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."
Remembering the centenary of the Russian Revolution, this Proms performance of Mussorgsky’s mighty Khovanshchina (all four and a quarter hours of it) exceeded all expectations on a musical level. And, while the trademark doorstop Proms opera programme duly arrived containing full text and translation, one should celebrate the fact that - finally - we had surtitles on several screens.
The problem here was that the translation used for the surtitles was most assuredly not that in the programme, which could conceivably lead to confusion. It certainly added an extra layer of interest, albeit an unnecessary one.
Perhaps describing this performance as “semi-staged” is pushing it. There was some lighting for the culminatory pyre skittering across the RAH’s ceiling and elsewhere, although it was as a gesture rather underwhelming (the ending is a cross between the closing moments of Götterdämmerung and Dialogues des Carmelites). George Gagnidze’s sparkly bowtie was frankly more memorable than the light show. And yet, the performance itself was magnificent, guided impeccably by Semyon Bychkov, who previously led a Khovanshcina at the Vienna State Opera in 2014. The score operates across a huge canvas. Requiring large chorus (the BBC Singers here cannily augmented by the Slovak Philharmonic Choir, darkening the sound), equally large orchestra and a great long list of soloists, Mussorgsky’s epic pulls no punches. The same is true emotionally, as the political events unfold (the Streltsy revolts led by Ivan Khovansky, religious conservatism in the shape of the Old Believers, events around the beginning of Tsar Peter I’s reign). The characters Dosifey - Ain Anger sporting a prominent cross - and Marfa - who had previous romantic links to Koslovsky sung by the astonishing Elena Maximova - represent the old ways. In his excellent programme note, Simon Morrison of Princeton University suggests that Marfa is the character that reflects Mussorgsky’s own beliefs the best - and as such, she has some of the finest music.
Mussorgsky’s characteristically earthy writing (some might say unsophisticated) is there openly and unapologetically in this score, linking aurally to the original version of Boris Godunov and the piano original of Pictures. As with Boris (done at last year’s Proms under Pappano), also, the chorus is a palpable protagonist, no mere commentator. All credit to the multiple choirs on this occasion for providing such a powerful experience. Both Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky offered solutions to Mussorgsky’s incomplete score (and indeed orchestration), but on this occasion it was the Shostakovich 1959 edition that was used.
Bychkov can be a variable conductor, but on this occasion he was on (pardon the pun, given the opera’s conclusion) blazing form. The choruses followed him impeccably; he paced the action and the individual lines so once could clearly here not only the words but also that the words flowed at a believable speed of delivery. His way with the opening “Dawn on the Moscow River” (the most excerpted part of the score) was radiant and loving. Thank goodness Khovanshchina is no Pearl Fishers, wherein everyone knows the big duet near the opening and the score becomes ever more variable from that point. Mussorgsky’s opera, while not at white heat of inspiration throughout, is an incredibly impressive animal. The way the momentum just stopped dead at the entry of the Musocvites in Act I was remarkable, for example (as was the way no-one could miss the folkish tinge to the Musicovites’ melodies later). The suddenly radiant textures in the final act, when Marfa nostalgically refers to the love previously shared between herself and Khohvansky, was another such moment of revelation, stunningly done by Bychkov and his forces.
Choral contributions, whether of revolt or prayer, were always perfectly judged; just occasionally, perhaps, the higher voices struggled with some of Mussorgsky’s demands.
The singers assembled for this performance, too, were generally of the highest calibre. As Prince Ivan Khovansky, the Croatian Ante Jerkinica’s deep voice meant that even high in his register the sound was burnished; he exuded confidence and command. His son in the opera, Prince Andrey Khovansky, was taken by Heldentenor Christopher Ventris, known to many through his Parsifal and Lohengrin. Not quite given that opportunity to shine on this occasion, he remains a strong character and, indeed, voice; his sound perfectly complemented that of the Emma when the two were juxtaposed, that role taken by the excellent, fresh Anush Hovhannisyan. Georgian George Gagnidze was a dark-voiced Shaklovity in the Russian tradition - his prolonged lamentation for Russia in act three was exceptional.
A dignified and strong Dosifey, Estonian bass Ain Anger reveled in his character’s unshakable faith in Russia’s church. Often, his lines are prefaced by the direction “with mystical emotion” or the suchlike, and so it was in execution; his interactions with Marfa in the third act were one of the evening’s highlights. He reached the heights of his portrayal in the ultra-beautiful and heartfelt moonlit soliloquy that opens the fifth and final act. As Golitsy, Vsevolod Grivnov revealed a beautifully baritonal tenor voice.
In a strong cast, it was the young Elena Maximova’s Marfa that shone brightest of all. A voice of huge resonance in its lower registers, she made each note count. Her stage presence, too, is riveting while her sense of line, particularly in evidence in the second act, revealed the most perfect legato; yet her invocation of “mysterious forces” before she skries the future in a bowl of water held all the depth of a Russian Cunning Woman. When Mussorgsky writes for the upper reaches of her voice (in the fourth act), Maximova revealed a glistening, steely top.
Norbert Ernst was a brilliant, characterful Scribe, whose music sometimes veers very much towards the Fool’s music from Boris. This role requires much stamina, and Ernst never seemed to tire at all. A shame Jennifer Rhys-Davis’ Susanna, one of the Old Believers, was so saturated in vibrato. Smaller roles were uniformly well-taken, Colin Judson as Kuzka making the most of his act three song; a special mention also for Thomas Raskin’s Streshnev, whose few lines were delivered with impeccable diction.
Chorally this was a triumph, the assembled choruses carrying real heft. The Streltsy were a force to be reckoned with, while the Peasant Girls of the fourth act conjured just the right amount of folksy lilt. The orchestra was the best I have heard it for literally years, possibly decades (going back to the era of Günter Wand) - on an individual level. the cor anglais solo in the fourth act “Dance of the Persian Slave Girls” was meltingly done by Alison Teale. This is the moment when Mussorgsky seems to prefigure Rimsky’s Sheherazade.
A superb performance; and to hear the BBC Symphony Orchestra on such form was both a joy and a privilege.
Colin Clarke
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina (orch. Shostakovich, concert performance sung in Russian)
Ante Jerkunica - Ivan Khovansky, Christopher Ventris - Andrey Khovansky, Vsevolod Grivnov - Golitsin, Elena Maximova - Marfa,Ain Anger - Dosifey, George Gagnidze - Shaklovity, Jennifer Rhys-Davies - Susanna, Norbert Ernst - Scribe, Anush Hovhannisyan - Emma, Colin Judson - Kuzka, Philip Tebb, Charles Gibbs - Soldiers, Jamie W. Hall - Varsonofiev, Christopher Bowen - Servant to Golitsyn, Thomas Raskin - Streshnev; conductor - Semyon Bychkov. Paul Curran - stage director, Peter Weigold - assistant conductor, Alexandra Golubitskaya - repetiteur, Alexandre Naoumenko - Russian coach, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Schola Cantorum of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, Tiffin Boys’ Choir, BBC Singers, Slovak Philharmonic Choir.
Royal Albert Hall, London; Sunday 6th August 2017.