glyndebourne's 2024 production of The Merry Widow, directed by Cal McCrystal and conducted by John Wilson.

Available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

In darkness let me dwell, the ground shall sorrow be;

The roof despair to bar all cheerful light from me;

The walls of marble black that moistened still shall weep;

My music hellish jarring sounds to banish friendly sleep.

Thus wedded to my woes, and bedded to my tomb,

O let me living, living die, till death do come.

Anon.

Emily and Amy Chang won the Rodney Gibson Early Music Prize at the Patricia Routledge National English Song competition for their performance of Dowland's In Darkness Let Me Dwell.

It's after midnight and Cendrillon has escaped from the ball without her identity being revealed.

As she returns home she describes her scary and exhilarating journey home from the ball, and asks her Fairy Godmother to forgive her for losing her glass slipper.

Enfin, je suis ici - Cendrillon

Emily Hodkinson and Matthew Gibson

Romeo (head of the Montagues) has come to plead his case to Cappellio (head of the Capulet family) in disguise, having killed Cappellio's son in battle. He offers to make peace by joining their families with Romeo's marriage to Giulietta. Romeo sings that, if he did kill him, only fate is to blame. If he is allowed to marry Giulietta, Capellio will have another son in Romeo.

Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio - I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Emily Hodkinson and Amy Chang

In an isolated country house, in the depths of a stormy winter's night, Erika questions why the winter must come so soon, as Vanessa nervously awaits the arrival of a lover she has not seen in 20 years.

Must the Winter Come So Soon? - Vanessa

Emily Hodkinson and Amy Chang

She deceives my sweet affection

with the aspect of my dearest.

Yet who knows?

It is as well to fear that, in loving,

I may again be deceived.

Sweet affection flatters me….

But were this really she whom I adored,

and I now forsook her,

them would I be unfaithful, ungrateful,

And a cruel traitor.