Press Release
Tuesday 5 May 2015
OPERA NORTH2015/16 SEASONREPERTOIRE
Contents
Press Nights2
Introduction from Richard Mantle3
Autumn 20154
Winter 20167
Spring 201610
Diary of Main Stage Performances14
Contact Details17
1
Press Nights 2015/2016
Autumn 2015
Leeds Grand Theatre
Thu 24 SepPorterKiss Me, Kate7.15pmNEW
Wed 07 OctRossiniThe Barber of Seville7.15pm
Thu 22 OctJanáčekJenůfa7.15pm
Winter 2016
Leeds Grand Theatre
Tue 19 JanGiordanoAndrea Chénier7.30pmNEW
Wed 3 FebMozartCosì fan tutte7.00pm
Wed 17 FebDonizettiL’elisir d’amore7.30pm
Spring 2016
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Thu 28 AprSimpsonPleasure7.45pmWORLD PREMIERE
Leeds Town HallDer Ring des Nibelungen
Sat 23 AprWagnerDas Rheingold7.30pm
Sat 30 AprWagnerDie Walküre5.00pm
Sat 14 MayWagnerSiegfried5.00pm
Sat 21 MayWagnerGötterdämmerung3.30pm
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
June 2016SondheimInto the WoodsNEW
Introduction from Richard Mantle
A year that begins with Cole Porter and concludes with Richard Wagner – taking in Janáček, Mozart, Sondheim and a brand new work along the way – is evidence of Opera North’s continuing ambition to offer the broadest possible range of artistic experiences to audiences of all tastes.
Our six complete cycles of Wagner’s Ring in the spring and summer of 2016 mark the conclusion of Richard Farnes’ twelve-year term as Music Director of Opera North and were announced earlier in the year to considerable fanfare in the media. Richard’s contribution to the life of the Company is incalculable, and there can be no more fitting conclusion to his illustrious tenure than these performances.
Whilst a complete Ring cycle is undoubtedly a unique landmark in the life of any opera company, there is much to savour before we conclude our Ring odyssey next summer. Over the past several years we have staged works by many of the classic American musical dramatists and have long wanted to add Cole Porter to this list. Porter was an eminent contributor to the Great American Songbook long before he wrote his masterpiece, Kiss Me, Kate, which is just the sort of character-driven piece to which Opera North’s core artistic ensembles of Chorus and Orchestra will do full justice.
From a new production of a classic American operetta to three comic operas in revivals that can be considered classics in their own right. Our productions of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore have been enjoyed by audiences throughout the North and further afield; the latter two, in particular, demonstrating Opera North’s international reach – Così has played at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival in New York and Elisir at Spain’s Ópera de Oviedo.
It’s not all comedy, of course. In the autumn we return to the first of Janáček’s great operas, the intensely moving Jenůfa, in a major revival of an acclaimed production by Tom Cairns. Then, in the New Year, we stage a brand new production of Andrea Chénier directed by Annabel Arden, bringing Giordano’s verismo masterpiece to Opera North audiences for the first time. It’s a work ripe for reappraisal, and it will be fascinating to discover how this piece, set in a time of revolution, speaks to our own turbulent era.
Two new productions in the spring highlight Opera North’s commitment to forging creative partnerships. Pleasure, a new opera by Mark Simpson and Melanie Challenger, receives its world premiere in the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds in May. This will be the fourth new work jointly commissioned and produced through a partnership between Aldeburgh Music, The Royal Opera and Opera North which nurtures opera-makers of the future. Then in June we join forces with West Yorkshire Playhouse for a major collaboration in which we will co-produce Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods in the Quarry Theatre in a new production by the Playhouse’s Artistic Director James Brining.
All this adds up to what promises to be one of our most excitingly diverse seasons yet.
Richard Mantle,
General Director
AUTUMN 2015
Kiss Me, Kate NEW
Cole Porter (1948)
Thu 24 September (17 performances)
Sung in English
'Another Op'nin, Another Show.' Opera North's momentous 2015/16 kicks off to a dazzling start with a classic American musical comedy.
Set both on and off-stage during the production of a musical version ofThe Taming of the Shrew, the plot revolves around the tangled love lives of actor-manager Fred Graham, his leading lady and ex-wife Lilli Vanessi,ingénueLois Lane and her boyfriend Bill - not to mention a couple of gangsters who somehow get caught up in the show.Studded with gems as various as 'So in Love', 'Wunderbar', 'Always True to You in My Fashion' and 'Too Darn Hot',Kiss Me, Kateis a deliciously witty confection graced by what is probably Cole Porter's richest, most accomplished theatrical score.
Opera North's new production is conducted by David Charles Abell, who has prepared a new critical edition of the score, and directed by Jo Davies, who is responsible for a string of recent Opera North successes, includingRuddigore,CarouselandThe Marriage of Figaro.Choreography is byWill Tuckett, whose recent shows include The Wind in the Willows (Royal Opera House and West End) and West Side Story (Sage Gateshead).
Heading the cast of opera and musical theatre performers are Jeni Bern as Lilli and Quirijn de Lang as Fred, both familiar faces to Opera North audiences.Jeni Bern has most recently performed as Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream(2013); her appearances elsewhere include Paquette in Leonard Bernstein’sCandide(Théâtre du Châtelet/Teatro alla Scala/Hyogo Performing Arts Centre, Kobe); and Emma Jones in Kurt Weill’sStreet Scene (Opéra de Toulon).Quirijn de Lang’s many Opera North roles have recently included the Count in The Marriage of Figaro(2015), the Singer in La vida breve(2015), and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream(2013).
Kiss Me, Kate is a co-production with Welsh National Opera.
Cast and Creative Team includes:
Lilli VanessiJeni BernConductor David Charles Abell
Fred Graham Quirijn de LangDirector Jo Davies
GunmanJohn SavourninChoreographer Will Tuckett
GunmanJoseph ShoveltonSet and Costume Designer Colin Richmond
Lois LaneTiffany Graves
Bill CalhounAshley Day
The Barber of SevilleREVIVAL
Gioachino Rossini (1816)
Wed 7 October (11 performances)
Sung in English
Rosina is rich, beautiful and in love with a dashing young Count. However, her elderly guardian, Doctor Bartolo, has designs on her himself, and does everything he can to put obstacles in the way of their happiness. But with the help of the sharp-witted Figaro, true love finally triumphs.
Tuneful and vivacious, Rossini’s score contains one irresistibly catchy number after another, ranging from the fireworks of Figaro’s ‘Largo al factotum’ to the seductive beauty of the Count’s ‘Ecco, ridente’.Stuart Stratford conducts, returning to Opera North following Swanhunter (2009), Faust (2012) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008/2013). Stratford has recently been announced as the new Music Director at Scottish Opera.
Giles Havergal’s handsome period staging, now back at Opera North following performances at opera houses around the world, delivers pure enjoyment with bags of style. This classic production wouldn’t be complete without the comic genius of Eric Roberts as Bartolo, while one of the UK’s most distinguished operatic basses, Alastair Miles, last seen at Opera North as Leporello in Don Giovanni (2012), sings Basilio.
Three exceptionally engaging young singers continue to develop their careers at Opera North:Katie Bray sings Rosina, following previous appearances as Nancy in Albert Herring (2013);Nicholas Watts(Vašek, The Bartered Bride, 2014; Don Curzio, The Marriage of Figaro, 2015) takes the role of the Count;and Figaro will be sung by Irish baritoneGavan Ring, previously seen as Jake Wallace in The Girl of the Golden West (2014), Schaunard in La bohème (2014) and Manuel in La vida breve (2015).
Cast and Creative Team includes:
Rosina Katie BrayConductor Stuart Stratford/
Count Almaviva Nicholas WattsTimothy Burke
Figaro Gavan RingDirector Giles Havergal
Doctor Bartolo Eric RobertsSet & Costume Designer Russell Craig
Don Basilio Alastair Miles/Lighting Designer Gerry Jenkinson
Dean Robinson
BertaVictoria Sharp
FiorelloNicholas Butterfield
AmbrogioJeremy Peaker
OfficerStephen Dowson
NotaryGordon Shaw
JenůfaREVIVAL
Leoš Janáček (1904)
Thu 22 October (7 performances)
Sung in English with English titles
This intense story of love, jealousy and sacrifice is by turns harrowing, heart-wrenching and starkly tragic. It took Janáček ten years to complete his first great opera, and in the final year of its composition he witnessed his own daughter’s painful illness and early death. His soul-piercing score is laced with the suffering caused by this event.
Tom Cairns returns to direct a production acclaimed for its beautifully simple staging and sheer emotional power. A world-class cast includes Susan Bickley (Waltraute, Götterdämmerung, 2014) as the Kostelnička and Elizabeth Sikora (Salud’s Grandmother, La vida breve, 2015) as Grandmother Buryjkova. In the title role is the Swedish soprano Ylva Kihlberg, who gave a memorably powerful performance as Emilia Marty in Cairns’ production ofThe Makropulos Case for Opera North at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2012.
The young Serbian conductor Aleksandar Marković, Music Director and Chief Conductor of Brno Philharmonic Orchestra,makes his Opera North main house debut, following a concert with the Orchestra of Opera North in January 2015.
Cast and Creative Team includes:
Jenůfa Ylva KihlbergConductor Aleksandar Marković
KostelničkaSusan BickleyDirector Tom Cairns
GrandmotherElizabeth SikoraSet & Costume Designer Tom Cairns
Števa Buryja Ed Lyon/Daniel NormanLighting Designer Wolfgang Göbbel
Laca Klemeň David Butt PhilipChoreographer Aletta Collins
ForemanDean RobinsonEnglish translation Otakar Kraus
KarolkaDaisy BrownEdward Downes
MayorJeremy Peaker
Mayor’s WifeClaire Pascoe
MaidBeth Mackay
BarenaSarah Estill
Old WomanHazel Croft
WINTER 2016
Andrea ChénierNEW
Umberto Giordano (1896)
Tue 19 January (9 performances)
Sung in Italian with English titles
Opera North’s first ever production of Andrea Chénier, directed by Annabel Arden, explores the chaos of revolution and examines the role of the artist in a time of political turmoil. Loosely based on the life of the French poet André Chénier (1762 – 94) and set at the time of the French Revolution and the ensuing Terror, Giordano’s stirring opera has always been warmly embraced by audiences for its open-hearted emotionalism and ardent dramatic lyricism.
The cast includesRafael Rojas (Chénier) and Robert Hayward (Carlo Gérard), who last squared up to each other at Opera North in The Girl of the Golden West(2014). Dutch soprano Annemarie Kremer, who gave unforgettable performance in the title role of Norma for the Company in 2012 and as Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito in 2013, sings Maddalena.
For many, Andrea Chénier encapsulates the very essence of Italian opera and the title role is one of the most prized in the tenor repertoire, witharias such as ‘Un di all’azzuro spazio’, ‘Come un bel dì di maggio’ and the closing duet for Chénier and the opera’s heroine Maddalena, whose love endures even in the face of death. In the best verismo tradition, Giordano also colours his score with tunes associated with the French Revolution, such as ‘Ça ira’ and the ‘Marseillaise’.
Oliver von Dohnányi takes up the baton. Recent work at Opera North includes La traviata (2015) and Norma (2012).
Cast and Creative Team includes:
Andrea Chénier Rafael RojasConductor Oliver von Dohnányi
Carlo Gérard Robert HaywardDirector Annabel Arden
Maddalena de Coigny Annemarie KremerSet & Costume Designer Joanna Parker
Bersi Anna DennisLighting Designer Peter Mumford
Contessa di Coigny/Movement Director Tim Claydon
MadelonFiona Kimm
Roucher Phillip Rhodes
L’Abate/
an ‘Incroyable’ Daniel Norman
MathieuJeremy Peaker
ActorTim Claydon
Supported by a generous gift from Terry and Liz Bramall
Così fan tutteREVIVAL
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1790)
Wed 3 February (11 performances)
Sung in English
It starts with a casual bet. The wily old cynic Don Alfonso (William Dazeley) wagers that the fiancées of two young men, complacent in their romantic notions of love, won’t stay faithful for a minute if put to the test. It sounds harmless enough and, anyway, the lovers are entirely sure of themselves. But cruelty is inherent in this game of love and chance.
It’s difficult to think of an opera that contains more music of sheer beauty than Così fan tutte – or that has a libretto that is more unsettling. The plot is a work of supreme artifice, yet the opera charts the boundaries of real and feigned emotion, trust and deception, loyalty and desire, with unsparing accuracy and truthfulness.
Tim Albery, a regular Opera North collaborator whose most recent work includes The Coronation of Poppea (2014) and Otello (2013), directs a fresh young cast in a production set firmly in the Age of Reason, conducted by Dutch maestro Jac van Steen (Peter Grimes (2013), La vida breve/Gianni Schicchi (2015)).
A vibrant and talented young cast includesMáire Flavin as Fiordiligi,Helen Sherman and Ellie Laugharne as Dorabella and Despina, while Nicholas Watts and Gavan Ring sing Ferrando and Guglielmo.
Cast and Creative Team includes:
FiordiligiMáire FlavinConductor Jac van Steen/
Dorabella Helen ShermanAnthony Kraus
FerrandoNicholas WattsDirector Tim Albery
Guglielmo Gavan RingSet & Costume Designer Tobias Hoheisel
Despina Ellie Laugharne Lighting Designer David Finn
Don Alfonso William Dazeley
L’elisir d’amoreREVIVAL
Gaetano Donizetti (1832)
Wed 17 February (8 performances)
Sung in Italian with English titles
L’elisir d’amore is the ‘male Cinderella’ tale of Nemorino, ineffectual but good-hearted, and his love for the very self-assured Adina, who fancies the experienced charmer Belcore. When the quack Dr. Dulcamara comes to town touting a miraculous ‘love potion’, Nemorino thinks his prayers have been answered. But is it really the potion that makes him suddenly irresistible to all the girls in the village?
Daniel Slater’s sunny 1950s-style production, complete with hot-air balloon and Vespas, is a perfect fit for Donizetti’s irrepressibly fresh comedy. Funny and moving, the opera includes one of the best-loved of tenor arias, ‘Una furtiva lagrima’.
Romanian soprano Gabriela Iştoc sings Adina having made a strong impression as Mimì in La bohème at Opera North in 2014. In June 2015 Iştocalso appears as Violetta in specially staged excerpts of La traviata for a new landmark BBC Two documentary, in which Amanda Vickery and Tom Service explore the real-life drama behind one of the world’s most popular operas, with casting and music provided by Opera North (La Traviata & The Women Of London, BBC Two).
BaritoneDuncan Rocksings Belcore, returning following performances of Marcello in La Bohème (2014); Nemorino is sung by the South Korean tenorJung Soo Yun, previously seen as Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth (2014); and Richard Burkhard, fresh from widespread acclaim in the title role of The Marriage of Figaro (2015) is Dr. Dulcamara.
Cast and Production Team includes:
Adina Gabriela IştocConductor Tobias Ringborg
Nemorino Jung Soo YunDirector Daniel Slater
Belcore Duncan RockAssociate DirectorTim Claydon
Dr. DulcamaraRichard BurkhardSet & Costume DesignerRobert Innes Hopkins
GiannettaFflur WynLighting Designer Simon Mills
Choreographer Tim Claydon
SPRING 2016
Pleasure WORLD PREMIÈRE
Mark Simpson
Thu 28 April (8 performances)
Sung in English.
Approx 75 minutes, no interval
A new chamber opera, by the young composer Mark Simpson and writer Melanie Challenger, Pleasureis the fourth new work produced as part of a three-year partnership between Aldeburgh Music, The Royal Opera and Opera North, designed to boost opportunities for emerging opera writers, and bring new work to audiences across the UK.
The opera tells the story of Val (Lesley Garrett), who works as an attendant in the toilets in ‘Pleasure’, a hedonistic gay club in the north of England, presided over by Bacchanalian drag queen Anna Fewmore. For years, Val has been both a shoulder to cry on and a confidante. She is much-loved, but viewed as an enigma. Why is she still there? Why does she never leave? When Nathan, a beautiful and unpredictable young man, arrives in Pleasure and leaves a gift for Val, it marks the beginning of an emotional and violent night.
Pleasurewill be performed by a cast of four singers and the Manchester-based music ensemble Psappha, conducted by Nicholas Kok. Tim Albery directs, with set and costume designs by Leslie Travers.
One of the UK’s most exciting young musical talents, Mark Simpson was born in Liverpool in 1988. He won BBC Young Musician of the Year as a clarinettist in 2006 and also, that same year, received the accolade of BBC Young Composer of the Year – the only individual to have won both competitions. He was recently named Composer in Association with the BBC Philharmonic, a position he takes up in September 2015.
Cast and Production Team includes:
Val Lesley Garrett ConductorNicholas Kok
DirectorTim Albery
Set and Costume DesignerLeslie Travers
EnsemblePsapphaLighting DesignerMalcolm Rippeth
Supported in Leeds by the Opera North Future Fund and The Emerald Foundation
Into the Woods NEW
Sondheim (1987)
Sung in English
In Stephen Sondheim’s celebrated musical, characters from several well-known fairy tales collide.And for Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack, and Red Riding Hood, together with a childless baker and his wife, ‘Happy Ever After’ turns out to be far from the end of the story.
Sondheim’s revered wit and intelligence are everywhere evident in his dazzling music and lyrics.The show also digs deep, packing a powerful emotional punch in its exploration of themes of wish-fulfilment, growing up and the relationship of parents and children.
This new production ofInto the Woodsis a major collaboration between Opera North and West Yorkshire Playhouse, two ofLeeds’ leading arts organisations.It will be directed by James Brining, Artistic Director of West Yorkshire Playhouse, in the Quarry Theatre, with a cast drawn largely from the hugely versatile Chorus of Opera North, part of the Company’s core artistic ensemble.
Into the Woods is a co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Cast and performance dates to be announced.
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Richard Wagner (1876)
Sung in German with English titles
Orchestra of Opera North
Conductor Richard Farnes
Concert Staging & Design ConceptPeter Mumford
Lighting & Projection Designer Peter Mumford
Associate Director Joe Austin
Das Rheingold
The ‘preliminary evening’ ofTheRing begins with music that evokes the dawn of time, starting a journey which travels from the watery twilight beneath the river Rhine, to the rainbow bridge that leads to Valhalla, fortress home of the gods. Set in a world populated by dwarfs and giants, gods and river-maidens, Das Rheingold sets the whole epic cycle in motion in thrilling fashion.