The disc leaflet states
that the singer started his singing
with a Welsh Male Voice Choir and as
a soloist was awarded the ‘Blue Riband’
at the Welsh National Eisteddfod and
the ‘International Young Singer of the
Year’ at the Llangollen International
Eisteddfod. He turned professional when
he left the Royal Northern College of
Music in 1992. According to my records
of his biographical details, Andrew
was born in 1968 and won the coveted
‘Riband’ in 1992 AFTER which he entered
the R.N.C.M. to study with Neil Howlett.
The singer was good enough to reach
the finals of the College’s ‘Webster
Booth/Anne Ziegler Award’ finals in
1993 and 1994. In the first of those
years the finalists included Jane Irwin,
Claire Bradshaw and Riccardo Somonetti
who have gone on, like the 1994 winner,
Ashley Holland, to make considerable
careers in the operatic field, not least
with English National Opera. My notes
of the 1994 competition mention Andrew’s
voice as being of medium size, somewhat
tight, and of no great distinction.
Listening to this collection,
Andrew Griffiths’ voice has grown whilst
his musicality has not kept pace. This
is most evident in the ‘Catalogue’ aria
(tr. 2) where there is a lack of tonal
variety with limited characterisation.
This in an aria that is a feast of possibilities.
In the Handel (tr. 3) the divisions
are not well articulated and the tone
raw at times, particularly at the top
of the voice (tr. 6). Elsewhere the
pianist does not help with slow tempi
that test the singer’s legato. In the
likes of Sullivan’s ‘Lost Chord’ what
Andrew lacks can be heard to superb
effect on Tommy Allen’s discs of ‘Songs
My Father Taught Me’ (Hyperion). He
goes head to head with Bryn Terfel’s
disc ‘We’ll Keep A Welcome’ (DG) in
‘My Little Welsh Home’ (tr. 1) and ‘David
of the White Rock’ (tr. 4) the former
being one of the best tracks on the
disc. The other Welsh songs and those
of Schönberg and Leigh
(trs. 6, 13, 10) lie pleasantly on the
ear.
The virtue of this
disc lies in its variety. Whilst Andrew
Griffiths will never scale the operatic
heights his singing will give pleasure
in the lighter repertoire and, to his
compatriots, in the Welsh language songs.
Robert J Farr
Andrew Griffiths (baritone) (b.1968)