For full details of the season please visit: bbc.co.uk/proms
To view the BBC Proms launch film, please visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Tickets go on sale from 9am on Saturday 7 May 2016 via bbc.co.uk/proms
or 0845 401 5040 and in person at the Royal Albert Hall
Promming season tickets are available from 9am on Thursday 5 May
CBeebies and Ten Pieces II tickets are available from 9am on Friday 6 May
Proms in the Park tickets are available from 11am on Friday 6 May
St Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings, Sunday 10 April 2016
As a critic one is normally faced with professional performances, amateur performances or a mix of the two. The Academy run by Marcio de Silva lies somewhere outside of these parameters. Singers are auditioned for a course which ensures them a solo part in a professional production but in effect they only get one go at it in public, as there is a separate cast for each of the two performances. What I enjoyed on Sunday may therefore be very different from what happened on Saturday, and any of the singers may have learned far more from the experience as a whole than simply appearing before an audience, as most of them have had considerable exposure before the public.
If this seems a lengthy preamble it is necessary to set the scene as the performances we encountered were, of necessity, a mixed bag. Elizabeth Reeves’ Marcellina and Wagner Moreira’ Basilio were both outstanding. The clarity of diction, in a very difficult acoustic, was exemplary and their characterisation subtle and effective. I was glad that Marcellina’s Act 4 aria was included and a little saddened that Basilio’s was cut – though I realise this still tends to be standard practice.
Zsuzsa Zseni was a lively Cherubino with a voice to match, her two arias at correct tempi for a young man bursting with energy. Ricardo Panela’s Almaviva was more complex. Though he obviously can’t sing the part in The Barber of Seville his characterisation was far closer to Rossini than to Mozart. He often seemed ill at ease, though his singing was pleasing and his ensemble work fine. There was never any real sense of menace here or of dangerous authority which is needed if we are to believe that he really does have total autocratic power. Roxana Nite’s Countess was suitably subdued and her two arias brought us introspective insights into her past history, with much beautiful phrasing.
Judith Charron sang Barbarina’s only aria with real pathos, though for much of the rest of the evening she seemed over-excited. Figaro and Susanna – Gheorghe Palcu and Julia Cubo – were well matched dramatically but neither were quite right vocally. This is not a criticism of their individual voices, more that the parts did not really suite them. Neither brought the clarity of diction we need in the recitatives, and the arias, while pleasantly sung, never really hit the spot. Only Susanna’s Deh vieni non tardar in the fourth act finally started to move us.
There was nothing in the programme to indicate who had provided the orchestral arrangement which was convincing throughout. A string quintet plus two clarinets – an odd combination – but one that proved to be absolutely right for the acoustic in St Mary’s. When one added to this the splendid harpsichord continuo of Petra Hadjuchova – filling in the gaps with aplomb and linking scenes to avoid unnecessary applause – the orchestral side under Marcio de Silva was as near faultless as one could ask.
Jenny Miller’s production made much of the building and its potential, not only for a wide range of entrances but equally allowing us to see what other characters were doing while another was singing. This worked well and characterisation was clear and well-focused throughout. The empty picture frame provided a strong link between the settings, though bringing all the characters together at the end seemed a little too close to wish-fulfilment after all that has gone before.
This was a highly enjoyable evening, and one which was hopefully of benefit to all involved, not least the singers.
Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 5-7 April 2016
Over the last three years WNO has been grouping its seasonal productions to give them some sort of internal integrity. Some of these have worked very well – I particularly enjoyed the Donizetti Tudor season which flowed like a sort of bel canto Ring cycle. Because of this, the idea of a Figaro cycle seemed an obvious choice. We have two major repertory works in The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro plus the excuse for a new commission to fill in the final chapter with Figaro Gets a Divorce. So far so good – and even better when the cycle was to be designed by Ralph Koltai throughout, which gave a visual integrity to the whole as well as being exceptionally successful at focusing our attention on the action and singers rather than the scenery.
What then was the problem? Three different directors who brought very different approaches not only to the characters, who after all remain the same throughout, but also to their dramatic style. Sam Brown appears to see The Barber of Seville as little more than an excuse for comedy, ignoring the possible psychological insights which Rossini draws on, to go instead for light comedy and sight gags. Why Almaviva is given a one-man-band in the first scene is beyond comprehension and this is only the first of many unfortunate choices – though I have to admit I loved the dogs. That the opera survives despite the weight of the comic invention is a tribute not just to the score but also to the singers. Nico Darmanin is a light but engaging Almaviva, and Claire Booth a florid Rosina who seems far too knowing (and scantily dressed) for her own good. Andrew Shore’s familiar Dr Bartolo added some weight to an otherwise rather facile concept and James Southall kept the orchestra moving with aplomb. There was no attempt to connect this with the following evening’s The Marriage of Figaro even though they are actually more closely linked in narrative than Figaro is with Divorce.
The following evening we were in a different world. This was one of the finest Figaro’s I can recall with everything falling magnificently into place, genuine ensemble playing and some of the most stylish Mozartian singing I have heard in a long time. Add to this Jeremy Sams’ witty and fluid translation, in an acoustic where every word can be heard, and it was no wonder it was all so impressive. Tobias Richter’s production seemed deceptively simple, keeping the setting within its historic period and making no attempt to be relevant or conceptual except through the interplay of the characters. In this he was highly successful and helped by Ralph Koltai’s set with its hints of below-stairs redecoration and the fading gilt of the aristocracy. Mark Stone’s Almaviva is at the heart of the evening as everything depends on his whims, which are calculated and dangerous. Elizabeth Watts’ Countess is magnificent, her two arias heartfelt and devastating in their sense of claustrophobia and despair. Anna Devin and David Stout proved to be an intelligent pair of servants as Susannah and Figaro, though they never move out of their sphere of influence. But there were no weak links in an evening of consummate artistry. I very much hope this production survives and is repeated – it certainly deserves it.
Figaro Gets a Divorce was commissioned by WNO from Elena Langer with a text by David Pountney who also directed. The score is digestible on a first hearing and has the advantage of allowing the text to be easily followed. I enjoyed much of her writing, in particular the bridge passages between scenes. There are obvious leanings towards Berg in the orchestration, with the use of accordion and percussion, while the musical line itself is post-modern enough not to upset by constant discord. Justin Brown created beautiful washes of sound from the pit, with many atmospheric moments. However there are few passages of extended melody to involve us in individual characters. Only the Countess –Elizabeth Watts, again in splendid form – and the Major, Alan Oke, have any introspective passages, while Susanna, Marie Arnet, has two cabaret songs. These cabaret songs are the closest we get to any real musical development as the Major picks up the themes and uses them as he plots the downfall of the family.
Mark Stone was again the Count, though now addicted to gambling and eventually a broken man. Figaro and Susanna do not get a divorce, though they come close to it. David Pountney’s production moves smoothly but his text frequently plods. After the wit of Jeremy Sams the previous evening it was difficult to believe that much of the text for Divorce got past the first draft. Opera for generations has been based on poetry – a setting where the words really mattered. Too often in Divorce the text was mundane to the point of discomfort, or lacked any hint of the emotional state of the character. At the interval I overheard someone say How can a work be stressful, unpleasant and boring all at the same time. We need to care about these characters. In Figaro we did; in Divorce we didn’t.
Is there a case for a Figaro cycle? Yes, I think there is. Is this the way to do it? Unfortunately not on this showing – though WNO can revive the Figaro any time they want to!
Wednesday 6 April, Marlowe Theatre Canterbury.
Can there be a happier musician than Tasmin Little? Appearing to enjoy every note she played, she smiled her way right through Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, finding tremendous warmth and lyricism in it as she went. Little is a very unshowy player too. Dressed in a simple flame coloured dress, she simply stood and played the piece, occasionally leaning in, beaming with delight, towards Kazuki Yamada on the podium or Philharmonia leader, Bradley Creswick. It was a performance completely free of flamboyant histrionics, so all the focus was on her masterly playing – the beautifully controlled cross string work and double stopping in the first movement, a good example. Then she gently teased every possible bit of melodious charm out of the lilting 3/4 Andante, each harmonic perfectly placed.
The diminutive, youthful looking (he’s actually 37) Yamada had already opened the evening with a spirited account of Beethoven’s Overture Leonore 3. He’s an unfussy performer too, but totally on top of the orchestra from which he drew a pleasing, incisive balance between the flute and strings in the slow passages.
One of the secrets of a good performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is not to start too slowly because you need enough momentum to build the tension through the long introductory passage. This, Yamada brought off with aplomb, coaxing strange but engagingly menacing growls from the clarinet before he eventually let rip with full strings and all that tuneful Tchaikovian fervour.
I’ve rarely heard the exquisite horn solo in the Andante Cantabile played quite so evocatively and Yamada really milked the melody from the point when the rest of the orchestra picks it up. Then came a sparky rendering of the Valse with lots of enjoyable attention to detail. It was especially fine when it reached the symphony’s recurrent motif at the end of the movement, pre-figuring the opening of the finale in which Yamada found lush grandiloquence, although his emphasis on the arpeggios in the brass was not always to my taste. I think the Philharmonia’s string sound has really developed in recent years. It is now, almost always, impressively rich and coherent.
Susan Elkin
Everybody loves a wedding; add upstairs downstairs intrigue, farce, mistaken identity and a happy ending and we have the world’s most perfect opera, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. An exciting new collaboration will culminate in a fully staged production of this opera at St Mary in the Castle on Saturday and Sunday 9th and 10th April.
Marcio da Silva Music Director of Woodhouse Opera (and Hastings Philharmonic Choir) has joined with Jenny Miller, founder of Barefoot Opera, to produce this ‘day of madness’ opera by Mozart, using Marcio’s orchestra, Ensemble OrQuesta, and the students of the 2016 Opera Academy, the divas of tomorrow.
Marcio is now going into his fourth year as Woodhouse Opera’s Music Director. Woodhouse Opera (http://www.woodhousesounds.
Jenny Miller is well known in Hastings for her innovative and imaginative stagings of great opera at St Mary in the Castle over the last five years where she makes full use of the unique surroundings. Her ensemble work and physical theatre techniques create a close emotional and physical connection between performers and audience and Barefoot Opera productions (http://barefootoperacompany.
May this be the start of a beautiful artistic partnership!
Marriage of Figaro at St Mary in the Castle, 7 Pelham Cres, Hastings TN34 3AF 9 April at 7pm and 10 April at 5pm, Tickets Stalls £20/£18 concs. and Gallery £17/£15 concs. available at Hastings Tourist Information Centre Aquila House, Breeds Place, Hastings TN34 3UY 01424 451111, at door and at https://www.musicglue.com/
PLEASE NOTE THE CORRECT START TIMES ARE 7PM ON SATURDAY 9TH APRIL AND 5PM ON SUNDAY 10TH APRIL
I love these works, and the Fournier Trio, who are new to Resonus, bring real enthusiasm as well as musical finesse to their performances. They argue that these are the best of Mendelssohn’s chamber pieces and, played like this, one can believe it.
This CD arrived soon after we had returned from the Bath Bach Fest at which Mahan Esfahani had played three of the suites on a harpsichord while admitting they were probably written for the clavichord. And here we have an excellent example of why that is surely true. These works sit perfectly on the clavichord and are here given lively yet intimate performances which are highly convincing.
Dvorak’s violin concerto is popular enough but the other two works I suspect are less well known which makes the combination all the more compelling. Suk’s Fantasy in G minor for violin and orchestra is a concerto in all but name and of equivalent length, while Dvorak’s Romance Op11 is far more than a make-weight. Well worth investigating.
This recent recording of two popular concertos is a delight. Stephen Hough is one of the most convincing romantic pianists performing today and he is coupled with the CBSO in sterling form under Andris Nelsons. I am only sorry I did not get to hear them live.
Can we have too many recordings of Haydn’s chamber music? When we get performances like these it is hard to argue against them. The Op50 Prussian Quartets are played in from the Artaria edition of 1787 which gives them something of an edge over other recordings while the Doric Quartet brings a freshness and authority to Op76.
Hastings Unitarian Meeting Place, 2 April 2016
It has been almost eighteen months since Stephen Page’s last series of concerts at the Unitarian Meeting Place and there was a large audience eagerly anticipating a programme made up of rare and more familiar items.
He opened with a number of works written somewhat before the 1760 Snetzler he was playing – Purcell’s Trumpet Tune together with its Almand and a Voluntary in D by John Alcock. This latter piece had the easy charm of a work for mechanical clock. Although the organ is not really suited to larger works, Stephen has made many adaptations over the years to enable us to hear works which were originally composed for much larger instruments. He played an arrangement of Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in C minor BWV549 which has a very dark tone to the fugue and followed this with the more positive tones of the chorale Herzlich thut mich verlangen –better known to most by its English translation as O sacred head surrounded.
He has played a large amount of Handel on this organ over the years and it is an ideal instrument for the composer. Today we heard movements from The Water Music before two brief pieces by Samuel Wesley. In his introduction Stephen noted that he had a date in the score of the Wesley which reminded him that he had first played the piece at the Unitarians in 1993 when, in his youth, he had asked if he could play the organ and had been encouraged to do so.
Flor Peters’ Aria brought us rather more up to date with its slightly acidic beauty and was followed by Weckmann’s Praeambulum a 5 vocum. It is the composer’s 400th anniversary this year and we will hear more from him as the series progresses.
The final section was in a lighter vein with two dances from Praetorius, Elgar’s Salut d’amour, Gordon Young’s Prelude in a Classic Style and concluding with a great favourite – Abe Holzmann’s Blaze Away.
The next concert at the Unitarians is on Saturday 2 July, but you can hear Stephen again in two weeks – Saturday 16 April @ 2.30pm – when he plays at His Place, Robertson Street, Hastings, for the Book Launch of Vol3 of Organs of 1066 Country.
This production by Nicholas Hytner dates from 1995 and while it may seem rather too whimsical for contemporary tastes has such wonderful performances that it is entirely captivating. Thomas Allen is outstanding as the Forester but there are no weak singers here and the orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras is as fine as one could ask. Bob Crowley’s setting float with an easy grace and his costumes are a constant delight.
Ruth Bergaus directed a number of very striking productions in the 1990s and this Zurich presentation of Der Freischutz dates from 1999. Starkly set with costumes almost entirely in black it focuses closely on the psychology of the characters. It also has a thrilling dynamism from the pit under Nicholas Harnoncourt which he manages to maintain throughout. The Wolf’s Glen scene is danced which lacks any sense of horror but this was new at the time. Good to have this available.
One of the benefits of DVDs of orchestral concerts is the close concentration it gives us on the conductor. Here we can study the way Christian Thielemann shapes and moulds the extended paragraphs of Bruckner’s score. That he appears to do it so easily, yet create so great an impact is telling in itself. A masterly performance and worth studying.
I suspect that for most of us Baroque Opera does not extend much further than Handel and Vivaldi. A pity as there is a vast repertoire beyond this which we have yet to explore. All the more welcome then is this production of Hasse’s Artaserse to a familiar libretto by Metastasio. A favourite work of Farinelli, it has a series of fearsomely difficult arias which need singers of world class. Thankfully the singing here is very good if not quite of the immaculate quality for which it was presumably written. Corrado Rovaris, directing from the harpsichord, drives the pace hard and keeps the (very complex) action moving rapidly towards its sympathetic if unlikely denouement.
This film is based on Valery Gergiev’s love of the work and he is seen in rehearsal and performance, as well as discussing the origin of the composition. There are rare archive shots of the composer, both conducting and talking about the work.