Monthly Archives: July 2014

Oxford Lieder Festival 2014

Posted on by

THE SCHUBERT PROJECT
BRINGING SCHUBERT’S VIENNA TO OXFORD

10 October – 1 November 2014

Many of the world’s greatest musicians arrive in Oxford this October to take part in The Schubert Project – the UK’s first complete performance of Schubert’s songs, and a world first in the scope of a single festival. Around this unparalleled body of work – some 650 songs by the age of just 31 – the city of Oxford will be buzzing with other Lieder Festival events planned to illuminate the songs and bring to life the world that Schubert inhabited.

The Festival is launched with a stellar cast of tenors and baritones (John Mark Ainsley, Joshua Ellicott, James Gilchrist,Daniel Norman / Neal Davies, William Dazeley, Stephan Loges, Christopher Maltman) joined by mezzo sopranoSarah Connolly for songs, partsongs and the exquisite serenade, Zögernd leise (10 Oct).  In more than 60 concerts, singers include Sir Thomas Allen (25 Oct), Ian Bostridge (16 Oct), Christiane Karg (21 Oct), Susan Gritton (26 Oct),Dietrich Henschel (17 Oct), Robert Holl (28 Oct), Wolfgang Holzmair (30 Oct), Sophie Karthäuser (11 Oct), Angelika Kirchschlager (29 Oct), Jonathan Lemalu (1 Nov), Mark Padmore (24 Oct), Christoph Prégardien (19 Oct),Maximilian Schmitt (28 Oct), Sylvia Schwartz (11 Oct), Birgid Steinberger (11 Oct), Kate Royal (13 Oct) andRoderick Williams (15 Oct), alongside emerging stars including Allan Clayton, Anna Lucia Richter, Martin Haessler, Christoph Pohl and many others. They will be joined by the world’s leading pianists, including Thomas Adès, Eugene Asti, Imogen Cooper, Julius Drake, Bengt Forsberg, Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau, Roger Vignoles &Justus Zeyen. In addition, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Doric String Quartet and the Schubert Ensemble will be performing key chamber works.

The Bodleian Library will show several Schubert manuscripts; the Ashmolean Museum will host live music events and a specially-devised audio guide; there will be four performances of  a new play by Iain Burnside; Schubert’s sacred musicwill resound around college chapels; the Botanic Gardens will collaborate on a study event looking at Schubert’s relationship with nature; a pop-up theatre will recreate a famous Schubert gathering; and local restaurants will feature Viennese food and wine. Masterclasses, talks and workshops abound, and the Festival will stretch to all corners of the city from Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre and Europe’s oldest concert hall – the Holywell Music Room – to the contemporary settings of the O’Reilly Theatre, the Phoenix Cinema and the recently-restored Ashmolean Museum.

ENO’s Xerxes returns to the Coliseum

Posted on by

xerxes

Nicholas Hytner’s critically-acclaimed 1985 production of Xerxes, the oldest production in ENO’s repertoire, returns this season with an all-British cast reinforcing ENO’s “unrivalled reputation as the world’s leading house for Handel” (The Sunday Times).

Winner of the 1985 Olivier Award for outstanding new production, Xerxes features spectacular designs by David Fielding with lighting by Paul Pyant evoking Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in the 18th century.

Michael Hofstetter leads the ENO chorus and orchestra following his successful house debut conducting Peter Konwitschny’s La traviata in 2013.

Over the past 29 years, the title role of Xerxes has been played by some of the world’s most outstanding mezzo-sopranos including Ann Murray in 1985 and 1988, Louise Winter in 1994 and Sarah Connolly in 1998 and 2002, whose international career was launched by the role. For this revival, internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Alice Coote sings the title role for the first time.

Counter tenor Andrew Watts plays Arsamenes. Soprano Sarah Tynan sings the role of Romilda. Sarah was an ENO Harewood Artist and later became an ENO Company Principal, a position she held until 2007. In their first Handelian roles ENO Harewood Artists Rhian Lois and Catherine Young are Atalanta (Romilda’s naughty sister) and Amastris (Xerxes jilted fiancée) respectively. Rhian has recently played Adele in Christopher Alden’s Die Fledermaus in September 2013 and First Niece in David Alden’s critically acclaimed revival of Peter Grimes in January 2014. Catherine took part in ENO Baylis Opera Works programme in 2009-2010, and in September 2010 became an ENO Harewood Artist. She made her professional debut with ENO in June 2011 as Hippolyta in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Bass Neal Davies sings the role of Ariodates, Romilda’s father. Previous roles for ENO include Kolenaty in The Makropoulos Case in 2010. He has also sung at The Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Baritone Adrian Powter plays Elviro, Arsamenes’s servant.

Xerxes opens at the London Coliseum on Monday 15 September for 6 performances – 15, 20, 24, 26 September and 1, 3 October at 7.00pm.

David Pountney is awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour

Posted on by

David Pountney

Welsh National Opera’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director, David Pountney, has been awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class. He was presented the award by the President of the Republic Heinz Fisher in a ceremony which took place in the opening of the Bregenz Festival.

The award honours Austrians and foreign leading figures who have “distinguished themselves and earned general acclaim through especially superior creative and commendable services in the areas of the sciences or the arts” and is conferred by the Federal President.

This year marks David Pountney’s last year as Artistic Director of the Bregenz Festival, a position he has held since 2004

David Pountney says, “It is a great honour to be recognised by a State which has such an astoundingly rich cultural inheritance. I have worked on various Austrian stages from the Wiener Staatsoper to Linz whose new opera house opened with my production of Philip Glass’s new opera “Spüren der Verirrten” last year, but my main focus has been on the Bregenz Festival where I made my debut in 1989, and have enjoyed 10 marvellous years as Intendant since 2004.”

David Pountney has already been made a Commander of the British Empire and a Chevalier in the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres and was last year presented with the Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit for his contribution to the promotion of Polish culture.

 

BBC Singers name Judith Weir as Associate Composer

Posted on by

J Weir

The BBC Singers today announced the appointment of Judith Weir CBE as their new Associate Composer from January 2015, in a tenure running until 2018.

It follows the announcement that Judith Weir will be Peter Maxwell Davies’s successor as Master of the Queen’s Music, the first ever female composer to take up the role.

Weir will be the fourth composer to take up the position with the BBC Singers, following in the footsteps of Gabriel Jackson, who held the post from 2010 to 2013, Judith Bingham, and Edward Cowie who was the first BBC Singers Associate Composer in 2002.

Weir already has a long-standing relationship with the BBC Singers, who have been performing her music for over 10 years. Her first commission for the group was Concrete which premiered in 2008 at the BBC Composer weekend. The BBC Singers have performed Weir’s music in many notable venues including the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, St Magnus International Festival, Cadogan Hall and the Barbican Centre.

Paul Hughes, General Manager of the BBC Singers, says: “I’m delighted that Judith – a long-time friend of the BBC Singers – has agreed to join us.  Her choral writing is exquisite and fits us like a glove; she has the wonderful ability to curate interesting programmes around her music, and she is an inspiration for younger generations of composers.  I look forward to many exciting times ahead.”

Judith Weir says: “Many of my best musical experiences, whether as composer or listener– in performances, recordings and workshops – have been spent in company with the BBC Singers. This world-famous choral ensemble is immensely experienced and professional, but nevertheless always friendly and flexible in rehearsal.  It’s with great enthusiasm and pleasure therefore, that I have accepted the invitation to become their next Associate Composer. In the 90th year of their foundation, their record of supporting living composers and new music has few equals, and I feel extremely fortunate to have the chance of working with them on a regular basis in the coming years.”

BPO Summer Season: 2

Posted on by

Brighton Unitarian Church, 20 July 2014

If there was an air of the Pump Room in Bath on this very sultry afternoon please take the comment as a compliment. The string quartet drawn from the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra opened with a delightful arrangement of Schubert’s Marche Militaire promptly followed by an even more winning rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile from the first string quartet. If not quite as familiar to Classic FM listeners as the slow movement from the Borodin quartet, it had a richness of expression without any undue emotion which was totally convincing.

The afternoon concluded with Mozart’s Oboe Quartet, where the strings were joined by Alun Darbyshire who proved that he was more than a match for Mozart’s fearsome writing. A triumph all round.

Peter Copley

Between these we heard Peter Copley’s String Quartet No2, which had been composed for the Stanford Quartet in 2009. There were hints both in the introduction and from the composer that we might find this challenging. It is certainly a very serious composition, but Peter Copley was quite right to suggest that even difficult music can be fun. This certainly is, and for all the complexity of the writing, it is easy to assimilate on a first hearing – dare I say that is not always the case with new music!

The opening Molto vivace has a strong sense of purpose and direction, its regular triple stabbing chords punctuating the musical line and marking out the structure for our journey. At other times the line dances and leads like the Pied Piper. The Adagio is a genuine cantabile, the melody moving easily from one instrument to another. The movement has warmth and an integrity which is close to its Haydnesque roots. Following the idea of having fun, the scherzo starts as if it is going to be a folk song but this rapidly fragments, only to reappear and reform itself as the music progresses. There is a quintessential Englishness to this movement without any hint of pastiche or reference to twentieth century masters. The final Presto is a hell-for-leather skittering which can only bring a smile to any listener, its furious pace easily within the technical grasp of the quartet. The crunch with any new work is the question – would I like to hear this again? Yes, very much so, and it deserves recording as soon as somebody can be persuaded to do so. Let us hope there will be occasions to hear other works by Peter Copley.

Bexhill Organ Concerts

Posted on by

Stephen Page, Sackville Road Methodist Church

Wednesday 23rd April, 21st May and 18th June 2014

These lunchtime concerts were a new venture for Sackville Methodist church, and proved a great success. Welcoming coffee and biscuits greeted us, and on each occasion people were soon chatting companionably.  Friends were recognised from other Methodist churches, recitals Stephen had given elsewhere, and groups like 1066 Choir and Organ, and Joyful Noise Choir.

A hallmark of Stephen’s concerts is music from a wide range of periods and styles, giving variety and incorporating the unknown and the unexpected.  Each concert demonstrated the considerable potential and versatility of the medium sized 3 manual Sackville Road organ, and members of the congregation must have taken great pleasure in hearing it played to such appreciative audiences.

As always, Stephen added to our enjoyment by his careful crafting of the items into a balanced programme, and his well researched and sometimes humorous commentary.

One highlight came from the cover of a piece composed by J. Michael Watson for Edward VII’s Coronation, from which Stephen read an advertisement for Bile Beans, claiming to cure sundry ills from biliousness and constipation to stomach pains and excessive flatulence!

Every concert featured popular items like Sullivan’s The Lost Chord, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour and Robert Farnon’s Colditz; and much loved composers from Bach to Billy Mayerl.   We were stirred by Walton’s Three Pieces from Richard III, moved to reflection by Lemmens’ Priere, and found our toes tapping to The Clog Dance from La Fille Mal Gardee. This year’s centenary of William Lloyd Webber’s birth was celebrated with Verset No 4 and Epilogue no 4.

The inclusion of two piano pieces in each concert added further variety.  We were told that Jack Fina (Bumble Boogie) was regarded as having ‘the ten most talented fingers on the radio’; in both this item and in Monti’s Czardas, the dexterity and speed of Stephen’s fingers took our breath away and surely earned him similar acclaim!

We learned to expect and enjoy a medley of songs from the shows in each concert – Sound of Music, South Pacific, and Snow White – which always sent us on our way singing. People lingered talking at the end, and it became apparent that there was much discussion about a further series of recitals next year.  Stephen is known to care passionately about the future of church organs in Hastings and the surrounding area, and to be keen to support congregations who wish to protect, preserve and promote them – so it is to be hoped that he will be persuaded! CE

BBC Proms 2014: Prom 1

Posted on by

rah proms

Sir Andrew Davis, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC National Chorus of Wales

Elgar’s The Kingdom

On possibly the hottest day of the year the new season was launched in quintessentially English style with Elgar’s The Kingdom. If the forces and soloists were familiar, there was a new sense of joy and often of gentleness to this reading which was captivating throughout. Frequently looking back to The Apostles, there was a sense of conviction which comes from a depth of faith and certainty, not from passion and extrovert enthusiasm. The prelude brought a gentle hesitation which blossomed into the opening scene at the heart of which was Peter’s blessed it, and brake, and gave it to us, the phrase held lovingly, almost timelessly. This same sense continued into the scene for the two Marys on the morn of Pentecost where the hints of Flower Maidens are turned into the more refined worship of the temple. There were times when the combined BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC National Chorus of Wales came into dynamic full flood, effective in the outpouring of He, who walketh upon the wings of the wind, and controlled crescendo of There shall be a fountain opened.

The soloists were well contrasted. Catherine Wyn-Rogers may be a familiar Mary Magdalene but over the years she has made the part her own and there is still no better voice for the part. Erin Wall brought radiance to Mary’s The sun goeth down and highlighted the many subtle shifts of mood. Christopher Purves sounded slightly husky as Peter but the voice did not let him down. Andrew Staples brought a heady, Wagnerian authority to John, easily riding the full orchestra.

As this review indicates, Sir Andrew Davis knows this work from years of conducting it, yet still brings a sense of freshness and excitement as if he were conducting it for the first time.

If the rest of the season is as good as this we are in for a vintage year.

Prom 1_CR_BBC Chris Christodoulou_8

Sir Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC National Chorus of Wales and soloists in Elgar’s The Kingdom

Summer Organ Concerts

Posted on by

french flagAll Saints, Hastings

James Lloyd Thomas, 14 July

Bastille Day – and a programme of French music to celebrate the occasion. If in the end this was not quite the celebratory event that the choice of works promised, there was a much to enjoy.

The most successful work was Messiaen’s Joie et Clarte from Les Corps Glorieux. Finely chosen registration, and succinct articulation and rhythms brought the work boldly to life. Before this, movements from Couperin’s Messes pour les Paroisses seemed overlong if brightly registered, and Franck’s Second Choral lost its way in the telling with little sense of shape or direction.

The first half ended enthusiastically with the conclusion of Guilmant’s Sonata No1.

There were times when James Lloyd Thomas seemed to be fighting with the Willis. It is not an easy instrument to master, and, watching him on the large screen, there were many times he appeared hesitant about his next move – a hesitation which affected both phrasing and choice of registration.

Dupre’s Prelude in F minor worked well but the following Fugue rambled in its melancholic way.

The Willis really does not do very fast, and both Alain’s Litanies and the concluding Dubois Toccata suffered from the pace at which they were played. Exciting certainly, but a lack of clarity and some garbled phrasing.

A programme which appeared on paper to be stimulating and apt turned out to be something of a curate’s egg. Perhaps a final splash of the Marseilles would have sent us out singing?

Next week – Daniel Cook from Westminster Abbey playing Bach, Widor and Stanford.

Brighton Festival Chorus

Posted on by

 

All Saints Church, Hove, 12 July 2014lark

Gentle music for a summer evening. A full church, and thankfully not too warm, gathered to hear the European premiere of Malcolm Hawkins’ Martha and Lazarus.  The setting for baritone solo, chorus and small orchestra draws on the gospel story of the raising of Lazarus but leans heavily towards Caravaggio’s painting of the same which highlights the relationship between Lazarus and Martha rather than the focus on Jesus. As such the text highlights Martha’s loss rather than the impact of Lazarus’ resurrection. The final Alleluia is surprisingly muted and Jesus’ call to Lazarus does not speak of conviction or absolute faith. The musical language is melodically unchallenging throughout and there is rarely any sense of heightened emotion given the weight of the narrative. Carefully crafted, the work never quite thrills in the way the story does on the page.

Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending may be one of the most popular compositions of all time but it never fails to lift the spirits. Benjamin Baker’s warm solo violin was as much a part of the rural landscape as of the ethereal. Its musical line seemed to keep returning to us to draw us ever further aloft, yet never escaping the beauty of the landscape below. His solo encircled the folk tunes to purify, possibly even sanctify them, uniting heaven and earth in the simplicity of a single line.

After the interval Durufle’s Requiem sat very comfortably in the rich acoustic and the organ sounded suitably French in its undulating weight from the start. There is a joyous conviction about this setting which was well caught by chorus and orchestra, the occasional moments of doubt rapidly cast aside by the assurance of salvation. The lovely antiphonal setting of the Christe eleison radiates hope and certainty that mercy will follow. The Agnus Dei  unfolds like the petals of the flower, with a soft, almost voiceless whisper of sempiternam.

Paul Reeves’ brief solos in the Durufle seemed happier than those in the Hawkins, and his assured baritone carried easily in the church. The Orpheus Sinfonia impressed throughout, and Joseph Cullen gave us considered and apt registration for the organ solos in the Durufle. James Morgan balanced his forces well in what can be a difficult acoustic, ensuring that the text carried and solo instruments spoke with clarity.

ENO opens new season with Verdi’s Otello

Posted on by

Reuniting the team behind Peter Grimes, ENO’s 2014/15 season opens with a new production of Otello which opens on Saturday 13 September 2014.

ENO celebrates the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth with a new production of Verdi’s Otello, reuniting the team behind five-star smash hit Peter Grimes – director David Alden, conductor and ENO Music Director Edward Gardner and Australian heldentenor Stuart Skelton.

Marking his 30th year at ENO and 25 years since the premiere of his last Verdi opera with the company, A Masked Ball in 1989, David Alden’s production combines beautiful Byzantine-influenced imagery with nineteenth-century costumes designed by Jon Morrell (Top Hat, 2013 Olivier Award for Best Costume Design) and outstanding performances by a world-class cast, chorus and orchestra, led by Edward Gardner.

Edward has collaborated with David Alden on numerous occasions, including 2013 production of Billy Budd and 2006 production of Jen?fa.  

Winner of Male Singer of the Year at 2014 International Opera Awards, Stuart Skelton makes his debut in the title role. In February 2014, Stuart’s performance of Peter Grimes was broadcast live to over 300 cinemas in UK and Ireland and was seen by over 17,000 people – the largest ever cinema audience for an opera by a British composer. Stuart will appear at the BBC Proms on 18 August in a performance of Rachmaninov’s The Bells, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by Edward Gardner.

Completing the creative team is Lighting Designer Adam Silverman and Movement Director Maxine Braham who both worked alongside Alden and Gardner on their production of Peter Grimes.

Irish American baritone Brian Mulligan makes his role debut as Iago, while American rising star soprano Leah Crocetto makes her UK operatic debut as Desdemona, Otello’s unjustly accused wife. A former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, Leah was a finalist in the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World competition and has sung the role of Desdemona to great acclaim in Bordeaux, Venice and Frankfurt.

Playing the role of Cassio is British tenor Allan Clayton, who was nominated as a Young Singer of the Year in the inaugural International Opera Awards. ENO Harewood Artist Barnaby Rea plays the role of Lodovico.

Other British castings include Cumbrian tenor Peter Van Hulle in the role of Roderigo, baritone Charles Johnston as Montano and ENO favourite Pamela Helen Stephen playing the role of Emilia.

Otello opens at the London Coliseum on 13 September 2014 for 10 performances – 13, 16, 19, 25 September and 9, 14, 17 October at 7.30pm and 27 September and 4, 11 October at 6.30pm.

A co-production with The Royal Swedish Opera and Teatro Real, Madrid