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."
After the preceding evening’s presentation of Annilese Miskimmon’s sparkling production of Handel’s Semele - an account of marital infidelity in immortal realms - the second opera of Garsington Opera’s 2017 season brought us down to earth for more mundane disloyalties and deceptions amongst the moneyed aristocracy of the eighteenth-century, as presented by John Cox in his 2005 production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.
This production was the last production performed at Garsington Manor, in 2010, before the company’s move to Wormsley; and, in conversation recently, Garsington’s Artistic Director, Dougie Boyd - who conducted on that occasion and under whose baton the production returns to the Garsington stage - told me that the wider stage and improved technical facilities had led to changes to design and staging which encouraged Garsington to describe this as a ‘recreation’ rather than a revival. I had not seen Cox’s vision in its previous manifestation, but I found the nestled layers of Robert Perdziola’s design to be a brilliant conceit.
The shabby garret room bestowed by Count Almaviva on the soon-to-be wed Figaro and Susanna, settles into the angled corner of the Countess’s soft-silk boudoir, which itself sits snug in the walls of the Count’s portrait-lined study. Surrounding all is the garden: the pines, topiary hedges, shrubbery and terraces. Beyond that, of course, are the gardens of Wormsley, and Cox made good use of the location: not only did the one-day time scale of Figaro perfectly mirror the real-time progression to dusk and darkness, but when Cherubino leapt from the Countess’s window to evade the Count’s wrath, we witnessed his somersault over the balcony and subsequent helter-skelter dash through the Garsington grounds, towards the lake, with disgruntled, inebriate gardener, Antonio, in hot pursuit.
And, so, the trajectory of Shakespeare’s Othello - which moves from the streets of Venice to distant Cyprus, to ever more enclosed settings culminating in the private chamber where Desdemona meets her death at the hands of her jealous, duped husband - is reversed in Figaro , which progresses from inner rooms, first private then of state, to external nooks and crannies of intrigue and deception. And, this is emphasised by Cox’s staging and Perdziola’s set, in which, paradoxically, the rings of the onion are peeled away, thus taking us ever further from the domestic interior.
The individual spaces were each well utilised, too. Though Figaro’s attic bedchamber was somewhat cramped, crowded with upturned boxes and bed-frames, a step ladder at the rear enabled supernumeraries and principals alike to climb up, creating an impression of space and an opportunity to project. The vista widened for the Countess’s boudoir, with the towering window and terrace beyond further extending the stage-scope stage-left, and the swivelling periaktoi stage-right exposing the Countess’s closet for our delectation when first Cherubino and then Susanna were therein concealed. Into the Count’s study trouped Marcellina, Bartolo and various notaries and maid-servants during Act 3, bringing the outside world to the Count’s private domain. And, in Act 4, the expanse of the Garsington stage created a credible garden milieu, with all its nooks, crannies and caves which facilitate the domestic intrigue.
The production also showcased Garsington’s values and ethos, with several significant roles filled by returnees and those who had planted the roots of their careers in Garsington’s figurative musical gardens. This was baritone Joshua Bloom’s fourth season at Garsington; he made his debut here in La Cenerentola in 2009, and sang Leporello in the 2012 Don Giovanni. Here, he was a wonderfully controlled and methodically crafted Figaro, his huge vocal capacity never once overwhelming his musical intellect. When challenging the Count’s proprietorial assumptions, Bloom’s voice was indignantly resonant; but when, in Act 4, Figaro believed himself duped and betrayed, Figaro was endowed with a credible vulnerability, which tempered Bloom’s sturdy baritone. Bloom has presence, panache and vocal power: a winning triplet.
Soprano Jennifer France is returning to Garsington following her role debut as Marzelline in Fidelio in 2014 (when Bloom was Don Fernandez) for which she was awarded the prestigious Leonard Ingrams Foundation Award for outstanding young artists. ‘Outstanding’ is certainly an adjective I would use to describe her Susanna on this occasion. This Susanna is a feisty lass - verbally and physically - not beholden or subordinate to husband, mistress or master; but, her fierce will and self-belief never once temper the sweetness of her vocal utterances. France’s soprano is lithe, clean and her stamina unflagging; she was as bright and brisk in the final Act as in the first. She is also a consummate actress, adaptable, relaxed and vivacious. A star in the making.
Jennifer France (Susanna). Photo credit: Mark Douet.
Some of the cast were new to Garsington. And, Duncan Rock’s Count was an interesting proposition. Cox and Rock dispense with vulgar aristocratic assumption, and with buffoonery, and present a Count who is thoughtful and, at times, acute and subtle, but whose duping is thus doubly effective and prompts sympathy alongside gleeful comeuppance. There was the usual incredulity and confusion, but also a genuine wish to understand how it has come about his servants are running rings around him, and a, perhaps, justified disgruntlement at his dependents’ independent willfulness. Rock balanced aristocratic presumption with human susceptibility.
I wasn’t entirely convinced by Canadian soprano Kirsten MacKinnon’s Countess. She certainly looked the part - beautiful, stately - and MacKinnon has a bristling richness at the top. But, ‘Porgi amor’ was somewhat hesitant, and she struggled to control and shape her vibrato; while first Act nerves might have been understandable, MacKinnon also seemed to rush through the phrases of ‘Dove sono’ and wandered off-pitch. There were a few rough edges too; there are places where glitzy dazzle is no compensation for lack of dulcet sweetness. That said, she made a positive contribution to the ensembles and her Act 3 duets with Susanna were a delectable intertwining.
Duncan Rock (Count), Stephen Richardson (Bartolo), Janis Kelly (Marcellina), Timothy Robinson (Basilio), Jennifer France (Susanna), Joshua Bloom (Figaro). Photo credit: Mark Douet.
The last time I saw Janis Kelly, at Glyndebourne in 2016 as Berta in Rossini’s Barbiere, she threatened to steal the show. And, the same was true here: her Marcellina was a cross between 'Hyacinth Bucket' and Queen Elizabeth II, but her voice is still fresh and youthful. The Act 3 revelations of Figaro’s origins were expertly done - Kelly switched from financial grabbing matriarch to matronly concern in the twinkling of an eye; and, Kelly’s theatrical experience no doubt was of enormous help to the younger members of the cast.
Kirsten MacKinnon (Countess), Jennifer France (Susanna), Marta Fontanals-Simmons (Cherubino). Photo credit: Mark Douet.
My first thought was that Marta Fontanals-Simmons was too tall for the adolescent Cherubino, but she proved a master (mistress) of fresh-voiced enthusiasm and cross-dressing faux-awkwardness. There were strong performances too from Timothy Robinson as Basilio - ‘What I said about the page was just a suspicion’ was nasally declaimed with wicked delight - and Stephen Richardson’s Dr Bartolo. Richardson ran away from the orchestra in the patter of ‘La vendetta’ but he was a surprisingly sympathetic character, his yearning for love and reconciliation outweighing that for revenge. Alison Rose’s Barbarina was a strongly delineated musical character portrait and Andrew Tipple’s inebriated gardener, Antonio, was gruff of sentiment but precise and vigorous of tone.
There were a few rough edges at this first-night performance, and though Dougie Boyd conducted with vivacious alertness, drawing a full range of emotions from his band, he couldn’t quite keep the Chorus tightly in rein, and the Act 3 Act ending was a little messy. But, the accelerating progression through the Act 2 finale was spot on, and I’m sure any minor teething problems will iron themselves out.
This is a delightful Figaro revival/recreation - what you will - that will undoubtedly get even better as the run progresses.
Claire Seymour
Le nozze di Figaro is performed on 4, 8, 10, 17 June and 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 16 July.
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Figaro - Joshua Bloom, Susanna - Jennifer France, Count - Duncan Rock, Countess - Kirsten MacKinnon, Cherubino - Marta Fontanals-Simmons, Bartolo - Stephen Richardson, Marcellina - Janis Kelly, Basilio - Timothy Robinson, Curzio - Alun Rhys-Jenkins, Antonio - Andrew Tipple, Barbarina - Alison Rose; Director - John Cox, Conductor - Douglas Boyd, Associate Director - Bruno Ravella, Designer - Robert Perdziola, Lighting Designer - Mark Jonathan, Choreographer - Kate Flatt.
Garsington Opera, 2 June 2017.