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2022-04-26 08:32:39
A Kind Man: Susan Hill's 2011 novel to become an opera
Susan Hill's novel, A Kind Man, was published in 2011; it tells of a couple who are grieving the loss of their daughter, when they experience both a new blow and a miracle: a further loss and renewal of hope. When Jonathan Finney first came across the novel he thought it would make a fine opera, and now ten years or so later he has bitten the bullet and Finney's opera, A Kind Man will debut at Hoxton Hall on 7 June 2022 performed by New Palace Opera, the company of which Finney is co-founder and artistic director. Finney has a long track record in opera, though not necessarily as a composer. He has sung a wide range of roles including some notable Wagnerian performances including Beckmesser in Fulham Opera's 2019 production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger [see my review]. These performances also showcased Finney's orchestral arranging as he created the reduced orchestration […]
2020-01-10 10:23:57
The music around him: a look at Mozart as he writes Mitridate, Re di Ponto in The Mozartists '1770 - a retrospective' at Wigmore Hall
Mozart in January 1770 (School of Verona, attributed to Giambettino Cignaroli ) 1770 - a retrospective - Mozart, Vanhal, GLuck, Haydn, JC Bach, Jommelli; Samantha Clarke, Ida Ränzlöv, The Mozartists, Ian Page; Wigmore Hall Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 9 January 2020 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★) A fascinating look at 14-year-old Mozart in Italy and the music that was around at the timeSo, we have reached 1770 in Ian Page and The Mozartists ambitious Mozart 250 project which tracks Mozart's progress year by year. 1770 means that we have reached the first of his major youthful operas, the highly impressive Mitridate, Re di Ponto, premiered in Milan, but there was much else happening that year also.For 1770 - a retrospective at Wigmore Hall on 9 January 2020, Ian Page and The Mozartists were joined by soprano Samantha Clarke and mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv for a programme of […]
2019-03-13 07:36:10
Intimate conversations: the young Jubilee Quartet in three quartets spanning 20 years of Haydn's maturity
Haydn quartets; Jubilee Quartet; Rubicon Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 22 February 2019 Star rating: 4.5 (★★★★½) Three quartets spanning nearly 20 years of Haydn's composing career, in vibrantly engaging performances from this young quartetFor its debut album on Rubicon, the Jubilee Quartet (Tereza Privratska, Julia Loucks, Lorena Cantó Woltèche, Toby White) perform three Haydn string quartets stretching across nearly 20 years of Haydn's composing life, the String Quartet in C major Op.20 no.2 (1772), the String Quartet in C major Op.54 no.2 (1788) and the String Quartet in G major Op.64 no. 4 (1790). Listening to the music on this album, you cannot not be amazed at the sheer musical and technical imagination that Haydn brought to the string quartet. It was his influence which changed the genre from entertainment in the salon to a complex and challenging genre in which four players had an […]
2018-09-23 07:57:00
Ten things to learn from Das Rheingold in Brexit Island
The Ring cycle is about to begin at Covent Garden, and yesterday a friend kindly invited me to the dress rehearsal of Das Rheingold. Operas that feel pertinent to the world at large are rare animals in this stressed-out era, but the timeless issues that percolate through Wagner's two-hours-40-mins-no-break prelude couldn't be more relevant if they tried, despite concerning gods, giants, Nibelungs, Rhinemaidens, shape-shifting and a cursed ring, and Keith Warner's production makes much of this. So here are ten things our Brexity politicians (some of whom are known to adore Wagner) can learn from it. Bloodied, worried and clinging to power: Bryn Terfel as Wotan in 2012Photo: Clive Barda/ROH 1. Do not piss off giants. They are bigger than you and they can take hostages. You are overestimating your own power.2. Do not break your promises. It's called cheating. Giants don't appreciate it, especially when they've given […]