Richard Bonynge

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Richard Bonynge Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 15, Number 48, December 2, 1988 Interview: Richard Bonynge 'All music comes from the human voice' Mr. Richard Bonynge, leading international opera conduc­ wild.In Milan and Vienna 've had it up to 448, it's ridic­ tor, is also a historian of the bel canto school and artistic ulous. It not only puts a strain on singers; to me it's guide for his Wife, soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. During absurd because it makes sound so bad.The sound comes a brief stop in the U.S. in October, Dame Joan and Mr. out over-bright, and the notes are hard-and both for Bonynge enthusiastically signed the Schiller Institute's peti­ singers and for orchestras. I think you are hearing a tion to the Italian Parliament in support of a pending bill to different sound than that of the composers conceived. establish standard pitch for all government-subsidized mu­ sical performances at A = 432, instead of today's Interna­ EIR: What motivated you revive bel canto opera? tional Standard Pitch of A = 440, or the often higher tunings Bonynge: Probably about 1 , we heard the first Callas which prevail in many symphony halls and opera houses record of [Bellini's] I Y"'"lTfl,'" today. not only light sopranos can the bel canto repertoire.It Mr. Bonynge gave EIR correspondent Kathy Wolfe both had been limited to light <:nrlr""n<: in the 1930s, 1940s, and their thoughts on the subject Oct. 25, as Dame Joan was 1950s.We began as early 1951, working on things like indisposed. Puritani, and the very florid roles, and then moving By way of background, A =432 was the standard pro­ later into all sorts of bel posed by Giuseppe Verdi in 1884 as the equivalent of setting Because when Joan first middle Cat 256 vibrations per second, which had long been they gave her heavy UII:;1)--rtIUU and Un Ballo in Maschera. known as the"scientific pitch" and which was the tuning fork of the classical composers from Bach onward. A bill has now been introduced into the Italian Senate by Senators Boggio in the theater many times. and Mezzapesa, to return to the "Verdi A." The historical the Marschallin [in Richard research and scientific investigations to support the "Verdi and they wanted her to under­ A" based on C=256, have been carried out by Schiller [from Wagner's Ring cycle]. Institute members at the encouragement of Lyndon H. La­ Rouche, Jr. EIR: You're kidding! The campaign for the current legislation was started in Bonynge: Yes, and we against it, because we thought April 1988 at a Schiller Institute conference in Milan ad­ it was the wrong direction her, and we had many fights. dressed by soprano Renata Tebaldi and baritone Piero Cap­ And for a long time she singing both the heavy and the puccilli, who are among the world's leading opera singers light repertoire, until they way after three years and of the postwar era. The "Verdi A" is pitted against the gave her the doll [Olympia, high coloratura role] in Offen- "Goebbels A," the A =440 tuning, imposed in 1939 at the bach's Tales of Hoffman. instigation of Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels' s However, they gave her Radio Berlin, which cannot claim either a scientific or a week.They'd give her historical foundation. Olympia on Wednesday. success as Olympia was o\\envn(!inung--alrl.<1 EIR: Mr.Bonynge, the Schiller Institute particularly sought changed the tide.After that out Dame Joan and yourself for signatures, because you two as] Gilda in Verdi's led the movement to revive the great bel canto operas. Lucia in 1959. Bonynge: I'm glad you did that.... I must say 1 feel quite They thought she was a , a dramatic soprano. strongly about it, because the pitch in some places has gone They were grooming her to the Wagnerian singer for the 60 Music EIR December 2, 1988 © 1988 EIR News Service Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission strictly prohibited. house. Well, she is a dramatic soprano, insofar as she is the rise of the pitch, too. capable of singing Turandot, Norma, and Donna Anna.She Bonynge: I don't know, but once we had done a lot of certainly could sing the big Wagner roles, if she had gone performances in Milan and Vienna, we realized that this ' into them. A = 448 is just ghastly! But she preferred to go the direction of the bel canto; because there is so much more to it, she could go so much EIR: When did you start doing it that high? further, it opened up the repertoire for her so much. Bonynge: Oh, I suppose already in the 1960s, they were using that very, very high pitch. In Vienna, they loved to EIR: I always thought it was a rather large voice for Lu­ have a high pitch there; and Milan was very bad. Milan cia ....You agreed with their diagnosis, you just didn't like recently has dropped again, because so many of the singers the repertoire? have made such a fuss about it. Bonynge: I like Wagner, I just didn't think it was right for her.It wasn't that I thought she couldn't sing it, it was just EIR: You have stressed that the importance of bel canto is that I wanted her to sing so much else.But I think that if she that music is based upon the human voice.... had sung Wagner, under present conditions, the pitches of Bonynge: I think all music comes from the human voice, course as they are, and the orchestras as absolutely open as because that's how music began; and then men invented they are today-Wagner did not intend for his operas to be instruments to go with the human voice, and things became sung with this huge amount of orchestra.He wrote all of the more and more sophisticated as time went on.For example, big ones for [the covered orchestra pit at] Bayreuth; in the I am not crazy about going back to old instruments, because earlier ones, the orchestras were under the stage, anyway. we have developed the instruments so much.But I do think And thevoices were not supposed to have to yell all the time. this raising of the pitch is a horrendous thing; because what You listen to Wagnerian singers today: Most of them don't one is hearing constitutes things which are not the way the sing, they yell! And I didn't want her to get into that way of composer wants them. singing, and she has been able to avoid it all of these years. To be very specific, in Puritani, for example, the tenor's music is written exceptionally high. EIR: Just for Dame Joan, or is the bel canto route better for all singers? EIR: Including an F above high C.. Bonynge: It would probably be better for all voices.I be­ Bonynge: It's general to drop that a semitone today.If it is lieve very strongly that all voices should study the bel canto, dropped a semitone it sounds much more beautiful-very, it doesn't matter whether they are male or female, or dramat­ very much more beautiful-because the sound becomes more ic or what they are-what size has nothing to do with it. dulcet and more round.There are a couple of tenors who are ' They should all study the bel canto, because if you can sing able to sing it up, and then of course because they are able and master the bel canto repertoire, I think you can sing to, they want to show that they can.But I don't think it sounds anything.The modem repertoire becomes easy if you are better, I think it sounds better down. proficient in bel canto, because you know how to place your The same goes for the high piece in Lucia: It sounds too voice and where to put all the notes.If you are started in the brittle to me.The composer, Donizetti, wrote Lucia di Lam­ heavy repertoire, and the modem repertoire, you never learn mermoor for Fanny Persiani (1812-67), who had a very, very to sing-all you do is get into some terrible faults. high voice, so he wrote it up there; but when the other singers started singing it, they all sang it in a lower key.Actually it EIR: Was it the conductor Tullio Serafin who started the bel was almost never published in the higher key. canto movement? Bonynge: Serafin cared a great deal for bel canto, yes, he EIR: Henry Pleasants, the opera scholar, in a recent article started back in the 1930s with Rosa Ponselle-and he intro­ being published by EIR, reports on a new finding of the duced her to Norma.. .Covent Garden sent us to Venice in Donizetti autograph of Lucia. which shows Lucia's famous 1959 to study with him.And that was quite wonderful, be­ mad scene was actually composed in F, not in E-flat, but had cause he was supposed to work on Lucia with us, but after a to be taken down because of the subseqent rise in the couple of days of Lucia, he said, "Why don't you just bring pitch .... Norma and Sonnambula and Puritani?" [all operas by the bel Bonynge: This is quite true-it was composed that way for canto composer Vincenzo Bellini] and then he worked on all Persiani.
Recommended publications
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream
    Monday 25, Wednesday 27 February, Friday 1, Monday 4 March, 7pm Silk Street Theatre A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten Dominic Wheeler conductor Martin Lloyd-Evans director Ruari Murchison designer Mark Jonathan lighting designer Guildhall School of Music & Drama Guildhall School Movement Founded in 1880 by the Opera Course and Dance City of London Corporation Victoria Newlyn Head of Opera Caitlin Fretwell Chairman of the Board of Governors Studies Walsh Vivienne Littlechild Dominic Wheeler Combat Principal Resident Producer Jonathan Leverett Lynne Williams Martin Lloyd-Evans Language Coaches Vice-Principal and Director of Music Coaches Emma Abbate Jonathan Vaughan Lionel Friend Florence Daguerre Alex Ingram de Hureaux Anthony Legge Matteo Dalle Fratte Please visit our website at gsmd.ac.uk (guest) Aurelia Jonvaux Michael Lloyd Johanna Mayr Elizabeth Marcus Norbert Meyn Linnhe Robertson Emanuele Moris Peter Robinson Lada Valešova Stephen Rose Elizabeth Rowe Opera Department Susanna Stranders Manager Jonathan Papp (guest) Steven Gietzen Drama Guildhall School Martin Lloyd-Evans Vocal Studies Victoria Newlyn Department Simon Cole Head of Vocal Studies Armin Zanner Deputy Head of The Guildhall School Vocal Studies is part of Culture Mile: culturemile.london Samantha Malk The Guildhall School is provided by the City of London Corporation as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation A Midsummer Night’s Dream Music by Benjamin Britten Libretto adapted from Shakespeare by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears
    [Show full text]
  • Verdi Week on Operavore Program Details
    Verdi Week on Operavore Program Details Listen at WQXR.ORG/OPERAVORE Monday, October, 7, 2013 Rigoletto Duke - Luciano Pavarotti, tenor Rigoletto - Leo Nucci, baritone Gilda - June Anderson, soprano Sparafucile - Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass Maddalena – Shirley Verrett, mezzo Giovanna – Vitalba Mosca, mezzo Count of Ceprano – Natale de Carolis, baritone Count of Ceprano – Carlo de Bortoli, bass The Contessa – Anna Caterina Antonacci, mezzo Marullo – Roberto Scaltriti, baritone Borsa – Piero de Palma, tenor Usher - Orazio Mori, bass Page of the duchess – Marilena Laurenza, mezzo Bologna Community Theater Orchestra Bologna Community Theater Chorus Riccardo Chailly, conductor London 425846 Nabucco Nabucco – Tito Gobbi, baritone Ismaele – Bruno Prevedi, tenor Zaccaria – Carlo Cava, bass Abigaille – Elena Souliotis, soprano Fenena – Dora Carral, mezzo Gran Sacerdote – Giovanni Foiani, baritone Abdallo – Walter Krautler, tenor Anna – Anna d’Auria, soprano Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera Chorus Lamberto Gardelli, conductor London 001615302 Aida Aida – Leontyne Price, soprano Amneris – Grace Bumbry, mezzo Radames – Placido Domingo, tenor Amonasro – Sherrill Milnes, baritone Ramfis – Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone The King of Egypt – Hans Sotin, bass Messenger – Bruce Brewer, tenor High Priestess – Joyce Mathis, soprano London Symphony Orchestra The John Alldis Choir Erich Leinsdorf, conductor RCA Victor Red Seal 39498 Simon Boccanegra Simon Boccanegra – Piero Cappuccilli, baritone Jacopo Fiesco - Paul Plishka, bass Paolo Albiani – Carlos Chausson, bass-baritone Pietro – Alfonso Echevarria, bass Amelia – Anna Tomowa-Sintow, soprano Gabriele Adorno – Jaume Aragall, tenor The Maid – Maria Angels Sarroca, soprano Captain of the Crossbowmen – Antonio Comas Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona Uwe Mund, conductor Recorded live on May 31, 1990 Falstaff Sir John Falstaff – Bryn Terfel, baritone Pistola – Anatoli Kotscherga, bass Bardolfo – Anthony Mee, tenor Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Ernani Program
    VERDI PATRON-IN-CHIEF DR HARUHISA HANDA Celebrating the return of World Class Opera HSBC, as proud partner of Opera Australia, supports the many returns of 2021. Together we thrive Issued by HSBC Bank Australia Limited ABN 48 006 434 162 AFSL No. 232595. Ernani Composer Ernani State Theatre, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Diego Torre Arts Centre Melbourne Librettist Don Carlo, King of Spain Performance dates Francesco Maria Piave Vladimir Stoyanov 13, 15, 18, 22 May 2021 (1810-1876) Don Ruy Gomez de Silva Alexander Vinogradov Running time: approximately 2 hours and 30 Conductor Elvira minutes, including one interval. Carlo Montanaro Natalie Aroyan Director Giovanna Co-production by Teatro alla Scala Sven-Eric Bechtolf Jennifer Black and Opera Australia Rehearsal Director Don Riccardo Liesel Badorrek Simon Kim Scenic Designer Jago Thank you to our Donors Julian Crouch Luke Gabbedy Natalie Aroyan is supported by Costume Designer Roy and Gay Woodward Kevin Pollard Opera Australia Chorus Lighting Designer Chorus Master Diego Torre is supported by Marco Filibeck Paul Fitzsimon Christine Yip and Paul Brady Video Designer Assistant Chorus Master Paul Fitzsimon is supported by Filippo Marta Michael Curtain Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky and Matthias Schlesewsky Opera Australia Actors The costumes for the role of Ernani in this production have been Orchestra Victoria supported by the Concertmaster Mostyn Family Foundation Sulki Yu You are welcome to take photos of yourself in the theatre at interval, but you may not photograph, film or record the performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Il Trovatore Was Made Stage Director Possible by a Generous Gift from Paula Williams the Annenberg Foundation
    ilGIUSEPPE VERDItrovatore conductor Opera in four parts Marco Armiliato Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano and production Sir David McVicar Leone Emanuele Bardare, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutierrez set designer Charles Edwards Tuesday, September 29, 2015 costume designer 7:30–10:15 PM Brigitte Reiffenstuel lighting designed by Jennifer Tipton choreographer Leah Hausman The production of Il Trovatore was made stage director possible by a generous gift from Paula Williams The Annenberg Foundation The revival of this production is made possible by a gift of the Estate of Francine Berry general manager Peter Gelb music director James Levine A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the San Francisco principal conductor Fabio Luisi Opera Association 2015–16 SEASON The 639th Metropolitan Opera performance of GIUSEPPE VERDI’S il trovatore conductor Marco Armiliato in order of vocal appearance ferr ando Štefan Kocán ines Maria Zifchak leonor a Anna Netrebko count di luna Dmitri Hvorostovsky manrico Yonghoon Lee a zucena Dolora Zajick a gypsy This performance Edward Albert is being broadcast live on Metropolitan a messenger Opera Radio on David Lowe SiriusXM channel 74 and streamed at ruiz metopera.org. Raúl Melo Tuesday, September 29, 2015, 7:30–10:15PM KEN HOWARD/METROPOLITAN OPERA A scene from Chorus Master Donald Palumbo Verdi’s Il Trovatore Musical Preparation Yelena Kurdina, J. David Jackson, Liora Maurer, Jonathan C. Kelly, and Bryan Wagorn Assistant Stage Director Daniel Rigazzi Italian Coach Loretta Di Franco Prompter Yelena Kurdina Assistant to the Costume Designer Anna Watkins Fight Director Thomas Schall Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed and painted by Cardiff Theatrical Services and Metropolitan Opera Shops Costumes executed by Lyric Opera of Chicago Costume Shop and Metropolitan Opera Costume Department Wigs and Makeup executed by Metropolitan Opera Wig and Makeup Department Ms.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Music Foundation Young Musician Awardees 2013 - 2014
    Australian Music Foundation Young Musician Awardees 2013 - 2014 Proudly supporting young Australian Musicians studying in the UK, Europe the USA 2013- 2014 AMF Young Musician Awardees - studying in the UK & EUROPE Kate Howden, Mezzo-Soprano - Riddiford Trust Scholar ezzo-soprano Kate Howden was awarded a Master of Arts with DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music, where she continues to study with Elizabeth Ritchie and Jonathan MPapp on the Royal Academy Opera course. She also holds a First Class BMus (Hons) from Trinity College of Music London, where she studied with Ameral Gunson. Her opera credits include Cendrillon (Cendrillon, RAO), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel, Opera Holloway, Edinburgh Fringe), Un patre and un bête (L’enfant et les Sortiléges, RAO), Dorothée (Cendrillon, Blackheath Opera), Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro, Harrow Opera) and Annio (La Clemenza di Tito, Riverside Opera and Hampstead Garden Opera). Recent soloist performances include Ravel Trois poémes de Stéphane Mallarmé, Bach Christmas Oratorio, Bach St John Passion, Mozart C Minor Mass and Mozart Requiem. In 2012 Kate was honoured to sing at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence in London, for a dinner for Members of the Order of Australia. Suyeon Kang, Violin - Guy Parsons Awardee orn in South Korea, Suyeon received her first violin lessons in Australia with Josette Esquedin-Morgan, continuing with Alice Waten and Goetz Richter as a scholarship Bstudent in leading Australian music institutions. Currently a masters student at the Hochschule für Musik Berlin ‘Hanns Eisler’, under the tutelage of Professor Antje Weithaas, she graduated her Diploma with honours in 2011 (in Nürnberg) having studied with, and worked as assistant to Professor Daniel Gaede.
    [Show full text]
  • Featuring the Brandenburg Choir Noël! Noël! Featuring the Brandenburg Choir
    Noël! Noël! Featuring the Brandenburg Choir Noël! Noël! Featuring the Brandenburg Choir Morgan Balfour (San Francisco) soprano 2019 Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Brandenburg Choir SYDNEY Matthew Manchester Conductor City Recital Hall Paul Dyer AO Artistic Director, Conductor Saturday 14 December 5:00PM Saturday 14 December 7:30PM PROGRAM Wednesday 18 December 5:00PM Mendelssohn Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Wednesday 18 December 7:30PM Anonymous Sonata à 9 Gjeilo Prelude MELBOURNE Eccard Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier Melbourne Recital Centre Crüger Im finstern Stall, o Wunder groβ Saturday 7 December 5:00PM Palestrina ‘Kyrie’ from Missa Gabriel Archangelus Saturday 7 December 7:30PM Arbeau Ding Dong! Merrily on High Handel ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion’ NEWTOWN from Messiah, HWV 56 Friday 6 December 7:00PM Head The Little Road to Bethlehem Gjeilo The Ground PARRAMATTA Tuesday 10 December 7:30PM Vivaldi La Folia, RV 63 Handel Eternal source of light divine, HWV 74 MOSMAN Traditional Deck the Hall Wednesday 11 December 7:00PM Traditional The Coventry Carol WAHROONGA Traditional O Little Town of Bethlehem Thursday 12 December 7:00PM Traditional God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen Palmer A Sparkling Christmas WOOLLAHRA Adam O Holy Night Monday 16 December 7:00PM Gruber Stille Nacht Anonymous O Come, All Ye Faithful CHAIRMAN’S 11 Proudly supporting our guest artists. Concert duration is approximately 75 minutes without an interval. Please note concert duration is approximate only and subject to change. We kindly request that you switch off all electronic devices prior to the performance. This concert will be broadcast on ABC Classic on 21 December at 8:00PM NOËL! NOËL! 1 Biography From our Principal Partner: Macquarie Group Paul Dyer Imagination & Connection Paul Dyer is one of Australia’s leading specialists On behalf of Macquarie Group, it is my great pleasure to in period performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Amelia Farrugia
    Amelia Farrugia One of Australia's best loved sopranos Amelia Farrugia is one Australia’s best-loved sopranos. Since her opera debut in 1994, she has sung many leading roles for Opera Australia, performed with all the ABC Orchestras and appeared internationally with distinguished conductors Richard Bonynge, Edo de Waart, Richard Hickox, Carlo Felice Cillario, Markus Stenz, Simone Young, Emmanuel Plasson, Paul Dyer, Andrea Licata, Alexander Briger, Brad Cohen, Robin Ticciati, Giovanni Reggioli and composers Gian Carlo Menotti, Richard Mills and George Palmer. More about Amelia Farrugia: Amelia is renowned for her dazzling portrayal of Manon in Massenet’s Manon, her show-stopping Adele in Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (performed for Glyndebourne Festival Opera UK and OA’s production recorded by ABC Classics), her Musetta in Puccini’s La Boheme, Maria Corona in Menotti’s Saint of Bleeker Street (Spoleto Festival Italy), Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera for which she received a Green Room Award (2008). Amelia’s debut solo recording, Joie de vivre! (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Briger) was released by Universal Music/ Decca in Australia in 2005 and the UK in 2006 and nominated for a Classical Aria (2006). Amelia is the first Australian solo artist to record on the prestigious Decca label since Dame Joan Sutherland in 1959. Amelia is a television favourite, most recently appearing in Carols in the Domain and Opera Australia’s La Boheme (ABC).
    [Show full text]
  • Verdi's Rigoletto
    Verdi’s Rigoletto - A discographical conspectus by Ralph Moore It is hard if not impossible, to make a representative survey of recordings of Rigoletto, given that there are 200 in the catalogue; I can only compromise by compiling a somewhat arbitrary list comprising of a selection of the best-known and those which appeal to me. For a start, there are thirty or so studio recordings in Italian; I begin with one made in 1927 and 1930, as those made earlier than that are really only for the specialist. I then consider eighteen of the studio versions made since that one. I have not reviewed minor recordings or those which in my estimation do not reach the requisite standard; I freely admit that I cannot countenance those by Sinopoli in 1984, Chailly in 1988, Rahbari in 1991 or Rizzi in 1993 for a combination of reasons, including an aversion to certain singers – for example Gruberova’s shrill squeak of a soprano and what I hear as the bleat in Bruson’s baritone and the forced wobble in Nucci’s – and the existence of a better, earlier version by the same artists (as with the Rudel recording with Milnes, Kraus and Sills caught too late) or lacklustre singing in general from artists of insufficient calibre (Rahbari and Rizzi). Nor can I endorse Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s final recording; whether it was as a result of his sad, terminal illness or the vocal decline which had already set in I cannot say, but it does the memory of him in his prime no favours and he is in any case indifferently partnered.
    [Show full text]
  • Jeffrey Black's Presentation Speech
    Jeffrey Black on Richard Bonynge 18 August 2016 "The person in question was born 29th September 1930. Through a strange happenstance which curiously occurs in music frequently they studied piano with a lady who had for a time been the accompanist for Dame Nellie Melba. How prescient were those early steps in his musical life. He was a gifted pianist first studying at the Sydney Conservatorium and thence on scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. Here he studied with Herbert Fryer. However, his fascination for the voice and singers in general led him to accompany singers in lessons. Building as he did so, a vast Knowledge of vocal pedagogy and vocal styles. The rest as they say is history. As Musical Director he led the famous J. C. Williamson tour to Australia in 1965. It remains the benchmarK for great operatic performances. Here was operatic history writ large. Outstanding opera performers from all over the world, including a young unKnown Italian tenor – one Luciano Pavarotti - as well as Australian ex- pat talent who were carving careers with distinction in Europe, were unveiled to an unsuspecting Australian public. Opera in Australia was re-born and would within a few short years would be housed in the iconic architectural structure at the end of Bennelong Point. As Music Director for many years for the National Opera Company Known in those days as the Australian Opera he was responsible for identifying, supporting and nurturing many fine young singers. He expected for us all to aspire to the highest standards in beauty of tone, musicianship, interpretation, musicality, linguistic and stylistic fidelity.
    [Show full text]
  • Regent Theatre Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
    melbourne opera Part One of e Ring of the Nibelung WAGNER’S Regent Theatre Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo Principal Sponsor: Henkell Brothers Investment Managers Sponsors: Richard Wagner Society (VIC) • Wagner Society (nsw) Dr Alastair Jackson AM • Lady Potter AC CMRI • Angior Family Foundation Robert Salzer Foundation • Dr Douglas & Mrs Monica Mitchell • Roy Morgan Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund melbourneopera.com Classic bistro wine – ethereal, aromatic, textural, sophisticated and so easy to pair with food. They’re wines with poise and charm. Enjoy with friends over a few plates of tapas. debortoli.com.au /DeBortoliWines melbourne opera WAGNER’S COMPOSER & LIBRETTIST RICHARD WAGNER First performed at Munich National Theatre, Munich, Germany on 22nd September 1869. Wotan BASS Eddie Muliaumaseali’i Alberich BARITONE Simon Meadows Loge TENOR James Egglestone Fricka MEZZO-SOPRANO Sarah Sweeting Freia SOPRANO Lee Abrahmsen Froh TENOR Jason Wasley Donner BASS-BARITONE Darcy Carroll Erda MEZZO-SOPRANO Roxane Hislop Mime TENOR Michael Lapina Fasolt BASS Adrian Tamburini Fafner BASS Steven Gallop Woglinde SOPRANO Rebecca Rashleigh Wellgunde SOPRANO Louise Keast Flosshilde MEZZO-SOPRANO Karen Van Spall Conductors Anthony Negus, David Kram FEB 5, 21 Director Suzanne Chaundy Head of Music Raymond Lawrence Set Design Andrew Bailey Video Designer Tobias Edwards Lighting Designer Rob Sowinski Costume Designer Harriet Oxley Set Build & Construction Manager Greg Carroll German Language Diction Coach Carmen Jakobi Company Manager Robbie McPhee Producer Greg Hocking AM MELBOURNE OPERA ORCHESTRA The performance lasts approximately 2 hours 25 minutes with no interval. Principal Sponsor: Henkell Brothers Investment Managers Sponsors: Dr Alastair Jackson AM • Lady Potter AC CMRI • Angior Family Foundation Robert Salzer Foundation • Dr Douglas & Mrs Monica Mitchell • Roy Morgan Restart Investment to Sustain and The role of Loge, performed by James Egglestone, is proudly supported by Expland (RISE) Fund – an Australian the Richard Wagner Society of Victoria.
    [Show full text]
  • Cheryl Barker's Tribute to Joan Hammond Queensland Symphony
    The tributes with piano accompaniment provide a contrast to the preceding drama, encore pieces beloved of Joan Hammond, the biggest selling recording artist during the war. Accompanying is pianist Timothy Young. Hammond’s recording of The Green Hills of Somerset became a best seller and Cheryl includes it as a homage here. The delightful rarity – Shadows – is a song written for Hammond by the Australian composer Ronald Settle. Conductor Guillaume Tourniaire directs the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, drawing performances that bring the emotional landscape vividly to life. lluminating CD Notes are by Peter Burch of Musica Viva and the late vocal commentator John Steane, who was an insightful Iwitness to Dame Joan Hammond and all the great singers of her era and those that followed. Hammond made best selling recordings of popular arias such as Love and Music (Vissi d’arte) from Tosca, One Fine Day (Un bel dì) from Madama Butterfly, and They Call Me Mimì (Mi chiamano Mimì) from La bohème. Lauretta’s then unknown aria from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, O My Beloved Daddy, (O mio babbino caro) was first released as the B-side to Tosca’s Love and Music on a 78rpm disc. The coupling Cheryl Barker’s tribute to became the first operatic recording to sell more than one million copies and went on to win a gold record in 1969. It has never been out of the Joan Hammond catalogue since. Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conductor Guillaume Tourniaire and Cheryl Barker’s relationship with Melba Recordings stretches back almost to the label’s beginning with Puccini=Passion, pianist Timothy Young her acclaimed 2003 collection of arias with Richard Bonynge Arias by Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Korngold, Offenbach, Purcell and, a conducting Orchestra Victoria.
    [Show full text]
  • The Australian Ballet 1 2 Swan Lake Melbourne 23 September– 1 October
    THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET 1 2 SWAN LAKE MELBOURNE 23 SEPTEMBER– 1 OCTOBER SYDNEY 2–21 DECEMBER Cover: Dimity Azoury. Photography Justin Rider Above: Leanne Stojmenov. Photography Branco Gaica Luke Ingham and Miwako Kubota. Photography Branco Gaica 4 COPPÉLIA NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Dame Peggy van Praagh’s fingerprints are on everything we do at The Australian Ballet. How lucky we are to have been founded by such a visionary woman, and to live with the bounty of her legacy every day. Nowhere is this legacy more evident than in her glorious production of Coppélia, which she created for the company in 1979 with two other magnificent artists: director George Ogilvie and designer Kristian Fredrikson. It was her parting gift to the company and it remains a jewel in the crown of our classical repertoire. Dame Peggy was a renowned Swanilda, and this was her second production of Coppélia. Her first was for the Borovansky Ballet in 1960; it was performed as part of The Australian Ballet’s first season in 1962, and was revived in subsequent years. When Dame Peggy returned to The Australian Ballet from retirement in 1978 she began to prepare this new production, which was to be her last. It is a timeless classic, and I am sure it will be performed well into the company’s future. Dame Peggy and Kristian are no longer with us, but in 2016 we had the great pleasure of welcoming George Ogilvie back to the company to oversee the staging of this production. George and Dame Peggy delved into the original Hoffmann story, layering this production with such depth of character and theatricality.
    [Show full text]