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February News

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 At last matters seem to be moving at St Mary in the Castle. After a speedy refurbishment of some essential matters, ten Trustees have been appointed, the auditorium is now in pristine condition for use by a wide spectrum of events. One such was the eagerly-awaited concert in honour of the late Alan Spackman, valued member of Opera South-East with all artists, professional, semi-professional and amateur giving their services in memory of someone who had been a pillar of almost every aspect of the organisation for over twenty years. At the time of writing it is understood that St Mary’s will be closed during February for further renovations.

Fortunately other venues are offering a feast of music and entertainment in our immediate area:  If your taste is for something light and nostalgic, Rye Wurlitzer Academy at Rye College on Friday February 8 at 7.30 p.m. is hosting An Evening of Olde Tyme Music Hall with a modern flavour – so the publicity states! All-round fun for everyone. 

Admission £7.

Open to all, Old Hastings House has its monthly Coffee Morning with tombola and table sale on Wed Feb 6 from 10 a.m.  A warm welcome, excellent freshly-brewed coffee and the opportunity to chat in the convivial atmosphere of the conservatory.  

The White Rock Theatre is the venue for the eagerly-awaited Hastings Musical Festival from early March attacting participants for the competitive classes for all ages from the youngest to adults. The scope of the classes increases year by year and assuredly the Festival Director Molly Townson,  with President Petula Clark  Vice-President Sarah Kowitz and the team will include something new and exciting.

The all-important finals of the Hastings Piano Concerto Competition take place at the end of the second week.  The choice of subject is purposely wide so that any student specialising in music of a certain era may select accordingly. Works by classical composers intermingle with contemporary concerti.  The Piano Concerto Competition is held in such high regard in musical circles that previous winners have since been heard through the USA, Europe and the Far East.

Anyone therefore who comes to the concerto competition finale can be assured that he or she is hearing young performers whom one day will be gracing concert platforms worldwide. MW

                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Sibelius in Brighton

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London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Saturday 2 February 2013

The daffodils have just started to appear on a bright and sunny day on the south coast, so we might be forgiven for approaching this Sibelius programme with some slight trepidation, given its combination of incidental music to Death and the Fourth Symphony, the most melancholic, not to say depressive, of the composer’s output.

That the experience was both enlightening and uplifting was a tribute to all involved. The concert opened with three movements from Sibelius’ incidental music to Kuolema (Death) written in 1903 and orchestrated in this version in 1910. Scene with Cranes is strangely Wagnerian in its string writing, trembling into life before the plaintive calls of the cranes. The Canzonetta found unexpected warmth, as if it was daring to be hopeful. Valse triste is familiar but becomes more involving in context. The dying heroine of the play is recalling dances from her youth, and the score contrasts the warmth and vitality of the memory with the present closeness of death and loneliness. They make a well balanced set; a pity we did not hear all of the incidental music.

After the interval the Fourth Symphony groaned into life from the depth of the strings, with a fine solo cello line from Josephine Knight, both at the start and throughout the symphony. The first movement proceeds by hints and whispers, frequently unresolved or drifting away. The largo has a resigned melancholy before the ferocity of the final Allegro which almost tears itself apart before giving up the struggle. That we were able to experience this desolation without actually losing hope ourselves was primarily down to Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s sensitive handling of the score which keeps its nervous energy ever alive rather than falling into self-indulgent misery.

Between these two we experienced one of the finest performances of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto that I can recall. The Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud may not yet be a familiar name in this country but I am sure it soon will be. His approach to the concert displayed not only a formidable technical ability but a range of tone which was able to change on an instant, highlighting the rapid, often fleeting, emotional states of the score. The final movement had a cheeky folk feeling to it and the broad grin on his face throughout reflected the joyous outpouring. That it was received with wild enthusiasm from a full house in The Dome almost goes without saying, and we were privileged with a brief and gentle encore for violin and orchestra. BH

Garsington Opera announces new community venture

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After only two years in their new home at Wormsley on the Buckinghamshire/ Oxfordshire border, the first large scale community opera will be performed in the Opera Pavilion in July 2013 as part of the Garsington Opera season. Over 180 people will be on stage, ranging from school children to senior citizens drawn from the local diverse community working alongside professional opera singers, musicians, directors, designers, choreographers, stage managers and technicians. This is the first time an opera has been commissioned by Garsington Opera.

The satirist, Richard Stilgoe, co-writer of Starlight Express and Cats, together with composer Orlando Gough, has been commissioned to create an hour long opera. A funny, quirky and political piece has now been created after initial workshops held in local primary and secondary schools as well as with an adult group, where themes and ideas were explored, Richard Stilgoe said:

“One minute you are on the M40 being dive bombed by red kites; the next you are in the peace and beauty of Wormsley, surrounded by ancient trees. This contrast has been our starting point in which a community (village) stands up and sits down for what it believes in. Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire must feel it has been singled out for transport schemes – the Romans built the Icknield Way through it, the Georgians dug the Grand Union Canal, the 20th century drove the motorway through the chalk hills and the 21st century threatens HS2. We took this idea to the groups we visited and their reactions were diverse and powerfully expressed. So this is a story about how a huge road scheme divides a community not only physically but socially, as they battle over the appropriate level of protest and deal with internal arguments, incoming professional protestors, rent-a-crowd and the media. How do you use the village’s people, wildlife and archaeology to prevent or alter the government’s plans? If and when the road is built, will life in the village ever be the same? Meanwhile, watching this and interested only in whether the new road will bring more food, are the red kites”.

Composer Orlando Gough said: “The culmination of all the lively local workshops with many different ages over the past year is the creation of a jazzy, fun piece for our talented and diverse group including characterful solo lines for amateurs singing alongside and sometimes with professional singers, challenging choruses written in three parts, a smattering of rapping red kites and songs appropriate for charming golden crested newts and Chiltern-loving animals.”
Taster workshops for teenagers and adults as well as workshops in participating school throughout Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire continue prior to the start of weekly rehearsals in March.

The project will enable those who have little or no experience of live performance to become involved either as performers, technicians or audience. The total number of people benefiting from the project will be over 2,600. In addition to the opera chorus of primary school children, young people and adults, the project will also involve 50 backstage volunteers working as project assistants, programme sellers, car park attendants, chaperones and ushers; they will be supported by a fully professional production team. Others from the local community who will be involved are the audience of 1,800 together with a further 600 children and adults involved in the dress rehearsal as well as other students in the schools involved.

Garsington Opera Education has been running projects and forming partnerships with local schools and organisations for many years. Since their recent move to Wormsley they have concentrated on their new locality establishing firm links with the community. This will be the first time that Garsington Opera Education has presented such a major event. It will be part of the 2013 season and taking place in the award winning Opera Pavilion on 19 & 20 July. www.garsingtonopera.org

ARTISTS INVOLVED

Librettist Richard Stilgoe           Composer Orlando Gough

Director Karen Gillingham         Designer Rhiannon Newman Brown

Vocal Director Lea Cornthwaite  Opera Singers Garsington Opera

InstrumentalistsSouthbank Sinfonia     Conductor Susanna Stranders

Haydn, Bach, Mozart in Brighton

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Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth

The Dome, Brighton, 27 January 2013

The heart of this programme was a fine performance of Bach’s C minor concerto for Violin and Oboe. Soloists Daniel Bhattacharya and Alun Darbyshire were not only highly professional but clearly worked together with the sense of delight and rapport which leads to enjoyment both on the platform and in the audience. The opening movement had a clear cutting edge while the sublime adagio never drifted into sentimentality.

Throughout the afternoon the woodwind were noteworthy. Bassoon soloist Gavin McNaughton has a surprisingly exposed roll in Haydn’s Symphony No 98 with a mellifluous solo in the Menuetto .(Will he be opening The Rite of Spring for us?) The symphony ends with one of Haydn’s little in-jokes. The first violin has a number of solos, almost jazz breaks, and then suddenly there is a harpsichord break just before the end, played originally by the composer. While Alistair Young obviously enjoyed his brief moment of fame, I wondered why Barry Wordsworth did not play the part himself.

The concert concluded with Mozart’s Symphony No39. Again the woodwind impressed in the trio and were engaged throughout, though the symphony as a whole, and the Haydn in the first half, did not have the panache and dynamic impact we have come to expect of this orchestra. BH

 

Elgar: Gerontius

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London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Clare College Choir, Sir Mark Elder

Royal Festival Hall, 26 January 2013

The Rest is Noise has started its run on the South Bank, and The Dream of Gerontius may seem an unlikely inclusion, given the surrounding attractions of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and Stravinsky. However, there is a good reason for including it, as it marks a complete break with earlier English oratorio and points the way to more fluid and psychologically charged creations.

Performing the work in a concert hall is always problematic. The hushed opening really needs a large cathedral, or the Bayreuth pit, to ensure the sense of sound emanating from nothing, but it does have the advantage of allowing us to hear the orchestration with great clarity.

The combined forces under Mark Elder approached the work as a passionate narrative, and one marked by far more confidence than is often the case. There was an innocence to Paul Groves’ Gerontius which moved us away from a man wracked with guilt and worry to one open to the love of God and delighting in the joy of heaven. In this he was superbly supported by the confidence of Sarah Connelly’s Angel who leads him with great gentleness towards his final resting place.

James Rutherford was a late substitute for Brindley Sherratt but is no stranger to the part, bringing authority and emotional truth.

Mark Elder’s handling of the orchestra builds large, almost Wagnerian, paragraphs with endless waves of sound. The constant slight rubato was very effective in building tension and bridging towards a climax. The organ in the Royal Festival Hall may not yet be fully installed but the parts that are there were put to good use.

While the text from the soloists was clear and crisp, the chorus lost definition as it grew louder. This was a pity as their quieter singing carried without problem. They were able not only to overwhelm us with the opening of Praise to the Holiest but to end it with effectively even more volume than they started.

The silent film which was played at the start, with some disconcerting changes in light levels, was interesting but might pall somewhat if we have to see if before every concert in the series. BH

 

Baroque Opera at The Barbican

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Barbican presents The English Concert and Les Talens Lyriques:

Handel Radamisto – 10 February 2013; Lully Phaëton – 8 March 2013

Renowned for its commitment to historically-informed performances of Baroque music, the Barbican’s classical music season in Spring 2013 features two of the finest interpreters of the Baroque and Classical music repertoire: The English Concert with Artistic Director Harry Bicket; and Les Talens Lyriques, under the directorship of Christophe Rousset. Both present concert performances of lesser-known gems of the operatic repertoire, with a prestigious cast of singers.

On 10 February, Harry Bicket conducts The English Concert in a rare UK performance of Handel’s Radamisto. The story of desire, dictatorship and personal infatuation at the court of the Armenian King Tiridate is the first of a collection of operas that Handel wrote for the newly-founded Royal Academy of Music. Despite being given its premiere at the King’s Theatre, London in 1720, modern revivals have been reasonably scarce, something The English Concert is rectifying; Radamisto forms the main focus of its current season.

Recognised as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world and celebrated for its inspiring performances of Baroque and Classical repertoire, The English Concert celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2013. The Barbican performance will see the ensemble joined by a stellar cast of regular collaborators including the American countertenor David Daniels in the title role of Radamisto, English soprano Elizabeth Watts, as well as Patricia Bardon, Luca Pisaroni and Brenda Rae.

The following month, distinguished French conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset and his Baroque ensemble Les Talens Lyriques continue their exploration of forgotten masterpieces with a fresh interpretation and first UK performance of Lully’s Phaëton – the story of the son of Helios, the Sun God (8 March).

Christophe Rousset has a special affinity with Lully and his exciting performances have done much to revive appreciation of this influential composer. In the UKpremiere at the Barbican, he champions this revival of Lully’s tragédie lyrique with a cast that includes Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Ingrid Perruche, Isabelle Druet, Sophie Bevan, Andrew Foster-Williams, Matthew Brook and Benoît Arnould.

For more information, please see the Barbican’s website:

The English Concert / Bicket – Radamisto, 10 February 2013: http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=13052

Les Talens Lyriques / Rousset – Phaëton, 8 March 2013: http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=13058

The Perfect American: Philip Glass

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ENO to stage the UK premiere of Philip Glass’s new opera The Perfect American, directed by Phelim McDermott

ENO’s commitment to staging highly original, theatrical work, with collaborations across artistic disciplines continues with the staging of the much anticipated UK premiere of The Perfect American by Philip Glass, directed by Phelim McDermott. Author and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer’s libretto, based on Peter Stephen Jungk’s novel, is a factional story about Walt Disney during the final years of his life, narrated by cartoonist Wilhelm Dantine, who worked for Disney in the 1950s. British conductor Gareth Jones makes his ENO debut with an impressive cast featuring Christopher Purves as Walt Disney.

One of the world’s most influential composers of operas, symphonies, compositions for his own ensemble and collaborations with artists, Glass’s latest opera, his twenty-forth, was commissioned by ENO and Teatro Real Madrid to mark his 75th birthday and will receive its world premiere in Madrid in January 2013. Glass is perhaps best known for his film work. A three-time Academy Award Nominee and BAFTA award winner, he has received accolades for his film scores to Kundun (1997), Notes on a Scandal (2006) and The Hours (2002) which also received nominations for Golden Globe and Grammy Awards. His operas include Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and The Voyage.

British director Phelim McDermott, Artistic Director and co-founder of Improbable Theatre Company, returns to ENO to stage his second Philip Glass opera. McDermott made his ENO debut in 2005 with ENO’s production of Glass’s Satyagraha, a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera New York, where it was subsequently staged. The Guardian described it as ‘an astonishingly beautiful work, and The Times ‘a masterwork of theatrical intensity and integrity’. Completing the creative team is lighting designer Jon Clark and designer Dan Porta, whose acclaimed work on leading international events and costumes includes the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games ceremony.

Conductor Gareth Jones, a frequent collaborator with Bryn Terfel, and founder and Artistic Director of Sinfonia Cymru, was a member of the music staff at Welsh National Opera from 1990 – 2008. Previously he has conducted at Bregenz Festival and Vancouver Opera. This will be his ENO debut.

The Perfect American opens at the London Coliseum on 1 June 2013 for 9 performances – June 1, 6, 8, 13, 17, 20, 25, 27, 28 (7.30pm)

An Opera Undressed performance of The Perfect American will take place on Thursday 13 June. See www.eno.org/undress for more information.

Academy of Ancient Music

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In 2013-14 the Academy of Ancient Music will present its first London season exclusively at the Barbican, thereby becoming a central part of one of the world’s most vibrant artistic communities. Alongside large-scale performances in the Barbican Hall, the AAM gives five concerts at Milton Court Concert Hall, the Guildhall School’s new building, and latest addition to the growing ‘cultural quarter’ in the heart of the City of London. With a capacity of 608 seats the concert hall is the perfect venue for intimate baroque and classical performances.

The 40th anniversary season, led by Music Director Richard Egarr, displays the breadth of the AAM’s music making: starting at the dawn of the baroque with a stellar-cast performance of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607), and ending in the nineteenth century with Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9 (1824). Along the way the AAM surveys the music of JS Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn and Mozart, and unearths lesser-known works of the composers of the Bach dynasty.

Highlights from the season include:

The AAM’s first London season exclusively at the Barbican, with concerts in the Barbican Hall and Milton Court Concert Hall which opens in September 2013

  • · The start of a three-year cycle of Monteverdi operas beginning with L’Orfeo (28 September 2013)
  • · Alina Ibragimova returns to direct the AAM in performances of Haydn and Mozart in the orchestra’s first concert in Milton Court Concert Hall (24 October 2013)
  • · Soprano Anna Prohaska celebrates the golden age of English baroque music (21 November 2013)
  • · Following an acclaimed debut last season Andreas Scholl returns to sing Pergolesi and is joined by soprano Camilla Tilling (31 January 2014)
  • · Violinist Richard Tognetti directs the AAM in a concert of Vivaldi and Bach inspired by the Dresden Orchestra (27 February 2014)
  • · Angelika Kirchschlager explores the vocal works of Haydn and Mozart with the AAM led by Richard Egarr from the fortepiano (March 2014)
  • · Music Director Richard Egarr directs concertos and suites by JS Bach (27 May)
  • · Richard Egarr and the AAM close its 40th birthday season with the ‘three last symphonies’ of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven (21 June 2014)

As You Like It: Shakespeare’s Songs

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Nicky Spence, tenor, Malcolm Martineau, piano

RESONUS RES10116        57’17

If the opening songs are familiar, by far the most interesting are the later, more modern items. Settings by Geoffrey Bush and Alex Woolf are stimulating, but I really enjoyed the three John Dankworth settings taken from Shakespeare and all that Jazz originally recorded with Cleo Laine back in the late sixties. Nicky Spence captures the tongue-in-cheek character of the settings very well and this leads to a splendid jazz arrangement of Schubert’s Hark, hark the lark by Peter Dickinson.

This is not to imply that the Quilter, Britten and Chausson settings lack merit, more that it is a pleasure to find so wide a range of styles in response to the same texts. A pity, possibly, not to have included any of the fine settings I have heard over the years from the composers of the Royal Shakespeare Company, but they may be asking too much. Worth investigating and enjoying. BH

The English Concert and Les Talens Lyriques

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Handel Radamisto – 10 February 2013, 6:30pm
Lully Phaëton – 8 March 2013, 7pm
Barbican Centre, London, UK

Renowned for its commitment to historically-informed performances of Baroque music, the Barbican’s classical music season in Spring 2013 features two of the finest interpreters of the Baroque and Classical music repertoire: The English Concert with Artistic Director Harry Bicket; and Les Talens Lyriques, under the directorship of Christophe Rousset. Both present concert performances of lesser-known gems of the operatic repertoire, with a prestigious cast of singers.

On 10 February, Harry Bicket conducts The English Concert in a rare UK performance of Handel’s Radamisto. The story of desire, dictatorship and personal infatuation at the court of the Armenian King Tiridate is the first of a collection of operas that Handel wrote for the newly-founded Royal Academy of Music. Despite being given its premiere at the King’s Theatre, London in 1720, modern revivals have been reasonably scarce, something The English Concert is rectifying; Radamisto forms the main focus of its current season.
Recognised as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world and celebrated for its inspiring performances of Baroque and Classical repertoire, The English Concert celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2013. The Barbican performance will see the ensemble joined by a stellar cast of regular collaborators including the American counter-tenor David Daniels in the title role of Radamisto, English soprano Elizabeth Watts, as well as Patricia Bardon, Luca Pisaroni and Brenda Rae.

The following month, distinguished French conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset and his Baroque ensemble Les Talens Lyriques continue their exploration of forgotten masterpieces with a fresh interpretation and first UK performance of Lully’s Phaëton – the story of the son of Helios, the Sun God (8 March).
Lully composed Phaëton when he was fifty years old, at the height of his fame and the peak of his abilities. He was commissioned by Louis XIV (the Sun King) to establish French Opera at the Palace of Versailles and this allegorical tale of the upstart hero Phaëton enjoyed great success at its premiere in January 1683, with following performances including the first opera to be performed in Avignon (1687), at the original Opéra de Lyon (1688) and Rouen (1689). Originally conceived as a theatre work, Phaëton is characterised by the variety of its musical language, splendid choral passages, and increasingly colourful orchestral writing.
Christophe Rousset has a special affinity with Lully and his exciting performances have done much to revive appreciation of this influential composer. In the UK premiere at the Barbican, he champions this revival of Lully’s tragédie lyrique with a cast that includes Emiliano Gonzalez Toro , Ingrid Perruche, Isabelle Druet, Sophie Bevan, Andrew Foster-Williams, Matthew Brook and Benoît Arnould.