John Moulds News
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2024-04-25
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2023-01-29 01:04:00
San Francisco Opera 2023-24
[…] Rod GIlfry, Miles Mykkanen, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Lucy Shlton, Vilma Jaa. US premiere, SFO co-production. "Sung in English, Finnish, Czech, Romanian, French, Swedish, German, Spanish and Greek with English supertitles." I've been looking forward to this ever since Matthew Shilvock said, at the public annual meeting about five years ago, that the company had commissioned a "very interesting woman composer." My only disappointment about this is that Susanna Mälkki, who led the premiere, isn't conducting at SFO. Handel, Partenope. Christopher Moulds/Julie Fuchs (Partenope), Daniela Mack (Rosmira), Carlo Vistoli (Arsace), Nicholas Tamagna (Armindo), Alek Shrader (Emilio), Hadleigh Adams (Ormonte). The same Christopher Alden production seen in 2014; a revival was canceled owing to the pandemic. The music is great but I kinda hated this overly-jokey production. Other commentary: I'm wondering if this is the first season with productions by brothers. I like this season, because what's not to like about an eight-opera season with three new operas? (And five new operas […]
2021-06-07 16:49:00
The CockpitEgisto – Martins Smaukstelis Climene – Astrid Joos Lidio – Alex Pullinger Clori – Caroline Taylor Hipparco – John Holland-Avery Amore – Helen Lacey Semele, Bellezza, Hora Seconda – Charity Mapletoft Venere, Dedra, Hora Quarta – Oliva Carrell Dema – Emily Kyte Volupia, Didone, Hora Terza – Helen Daniels James La Notte – Laurence GilliansMarcio de Silva (director, lighting)Madeline de Barrié (assistant director)Christian Hey (designs)HGO Baroque OrchestraMarcio da Silva (music director) HGO (formerly Hampstead Garden Opera) led the way after the first lockdown with opera’s return to London, in the guise of an outdoor performance of Holst’s Sāvitri at Lauderdale House. Five miles or so away, at Marylebone’s Cockpit Theatre, it proved if not quite the earliest, then one of the earliest, to return to the fray this time round, with Francesco Cavalli’s (and Giovanni Faustini’s) L’Egisto of 1643. The second of Cavalli’s collaborations with Faustini, L’Egisto proved influential […]
2021-04-29 06:39:34
Science Fiction, AI, music and collaborative creation: the Lim Fantasy of Companionship for piano and orchestra
If we watch one of the classic Broadway musicals, then whose work are we seeing? With a work like My Fair Lady the creators are usually listed as Lerner and Loewe. Alan Jay Lerner wrote the book and the lyrics, whilst Frederick Loewe wrote the music. And of course, with many musicals there are three names, book, music and lyrics. But they are not the only ones responsible for creating the work. The work's original director and producers would have a big say, so after pre-Broadway tryouts many musicals had extensive surgery, which means that their final shape is a group affair. With Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark, the book is by Moss Hart, who also directed, lyrics are by Ira Gerswhin, and the producer was Sam Harris. The musical features three extended dream episodes, mini-operettas, but Weill planned four of these and one was dropped, whilst the show-stopping […]
2020-12-09 17:06:00
St Martin-in-the-FieldsSibelius: Belshazzar’s Feast: ‘Nocturne’Nielsen, arr. Hans Abrahamsen: Three Piano Pieces, op.59, recomposed for ten instrumentsWagner: Siegfried-IdyllMozart: Symphony no.34 in C major, KV 338 Academy of St Martin in the FieldsRyan Wigglesworth (conductor) ‘Awakening’, aptly enough, was the theme of this post-lockdown concert from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in the church where, for this orchestra, it all began. I only noticed that after the event and confess to having been thinking in different, if far from opposed, terms, related to the theatre. Music means many things at different times, to different people—and surely all the more so in times such as these. At any rate, a sign of musical light in London at the close of the first week of Advent was welcome indeed, not least given the typical accomplishment of the Academy’s playing, this time under Ryan Wigglesworth. As a heretic who has always […]
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