President:
Sir Colin Davis CH CBE
Chairman:
Robert Montgomery
 
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Last Updated: 14/7/08
 
 

Newsletter

Summer 20o8

Macbeth

The spring opera, which marked COG’s return to the Queen Elizabeth Hall was the 1847 version of Verdi’s Macbeth, on Saturday 29 March, conducted by Brad Cohen, with Nelly Miricioiu as Lady Macbeth, singing the role for the first time.

The performance, to a packed hall, must rank among COG’s most successful. “Opera simply does not come much better than this,” wrote the critic for Seen and Heard. Sometimes termed the opera senza amore, Macbeth is an astonishing achievement for the Verdi of 1847. Raw drama with no love interest: Three main characters, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches; and perhaps in Lady Macbeth the earliest Verdian role in which a complete musical development can be traced along with the dramatic and psychological growth in character.

Opinion is divided as to whether the 1865 Paris version improves on the original. Second thoughts are not always best and a lot had happened to Verdi in the years between. The 1847 version had been produced for Florence where censorship was not so much in evidence as elsewhere in Italy. (One is reminded of the problems that Bellini had had with Maria Stuarda in Naples in 1835). Verdi produced chilling effects by the juxtaposition of seemingly trivial music with that of real drama, something he did in later operas such as Rigoletto or Un ballo in maschera. This is not the time or place to go into the differences between the two versions, but there is no doubt that the new version is a hybrid, with some productions of the 1865 version rejecting the new ending in favour of the original. Verdi was not completely satisfied with his revisions. Later when revising Simon Boccanegra with Boito he used the analogy of repairing a chair leg. “When you fix one leg, another gets out of balance, and you’re soon eating off the floor.”

The COG performance was firmly fixed to the floor. “I have seen several expensively staged productions of this work, but never have I been as gripped as by the COG performance,” wrote the Sunday Express. “COG’s realisation gloried in willful exposure [of] the oftentimes unvarnished orchestral timbres which are used to conjure with thrilling exactitude the atmospheres that allow the dark undoing of human ambition to reach fruition…”(Seen and Heard). “In any case Chelsea came up trumps with its cast” wrote the Independent on Sunday, ”with Olafur Sigurdarson throwing an endless supply of burnished tone at the baritone title role, Andrew Rees delivering the tenorial goods in an utterly bereft account of Macduff’s aria, and a noble Banquo in the shape of Paolo Pecchioli. Best of all… Nelly Miricioiu, who as Lady Macbeth found dramatic meaning in every note she sang…”.

“The advent of Nelly Miricioiu from the back of the stage as Lady Macbeth, reading Macbeth’s letter, instantly put the performance into a different gear, (Musical Criticism wrote). Nobody else quite brought an air of theatre to the evening.” The role fitted her like a glove and it is extraordinary that it was the first time she had sung it.

Mention must also be made of Michael Bracegirdle who “sang Malcolm with assurance and feeling for the situation”(Seen and Heard), Daniel Grice [who] “made a strong impression in three smaller roles and Stephanie Corley [who] was a beautiful lady-in-waiting” (Musical Criticism).

The Chorus drew praise especially when singing all together, as did the orchestra, ”which achieved many fine things thanks to the firm and stylish conducting of Brad Cohen; the strings were particularly expressive”(Musical Criticism).


Cendrillon

The summer opera, on Sunday 1 June at 7.30pm in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, will be Massenet’s Cendrillon, (Cinderella) conducted by Dominic Wheeler, with Liora Grodnikaite in the title role and Emma Selway as the Prince.. Tickets are already on sale. There will be a pre-opera talk by Christopher Fifield in the auditorium at 6.15pm, free to ticket holders.

Cendrillon, Massenet’s twenty-fourth opera, described on the score as a fairytale in 4 acts, is the Cinderella story. COG has performed three other Massenet operas, Thaïs, Esclarmonde and Hérodiade. Only two of his operas, Werther and Manon have held the international stage, but in recent years Cendrillon has begun to find favour. In his day Jules Massenet, who died in 1912, was a successful composer and, like so many who are successful in their lifetime, has drawn slighting criticism. The 1894 Grove Dictionary said, “if M Massenet will refrain from affectation and all mere cleverness, and draw his inspiration solely from within, he will prove an honour to the French school.” The 1927 Grove confessed somewhat reluctantly ”he succeeded in appealing to the ‘average sensual man’ without alienating those who expected opera to be more than a series of pleasant tunes.” The 1997 edition admits there are several operas awaiting rediscovery, of which one is Cendrillon.

Cendrillon was first performed in Paris in 1899 at the Opéra-Comique, having a run of 49 performances with 20 the following year. The main roles are female: Cendrillon herself, her mother-in-law, her step sisters, her fairy godmother, and Prince Charming. The role of the Prince was set by Massenet for a “falcon ou soprano de sentiment” a rare voice perhaps best described by saying that in the Chicago production of 1911, when Maggie Teyte sang Cendrillon, the Prince was sung by Mary Garden, who sang Mélisande in the première of Pelléas et Mélisande. Those who know the opera through the 1978 recording will have heard it sung by a tenor, which surely misses the point. In Henri Cain’s libretto, prince and pauper are alter egos, both lonely, both looking for love. The tessitura of both parts is the same.

Cendrillon should prove an entertaining summer evening for audience and performers alike, as different styles of music compete to tell the Cinderella story: formal court music, pastiche dance numbers, fairy music (with a flavour of Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss) and heavily perfumed love music.


Salisbury

The next visit will be on Saturday 17 May for a performance in the Cathedral of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, for which the Salisbury Musical Society is combining with the Philharmonischer Chor from Berlin. There will have been a joint performance in Berlin the previous week. Elgar with full orchestra and a chorus of 250 should sound splendid and the Cathedral is sold out.


Plans for the 2008/9 season

Plans for the autumn opera are uncertain, as we have been unable to obtain a date at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. COG will therefore be back in Cadogan Hall on Saturday 15 November 2008, probably for a bel canto opera. Beautifully equipped as Cadogan Hall is, its stage and acoustics are not really suited to large-scale operas. For the rest of the season we shall be performing in the Queen Elizabeth Hall. On Sunday 15 February 2009 we shall perform Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea, with Nelly Miricioiu as the leading actress of the 18th century Comédie Française, and on Sunday 7 June, Guillaume Tell by Rossini with Majella Cullagh as Mathilde. Booking for both these concerts has already opened.


Thanks

At the end of another successful season it is the time to thank all those work behind the scenes to help run the Group. COG has no paid staff and indeed the ethos of the Group is one of self-help. Nevertheless it takes hours of work to book venues, assemble players, chorus and casts, produce programmes and libretti, mail supporters and carry out all the other tasks that have to be done – especially on the day of the concert. Offers of help would be most welcome. We are also very grateful to those who give financial support, as we are to those who do the work.

Finally we are keen to build up an internet mailing list. I urge anyone who has not yet sent done so to forward their email address to Anita de Lotbinière at , or hand it to us at the COG Information Desk at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the next concert.

 

R.W.Montgomery
Chairman

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