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Home , Ed Lyon, Into the Little Hill, Matthew Rose (bass), Ode to Joy, Ormindo, Phaedra (cantata)

BEETHOVEN Nos. 7–9 BARRY The Eternal Recurrence Sinfonia Thomas Britten Adès

Britten Sinfonia

Thomas CD1 CD2 Adès Conductor No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 Jennifer ‘Choral’ BEETHOVEN 1 I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace 13.57 France 2 II. Allegretto 8.08 1 I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso 14.18 3 III. Presto – Assai meno presto 8.53 2 II. Molto vivace 15.12 4 IV. Allegro con brio 8.08 Christianne 3 III. Adagio molto e cantabile 12.10 Stotijn Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 BEETHOVEN 4 IV. Finale 23.06 Mezzo- 5 I. Allegro vivace e con brio 8.10 5 The Eternal Recurrence BARRY 11.41 soprano 6 II. Allegretto scherzando 3.49 Ed Lyon 7 III. Tempo di menuetto 4.33 Total timing 76.31 8 IV. Allegro vivace 6.54 Matthew Total timing 62.36 Rose www.signumrecords.com

I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace in Vienna in April 1812? Brisk, joyous ambition. The introduction to the II. Allegretto and radiating warmth, it is one of opening Vivace is longer than any III. Presto – Assai meno presto Beethoven’s most carefree symphonic symphonic introduction ever composed IV. Allegro con brio works, a symphony that Richard before. Nor does it stick to symphonic Wagner would later call ‘the apotheosis norms by setting up the tonic of A major Four years separate Beethoven’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies, four of the dance herself’. At its Viennese and preparing for the first movement years in which Beethoven’s health went into steep decline. In 1811 premiere it proved an instant success, proper. Instead, Beethoven diverts almost he was forced to pull out of a performance of his ‘Emperor’ so much so that the second movement immediately from A major to touch, in Concerto No. 5, because he could not hear well enough to keep was reprised as an encore and the turn, upon C major and F major, neither time with the . Over the course of six months between whole concert was repeated four days of which have any close relation to the 1811 and 1812 he was twice ordered by doctors to spend time at later. Beethoven, for his part, referred key of the symphony. It takes Beethoven a spa in the Bohemian town of Teplitz to help him recover from a to it as his ‘Grand Symphony in A’, nearly four, suspense-laden minutes to spate of illness. And it was here, in the summer of 1812, that he wrote adding in a letter to the impresario reach the Vivace, by which time the last the famous letter to his ‘Immortal Beloved’, a passionate outpouring Johann Peter Salomon that he thing we are expecting is the ebullient of love and regret to an unnamed woman, in which Beethoven considered it ‘one of my best works’. romp that follows. Spirited along by laments the fact that ‘you are not entirely mine, and I am not entirely a galloping rhythmic undercurrent While the Seventh glows with a kind yours’. The year ended badly. In October, he visited his brother and coloured by its emphasis on

Symphony No. 7 in A major (1812) of easy self-contentment, there are Johann in an attempt to try and break apart what he deemed to be the woodwind, this joyous opening gloomy shadows to be found lurking an unsuitable relationship – but he failed, and the pair were soon movement has more than a hint of beneath its bright façade and it is by married. Beethoven soon sank into a deep depression and wrote very the ‘Pastoral’ about it. no means a trivial work. At around little else for another two years. His diaries from this time convey his 45 minutes in performance it is half But it is the solemn Allegretto that has despondency and heartache, even admitting to thoughts of suicide. as long again as the rather slim Eighth, become the symphony’s calling card. Where then, did Beethoven find the sunny demeanour that which Beethoven completed just a few Although it is not ‘slow’ in the traditional characterises his Seventh Symphony, a work he began sketching months later, and many of its features sense (Allegretto meaning ‘fairly brisk’), the while convalescing at Teplitz in the autumn of 1811 and completed are unprecedented in both scale and Allegretto is the de facto slow movement VAN LUDWIG in an otherwise spirited symphony, its errant key that made its first appearance I. Allegro vivace e con brio effect more a result of context than in the expansive introduction, the II. Allegretto scherzando of tempo. Muted both in tone and Scherzo is a whirlwind of tossed out III. Tempo di menuetto dynamics, this rather sombre series of melodic fragments and sudden dynamic IV. Allegro vivace variations upon a repetitive, walking contrasts, relaxing only briefly in the theme has been compared to a funeral more measured, rustic Trio sections Having taken a leave of absence from the symphony for four years after the procession – and for good reason. Just as – which again recall elements of his ‘Pastoral’, in 1812 Beethoven composed two. Like the Fifth and the Sixth, both the first movement was carried along by ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. And then, with composed together in 1808, the Seventh and Eighth were composed as a pair. its propulsive rhythmic accompaniment, little more than a couple of punchy And together, they give lie to the suggestion that Beethoven’s music represents repetition abounds here too, but here the chords to pull us back to the home a cathartic outlet for his troubled personal life. For the Eighth, like the Seventh, long-short-short-long-long ostinato has key, Beethoven launches headlong into bears none of the scars that troubled Beethoven that difficult year. Described quite the opposite effect. Every time it the finale, a wild, unboundAllegro that by Beethoven himself as ‘my little Symphony in F’, as distinct from the grand seems to get going, we stall once more, Tchaikovsky called ‘a whole series of ‘Pastoral’ Symphony in the same key he wrote four years earlier, the Eighth as though the procession were inching images, full of unrestrained joy, full of Symphony is both the shortest of all his nine symphonies and the brightest. forwards only to stop, take stock, and set bliss and pleasure of life’. While the There is no room for a deep and brooding slow movement here; instead, any off again. Only when Beethoven begins conductor Thomas Beecham was rather foreseeable drawn-out, melancholic Adagio is replaced with a playful Allegretto to spin out long, languorous counter- less kind (‘What can you do with it? scherzando – the only time Beethoven forgoes a slow movement in all of his melodies does the procession find its It’s like a lot of yaks jumping about’), Symphony No. 8 in F major (1812) symphonies. It is a far cry from the funereal slow movement he included in his momentum and a remarkable grandeur there is no denying its physicality. Joy Seventh Symphony, which was so popular that it became common nineteenth- emerges out of this rather unassuming spills over into raucousness, the gloom century practice to insert this movement into the Eighth Symphony, perhaps to theme, only to peter out and sidle off into of the Allegretto long forgotten, as the give audiences the range of emotions to which they had become accustomed. the distance once more. finale hurtles along with an earthy, In fact, Beethoven’s audiences would have been accustomed to very little unrestrained energy that flirts with There is nothing unassuming, however, of what this slender symphony has to offer. While it maintains the outer dance but borders on bedlam. about the Scherzo that follows. structure of a traditional classical symphony, the work’s extreme concision – Composed in F major, that same and the devices that Beethoven uses to achieve this – would have come as a shock at its premiere. There is no I. Allegro ma non troppo, aesthetic ambitions are more impressive boundary line. In the finale, for the very introduction, nor any preparatory un poco maestoso still. The Ninth has proved to be not first time, Beethoven introduced the chords, just a leap straight in to what II. Molto vivace just a turning point in the western voice. Hitherto a wholly instrumental proves to be a rather whistlestop tour III. Adagio molto e symphonic tradition, but one of the most genre, in the Ninth the symphony took through the markers of sonata form. important and iconic works of any genre an enormous leap into an altogether The Allegro vivace finale is also one of cantabile composed at any time in history. As new musical sphere. ‘O friends, not the quirkiest symphonic movements IV. Finale Rachmaninov declared a century after these sounds!’, the bass soloist implores, that Beethoven ever composed, veering Imagine for a moment the its premiere: ‘Nobody will ever write as each of the themes of the preceding between dynamic extremes, with gaping audience at the premiere of anything better than this symphony.’ movements are trotted out in turn at silences and sudden fortissimo intrusions, the start of the finale. It is an abrupt Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. But those who attended its grand and one of the most unusual conceivable interjection with both small- and large- They had waited some twelve unveiling in Vienna in 1824 did not key relationships (F major to F sharp scale implications. On the one hand, this years for Beethoven to unveil quite agree. Beethoven’s contemporary, minor), which Beethoven seems to use announcement resets and restarts the his new symphony, following Louis Spohr, wrote that the symphony’s simply to show his technical prowess Ninth Symphony, paving the way for the the disappointment of the first three movements, ‘in spite of some in reconciling the two. It is no surprise , which soon follows. But it Eighth. But they can hardly have flashes of genius, are to my mind inferior that it took Beethoven’s audiences some is also Beethoven’s way of ushering in a anticipated the vastness of the to all the eight previous symphonies’. time to warm up to the Eighth’s rather Ninth, clocking in at 70 minutes, new aesthetic chapter for the symphony Symphony No. 9 in D minor (1824) He found the finale to be worse still: ‘so distinctive quirks. As one reviewer in as a whole, a turning point in musical its instrumentation swollen monstrous and tasteless… that I cannot the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung history unlike any other, effected by by the addition of , understand how a genius like Beethoven wrote after its premiere: ‘The applause a single, wilful individual. , four horns and could have written it.’ Beethoven had it received was not accompanied by that percussion, not to mention four shocked his audiences before – as far And unlike any other work in enthusiasm which distinguishes a work vocal soloists and a full SATB back as the startling chords that open the Beethoven’s output, it is almost which gives universal delight; in short chorus. The dimensions of the Second, through to the unprecedented impossible to discuss without starting at – as the Italians say – it did not create symphony alone are staggering, pictorialism of the Sixth – but with the end. The Ninth has an unparalleled a furore.’ but Beethoven’s technical and the Ninth, Beethoven crossed another teleological drive, in which the finale – although baffling – is also somehow the opening Allegro in effect a whole we meet in the finale. So when the brass wider plea to humanity – ‘Let us sing a seemingly inevitable endpoint. When symphony in miniature. By the shatter the peace with what Wagner more cheerful songs, more full of joy!’, the Ode to Joy emerges, resplendent, recapitulation, Beethoven has transported called a Schreckensfanfare (‘terror fanfare’) and in one deft move transforms the in the symphony’s finale, it is the us from D minor to D major – a shift and wrench us back to the present, it is symphony into an extra-musical vehicle culmination of everything that came that took place over four movements as though Beethoven had pulled the rug for hope, community and peace. This before, its distinctive melody in fact in the Fifth but which, in this bold new from beneath our feet. Elysium remains, extraordinary leap may be the work of prefigured in each of the preceding symphonic landscape, is swiftly and deftly for now, on the horizon, there is work one wilful individual, but it is also the movements. But the sunny assurance dispatched. But the Allegro ends macabrely still to be done here. culmination of decades of symphonic (or is it sarcasm?) of the Ode to Joy is back in the minor, the funereal trudge development. The ‘classical’ symphony And with that the bass soloist calls a hard-won. While most of Beethoven’s of the lower strings preceding a series of as we know it can go no further: this halt – ‘no more these sounds!’ – and in symphonies just start – with conviction apocalyptic hammer blows in the final is the symphony’s rebirth. doing so announces the arrival of a new and without hesitation – the Ninth bars. Listen, Beethoven seems to say, as musical landscape. But he also makes a Notes © Jo Kirkbride quivers mysteriously into being. I lay the symphony to rest. Agitated strings tremble pianissimo After all that, the Scherzo that follows around an open fifth, the seems like an ironic afterthought, its Work texts offering tentative interjections, the key buoyant energy quite at odds with what and metre uncertain and undefined. An die Freude Ode to Joy had come before. Not so the ensuing It takes thirteen bars before Beethoven slow movement, which is almost as O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! O friends, no more these sounds! finds his theme and announces it long as the opening Allegro, unfolding sondern lasst rather let fortissimo with the full might of the through a typically Beethovenian series uns angenehmere anstimmen, us strike up more pleasing and more orchestra. It is as though the world of double variations. Beethoven shows und freudenvollere. joyful ones! itself, at that moment, had come little inclination to hurry here, the Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Joy, lovely divine spark, into being. movement’s exquisite stillness hinting at Tochter aus Elysium, daughter from Elysium, From here Beethoven takes us on an Arcadian landscape just beyond the Wir betreten feuertrunken, drunk with ardour we approach, a broad and, at times, tortuous journey, horizon – the Elysian fields, even, that Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! celestial one, your sanctuary! Deine Zauber binden wieder, Your magic re-unites Tochter aus Elysium, daughter from Elysium, Was die Mode streng geteilt; what custom sternly separated; Wir betreten feuertrunken, drunk with ardour we approach, Alle Menschen werden Brüder all men become brothers Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! celestial one, your sanctuary! Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. where your gentle wings tarry. Deine Zauber binden wieder, Your magic re-unites Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, Whoever has enjoyed the great fortune Was die Mode streng geteilt; what custom sternly separated; Eines Freundes Freund zu sein, of being a friend to a friend, Alle Menschen werden Brüder all men become brothers Wer ein boldes Weib errungen, whoever has won a dear wife, Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. where your gentle wings tarry. Mische seinen Jubel ein! let him contribute his rejoicing! Seid umschlungen, Millionen! O you millions, let me embrace you! Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele Yes, even he who has but one soul Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Let this kiss be for the whole world! Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund! on the face of the earth to call his own! Brüder, überm Sternenzelt Brothers! above the tent of stars Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle And whoever has not, let him steal away Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen. a loving Father cannot but dwell. Weinend sich aus diesem Bund! weeping from this assembly! Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen? Do you prostrate yourselves, you millions? Freude trinken alle Wesen Every creature drinks joy Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Do you sense your Creator, world? An der Brüsten der Natur; from the breasts of Nature; Such’ ihn überm Sternenzelt! Seek Him above the tent of stars! Alle guten, alle Bösen every good thing, every bad thing Über Sternen muß er wohnen. Above the stars He cannot but dwell. Folgen ihrer Rosenspur. follows in her rosy path. Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805) English translation by William Mann Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, Kisses she gave to us, and wine, © The Estate of William Mann Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; and a friend tried in death; Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, even to a worm ecstasy is granted, Und der Cherub steht vor Gott. even the cherub stands before God. Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Just as gladly as His suns fly Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan, through the mighty path of heaven, Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, so, brothers, run your course Freudig, wie ein Held zum Seigen! joyfully, like a hero off to victory! Freude schöner Götterfunken, Joy, lovely divine spark, Give Gerald Barry a text and you are unlikely to get a sympathetic This quasi-improvisatory, rapid-fire The Eternal Recurrence setting. Illustration is not Barry’s style. His unique brand of musical approach lends the work a frenetic All joy wants the eternity of all things, defiance thrives on the rebellious and the unexpected – rather like energy, as though we are taken on an wants honey, wants dregs, wants Beethoven himself. The Ninth Symphony and The Eternal Recurrence endless voyage of discovery, with a new intoxicated midnight, wants graves, form a natural pairing, the former drawing upon Friedrich idea around every corner. While the wants the consolation of graveside tears, Schiller’s poem about universal brotherhood and the idea of heaven sense of pacing (or lack thereof ) may wants gilded sunsets, what does joy not upon earth, the latter taking excerpts from Friedrich Nietzsche’s not mirror the more measured rhythm want! It is thirstier, warmer, hungrier, philosophical novel Also sprach Zarathustra, which focuses on themes of Nietzsche’s writing, it reflects the more fearful more secret than all woe, it of joy, eternity and the power of mankind. abundance of Nietzsche’s ideas, and his wants itself; it bites into itself, the will of seemingly endless list of joy’s desires. There are musical parallels between the two as well. Where the ring wrestles within it, it wants love, It is a feature that is encapsulated by the Beethoven sets Schiller’s text with a certain jingoistic sarcasm, it wants hatred, it is superabundant, it work’s title, too. In Also sprach Zarathustra, Barry defies the norms of text-setting too, rejecting the natural gives, throws away, begs for someone to ‘eternal recurrence’ is the idea that – stresses and expression of the text in favour of a style that is take it, thanks him who takes, it would given enough time – life, and all the deliberately undermining. For the soprano soloist, this means an like to be hated; so rich is joy that it events within it, will recur again and almost impossible string of top Cs and a breathless parlando delivery, thirsts for woe, for Hell, for hatred, for The Eternal Recurrence (1999) again ad infinitum. ‘This ring in which the text falling away in feverish fragments as though spontaneously shame, for the lame, for the world – for you are but a grain will glitter afresh

GERALD BARRY created. It is a style that Barry would pursue in his 2005 it knows, oh it knows this world! forever’, Nietzsche writes. It is a startling The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and which, perhaps counterintuitively, concept – that joy and the very spark You higher men, joy longs for you, joy is designed to mimic a more natural form of vocal delivery. ‘The of life is to be found in the everyday. the intractable, blissful for your woe, music isn’t illustrative in the conventional way,’ Barry admits, ‘but ‘Rather like the familiar objects in still you ill-constituted! All eternal joy longs it mirrors the complex way people speak. For instance, the two of lifes’, Barry explains, ‘the music uses for the ill-constituted. us could be talking now but we might be thinking about all sorts everyday musical gestures to produce of other things; there could be a whole kaleidoscope of emotion For all joy wants itself, therefore it also something feverish and brilliant.’ running through our heads.’ wants heart’s agony! O happiness! Notes © Jo Kirkbride O pain! O break, heart! You higher men, learn this, learn that joy wants From A Nietzsche Reader by Friedrich eternity, joy wants the eternity of all Nietzsche, published by Penguin Classics. things, wants deep, deep eternity! Copyright © From Friedrich Nietzsche: A Nietzsche Reader translated by Did you ever say Yes to one joy? Copyright © R.J. Hollingdale 1984. O my friends, then you said Yes to all Published by Penguin 1984. Reproduced woe as well. All things are chained and by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. entwined together, all things are in love, if ever you wanted one moment twice, if ever you said: ‘You please me, happiness, instant moment!’ then you wanted everything to return! oh that is how you loved the world. O Man! Attend! What does deep midnight’s voice contend? I slept my sleep, And now awake at dreaming’s end: The world is deep, Deeper than day can comprehend, Deep is its woe, Joy – deeper than heart’s agony; Woe says: Fade! Go! But all joy wants eternity, Wants deep, deep eternity! © Chris Christodoulou Britten Sinfonia

In 1992, Britten Sinfonia was established by their rich diversity of influences London’s and appears between minimalist composer Steve as a bold reimagining of the conventional and artistic collaborators; and always regularly at major UK festivals including Reich and visual artist Gerhard Richter image of an orchestra. A flexible underpinned by a commitment to the Aldeburgh, Brighton, Norfolk and in a new work that was premiered in ensemble comprising the UK’s leading uncompromising quality, whether the Norwich Festivals and the BBC Proms. October 2019. soloists and chamber musicians came orchestra is performing in New York’s The orchestra has performed a live Outside the concert hall, Britten together with a unique vision: to collapse Lincoln Center or in Lincolnshire’s broadcast to more than a million people Sinfonia musicians work on creative the boundaries between old and new Crowland Abbey. Britten Sinfonia worldwide from the Sistine Chapel, and therapeutic projects with pre- music; to collaborate with composers, musicians are deeply rooted in the regularly tours internationally including school children, teenagers, young conductors and guest artists across the communities with which they work, to the US, South America, Asia and carers, people suffering from dementia, arts, focussing on the musicians rather with an underlying philosophy of finding extensively in Europe. It is a BBC Radio 3 life-time prisoners and older people at than following the vision of a principal ways to reach even the most excluded Broadcast Partner and has award-winning risk of isolation. The orchestra’s OPUS conductor; and to create involving, individuals and groups. recordings on the Hyperion and competition offers unpublished composers intelligent music events that both Harmonia Mundi labels. Today Britten Sinfonia is heralded as the chance to receive a professional audiences and performers experience one of the world’s leading ensembles Recent and current collaborators commission and unearths new, original with an unusual intensity. and its philosophy of adventure include Keaton Henson, dancer/ and exciting UK compositional talent. The orchestra is named after Benjamin and reinvention has inspired a new choreographer Pam Tanowitz and theatre Members of Britten Sinfonia Academy, Britten, in part a homage to its chosen movement of emerging chamber groups. director Ivo van Hove, with commissions the orchestra’s youth chamber ensemble home of the East of England, where It is an Associate Ensemble at London’s from Thomas Adès, Gerald Barry, for talented young performers, have Britten’s roots were also strong. Barbican, Resident Orchestra at Saffron Shiva Freshareki, Emily Howard, Brad performed in museums, improvised with But Britten Sinfonia also embodies Hall in Essex and has residencies in Mehldau and Mark-Anthony Turnage. laptop artists, led family workshops and its namesake’s ethos. Its projects are Norwich and Cambridge. It performs The orchestra was a commissioning appeared at Latitude Festival. illuminating and distinctive, characterised an annual chamber music series at partner in a ground-breaking partnership Thomas Adès

Thomas Adès was born in London in Festival as artistic director. In 2016 he Adès has given solo piano recitals at 1971. He studied the piano with Paul became the Artistic Partner of the Boston Carnegie Hall, New York and the Berkowitz at the Guildhall School, Symphony Orchestra and has conducted Wigmore Hall and the Barbican in winning the Lutine Prize for piano, the orchestra in Boston, at Carnegie London, and appeared as a soloist before continuing his studies at King’s Hall in New York and at Tanglewood. with the . and St John’s Colleges, Cambridge. He coaches piano and chamber music He has performed Schubert’s annually at the International Musicians extensively throughout Europe with His early compositions include Living © Chris Christodoulou Toy s (London ), Seminar, Prussia Cove. and in 2018 recorded it at (the Endellion Quartet) and his first As a conductor, Thomas appears the Wigmore Hall. In 2018, following a recital of Janácˇek's music at the Reduta Opera recording (2014 Grammy Awards) opera (1995), which has regularly with the Los Angeles, San and Music DVD Recording of the been performed many times around the Francisco and London Philharmonic Theatre in Brno, Janácˇek’s home town, he was awarded the Leoš Janácˇek prize. Year (2014 ECHO Klassik Awards); and world. Orchestral commissions include , the Boston, London and The Exterminating Angel won the World and America: A Prophecy, the tone City of Birmingham Symphony His many awards including the Premiere of the Year at the International poem Tevot and concertos for and orchestras, the Royal , Grawemeyer Award for Asyla (1999); Opera Awards (2017). In 2015 he piano. His Opera received Gewandhaus and the Finnish Royal Philharmonic Society large-scale was awarded the prestigious Léonie its premiere at the Radio Symphony Orchestra. In opera, composition awards for Asyla, The Tempest Sonning Music Prize in Copenhagen in 2004 and in 2016 The Exterminating in addition to The Exterminating Angel, and Tevot. His CD recording of The and in January 2021 will judge the Toru Angel premiered at the Salzburg Festival he has conducted The Rake’s Progress Tempest (EMI) won the Contemporary Takemitsu composition award at Tokyo followed by performances at the Royal at the Royal Opera House and the category of the 2010 Gramophone Opera City. Opera House and the Metropolitan Zürich Opera, and The Tempest at Awards; his DVD of the production from Opera in New York, all under the baton the and Vienna the Metropolitan Opera was awarded the of the composer. In 1999 Adès started State Opera. Diapason d’Or de l’année (2013), Best a 10-year relationship with Aldeburgh Jennifer France

Winner of the 2018 Critics’ Circle Symphony with the BBC Scottish and Le Comte Ory, Giulia di seta and Emerging Talent (Voice) Award, leading on from her performances Zerbinetta . Jennifer France enjoys a growing as Her in the UK première of In addition to performances with reputation as an outstanding performer Pascal Dusapin’s Passion with Music Britten Sinfonia, her concert of contemporary music, receiving Theatre Wales made her debut at the engagements have included critical acclaim for her performances 2019 Salzburg Festival singing his programmes with the Academy of as Ophelia in Brett Dean’s Hamlet for Medeamaterial. She sang Alice in Gerald Ancient Music, the BBC Symphony Glyndebourne On Tour, which led Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground Orchestra, the City of Birmingham to an invitation to give the première for the Royal Opera, London, and Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé, performance of his And once I played made her debut with English National Huddersfield Choral Society, the Ophelia with the Swedish Chamber Opera as The Princess in Philip Glass’ London Mozart Players, the London Orchestra. Orphée. Sinfonietta, the Philharmonia Orchestra Similarly, her work with George Elsewhere she has sung for the at the Three Choirs Festival, St James’ Benjamin on the première production Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Baroque, the Deutsche Händel Solisten, of his Lessons in Love and Violence the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Nederlandse Reisopera, Classical the Israel Camerata. © Nick James Garden (and then at the Dutch Opera, at Wormsley, National Opera) led to an invitation Opera Holland Park and Opera North, to perform his Into the Little Hill at the her repertoire including Marzelline 2020 Festival Présences Radio France. Fidelio, The Controller Flight, Dalinda She created Ice in Stuart MacRae’s , the title role in , Anthropocene for Scottish Opera, later Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Lauretta singing the première of his Prometheus Gianni Schicchi, La Comtesse Adèle Christianne Stotijn

Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne In opera she has portrayed roles Jaap van Zweden, Vladimir Jurowski, Stotijn was born in Delft and studied such as Pauline Pique Dame, Isabella René Jacobs, and Bernard Haitink. with Udo Reinemann, Jard van Nes L’Italiana in Algeri, Cornelia Giulio Her discography includes a recording and Dame . Over the years Cesare and Marfa La Khovanshchina. of Tchaikovsky songs for Onyx (BBC Christianne has won numerous awards, Her concert repertoire includes La Music Magazine Award winner), including the prestigious ECHO Mort de Cléopâtre and Les Nuits d’été, Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Rising Stars Award 2005/2006, the Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Britten’s Phaedra, Christoph Rilke by Frank Martin for the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2005, Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of MDG label and her debut recording and the Nederlands Muziekprijs in Death and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder, © Marco Borggreve for Warner Classics – If the Owl Calls 2008. In 2007 she was selected as a Kindertotenlieder and Symphonies Nos. Again – was Gramophone Editor’s BBC New Generation Artist. 2 & 3. She has appeared at some Choice, July 2015. of the world’s most prestigious houses Christianne is a passionate interpreter and venues including Dutch National of art songs. Accompanied by the Opera, Royal Opera House, Opera de pianists Joseph Breinl and , Paris, La Monnaie, Concertgebouw with whom she has a longstanding Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, duo partnership, she has appeared in Mozarteum Salzburg, Carnegie Hall the world’s leading concert venues and the Philharmonie Berlin, working including the Concertgebouw, La with leading conductors including Monnaie and Wigmore Hall. She Claudio Abbado, Ivan Fischer, Esa- regularly performs chamber music with Pekka Salonen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, musicians such as the violist Antoine Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, Tamestit, her brother the double bassist Ludovic Morlot, Mark Elder, Rick Stotijn and the Oxalys Ensemble. Ed Lyon

Ed Lyon studied at St John’s College Der fliegende Holländer and Walther Opera), Tamino Die Zauberflöte (La Cambridge, the RAM and the Tannhäuser (all for the Royal Opera Monnaie), The Diary of One who . He has a wide House), Eduardo Exterminating Angel Disappeared in a staged production with repertoire ranging from the baroque to (Salzburg Festival and Royal Opera Musiktheater Transparent at venues contemporary music and has appeared House) Jupiter/Semele (Karlsruhe), worldwide, Peter Quint The Turn of in many of the world’s leading opera L’Ormindo (ROH at the Globe), Don the Screw (Garsington Opera), the title and concert venues including the ROH, Ottavio and Lurcanio role in Orpheus in the Underworld for Glyndebourne, Bayerische Staatsoper, Ariodante (Scottish Opera), world , Evangelist St Netherlands Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, premiere of Lens’ Shell Shock (Brussels), Matthew Passion with the Bach Choir, Edinburgh, Aix, Holland and Aldeburgh Don Alonze L’amant Jaloux and War with the Royal Liverpool Festivals, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Septimus Theodora (Pinchgut Opera Philharmonic Orchestra, Elijah at St BAM New York, Theater an der Wien Sydney) as well as many title roles with Alban’s Cathedral, The Apostles with the and the BBC Proms, with conductors Les Arts Florissants & William Christie, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerontius © Gerard Collett including Sir , Sylvan the title role in Hippolyte et Aricie, with the Oxford Bach Choir, and a Cambreling, William Christie, Douglas (Glyndebourne Festival) Monteverdi tour of Europe and US performing with the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg Boyd, Hartmut Haenchen, René Jacobs, Orfeo (Aix Festival) and Haydn L’anima Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the and Ivor Bolton, St John Passion with Ivor Bolton, Emmanuelle Haïm, Teodor de filisofo with Currentzis. Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra & Sir King’s College Cambridge, Handel’s Currentzis and . John Eliot Gardiner, as well as many Alexander’s Feast, Ode for St Cecilia’s Day Recent and future engagements concert performances with leading and The Triumph of Time and Truth with Past operatic roles include the title role include Frère Massée St François orchestras and ensembles internationally. Ludus Baroque. In October 2019 Ed in Denisov’s L’écume des jours (Stuttgart d’Assise (Yomiuri Nippon Symphony released his first solo album,The 17th Opera), Steva/Jenufa (Opera North), Orchestra), Belmonte Die Entführung Recordings include (DVD) Century Playlist on Delphian records. Dancing Master Ariadne auf Naxos, aus dem Serail (The Grange Festival), with the ROH Covent Garden and Seeman Tristan und Isolde, Steurmann Alessandro (Netherlands Antonio Pappano, L’enfance du Christ

British bass Matthew Rose studied at Highlights of the 2020/21 season and Michael Tilson Thomas; the Los the Curtis Institute of Music before include Pulcinella with Vladimir Angeles Philharmonic with Gustavo becoming a member of the Young Jurowski and the LPO, Beethoven Dudamel; the Staatskapelle Artist Programme at the Royal Opera 9 with the Orchestre Philharmonique with Sir Charles Mackerras; the House, Covent Garden. de Radio France and Vasily Petrenko BBC Symphony Orchestra with and The Creation with Louis Langrée Sir Andrew Davis, Jiří Bělohlávek and In 2006 Matthew made an acclaimed and Cincinnati Symphony. On the Marc Minkowski. Recent performances debut at the Glyndebourne Festival operatic stage Matthew sings Gremin include Elgar in as Bottom in Britten A Midsummer (Onegin) for Garsington Opera. Vienna with the Niederösterreichische Night’s Dream – for which he received Tonkünstlerorchester, Beethoven the John Christie Award – and has Matthew’s recital appearances Symphony No. 9 with the Budapest since sung the role at Teatro alla Scala, include the Brighton, Chester and Festival Orchestra in New York and Milan, The Royal Opera House, Cheltenham International Festivals, and Ann Arbor, Schubert Mass No. 5 Covent Garden, Opéra National de at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, © Lena Kern with the Deutsches Symphonie- Lyon, Houston Grand Opera and the London’s Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Orchester Berlin and Kent Nagano, Tell (Walter) and Tristan und Isolde (Der Metropolitan Opera, New York. He has Center, Washington and New York’s and Mahler Symphony No. 8 with Steuermann) with Pappano; sung Talbot (Donizetti ), Carnegie Hall. the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Ratcliffe) with Harding – Winner Oroveso (Bellini Norma) Masetto In concert Matthew has appeared at and Vladimir Jurowski. of a Grammy Award for Best Opera and Leporello(Don Giovanni), Frère the Edinburgh Festival, BBC Proms Recording; and Bel Canto arias with Laurent (Gounod Roméo et Juliette) Recordings include a critically and the Mostly Mozart Festival in Natalie Dessay and Evelino Pido and and Colline (Puccini La bohème) for acclaimed Winterreise with pianist Gary New York. His engagements include Handel Messiah with Stephen Cleobury the Metropolitan Opera. Matthewman and with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of King’s College, Malcolm Martineau (Stone Records). with Sir , Daniel Harding Cambridge (EMI). Other recordings include Guillaume Gerald Barry

“The world now has something rare: Orkest de Volharding. His orchestral London and the Berliner Festwochen a new genuinely comic opera and maybe work, No other people, was presented at conducted by Thomas Adés. A new the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since the 2013 Proms with the BBC Scottish staging took place in 2013 at the Richard Strauss' Salome more than a century Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov. Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. a g o.” The Los Angeles Times on The Canada (2017), a short work for voice The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (2001–4) © Betty Freeman Importance of Being Earnest (2012) and orchestra, was commissioned by was staged at English National Opera in London and given a US premiere Gerald Barry was born in Clarehill, BBC Radio 3 and premiered by the in 2005 and at Theater Basel in 2008 at Lincoln Center with the New York Clarecastle, County Clare, Ireland, CBSO, tenor Allan Clayton under Mirga directed by Richard Jones. A recording Philharmonic and Ilan Volkov) and in 1952, and studied with Stockhausen Gražinyt-Tyla at the BBC Proms 2017. has been released on the discovery by Northern Ireland Opera. Earnest and Kagel. His early music from 1979 Barry's (2012), written label. La Plus Forte (2007), a one-act received a 2013 RPS Award for Large- included “ ” for ensemble, for Nicolas Hodges and co-commissioned opera, was commissioned by Radio Scale Composition and the recording, of which Kagel wrote: 'Gerald Barry by Musica Viva and City of Birmingham France for the 2007 Festival Présences. released on NMC, was nominated is always sober, but might as well always be Symphony Orchestra, was premiered It was premiered by Barbara Hannigan in for a 2016 Grammy Award. A new drunk. His piece “ ” is, on the in Munich in 2013 under Peter Rundel Paris. Barry created an English version of production by the Nouvel Opéra contrary, not rectilineal, but ' '. with subsequent performances by the the work for the Royal Concertgebouw Fribourg opened in Fribourg and Paris Also from 1979 is Ø for two CBSO under Thomas Adès. Orchestra and Thomas Adès. in May 2019. Most recent among in which both pianos play identical His first opera The Intelligence Park, Barry’s fifth opera, The Importance of his is Alice’s Adventures Under music simultaneously. released as a recording on NMC, Being Earnest (2009–10), was jointly Ground (2014-15), premiered in concert Barry has received a number of was commissioned by the ICA and commissioned by the LA Philharmonic in November 2016 with Thomas commissions from the BBC including first performed at the 1990 Almeida and the Barbican in London and Adès conducting the LA Phil New Chevaux-de-frise, for the 1988 Proms, Festival. A new production opened received its world premiere staging Music Group and Barbara Hannigan The Conquest of Ireland (1996), Day at Covent Garden in September 2019. at Opéra national de Lorraine, Nancy in the title role. The world premiere (2005/14) for the BBC Symphony A second opera, The Triumph of Beauty in 2013. The opera has received a staging was given at Covent Garden Orchestra, The Eternal Recurrence (2000), and Deceit (1991), written for Channel 4 number of new productions notably in February 2020 in a production by a setting of Nietzsche for voice and Television, opened the 2002 Aldeburgh including at the Royal Opera House, Antony McDonald. orchestra, and Hard D (1995) for the Festival, followed by performances in Covent Garden in 2013 (since revived Orchestral Players * leader Beethoven + leader Barry = Principal Barry

CD1 Beethoven Symphonies 7 & 8 CD2 Beethoven Symphony 9 / Barry The Eternal Recurrence Violin I Violas Violin I Lydia Lowndes- Piccolos Horns Jacqueline Shave Clare Finnimore Peter Facer Thomas Gould + Northcott Holly Melia Martin Owen Róisín Walters Lisanne Melchior Emma Feilding Jacqueline Shave * Bridget Carey Lindsey Ellis Phillippa Slack Daisy Spiers Katherine Shave Bridget Carey Róisín Walters Oboes Elise Campbell Ann Beilby Martin Gwilym- Rachel Byrt Joy Farrall Katherine Shave Henry Clay Francisco Gomez Francis Gallagher Jones Clifton Harrison Stephen Williams Martin Gwilym-Jones Max Spiers Oliver Johnson Cecily Ward Ruth Ehrlich Francis Gallagher Cellos Michael Jones Clara Biss Cellos Caroline Dearnley Max Spiers Paul Archibald Sarah Burnett Cecily Ward Elizabeth Wexler Caroline Dearnley Ben Chappell = Shane Brennan Florence Cooke Connie Tanner Michael Jones Clarinets Ben Chappell Joy Hawley Trombones Eleanor Stanford Horns Alexandra Raikhlina Joy Farrall Julia Vohralik Julia Vohralik Douglas Coleman Martin Owen Oliver Pashley Rachel Stroud Chris Allan Violin II Juliet Welchman Andrew White Phillippa Slack Miranda Dale Chris Allan Bass Violin II Alessandro Sanguineti Bass Caroline O’Connell Nicola Goldscheider Oliver Pashley Miranda Dale Double Basses Double Basses Ed Hilton Trumpets Suzanne Loze Bassoons Alexandra Caldon Roger Linley Roger Linley Paul Archibald Judith Stowe Sarah Burnett Judith Stowe Benjamin Scott- Laura Murphy Anna Bradley Izabela Musiał Edward Leech Suzanne Loze Russell Shane Brennan Ben Daniel-Greep Jo Godden Rachel Simms Timpani Jo Godden David Johnson Timpani Flutes Joanna Watts Judith Choi Castro Arek Adamczyk = William Lockhart Flutes William Lockhart Emer McDonough Sally Fenton Ikuko Sunamura Contrabassoon Percussion Emer McDonough Holly Melia Ellie Fagg Violas Rachel Simms Karen Hutt Lindsey Ellis Lindsey Ellis Clare Finnimore Tim Gunnell Stephen Burke Choirs

Britten Sinfonia Voices The Choir of Royal Holloway

Soprano Tenor Soprano Tenor Ildiko Allen James Beddoe Megan Bennett James Edgeler Emily Burnett Mark Bonney Libby Chessor Robin Popplewell Anna Crookes Robert Carlin Emily Christian Ben Rutt-Howard Elinor Rolfe Johnson Graham Neal Zoe Fox Luke Saint Eleanor Neate William Searle Maia Jarvis Christopher Willoughby Claire Ward Julian Smith Isabelle Pott Bass Alto Bass Danielle O’Neill Alfie Evans-Hutchinson Catherine Bell Louis Hurst Alto Oran Friar Harriet Goodwin Thomas Kennedy Elizabeth Ajao Dominic Hill Joanna Harries Cheyney Kent Sophie Overin Jonathan Hunkin Vanessa Heine Jake Muffett Celia Stoddart Samuel Morton-Morris Sian Menna Jonathan Stainsby Chloe Wedlake Benjamin Richards Elizabeth Poole Samuel Young Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Adès are extremely grateful to Robin Boyle for his generous support of this Beethoven Symphony Cycle recording, in honour of his friendship and admiration for Thomas Adès.

All works recorded in Barbican Hall, London. Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 recorded on 21 May 2019 Producer: Ian Watson | Engineer: Jonathan Stokes (Classic Sound) Beethoven Symphony No. 9 & Barry The Eternal Recurrence recorded on 26 May 2019 Producer: Ian Watson | Engineer: Neil Hutchinson (Classic Sound) Remix Engineer: Jonathan Stokes | Post Production/Editing/Mastering: Ian Watson Executive Producer: David Butcher (Britten Sinfonia) All programme notes © Jo Kirkbride Gerald Barry’s The Eternal Recurrence is published by Schott Music Cover Image: Marco Borggreve | Design & Artwork: Marshall Light Studio

2021 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Britten Sinfonia. © 2021 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records. Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action by law. Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. Signum Records, Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Middlesex UB6 7LQ, UK. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 | [email protected] | www.signumrecords.com Audio Digipak 6pp 2 Trays horizontal Slot centered front back Code: ADP06012 Slot for Booklet up to 2mm (32pp on 150/90 gsm artpaper) Visit our template library 300 gsm cardboard b2bglobal.sonydadc.com

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