Vive la France! Michael Williams. Sunday 6 April 2014 St John s Church, Buxton. Carmen Suite. Andrew Mackenzie Wicks (Tenor)

Transcription

1 Sunday 6 April 2014 St John s Church, Buxton Leader: Raymond Sidebottom Vive la France! A Programme of French Music Poulenc Bizet Fauré Berlioz Saint-Saëns Gloria Te Deum Carmen Suite Élégie Carnaval Romain Songs Soloists: Miriam Brown (cello) Conducted by Michael Williams Tanya Hurst (Soprano) Andrew Mackenzie Wicks (Tenor) Programme

2 Programme Overture Carnaval Romain Op. 9 Hector Berlioz ( ) Songs - Op 68 Nos 1 & 2 (1882) Camille Saint-Saens ( ) I. Calme des Nuits II. Les Fleurs et les Arbres Elegie Op 24 (1880) Gabriel Faure ( ) Solo cello - Miriam Brown Te Deum (1858) Georges Bizet ( ) Soprano solo Tanya Hurst, tenor solo Andrew Mackenzie Wicks Interval Carmen Suite No 1 (1882) Georges Bizet ( ) arr. Ernest Guiraud I. Prélude Act I, Prélude: "Fate" motive II. Aragonaise Interlude (Entr'acte) before Act IV III. Intermezzo Interlude (Entr'acte) before Act III IV. Séguedille Act I, Seguidilla (Carmen): Près des remparts de Séville V. Les Dragons d'alcala Interlude (Entr'acte) before Act II VI. Les Toréadors Theme from Prelude to Act I and Procession of the Toreadors from Act IV: Les voici! voici la quadrille des Toreros! Gloria (1961) Francis Poulenc ( ) Soprano solo Tanya Hurst I. Gloria in excelsis Deo II. Laudamus te III. Domine Deus, Rex caelestis IV. Domine Fili unigenite V. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei VI. Qui sedes

3 Tonight s Concert Our programme this evening spans 120 years of French music from the great romantic Hector Berlioz to the post expressionism of Francis Poulenc and seeks to show the remarkable diversity but essential lyricism that characterises music from our near neighbours. Overture Carnaval Romain Hector Berlioz The life and music of Hector Berlioz can never be described as conventional. He was famously impulsive and incurably romantic. Defying his father s wishes that he should become a doctor, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and was one of two of tonight s composers that won the prestigious Prix de Rome. The overture Carnaval Romain (1844) as its title suggests, shows some of the influence of Berlioz stay in Rome and is based on themes from his unsuccessful opera Benevento Cellini (1838). Within the first few pages of the score we are taken on a roller-coaster ride through the composer s imagination with snatches of energetic dances and blaring fanfares subsiding into the famous cor anglais solo. This piece is contemporaneous with his famous Treatise on Orchestration and gives ample opportunity to hear one of the masters of orchestration at work. Songs (1882) Camille Saint-Saëns Camille Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy and some consider that, since he found music so easy, it failed to spur him on to truly great composition. Nevertheless his Organ Symphony, Danse Macabre and Carnival of the Animals are still box-office favourites. Tonight s two songs show the gentler side of his work not so often seen in the more popular works mentioned above. They were composed shortly after the end of his brief marriage and the tragic death of both of his children.

4 Élégie Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Fauré was at first a pupil and then a close life-long friend of Saint-Saëns and his music bridged the end of Romanticism with the modernism of the second quarter of the 20th century, tonight s piece being perhaps one of the last of Fauré s explicitly romantic compositions. The work started life as a slow movement of a cello sonata which was never completed. After its first performance and subsequent publication, the conductor Édouard Colonne asked Fauré for a version for cello and orchestra. Fauré agreed, and that version was premiered at the Société Nationale in April 1901, with Pablo Casals as soloist and the composer as conductor. We are delighted to have as our soloist tonight Miriam Brown whose playing of the Elgar concerto here at St John s last year with the Sheffield Youth Orchestra brought the entire audience to their feet. Te Deum Georges Bizet Our other Prix de Rome winner this evening, Georges Bizet saw his stay at the Villa Medici not only as an opportunity to compose music but also participate in the rich social life of that city. Indeed his only composition in his first six months of the stay was a Te Deum written for the Rodrigues Prize, a competition for a new religious work open to Prix de Rome winners. This piece failed to impress the judges, who awarded the prize to the only other entrant. Bizet was discouraged to the extent that he vowed to write no more religious music. His Te Deum remained forgotten and unpublished until From the opening bar, the operatic nature of the piece is immediately evident and its pompous, Italianate style will disappoint anyone expecting an ecclesiastical setting. It was perhaps this and Bizet's liberties with the order of the traditional text that brought down the opprobrium of the judges. Nevertheless in its youthful exuberance we can hear parallels with last year s performance of Puccini s Messa di Gloria, also the composer s only religious work, written in his early twenties. Interval Carmen Suite No 1 Georges Bizet arr. Ernest Guiraud Returning from Rome in his early twenties, Bizet found little success in composing in his favourite medium of opera. His now popular Les pêcheurs de perles received hostile critical opinion and lukewarm public reaction and closed after 18 performances although a suite based on incidental music for Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne was enthusiastically

5 received. Many other projects fell by the wayside as the Franco-Prussian war disrupted life in Paris but in 1873 he started work on a three act opera based on Prosper Mérimée's short novel Carmen. The opera opened on 3 March 1875 but the nature of the plot was far removed from the Opéra-Comique s usual fare and with public reaction lukewarm, Bizet soon became convinced of its failure: "I foresee a definite and hopeless flop". Three months later whilst the opera was still running but with dwindling audiences he suffered a fatal heart attack. On the day of his funeral a special performance of Carmen was given at the Opéra-Comique. The press which had almost universally condemned the piece three months earlier now declared Bizet a master. Subsequent productions in Vienna and London ensured its enduring popularity and several years after his death the composer s friend Ernest Guiraud compiled two suites of orchestral music from the opera. Tonight we are going to hear the first of these. Gloria Francis Poulenc Poulenc was considered by some to be one of the first openly gay composers. Critic Claude Rostand underlined the coexistence or alternation in Poulenc of the Catholic faith with artistic freedom. But Poulenc himself said "You know that I am as sincere in my faith, without any messianic screamings, as I am in my Parisian sexuality." After the deaths of several friends and the composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud, he made a pilgrimage to the black Madonna at Rocamadour and this seemed to bring a religious revival to his output and many of his well-known works today are religious in nature. Tonight s work was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation and was premiered on January 21, 1961 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Its first UK performance was at Oxford in May 1963 where, amongst the choir was tonight s conductor. The Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome was an award for composers allowing the winner to spend a year studying at the Villa Medici in Rome. The prize was adjudicated by the Paris Conservatoire. Entrants had to submit a fugue as proof of their compositional skills and the four successful candidates were then required to write a dramatic cantata to a text chosen by the judges. Berlioz, Bizet and Debussy were among its winners. Ravel and Messiaen famously lost, as did Saint-Saëns.

6 Calmes des nuits Calmes des nuits, fraicheur des soirs, Vaste scintillement des mondes, Grand silence des antres noirs Vous charmez les âmes profondes. L éclat du soleil, la gaité, Le bruit plaisent aux plus futiles; Le poéte seul est hanté Par l amour des choses tranquilles. Still periods of the nights, coolness of the evenings, Vast shimmering of the worlds, Great silence of black caverns You charm profound spirits. The burst of sunlight, merriment, Noise please the more frivolous; The poet alone is haunted By the love of quiet things. Les fleurs et les arbres Les fleurs et les arbres, Les bronzes, les marbres, Les ors, les émaux, La mer, les fontaines, Les monts et les plaines Consolent nos maux. Nature éternelle Tu sembles plus belle Au sein des douleurs, Et l'art nous domine, Sa flame illumine Le rire et les pleurs The flowers and the trees, The bronzes, the marbles, The golds, the enamels, The sea, the fountains (waterfalls), The mountains and the plains Console our pain. Eternal nature, You seem more beautiful To a heart in sorrow, And art reigns over us, Its flame illuminates the laughter and tears. Te Deum - Georges Bizet 1. Chorus - Te Deum laudamus Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur. Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur. Tibi omnes Angeli; tibi caeli et universae Potestates; Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant: Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus, Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus, We praise thee, O God : we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee : the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens, and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim : continually do cry, The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.

7 Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus. Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia, Patrem immensae maiestatis: Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium; Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra majestatis gloriae tuae. The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge thee; The Father : of an infinite Majesty; Thine honourable, true : and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory 2. Soloists with Chorus - Tu Rex gloriae Christe Soprano solo: Tu Rex gloriae, Christe. Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius. Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum. Tenor solo: Tu, devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum. Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris. Chorus: Iudex crederis esse venturus. Tu Rex gloriae... Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death : thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge. Thou art the King of Glory Soprano solo with Chorus - Te ergo Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni: quos pretioso sanguine redemisti. Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari. Salvum fac populum tuum verum, et benedic hereditati tuae. Per singulos dies benedicimus te; Et laudamus Nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi. Miserere nostri Domine. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants : whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting. O Lord, save thy people : and bless thine heritage. Day by day : we magnify thee; And we worship thy Name : ever world without end. O Lord, have mercy upon us.

8 4. Chorus - Fiat misericordia tua Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te. In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Te Deum laudamus... O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us : as our trust is in thee. O Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be confounded. Holy, Holy, Holy : Holy Lord, God of Sabaoth; We praise thee, O God... Gloria - Francis Poulenc I. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. II. III. IV. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens. Gloria. Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. V. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, Rex coelestis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. VI. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Tu solus Dominus. Amen. Tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe. Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen. Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise Thee. We bless Thee. We worship Thee. We glorify Thee. We give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. Glory to God. Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son. Lord of God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, heavenly King. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou alone art holy. Thou alone art the Lord. Amen. Thou alone art the most high, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

9 Miriam Brown - cello Tonight s Soloists Miriam was brought up in a musical family in Buxton Derbyshire where she started learning the cello with local teacher Eleanor Kellett at the age of five. After six years, she moved to teacher Sue Lowe in York and stayed with her for a further six years. In this time she performed the Saint Saëns cello concerto with Sheffield Youth Orchestra, took part in competitions and festivals such as Buxton and Alderley Edge, and attended the gathering of the clans cello course where she enjoyed valuable masterclasses with Sandy Bailie, Pierre Doumenge and Anna Shuttleworth. While attending Lady Manners school Miriam achieved success in the Music for Youth competition with the orchestra and folk groups, playing and singing at the Royal Albert Hall. In her final term with Sue Lowe, she completed a diploma and then moved on to Nicholas Trygstad at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music. Since then Miriam has been fortunate enough to have a number of concerto opportunities, performing the Elgar with Sheffield Youth Orchestra, the Vivaldi Double Concerto and most recently the Haydn Concerto in C major on tour in Italy with the Peak District String Orchestra. She came second in the Lyons Club national cello competition, and as part of her school, the Fallibroome Academy, Miriam was asked to play in TedX, an international conference which is streamed out live. In the summer of 2012 she took part in masterclasses with Hannah Roberts on a week cello course, and in 2013 with Ralph Kirshbaum. Tanya Hurst - soprano Australian-born soprano, Tanya Hurst holds a BMus from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, a Post Graduate Diploma in Performance from The University of Melbourne and a Master of Music from the Royal Northern College of Music. This study was made possible by the very generous support from various scholarships and awards. These include the Lady Turner Exhibition, Clarice Malyon Middleton Scholarship, A E Floyd Memorial Scholarship, Joan Sutherland Society Study Grant, Opus50 Charitable Trust, PPCA Performers' Trust Foundation, a Tait Memorial Trust grant to attend the 2012 London Master Classes and most recently the Mona McGlone Scholarship awarded to her from the RNCM. Tanya is a versatile and compelling performer with operatic credits that include Emmie from Britten's Albert Herring, Humperdink's Gretel, Mozart's First and Second Ladies, Smetana's Bartered Bride, Judith Wier's King Harald's Saga and most recently Popova from Walton's The Bear. Her concert and oratorio performances have included J. S. Bach Magnificat, Handel Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Avo Pärt Stabat Mater, Howard Goodall Requiem, Mozart Requiem and Haydn Paukenmesse and Nicolai Mass.

10 Tanya has had the good fortune to participate in numerous masterclasses and workshops. Highlights include working with Christine Brewer, Joan Rogers, Julius Drake and David Owen Norris, and attending the British Youth Opera workshops. She continues her involvement with The Divas and Scholars MasterClass & Co. having previously been a Diva and a Scholar for their Strauss and Britten sessions. Tanya has also just presented for their Beethoven lecture recital. There has been success on the competition platform for Tanya as well. Most recently she was a finalist for Joyce and Michael Kennedy Prize for the singing of Strauss held at the RNCM. She is the winner of the Armstead Award and was a finalist for the 3MBS Young Performer of the Year Award and was consequently broadcast on 3MBS. Tanya completed her time at the RNCM on a high after being awarded the Claire Croiza Prize for French Song. Her versatility is shown by the depth of her repertoire which ranges from baroque to contemporary. Whilst at college Tanya held the position of principal Soprano for the RNCMSU Bach Ensemble and last year she made her debut at Wigmore Hall singing 4 Primo Levi Settings by Simon Bainbridge. Upcoming performances involve Orff's Carmina Burana and Haydn's Creation. This Summer Tanya has been invited to perform at the Aix-en-Provence Music Festival and she is already looking forward to both the music making and the wine tasting! Tanya Hurst appears by kind permission of the RNCM Andrew Mackenzie Wicks - tenor Andrew Wicks was a chorister at Chichester Cathedral and a choral scholar at Durham. He graduated in music from Durham University and then studied singing and performance at the Royal Northern College of Music, winning the Johnston award. The Countess of Munster Musical Trust assisted his studies. His operatic roles include; Oronte Alcina, roles in War and Peace and Soundbites contemporary operas for English National Opera; Ferrando Così fan Tutte, Don Ottavio Don Giovanni, Tichon Katya Kabanova for Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Jephtha Jephtha, Giove/ Anfinomo Il Ritorno Ulisse, Scaramuccio Ariadne auf Naxos, Count Almaviva Barber of Seville, Tenor Seven Deadly Sins, Nemorino Elixir of Love, Jacquino Fidelio and Ferrando Così for Welsh National Opera; Old Peng and Old Mountain dweller A Night at the Chinese Opera, Ferrando and Essential Scottish Opera tour for Scottish Opera; Don Ottavio for Grange Park Opera; Tom Rakewell The Rake's Progress and Count Almaviva for English Touring Opera; Josennah Boris Godenow for Early Music Russia; Don Ramiro Cenerentola for Dublin Opera Theatre Company and The Royal Opera education; Cecil Roberto Devereux, Loustot Veronique, Basilio Camacho s Wedding, Don Luiz Maria Padilla, Hyllus Hercules and Danish Knight Armide for the Buxton Festival; Peter Quint Turn of the Screw, Simpleton Boris Godunov and Hérault Danton s Death for Brighton Festival; Luiz Gondoliers for Covent Garden Festival; Nemorino for Opera North and Kent University; Ernesto Don Pasquale for Opera Northern Ireland, Clonter Opera and Crystal Clear Opera; Tamino Magic Flute for the

11 Opera Company; Lysander Midsummer Night s Dream for Aldeburgh; Rodolfo La Boheme for Crystal Clear Opera; and roles in Forza del destino, Pelléas, Ariadne auf Naxos, Sir John in Love, A Midsummer Night s Dream, La Finta Giardiniera, Ariodante, Rodelinda, L'Allegro, Il Tabarro, Orfeo, Katya Kabanova, From the House of the Dead, Iolanthe, Mikado. Recent concert work has included Spring Symphony and Gerontius in Beijing, Verdi Requiem, Missa Solemnis and Dies Natalis. Notable past performances include Bach, Handel and Mozart with the Monteverdi choir under John Eliot Gardiner, in USA, Europe, and at the Proms; Britten War Requiem in Germany and Russia; Britten St Nicolas, Coryn Missa da Pacem (world premier) with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra; Dvorak Stabat Mater with Arhuus Symphony Orchestra under Porcelijn; Handel La Ressurezione for the Festival di Pasqua, Rome; St Nicolas with the Northern Sinfonia under Thierry Fischer; Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Copenhagen Philharmonic; Bruckner Te Deum with the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz; Mendelssohn Lobgesang with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Purcell King Arthur and The Fairy Queen on tour with the Gabrieli Consort; Acis and Galatea on tour with the King s Consort, with whom he has also sung Christmas Oratorio and Bach Cantatas; Messiah in Arhuus, Hanover, Mexico, Singapore, Glyndebourne, Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and in the Royal Albert Hall under Sir David Willcocks, Samson and L Enfance du Christ in Snape Maltings, Apostles under Vernon Handley, and A Child of our time in the presence of Sir Michael Tippett. Andrew is a frequent soloist with the Buxton Musical Society, most recently in last April s Operatic composers - Sacred works concert of Rossini and Puccini. The Society would like to thank its Patrons for their continued generous support: Mrs P Barnes MBE Dr P Hughes Mr & Mrs A Matthews Mr D Nevell Mrs S Callister Mr & Mrs P Low Mr G Needham Mr & Mrs J Spencer Mr and Mrs G Watson For further information on being a patron please contact: Janet Mellor Tel:

12 Forthcoming Society Performances Sunday 15 June 2014, 7.30pm Orchestral Concert Strauss Horn Concerto No1 Soloist Ben Hulme (Chetham s School) Please see our website for details of the remainder of the programme nearer the time. Tickets: 12.00, ( concessions) St John s Church Sunday 20 July 2014, 11.15am Festival Mass Haydn Theresienmesse in B flat Buxton Musical Society Chorus and Orchestra, with soloists from Buxton Festival Chorus As the performance forms part of the Eucharist Service there is no admission charge. Dates for next season: 9 November 2014 Elgar Spirit of England 14 December 2014 Carol Concert 22 March 2015 Beethoven Mass in C Tickets are Available: Online By By post andrew@lccs.co.uk 69 Dovedale Crescent, Buxton, SK17 9BH or Buxton Opera House Box Office Buxton Musical Society is grateful for the financial support of: THE BINGHAM TRUST Buxton Musical Society logo design courtesy of Lily Dunlop - lilydunlop.co.uk