Surely the most enjoyable way to enlighten the chilly winter days. 

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Thursday 18th February 7:30pm at the Assembly Rooms

Steven Devine director

Ian Bostridge tenor

Telemann – Ouverture in F major TWV55: F3 (excerpts)
Telemann – Ich weiss, dass meine Erlöser lebt from Cantata TWV1:873
Telemann – So stehet ein Berg Gottes from Der Tod Jesu TWV 5:6
Handel – Concerto Grosso in E minor, Op 6 No 3
Handel – Scherza infida from Ariodante
Handel – Love sounds th’alarm from Acis and Galatea
Handel – Motet: Silete venti
Handel – Water Music Suite No 1 in F major (excerpts)

Rachel Podger – Friday 19th February 1:00pm at the Guildhall

Rachel Podger violin

J S Bach – Sonata No 1 in G minor BWV 1001
J S Bach – Partita No 1 in B minor BWV 1002
J S Bach – Partita in G minor after the Partita for flute BWV 1013

Florilegium – Friday 19th February 7:30pm at the Assembly Rooms

Ashley Solomon director/flute/recorder
Bojan Cicic violin
Terence Charlston harpsichord

J S Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G major BWV 1048
Vivaldi – Concerto in C major for two flutes RV 533
J S Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major BWV 1050
Telemann – Ouverture and Conclusion in E minor from Musique de table Part 1
J S Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No 4 in G major BWV 1049

Mahan Esfahani – Saturday 20th February 11:00am at the Guildhall

Mahan Esfahani harpsichord

Peter Phillips – Pavan (1580)
Giles Farnaby – Farmer’s Paven
Richard Farnaby – Nobody’s Gigge
J S Bach – French Suite No 4 in E flat major BWV 815
J S Bach – French Suite No 6 in E major BWV 817
François Couperin– Les vieux seigneurs; Les jeunes seigneurs
J S Bach – French Suite No 5 in G major BWV 816

Academy of Ancient Music – Saturday 20th February 7:30pm at Bath Abbey

Richard Egarr director
Mary Bevan soprano

(NB no interval – ends c. 9.15 pm)

J S Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No 1 in F major BWV 1046
Vivaldi – Motet: In turbato mare irato RV 627
J S Bach – Wedding Cantata: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten BWV 202
Vivaldi – Concerto alla Rustica in G major RV 151
Vivaldi – Concerto in D major for violin, 2 oboes and 2 horns RV 562

• Conductors Toby Purser and Matthew Waldren appointed as joint recipients of the ENO Charles Mackerras Fellowship. This is the first time that the award will be shared by two conductors.
• The award is a joint initiative between ENO and the Philip Loubser Foundation, and celebrates the legacy of Sir Charles Mackerras.
• The ENO Charles Mackerras Fellowship offers exceptionally talented young conductors the opportunity to work and develop at ENO, mentored by ENO Music Director Mark Wigglesworth.
• Former recipients of the ENO Charles Mackerras Fellowship include inaugural recipient Gergely Madaras and current ENO Charles Mackerras Fellow Fergus Macleod.

English National Opera (ENO) today (26 January 2016) announced conductors Toby Purser and Matthew Waldren as the joint recipients of the ENO Charles Mackerras Fellowship. They will take up their positions in September 2016. Both Toby and Matthew will have the opportunity to assist on ENO productions, and will have full access to the casting, staging and production departments at ENO alongside the opportunity to travel with the Music Director and make important contacts across the international opera scene.

A final shortlist of six international candidates interviewed and auditioned for the Fellowship in January at Henry Wood Hall. The auditions involved rehearsing with singers and the ENO Orchestra, who also provided feedback on each candidate. On the panel were Mark Wigglesworth (ENO Music Director), Martin Fitzpatrick (ENO Head of Music), Sophie Joyce (ENO Head of Casting), Susan Bullock (singer), Janice Graham (ENO Orchestra leader) and David Nice (arts journalist). ENO Senior Artistic Advisor John McMurray, Michael Loubser and three board members from the Philip Loubser Foundation also oversaw the process in an advisory capacity.

Matthew Waldren said: “Having assisted at ENO last year, I am thrilled to have been asked to return to the Company as a Sir Charles Mackerras Fellow. To work further with this world-class orchestra, chorus and team of musicians – and to be supported and guided by Mark Wigglesworth – will be an absolute privilege. I relish the opportunity of contributing to the artistic excellence of ENO, and look forward to embracing the many opportunities that this Fellowship presents.”

Toby Purser said: “Having had the pleasure and privilege of both assisting and conducting at ENO, I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to begin a more formal relationship with the Company. The chance to work with this wonderful Company, its superb orchestra and chorus and in this beautiful theatre under the guidance of Mark Wigglesworth and the ENO team is one that I am already looking forward to eagerly.”

ENO Music Director Mark Wigglesworth said: “The English National Opera and the Philip Loubser Foundation partnership is unique in enabling seriously gifted conductors a real opportunity to develop. The panel was unanimous that both Matthew Waldren and Toby Purser revealed the right combination of potential and skill to benefit from this amazing opportunity, and so sharing the Fellowship was the inevitable and exciting outcome of this year’s audition process. I look forward to welcoming these two exceptional talents to English National Opera.”

Phelim McDermott returns to ENO to direct a once-in-a-generation staging of Philip Glass’s iconic opera

Improbable Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Phelim McDermott returns to ENO to direct Philip Glass’s Akhnaten. This iconic opera received its UK premiere at ENO in 1985 and has not been performed fully-staged in the UK since ENO’s 1987 revival. One of the most exciting cultural events of 2016, The Guardian has described these performances as “a once-in-a-generation chance to hear Glass’s score in the theatrical flesh”.

Watching Akhnaten is a visually spectacular and powerfully mesmerising experience. The opera explores the life and religious convictions of the Egyptian pharaoh, and uses texts drawn from ancient hymns, prayers, letters and inscriptions sung in their original Egyptian, Hebrew and Akkadian. It forms the last of Philip Glass’s trilogy of ‘portrait’ operas in which he explores the lives of great historical figures in the fields of science (Einstein), politics (Gandhi) and religion (Akhnaten).

The UK premiere of the opera by ENO in 1985 marked the beginning of a very special relationship between Philip Glass and the Company. Phelim McDermott, described by The Guardian as “one of the most energising and provocative forces in British theatre”, has since directed the London premiere of Glass’s Satyagraha (2007) and the UK premiere of The Perfect American (2013) for ENO. Described by The Times as “a masterwork of theatrical intensity and integrity”, the UK premiere of Satyagraha broke box office records for contemporary opera, making it the most popular contemporary work to have been performed by ENO.

Conductor Karen Kamensek, Music Director at Hannover’s Staatstheater since 2011, makes her ENO debut. An expert in the work of Philip Glass, she premiered his work Orphée with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra in New York. She has also conducted the world premiere of Glass’s Les Enfants Terribles at the Spoleto Festival in the USA, and his music for Büchner’s play Woyzeck at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will return to the London Coliseum to take the title role in this production. Winner of Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition in 2013, he made his ENO debut in Peter Sellars’s 2015 production of The Indian Queen; his performance as Ixbalanqué was described as “superb” by theartsdesk.com.

British Mezzo soprano Emma Carrington will make her ENO and role debuts as Akhnaten’s wife, Nefertiti. She has previously performed at opera houses in the UK and around the world, including with Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Grange Park Opera and at the Buxton Festival.

English soprano Rebecca Bottone will sing the role of Queen Tye, Akhnaten’s Mother, for the first time. She has previously appeared at English National Opera in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers (2006, 2007) and Ligeti’s Grand Macabre (2009).

British baritone James Cleverton returns to ENO to debut the role of General and future Pharaoh, Horemhab. He first performed with ENO in 2009 singing the role of Oppenheimer in Penny Woolcock’s production of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic.

Clive Bayley will sing the bass role of Aye, Nefertiti’s father and advisor to the Pharaoh, for the first time. His regular appearances with ENO include an “impressive” (The Stage) performance as Daland in The Flying Dutchman and “outstanding vocally and dramatically” (The Daily Mail) appearances as Coppelius in The Tales of Hoffmann (both 2012).

Completing the cast are Colin Judson as the High Priest of Amon and Clare Eggington, Alexa Mason, Rosie Lomas, Anna Huntley, Katie Bray and Victoria Gray as the six Daughters of Akhnaten.