2017 SINCE 1998 1 1 ‘I had such a good time that I was sorely tempted to jump on stage at the final chorus and join in’ DAILY TELEGRAPH Oliver! at Grange Park Simon Opera Keenlyside 2016. as Fagin with his gang of pickpockets WELCOME FIVE MIRACLES HAVE TAKEN PLACE. The first was finding the magical setting of West Horsley Place. Other marvels were getting planning permission to build a fabulous new opera house in the Surrey Hills, the generosity of contributors (listed later) and the pace at which Martin Smith, our builder, has been making it take shape. How convenient that all this is happening a mile from a railway station – and around the corner from the M25. Of course, the greatest miracle of all has been the exceptional philanthropy of Bamber and Christina Gascoigne. By placing their inheritance into a charitable trust, this bewitching house and grounds can now be enjoyed forever by many people from all walks of life. Such miracles are cause for celebration and I do hope you will join us. Of course, the new can be frightening so it will be blended with familiar old friends: the seats – originally from the Royal Opera House – have come with us, as have the Indian pavilions, the chandeliers and the much-loved train set. At the heart of the experience is music. On June 8, Grange Park Opera will open in its new home with Tosca, and to sing for us we have captured the tenor superstar, Joseph Calleja. Joseph is one of a firmament that will be performing this season: Natalya Romaniw is in the title role of Janacek’s Jenufa (written at the same time as Tosca and with a similarly lavish orchestral palette), while for Wagner’s epic Die Walküre, American tenor Bryan Register will sing Siegmund opposite Rachel Nichols whose performances throughout Europe have been the talk of the EU. The icing on the cake is an evening with two superstars: Zenaida Yanowsky, Principal Artist with the Royal Ballet, and our patron, recently-knighted Bryn Terfel – who kindly said that he found singing with Grange Park Opera “life-affirming”. Thank you to all who have helped – both now and since 1998. We have stepped into a fairy tale. Come and join us. Wasfi Kani Chief Exective, Grange Park Opera 3 START PERFORMANCE TIME JUNE 2017 THU 8 6 PM TOSCA SAT 10 6 PM TOSCA SU N 11 6 PM JENUFA THU 15 6 PM TOSCA FRI 16 6 PM BRYN & ZEN SAT 17 6 PM JENUFA SUN 18 6 PM TOSCA THU 22 6 PM TOSCA FRI 23 6 PM JENUFA SAT 24 6 PM TOSCA WED 28 6 PM TOSCA THU 29 4 PM WALKÜRE FRI 30 6 PM TOSCA JULY 2017 SAT 1 4 PM WALKÜRE SUN 2 6 PM TOSCA WED 5 4 PM WALKÜRE THU 6 6 PM JENUFA SAT 8 6 PM JENUFA SUN 9 4 PM WALKÜRE WED 12 4 PM WALKÜRE SAT 15 4 PM WALKÜRE START TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE All performances end before 10pm. Monday-Saturday: there are five trains after 10pm from Horsley station to London. Sunday: there are two trains (10.30 and 11pm). ‘Don Carlo: gripping, gruesome and ‘Plucky company slays an operatic Goliath’ THE GUARDIAN brutally convincing’ FINANCIAL TIMES Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera 2016 ‘Hope is a waking dream’ ARISTOTLE Jenufa Music by LEOS JANACEK (1854 – 1928) Opera in three acts | First performance 21 January 1904, Brno Theatre Libretto by Janacek, based on the play Její pastorkyna by Gabriela Preissová PRODUCTION ORIGINATES FROM WELSH NATIONAL OPERA (1998) IN A VILLAGE IN RUSTIC MORAVIA the hapless Jenufa nurses her passion for her cousin, Steva. She is also carrying his child. Add a jealous half-brother and a conflicted stepmother into the mix and it adds up to an explosive drama. And that’s even before the winter ice melts to reveal a terrible secret. Regarded as one of Janacek’s masterpieces, Jenufa is music drama at its most intense and devastating, composed in the months preceding his daughter’s death. THE BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conductor William Lacey Natalya Romaniw Jenufa sponsor Judith Lawless & Kevin Egan Director Katie Mitchell Revival Director Robin Tebbutt Nicky Spence Steva sponsor John & Carol Wates Designer Vicki Mortimer Susan Bullock Kostelnicka Lighting Design Nigel Edwards Co Chvila Anonymous Andrew Rees Laca Jihoon Kim Mayor Anne-Marie Owens Grandmother Jano Eleanor Garside Foreman Harry Thatcher 7 ‘I lived for art, I lived for love . I helped people of misfortune . I decorated the altar with flowers . I gave jewels for the Madonna’s mantle . I gave music to the sky and stars . Why, my God, do you reward me thus?’ FLORIA TOSCA, ACT 2 VISSI D’ARTE Tosca Music by GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858 – 1924) Opera in three acts | First performance 14 January 1900, Teatro Costanzi, Rome Libretto by Illica & Giacosa based on the play La Tosca by Victorien Sardou SPONSORED BY ICAP PLC ROME, 1800. The opera singer, Floria Tosca, has two admirers. One is Mario Cavaradossi, a painter – and the man she loves. The other is the Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia, who wants them both: Tosca in his bed and Cavaradossi dead. Political tensions and personal passions collide; Tosca will pay the ultimate price. Superstar tenor Joseph Calleja takes the role of Cavaradossi opposite Ekaterina Metlova, who will sing Tosca, in this most passionate and dramatic of operas. THE BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conductor Gianluca Marciano Ekaterina Metlova Tosca sponsor Sue Lawson and Director Peter Relton Anthony & Carolyn Townsend Designer Francis O’Connor Vissi d’arte David & Clare Kershaw Lighting Design David Plater Joseph Calleja Cavaradossi sponsor François Freyeisen & Shunichi Kubo E lucevan le stelle Diane & Christopher Sheridan The firing squad Adam & Lucy Constable The Attavanti Fan Rosie Faunch Roland Wood Baron Scarpia His head Brian & Jennifer Ratner His body & legs John L Pemberton Jihoon Kim Angelotti sponsor Jeremy & Rosemary Farr Simon Wilding Sacristan 9 sponsor Noreen Doyle ‘He had reached that moment in life when a man abandons himself to his demon or to his genius, following a mysterious law which bids him either to destroy or outdo himself.’ MARGUERITE YOURCENAR, MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN Die Walküre Music by RICHARD WAGNER (1813 – 1883) Music drama in three acts | First performance 26 June 1870, Munich Libretto by Richard Wagner, based on Norse myths SUPPORTED BY A SYNDICATE LED BY DAVID & AMANDA LEATHERS WITH SIR WIN & LADY BISCHOFF FAMED FOR THE RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES, Die Walküre contains some of the most compelling vocal music ever written – as well as two of Wagner’s most sympathetic characters, Siegmund and Sieglinde. While taking shelter from a raging storm, Siegmund chances upon Sieglinde, his long-lost twin sister. Their forbidden love unleashes a chain of events that culminates in the collapse of the old order. THE BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conductor Stephen Barlow Rachel Nicholls Sieglinde Director Stephen Medcalf Bryan Register Siegmund Winterstürme Mr & Mrs Grant Gordon Set Designer Jamie Vartan The sword Mrs T Landon Lighting Design David Plater Alan Ewing Hunding Thomas Hall Wotan Wotan’s Farewell Katie Bradford VALKYRIES Sara Fulgoni Fricka Mari Wyn Williams, Becca Mariott, Tanya Hurst, Jane Dutton Brünnhilde War es so schmählich Gemma Morsley, Morag Boyle, Stephen Gosztony & Sue Butcher Anne-Marie Owens, Felicity Buckland, Laura Easton 11 ‘It is a blessing to give’ TEVYE THE DAIRYMAN Bryn Terfel SINGS Zenaida Yanowsky DANCES SUPPORTED BY JAMES & BÉATRICE LUPTON TWO FITTINGLY GRAND superstars welcome you to the opening season of our new opera house. Spanish dancer Zenaida Yanowsky comes from a family of dancers. Since 2001 she has been a Principal Artist at the Royal Ballet. Her many roles include Odette/Odile Swan Lake, Sylvia, Sugar Plum Fairy Nutcracker, Queen of Hearts Alice’s Adventures and Paulina Winter’s Tale. Bryn’s triumphant performances of Fiddler on the Roof was seen by 5,000 people during our 2015 season and a further 6,000 at the BBC Proms, where tickets sold out in two hours. 95,000 tuned into the live radio broadcast. For one night only, with pianist Iain Burnside, Bryn and Zenaida present an Photograph Rick Guest intimate evening to remember. ‘Singing with Grange Park Opera is life- affirming. These are people who want to bring a new generation to opera on and off the stage. I will be joining them on their journey.’ SIR BRYN TERFEL, APPEAL PATRON 13 ‘a masterly Tristan . each act unfurling slowly towards the climax: steady, transparent, explosive’ THE OBSERVER ‘a masterly Tristan . each act unfurling slowly towards the climax: steady, transparent, explosive’ THE OBSERVER YOUR VISIT WHEN TO ARRIVE THE LONG INTERVAL Guests may arrive from two hours Good music, good books, good before the opera starts. They company and good conversation explore the gardens, eat some of are leisurely pursuits that bring great their picnic, have tea or a glass happiness. (Almost) as enjoyable as of champagne. (Performance start the opera itself, the Long Interval is times on page 4). the important bit. DRESS THE RESTAURANT Guests wear something stylish. The simplest option is to make Most of the audience wear black a restaurant reservation within tie/long or short dress, but don’t be the splendour of the 500 year- afraid to stand out from the crowd: old mansion (tablecloths, gleaming we encourage creativity. cutlery, flowers). A splendid three- course menu with fine wines might BEFORE THE OPERA not equal the 35-course luncheon Pre–performance canapés and enjoyed by Henry VIII on the very champagne are served on the lawn same flagstones . but then tastes on the west side of the house. have changed.