English Touring Opera are delighted to announce a season of lyric monodramas to tour nationally from October to December. The season features music for solo singer and piano by Argento, Britten, Tippett and Shostakovich with a bold and inventive approach to making opera during social distancing.
This tenth of ten Live from London concerts was in fact a recorded live performance from California. It was no less enjoyable for that, and it was also uplifting to learn that this wasn’t in fact the ‘last’ LfL event that we will be able to enjoy, courtesy of VOCES8 and their fellow vocal ensembles (more below …).
Ever since Wigmore Hall announced their superb series of autumn concerts, all streamed live and available free of charge, I’d been looking forward to this song recital by Ian Bostridge and Imogen Cooper.
The Sixteen continues its exploration of Henry Purcell’s Welcome Songs for Charles II. As with Robert King’s pioneering Purcell series begun over thirty years ago for Hyperion, Harry Christophers is recording two Welcome Songs per disc.
Although Stile Antico’s programme article for their Live from London recital introduced their selection from the many treasures of the English Renaissance in the context of the theological debates and upheavals of the Tudor and Elizabethan years, their performance was more evocative of private chamber music than of public liturgy.
In February this year, Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho made a highly lauded debut recital at Wigmore Hall - a concert which both celebrated Opera Rara’s 50th anniversary and honoured the career of the Italian soprano Rosina Storchio (1872-1945), the star of verismo who created the title roles in Leoncavallo’s La bohème and Zazà, Mascagni’s Lodoletta and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Evidently, face masks don’t stifle appreciative “Bravo!”s. And, reducing audience numbers doesn’t lower the volume of such acclamations. For, the audience at Wigmore Hall gave soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and pianist Simon Lepper a greatly deserved warm reception and hearty response following this lunchtime recital of late-Romantic song.
Collapsology. Or, perhaps we should use the French word ‘Collapsologie’ because this is a transdisciplinary idea pretty much advocated by a series of French theorists - and apparently, mostly French theorists. It in essence focuses on the imminent collapse of modern society and all its layers - a series of escalating crises on a global scale: environmental, economic, geopolitical, governmental; the list is extensive.
For this week’s Live from London vocal recital we moved from the home of VOCES8, St Anne and St Agnes in the City of London, to Kings Place, where The Sixteen - who have been associate artists at the venue for some time - presented a programme of music and words bound together by the theme of ‘reflection’.
'Such is your divine Disposation that both you excellently understand, and royally entertaine the Exercise of Musicke.’
Amongst an avalanche of new Mahler recordings appearing at the moment (Das Lied von der Erde seems to be the most favoured, with three) this 1991 Mahler Second from the 2nd Kassel MahlerFest is one of the more interesting releases.
‘And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven … that old serpent … Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.’
If there is one myth, it seems believed by some people today, that probably needs shattering it is that post-war recordings or performances of Wagner operas were always of exceptional quality. This 1949 Hamburg Tristan und Isolde is one of those recordings - though quite who is to blame for its many problems takes quite some unearthing.
There was never any doubt that the fifth of the twelve Met Stars Live in Concert broadcasts was going to be a palpably intense and vivid event, as well as a musically stunning and theatrically enervating experience.
‘Love’ was the theme for this Live from London performance by Apollo5. Given the complexity and diversity of that human emotion, and Apollo5’s reputation for versatility and diverse repertoire, ranging from Renaissance choral music to jazz, from contemporary classical works to popular song, it was no surprise that their programme spanned 500 years and several musical styles.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields have titled their autumn series of eight concerts - which are taking place at 5pm and 7.30pm on two Saturdays each month at their home venue in Trafalgar Square, and being filmed for streaming the following Thursday - ‘re:connect’.
The London Symphony Orchestra opened their Autumn 2020 season with a homage to Oliver Knussen, who died at the age of 66 in July 2018. The programme traced a national musical lineage through the twentieth century, from Britten to Knussen, on to Mark-Anthony Turnage, and entwining the LSO and Rattle too.
With the Live from London digital vocal festival entering the second half of the series, the festival’s host, VOCES8, returned to their home at St Annes and St Agnes in the City of London to present a sequence of ‘Choral Dances’ - vocal music inspired by dance, embracing diverse genres from the Renaissance madrigal to swing jazz.
Just a few unison string wriggles from the opening of Mozart’s overture to Le nozze di Figaro are enough to make any opera-lover perch on the edge of their seat, in excited anticipation of the drama in music to come, so there could be no other curtain-raiser for this Gala Concert at the Royal Opera House, the latest instalment from ‘their House’ to ‘our houses’.
"Before the ending of the day, creator of all things, we pray that, with your accustomed mercy, you may watch over us."
The past few years have marked a renaissance in Brooklyn's cultural life, from food to fashion, and quite notably, opera. From BAM to Bushwick, audiences have crowded in for a taste of something different.
Few performances, though, have been further off the beaten path than Floating Opera New York's recent Pelleas and Melisande at the Water Front Museum in Redhook.
The hundred-year-old barge sits on a dark pier, giving spectacular views of lower Manhattan. Audience members were given detailed instructions on the location, and asked to please arrive on time. As the last of the full house were seated, the gangplank was raised, and barge drifted next to the dock; late seating was not an option.
Performed in English translation with piano accompaniment, this production starts off with a handicap. Despite Eric Kramer's sensitive conducting and George Hemcher firm hands at the piano, this is a score that pales in reduction. Tucked away in a corner, Kramer was able to keep the cast together, even with the difficult sight-lines of playing in the round.
The ensemble cast was strong, and in the small space, words were understandable without supertitles.
Pelleas caressing Melisande's hair
As Melisande, Aude Cardona gave a rivetingly physical performance. Like Von Stade, she brought a darker tone than normally associated with the role, and sounded more human than ethereally pre-Raphaelite. As Pelleas, Christopher Dylan Herbert sang with a bright, clear baritone, matching Cardona's physical abandon.
Sidney Outlaw's brought a rich baritone to the brooding role of Golaud, and projected the clearest diction of the evening. He clearly delineated the path from enthrallment with Melisande, to eventual jealousy and rage. As the aging monarchs Arkel and Genvieve, Paul Goodwin-Groen and Jazmin DeRice sang and acted with intensity, giving memorable characterizations of these brief roles. Caroline Rose Loeb as Yniold, and Brett Harrison Vogel as the Doctor rounded out a strong ensemble cast.
Sidney Outlaw as Golaud, Aude Cardona as Melisande
Isabel Milenski's production was paired down to the most essential elements. Like Weiland Wagner's minimalist productions at Bayreuth in the 1950s, Milenski has discarded with the traditional rings and flowing locks. So cleanly had the staging been conceived, that when props did appear, they felt superfluous. Jian Jung's set consisted of a rowboat, moored with an oversized tangle of rope. The rope was both a nod at the history of the barge, and to Melisande's long hair.
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew added delicate strips of floor-lights which helped delineate the playing space, and managed to keep the space feeling dynamic through the evening with a very limited set of tools. Christina Lorraine Bullard's costumes suggested barge workers, as though the tiny floating world was the kingdom in contention.
As in the best site-specific work, the location was the undisputed star. The atmosphere was ephemeral, with the gently swaying of the barge echoing the sinuously shifting harmonies of Debussy's music. Milenski's staging had the singers using every corner, even climbing the walls behind the audience and singing inches above their heads. As the evening finished, Melisande rose slowly from a deathly stupor, throwing open the barge doors, and disappearing into the Manhattan Skyline.
Andreas Hager
Andreas Hager is a New York based opera critic who has written for Feast of Music, Theatre is Easy and Parterre Box. www.andreashager.com
Casts and production information:
Pelleas: Christopher Dylan Herbert; Melisande: Aude Cardona; Golaud: Sidney Outlaw; Arkel: Paul Goodwin-Groen; Genevieve: Jazmin DeRice; Ynold: Caroline Rose Loeb; the doctor: Brett Harrison Vogel. Steinway B piano: George Hemcher, pianist. Conductor: Eric Kramer; Stage Director: Isabel Milenski; Scene Design:Jian Jung; Costumes: Christina Lorraine Bullard; Lighting:Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew. Lehigh Valley Barge #79 (1914) now the Water Front Museum, Red Hook, Brooklyn. October 15, 2015