Terrific, terrifying Garsington Britten Turn of the Screw

Ed Lyon (Peter Quint) and Leo Jemison (Miles) in Garsington Opera’s The Turn of the Screw. Photograph John Snelling

 "Terrific, terrifying" writes Claire Seymour, who wrote the book on the operas of Benjmain Britten.  "One might describe Christopher Oram’s set for Louisa Muller’s new production of The Turn of the Screw at Garsington as ‘shabby chic’ if it wasn’t so sinister......."

"There are no ‘boundaries’: the interior and exterior of Bly diffuse into one another, trickling and infusing deceptively, like the waters of the lake that lap at the forestage shore, where Miles insouciantly sails his paper boat. The open space is, at first, sparsely populated - just a few abandoned children’s toys: a tricycle-rocking horse, a toy theatre, a hoop-and-sticks, the chalky remnants of a game of hopscotch. Innocent pastimes in which we see the children, Flora and Miles, indulge during the instrumental interludes in which the ‘screw’ theme is twisted ever tauter and tenser.  Progressively, though, the shadows deepen and stretch: illumined by guttering candles, a grand piano casts an imposing silhouette which dances disturbingly with the black forms of human figures, a school desk, as the shores of the lake shatter, and a black pool edged with crooked, crumbling paving stones forms: a stagnant, poisonous pit."

Please read the full review here in Opera Today   If only there were more reviewers who could write as informatively, and analytically as this. 

Garsington Opera 2016 - Haydn choreographed

Many new directions ahead for Garsington Opera at Wormsley! This year's season begins with Mozart Così fan tutte, the start of a new series of Mozart operas  which build on Garsington's formidable reputation as a Rossini house. Another breakthrough this year is Garsington's Midsummer Night's Dream, the first co-operation between Garsington and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Seeing the play, with incidental music by Mendelssohn, in the spectacular surroundings of Wormsley Park should be a great experience. This year's season also includes Strauss Intermezzo and Britten Death in Venice.   Tickets sold out ages ago - phone for returns! 

Garsington Opera at Wormsley is fast becoming the most innovative medium-sized opera company in this country.  Outlines of, Garsington Opera's 2016 have just been announced.  Three new productions: Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, conducted by Douglas Boyd and directed by Michael Boyd, Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri conductor David Parry, director William Tuckett and Mozart's Idomeneo with Tobias Ringborg conducting and Tim Albery directing.

Also in 2016, Haydn's masterpiece The Creation, in a joint production between Garsington Opera and Rambert, the dance company. The Creation will be conducted by Douglas Boyd and brought to life by choreographer Mark Baldwin, who is Artistic Director of Rambert and visual artist Pablo Bronstein.  Originally founded by Marie Rambert, Rambert, is Britain's national dance company. It presents new and historical dance works to audiences in all parts of the country, performed by world-class dancers and accompanied by live music, Read more about Rambert HERE.

Douglas Boyd said: We want to celebrate our wonderful Opera Pavilion and Garsington Opera in every possible way and I am delighted to be collaborating with Rambert. Bringing together different art forms is something that I believe enhances and complements our opera festival as we continue to explore partnerships with some of the most vibrant arts organisations of our time. Mark Baldwin said: Music and cross art-form collaboration have always been an integral part of Rambert's work and a particular passion of mine. I am hugely excited to be collaborating with Garsington Opera and Pablo Bronstein on this very special project which will see Rambert's world-class dancers join the incredible Garsington soloists, orchestra and chorus. I believe this will maximise the creativeness and beauty of Haydn's masterpiece and prove to be a glorious and uplifting experience."

Photo above shows the 1808 performance of The Creation  with Haydn himself  in the foreground. 

Garsington Opera for free with dates !

Garsington Opera is an experience so unique that it should not be missed. The theatre at Wormsley is an architectural wonder, shimmering glass, air and light (with good acoustics, too, that seems to float in the air.  Not many theatres have an entire valley, complete with lake, as a backdrop !  But because the theatre is a gem, seats sell out fast.  Under Music Director Douglas Boyd, with the support of Mark Getty, Garsington Opera at Wormsley is developing into the most innovative smaller house in the country.  So Garsington Opera's "Opera for All" plans are extremely good news indeed.

Even more exciting, the opera being screened is the highlight of the whole season, Mozart Così fan tutte. Garsington Opera has  a strong Mozart tradition, and is possibly ideal for thge more intimate Mozart operas, so this brand  new production heralds great things. Douglas Boyd conducts and John Fulljames (Associate Director at the Royal Opera House) directs. Celebrity Lesley Garrett sings Despina, supported by Ashley Riches,  Robin Tritschler, Andreea Soare, Kathryn Rudge and Neal Davies.

Dates and venues here :

OXFORD Sunday 2 July 6pm Magdalen College Fields 
LOUTH Sunday 5 July 1.30pm SO Festival, Westgate Fields
GRIMSBY Tuesday 29 Sept 12noon Grimsby Auditorium
WADDESDON Thursday 3 September Waddesdon Manor
RAMSGATE 10 – 15 October tbc Ramsgate Arts

NOT for free but important : A Midsummers Night's Dream (Mendelssohn) Garsington Opera's first ever collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company opens at Wormsley on 19th July but sold out almost instantly. But it's coming to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London from 22nd July for three nights More details here,

MARLOW Sunday 14 June 7.30pm Marlow Festival Enclosure - a recording of Offenbach’s Vert-Vert from Garsington’s 2014 season. Reviewed HERE in Opera Today

So, enjoy Garsington Opera in stately surroundings, or on the beach. Bring a picnic, or purchase on site. Photo : Mike Hoban

Garsington Opera 2015 bookings open

The Pavilion at Garsington Opera at Wormsley, lit up magically on a summer night. Once experienced, never forgotten. (photo credit Clive Barda)  Booking starts soon (booking for members and affiliates has already started.

Mozart Così fan tutte (from 5th June)  Shouild be brilliant, as garsington is an ideal Mozart house
Fiordiligi Andreea Soare
Dorabella Kathryn Rudge
Guglielmo Ashley Riches
Ferrando Robin Tritschler
Despina Lesley Garrett
Don Alfonso Neal Davies
Conductor Douglas Boyd
Director John Fulljames

Richard Strauss : Intermezzo (starts 6th June)
Christine Kate Valentine
Robert Storch Mark Stone
Anna Ailish Tynan
Baron Lummer Sam Furness
The Notary Benjamin Bevan
The Notary’s Wife Sarah Redgwick
Stroh Oliver Johnston
A Commercial Counsellor James Cleverton
A Legal Counsellor Gerard Collett
A Singer Barnaby Rea
Resi Anna Sideris
Conductor Jac van Steen
Director Bruno Ravella

 Britten Death in Venice (starts 21 June)

Gustav von Aschenbach Paul Nilon
The Traveller William Dazeley
The Voice of Apollo Tom Verney
Hotel Porter Joshua Owen Mills
English Clerk Henry Manning
Conductor Steuart Bedford
Director Paul Curran

 Shakepeare, with Mendelssohn's music : A Midsummers Nights Dream (starts 16th June)
Royal Shakespeare Company under the creative guidance of Gregory Doran
Conductor Douglas Boyd
RSC Actors

Leoš Janáček : The Cunning Little Vixen, Garsington Opera

"Janáček started The Cunning Little Vixen on the cusp of old age in 1922 and there is something deeply elegiac about it. In a letter to Kamila Stösslová dated the 10th of February that year he writes wistfully “I have begun writing The Cunning Little Vixen. A merry thing with a sad end: I am taking up a place at that sad end myself ……and I so belong there”."

Douglas Cooksey enjoys The Cunning Little Vixen at Garsington Opera at Wormsley. Read the Full review HERE in Opera Today

Interesting aside : How does Oliver Knussen's Higgelty Piggelty Pop ! compare to The Cunning Little Vixen ? Both operas are whimsical, but both pack a punch. Red in Tooth and Claw? Claire Booth and Lucy Schaufer star in both. Read more about Knussen's Higgelty Piggelty Pop! HERE.


Photo: Clive Barda, Garsington Opera at Wormsley.

Offenbach Vert-Vert : Garsington Opera at Wormsley

"Monty Python meets the Belles of St Trinians? Sacré bleu !"Jacques Offenbach's Vert-Vert at Garsington Opera at Wormsley  features a girl’s school in collective mourning for a dead parrot".

"The plot, suitably Pythonesque given the dead parrot, is more or less impossible to précis. Suffice it to say we are in a girls convent school in mourning for its dead parrot, Vert-Vert. Cue general lamentations. The girls choose an innocent young man, Valentin, as a substitute parrot....."Rather like a demented Brian Rix farce, mayhem ensues. All is happily resolved in the rousing final chorus (“A slurp of wine”) but in between there are some notably tender and affecting moments. This may be comic but it is comedy with a heart."

Read more HERE in Opera Today reviewed by Douglas Cooksey

"The production - a fine demonstration of ‘more is less’ but nonetheless with several coups de théâtre as when the back of the stage opens wide and the school/chateau is wheeled to the open space beyond with Garsington’s woods as a backdrop or another occasion when the rear of the stage opens to admit the barge named Hortense which bears Valentin away - was an object lesson in pointful economy. .......Most importantly - and this is probably why the genre has never really caught on in Britain - in David Parry we had a conductor who, like Beecham, has the idiom at his fingertips, exuding panache, élan and élegance in equal measure (only French words will do). Beecham once talked of combining the maximum delicacy with the maximum virility, a comment which might well have applied to the Garsington orchestra on this occasion with its polished strings, an excellent first clarinet (Peter Sparks) in his several solos and a notably secure horn section. The score absolutely fizzed along.

Garsington Opera's 25th Anniversary : past unites with future

Garsington Opera's 25th anniversary season starts Friday - some seats still available,. But there's a lot more to the season than the three operas on offer. Douglas Boyd, Artistic Director, speaks about this year's programme and about thrilling new developments that could launch Garsington Opera into the next 25 years at the forefront of British country house opera. Read the interview HERE IN Opera Today for more.  

 The late Leonard Ingrams founded Garsington Opera in 1989 in his own home, Garsington Manor. In 2011, the festival moved to Wormsley Park, Mark Getty's estate in the Chiltern Hills. The larger and even more spectacular setting has great potential. The award winning pavilion is now permanent, and its backstage area has been expanded. Garsington Opera's own orchesstra will continue to produce chamber-scale specialist work - Garsington Opera is the foremost house for Rossini rarities  in the UK - but the facilities now cater fro larger scale orchestras and a wider repertoire.

Furthermore, Garsington Opera will be able to create a new niche through which opera, chamber and orchestral music can be heard together with literature and discussions on broader issues. In 1915, Lady Ottoline Morell bought Garsington Manor as a retreat from her estate at Morrell Park in Oxford. Her salon attracted the more adventurous artistic minds of her era - she knew TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell and many others.  At right a photo showing her on the lawn at Garsington with Aldous Huxley, Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. Siegfried Sassoon, the war poet, stayed at Garsington Manor while recuperating from the Somme.

This year, Garsington Opera is holding a weekend "Peace in our time?" (note the question mark). Discussions, concert performances, chamber music, masterclasses, cricket matches and poetry readings. By remarkable coincidence, two previously unpublished poems by Siegfried Sassoon will be read in public for the first time. One poem, "Atrocities", was suppressed during war time, but the other is an ode to Beethoven: the composer who perhaps more than others deals with ideas of oppression, war, resistance and hope through brotherhood. Celebrated in a poem by Siegfried Sassoon, who knew war and injustice, and whose poetry stimulated a whole new artistic aesthetic. (Ivor Gurney lived in High Wycombe down the road from Wormsley, and Wilfred Owen lived near Henley-on-Thames)  Perfect dovetail : Garsington Opera's past and its future.

photo of the Garsington Opera Pavilion at Wormlsey by Christopher Jonas

Thrilling 2015, 2016 - Garsington Opera at Wormsley

Thrilling 2015 and 2016 for Garsington Opera at Wormsley, showing how it's maturing, and developing a unique niche in the British opera world. As the curtain goes up on Garsington Opera’s 25th anniversary season, Douglas Boyd, artistic director, has announced two major developments - partnerships with The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre, Stratford, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, London.:.

For the first time Garsington Opera is working on a joint project with the RSC with performances at both Wormsley and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford. It will be a rare opportunity to see an abridged version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, under the creative guidance of Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, illuminated with Mendelssohn’s enchanting incidental music, played and sung by the Garsington Opera Company and Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Boyd. RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran said "A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, so I am delighted to be able to stage this bespoke version incorporating speeches from the play along with Mendelssohn's gorgeous score. It was one of the first pieces of music I heard in childhood and inspired my lifelong love of Shakespeare. This is a very exciting new collaboration with Garsington Opera, and I hope will appeal to lovers of theatre and music alike."

Garsington Opera will  also form a partnership with one of the world’s great symphony orchestras, the Philharmonia Orchestra, initially for five years, which will enhance the artistic quality and reputation of the company. Garsington Opera is also committed to the Garsington Opera Orchestra, which will focus on baroque, classical, Italian and chamber works, whilst the Philharmonia Orchestra will enable larger-scale works to be performed. David Whelton, Philharmonia Orchestra Managing Director said: “Creative partnership is at the beating heart of the Philharmonia's artistic approach, and the opportunity for us to collaborate with one of the most forward-thinking opera festivals in the UK is tremendously exciting. We are absolutely delighted to be a part of Garsington Opera's future, and look forward immensely to working together with Douglas Boyd and the Garsington creative team to bring extraordinary new productions of the larger scale 19th and early 20th century repertoire to audiences at Wormsley."

This year's season starts with Fidelio on 6/6, Offenbach Vert-Vert on 7/6 and Janáček Cunning Little Vixen on 22/6. Almost sold out! So look ahead :

In 2015  Mozart’s Così fan tutti  conducted by Douglas Boyd and directed by John Fulljames, Britten’s Death in Venice conducted by Steuart Bedford, who conducted the world premiere in 1973,  directed by Paul Curran, and Strauss’ Intermezzo conductor Jac van Steen, director Bruno Ravella.

 In 2016, Douglas Boyd will conduct a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin directed by Sir Michael Boyd, David Parry conducts Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri directed by William Tuckett,  and Tobias Ringborn conducts Mozart’s Idomeneo with Tim Albery directing.

Garsington Opera at Wormsley fills an important niche. It's Britain's foremost Rossini house, having presented 12  Rossini opera since 1995.  Read about the ground-breaking new Rossini Maometto Secondo commemorative CD (new edition) here.  It's also an elegant Mozart house. The new developments suggest thrilling new possibilities. The season at Wormsley, includes a weekend commemorating the First World War with a celebrity recital by Steven Isserlis, masterclass with Ann Murray, tours of the world-famous Getty Library and a symposium Peace in our Time? led by James Naughtie with Oxford historian Professor Margaret MacMillan, writer Miranda Carter and Jeremy Paxman .

photo: Mike Hoban

Garsington Opera's Rossini Maometto Secondo commemorative CD

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, Garsington Opera at Wormsley is releasing a CD. In the true Garsington Opera tradition this will be something special: the first commercially available recording of the new edition of  the rare Rossini opera Maometto secondo under the Avie label, The deluxe 3-CD set,  recorded live at Garsington Opera's universally acclaimed 2013 performances - the first-ever fully staged production of Maometto secondo in the UK -  is stylishly packaged in a 100-page hardbound book, complete with synopsis, essay and libretto in Italian with English translations. This is an important release which confirms Garsington Opera's status as the leading specialist Rossini house in Britain, having presented 12 Rossini operas, some in several productions, since 1995. This will be an essential for Rossini enthusiasts everywhere.

Maometto Secondo has the potential to become one of the great operas in the repertoire. Richard Osborne, the Rossini scholar, describes it as the grandest of Rossini's opera seria, "epic in scale and revolutionary in the seamlessness of its musical structuring".  Garsington Opera uses the new critical edition of Maometto Secondo compiled by Hans Schellevis."It´s scholarly and supported by men like Phillip Gossett" says David Parry, who has conducted most of Garsington Opera's Rossini over the years. "The physical presentation of the old edition was terrible, covered with amendments. It reinstates the original Rossini wrote for the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, in 1820. When the opera was performed in the Teatro La Fenice two years later, he had to revise it with a `happy ending´ to flatter the audience in Venice. Rossini created a third version, Le siège de Corinthe, which is effectively a
different opera. The mezzo part is taken by tenor, for example. The new edition we are using is definitely the strongest, musically and dramaturgically".

Maometto Secondo, or Mehmet II, Fatih Sultan of the Ottomans, captured Constantinople, and ended the Byzantine Empire. This Turk was no buffo. His next ambitious plan: to conquer Rome, thereby linking Europe and Asia under Islam. Mega geopolitics. Venice was the front line because Venetians traded throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The Ottomans posed a genuine threat to survival of the Italian region. Rossini's audiences knew that Negroponte fell and its occupants were massacred. Mehmet and the garrison commander, Paolo Erissso, existed, but the opera is not based on historical facts. The plot resembles La donna del lago, completed the year before. Both foreign kings in disguise are called Uberto, and both offer tokens of safety. Indeed, Rossini simply lifted the aria "Tanti affetti" from La donna del lago straight into the 1823 Venice revision of Maometto Secondo . So much for historical specificity.

It is pertinent that Rossini wrote Maometto Secondo while Naples was occupied by the Carbonari, a volatile, violent secret society dedicated to revolution. The opera bristles with danger. A confident melody suggests happy memories, but the garrison is under siege. Rossini's vocal lines tear up and down the scale, but the long, difficult runs aren't there for ornamental display. The singers are pushed to the edge, just as the characters they portray. Technically, the musicians are in control, but dotted rhythms and coloratura extremes can suggest palpitating heartbeats, or muscles on alert. Rossini doesn't let the tension subside. Erisso, Anna and Calbo sing a long terzetto which is interrupted by the sound of cannon. Suddenly, Maometto materializes, high above the melée. "Sorgete: in sì bel giorno" is cavatina as theatre.

Please read my review of the 2013 Garsington Opera at Wormsley premiere, on which this new recording of Rossini Maometto Secondo is based HERE in Opera Today.

Garsington Opera at Wormsley 2014 Beethoven

Garsington Opera at Wormsley commemorates its 25th anniversary next year with its most ambitious programme ever. “Wormsley has tremendous potential”, said Artistic Director Douglas Boyd. He adds, “and Mark Getty understands how it can contribute to the wider community, beyond opera. We are planning a Beethoven weekend which will include Beethoven’s Fidelio, a revival of the popular Garsington Opera production from 2009. We’ll link the themes of brotherhood, freedom from oppression and sacrifice which run through Fidelio, Beethoven’s Egmont and the Ninth Symphony."

The summer festival begins on 6th June with Beethoven's Singspiel Fidelio in the acclaimed production by John Cox (photo copyright Gary McCann) conducted by Douglas Boyd.  Rebecca von Lipinsky returns as Leonore, supported by Peter Wedd, Darren Jeffrey, Stephen Richardson, Jennifer France, Sam Furness, and Joshua Bloom. Beethoven's ideals deserve remembering in 2014, one hundred years after the beginning of the First World War. The special Beethoven Weekend, starting July 5th titled "Peace in our Time?" will focus on Fidelio's libertarian ideas and will feature talks, master classes, a recital by cellist Steven Isserlis and much more.  It will culminate in a commemorative concert including Beethoven's 9th Symphony, with the Garsington Opera Orchestra on stage for the very first time.

In Garsington Opera's long tradition of reviving rarities, Jaques OIffenbach's Vert Vert will receive its British premiere. Vert-vert should be fun. It's risqué! "Vert-vert" was a parrot in a genteel girls's school. How do the girls amuse themselves when he's gone? Robert Murray, a popular young tenor, sings the title role. David Parry conducts. Vert-vert is also being screened on the beach at Skegness as part of the SO Festival.

Leoš Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen starts 22nd June. Garry Walker conducts and Danoiel Slater directs. Read about his Die Entführung aus dem Serail here - how imaginative his Vixen could be! The casst includes Claire Booth, Grant Doyle, Joshua Bloom, Henry Waddington and Timothy Robinson.

 For more information see the Garsington Opera at Wormsley site here.

Picnic time at the opera

At last it's summer ! At last picnics at country house operas will be fun - warmth, sunshine, glorious gardens.  It's Regatta week and Wimbledon, too. This year I treated myself to new picnic plates at the shop at Garsington Opera Wormsley and of course used them at Glyndebourne, too. These one are proper enamel, not plastic, designed by Emma Bridgewater. They're sturdy, but surprisingly easy to carry. They "feel" like real plates but should last ages. And only £6 each, about the same price as decent melamine. At Glyndebourne, there's a £500 golf caddy which must be nice to push on grass, but the plates and glasses inside are very basic clear plastic. But it's a great talking point !

I don't do clear plastic except for glasses. Waitrose does an excellent  range, wineglasses of different sizes, champagne flutes, hi ball glasses usw. which feel classy and look like the real thing. Coloured plastic is not my scene even as post modern irony, though I have a wonderful 50's glass tumbler that screams "Gold Coast, Queensland". It's so kitsch it's a treasure. After years of feeding small children, I don't do fussy food. But I do like "civilized" picnic ware that's not pretentious. With nice, light plates and glasses, you can use real cutlery without having to lug a bivouac. There's no substitute for real cutlery! Though you could do all-sushi with decent chopsticks.

Rossini Maometto Secondo Garsington Opera at Wormsley

Rossini's Maometto Secondo is a major coup for Garsington Opera at Wormsley, confirming its status as the leading specialist Rossini house in Britain. Maometto Secondo is a masterpiece, yet rarely performed because it's formidably difficult to sing. It's a saga with some of the most intense music Rossini ever wrote, expressing a drama so powerful that one can understand why early audiences needed "happy endings" to water down its impact. Maometto Secondo has the potential to become one of the great operas in the repertoire. Richard Osborne, the Rossini scholar, describes it as the grandest of Rossini's opera seria, "epic in scale and revolutionary in the seamlessness of its musical structuring". We are fortunate that we saw it first in Britain at Wormsley.

Maometto Secondo, or Mehmet II, Fatih Sultan of the Ottomans, captured Constantinople, and ended the Byzantine Empire. This Turk was no buffo. His next ambitious plan: to conquer Rome, thereby linking Europe and Asia under Islam. Mega geopolitics. Venice was the front line because Venetians traded throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The  Ottomans  posed a genuine threat to survival of the Italian region. Rossini's audiences knew that Negroponte fell and its occupants were massacred.  Mehmet asnd the garrison commander, Paolo Erissso, existed, but the opera is not based on historical facts. The plot resembles La donna del lago,. Both foreign kings in disguise are called Uberto,  and both offer tokens of safety. Indeed, Rossini simply lifted the aria "Tanti affetti" from La donna del lago straight into the 1823 Venice revision of Maometto Secondo . So much for historical specificity.

It is pertinent that Rossini wrote Maometto Secondo while Naples was occupied by the Carbonari, a volatile, violent secret society dedicated to revolution.  The opera bristles with danger. A confident melody suggests happy memories, but the garrison is under siege. Rossini's vocal lines tear up and down the scale, but the long, difficult runs aren't there for ornamental display. The singers are pushed to the edge, just as the characters they portray. Technically, the musicians are in control, but dotted rhythms and coloratura extremes can suggest palpitating heartbeats, or muscles on alert. Rossini doesn't let the tension subside. Erisso, Anna and Calbo sing a long terzetto which is interrupted by the sound of cannon. Suddenly, Maometto materializes, high above the melée. "Sorgete: in sì bel giorno" is cavatina as theatre.

The melody that opened Act One appears again at the begiining of Act Two. This time, the women of the harem sing of sensuous joys. Anna, having been raised strictly in "tanti affanni d'una rigida virtù"is sorely conflicted. She loves Uberto for what he represents but is duty bound to reject him as Maometto. The struggle between Anna and Maometto is tense because Anna comes very close to surrender. Rossini balances this by giving Calbo the Venetian an aria so stupendous that Anna's decision to marry him seems perfectly plausible. Calbo's "non terrer, d'un basso affecto" is bravura designed to demonstrate bravery.

Rossini prepares us for Anna's sacrifice by introducing a new theme with long brass chords and flurrying woodwinds. Anna's music must seem almost impossible on paper. This is coloratura on a grand scale. It is a compelling reason for using the new Hans Schellevis critical edition of the 1820 Naples original. The best-known recordings conducted by Claudio Scimone both use the 1822 edition, Rossini's sop to Venetian audiences who didn't want suicide on stage.Anna has to sing almost continuously for half an hour with brief respite when she's supported by the female chorus. Each show-stopping section is followed by another. It's hard to imagine going back to the compromise Venice edition after hearing Naples.

David Parry conducted with verve and passion. His musicians are dedicated and carefully chosen, but the orchestra comes together for a short period during the early summer, though perhaps the same could be said of Pesaro.  Parry gets good results from his orchestra, but one wonders how much more thrilling this music would sound with a more sophisticated orchestra.  He's good with voices too, inspiring commitment. On paper, this score must look almost impossible to carry off. Performances all round were good. Just getting the notes is an achievement, but these singers added personality to what they sang.
 
What a role for Siân Davies to make her European debut!  Her "Giusto Ciel" showed the innate colour in her voice, and the final scene showed her stamina. Paul Nilon sang Erisso. As an actor, he's more convincing than Scimone's tenors, both of whom looked too young for the part. Darren Jeffery sang Maometto with a sense of presence.  Caitlin Hulcup's Calbo, however, was outstanding. She has a remarkably flexible voice, particularly lustrous in the lower register, so the extreme range in the part elides gracefully. She also moves with energy, not always a given in trouser roles.  She's very experienced. As I listened, I remembered hearing her before as Arbaces in Thomas Arne's Artaxerxes at the Royal Opera House.

One day, perhaps, a larger and much wealthier house can do Rossini's Maometto Secondo full justice, and we might get Joyce DiDonato or Juan Diego Flórez.. We can but dream. Until then, we can cherish the memory of Garsington Opera at Wormsley's sterling production.

Full review with cast list in Opera Today
Photos credit Mike Hoban, courtesy Garsington Opera at Wormsley

Garsington Opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Garsington Opera at Wormsley isn't Mozart as you'd expect but it's true to the spirit of Mozart, who loved witty, madcap japes.  The Singspiel is a comedy with an improbable plot. How did a nice girl like Konstanze get mixed up with a Turk? How does a tyrant suddenly turn into Good Guy? Daniel Slater's imaginative invention might not follow the score note by note but it reaches the free-wheeling, zany spirit of the comedy. Audiences should have the maturity to realize that the opera is strong enough to support different perspectives. Beckmesser would explode in a frenzy of fury. Mozart, though, would be cackling with delight. 

Mozart didn't encounter many real-life Pashas. Selim is a man of formidable wealth and power. Men this rich aren't in touch with reality. They're isolated in their places, guarded by paranoid henchmen. They don't do things like normal people. Turning Selim into an oligarch isn't mere updating. It's a perceptive reading of the personality type.This Selim (Aaron Neil) likes football. "I built my house near the stadium. Or did I build the stadium near my house".This deepens the portrayal and is an opportunity for good visual effects. The backdrop suddenly opens and a real Jaguar is driven onstage! This is Wormsley after all, where they do things in grand style. Football also serves as plot device. It makes Selim human. Osmin (Matthew Rose) can see through Belmonte (Norman Reinhardt) and Pedrillo (Mark Wilde), because they know his weak spot. When Selim's team win a match, he drops Konstanze, as easily as a child moves on to a new toy. The contrived ending becomes perfectly logical.

Slater replaces the German spoken dialogue with multi-lingual banter. Why not ? How did the "Turks" communicate with the "foreigners"? When Osmin says "Ich hass Englander!" the audience laughs, but the idea springs from the original libretto. In the Vienna of Joseph II, England represented liberty. Osmin isn't so much a Turk as an agent of repression. Thus Blonde sings "Ich bin eine Engländerin, zur Freiheit geboren". It's doubly funny when we know that Susanna Andersson is Swedish and is cooking up a sokker kaka. Her mistress is being preened in a spa where calories are seditious. The new dialogue is fast-paced and funny even when the jokes are deliberately hammy. Comedy subverts.

"Ein Herz, so in Freiheit geboren
Läßt niemals sich sklavisch behandeln
Bleibt, wenn schon die Freiheit verloren,
Noch stolz auf sie, lachet der Welt!"

Garsington Opera at Wormsley is a good size for Mozart and Douglas Boyd, the new Artistic Director, has spoken of its potential as a house for Mozart. (read the interview here). The musical standards in this Die Entführung aus dem Serail were very high. Matthew Rose's Osmin was so well-defined that his performance would be impressive even in a much larger auditorium. He has been singing with Garsington Opera since the early days of his career. The company prides itself on nurturing young talent and singers remain loyal. Rose and Susanna Andersson made a striking pair. He's very tall, and she's very short, reflecting the imbalance of power. Both are equal as singers. Together they duelled as much as duetted. Although the bigger ensembles usually attract more attention, the conflict between Osmin and Blonde is the critical heart of the opera.

Rebecca Nelsen sang a feisty Konstanze. In the torture scene, she's seen sitting in the same reclining chair she used in the spa. Now it's an instrument of torture, the ideas not unconnected. Mozart writes tension into the music to suggest extremes of pain and screaming. Nelsen's "Marten aller Arten" felt vivid, as if she were shaking with the effect of electric shock, though she maintained the proper flow.
 
Mark Wilde's Pedrillo was as well acted as sung, with sharp control of fast-paced dialogue. Incidentally the speech rhythms in the dialogue mirrored the way Mozart sets the brisk, punchy vocal lines. Norman Reinhardt sang a laconic Belmonte. William Lacey conducted with brio.

Much credit must go to Francis O'Connor who designed the set. There isn't much backstage area at Wormsley, since the pavilion was designed as a temporary structure. O'Connor's simple backdrop suggest an impenetrable wall when Belmonte stands alone before it. Later segments pop in and out through recessed compartments. One becomes a lift which suggests movement beyond the stage, though it's of course illusion. When the conspirators escape the guards, the guards are seen watching football in security control. The torture scene was particularly well executed, though that's perhaps the wrong choice of words.  The same compartment which had served as the lift and the entrance for the Jag became a claustrophobic room in stark black and white.  Stagecraft rarely gets the attention it deserves, but it makes good drama possible.  At Garsington Opera at Wormsley, technical facilities may not be huge, but they are used very effectively.

Please see the full review in Opera  Today with photos and cast details. 
photo credit : John Persson

Maometto II - Rossini specialist David Parry speaks

Rossini's Maometto Secondo receives its British premiere at Garsington Opera at Wormsley this weekend. "It is a masterpiece, says David Parry, the Rossini specialist. Garsington Opera was in the vanguard of the revival of interest in Rossini's work. It is very much a "Rossini house".  I love this opera and wouldn't miss this for anything. There are recordings and even a DVD (not very good) but hearing it live at Wormsley will be an unforgettable experience. Last week, I went to the rehearsals in freezing cold and rain. This weekend, though, there will be glorious sunshine and the gardens will be lovely. Read HERE in Opera Today what David Parry says about Rossini Maometto Secondo.

"All the parts are written with amazing coloratura passages, but that´s not simply for display", adds Parry. "It is a dramatic device. Its principal function is to push singers to the edge of their abilities to project the extreme situations they are singing about".

"Rossini knew the singers he worked with in Naples very well, and knew what he could expect from them. His first Anna, who premiered the role, was Isabella Colbran, whom he later married. Fillipo Galli, who sang Maometto, had a range of over two octaves and was one of the most celebrated basses of the time."I have heard many difficult operas in my life, but Maometto Secondo is one of the most demanding for voice."
photo credit : Studio Elite

Douglas Boyd - Garsington Opera at Wormsley

 “Aim for excellence”, says Douglas Boyd, new Artistic Director of Garsington Opera at Wormsley, “and the audience will follow you”.
Wise words. With the spectacular new Pavilion, Garsington Opera is on the verge of great new things. Read the FULL INTERVIEW here in Opera Today. 

"Excellence is an ideal he learned from his earliest days as a musician, playing the oboe in Claudio Abbado’s European Community Youth Orchestra and later in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. “Abbado has an absolutely enormous influence on me”, he adds, explaining how Abbado’s ideals shape his vision"...

“Abbado instilled into us right from the start that excellence is a fundamental to strive for. It’s not a given. Although we were young, we played each concert as if our lives depended on it. So my mantra is “dedication and energy”. When you aim for the highest possible level of excellence, then you start with a fighting chance”.

The new season at Garsington Opera at Wormsley starts on 7th June with Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail. This will be followed by Giacomo Rossini’s Maometto Secondo in its first full performance in this country. Garsington Opera is famous for Rossini specialities. This will be the twelfth new Rossini production staged here since 1994.  Maometto Secondo is particularly interesting, especially in modern times. Read more here. The main summer Festival concludes with Englebert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel.

For more details, please see the Garsington Opera at Wormsley website.

Rossini Maometto Secondo Garsington Opera Talk Oxford

Garsington Opera is staging Gioachino Rossini's Maometto Secondo at Wormsley from 8th June. This will be an event because Maometto Secondo is a very good opera, which deserves the interest it's been getting in the last few years. As background, Richard Osborne, the Rossini specialist, will be giving a talk on Wednesday 17th April at North Wall in Oxford (directions here). The talk will be repeated before the 16/6 performance. More details HERE including sound clip and synopsis. Public bookings start Monday 15th.

"Two supreme interpreters of Rossini’s music lead the company; conductor David Parry and tenor Paul Nilon, with bass-baritone Darren Jeffery in the title role. This is the eagerly awaited British premiere of an opera described in the New York Times in July 2012 as ‘a Rossini masterwork ahead of its time’. This performance, using a new edition, reinstates Rossini’s vitality, grandeur and freshness of inspiration."

Rossini's Maometto secondo is a wonderful work., and surprisingly trenchant for its time and our own. The real life Maometto secondo, or Mehmet II (1432-1481) was Fatih Sultan of the Ottomans. He conquered Constantinople, and ended the Byzantine Empire. His next  plan was to invade western Europe, and take on the Holy Roman Empire, thus linking Europe and Asia under Islam. Mega geopolitics. This Turk was no buffo. Venice was in the front line because Venetians traded throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. For Venetians, Turks posed the biggest ever threat to their survival.

Rossini doesn't, however, portray Maometto as a villain. Perhaps that's why Rossini's Maometto Secondo flopped in Naples in 1820 but was a hit in Venice in 1822. Although the opera fell out of the repertoire, it's come back into favour now that European and Islamic nations reassess their relationship.  Rossini with political depth? Surprisingly, yes, for he treats his characters as individuals rather than cardboard stereotypes. Paolo Erisso is chief of the Venetian outpost at Negroponte in Greece. It's besieged and finally taken by the Turks. Oddly enough, Erisso's daughter, Anna, has a secret lover whose identity she doesn't know. Guess who? Maometto, himself, whom she recognizes when the defeated Venetians are rounded up. Maometto loves Anna so much that he pardons Erisso and gives Anna his official seal to keep her safe when he has to go back into battle. Anna is torn between love and duty. He father chides her and she obeys by marrying Calbo, a Venetian nobleman, and uses the safe conduct pass to let the Venetians escape. News comes that Maometto's lost the second battle, and Erisso's saved the city, but somehow Maometto appears in her chambers, and she kills herself.

Order is restored, but in the process we glimpse another type of Turk. In real life, the Ottomans consolidated their Empire by intermarriage - Maometto was part-Greek - so at the time, theirs was a more sophisticated authority model.  For 19th century audiences, Turks were supposed to be the enemy, so the idea of Maometto as lover must have caused a frisson.

There are quite a number of recordings. The version with June Anderson and Sam Ramey (conductor Claudio Scimone) is probably the best, given the singers. I've reviewed the DVD of the 2005 production at the Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, also conducted by Scimone, but the singing isn't quite so good.

Summer Coup for Garsington Opera

Cheery news on a dark December day! Garsington Opera's 2013 summer season is now officially announced.  Last year the weather was unnaturally cold and wet - blankets and wellies  - but let's hope that next year we'll have proper summer weather, and long, bright evenings to enjoy the park at Wormsley as well as the opera offerings.

The new season starts on 7th June with Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. The cast includes Norman Reinhardt, Rebecca Nelsen, Mark Wilde, Susanna Andersson and Matthew Rose. Conductor is William Lacey and director Daniel Slater. who directed Britten A Midsummer Night's Dream, the glorious finale to Garsington Oera's years at the home of Leonard Ingram, before the company moved to Mark Getty's home at Wormsley.  Read more about that here. If this Entführung is nearly as good, we're in for a treat. 

Garsington Opera scores a coup with the first British staging of Rossini's Maometto Secondo (Maometto Segundo). Garsington has always been famous for reviving lesser known baroque work, and Maometto Secondo is a jewel.  Mehmet II, Sultan of the Ottomans, conquered Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire. Next ambitious plan: to conquer Rome, thereby linking Europe and Asia under Islam. Mega geopolitics. Venice was the front line because Venetians traded throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. For Venetians, Turks posed a genuine threat to survival. This Turk was no buffo.  Rossini with political depth? Surprisingly, yes, for he treats his characters as individuals rather than cardboard stereotypes. Maometto is a villain who has beseiged a Venetian outpost, but he's in love with the commander's daughter Anna. The plot's convoluted but the Venetians escape (it's an Italian opera, of course). For 19th century audiences the idea of a lustful exotic foreigner must have created a frsson. (read more about the opera here) David Parry is conducting, so frisson will be guaranteed. Singers include Darren Jeffery, Paul Nilon, Siân Davies, Christopher Diffey, Richard Dowling and Caitlin Hulcup.  Maometto II was a hit at the Santa Fe Opera festival in 2012 so it's going to be fun !


Olivia Fuchs's Britten A Midsummers Night's Deam at the Linbury Theatre, ROH was one of the finest productions I've seen. (more here). She's a Garsington Opera regular, too, and has directed opera throughout the UK and Europe.  So when she directs Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel at Garsington Opera in late June/early July, we should be in for something interesting.  This is the cast :
Claudia Huckle, William Dazeley, Anna Devin, Yvonne Howard, Sophie Junker, Ruth Jenkins, Susan Bickley.and Sophie Junker  Martin André conducts.

For more information, please see the Garsington Opera at Wormsley site HERE.