Where might you hear medieval monophony by the late 12th-century French composer PÈrotin, Renaissance polyphony by William Byrd, a vocal arrangement of the stirring theme from Sibelius’s tone poem Finlandia, alongside a newly commissioned work, ‘Vertue’ (2019) by Jonathan Dove, followed by an arrangement of the Irish folksong ‘Danny Boy’ and a snappy rendition of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘One Note Samba’ arr. for eight voices by Naomi Crellin, all within 90 minutes?
Author: Claire Seymour
A stirring War and Peace by WNO at Covent Garden
In an essay published in 1868, Tolstoy wrote: ‘What is War and Peace? It is not a novel, still less a poem, still less a historical chronicle. War and Peace is that which the author wished and was able to express in the form in which it has been expressed.’
‘Secrets and Lies’: a terrific double bill at Opera Holland Park
If you need a sweet bonbon to accompany the canapÈs and champagne on a sparkling summer evening, then Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s one-act trifle
Garsington Opera: Five Young Singers Win Prestigious Awards
Winners of this year’s prestigious Leonard Ingrams Foundation awards are mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew and tenor Oliver Johnston. These awards support, encourage and nurture the best young artists involved in the creative process of bringing opera to the stage, and are made in memory of Garsington Opera’s founder Leonard Ingrams, to ensure the continuity of his vision.
The 2019 Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Performance
This year’s Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Performance offered a veritable operatic smˆrgÂsbord, presenting sizable excerpts from operas ranging from Gluck to Saint-SaÎns, from Mozart to Debussy, by way of some Italian masterpieces, courtesy of Rossini and Verdi.
Bill Bankes-Jones on the twelfth TÍte ‡ TÍte Opera Festival
“We need to stop talking about ‘diversity’ and think instead about ‘inclusivity’,” says Bill Bankes-Jones, when we meet to talk about the forthcoming twelfth TÍte ‡ TÍte Opera Festival which runs from 24th July to 10th August.
Cilea’s L’arlesiana at Opera Holland Park
In a rank order of suicidal depressives, Federico – the ProvenÁal peasant besotted with ‘the woman from Arles’, L’arlesiana, who yearns to break free from his mother’s claustrophobic grasp, who seeks solace from betrayal and disillusionment in the arms of a patient childhood sweetheart, but who is ultimately broken by deluded dreams and unrequited passion – would surely give many a Thomas Hardy protagonist a run for their money.
Prom 1: Karina Canellakis makes history on the opening night of the Proms 2019
The young American conductor Karina Canellakis made history as the first woman to conduct the First Night of the Proms last night (19 July 2019) as she conducted the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall with soloists Asmik Grigorian (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano), Ladislav Elgr (tenor), Jan MartinÌk (bass) and Peter Holder (organ) in Zosha Di Castri’s Long is the Journey, Short Is the Memory (the world premiere of a BBC commission), Antonin Dvo?·k’s The Golden Spinning Wheel and Leoö Jan·?ek’s Glagolitic Mass.
Barbe & Doucet’s new production of Die Zauberflˆte at Glyndebourne
No one would pretend that Emanuel Schikaneder’s libretto for Mozart’s Die Zauberflˆte would go down well with the #MeToo generation. Or with first, second or third wave feminists for that matter.
Glyndebourne Announces the Return of the Glyndebourne Opera Cup in 2020
Glyndebourne’s major new international singing competition returns in 2020 with a renewed commitment to supporting diversity in opera. The Glyndebourne Opera Cup – the international competition for opera singers is designed to discover and spotlight the best young singers around the world, offering a top prize of £15,000 and a guaranteed role at a leading international opera house. The final will once again be broadcast live on Sky Arts on 7 March 2020 and the series is produced by Factory Films.