The magical voice of Peter Cousens together with flute music
Who hasn’t at some stage wanted to be a singer?
From an early age I wanted to be a professional singer. The flute is my true voice but sometimes in my lighter-hearted, entertainment-oriented flute concerts, or in cabaret, I do in fact sing!
I love singers who are natural musicians: singers who open their mouths and-without artifice or ego-the music just pours out.
Peter Cousens is such a singer. I could not begin to count the number of times during our recent tour when Peter has floored me (and the audience) with his vocal skills, and his deep, natural connection to the essence of the music. It is thrilling and goose-bump making! I have never heard anyone sing ‘Maria’ from West-Side Story better than he (album excerpts link below at 1’14)… I find it flattering to be told the sound of my flute perfectly compliments the sound of Peter’s voice.
Flute and Voice: A Perfect Blend.
The first Peter Cousens and Jane Rutter Concert was a sell-out in The Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, a concert named Romancing the Night. Evening Stars is a later manifestation.
Most of the music we chose to perform and record is very moving- and this makes for great listening: romantic, popular, luscious songs by some of the world’s greatest popular composers arranged for flute and voice – duet renditions of best-loved songs from Peter’s starring roles in West Side Story, Aspects of Love, & Phantom of the Opera, and gorgeous solo flute pieces.
Normally I would not program works by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and yet something about flute and voice performing this music gets me where it matters! And suddenly I get to play the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera for a few short minutes- dressed in a magnificent Opera coat!
Tour with Peter Cousens
Peter and I have such fun on tour. On stage and off we are funny together. Born entertainers both of us, we add-lib and quip dialogue on stage. The audience laughs, and emotional portals are open-everyone is more receptive!
Our intention is always to include the audience in the joy, the pathos, and the human story behind each piece of music. Peter compares Natalie Wood (as Maria from West Side Story) to his first teenage girlfriend, a blonde Aussie beach-comber with touseled hair (slathered as was the fashion at the time in Oil of Ulan)-the telling of which extracts another laugh of appreciation and recognition from the audience!
I compare the ingenue Bernstein’s Maria to Léhar’s Giuditta before performing the soprano aria Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß. (Appropriated successfully for flute -of course we flute players will take repertoire from anywhere we can, n’est-ce pas?)
Speaking of flute fun: Check out Evening Stars team Flute and Voice having a flute-versus voice warm-up before a concert.
A funny coincidence that Peter and I also share a birthday: 2nd November (along with French queen Marie Antoinette, and Australian choreographer dancer Graeme Murphy !)
An earlier Jane & Peter rendition of Bette Midler’s
An excerpt from one of the final pieces in the Evening Stars Concert
Zing Went the Strings of My Heart
This project has been a joyful one for me-a reminder that the voice is a perfect model for any instrumentalist- and especially we flautists!
Evening Stars Album and Excerpt
You can listen to excerpts from Evening Stars here:
You will find links to purchase the album in CD version if you click here:
Or you can find the album online here:
Its true that Love Changes Everything … Music makes the world go around! Happy Days everyone! 🙂 Jane
Trivia
We have enjoyed touring with Australian pianist John Martin, whose lovely playing, erudition and elegant manners delighted us and audiences.
I have had the privilege of performing with many amazing singers over the years: Janis Siegel, The Manhattan Transfer, Teddy Tahu-Rhodes, David Hobson, Taryn Fiebig, Amelia Farrugia and more, including being on the same bill as Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras. My preferred conductors are Opera Conductors who follow the vocal line. I recorded Mozart Flute Concerti with Richard Bonynge, who’s conducting handed me an orchestral accompaniment that was liberating and allowed me to sing through the flute. In my mind flute and voice are inextricably linked as one.
(French flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal played flute thus, so did his fluting partner Alain Marion, both men were my flute teachers / mentors to whom I remain eternally grateful.)
Happy Days back at you Jane