Jonathon Welch News
Australian opera singer, choral conductor
- piano
- opera
- Australia
- conductor, choir director, music teacher
Last update
2024-03-28
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2024-03-13 08:05:00
Little short of a revelation: Michael Spyres, Les Talens Lyriques & Christophe Rousset explore Wagner's influences with In the Shadows
[…] in 1838, Wagner would acknowledge Joseph's influence on him. The music here is far Gluckian than you might expect and from this performance is definitely a composer to be explored. Spyres seems at home in the combination of long classical lines and Romantic colour.Beethoven's Fidelio (1805/1814) had a clear influence on the young Wagner, both in terms of the music and in the development of the heroic tenor voice. Here Spyres sing's Florestan's opening scene, 'Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!…In des Lebens Frühlingstagen'. In both this and the Méhul, the orchestral contribution is significant, bringing out the remarkable colours of orchestration, along with drama and transparent textures. Spyres makes a Florestan in the mould of a lighter Jon Vickers, with the Canadian tenor's openness of tone, but here allied to a narrower focus and lighter touch. He will not be heroic or heavy enough for some, but I loved the sense of […]
2022-11-21 12:50:39
Singer Florence Welch was in her element at London’s O2 Arena — but a broken foot means it was her last show
2022-07-30 07:28:00
Little Women & after: I chat to composer Mark Adamo about the UK premiere of his opera & more
[…] end of our conversation, we return to the subject of Little Women. It has nearly happened in the UK for almost 20 years and he is delighted that it is finally coming. The quartet from the opera was performed at the SWAP'ra Gala at Opera Holland Park in 2018 [see my article]. James Clutton (chief executive of Opera Holland Park) commented on the quartet and was eager to bring the opera here. Mark Adamo (Photo Daniel Welch)Mark mentions George Bernard Shaw's comment about the USA and the UK being two countries separated by a common language. The USA has long welcomed English theatricals and English operas, but the longed-for conversation in the other direction is only just beginning to happen. [Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking (2000) received its UK premiere at the Barbican in 2018, Kevin Puts' Silent Night (2011) received its UK premiere at Opera North in 2018. English National Opera […]
2022-07-09 05:22:00
Classical Music News of the Week, July 9, 2022
[…] & Co.SF Girls Chorus Announces Summer Tour DetailsArtistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe and the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) today announced details of its summer tour of Hawaii, July 6 - 15, 2022, which will include two performances in Honolulu and in Kaneohe, and a special collaboration with the Ohana Arts youth music program. Tour performances and activities will highlight SFGC’s two-year-long engagement with “Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary,” a commissioned choral-opera by composer Matthew Welch based on Tomorrow's Memories, A Diary, 1924-1928, the diary writings of Filipina immigrant Angeles Monrayo.SFGC will perform at the Hawaii Theatre Center, Honolulu (July 7) and the Paliku Theater, Kaneohe (July 10) in a program of works that includes excerpts from Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary, a selection of Filipino songs, and two previous SFGC commissions including Rimas tropicales by 2021 Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León and Pen Pal by 2019-2020 Rome Prize […]
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