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Opera Anywhere: The Magic Flute

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St Mary in the Castle, Hastings, Friday 16 March 2018

Mozart’s The Magic Flute is open to a wide range of interpretations and as long as it is well sung and sensitively staged it will always impress. This was certainly true of Opera Anywhere’s visit to Hastings last Friday. The opera may have been pared down and was without a chorus, but the narrative made sense throughout and many of the voices were exceptionally good.

Director Susan Moore had taken a fairy-tale approach to the work, almost a dream in the mind of Tamino, where singers move role with ease and the unexpected is simply accepted. Doubling the three ladies with the three boys was particularly effective, the Sesame Street boy puppets being delightful as well as creating distinctive personalities.

Using modern dress however can cause some problems. Where Mozart’s racism is simply avoided by making Monostatos as European as the rest of the cast, the latent anti-feminism of the text is more difficult to hide, particularly Sarastro’s oppressive not to say overbearing presence.

One way to soften this is through the characterisation of the Queen of the Night. Here Helen Winter’s fading Hollywood Diva is absolutely at one with the baroque ornamentation of her arias. She is a fish out of water and wonderfully so.

Tristan Stocks’ Tamino is a student growing into his maturity, vocally secure but not yet adult enough to be more than a prince. He is fortunate that his Pamina, Olivia Lewis, is so positive, both vocally and histrionically, despite her obvious youth, that she has the strength for both of them. The tests through fire and water were imaginatively staged, with Pamina delighting in the flames and splashing the water – a lovely touch.

Oskar McCarthy is an amiable Papageno, strong on humour without over-egging his opportunities, in contrast to Mark Horner’s stalwart Sarastro.

The surprise of the evening was Jack Roberts’ wonderfully lyrical tenor as Monostatos, doubling for various priests. He gave us some of the finest Mozart singing of the evening and it would be good to hear him as Tamino.

Accompanied throughout by Louisa Lam on piano and keyboard, and Nick Planas on flute, the additional sound effects were always apt.

Opera Anywhere return to Hastings pier in August with Pirates and Pinafore.

ENO: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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London Coliseum, Wednesday 14th May 2018

Robert Carson’s production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream returned to ENO with a cast of young singers whose exemplary sense of ensemble impressed throughout. This has always been an ensemble piece, though even on this occasion Christopher Ainslie’s sleek Oberon and Saraya Mafi’s seductive Tytania could not help drawing attention to themselves. The young lovers were well characterised without ever resorting to caricature and the rustics brought us highly individualised workmen. One of the few cast members who have been seen before was Miltos Yerolemou whose dangerously adult Puck is quite in keeping with the fairy royals.

Robert Carson’s approach is essentially naturalistic within the confines of Michael Levine’s dreamily abstract setting, with its huge act one bed adding to the disorientation of size.

In the pit, Alexander Soddy draws crisp playing and incisive rhythms. This is particularly helpful in a score written for a very much smaller venue.

Though the boys of Trinity Boys Choir sing admirably well, carrying better than might be expected within the vast space of the Coliseum, their uniform costumes allow little sense of individuality to develop, even though this is possible within the scope of the score.

This was the productions third revival, and the first in over a decade, but is unlikely to be its last.

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

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The Brighton Phil’s season draws to a close on Sunday 25 March when Conductor Laureate Barry Wordsworth returns for a memorable concert full of brilliant music to celebrate his 70th birthday with the orchestra and loyal Brighton Dome audience.

The concert opens with the Karelia Suite by Sibelius – written very early in his career as a commission it is based on folk tunes from South East Finland, and Sibelius noted that he wanted it to sound like folk music. It has become one of his most popular works and includes the exhilarating ‘Alla Marcia’.

The virtuosic piano duo Stephen Worbey & Kevin Farrell join the orchestra to perform Malcolm Arnold’s Piano Concerto Op.104 – on this occasion for four hands on one piano. It was a BBC Proms commission for the three-handed piano duo Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick (Steven Worbey’s teacher) and was first performed by them with huge success at the Proms in 1969. The concerto is typically Arnold at his very best, from dark and tragic in the first movement, through a melting romantic melody in the slow movement, to a glorious Rumba in the last movement, full of wit and unashamedly popular.

For this concert Barry Wordsworth wanted to include ballet music, which has been such a great part of his conducting life, and he has compiled a short suite from Delibes’ comic ballet Coppélia. The orchestra will play Prelude, Valse and Czardas – these are brilliantly orchestrated and based on dance tunes Delibes found in his native northern France.

Finally Worbey & Farrell rejoin the orchestra to perform Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, a hugely entertaining composition that conjures up a musical parade of creatures using instrumental groups and orchestral soloists, as well as four hands on one piano, with imagination and insight. In this performance the narration will be brought up to date with modern-day cultural references by Worbey & Farrell. As Barry Wordsworth writes in the programme for this concert: “I cannot wait to perform for you all with Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell. This will be fun, and will provide an excuse for celebration at the end of another wonderful season.”

Tickets from £12-£38 (50% discount for students/Under 18s) are available from Brighton Dome Ticket Office in Church Street, (01273) 709709 and online: www.brightondome.org

Discounted parking for Brighton Phil concert attendees can be found in NCP Church Street, a couple of minutes’ walk from the Dome, costing just £6 between 1pm & 6pm.

On the morning of this, the final concert of the season, the orchestra will be holding its annual free Open Rehearsal for Children in Brighton Dome Concert Hall, 10.15-11am – an exciting introduction to classical music and the instruments of the orchestra using extracts from Carnival of the Animals and Coppélia. As part of the orchestra’s Education Programme interactive workshops are being held in local schools this term and the Open Rehearsal is the culmination of the work done there.Places for the rehearsal are free but must be booked in advance via Brighton Dome Ticket Office.

STOP PRESS: The Brighton Phil is deeply saddened to have learned of the recent death of D V Newbold, CBE, a long-standing and passionate supporter and generous sponsor of the orchestra, who has sponsored this concert, which we will be dedicating to his memory.

WNO: Rhondda Rips It Up!

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In an exciting change to its usual summer main scale season, WNO will present the world première of a new commission, Rhondda Rips It Up!

Rhondda Rips It Up! is unlike anything previously presented by WNO. Performed in a classic music hall style, with original songs inspired by the suffragette slogans, this tongue-in-cheek production takes audiences on a whirlwind tour of the inspiring activist’s mission.

This production will tell the story of the remarkable suffragette, Margaret Haig Thomas, who tirelessly campaigned for equal rights for women. The show will premiere in Haig Thomas’s home town of Newport before touring Wales and England during summer and autumn 2018.

The production marks the centenary of the first, partial women’s suffrage bill of 1918 and will feature an all-female cast and creative team, and is composed by Elena Langer with a libretto by Emma Jenkins and will be led by director Caroline Clegg and music director Nicola Rose.

Soprano Lesley Garrett stars as Master of Ceremonies (Emcee) and Madeleine Shaw as Lady Rhondda joined by female members of the WNO Chorus performing all the roles including the male politicians of the time.

On the opening day of the tour Thursday 7 June WNO will host a symposium in Newport on the challenges faced by women in the classical music world. The tour will also be accompanied by extensive programme of free community and youth projects on protest, rebellion and human rights and an ambitious digital project bringing Lady Rhondda to life through a Mixed Reality (MR) installation.

We will presenting a series of films showing the progress of the production. To watch episode 1 please click the link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAMNnrKVn3Q

Have I got Tunes for You

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Chris Beaumont at Opus Theatre
Saturday 10 March 2018

Chris Beaumont is a self-taught but exceptional musician, whose love to the xylophone has made him the leading expert on the music of Sir Patrick Moore. While most of us recall the familiar astronomer from The Sky at Night, many will also remember his felicity as a xylophonist of considerable ability. Fewer will be aware of the large amount of music he wrote for the instrument.

Chris Beaumont not only performed a wide range of music, most of it in his own arrangements, but brought us many of Sir Patrick’s own compositions. He opened with Freefall, then a march entitled Halley’s Comet and later we were enthralled by movements from a suite which opens with Dragonflies and moves through hedgehogs to earthworms. The final piece from Sir Patrick was a jolly rag called Halley’s Rag.

Between these items we heard the Clog Dance from La fille mal guardee, together with wood blocks and glockenspiel, and Elephants from Saint Saens’ Carnival of the Animals. The first half came to an end with a virtuoso rendition of Grieg’s From the Hall of the Mountain King and the theme music from QI.

After a short break the second half opened with a brand new piece – The Chase by Opus Theatre’s Director and Composer Polo Piatti – a charming composition and totally in keeping with the easy flowing music of the rest of the evening. Two movements from Schumann’s Kinderszenen followed and more popular items including music from Star Wars and the Flight of the Bumble Bee. Drawing toward a close, we encountered the theme music from Allo, Allo and finally the theme from Have I got News for You.

Throughout, Chris Beaumont had been loyally and expertly accompanied by Derek Carden.

The audience was a little disappointing for what was essentially a popular, not to say family, event and let us hope Chris will feel encouraged to return to entertain us again.

International Composers Festival – Hastings 2018

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Polo Piatti has announced

We are absolutely thrilled to inform you that the International Composers Festival will receive an unprecedented Grant for the Arts from the Arts Council Of England.

Thanks to the sheer tenacity of Sandra Goodsell, our Director of Operations, we have managed to secure this important step in the history of the festival.

The Arts Council’s decision represents a clear recognition of the increasing importance and popularity of the International Composers Festival and will definitely help ease some of our financial pressures.

Although it will help us greatly, we still need to work very hard to secure further support and make sure we achieve significant ticket sales, as the grant represents only a part of our general expenditure.

Still, the great news makes us even more determined to make this year’s festival the biggest and best yet!

English National Opera appoints new Chief Executive

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Stuart Murphy, former Director of Sky Entertainment Channels, has been appointed Chief Executive of English National Opera (ENO). He will take up the post on the 3 April, joining Daniel Kramer and Martyn Brabbins on ENO’s leadership team. He succeeds Cressida Pollock who announced in September last year that she would be stepping down from the role this summer.

In 2013 Stuart took charge of all Entertainment Channels at Sky, including Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Arts and Sky Atlantic. Under his tenure Sky won its first Emmy Awards and Oscar nominations as well as multiple BAFTA’s, British Comedy Awards and Royal Television Society Awards. He oversaw the substantial expansion of Sky Arts, increasing the channel’s commissioning budget by more than 40% and turning it into the biggest on-demand library of arts and cultural content in Europe. Stuart spearheaded Sky’s huge increase in investment in original productions, the budget for which tripled during his tenure.

In senior management positions at both Sky and the BBC, Stuart has brought to the screen some of the UK’s best-loved titles, from Penny Dreadful, Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year Competition and Torchwood through to Little Britain and Game of Thrones.  He was on the board of BBC TV, the Executive of Sky and was made a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2016.

Dr Harry Brunjes, Chairman of ENO, said:

“I have been thrilled by the calibre of the candidates who applied for this position, and know that Stuart’s history of enabling great creativity alongside his commercial acumen will perfectly complement ENO’s artistic and musical excellence. We were impressed by the significant growth in both Sky’s audience and output under Stuart’s direction, and by his proven ability to unite and motivate his teams through a clear and inspiring vision. Under the leadership of Cressida Pollock, and through the hard work of every single member of the company, ENO has regained its financial stability and position in Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. I look forward to seeing the company continue to prosper and grow with Stuart at the helm.”

Speaking of his appointment, Stuart Murphy said:

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been appointed Chief Executive of English National Opera. For a long time now I have wanted to pursue my passion for classical music and opera in a professional capacity, and so it is a privilege to lead an organisation that is so committed to world-class artistic, musical and technical excellence. I very much look forward to joining Daniel, Martyn and the whole ENO team. I am personally committed to ensuring that ENO continues to develop new audiences, new partnerships and on new platforms in order to ensure that the company remains as thrilling and vital now as it was when it was first founded.”

Daniel Kramer, Artistic Director of ENO, said:

“I am very excited that Stuart will be joining ENO. His decades of experience working with award-winning creative teams and enabling world-class work against a background of challenging financial realities will be hugely valuable at ENO. I look forward to working with him from April.”

Martyn Brabbins, Music Director of ENO, said:

“Stuart Murphy impressed me as a man of great integrity. He has the confidence borne of being a highly successful leader, while at the same time he displays a refreshing humility in his willingness to listen and learn from all those around him. We are looking forward to the new dynamism he will bring to ENO at this time of renewed energy within the company.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said:

“Stuart will bring a wealth of experience and energy to the role, building on all the dedication and hard work of Cressida and the team which has enabled English National Opera to return to our National Portfolio.”

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

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Brighton Dome, Sunday 4 March 2018

It was a concert full of drama, mostly Russian, under Stephen Bell’s incisive baton. The drama included the conductor literally leaping up and down, and part of his score flying off his stand and landing near the leader’s feet during Night on a Bare Mountain which also gave us some frenetic high speed string work, perfectly controlled, slightly exaggerated, general pauses (one of his specialities), perky woodwind interjections, syncopated percussion and mesmerisingly lyrical playing after the tubular bell at the end.

This enticing old friend of a piece was preceded, in an usually structured programme, by something much less familiar: the overture to Glinka’s 1836 opera A Life for the Tsar. Heavily textured melodies and chords – more like Brahms than anything Russian – were played with decisive accuracy and Stephen Bell ensured that the cheerful dance-like passages were a real contrast. The ending of the piece is corny to put it mildly but he delivered it with aplomb.

Then we had a dart forward to the twentieth century and to Armenia – which for most of Alexander Arutunian’s (1920-2012) life was part of USSR – so in a sense his one movement trumpet concerto sustains the Russian theme. Soloist Gareth Small produced a very attractive creamy sound with some beautifully sustained phrasing. The elegant piece is free of atonality and full of lush harmonies and Shostakovitch-like jazzy rhythms. It was a pleasing sixteen minutes.

It is a pity though that Arutunian’s name does not, apparently, fill The Brighton Dome because there were far more empty seats than usual. If you chose not to come you missed a real treat, in the highlight which came after the interval – a breathtaking account of Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony.

Stephen Bell took the first movement at a measured, intelligent tempo with lovingly punctilious attention to balance which made sure, for example, that you heard and noticed the descending scale for horns, the mysterious bassoon passages and the quasi balletic quality of the rhythms. I liked his fluid take on the andante too with its pre echoes of the 6th symphony which were leant on attentively.

Then – such a contrast – Tchaikovsky’s pizzicato party of a scherzo was beautifully played, bows down. Stephen Bell, without baton, physically rocking from side to side, shaped the dynamic with immaculate precision and wit. The “wind band” sections were imaginatively slotted in too. And so to the allegro con fuoco finale which was certainly played with plenty of fiery passion in this performance. It blazed its way to a very exciting conclusion followed by well deserved, rapturous applause.

I was very glad indeed to have heard this concert, especially the Tchaikovsky.

Susan Elkin

ENO: La traviata

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Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Conductor, Leo McFall / Toby Purser (11 April)
Director, Daniel Kramer

Daniel Kramer directs his first opera as ENO Artistic Director, a sweepingly romantic interpretation of La traviata

Daniel Kramer will direct his first opera as English National Opera’s Artistic Director this spring. This production of La traviata, which played to sold-out houses following its premiere at Theater Basel, is a sweepingly romantic take on one of opera’s most heartbreaking stories. Irish soprano Claudia Boyle will perform the role of Violetta alongside South African singer Lukhanyo Moyake as Alfredo. Singing the role of Giorgio Germont is Alan Opie, who celebrates 50 years since he first sang with ENO.

Daniel Kramer said: ‘Almost every note of Verdi’s masterpiece raises up the life of a women who has been deemed dishonourable by society. Through La traviata, Verdi invites us to listen to the magnanimous love of a character who makes a sacrifice which few others would be willing or able to consider. His music is, for me, a love letter to the tender and graceful Violetta. I believe that our core audience come to ENO wanting to have new light shed upon these well-loved classics. This is also one of my key passions when directing opera or theatre, and has informed our approach to this intensely moving story of love and sacrifice.  As our world continues to confront the treatment of women in our society we have worked to share the story of a woman who, despite her heartbreaking circumstances, rises above the judgmental and abusive world around her and passes through her life with integrity and grace.’  

Daniel Kramer was appointed Artistic Director of English National Opera in April 2016, taking up the position in August that year. His work with ENO extends backs to 2008. He was selected as part of ENO’s young director’s initiative for which he directed Punch and Judy at the Young Vic which subsequently won the South Bank Show Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Daniel returned to ENO in 2009 to direct Bartok’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle at the London Coliseum and Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, conducted by former ENO Music Director Edward Gardner and designed by Anish Kapoor. He has been an Associate at the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill and the Young Vic, and a Creative Associate at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The 18/19 season, launched on the 1 May, will be the first that he has curated as ENO Artistic Director.

The ephemeral, image-conscious world of the courtesan Violetta will be brought to life through the designs of Lizzie Clachan, one of the most acclaimed set designers currently working in London theatre. She has recently been praised for her ‘extraordinary’ (The Guardian) work on the Young Vic’s Yerma, and for the National Theatre’s As You Like It.

Irish soprano Claudia Boyle will sing Violetta, the eponymous ‘fallen woman’. A fomer member of the Salzburger Festpiel’s Young Singers Project, her international profile has been dramatically raised through highly-acclaimed performances in London, Berlin, Rome and New York. For ENO Claudia has previously sung the roles of Leïla in The Pearl Fishers(2016) and a ‘standout’ (The Guardian) Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance (2015).

Up-and-coming South African tenor Lukhanyo Moyake makes his UK debut as Alfredo. South Africa’s representative in 2017’s BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Lukhanyo has been performing at the Cape Town Opera Company since his graduation in 2010. His roles there include Alfredo in La traviata, Jaquino in Fidelio and Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress. In 2015 and 2016 he was a finalist of the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition (held in Amsterdam) and was also placed third in the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition (held in Germany).

ENO legend and internationally acclaimed baritone Alan Opie will return for his second ENO engagement of the season. He follows his debut in the comic role of Doctor Bartolo (The Barber of Seville) with Violetta’s controlling father, Giorgio Germont. Alan’s previous performances in this role have been described as ‘full of feeling’ (The Guardian) and ‘consistently compelling’ (WhatsOnStage).

A nominee for Best Male Singer in the 2018 International Opera Awards, bass-baritone Henry Waddington will sing Dr Grenvil. Welsh tenor Aled Hall makes his ENO debut as Viscount Gaston and ENO Harewood Artist Božidar Smiljani? sings the Marquis. The cast is completed by Benjamin Bevan (Baron Douphol), Heather Shipp (Flora Bervoix) andMartha Jones (Annina).

Rising young British conductor Leo McFall will make his ENO debut with this production. Winner of the 2015 German Conductor’s Prize, he is among the foremost conductors of his generation, and received much praise for his performances with the Glyndebourne Tour and with Opera North. He will be assisted by ENO Mackerras Fellow Toby Purser, who will also conduct the performance on the 11 April.

The creative team is completed by Cosume Designer Esther Bialas, Lighting Designer Charles Balfour and Choreographer Teresa Rotemberg.

La traviata opens on Friday 16 March at 7.30pm at the London Coliseum for 10 performances: 16, 22, 24, 28 March and 3, 5, 11, 13 April at 7.30pm, 31 March at 6.30pm and 8 April at 3pm.

500 tickets for £20 or less are available for each performance. Tickets start from £12.