ARABELLA Director Biography: Tim Albery

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

ARABELLA Director Biography: Tim Albery ARABELLA Director Biography: Tim Albery Best known for his productions of opera, English director Tim Albery comes from a theatrical family—the son of the impresario Donald Albery and grandson of the producer Sir Bronson Albery. He directed his first operatic production, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, for a music festival at Batignano, Italy in 1983. From there he has gone on to direct productions on the world’s leading opera stages, including English National Opera; Scottish Opera; Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the Metropolitan Opera; and Bavarian State Opera. Productions include From the House of the Dead, Boris Godunov, War and Peace (English National Opera); Chérubin, The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser (Royal Opera House); The Midsummer Marriage, Don Giovanni, The Trojans, Don Carlos, La Finta Giardiniera, Luisa Miller, Idomeneo, Così fan tutte, One Touch of Venus, Káťa Kabanová, Madama Butterfly, The Fortunes of King Croesus, Macbeth, Fidelio, Giulio Cesare, Otello (Opera North); The Trojans, Don Giovanni, The Ring, Fidelio and The Midsummer Marriage (Scottish Opera); The Trojans, Nabucco (Welsh National Opera); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Widow (Metropolitan Opera); Arabella, Béatrice et Bénédict, The Magic Flute, Capriccio, La Finta Giardiniera (the Santa Fe Opera); Don Carlos, Passion, The Fortunes of King Croesus, Arabella (Minnesota Opera); Otello, The Aspern Papers (the Dallas Opera); War and Peace, Rodelinda, Götterdämmerung, Aida, Arabella (Canadian Opera Company); The Children’s Crusade (Luminato Festival, Toronto); Peter Grimes, Simon Boccanegra, Ariadne auf Naxos (Bavarian State Opera); Benvenuto Cellini, Béatrice et Bénédict, La Wally (Netherlands Opera); La Wally (Bregenz Festival). .
Recommended publications
  • Download Booklet
    570895bk RStrauss US:557541bk Kelemen 3+3 3/8/09 8:42 PM Page 1 Antoni Wit Staatskapelle Weimar Antoni Wit, one of the most highly regarded Polish conductors, studied conducting with Founded in 1491, the Staatskapelle Weimar is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, its reputation inextricably linked Richard Henryk Czyz˙ and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki at the Academy of Music in to some of the greatest works and musicians of all time. Franz Liszt, court music director in the mid-nineteenth Kraków, subsequently continuing his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He also century, helped the orchestra gain international recognition with premières that included Wagner’s Lohengrin in graduated in law at the Jagellonian University in Kraków. Immediately after completing 1850. As Weimar’s second music director, Richard Strauss conducted first performances of Guntram and STRAUSS his studies he was engaged as an assistant at the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra by Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. The orchestra was also the first to perform Strauss’s Don Juan, Macbeth and Death Witold Rowicki and was later appointed conductor of the Poznan´ Philharmonic. He and Transfiguration. After World War II Hermann Abendroth did much to restore the orchestra’s former status and Symphonia domestica collaborated with the Warsaw Grand Theatre, and from 1974 to 1977 was artistic director quality, ultimately establishing it as one of Germany’s leading orchestras. The Staatskapelle Weimar cultivates its of the Pomeranian Philharmonic, before his appointment as director of the Polish Radio historic tradition today, while exploring innovative techniques and wider repertoire, as reflected in its many recordings.
    [Show full text]
  • Ariadne Auf Naxos: a Study in Transformation Through Contrast and Coalescence
    Ariadne auf Naxos: A Study in Transformation through Contrast and Coalescence By Copyright 2015 Etta Fung Submitted to the graduate degree program in Vocal Performance and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. ________________________________ Chairperson Julia Broxholm ________________________________ Paul Laird ________________________________ David Alan Street ________________________________ Joyce Castle ________________________________ Michelle Heffner Hayes Date Defended: 5/4/2015 i The Thesis Committee for Etta Fung certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Ariadne auf Naxos: A Study in Transformation through Contrast and Coalescence _______________________________ Chairperson Julia Broxholm Date approved: 5/13/15 ii Abstract Ariadne auf Naxos, by composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, concerns the simultaneous performance of a tragedy and a comedy at a rich man’s house in Vienna, and the conflicts that arise between the two groups. The primary focus of this paper is the character Zerbinetta, a coloratura soprano who is the main performer in the commedia dell’arte troupe. Following consideration of the opera’s historical background, the first segment of this paper examines Zerbinetta’s duet with the young Composer starting from “Nein Herr, so kommt es nicht…” in the Prologue, which reveals her coquettish yet complex character. The second section offers a detailed description of her twelve-minute aria “Großmächtige Prinzessin” in the opera, exploring the show’s various levels of satire. The last segment is an investigation of the differing perspectives of the performers and the audience during Zerbinetta’s tour de force.
    [Show full text]
  • Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2010 Octavian and the Composer: Principal Male Roles in Opera Composed for the Female Voice by Richard Strauss Melissa Lynn Garvey Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC OCTAVIAN AND THE COMPOSER: PRINCIPAL MALE ROLES IN OPERA COMPOSED FOR THE FEMALE VOICE BY RICHARD STRAUSS By MELISSA LYNN GARVEY A Treatise submitted to the Department of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2010 The members of the committee approve the treatise of Melissa Lynn Garvey defended on April 5, 2010. __________________________________ Douglas Fisher Professor Directing Treatise __________________________________ Seth Beckman University Representative __________________________________ Matthew Lata Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii I’d like to dedicate this treatise to my parents, grandparents, aunt, and siblings, whose unconditional love and support has made me the person I am today. Through every attended recital and performance, and affording me every conceivable opportunity, they have encouraged and motivated me to achieve great things. It is because of them that I have reached this level of educational achievement. Thank you. I am honored to thank my phenomenal husband for always believing in me. You gave me the strength and courage to believe in myself. You are everything I could ever ask for and more. Thank you for helping to make this a reality.
    [Show full text]
  • Richard Strauss's Ariadne Auf Naxos
    Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos - A survey of the major recordings by Ralph Moore Ariadne auf Naxos is less frequently encountered on stage than Der Rosenkavalier or Salome, but it is something of favourite among those who fancy themselves connoisseurs, insofar as its plot revolves around a conceit typical of Hofmannsthal’s libretti, whereby two worlds clash: the merits of populist entertainment, personified by characters from the burlesque Commedia dell’arte tradition enacting Viennese operetta, are uneasily juxtaposed with the claims of high art to elevate and refine the observer as embodied in the opera seria to be performed by another company of singers, its plot derived from classical myth. The tale of Ariadne’s desertion by Theseus is performed in the second half of the evening and is in effect an opera within an opera. The fun starts when the major-domo conveys the instructions from “the richest man in Vienna” that in order to save time and avoid delaying the fireworks, both entertainments must be performed simultaneously. Both genres are parodied and a further contrast is made between Zerbinetta’s pragmatic attitude towards love and life and Ariadne’s morbid, death-oriented idealism – “Todgeweihtes Herz!”, Tristan und Isolde-style. Strauss’ scoring is interesting and innovative; the orchestra numbers only forty or so players: strings and brass are reduced to chamber-music scale and the orchestration heavily weighted towards woodwind and percussion, with the result that it is far less grand and Romantic in scale than is usual in Strauss and a peculiarly spare ad spiky mood frequently prevails.
    [Show full text]
  • A Mythic Heroine in <I> Der Rosenkavalier </I>
    Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology Volume 11 | Issue 1 Article 3 A Mythic Heroine in Der Rosenkavalier Bridget Ramzy Wilfrid Laurier University Recommended Citation Ramzy, Bridget (2018) "A Mythic Heroine in Der Rosenkavalier ," Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology: Vol. 11: Iss. 1, Article 3. A Mythic Heroine in Der Rosenkavalier Abstract This paper explores the Allomatische—Strauss and Hofmannsthal's concept of transformation by means of taking risk—through its application to Der Rosenkavalier's Marie-Therese (the Marschallin). The Allomatische’s very apparent presence throughout Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s collaborations in their “mythic” operas, urges its examination in Der Rosenkavlier. This paper explores the Marschallin's risk in context of gender, arguing that her self-acceptance as an ageing woman is an exceedingly brave act, that in-turn transforms her. In this paper, a character study of the Marschallin in Act I before the transformation, and after in Act III is presented and corroborated by interspersed musical examples. A comparison with other characters, both male and female, further establishes the gendered context of the Marschallin's risk. In conclusion, the Marschallin's brave risk of self-acceptance as an aging woman transforms her, and places her in the pantheon of Strauss and Hofmannsthal's mythic heroines. Keywords opera, gender, Der Rosenkavalier, the Marschallin, Richard Strauss A Mythic Heroine A Mythic Heroine in Der Rosenkavalier Bridget Ramzy Year II – Wilfrid Laurier University Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal were fascinated with the theme of transformation. Two of Strauss's tone poems, Tod und Verklärung and Eine Alpensinphonie, deal with the subject, and it is central in many of Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s collaborative works.1 Hofmannsthal wrote, “Transformation is the life of life itself, the real mystery of nature as creative force.
    [Show full text]
  • I Urban Opera: Navigating Modernity Through the Oeuvre of Strauss And
    Urban Opera: Navigating Modernity through the Oeuvre of Strauss and Hofmannsthal by Solveig M. Heinz A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Germanic Languages and Literatures) in the University of Michigan 2013 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Vanessa H. Agnew, Chair Associate Professor Naomi A. André Associate Professor Andreas Gailus Professor Julia C. Hell i For John ii Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation was an intensive journey. Many people have helped along the way. Vanessa Agnew was the most wonderful Doktormutter a graduate student could have. Her kindness, wit, and support were matched only by her knowledge, resourcefulness, and incisive critique. She took my work seriously, carefully reading and weighing everything I wrote. It was because of this that I knew my work and ideas were in good hands. Thank you Vannessa, for taking me on as a doctoral rookie, for our countless conversations, your smile during Skype sessions, coffee in Berlin, dinners in Ann Arbor, and the encouragement to make choices that felt right. Many thanks to my committee members, Naomi André, Andreas Gailus, and Julia Hell, who supported the decision to work with the challenging field of opera and gave me the necessary tools to succeed. Their open doors, email accounts, good mood, and guiding feedback made this process a joy. Mostly, I thank them for their faith that I would continue to work and explore as I wrote remotely. Not on my committee, but just as important was Hartmut. So many students have written countless praises of this man. I can only concur, he is simply the best.
    [Show full text]
  • May, 2020 No. 1941 Subscription (Program B) Richard Strauss
    May, 2020 ◎No. 1941 Subscription (Program B) ◎ ■Richard Strauss (1864–1949) ■Symphonic Fragment from “Josephs Legende,” ballet (20') Richard Strauss’s Josephs Legende (The Legend of Joseph), Op. 63 is a ballet in a single act, composed between 1912 and 1914 for the Ballets Russes, a well-known ballet company in Paris. Its director Sergei Diaghilev was a charismatic figure who commissioned famous composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, and Sergei Prokofiev to write pieces for the company. The company’s principal dancer and choreographer was Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the best known male dancers of the time. Strauss’s ballet is about Joseph in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament, in particular about Potiphar’s wife Zuleika tries to seduce Joseph. The libretto was written mostly by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (the poet also provided Strauss with a number of libretti, including Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die ägyptische Helena, and Arabella). Strauss struggled with the ballet. He found the Biblical story uninspiring. Nevertheless, the project was for the renowned ballet company and great dancer/choreographer, an opportunity that could propel Strauss’s career to a higher level. The ballet premiered in Paris on May 14, 1914 where it was performed for seven times, then seven more in London. The outbreak of the First World War, however, eliminated all the chances for the ballet to be staged elsewhere. In 1947, Strauss returned to the piece to make a concert version and published it as Symphonic Fragment from Josephs Legende. This newly arranged piece retains the essence of the original and is filled with beautiful melodies typical of the composer.
    [Show full text]
  • The American Opera Series May 16 – November 28, 2015
    The American Opera Series May 16 – November 28, 2015 The WFMT Radio Network is proud to make the American Opera Series available to our affiliates. The American Opera Series is designed to complement the Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts, filling in the schedule to complete the year. This year the American Opera Series features great performances by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, Glimmerglass Festival and Opera Southwest. The American Opera Series for 2015 will bring distinction to your station’s schedule, and unmatched enjoyment to your listeners. Highlights of the American Opera Series include: • The American Opera Series celebrates the Fourth of July (which falls on a Saturday) with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s stellar production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. • LA Opera brings us The Figaro Trilogy, including Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. • The world premiere of Marco Tutino’s Two Women (La Ciociara) starring Anna Caterina Antonacci, based on the novel by Alberto Moravia that became a classic film, staged by San Francisco Opera. • Opera Southwest’s notable reconstruction of Franco Faccio’s 1865 opera Amleto (Hamlet), believed lost for over 135 years, in its American premiere. In addition, this season we’re pleased to announce that we are now including multimedia assets for use on your station’s website and publications! You can find the supplemental materials at the following link: American Opera Series Supplemental Materials Please note: If you have trouble accessing the supplemental materials, please send me an email at [email protected] Program Hours* Weeks Code Start Date Lyric Opera of Chicago 3 - 5 9 LOC 5/16/15 LA Opera 2 ½ - 3 ¼ 6 LAO 7/18/15 San Francisco Opera 1 ¾ - 4 ¾ 10 SFO 8/29/15 Glimmerglass Festival 3 - 3 ½ 3 GLI 11/7/15 Opera Southwest Presents: Amleto 3 1 OSW 11/28/15 Los Angeles Opera’s Production of The Ghosts of Versailles Credit: Craig Henry *Please note: all timings are approximate, and actual times will vary.
    [Show full text]
  • Interpreting Race and Difference in the Operas of Richard Strauss By
    Interpreting Race and Difference in the Operas of Richard Strauss by Patricia Josette Prokert A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Music: Musicology) in the University of Michigan 2020 Doctoral Committee: Professor Jane F. Fulcher, Co-Chair Professor Jason D. Geary, Co-Chair, University of Maryland School of Music Professor Charles H. Garrett Professor Patricia Hall Assistant Professor Kira Thurman Patricia Josette Prokert [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4891-5459 © Patricia Josette Prokert 2020 Dedication For my family, three down and done. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my family― my mother, Dev Jeet Kaur Moss, my aunt, Josette Collins, my sister, Lura Feeney, and the kiddos, Aria, Kendrick, Elijah, and Wyatt―for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout my educational journey. Without their love and assistance, I would not have come so far. I am equally indebted to my husband, Martin Prokert, for his emotional and technical support, advice, and his invaluable help with translations. I would also like to thank my doctorial committee, especially Drs. Jane Fulcher and Jason Geary, for their guidance throughout this project. Beyond my committee, I have received guidance and support from many of my colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance. Without assistance from Sarah Suhadolnik, Elizabeth Scruggs, and Joy Johnson, I would not be here to complete this dissertation. In the course of completing this degree and finishing this dissertation, I have benefitted from the advice and valuable perspective of several colleagues including Sarah Suhadolnik, Anne Heminger, Meredith Juergens, and Andrew Kohler.
    [Show full text]
  • Cynthia Cook Mezzo-Soprano
    Cynthia Cook Mezzo-Soprano Cynthia Cook is the epitome of the modern bel canto mezzo soprano. Her large, lush voice, impeccable use of florid agility and her natural beauty serve her well in all of her repertoire. In 2016/17, she performed the dual roles of Baroness/Vanderdendur in Candide at Opéra National de Bordeaux and Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse. In 2014, she gave a shining performance in the lead role of Sondra Finchley in the World Premiere of the newly revised version of Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy at Glimmerglass Festival where she returned this past year to play Baroness and Vanderdendur in Candide. In previous years, she continued her work with Francesca Zambello in Washington National Opera’s new production of Dialogues of the Carmelites as a Carmelite Nun while covering the role of Mother Marie, and sang the mezzo solo in Rachmaninov’s Vespers with Princeton Pro Musica. Cynthia Cook has received training and performed leading roles with some of the most prestigious Young Artist programs in the United States. At Florida Grand Opera, she appeared as Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte and Teresa in La Sonnambula (under the direction of Renata Scotto). With the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program she covered Calbo in Rossini’s Maometto II and Adelaide in Arabella. In the apprentice scenes concert, she gave a memorable performance as Princess Eboli in the Garden Scene from Don Carlo. A graduate from the renowned Academy of Vocal Arts, she sang a wide range of roles, including: Adalgisa in Norma, Meg Page in Falstaff, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Smeton in Anna Bolena, Clairon in Capriccio, and Adelaide in Arabella.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-45659-3 - Rounding Wagner’s Mountain: Richard Strauss and Modern German Opera Bryan Gilliam Excerpt More information Introduction Chapter 1 suggests that, despite its obscurity, Guntram (1893) remains the central source for understanding the emergence of Strauss as a mature artist. The work, whose text was written by the composer, documents his early philosophical struggles with the issue of music and metaphysics. Earlier scholars of Strauss’s operatic oeuvre have explained its failure in terms of its miscarried Wagnerism, demonstrating that they themselves have failed to understand that Guntram ultimately rejects Wagnerian metaphysics. In 1949, at the end of his life, Strauss regretted that his biographers tended to downplay Guntram’s rejection of a Wagnerian Erlösung, thereby ignoring the breach between individual (subject) and the world (object), as the Minnesänger breaks his lyre and walks 1 away from his brotherhood and his beloved Freihild. In this single gesture, Strauss, who served as his own librettist on this work, suggests that if one systematically follows Schopenhauer to the end of his four-book World as Will and Representation,thefinal denial of the will must include a rejection of music. Feuersnot (1901), the co-subject, along with Salome, of Chapter 2, marked the end of a seven-year operatic hiatus in the wake of Guntram’s failure. During those years Strauss composed his mature tone poems, all of which exemplify a shift toward ego assertion foreshadowed by that breach between individual and collective treated in Guntram. Informed by Nietzsche and Stirner, these orchestral works feature an individual (whether the visionary hero of Ein Heldenleben or the delusional antihero of Don Quixote) at odds with a complacent society.
    [Show full text]
  • Castleton Festival Opera the Britten Project: the Rape of Lucretia
    CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS Thursday, March 24, 2011, 8pm Friday, March 25, 2011, 8pm Zellerbach Hall Castleton Festival Opera The Britten Project: The Rape of Lucretia Composed by Benjamin Britten Conducted by Lorin Maazel Stage Direction by William Kerley Berkeley Symphony production Set & Costume Designer Nicholas Vaughan Lighting Designer Rie Ono Production Stage Manager Laine Goerner Assistant Director Amanda Consol Assistant Lighting Designer Marnie Cumings Associate Lighting Designer Brandon Mitchell Assistant Costume Designer Sarah Swafford cast (in order of vocal appearance) Male Chorus Vale Rideout Female Chorus Arianna Zukerman Collatinus Michael Rice Junius Michael Weyandt Tarquinius Matthew Worth Lucretia Ekaterina Metlova Bianca Alison Tupay Lucia Marnie Breckenridge music staff Assistant Conductor Blake Richardson Rehearsal Pianist/Coach Wilson Southerland By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright holder. These performances are funded, in part, by the Britten-Pears Foundation and by Patron Sponsors Susan Graham Harrison and Michael A. Harrison. Cal Performances’ 2010–2011 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. CAL PERFORMANCES 5 SYNOPSIS PROGRAM NOTES Scene 2 The Female Chorus takes us into the world of Lucretia at home with her nurse, Bianca, and maid, Lucia. They work, spinning yarn, embroi- dering, and folding linen, while Lucretia frets over Collatinus’s prolonged absence. Just as they are preparing to go to bed, Tarquinius arrives and demands to be put up for the night. With some trepidation, she invites him in and shows him to his room. Giuseppe DiLiberto Giuseppe act two The Rape of Lucretia (1946; rev. 1947) Scene 1 Civil unrest grows in Rome, and the discontent- he events of the opera, which take ed wait for the moment to revolt.
    [Show full text]