The English Concert/ Joyce DiDonato Handel Alcina Part of the Joyce DiDonato Artist Spotlight Friday 10 October 2014 7pm, Hall The English Concert Harry Bicket director/harpsichord Joyce DiDonato Alcina Alice Coote Ruggiero Anna Christy Morgana Christine Rice Bradamante Ben Johnson Oronte Wojtek Gierlach Melisso Anna Devin Oberto Part of Barbican Presents 2014–15 Programme produced by Harriet Smith; printed by Mandatum Ink; advertising by Cabbell (tel. 020 3603 7930). Confectionery and merchandise including organic ice cream, quality chocolate, nuts and nibbles are available from the sales points in our foyers. Please turn off watch alarms, phones, pagers etc during the performance. Taking photographs, capturing images or using recording devices during a performance is strictly prohibited. 1 If anything limits your enjoyment please let us know during your visit. Additional feedback can be given online, as well as via feedback forms or the pods located around the foyers. Please note that this reduced programme does not include descriptive notes for the pieces being performed. To buy a full programme for £2, please visit the Barbican foyers before the concert. About the performers in Alcina with The English Concert here at the Barbican; and Marguerite (La damnation de Faust) with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. Pari Dukovic She is an exclusive recording artist with Erato/ Warner Classics and her most recent recording is Stella di Napoli. Her Grammy-Award-winning recording Diva Divo comprises arias by male and female characters. The following recording, Drama Queens, was equally well received, both on disc and on several international tours. A retrospective of her first 10 years of recordings entitled ReJoyce! was released last year. Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato Alcina Other honours include Gramophone‘s Artist of the Year and Recital of the Year awards, a German ECHO Klassik Award as Female Singer of the Year, and an induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame. Winner of the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, Kansas-born Joyce DiDonato captivates audiences and critics alike across the globe. She has garnered considerable acclaim as both a performer and a fierce advocate for the arts, gaining international prominence in operas by Rossini, Handel and Mozart, as well as through her wide-ranging, award-winning discography. Her signature parts include the bel canto roles of Rossini. Tonight Joyce DiDonato is wearing the Vivienne Westwood Sueno Corset Gown in a petrol-green and black scaled silk jacquard with a shatteredglass multi-coloured tulle skirt and crushed leather bolero from the Couture Collection. 2 In the opera house she appeared last season as Cendrillon at the Liceu, Barcelona; Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) at the Lyric Opera, Chicago; Angelina (La Cenerentola) at the Metropolitan Opera; and took the title-role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Highlights this season include Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) in her native Kansas City; Elena (La donna del lago) at the Metropolitan Opera; Maria Stuarda in Barcelona; the title-role Richard Haughton Much in demand in the concert hall, she holds residencies this season at New York’s Carnegie Hall and here at the Barbican Centre. Recently she completed an acclaimed recital tour of South America, and has appeared in concert and recital in Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Toulouse, Mexico City and Aspen, in addition to appearing at the 2013 Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Harry Bicket Harry Bicket director/harpsichord Renowned as an opera and concert conductor, Harry Bicket is especially noted for his Plans for this season include guest conducting the Hong Kong and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras, Orchestra of St Luke’s and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Extensive commitments with The English Concert include concert performances of tonight’s work, Alcina, and Handel’s Hercules at various venues across the globe including the Barbican, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Carnegie Hall. Wigmore Hall performances will feature Sarah Connolly, Rosemary Joshua and Rachel Podger and he directs a Bach programme with Iestyn Davies at Christchurch Spitalfields on 11 December 2014. orchestras with which she has worked include the Boston, Chicago and London Symphony orchestras, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The English Concert, Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Hallé and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She has collaborated with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Christoph von Dohnányi, Ji∑í B∆lohlávek, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Mark Elder, Pierre Boulez, Vladimir Jurowski and Paavo Järvi. Her many recordings include an album of English song, The Power of Love, songs by Schumann and Mahler, Handel’s Messiah and The Choice of Hercules, Mahler’s Second Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles, Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody and Schubert’s Winterreise, as well as DVDs of Messiah, Hansel and Gretel, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Alcina and Lucrezia Borgia. Her most recent disc, of Handel arias with Harry Bicket, has just been released. About the performers interpretation of Baroque and Classical repertoire and became Artistic Director of The English Concert in 2007. In 2013 he was appointed Chief Conductor of Santa Fe Opera. Benjamin Ealovega Highlights of this season include performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera and Xerxes at English National Opera. Alice Coote The recital platform is central to her musical life and she performs throughout the UK, Europe and the USA, at the Wigmore Hall (where she has been a resident artist), the BBC Proms, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, the Lincoln Center NY and Carnegie Hall, among many other prestigious venues. She is particularly acclaimed in Strauss, Mahler, Berlioz, Mozart, Handel and Bach, and Anna Christy Anna Christy Morgana Praised for her combination of a sparkling voice and innate musicality, internationally acclaimed soprano Anna Christy appears this season as Morgana under Harry Bicket on tour in London, Madrid, Oviedo, Paris, Vienna and New York. Further highlights include Le rossignol with NTR ZaterdagMatinee under Charles Dutoit, Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the role of 3 Alice Coote is renowned on the leading recital, concert and opera stages of the world. Her career has taken her from her beginnings in the north of England (she was born in Cheshire), singing in local festivals and playing oboe in the Cheshire Youth Orchestra, to a position where she is regarded as one of the great artists of today. Dario Acosta Alice Coote Ruggiero Last season she appeared at the Saito Kinen Festival under Seiji Ozawa in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and sang the role of Gilda in Christopher Alden’s new production of Rigoletto at English National Opera. She also made her company debut with the Canadian Opera Company as Lucia di Lammermoor under Stephen Lord. Rob Moore Marie (La fille du régiment) at the Santa Fe Opera Festival. She has sung Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann) at both the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at English National Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Oscar (Un ballo in maschera) at San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She has also sung Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Her powerful stage presence has been seen in roles such as Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and Lucia for ENO and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) at Los Angeles Opera. She also appeared as Cunegonde (Candide) at La Scala, Milan, Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet and ENO, a production which has also been released on DVD. In concert, Anna Christy has collaborated with many leading conductors including James Conlon in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Ravinia Festival, Michael Tilson Thomas in Fidelio with the San Francisco Symphony and Sir Andrew Davis at the Edinburgh International Festival in Delius’s A Mass of Life. She has appeared frequently with orchestras such as the Chicago, Milwaukee and Washington National Symphony orchestras, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra, in repertoire that includes Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Carmina burana and Mozart’s Mass in C minor. Christine Rice Christine Rice Bradamante Christine Rice is one of the leading British mezzo-sopanos of her generation. A regular performer at the major European opera houses including Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, Frankfurt Opera, the Teatro Real, Madrid, and English National Opera, she has built a reputation both as a singing actress and a Handelian of the highest order. For the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, her roles have included Judith (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle), Concepcion (L’heure espagnole), the title-role in The Rape of Lucretia, Giulietta (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Hansel and Carmen; she also created the roles of Miranda and Ariadne in the world premieres of Thomas Adès’s The Tempest and Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur. For English National Opera her roles have included Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marguerite (La damnation de Faust) and Arsace (Partenope). Other notable roles include Penelope (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) for Frankfurt Opera; Diana (La Calisto) for Geneva Opera; Béatrice (Béatrice et Bénédict) for the Opéra Comique in Paris; Carmen for the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the title-roles in Ariodante and Rinaldo for the Bayerische Staatsoper. 4 Christine Rice also has a very busy concert career, appearing throughout the UK, Europe, North America and at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival, working with conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Fabio Luisi, Sir Andrew Davis and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Ben Johnson Ben Johnson Oronte Highlights of this season include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the CBSO, Britten’s War Requiem with Marin Alsop at the Royal Festival Hall, Alfredo in a revival of La traviata at ENO, the Evangelist in Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and The Bach Choir respectively, a recital with James Baillieu at the Wigmore Hall and Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in his house debut at the Berlin Staatsoper. About the performers Chris Gloag performing together at the Wigmore Hall, the City of London Festival, Rosenblatt Recitals, Kings Place and on their latest album of Britten Canticles released last year to widespread acclaim. Ben Johnson represented England in last year’s BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, winning the Audience Prize. He won a Kathleen Ferrier Award in 2008 and is currently an English National Opera Harewood Artist and a Wigmore Hall Emerging Talent. 5 Recent opera engagements include Tamino (The Magic Flute), Alfredo (La traviata) and Nemorino (The Elixir of Love) for ENO, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, ENO and Opéra National de Bordeaux, Bénédict (Béatrice et Bénédict) for Chelsea Opera Group, Shepherd and Sailor in Wojtek Gierlach concert performances of Tristan und Isolde with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Wojtek Gierlach Melisso Novice in Michael Grandage’s production of Billy Budd at Glyndebourne and Copland’s The Wojtek Gierlach has been the recipient of many Tender Land at Opéra de Lyon. prizes at international vocal competitions, including the Ada Sari, Bilbao, Premio Caruso In demand on the concert platform, he most and the Francesco Viñas in Barcelona. recently sang a Mozart programme with the CBSO, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the His operatic roles have included Don Basilio Hague’s Residentie Orkest, Mendelssohn’s (Il barbiere di Siviglia) with the Deutsche Oper Lobegesang with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Berlin; Assur (Semiramide) at the Royal Danish Britten’s Saint Nicolas with the Choir of King’s Opera and Teatro Verdi di Pisa; Oroveso College, Cambridge and Britten Sinfonia, (Norma) with Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings Lisbon; Mustafa (L’italiana in Algeri) at the with the Residentie Orkest and at the BBC Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna and at Minnesota Proms, Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Opera; Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven’s Teatr Wielki in Warsaw and at Bari’s Teatro Mass in C with Philharmonia and Haydn’s The Petruzzelli; Alidoro (La Cenerentola) at the Creation with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Aix-en-Provence Festival and at the Orchestra. Stadttheater Klagenfurt; Argenio (Imeneo) for Opera Ireland; Melisso (Alcina) with Opéra In recital he works regularly with Graham National de Bordeaux; Orbazzano (Tancredi) Johnson, with whom he has recorded Poulenc at Seville’s Teatro Maestranza; and Leporello songs. He also enjoys a close collaborative (Don Giovanni) with Nico Opera, Cape Town. partnership with James Baillieu, with the duo His appearances have also included the title-roles in Saul and Elijah, conducted by Helmuth Rilling, and performances of Bach’s Magnificat under Mireia Barrera, Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Marc Minkowski, Verdi’s Requiem under Kai Bumann, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under David Stern, Penderecki’s Seven Gates of Jerusalem under the composer’s baton, Salieri’s The Passion of Jesus Christ under Claudio Scimone, Rossini’s Stabat mater under Alberto Zedda, Penderecki’s Dies irae with the Simón Bolívar Orchestra and Arvo Pärt’s Passion at the Prague Spring Festival. Highlights in his discography include Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto and La donna del lago; Meyerbeer’s Semiramide under Richard Bonynge; Ramón Carnicer’s Il dissoluto punito; Mayr’s Medea in Corinto; Mosca’s L’italiana in Algeri; Cherubini’s Lodoïska; Weber’s Euryanthe; and William Tell under Michele Mariotti. the National Opera Studio, Irish soprano Anna Devin is fast becoming established as one of today’s brightest young sopranos, highly praised for her strong stage presence and vocal versatility. This season she joins The English Concert as Oberto under Harry Bicket on tour here in London, as well as in Vienna, Madrid, Paris and New York and also sings Morgana, in the same work, with the Russian National Orchestra under Chris Moulds. She returns to Covent Garden as Nannetta in Robert Carsen’s production of Falstaff under Michael Schønwandt and sings Michal in a new production of Saul with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. In concert she joins the Houston Symphony and Minnesota orchestras for Messiah and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for Brahms’s A German Requiem, all conducted by Christopher Warren Green. Spanning a diverse repertoire, recent highlights have included Clotilde (Faramondo) Future engagements include Claudio under Laurence Cummings at the Göttingen (Agrippina) for Warsaw Chamber Opera, the Handel Festival and ‘A’ in Luke Bedford’s King of Clubs (The Love for Three Oranges) with new commission for the ROH Linbury Studio, Krakow Opera, Melisso with the Royal Danish Through His Teeth, for which she received warm Opera, Gessler (William Tell) at the Teatr critical acclaim. Further appearances have Wielki and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis at the included Zerlina (Don Giovanni) for Scottish Konzerthaus Berlin. Opera under Speranza Scappucci, Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) at Garsington Opera under Martin André, Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro) with Glyndebourne Touring Opera under Jonathan Cohen and Silvia (L’isola disabitata) with the Royal Opera at the Hobart Festival in Tasmania, conducted by Oliver Gooch. Anna Devin Anna Devin Oberto 6 A former member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, the Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme and Anna Devin is a frequent concert performer, her repertoire encompassing a vast range of both sacred and secular works, and she has appeared at the BBC Proms with the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder in Parsifal, the London Handel Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival and Belfast Festival, as well as with the RTÉ NSO and Ulster Orchestra. This season she returns to the RTÉ NSO Dublin for New Year’s Eve Galas and to the Wigmore Hall with Classical Opera under Ian Page. About the performers Richard Haughton The English Concert With an unsurpassed reputation for inspiring performances of Baroque and Classical music, The English Concert ranks among the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Created by Trevor Pinnock in 1973, the orchestra appointed Harry Bicket as its Artistic Director in 2007. He is renowned for his work with singers and vocal collaborators in recent seasons include Mark Padmore, Ian Bostridge, Lucy Crowe, Elizabeth Watts, Alice Coote and Sarah Connolly. Part of the Arts Council National Portfolio programme, The English Concert has a wide touring brief in England and the 2014/15 season will see the group appear across the UK. Last season marked the 40th anniversary of The English Concert. Recent highlights include European and US tours with Alice Coote, David Daniels and Andreas Scholl and the orchestra’s first tour to mainland China. Harry Bicket directed The English Concert and Choir in Bach’s Mass in B minor at the 2012 Leipzig Bachfest and later that year at the BBC Proms, a performance that was televised for BBC Four. Following the success of Handel’s Radamisto in New York in 2013, Carnegie Hall has commissioned one Handel opera each season from The English Concert. Radamisto was followed by Theodora in early 2014, which toured the West Coast of the USA, in addition to performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and here at the Barbican. The current tour of Alcina will be followed by Orlando in 2016. The English Concert’s discography includes more than 100 recordings with Trevor Pinnock for DG’s Archiv label, and a series of critically acclaimed CDs for Harmonia Mundi with violinist Andrew Manze. Recordings with Harry Bicket have been widely praised, including Lucy Crowe’s debut solo recital, Il caro Sassone. Last October EMI Classics released Sound the Trumpet, a recording of Baroque music for trumpet with Alison Balsom and The English Concert directed by Trevor Pinnock. A recording of Handel featuring Alice Coote has just been released. The English Concert works with a number of distinguished guest directors, including violinist Fabio Biondi and harpsichordist Laurence Cummings. Barbican Classical Music Podcasts 7 Stream or download our Barbican Classical Music Podcasts for an exclusive interview with Joyce, in which the mezzo talks about the entire Artist Spotlight and the musical influences that have shaped her passion for performing. Available on iTunes, Soundcloud and the Barbican website The English Concert Director/Harpsichord Harry Bicket Violin 1 Nadja Zwiener leader Sophie Barber Graham Cracknell Iona Davies Silvia Schweinberger Violin 2 Walter Reiter Elizabeth MacCarthy Persephone Gibbs George Crawford Viola Alfonso Leal del Ojo Louise Hogan Stefanie Heichelheim Cello Joseph Crouch Piroska Baranyay Double Bass Peter McCarthy Theorbo William Carter Oboe/Recorder Katharina Spreckelsen Hannah McLaughlin Bassoon Zoe Shevlin Horn Ursula Paludan Monberg Martin Lawrence Chief Executive Gijs Elsen Orchestra Manager Sarah Fenn Audience Development Manager Zara June Roelse Development Manager Alan Moore Public Relations Nicky Thomas Media Harpsichord Tuning Claire Hammett Joyce DiDonato recommends… A Standing Ovation £9 Tanqueray No10 Gin, Chartreuse, fresh lemon, tarragon Available from the Martini Bar, level 1 Alcina programme half page mono ad.indd 1 07/10/2014 17:27