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2024-03-13
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2024-03-12 08:35:00
Lovely Music: Louth CMS annual June celebration features operas by Robert Ashley, Stockhausen’s Stimmung, Linda Catlin Smith & more
[…] as Ashley explained, "All of the singing is very soft vocally, but amplified, and all of the singing of the words is very fast. This is a special kind of vocal sound that the audience will have rarely experienced." Crash is being presented by Varispeed Collective and they join forces with Irish colleagues at the Spirit Store: Sean Carpio, Caoimhe Hopkinson and Steve Welsh for Ashley's The Bar.Also in the festival is Dirt Road by Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith, performed by violinist Larissa O’Grady and the percussionist Caitríona Frost. Catlin Smith describes the work thus, "I imagined the two instruments as two travellers, moving along a simple landscape, with all of its slight or grand changes."Hamza El Din (1929-2006) was Egyptian oud player and composer who moved to California in the early sixties and had a powerful effect on U.S. musicians from the Grateful Dead to Steve Reich. His Escalay (The Waterwheel) will be performed […]
2024-03-05 09:02:00
A dynamic performance where singers & instrumentalists actively participate in movement alongside the dancers: Scherzo Ensemble presents a danced version of Haydn's The Creation
A new danced version of Haydn's The Creation is being presented at New Hall Winchester and St John's Smith Square on 6 and 7 April 2024 by Scherzo Ensemble, and we are we are promised a dynamic performance where singers and instrumentalists actively participate in movement alongside the dancers!Matthew O'Keeffe conducts the Orpheus Sinfonia with soloists Anna Gregg and Sam Harris as Gabriel and Uriel, and Michael Temporal Darell and Caroline Blair as Adam and Eve. The staging is a collaboration with Welsh choreographer Osian Meilir Jones (currently artistic associate of the National Dance Company of Wales), and designer Jennifer GregoryScherzo Ensemble is a professional development platform for emerging singers, best known for managing Longhope Opera in Hampshire where they are performing Donizetti's Don Pasquale on 6 and 7 July 2024, (see the ensemble's website) Further information on Haydn's The Creation from TicketSource (Winchester) and St John's Smith Square's website,
2024-03-04 07:33:00
Musical strengths, visual confusion & two Rakes: English Touring Opera's new production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progess - Act Three, scene one: the graveyardFrederick Jones, Jerome Knox - English Touring Opera (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress: Frederick Jones/Brenton Spiteri, Nazan Fikret, Jerome Knox, Trevor Eliot Bowes, Lauren Young, director: Polly Graham, conductor Jack Sheen; English Touring Opera at Hackney EmpireReviewed 2 March 2024A refreshing lack of preconceived ideas but visually confusing production offset by strong musical performances including Brenton Spiteri taking over the role of Tom with aplomb part way throughEnglish Touring Opera's Spring tour continued with the launch of Polly Graham's new production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at the Hackney Empire on 2 March 2024, with Jack Sheen conducting. Frederick Jones was singing Tom Rakewell, but before the performance it was announced that Jones had recently returned after illness, and after the Act One the role was sung from the side of the stage by Brenton Spiteri (who is playing Edmondo […]
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
2024-02-29 22:25:01
Visiting Aucoin’s Underworld
[…] Rigoletto, Germont, and Alfio, and true bass roles, such as Méphistophélès in Faust, Boito’s Mefistofele, and Zaccaria in Nabucco. His repertoire is extensive, with over 100 roles to his credit, and ranges from baroque (e.g. Argante in Rinaldo, the bass part in The Messiah, etc.) to contemporary opera, such as “Eurydice” in Boston. The summer of 2023 saw the release of his latest album, “Welcome To My World” (Çedille Records), where, accompanied by pianist Ken Smith, he performs 21 selections dealing with several musical genres and spanning over three centuries. He is also a recipient of the National Institute for Music Theatre’s George London Opera Prize, and Planet Africa’s Entertainment Award, which recognizes his achievements as an artist and for being a positive role model for youths in both Canada and the United States. [caption id="attachment_57775" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Orpheus (Elliot Madore) in front, and his double (Nicholas Kelliher) enter the […]
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