Daily Archives: 28 January, 2013

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