George Vass News
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2024-03-29
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2023-09-29 06:39:00
Three more gems: British Piano Concertos from Simon Callaghan & BBC National Orchestra of Wales
British Piano Concertos: Gordon Jacob, John Addison, Edmund Rubbra; Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Stephen Bell and George Vass; LYRITAReviewed 27 September 2023Returning to the treasure-trove of mid-Century British piano concertos, Simon Callaghan comes up with three gems, all receiving first recordingsPianist Simon Callaghan has followed up his disc of British piano concertos from the 1950s [see my review], by returning to the the era for British Piano Concertos on the Lyrita label with a trio of concertante works by Gordon Jacob, John Addison and Edmund Rubbra, accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductors Stephen Bell and George Vass. All three are first recordings.Gordon Jacob is perhaps best known not for his own music but for his arrangements, the orchestral versions of RVW's Folksong Suite and Holst's Moorside Suite are his. But he studied with Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music as well as with Howells and […]
2022-05-23 09:41:06
Presteigne Festival 2022
This year's Presteigne Festival, artistic director George Vass, celebrates not only RVW's 150th anniversary but the festival's own 40th birthday. Running from 25 to 30 August 2022, the festival is based in the Welsh Marches in the town of Presteigne / Llanandras. This year it features a selection of RVW's works including the Violin Concerto in D minor performed at the festival closing concert by violinist Benjamin Nabarro and the Festival Orchestra, conducted by George Vass. This year's composer in residence is Julian Philips and alongside a retrospective of Philips' works there is the Welsh premiere of Looking West, a major new concert-theatre work performed by Rebecca Bottone soprano, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones mezzo, Alexander Knox actor, Nova Music Opera Ensemble, George Vass conductor. Alongside this there is a fine selection new works by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, David Matthews, Tarik O’Regan, Aileen Sweeney, Huw Watkins and 2022 Royal Philharmonic Society Young Composer, Rylan Gleave, plus commissions […]
2022-01-22 09:29:54
Joseph Phibbs: Juliana - Samuel Pantcheff, Cheryl Enever at the premiere in 2018 (Photo Laurie Slade) Joseph Phibbs' opera Juliana, with a libretto by Laurie Slade, was a joint commission from Nova Music Opera, the Cheltenham Festival and the Presteigne Festival in 2018 and was premiered by George Vass and Nova Music Opera Ensemble at the Cheltenham Festival. Vass and Nova Music Opera Ensemble have now recorded the opera for Resonus Classics with soloists Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, Felix Kemp, and Zoe Drummond. The opera, a modern interpretation of August Strindberg's play, Miss Julie, is Joseph Phibbs' first opera. I recently met up with him to chat about Strindberg, Miss Julie, and creating opera. Joseph Phibbs (Photo Malcolm Crowther) One of the reasons for choosing Strindberg's Miss Julie as the source for the opera was that many aspects of the play chimed in with the commission - three […]
2021-07-06 12:55:51
Parabola Arts Centre, CheltenhamThe five singers acquit themselves well but Luke Styles’s new work built around Britten’s Canticles fails to convince There was a time when the Cheltenham festival was one of the finest showcases for new music in Britain. Its importance has slowly declined, until now it is just another of the town’s portfolio of festivals, and this year’s event contains barely a handful of significant premieres. One of those was Awakening Shadow, described as a “chamber opera by Benjamin Britten and Luke Styles”, which is a joint commission between the Cheltenham and Presteigne festivals, staged by Nova Music Opera, conducted by George Vass. “Chamber opera” seems a rather extravagant designation for a work that is built around
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