#Royal Scottish National Chorus and Orchestra

[paul-archibald]

Olympics

Olympic medals were awarded for architecture, music and literature until the middle of the 20th century. In Ancient Greece, art and sport went hand in hand, with the ideal way to achieve harmony considered to be by exercising both body and mind. Sadly, there are no longer medals to be won in the arts at the modern-day Olympics but music still plays an important part, certainly in the opening and…

[rayrayor]

Thank you @redwiccanrobin for the tag.

This was fun and I realize my music is … Squirrel!

shuffle your ON REPEAT playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, tag 10 people

Sex on Wheels by My life with the Thrill Kill Kult

ODE To JOY performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and RSNO Chorus

You can do it by Ice Cube

Seven Spanish Angels performed by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson

Here Come the Girls by Trombone Shorty

Come to Mama by Lady Gaga

Leaving in a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul, and Mary

Oi u luzi chervona kalyna by not sure who is singing it

You shook me all night long by AC/DC

Portland, Oregon performed by Loretta Lynn and Jack White

Tagging anyone who wants to play and @guinguin1984 @sweetbee78 @jrooc @creepkinginc @ms-moonlight-inn @mayo-in-the-morning @francesrose3 @filorux @filorux @mybrainismelted

[lboogie1906]

George Irving Shirley (born April 18, 1934) is an operatic tenor and was the first African-American tenor to perform a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

He earned a BS in Music Education from Wayne State University and was drafted into the Army, where he became the first African American member of the Army Chorus. He was the first African American hired to teach music in Detroit high schools.

He moved to New York and began his professional career as a singer. His debut was with a small opera group in Woodstock as Eisenstein in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus and his European debut in Italy as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème. He won a National Arts Club scholarship competition, and the following April he was the first African American singer to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions scholarship competition. He is the first African American tenor and the second African American male to sing leading roles for the Metropolitan Opera. He sang there for 11 seasons.

He has appeared at The Royal Opera, London; the Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam; Opéra de Monte-Carlo; the New York City Opera; the Scottish Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Washington National Opera; the Michigan Opera Theatre; the San Francisco Opera; and the Santa Fe Opera and Glyndebourne Festival summer seasons, as well as with numerous orchestras in the US and Europe. He has sung more than 80 roles.

He was on the faculty of the University of Maryland when he moved to the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he was Director of the Vocal Arts Division. He serves as the Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music and still maintains a studio at the school. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

OLD-FILM-MUSIC Nerd things:

End credit track is less than 7:00 long!

Album art is faded, dirty, and you have to digitally clean it up

Album art is lame (because it was not commercially-released at-the-time) so you take it upon yourself to create a new album cover

Cue re-recording made for LP release is drastically different from film version

Lots / Of / Forward Slashes / In Track Titles

Source Music playing of main theme

Source music track titled “jukebox”

The popularity of harpsichord in ‘60s film scores

Low-quality release that has all the dialog and sound-effects still in

Varèse Sarabande, Film Score Monthly, and Intrada expanded-editions

lush chorus sings title song

Title song retroactively written based on main theme in an attempt to promote the film

You like the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s re-recordings because they’re clean, but they sometimes lack the *biTE* of the original

You’d think there’d be more ROCK in movies about juvenile delinquents but there’s actually a lot of JAZZ

Albums with “Intermission” and “Entr’acte” tracks

Pre-Jaws (1975) John Williams scores including Westerns and LOTS of Sex Comedies

[musicalshards]

(C. Alan Publications)

Dances from ‘The Morning of the Year’ by Gustav Holst

arr. Geoffery Brand for Wind Orchestra (Grade 5)

“In 1927 Hoist composed the music for a 'choral ballet', [...] This interesting project was inspired by Douglas Kennedy, who provided the scenario and also arranged the traditional dances that were performed during the ballet. Hoists friend Steuart Wilson wrote the words for the choral sections of the piece. [...] In his notes for a CD that includes The Morning of the Year, as well as The Golden Goose, Raymond Head states that the Scottish composer Granville Bantock was the first to use the term 'choral ballet', and suggests that there was a conscious attempt on Hoist's part to link back to the 'Balletts' of Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Morley, which combined dance and song. The Morning of the Year has the distinction of having been the first piece of music to be commissioned by the music department of the newly formed British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC]. Its first performance was as part of a concert given at the Royal Albert Hall by the National Chorus and Orchestra, which was broadcast live, on the evening of 17 March 1927. It was sandwiched between two pieces by Arthur Honneger and the two composers each conducted their own works. The reviewer for The Times [...] wrote, 'about the only thing we can venture to say is that it is full of good tunes treated in the ingenious, reiterative style which the composer has made his own. As The Morning of the Year is really a ballet, and was, of course, given without action, and as the words of the choruses could not be heard from the other end of the Albert Hall, we came away with only a vague notion as to what it was all about, but with the feeling that we should probably enjoy it if it were given with its proper stage accompaniment. The ballet was first performed with its dances at a private concert held at the Royal College of Music on 1 June 1927. The dances were performed by members of the EFDS [English Folk Dance Society] under the leadership of Douglas Kennedy. The Times critic was more impressed by the music than the dances, although he considered the performance of the EFDS dancers to be 'very finished'. He felt, though, that 'before an art-ballet can be created out of our folk dances, a more elaborate technique will have to be evolved'. The Daily Telegraph critic was more enthusiastic, describing the outcome as 'very nearly a perfect art form', although he did concede that some aspects of the performance needed further work.89 This performance was, in effect, an open dress rehearsal for the public performance at the Scala Theatre later in the month.” (Source)

“The piece was not received well with the critics. The Daily News called the piece, "terribly confused artistically." Michael Short wrote "the 'Mating Dance' is too bland and folksy, and lacking in any sexual energy." Holst was somewhat annoyed by a report which appeared in the press after a concert, and wrote to Percy Pitt: I was sorry to read in the Evening News that I consider the new ballet my best thing since The Planets. I certainly don’t and if I did I would keep it to myself. I did tell one or two men privately that I thought it was the best thing I had written in the last two years which is a very different matter."” (Source)

This particular arrangement of ‘Dances from The Morning of the Year’ is one I’ve played myself with my university wind orchestra, but failed to find any recording of until I traced the score right back to the website it was purchased off. I thought since I found it quite a challenge to find this arrangement any any information on the piece that I could post some of my findings here for Musicblr. I myself find the piece fascinating, since when I first started rehearsing it I almost disliked the quirk and the many stripped back sections in the music, which is rare for me since I love most wind orchestra repertoire! But as rehearsals went on and I listened to the few orchestral recordings I could find, it grew on me more and more, til I was driven over six months after performing the piece and leaving it behind to go and try to discover more about it. 

[verdiprati]

Upcoming Performances by Dame Sarah Connolly

[NOTE: this post is now out of date. Check the schedule tag on my blog for the most recent version of this list.]

After the jump: an unofficial schedule of Dame Sarah Connolly’s future performances. Those of you in Britain may catch a performance in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leeds, Gloucester, Exeter, Chipping Campden, or Helmsley (York). Those on the Continent may see her in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Vienna, Köln, Rotterdam, Katowice, Bergen, Aix-en-Provence, or Zeist. Don’t live near one of these places? Take in a concert from afar: I am adding online broadcast and livestream details as they become available.

The season of season announcements has been in full swing for several weeks now and I have been able to add a bunch of new performances to this list since the previous edition. The announcements aren’t over yet, though, so bookmark this list (or find it under the schedule tag on my blog) and check back for new developments as we get into April and May.

This is not an authoritative list. These are the upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly that I have been able to learn about from Dame Sarah’s new website, Dame Sarah’s agent's website (Askonas Holt), Operabase, Bachtrack, Dame Sarah's Twitter, and generally ferreting around the web.

I sometimes list concerts that are not yet officially confirmed; you should of course check official sources before making plans and be aware that cast changes and cancellations can happen at any time.

I have added links to venue, ticketing, and broadcast information where available. Tips on new information are always welcome! Please contact me via email (verdiprati [at] selveamene [dot] com), Tumblr messaging, or ask box (plain prose only in the ask box; anything with links or an email address will get eaten by Tumblr filters) with corrections or additions.

Recital with Robin Tritschler, Anna Huntley, and Malcolm Martineau at the Wigmore Hall, London, April 24, 2019. The program features Robert Schumann’s Myrthen song cycle in the first half and a mix of the composer’s other songs in the second. The Wigmore website, where Anna Huntley’s name was just recently added, notes that Huntley "will be joining as an additional mezzo-soprano” while the “programme remain[s] the same,” suggesting that Dame Sarah’s expected participation in the recital has been reduced for some reason.

Recital with Joseph Middleton at the Festival Katowice Kultura Natura, May 14, 2019. Works by Schumann, Debussy, Zemlinsky, Wolf, and Roussel.

Berlioz, Les nuits d’été at the Chipping Campden Music Festival, May 21, 2019. In a program with orchestral works by Fauré and Mendelssohn. Thomas Hull conducts the Academy Orchestra.

Recital at the Internationaal LiedFestival Zeist (Netherlands), May 25, 2019. With Sholto Kynoch. Songs by Brahms, Wolf, Debussy and Zemlinsky. The LiedFestival Zeist announced on May 23 that due to illness, Dame Sarah would be replaced by Paula Murrihy.  

Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius with the Hallé and three choruses at Victoria Hall, Leeds, June 1, 2019. Barry Banks and David Soar are the other vocal soloists; Simon Wright conducts.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde with the Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester at the Grieghallen Bergen, June 5, 2019. With Toby Spence singing the tenor part and Edward Gardner conducting. As of this writing, the orchestra’s website still lists Ekaterina Gubanova as the mezzo soloist for this concert, but the engagement appears in Dame Sarah’s diary on her own website as well as on her agent’s website.

[New! Special event] “An Evening with Dame Sarah Connolly,” fundraiser event for the Opera Awards, London, June 10, 2019. The Opera Awards website is light on details for this event but I expect it will consist of a purely spoken interview, with no live musical performance. Tickets are £195 and include dinner.

[New! Special event] ENO Gala, London, June 12, 2019. The English National Opera promises a “special guest performance” by Dame Sarah during the dinner service at this fundraiser; repertoire is not specified. Pure speculation on my part, but I imagine she will sing two or three songs or arias. Baritone James Cleverton is also scheduled to perform earlier in the evening. Tickets for the gala are £399.

Mahler, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (extracts) and Janáček, Glagolitic Mass at the Maison de la Radio, Paris, June 20, 2019. With the Orchestre National de France and the Choeur de Radio France, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The other vocal soloists for the Glagolitic Mass are Simona Šaturová, Mati Turi, and Christof Fischesser Mischa Schelomianski.

[Broadcast] This concert will be broadcast live on France Musique.

[New! Special event] A public "conversation” at the Oxford Festival of the Arts, Magdalen College School, Oxford, July 3, 2019. Dame Sarah is scheduled to appear “in conversation with Oxford Festival of the Arts Director, Dr Michelle Castelletti” at an untitled event. The description says that “The evening will be illustrated by excerpts from some of her most glorious performances”; I believe this refers to the showing of videos, not any kind of live musical performance. 

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde at the Festival d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, July 13, 2019. With the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Ingo Metzmacher; Andreas Schager sings the tenor part.

Michael Betteridge, Across the Sky (community opera) at the Cheltenham Music Festival, July 14, 2019. The performance is only an hour long and the nature of Dame Sarah’s participation is not totally clear to me from the festival’s website; she is not specifically named as a vocal soloist. Anyone drawn to this event by the fact that Dame Sarah’s name is attached to it should also take note that she is performing in the south of France the night before and factor in some risk of travel delay.

[New!] Recital at the Ryedale Festival, Duncombe Park, Helmsley, York, July 18, 2019. With Christopher Glynn, the Festival’s artistic director. On May 7, the Festival announced on Twitter that Dame Sarah would be singing this recital in place of Ian Bostridge, who is withdrawing from concerts (elsewhere as well) during his recovery from heart valve surgery. (Get well, Ian!) My thanks to an alert reader for sharing the Festival’s tweet with me!

Recital with Malcolm Martineau at Wigmore Hall, London, July 23, 2019. Part of Dame Sarah’s yearlong residency at the Wigmore. Repertoire to include works by Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Frank Bridge, and Benjamin Britten.

Bob Chilcott, A Christmas Oratorio (premiere) at the Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester, August 1, 2019. With Nick Pritchard, Neal Davies, and of course the Three Cathedral Choirs; conducted by Adrian Partington. Note that this is an afternoon concert, not the main evening concert for August 1. (Multi-mezzo fans may want to stick around to hear Anna St��phany Kathryn Rudge do Les nuites d’été in the evening.) Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 24.

[Broadcast, details TBA] According to the Three Choirs website, “This concert will be recorded for future broadcast.”

Berlioz, Les nuits d’été with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA at the Konzerthaus, Berlin, August 6, 2019. Part of a concert conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. Tickets are available via the link above or on the Konzerthaus website.

[Livestream] The Konzerthaus website mentions “Dieses Konzert wird live auf arte concert gestreamt”—this concert will be livestreamed on Arte Concert. Arte livestreams are sometimes available worldwide, sometimes geoblocked, but given that this is the National Youth Orchestra of the USA performing in Europe, I have hope that it will be available worldwide.

[New!] Berlioz, L’enfance du Christ with the Hallé, London, August 14, 2014. Co-starring Allan Clayton, Roderick Williams, and Neal Davies; conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. The work is being billed with an English title (The Childhood of Christ) but I see no indication that it is to be sung in translation. Part of the BBC Proms.

[Broadcast] The BBC Proms are generally broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

[New!] Elgar, The Music Makers with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, London, August 29, 2019. In a concert conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Part of the BBC Proms.

[Broadcast] The BBC Proms are generally broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

[New!] Gluck, Orpheus and Eurydice (Orpheus) at the English National Opera, London, October 1, 10, 12, 17, 24, 31, and November 14 and 19, 2019. With Sarah Tynan as Eurydice and Soraya Mafi as Love. Wayne McGregor is the director and choreographer, with dancers from his company participating in the production; Harry Bicket conducts. Public booking opens on April 24.

[Details TBA] Performance with The English Concert at Exeter Cathedral, October 15, 2019. The Two Moors Festival has tweeted news of the gig but has not yet formally announced its 2019 lineup nor made tickets available for purchase. Keep an eye on the websites for the Two Moors Festival and The English Concert for their full season announcements.

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, London, October 19, 2019. With Sofia Fomina, the London Philharmonic Choir, and the Philharmonia Chorus. Vladimir Jurowski conducts a concert also comprising Colin Matthews’ Metamorphosis.

[New!] Max Reger, “An die Hoffnung” with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, November 1, and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, November 2, 2019. Part of a concert also featuring Reger’s “Serenade” and Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, conducted by Neeme Järvi. For details, see the PDF season brochures for Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively.

[New details!] Recital with Julius Drake at Temple Church, London, November 25, 2019. Although I still don’t see this concert listed on the Temple Music website, I have found a brochure online that gives details of Dame Sarah’s recital along with other performances scheduled for October through December, 2019. The repertoire includes Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben, Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, Judith Bingham’s Adieu Solace, and “songs by Alma and Gustav Mahler.” The Judith Bingham piece is apparently based on the life of Mary Queen of Scots, as are Schumann’s Gedichte.

Elgar, Sea Pictures with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, December 12, 2019. In a concert conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano that also includes instrumental works by Tippett and Vaughn Williams.

[New!] Wagner, Die Walküre (Fricka) at the Teatro Real, Madrid, February 12, 16, 21, 25, and 28, 2020. Co-stars include Tomasz Konieczny (Wotan), Ricarda Merbeth (Brünnhilde), and Stuart Skelton (Siegmund). Pablo Heras-Casado conducts; the production by Robert Carsen is a revival from Oper Köln. If booking tickets, be sure to note the dates when Dame Sarah is performing; Daniela Sindram takes the role of Fricka on other nights. Single tickets go on sale November 4, 2019 if I read the Teatro Real website correctly.

Oskar Fried, Verklärte Nacht with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, March 13, 2020. With Stuart Skelton; Edward Gardner conducts.

[Details TBA] Recital at Wigmore Hall, London, March 19, 2020. Repertoire and accompaniment remain TBA. Listed in the Wigmore Hall preview brochure for the ’19-’20 season.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, London, April 30, 2020. The piece is being billed as The Song of the Earth but there is no indication that it will be sung in translation as well. Andreas Schager sings the tenor parts; Xian Zhang conducts the concert, which includes a Mozart symphony in the first half.

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, De Doelen, Rotterdam, May 14, 15, and 17, 2020. Chen Reiss sings the soprano part; Lahav Shani conducts.

[New!] Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Köln Philharmonie, May 27, 2020. Chen Reiss sings the soprano part; Lahav Shani conducts. (A repeat of the program from Rotterdam, above.)

[New!] Recital at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, June 6, 2020. With Malcolm Martineau. The program includes Ravel’s Shéhérazade, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis, and various works by Hugo Wolff, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Cecile Chaminade.

[New!] Mahler, Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand with the Wiener Symphoniker at the Musikverein, Vienna, June 12 and 13, 2020. Three Vienna choirs add their forces; Philippe Jordan conducts. The other scheduled vocal soloists are Camilla Nylund, Irène Theorin, Martina Janková, Michaela Schuster, Burkhard Fritz, Iain Paterson, and John Relyea. Casting the monumental Mahler 8 with a complete team of singers who will make it through rehearsals to the final performance is said to be uniquely challenging, so if you’re wedded to hearing this particular cast, keep a close eye on it. (The last time I was keeping an eye on a particular Mahler 8, five of the originally cast eight soloists had changed by the time of the actual performance.)

Wagner, Götterdämmerung (Waltraute, Zweite Norn) at the Opéra national de Paris, November 13, 17, 21, and 28, and December 6, 2020. Part of a new complete Ring Cycle production directed by Calixto Bieito. The 2019-2020 season will include the first two Ring Cycle operas, with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to follow in October and November 2020; the complete cycle will then be performed sequentially twice in “festival” format during November and December 2020. (The festival performances are being ticketed as a four-opera package; curiously, at the upper end of the price scale, a festival ticket gives you a small discount as compared with buying the four operas separately, but at the lower end of the scale, you pay a premium for the festival. Concise ticket price information can be found on page 168 of the season brochure PDF.) Dame Sarah’s co-stars in Götterdämmerung include Andreas Schager (Siegfried), Ricarda Merbeth (Brünnhilde), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Gunther), and Jochen Schmeckenbecher (Alberich).

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Handel, Agrippina at the Dutch National Opera. In June 2018, opera critic Hugh Canning tweeted the news that the Royal Opera is planning to offer Barrie Kosky’s new production of Agrippina with Joyce DiDonato in the title role during the ’19/’20 season; in a reply that has now been deleted, Dame Sarah mentioned that she and Alice Coote would do the same production in Amsterdam and Munich. (If you are a member of the Sarah Connolly fan group on Facebook, you can scroll back in time to June and see a screenshot there.) Subsequent discussion revealed that Coote would get the Munich gig (in July 2019), so Connolly must be the Amsterdam Agrippina. Agrippina appears in neither the ’18-’19 season nor ’19-’20 at the DNO, so presumably we must look farther ahead.

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Brett Dean, Hamlet (Gertrude) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, sometime in 2021-22. Allan Clayton, who starred in the title role of Brett Dean’s Hamlet at Glyndebourne in 2017, mentioned in an interview with the Telegraph that he would be reprising the role at an unspecified date and venue in the US. When prompted on Twitter, Dame Sarah indicated that she would be participating in the revival, too (“I shall be misunderstanding my confused boy again”). In a later interview with Opera News, Clayton reportedly specified that he would reprise Hamlet at the Met. The Future Met Wiki places the production at the Met in the 2021-2022 season (as does this New York Times article). Hat tip to Christopher Lowrey, who sang Guildenstern in the original production at Glyndebourne, whose tweet praising Allan Clayton brought the Telegraph interview to my attention. (No indication whether Lowrey will also be cast in the American revival.) Additional hat tip to the Tumblrer who submitted information on this topic via the ask box.

Previous versions of this list can be found under the schedule tag on this blog. This list published March 29, 2019. Edited April 3 to add Orpheus and Eurydice. Edited April 4 to add the Mahler 8 in Vienna (thanks to a tip from a friend!). Edited April 12 to reflect the change of bass for the Glagolitic Mass. Edited April 17 to add the two BBC Proms and the Teatro Real Walküre. Edited April 29 to link to the Two Moors Festival’s tweet. Edited May 9 to add the Ryedale Festival recital and the three special events (Opera Awards fundraiser, ENO Gala, and Oxford Festival of the Arts appearance). Edited May 10 to add new details to the Temple Music recital. Edited May 18 to update the link for the Ryedale Festival. Edited May 19 to add the recital at the Musée d’Orsay. Edited May 23 to reflect Dame Sarah’s withdrawal from the recital in Zeist. I may continue to edit this list as I receive new information.

[narrativerehearsal]

The RSNO (Royal Scottish National Orchestra) has started doing a ‘Come and Sing’ event every season. I went to the first one when 900 of us turned up to sing Mozart’s Requiem for a day, which was just insane. We filled the entire damn stalls of Glasgow’s concert hall, the audience for the informal performance had to sit in the choir stalls.

The second one happened today and nearly 400 of us turned up to sing Brahms’ Requiem. In a smaller venue this time but again the choir was in the audience seats and the audience (of about 100 people) was in the choir stalls. I thought Mozart was tricky but I can now say that Brahms is fucking hard and I loved it but I am so tired.

Apparently the whole thing was just a crazy idea their chorus director suggested and then it kind of...took off.

[theimpossiblescheme]

Part 28/80 of my Female Rogues of Gotham City series

Of all the rogues in Gotham City, the Music Meister has one of the biggest female followings, not just among the henchgirls, but among ordinary civilians as well.  There are few who can match him, after all, in sheer charisma and magnetism; he has even served as a sort of awakening for many young men and women.  The one problem is that he prefers not to share the spotlight with anyone.  However, three determined penpals from across the world decided to circumvent this issue by volunteering to serve as his backstage crew for all of his capers. Now they travel with him as his loyal entourage and cheer squad.

Doe was one of the most gifted dancers Bollywood had seen in years, with a background in both traditional dance and ballet (by way of her mother, a Russian ex-patriot and former Bolshoi ballerina), and had just made the jump from actress to choreographer when her career was cut short when it was revealed she’d had an affair with her director.  Flouncing out of Bombay in a huff and a flurry of skirts, she decided to try her luck elsewhere, and her ears perked up at the mention of a positively criminal musical act happening in her friend’s hometown across the ocean.  Upon her arrival, Doe wasted absolutely no time showing off her skills, and she was quickly inducted as the choreography advisor to all of the Music Meister’s acts.

Rae grew up in all the most glamorous circles of New York City, a singing child prodigy who had performed in Radio City Music Hall along with her former Ziegfeld Folly father over twenty times before she was twelve years old. However, show business marched on without them, and the father and daughter act were soon overshadowed by new attractions; resigned to their fate, they moved to Gotham to be closer to family and each took jobs waiting tables.  But when she heard about the Music Meister and the girls he’d already recruited, Rae couldn’t rush fast enough to meet him, and now every cut of the riches she acquires as the rogue’s assistant lyricist and harmony arranger she sends back to her father to help with his retirement.

Mimi was once a member of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus and its youngest Orchestra member in fifty years before her own scandal drummed her out of the ranks, namely picking a fight with a very rude patron on his phone—who turned out to be a foreign dignitary—during a concert. Depressed from losing her livelihood to a stranger’s stupidity, she took to being something of a recluse, refusing to leave her house until she received a very tantalizing offer from her friend in Gotham City.  Becoming the Music Meister’s official accompanist was the best thing that ever happened to her, as it gave Mimi the chance to show off her skill at almost every instrument once again, and she is currently in the process of applying for dual citizenship.

Octavia was the Gotham native who told the other girls about the Music Meister to begin with; she was the little sister of a retired minor rogue called the Minstrel, and she had taken a great interest in the appearance of a new musical rogue.  A starry-eyed romantic at heart and a gifted student of music theory with a diploma from Julliard, she quickly decided that what she wanted most in the world was to travel the East Coast with her old friends and her potential new boss, arranging music and conducting a cross-city symphony for the ages, and she quickly contacted her new international friends to tell them about the opportunity.  Though she does have some talent at song and dance, Octavia’s true calling is to hold a baton and direct, content to watch from the wings as these colorful characters she loves and admires turn the world on its ear.

[bradfordzone]

BBC Proms 2017: Zhang's Beethoven | BBC Four 30 July 7:30pm

BBC Proms 2017: Zhang’s Beethoven | BBC Four 30 July 7:30pm

Live at the BBC Proms from The Royal Albert Hall. Prom 21: Beethoven’s much-loved Ninth Symphony is performed by the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, conducted by Xian Zhang. The programme also features the European premiere of A European Requiem, composed in 2015 by Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan. Presented by Kirsty Wark…

[krakowergroup]

PR: Krakow Film Music Festival 2017

VARÈSE SARABANDE RECORDS TO RELEASE KRAKOW FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL 2017 A CELEBRATION OF THE FESTIVAL’S 10th ANNIVERSARY Featuring Tracks Composed By Guests Including Giorgio Moroder, Howard Shore, Brian Tyler, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Abel Korzeniowski, Klaus Doldinger, Sean Callery, Jean-Michel Bernard And Trevor Morris With Performances By Kimiko Ono, Jean-Michel Bernard and Sara Andon (May 26, 2017 – Los Angeles, CA) – Varèse Sarabande will release a special collection featuring music from the 10th edition of the KRAKOW FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL 2017 (FESTIWAL MUZYKI FILMOWEJ w Krakowie 2017) on CD on May 22, 2017. The Krakow Film Music Festival is now the biggest film music festival in the world and in 2017 celebrated its 10th anniversary.  Continuing their association with this remarkable event, Varèse Sarabande has again produced the official Krakow Film Music Festival CD 2017.  Featuring over 75 minutes of music by the composers who were a part of this year's concerts, the album is an eclectic sample of film music's incredible variety.

"The Krakow Film Music Festival has become the largest film music festival in the world. In producing the official Festival CD each year my task is to represent each of the composers who will be guests of the festival and also other music that will be performed live, explained Varèse Sarabande Producer Robert Townson.  “I love that the result is a single CD that everyone is part of. This year's disc features music from five Academy Award®-winning scores: Howard Shore's The Lord of the Rings, John Williams' Star Wars, Giorgio Moroder's Midnight Express, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's Finding Neverland and James Horner's Titanic." The album features music by composers including Giorgio Moroder, Brian Tyler, Howard Shore, Sean Callery, Abel Korzeniowski, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Jean-Michel Bernard, James Horner, Jeff Russo, Trevor Morris, Klaus Doldinger, and John Williams.  This year's concerts include “The Music of Abel Korzeniowski”, “Cinematic Piano”, “Dance2Cinema,” “FMF Youth Orchestra Plays Star Wars,” “Romance Before FMF: Dancing To Film Music,” plus “The NeverEnding Story” and “Titanic” live-to-picture.  All of these concerts surrounded the festival’s central “All Is Film Music” Anniversary Gala, featuring almost all of the attending composers performing to an audience of 15,000 people! TRACK LISTING 1. THE NEVERENDING STORY - Never Ending Story - Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey Performed by Limahl 2. THE NEVERENDING STORY - Bastian’s Happy Flight - Klaus Doldinger 3. MIDNIGHT EXPRESS - Chase - Giorgio Moroder 4. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT - Symphonic Touge - Brian Tyler 5. 24 – Theme - Sean Callery 6. FARGO - Bemidji, MN - Jeff Russo Performed by The Prague FILMharmonic Orchestra, Conducted by Adam Klemens 7. EMERALD CITY - The Beast Forever Approaches - Trevor Morris 8. PENNY DREADFUL - Be True - Abel Korzeniowski 9. ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW - The Grand Finale - Abel Korzeniowski 10. LEGENDS OF THE FALL - James Horner Sara Andon, flute Jean-Michel Bernard, piano 11. FINDING NEVERLAND - Neverland Piano Variation In Blue - Jan A.P. Kaczmarek Leszek Możdżer, piano 12. THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP - Golden The Pony Boy - Jean-Michel Bernard Kimiko Ono, vocal 13. THE LORD OF THE RINGS - One Ring To Rule Them All - Howard Shore 14. STAR WARS - Star Wars Main Title  - John Williams Varujan Kojian, Utah Symphony Orchestra 15. TITANIC - Distant Memories / Southampton / Rose / Take Her To Sea, Mr. Murdoch - James Horner John Debney, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus # # # www.varesesarabande.com For more information contact KrakowerGroup[at]gmail.com, or @KrakowerGroup on Twitter ABOUT VARÈSE SARABANDE RECORDS Founded in 1978, Varèse Sarabande is the most prolific producer of film music in the world, releasing the highest quality soundtracks from the world’s greatest composers. From current box office hits and top television series to the classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Varèse Sarabande’s catalog includes albums from practically every composer in every era, covering all of film history; from Bernard Herrmann, Alex North and Jerry Goldsmith to Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, and Brian Tyler. Varèse Sarabande releases deluxe and expanded editions of special soundtracks for the film music aficionado. The Varèse Vintage imprint specializes in releasing new and re-issued albums by classic pop, jazz and country artists. Varèse Sarabande Records is distributed by Universal Music Group. Follow:  twitter.com/varesesarabande Watch:  youtube.com/varesesarabande Listen:  open.spotify.com/user/varesesarabanderecords Like:  facebook.com/varesesarabanderecords Buy:  varesesarabande.com

[londontheatre]

After the resounding success of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair (Cadogan Hall November 2016) and the sell-out concert of Alan Menken & Lynn Ahrens’ A Christmas Carol (Lyceum Theatre, December 2016), with numerous five star reviews for both performances, The London Musical Theatre Orchestra is delighted to announce the full casting for its first concert of the 2017 season, the hit Broadway musical Honeymoon in Vegas.

Joining previously announced principal cast members Samantha Barks (Betsy) and Arthur Darvill (Jack) will be Maxwell Caulfield (Tommy), Rosemary Ashe (Bea), Nicolas Colicos (Johnny) and Simon Lipkin (Buddy), with supporting roles played by Daniel Amity, Maisey Bawden and Hywel Dowsell.

Following the huge success of A Christmas Carol, Shaun Kerrison will be returning to direct the production (biog at end of release).

Cast announced so far: TOMMY: Maxwell Caulfield – UK Theatre includes: Guys and Dolls and Singin’ In The Rain, Sir Peter Hall’s Bedroom Farce (UK National Tours), Chicago (London, West End). In America: La Cage Aux Folles, My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music , Pirates of Penzance, Sweet Bird of Youth, Inspector Calls (Broadway), My Night with Reg, Mysterious Mr.Love, Salonika (Public Theatre), Class Enemy and Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Television and Film Includes: Grease 2, Empire Records, The Real Blonde, The Boys Next Door, Casualty, Emmerdale, The Colbys (ABC) and The Elephant Man.

BETSY: Samantha Barks – Samantha is best known for playing Eponine in Les Miserables, a role she played in the West End, the 25th Anniversary Concerts at the O2, and in the 2012 film adaptation. Recent theatre credits include: Cathy Last Five Years (St James Theatre); the title role in the world premiere of Amelie – A New Musical (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Mallory/Avril in City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), Velma Kelly in Chicago (Hollywood Bowl) and Sally Bowles in Cabaret (UK Tour). Recent film credits include: Interlude in Prague (Stillking Films), Bitter Harvest (Devil’s Harvest Productions), The Canary (Pioneer Pictures), the voice of Miss Acacia in Jack & The Cuckoo-Clock Heart (EuropaCorp) and The Christmas Candle (Pinewood Studios).

Arthur Darvill

JACK: Arthur Darvill – Training: RADA. Theatre includes: Treasure Island (National Theatre), Once (Bernard B.Jacobs Theatre NYC and Phoenix Theatre UK), Our Boys (Duchess Theatre), Soft Cops (RSC), Doctor Faustus (Shakespeare’s Globe), Swimming With Sharks (Vaudeville), Terre Haute (Trafalgar Studios, National Tour), Stacey (Arcola), Terre Haute (Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh). Television and Film Includes:Legends of Tomorrow (Berlanti Productions), Danny and The Human Zoo (BBC), Broadchurch (Kudos for ITV), The White Queen (BBC), The Paradise (BBC), Doctor Who (BBC), Little Dorritt (BBC), He Kills Coppers (Ecosse), The Verdict (RDF), Robin Hood (Imagine Entertainment), Sex, Drugs, Rock N Roll (Lipsync Productions), Pelican Blood (Ecosse). Other work: Arthur is also a composer, his credits include: Fantastic Mr Fox (Nuffield/Lyric/Curve), I Want My Hat Back (National Theatre), Been So Long (Young Vic, Traverse), Lightning Child (Globe), The Frontline (Globe), Stoopud Fucken Animals (Traverse), Crazy Love (Paines Plough), Is Everyone Ok? (Nabokov), Artifacts (Bush).

BEA: Rosemary Ashe – Rosie has just completed a national tour of Sister Act playing Sister Mary Lazarus. West End Theatre Includes: Carlotta, the Prima Donna Les Miserables (Queen’s Theatre – original Cast), Widow Corney in Oliver!, Cunegonde in Candide, Manon in Bitter Sweet, Forbidden Broadway, Felicia Gabriel in The Witches of Eastwick (for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical, Miss Andrew, the nasty nanny in Mary Poppins, & Lottie Grady in When We Are Married. Recently she has been performing her one woman tribute to Ethel Merman: ‘Call Me Merman’, to great acclaim, played Betty in the Great American Trailer Park Musical (Waterloo East Theatre) and has created roles in 2 new British musicals: Grandma Mole in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 & ¾ (Leicester Curve) & Miss Bleacher in Crush (The Belgrade). She has appeared with English National Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera, Sadlers Wells Opera, Opera Northern Ireland & Carl Rosa in many different roles including Musetta in La Boheme, Helene in La Belle Helene, Frasquita in Carmen & Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte.

JOHNNY: Nicolas Colicos – UK theatre includes: Buffalo Bill in Annie Get Your Gun (Sheffield Crucible), Joe in I’m Getting My Act Together… (Jermyn St. Theatre), The Soldier in Sunday In The Park with George (Royal National Theatre), Mitch in Streetcar Named Desire (Bristol Old Vic), Curly in Oklahoma(National Tour), Wreck in Wonderful Town! (Queen’s Theatre). Originated roles in The Bodyguard (Adelphi), Sister Act (Palladium), The Producers (Drury Lane), Mamma Mia! (Prince Edward), Whistle Down The Wind (Aldwych), Sunset Boulevard (Adelphi), Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (Palladium). Television and Film work includes: Kingsman 2, Strasberg in Rude Boy (BBC), Mackenzie in Hot Metal (LWT), The New Statesman, The Detectives (LWT), Henry Savage in Wodehouse On Broadway (BBC), David Kessler in Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less (BBC), Hugh Clegg in Bomb Story (BBC), Hank in That’s Love (TVS), Lt. Green in Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Reuben in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Paul in Superman IV, Connors in Iron Eagle II.

BUDDY – Simon Lipkin – Theatre includes: Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (West End); Bill Sykes in Oliver! (Grange Park Opera); Lou Lubowitz in Miss Atomic Bomb (St James Theatre); The Lorax in The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre); The Proprietor in Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory); Touchstone in As You Like It (Southwark Playhouse); Barlow in I Can’t Sing (London Palladium); Lonny in Rock Of Ages (Original West End Cast); Galahad in Spamalot (Original West End Cast); I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Arts Theatre, London); The Wedding Singer (Original UK Cast); Willard in Footloose (UK Tour); A Christmas Carol (West End); Alice In Wonderland (Nuffield Theatre); Austentatious (The Landor); News Revue (Canal Café) and Leopold in Never The Sinner at the Kenneth Moore Theatre. Film and TV include: Show Dogs, Muppets Most Wanted for Disney, The Harry Hill Movie, That Puppet Game Show and Nativity III, Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule, Doctor Who, Harry Hill’s Tea Time, The Bill, Casualty, The Royal Variety Performance, Children In Need.

Other roles in the production will be played by members of the LMTO chorus, including: Will Arundell, Lizzie Bea, Austen Garrett, Alice Gruden, Charlotte Kennedy, Richard James King, Emma Kingston, Lauren Lockley, Laura Messin, Oliver Stanley and Sam Thomas

Synopsis Based on the hit 1992 film starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and Nicholas Cage, Honeymoon in Vegas tells the story of mild-mannered Brooklynite, Jack, who haunted by the fear of a promise to his dying mother never to get married, avoids proposing to his new girlfriend Betsy. He finally summons the nerve and takes Betsy to Las Vegas only to have his plans compromised by a dashing gambler with an eye for luxury and Jack’s new fiancée.

The New York Times called the Broadway production “[a] bright and bouncy…real-live, old-fashioned, deeply satisfying Broadway musical in a way few new shows are anymore.”

Honeymoon in Vegas— book by Andrew Bergman and score by Tony-Award winning Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years and The Bridges of Madison County) — ran on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre –this concert will see it performed in London for the very first time.

The 30-strong London Musical Theatre Orchestra will take to the London Palladium stage on 12th March 2017 under the baton of its first guest conductor, the show’s composer Jason Robert Brown, to honour the stylish and swinging score of Honeymoon in Vegas which marks another much anticipated UK Premiere for the orchestra.

Jason Robert Brown said: “Honeymoon in Vegas is the show I always aspired to write. All of these sounds – the swing, the samba, the disco, the boogie, the rock’n’roll – make up what I hear in my head when I think of what a ‘Broadway musical’ should be. I’m so gratified to have actually written it, and thrilled to get a chance – finally! – to present it in London. And to know that the music will be brought to life by the sterling musicians of the LMTO and a glorious cast is such a delight and a privilege. I’ve had so many sensational experiences in the British theater that it feels like coming home. I cannot wait to get started!”

In keeping with the long term aim of the LMTO, the fully orchestrated concerts aims to not only make orchestral performances accessible to brand new audiences, but also to bring the exciting repertoire of musical theatre to a more classical audience.

Listings:

Show: Jason Robert Brown and Andrew Bergman’s HONEYMOON IN VEGAS Venue: London Palladium Date: Sunday 12 March 2017 Time: 7:30 pm Tickets: £75, £45, £30, £24.50, £20, £16.50. Booking: 0844 412 4657 / / http://ift.tt/2kndnxh

http://ift.tt/2kGBtzg LondonTheatre1.com

[artsvark]

KZN Philharmonic Summer Symphony Season

KZN Philharmonic. Photo: Val Adamson.

The glorious KZN Philharmonic begins its year with a six-concert Summer Symphony Season taking place every Thursday in the Playhouse Opera.

Concert Listings:

Concert ONE / opening Date: 9 February Conductor: Kwame Ryan Soloist: Joanna MacGregor Featured instrument: piano Programme: Beethoven Overture of The Creatures of Prometheus; Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2; Beethoven Symphony No. 6 in F major, Pastoral Pre-concert Lecture: Michael Green

Concert TWO Date: 16 February Conductor: Kwame Ryan Soloist: Francesca Dego Featured instrument: violin Programme: Glinka Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla; Wolf-Ferrari Violin Concerto and Dvorak Symphony No. 8 in G major Pre-concert Lecture: Michael Green

Concert THREE Date: 23 February Conductor: Daniel Boico Soloist: Daniel Ciobanu Featured instrument: piano Programme: Borodin Overture to Prince Igor; Prokoviev Piano Concerto No. 3; Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathetique Pre-concert Lecture: Michael Green

Concert FOUR Date: 2 March Conductor: Daniel Boico Soloist: Mariam Batsashvili Featured instrument: piano Programme: Mendelssohn The Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave); Rajna Laila Adonai Ma-Adam Chorus No.1 (three Hebrew Choruses) Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Brahms Symphony No1 in C minor Pre-concert Lecture: Dr Teddy Pillay

Concert FIVE Date: 9 March Conductor: Yasuo Shinozaki Soloist: Andrea Balocco Featured instrument: trombone Programme: Grieg Holberg Suite; Grondahl Trombone Concerto for Orchestra and Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major Pre-concert Lecture: Dr Teddy Pillay

Concert SIX / final Date: 16 March Conductor: Yasuo Shinozaki Soloist: Andrey Baranov Featured instrument: violin Programme: Berlioz Overture to Beatrice et Benedict; Glazunov Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 Little Russian Pre-concert Lecture: David Smith

The orchestra moves back to the Playhouse for this year – performing in the magnificent Opera House.

The soloists selected for this season represent some of the most exciting vibrant talent of the new generation of global music makers – marrying rock-star appeal and accessibility with heavy weight music credentials, applauded virtuosity. All have recently won major international music competitions.

The three featured conductors showcase diverse and rich backgrounds: Kwame Ryan is a Canadian of Trinidadian descent. Daniel Boico is an Israeli-American and associate guest conductor of the KZN Philharmonic, and Japanese maestro Yasuo Shinozaki.

“The KZN Philharmonic is committed to enriching the cultural life of South Africa’s diverse audiences by presenting world-class concerts which reflect the diverse heritage of our country,” says Bongani Tembe, Chief Executive and Artistic Director: KZN Philharmonic.

The first concert of the season features Joanna MacGregor on piano performing Shostakovich’s scintillating Piano Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Canadian-born Trinidadian conductor Kwame Ryan.

Joanna MacGregor OBE is one of the world’s most innovative musicians, appearing as a concert pianist, curator and collaborator. Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and Professor of the University of London, Joanna MacGregor is also the Artistic Director of Dartington International Summer School and Festival. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Jubilee Honours in 2012.

Conductor Kwame Ryan will be making his debut with the KZN Philharmonic and will conduct the first two concerts. He has earned distinction over a broad spectrum of symphonic and operatic repertoires on both sides of the Atlantic and in the Far East.

On the programme is Beethoven’s Overture to the Creatures of Prometheus; Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Pastoral.

The second concert (16 February) sees Kwame Ryan return to the podium. The soloist is Francesca Dego on violin, making her debut with the KZN Philharmonic. Dego is quickly developing into one of the most sought-after young violinists on the international scene. Signed since 2012 by Deutsche Grammophon, she regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras and is the winner of numerous national and international competitions.

The programme opens with Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla followed by Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s violin concerto and closes with Dvorak’s Symphony No.8 in G major.

The KZN Philharmonic’s associate guest conductor Daniel Boico joins us for the following two concerts. On 23 February he conducts multi award-winning young pianist Daniel Ciobanu from Rumania – winner of the 2015 UNISA international piano competition and the 2014 Scottish international piano competition in Glasgow. Ciobanu has been described as “impetuous” – with a love of the classical repertoire.

Morning tea and symphony:

Catch the final rehearsal on the morning of the scheduled concerts every Thursday during season at 10:00 for a nominal charge.

Contact KZN Philharmonic offices for bookings and for more info: bookings@kznphil.org.za / 031 369 9438.

The all-Russian programme features at its centrepiece Prokofiev’s viscerally exciting Piano Concerto No.3. Either side of it are Borodin’s Overture to Prince Igor and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Pathetique: No. 6 in B minor – the composer’s final completed magnum opus.

The March 2 concert features Mariam Batsashvili on piano as the soloist performing Franz Liszt’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 1.

At only 23 years old, Mariam Batsashvili already ranks among the most promising young pianists of her generation. She won the 10th international Franz Liszt competition, and was nominated by the European Concert Hall organisation as the Rising Star for the 2016 / 17 season.

To better appreciate the music ahead of the concert:

Pre-concert lectures take place in the Alhambra Room at the Playhouse from 18:00 until 18:40 prior to the concert every Thursday.

Also on the mixed bag programme will be Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture Fingal’s Cave, Rajna’s Adonai Ma-Adam Chorus No.1 and Brahms’ Symphony No.1 in C minor.

For the final two concerts of the Summer Season the baton is in the hands of Japanese conductor Yasuo Shinozaki. He opens the 9 March concert with Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite. The featured piece for the evening is the Trombone Concerto for Orchestra by Danish composer Launy Grondahl. Soloist is principal trombone player with the KZN Philharmonic, Italian trombonist Andrea Balocco – a master’s graduate from the Geneva University of Music.

The evening climaxes with Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 in A major – one of the composer’s most revered masterworks. It is a paean to heroic patriotism.

The final concert for the season on 16 March opens with Hector Berlioz’s overture to Beatrice et Benedict; followed by a technically exacting violin concerto in A minor by Aleksandr Glazunov, a Russian composer, music teacher and conductor of the late Russian romantic period, performed by St Petersburg-born Andrey Baranov – a prize-winner of more than 20 major international competitions.

The Summer Season’s closing work is Tchaikovsky’s Little Russian Symphony No.2

Booking is through www.computicket.com / 0861 915 8000 / Shoprite Checkers Money Market Counters. It is cheaper to subscribe: for subscriptions contact 031 3699438.

  KZN Philharmonic Summer Symphony Season was originally published on Artsvark

[verdiprati]

Upcoming Performances by Dame Sarah Connolly

[NOTE: this post is now out of date. Check the schedule tag on my blog for the most recent version of this list.]

After the jump: an unofficial schedule of Dame Sarah Connolly’s future performances. Those of you in Britain may catch a performance in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Exeter, Chipping Campden, or Helmsley (York). Those on the Continent may see her in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Vienna, Köln, Rotterdam, Bergen, Basel, or Aix-en-Provence. Don’t live near one of these places? Take in a concert from afar: I am adding online broadcast and livestream details as they become available.

This is not an authoritative list. These are the upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly that I have been able to learn about from Dame Sarah’s new website, Dame Sarah’s agent's website (Askonas Holt), Operabase, Bachtrack, Dame Sarah's Twitter, and generally ferreting around the web.

I sometimes list concerts that are not yet officially confirmed; you should of course check official sources before making plans and be aware that cast changes and cancellations can happen at any time.

I have added links to venue, ticketing, and broadcast information where available. Tips on new information are always welcome! Please contact me via email (verdiprati [at] selveamene [dot] com), Tumblr messaging, or ask box (plain prose only in the ask box; anything with links or an email address will get eaten by Tumblr filters) with corrections or additions.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde with the Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester at the Grieghallen Bergen, June 5, 2019. With Toby Spence singing the tenor part and Edward Gardner conducting. As of this writing, the orchestra’s website still lists Ekaterina Gubanova as the mezzo soloist for this concert, but the engagement appears in Dame Sarah’s diary on her own website. UPDATE: this concert has now disappeared from the listing on Dame Sarah’s website as well as on her agent’s website. (A tip of the hat to the friend who pointed this out to me.) Earlier, I thought the discrepant listings signified that Connolly was replacing Gubanova, but it must be the other way around. 

[Special event] “An Evening with Dame Sarah Connolly,” fundraiser event for the Opera Awards, London, June 10, 2019. The Opera Awards website is light on details for this event but I expect it will consist of a purely spoken interview, with no live musical performance. Tickets are £195 and include dinner.

[Special event] ENO Gala, London, June 12, 2019. The English National Opera promises a “special guest performance” by Dame Sarah during the dinner service at this fundraiser; repertoire is not specified. Pure speculation on my part, but I imagine she will sing two or three songs or arias. Baritone James Cleverton is also scheduled to perform earlier in the evening. Tickets for the gala are £399.

Mahler, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (extracts) and Janáček, Glagolitic Mass at the Maison de la Radio, Paris, June 20, 2019. With the Orchestre National de France and the Choeur de Radio France, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The other vocal soloists for the Glagolitic Mass are Simona Šaturová, Mati Turi, and Mischa Schelomianski.

[Broadcast] This concert will be broadcast live on France Musique.

[Special event] A public "conversation” at the Oxford Festival of the Arts, Magdalen College School, Oxford, July 3, 2019. Dame Sarah is scheduled to appear “in conversation with Oxford Festival of the Arts Director, Dr Michelle Castelletti” at an untitled event. The description says that “The evening will be illustrated by excerpts from some of her most glorious performances”; I believe this refers to the showing of videos, not any kind of live musical performance.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde at the Festival d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, July 13, 2019. With the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Ingo Metzmacher; Andreas Schager sings the tenor part.

Michael Betteridge, Across the Sky (community opera) at the Cheltenham Music Festival, July 14, 2019. The performance is only an hour long and the nature of Dame Sarah’s participation is not totally clear to me from the festival’s website; she is not specifically named as a vocal soloist. Anyone drawn to this event by the fact that Dame Sarah’s name is attached to it should also take note that she is performing in the south of France the night before and factor in some risk of travel delay. UPDATE: as of early July, the Cheltenham Music Festival has announced that “Dame Sarah Connolly is no longer able to appear at the performance owing to unforeseen scheduling complications. She will be replaced by Thalie Knights.”

Recital at the Ryedale Festival, Duncombe Park, Helmsley, York, July 18, 2019. With Christopher Glynn, the Festival’s artistic director. On May 7, the Festival announced on Twitter that Dame Sarah would be singing this recital in place of Ian Bostridge, who is withdrawing from concerts (elsewhere as well) during his recovery from heart valve surgery. (Get well, Ian!) My thanks to an alert reader for sharing the Festival’s tweet with me!

[New details] Recital with Malcolm Martineau at Wigmore Hall, London, July 23, 2019. Part of Dame Sarah’s yearlong residency at the Wigmore. Repertoire to include works by Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Frank Bridge, and Benjamin Britten. UPDATE: On July 14, Dame Sarah tweeted in regard to this recital, “I’ve slightly altered the programme to include some Frank Bridge & Howells.” As of July 18, the program on the Wigmore website now includes works by Brahms, Mahler, Wolf, Bridge, and Howells.

Bob Chilcott, A Christmas Oratorio (premiere) at the Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester, August 1, 2019. With Nick Pritchard, Neal Davies, and of course the Three Cathedral Choirs; conducted by Adrian Partington. Note that this is an afternoon concert, not the main evening concert for August 1. (Multi-mezzo fans may want to stick around to hear Kathryn Rudge do Les nuites d’été in the evening.)

[Broadcast, details TBA] According to the Three Choirs website, “This concert will be recorded for future broadcast.”

Berlioz, Les nuits d’été with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA at the Konzerthaus, Berlin, August 6, 2019. Part of a concert conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. Tickets are available via the link above or on the Konzerthaus website. UPDATE: Carnegie Hall, the sponsor of the Youth Orchestra, has announced that Dame Sarah is withdrawing from this concert and being replaced by Magdalena Kožená.

[New details! Livestream] The Konzerthaus website previously mentioned, “Dieses Konzert wird live auf arte concert gestreamt”—this concert will be livestreamed on Arte Concert—but it’s now being advertised as a Medici.tv livestream.

Berlioz, L’enfance du Christ with the Hallé, London, August 14, 2019. Co-starring Allan Clayton, Roderick Williams, and Neal Davies; conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. The work is being billed with an English title (The Childhood of Christ) but I see no indication that it is to be sung in translation. Part of the BBC Proms. UPDATE: ENO announced on July 18 that Dame Sarah has withdrawn from their fall production of Orpheus and Eurydice due to a diagnosis of breast cancer. The company relayed a statement from Dame Sarah saying, “Imminent surgery means I must withdraw from ENO’s ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ and ‘L’enfance du Christ’ at the BBC Proms. I hope, however, to fulfil all my other concert and recording commitments over the coming months.” Julie Boulianne will sing the mezzo role in this concert instead.

[Broadcast] The BBC Proms are generally broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Elgar, The Music Makers with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, London, August 29, 2019. In a concert conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Part of the BBC Proms.

[Broadcast] The BBC Proms are generally broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Gluck, Orpheus and Eurydice (Orpheus) at the English National Opera, London, October 1, 10, 12, 17, 24, 31, and November 14 and 19, 2019. With Sarah Tynan as Eurydice and Soraya Mafi as Love. Wayne McGregor is the director and choreographer, with dancers from his company participating in the production; Harry Bicket conducts. UPDATE: ENO announced on July 18 that Dame Sarah has withdrawn from this production due to a diagnosis of breast cancer. The company relayed a statement from Dame Sarah saying, “Imminent surgery means I must withdraw from ENO’s ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ and ‘L’enfance du Christ’ at the BBC Proms. I hope, however, to fulfil all my other concert and recording commitments over the coming months.”

[New details!] Concert of baroque arias with The English Concert at Exeter Cathedral, October 15, 2019. The Two Moors Festival released their 2019 brochure on June 17 and Connolly’s program with The English Concert looks glorious: she is to sing arias from Charpentier’s Médée, Gluck’s Orfeo, and Handel’s Alcina, Theodora, Solomon, and Giulio Cesare. The orchestra will introduce each half of the concert with instrumental excerpts from Rameau and Handel. General booking opens on July 18, and students under age 30 can get tickets for just £5 (that is a SUPER deal!).

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, London, October 19, 2019. With Sofia Fomina, the London Philharmonic Choir, and the Philharmonia Chorus. Vladimir Jurowski conducts a concert also comprising Colin Matthews’ Metamorphosis.

Max Reger, “An die Hoffnung” with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, November 1, and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, November 2, 2019. Part of a concert also featuring Reger’s “Serenade” and Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, conducted by Neeme Järvi. UPDATE: The RSNO announced on October 9 that Dame Sarah had to withdraw due to her treatment for breast cancer and would be replaced by Catriona Morrison in both concerts.

[New link!] Recital with Julius Drake at Temple Church, London, November 25, 2019. This recital has finally appeared on the Temple Music website, and ticket sales are open. The repertoire includes Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben, Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, Judith Bingham’s Adieu Solace, and “songs by Alma and Gustav Mahler.” The Judith Bingham piece is apparently based on the life of Mary Queen of Scots, as are Schumann’s Gedichte.

Elgar, Sea Pictures with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, December 12, 2019. In a concert conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano that also includes instrumental works by Tippett and Vaughn Williams.

[One new date!] Wagner, Die Walküre (Fricka) at the Teatro Real, Madrid, February 12, 16, 21, 23, 25, and 28, 2020. The show on the 23rd was previously assigned to Daniela Sindram, who shares the role of Fricka on other nights, but seems to have been re-assigned to Dame Sarah. Co-stars include Tomasz Konieczny (Wotan), Ricarda Merbeth (Brünnhilde), and Stuart Skelton (Siegmund). (James Rutherford, Ingela Brimberg, and Christopher Ventris appear in the roles respectively on the 23rd.) Pablo Heras-Casado conducts; the production by Robert Carsen is a revival from Oper Köln. If booking tickets, be sure to note the dates when Dame Sarah is performing. Single tickets go on sale November 4, 2019 if I read the Teatro Real website correctly.

Oskar Fried, Verklärte Nacht with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, March 13, 2020. With Stuart Skelton; Edward Gardner conducts.

[Details TBA] Recital at Wigmore Hall, London, March 19, 2020. Repertoire and accompaniment remain TBA. Listed in the Wigmore Hall preview brochure for the ’19-’20 season.

[New! Special event] Conversation with Mahan Esfahani at Sir John Lyon’s Theatre, London, March 20, 2020. Part of a Royal Philharmonic Society series presenting musical artists in conversation. The event is free and open to the public, but requires advance booking, and RPS members get first crack at the tickets.

[Broadcast/paid access] According to a report on the Rhinegold website, “All talks will be filmed and available for members to view online anywhere in the world.” Membership starts at £5 per month. As far as I can tell, there is nothing to stop you from canceling after one month.

[New!] Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Basel Minster, April 22, 2020. Christina Landshamer sings the soprano solo; Ivor Bolton conducts. Also with the MDR-Rundfunkchor.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, London, April 30, 2020. The piece is being billed as The Song of the Earth but there is no indication that it will be sung in translation as well. Andreas Schager sings the tenor parts; Xian Zhang conducts the concert, which includes a Mozart symphony in the first half.

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, De Doelen, Rotterdam, May 14, 15, and 17, 2020. Chen Reiss sings the soprano part; Lahav Shani conducts.

[New details!] Recital with Joseph Middleton at the Chipping Campden International Music Festival, May 22, 2020. Repertoire remains TBA, but at least we now have a date for this previously-teased recital. The festival website still shows the May 2019 performance schedule as of this writing in late July 2019, but I got an email with the 2020 schedule. Bookings open in January 2020. Administration of this festival seems to be less technologically up to date than average, and postal bookings are processed before online bookings open, so I really recommend getting on their mailing list if you want to make sure you don’t miss the booking dates and mail-in form.

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Köln Philharmonie, May 27, 2020. Chen Reiss sings the soprano part; Lahav Shani conducts. (A repeat of the program from Rotterdam, above.)

Recital at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, June 6, 2020. With Malcolm Martineau. The program includes Ravel’s Shéhérazade, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis, and various works by Hugo Wolff, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Cecile Chaminade.

Mahler, Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand with the Wiener Symphoniker at the Musikverein, Vienna, June 12 and 13, 2020. Three Vienna choirs add their forces; Philippe Jordan conducts. The other scheduled vocal soloists are Camilla Nylund, Irène Theorin, Martina Janková, Michaela Schuster, Burkhard Fritz, Iain Paterson, and John Relyea. Casting the monumental Mahler 8 with a complete team of singers who will make it through rehearsals to the final performance is said to be uniquely challenging, so if you’re wedded to hearing this particular cast, keep a close eye on it. (The last time I was keeping an eye on a particular Mahler 8, five of the originally cast eight soloists had changed by the time of the actual performance.)

[Postponed] Recital with Julius Drake at Sant Pau Recinte Modernista, Barcelona, October 2, 2020. Part of the LIFE Victoria series of recitals; originally announced for November 27, 2019, but postponed due to Dame Sarah’s treatment for breast cancer. The theme of the recital is “Alma Mahler i la Viena del tombant de segle” (Alma Mahler and the Vienna of the turn of the century). The program is easier to read in this tweeted image than on the LIFE Victoria website; it includes works by Brahms, Wolf, Alma and Gustav Mahler, and Zemlinsky. 

Wagner, Götterdämmerung (Waltraute, Zweite Norn) at the Opéra national de Paris, November 13, 17, 21, and 28, and December 6, 2020. Part of a new complete Ring Cycle production directed by Calixto Bieito. The 2019-2020 season will include the first two Ring Cycle operas, with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to follow in October and November 2020; the complete cycle will then be performed sequentially twice in “festival” format during November and December 2020. (The festival performances are being ticketed as a four-opera package; curiously, at the upper end of the price scale, a festival ticket gives you a small discount as compared with buying the four operas separately, but at the lower end of the scale, you pay a premium for the festival. Concise ticket price information can be found on page 168 of the season brochure PDF.) Dame Sarah’s co-stars in Götterdämmerung include Andreas Schager (Siegfried), Ricarda Merbeth (Brünnhilde), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Gunther), and Jochen Schmeckenbecher (Alberich).

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Handel, Agrippina at the Dutch National Opera. In June 2018, opera critic Hugh Canning tweeted the news that the Royal Opera is planning to offer Barrie Kosky’s new production of Agrippina with Joyce DiDonato in the title role during the ’19/’20 season; in a reply that has now been deleted, Dame Sarah mentioned that she and Alice Coote would do the same production in Amsterdam and Munich. (If you are a member of the Sarah Connolly fan group on Facebook, you can scroll back in time to June and see a screenshot there.) Subsequent discussion revealed that Coote would get the Munich gig (in July 2019), so Connolly must be the Amsterdam Agrippina. Agrippina appears in neither the ’18-’19 season nor ’19-’20 at the DNO, so presumably we must look farther ahead.

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Brett Dean, Hamlet (Gertrude) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, sometime in 2021-22. Allan Clayton, who starred in the title role of Brett Dean’s Hamlet at Glyndebourne in 2017, mentioned in an interview with the Telegraph that he would be reprising the role at an unspecified date and venue in the US. When prompted on Twitter, Dame Sarah indicated that she would be participating in the revival, too (“I shall be misunderstanding my confused boy again”). In a later interview with Opera News, Clayton reportedly specified that he would reprise Hamlet at the Met. The Future Met Wiki places the production at the Met in the 2021-2022 season (as does this New York Times article). Hat tip to Christopher Lowrey, who sang Guildenstern in the original production at Glyndebourne, whose tweet praising Allan Clayton brought the Telegraph interview to my attention. (No indication whether Lowrey will also be cast in the American revival.) Additional hat tip to the Tumblrer who submitted information on this topic via the ask box.

Previous versions of this list can be found under the schedule tag on this blog. This list published June 2, 2019. The recital at Chipping Campden 2020 added June 3, 2019. Updated June 4 to cross out the Bergen Mahler gig. Edited June 14 to add the Basel Resurrection. Updated June 17 to add newly-available details to the Exeter concert. Updated June 23 to add the LIFE Victoria recital. Updated June 28 to add Dame Sarah’s conversation with Mahan Esfahani in the Royal Philharmonic Society series. Updated July 2 to add more details to the RPS program with Esfahani. Updated July 5 to reflect Dame Sarah’s withdrawal from the Cheltenham Music Festival community opera. Updated July 15 with regard to the repertoire for Dame Sarah’s July 23 recital at the Wigmore Hall. Edited July 18 to reflect Dame Sarah’s withdrawal from L’enfance du Christ at the Proms and the ENO Orpheus, as well as the latest program updates for her July 23 recital at the Wigmore. Edited July 22 to add the date of the Chipping Campden recital. Edited August 2 to update the Berlin Nuits d’été livestream information. Edited August 4 to reflect Dame Sarah’s withdrawal from the Berlin Nuits d’été. Edited August 11 to add a link to the Exeter Cathedral concert. Edited August 15 to update links for the Glasgow and Edinburgh concerts with the RSNO. Edited October 23 to reflect Dame Sarah’s withdrawal from the RSNO concerts and postponement of the LIFE Victoria recital. I may continue to edit this list as I receive new information.

[verdiprati]

Upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly

[NOTE: this post is now out of date. Check the schedule tag on my blog for the most recent version of this list.]

After the jump: an unofficial schedule of Dame Sarah Connolly’s future performances. Those of you in Britain may catch a performance in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leeds, Gloucester, Exeter, or Chipping Campden. Those on the Continent may see her in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Katowice, Geneva, Aix-en-Provence, or Zeist. And finally, those of us in North America have a recital in Philadelphia to look forward to! Don’t live near one of these places? Take in a concert from afar: I am adding online broadcast and livestream details as they become available.

Not much is new in this edition of the list; we are just turning the corner into season-announcements season so there should be more news to report in a couple months. However, Dutch fans of Dame Sarah should check out her May 25 recital at Zeist, the date of which was just recently announced; Londoners should bookmark her March 15 recital at Wigmore Hall, the program for which looks intriguing and seems to be still developing; and Madrileñ@s, don’t forget that Dame Sarah is returning to the Teatro de la Zarzuela for a recital in March a few weeks after her current Wagnerian stint at the Teatro Real comes to a close.

This is not an authoritative list. These are the upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly that I have been able to learn about from Dame Sarah’s new website, Dame Sarah’s agent's website (Askonas Holt), Operabase, Bachtrack, Dame Sarah's Twitter, and generally ferreting around the web.

I sometimes list concerts that are not yet officially confirmed; you should of course check official sources before making plans and be aware that cast changes and cancellations can happen at any time.

I have added links to venue, ticketing, and broadcast information where available. Tips on new information are always welcome! Please contact me via email (verdiprati [at] selveamene [dot] com), Tumblr messaging, or ask box (plain prose only in the ask box; anything with links or an email address will get eaten by Tumblr filters) with corrections or additions.

Wagner, Das Rheingold (Fricka) at the Teatro Real, Madrid, January 17 through February 1, 2019. In a production by Robert Carsen; conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. Co-stars include Greer Grimsley (Wotan) and Sophie Bevan (Freia) among others.

[New! Deferred broadcast] As of this writing, the Teatro Real has announced that there will be a deferred broadcast of Das Rheingold on RNE Radio Clásica; the date remains TBD.

Berlioz, L’Enfance du Christ with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, February 15, 2019. Sir Andrew Davis conducts; the other vocal soloists in the all-Brit, all-excellent lineup are Andrew Staples, Roderick Williams, and Matthew Brook.

[New! Broadcast] The program is scheduled for live broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

[New! Livestream] The program is also scheduled for video livestreaming on the orchestra’s website. 

Recital with Julius Drake at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, March 5, 2019. Works by R. Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, A. Mahler, and Zemlinsky.

Recital with Julius Drake at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, March 7, 2019. I don’t see the repertoire mentioned on the theater’s website as of this writing, but presumably it will be similar to the works presented in Amsterdam and Philadelphia in the duo’s other recitals this month.

Recital with Julius Drake at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, March 11, 2019. Works by Brahms, Wolf, Roussel, Debussy, and Zemlinsky.

Recital with Julius Drake at Wigmore Hall, London, March 15, 2019. Contrary to my earlier guess, Connolly and Drake are not repeating material from their recitals in Amsterdam and Madrid, but rather are preparing a completely different program for the Wigmore. It is described by Dame Sarah’s agency, Askonas Holt, thus: “On 15 March 2019, Sarah offers Dominick Argento’s cycle from Virginia Woolf’s posthumously published A Writer’s Diary, which won the composer the Pulitzer Prize in 1975, and Schumann’s moving late settings of texts attributed to Mary Stuart. She is partnered by pianist Julius Drake and actor Emily Berrington, who will intersperse the songs with reading from Woolf’s diaries and also from Schiller’s ‘Mary Stuart’, in a new translation made especially for the event.” Dame Sarah adds on Twitter, “There will be more songs in the second half.”

[New! Livestream] The recital will be livestreamed on the Wigmore Hall website and will presumably become part of the archived video library afterward.

Recital with Julius Drake at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, March 22, 2019. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Repertoire includes works by Brahms, Wolf, Roussel, Debussy, and Zemlinksy.

Recital with Robin Tritschler and Malcolm Martineau at the Wigmore Hall, London, April 24, 2019. The program features Robert Schumann’s Myrthen song cycle.

[New!] Recital with Joseph Middleton at the Festival Katowice Kultura Natura, May 14, 2019. Works by Schumann, Debussy, Zemlinsky, Wolf, and Roussel.

Berlioz, Les nuits d’été at the Chipping Campden Music Festival, May 21, 2019. In a program with orchestral works by Fauré and Mendelssohn. Thomas Hull conducts the Academy Orchestra. The Festival’s website says, “Currently, the only way to make a booking is by postal application. Online booking will be available from early February 2019 after all postal applications have been processed.” Application forms are available on the website.

Recital at the Internationaal LiedFestival Zeist (Netherlands), May 25, 2019. With Sholto Kynoch. Songs by Brahms, Wolf, Debussy and Zemlinsky.

Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius with the Hallé and three choruses at Victoria Hall, Leeds, June 1, 2019. Barry Banks and David Soar are the other vocal soloists; Simon Wright conducts.

[New!] Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde with the Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester at the Grieghallen Bergen, June 5, 2019. With Toby Spence singing the tenor part and Edward Gardner conducting. As of this writing, the orchestra’s website still lists Ekaterina Gubanova as the mezzo soloist for this concert, but the engagement appears in Dame Sarah’s diary on her own website as well as on her agent’s website.

Mahler, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (extracts) and Janáček, Glagolitic Mass at the Maison de la Radio, Paris, June 20, 2019. With the Orchestre National de France and the Choeur de Radio France, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The other vocal soloists for the Glagolitic Mass are Simona Šaturová, Mati Turi, and Christof Fischesser.

[Broadcast] This concert will be broadcast live on France Musique.

[New!] Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde at the Festival d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, July 13, 2019. With the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Ingo Metzmacher; Andreas Schager sings the tenor part.

[New!] Michael Betteridge, Across the Sky (community opera) at the Cheltenham Music Festival, July 14, 2019. The performance is only an hour long and the nature of Dame Sarah’s participation is not totally clear to me from the festival’s website; she is not specifically named as a vocal soloist.

Recital with Malcolm Martineau at Wigmore Hall, London, July 23, 2019. Part of Dame Sarah’s yearlong residency at the Wigmore. Repertoire to include works by Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Frank Bridge, and Benjamin Britten.

Berlioz, La damnation de Faust (in concert, presumably) at the Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester, July 27, 2019. With Peter Hoare, Christopher Purves, and David Ireland. Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 24. Update: Dame Sarah has been replaced in the program by Susan Bickley. I have not seen an explanation given.

Bob Chilcott, A Christmas Oratorio (premiere) at the Three Choirs Festival, Gloucester, August 1, 2019. With Nick Pritchard and Neal Davies. Note that this is an afternoon concert, not the main evening concert for August 1. (Multi-mezzo fans may want to stick around to hear Anna Stéphany do Les nuites d’été in the evening.) Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 24.

[New!] Berlioz, Les Nuits d’été with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA at the Konzerthaus, Berlin, August 6, 2019. Part of a concert conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. Tickets are available via the link above or on the Konzerthaus website.

[New! Details TBA] Performance with The English Concert at Exeter Cathedral, October 15, 2019. The Two Moors Festival has published a post-event survey intended for 2018 Festival attendees, but available to anyone on the web. The intro blurb to the survey offers respondents “the chance to win two tickets to see Dame Sarah Connolly and The English Concert perform at Exeter Cathedral on Tuesday 15th October 2019.” Keep an eye on the websites for the Two Moors Festival and The English Concert for their full season announcements.

[New!] Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, London, October 19, 2019. With Sofia Fomina, the London Philharmonic Choir, and the Philharmonia Chorus. Vladimir Jurowski conducts a concert also comprising Colin Matthews’ Metamorphosis. 

[New!] Max Reger, “An die Hoffnung” with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, November 1, and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, November 2, 2019. Part of a concert also featuring Reger’s “Serenade” and Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, conducted by Neeme Järvi. For details, see the PDF season brochures for Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively.

[Details TBA] Recital with Julius Drake at Temple Church, London, November 25, 2019. I cannot find any reference to this recital on the Temple Music website but the website Seen and Heard International, apparently going on a press release from Temple Music, mentions that Connolly and Drake will perform together on this date. (It also mentions various other concerts confirmable on the Temple Music website, so I assume the website simply is not as comprehensive as the press release.)

[New!] Elgar, Sea Pictures with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, December 12, 2019. In a concert conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano that also includes instrumental works by Tippett and Vaughn Williams. (At the time of this writing, the Barbican lists Sir Mark Elder as the conductor for this concert, but that seems to be an error.)

[New!] Oskar Fried, Verklärte Nacht with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London, March 13, 2020. With Stuart Skelton; Edward Gardner conducts.

[New! Details TBA] Recital at Wigmore Hall, London, March 19, 2020. Repertoire and accompaniment remain TBA. Listed in the Wigmore Hall preview brochure for the ’19-’20 season.

[New!] Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, London, April 30, 2020. The piece is being billed as The Song of the Earth but there is no indication that it will be sung in translation as well. Andreas Schager sings the tenor role; Xian Zhang conducts the concert, which includes a Mozart symphony in the first half.

[New!] Mahler, Symphony No. 2, Resurrection with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, De Doelen, Rotterdam, May 14, 15, and 17, 2020. Chen Reiss sings the soprano part; Lahav Shani conducts. 

[New!] Wagner, Götterdämmerung (Waltraute, Zweite Norn) at the Opéra national de Paris, November 13, 17, 21, and 28, and December 6, 2020. Part of a new complete Ring Cycle production directed by Calixto Bieito. The 2019-2020 season will include the first two Ring Cycle operas, with Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to follow in October and November 2020; the complete cycle will then be performed sequentially twice in “festival” format during November and December 2020. (The festival performances are being ticketed as a four-opera package; curiously, at the upper end of the price scale, a festival ticket gives you a small discount as compared with buying the four operas separately, but at the lower end of the scale, you pay a premium for the festival. Concise ticket price information can be found on page 168 of the season brochure PDF.) Dame Sarah’s co-stars in Götterdämmerung include Andreas Schager (Siegfried), Ricarda Merbeth (Brünnhilde), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Gunther), and Jochen Schmeckenbecher (Alberich). 

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Handel, Agrippina at the Dutch National Opera. In June 2018, opera critic Hugh Canning tweeted the news that the Royal Opera is planning to offer Barrie Kosky’s new production of Agrippina with Joyce DiDonato in the title role during the ’19/’20 season; in a reply that has now been deleted, Dame Sarah mentioned that she and Alice Coote would do the same production in Amsterdam and Munich. (If you are a member of the Sarah Connolly fan group on Facebook, you can scroll back in time to June and see a screenshot there.) Subsequent discussion revealed that Coote would get the Munich gig (in July 2019), so Connolly must be the Amsterdam Agrippina. Agrippina appears in neither the ’18-’19 season nor ’19-’20 at the DNO, so presumably we must look farther ahead.

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Brett Dean, Hamlet (Gertrude) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, sometime in 2021-22. Allan Clayton, who starred in the title role of Brett Dean’s Hamlet at Glyndebourne in 2017, mentioned in an interview with the Telegraph that he would be reprising the role at an unspecified date and venue in the US. When prompted on Twitter, Dame Sarah indicated that she would be participating in the revival, too (“I shall be misunderstanding my confused boy again”). In a later interview with Opera News, Clayton reportedly specified that he would reprise Hamlet at the Met. The Future Met Wiki places the production at the Met in the 2021-2022 season (as does this New York Times article). Hat tip to Christopher Lowrey, who sang Guildenstern in the original production at Glyndebourne, whose tweet praising Allan Clayton brought the Telegraph interview to my attention. (No indication whether Lowrey will also be cast in the American revival.) Additional hat tip to the Tumblrer who submitted information on this topic via the ask box.

Previous versions of this list can be found under the schedule tag on this blog. This list published January 20, 2019. Edited January 21 to add Das Lied at the Festival d’Aix. Edited January 23 to add the Wigmore recital in March of 2020 and the Exeter performance with The English Concert. Edited January 28 to add the broadcast of L’Enfance du Christ. Edited February 13 to add the livestream of the March 15 Wigmore Hall recital. Edited February 14 to add the livestream of L’Enfance du Christ. Edited February 20 to add Resurrection with the LPO, Das Lied with the Philharmonia, Les Nuits d’été with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, and Oskar Fried’s Verklärte Nacht wth the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Edited February 21 to add Sea Pictures with the LSO. Edited February 24 to add the Rotterdam Mahler 2 concerts. Edited February 26 to add the recital in Katowice. Edited March 6 to add the Paris/Bieito Götterdämmerung, and again on March 8 to update details on same. Edited March 13 to replace the leaked Opéra de Paris season brochure PDF with a link to Götterdämmerung on the official website. Edited March 19 to add the Bergen Das Lied. Edited March 21 to add Michael Betteridge’s community opera at the Cheltenham Music Festival. Edited March 24 to add the Max Reger piece with the RSNO. Edited March 26 to reflect the replacement of Sarah Connolly with Susan Bickley in The Damnation of Faust at the Three Choirs Festival. I may continue to edit this list as I receive new information.

[lboogie1906]

George Irving Shirley (born April 18, 1934) is an operatic tenor and was the first African-American tenor to perform a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He earned a BS in Music Education from Wayne State University and then was drafted into the Army, where he became the first Black member of the Army Chorus. He was the first African American hired to teach music in Detroit high schools. He moved to New York and began his professional career as a singer. His debut was with a small opera group in Woodstock as Eisenstein in Strauss's Die Fledermaus and his European debut in Italy as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème. He won a National Arts Club scholarship competition, and the following April he was the first Black singer to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions scholarship competition. He is the first Black tenor and the second Black male to sing leading roles for the Metropolitan Opera. He sang there for 11 seasons. He has appeared at The Royal Opera, London; the Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam; Opéra de Monte-Carlo; the New York City Opera; the Scottish Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Washington National Opera; the Michigan Opera Theatre; the San Francisco Opera; and the Santa Fe Opera and Glyndebourne Festival summer seasons, as well as with numerous orchestras in the US and Europe. He has sung more than 80 roles. He was on the faculty of the University of Maryland when he moved to the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he was Director of the Vocal Arts Division. He currently serves as the Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music, and still maintains a studio at the school. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccfhwlorabua0MFwTEJqcyeovVzitQTyL4nxKU0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lboogie1906]

George Irving Shirley (born April 18, 1934) is an operatic tenor, and was the first African-American tenor to perform a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He earned a BS in Mudic Education from Wayne State University in 1955 and then was drafted into the Army, where he became the first Black member of the US Army Chorus. He was also the first African American hired to teach music in Detroit high schools. After continuing voice studies with Therny Georgi, he moved to New York and began his professional career as a singer. His debut was with a small opera group in Woodstock as Eisenstein in Strauss's Die Fledermaus in 1959, and his European debut in Italy as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème. In 1960, at 26, he won a National Arts Club scholarship competition, and the following April he was the first Black singer to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions scholarship competition. Shirley is the first Black tenor and the second Black male to sing leading roles for the Metropolitan Opera. He sang there for 11 seasons. Shirley has also appeared at The Royal Opera, London; the Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam; Opéra de Monte-Carlo; the New York City Opera; the Scottish Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Washington National Opera; the Michigan Opera Theatre; the San Francisco Opera; and the Santa Fe Opera and Glyndebourne Festival summer seasons, as well as with numerous orchestras in the United States and Europe. He has sung more than 80 roles. He was on the faculty of the University of Maryland from 1980 to 1987, when he moved to the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he was Director of the Vocal Arts Division. He currently serves as the Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music, and still maintains a studio at the school. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/B_K-i2FHMMmiK_zYpbJFsZORDuwi94uFlgQ-eE0/?igshid=1hh59ntrxgdso