Michael Francis News
British conductor
- double bass
- United Kingdom, Wales
- conductor
Last update
2024-04-25
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2024-04-20 12:00:26
The week in classical: Roman Fever/ The Human Voice; NYO, National Youth Brass Band; Celebrating Sir Neville Marriner – review
Susie Sainsbury theatre; Royal Festival Hall; St Martin-in-the-Fields, LondonPegasus Opera sparks change with a tart two-hander and a woman on the edge; teenage brass players show their mettle; and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields do their founder proudAs a scenario for a chamber opera, try this: two women of “ripe but well-cared-for middle age” (an enviable condition) reminisce as old friends but soon reveal themselves bitter rivals, each harbouring a shocking secret. Edith Wharton’s featherlight short story Roman Fever (1934) can nearly be lifted straight from the page to make a crisp two-hander libretto. The American composer Philip Hagemann (b.1932) did just that in his 1989 opera, set to lush, singable, musical theatre-style music. Wharton’s words remain intact, the levity of the conversation exposed as bitchiness exemplified.Roman Fever was presented as part of a stylish double bill with Francis Poulenc’s La voix humaine (sung in English as The […]
2024-04-20 08:34:00
A day at Leeds Lieder Festival: Fauré, Boulanger, Mahler and more
[…] in an intimate account of Les roses d'Isphahan full of colours. Automne featured a melancholy vocal line unfolding over restless piano, whilst Aurore brought out Gilchrist's story-telling abilities. These were to the fore in a delightful account of Le Papillon et la fleur with Gilchrist creating a real mini-drama, and not a little camp too.Next a selection of songs from Lili Boulanger's Clairières dans le cie; written in 1914 when the composer was just 21 and setting the Symbolist poet, Francis Jammes (1868-1938). These are highly perfumed songs, intimate and with a sense of emotion remembered in quietness. This is Fauré in excelsis with hints of Debussy, yet a developing voice that was Boulanger's own. The heady atmosphere began with Elle était descendue followed by the concentrated intent of Si tout ceci with its Wagnerian references in the piano. Nous nous aimerons was all luminous harmony and the group ended with the luscious, seductive textures of Vous m’avez regardé.The second half began with […]
2024-04-03 15:45:04
PREVIEW | Vivaldi & Piazzolla: Violinist Isabella d’Éloize Perron Talks About Her Tour & Recording With Francis Choinière and the FILMharmonic Orchestra
Vivaldi and Piazzola's Four Seasons, performed by violinist Isabella d'Éloize Perron with Francis Choinière and the FILMharmonic Orchestra, hits Toronto April 12.
2024-04-01 03:30:00
Duruflé: Requiem; Poulenc: Four Lenten Motets (CD Review)
[…] role in the proceedings. If anything, this version with organ sounds more like an actual requiem than as the version which also includes the orchestra. The latter, although undeniably beautiful, sounds more of a concert piece. The rich, full-bodied sound of the choir combined with the powerful sound of the organ make this recording of the Requiem one to be treasured.Also appearing on this release are Four Lenten Motets by another French composer of the twentieth century, Francis Poulenc (1899-1962). These are sung a cappella, with a leaner, cleaner, slightly drier sense of expression than the Duruflé, yet clear and direct. The CD booklet mentions that Poulenc (pictured right) had sought out some compositional advice from the composer Charles Koechlin (1867-1960), who proved to be a “very open-minded teacher, allowing sharp, grating dissonances as long as they could be expressively validated, and a combination of suavity and abrasiveness was to be a hallmark of […]
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