Rossini
Stabat Mater

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)

‘The glory of the man is only limited by the limits of civilisation itself’. So declared Stendahl when Rossini, at the age of only 32, had dazzled firstly an Italian public and then much of Europe’s with his brilliance as a composer of opera. His early successes were in opera buffa (comic opera) but at the age of 20 in 1812 he embarked on a ‘serious opera’. His speed and sureness of composition were marvelled at by all; his stagecraft and characterisation could not however keep pace with his tunes. Between November 1812 and May 1913 he produced four operas of which Tancredi established his reputation abroad. His more famous work The Barber of Seville followed in 1816, Rossini borrowing extensively from earlier, largely unsuccessful works. Further masterpieces followed including La Cenerentola (1817) and Semiramide (1823). During this time he was director of both Naples opera houses; as an impresario he was acquainted with both success and failure (The Barber was hissed on its first performance) – it is clear that while his ear for a tune never faltered, his ability to assess good box-office material did. Nonetheless he became a rich man, travelling widely and being lionised wherever he went. After a final success with the opera William Tell in 1829, he retired. He had written 36 operas in 19 years.

The overture to William Tell is a well known concert piece and exemplifies all that is best of Rossini in terms of melody and orchestration. Always as full of humour and the apt quotation as of melody, imitations of an Alphorn can be heard. The opera as a whole crowned his achievement; as Hanslick commented, ‘a new era for opera began’.

After a period of some 25 years, Rossini began composing again. Ill-health as much as a wish to retire had blunted his appetite for composition. However the approach of old age and, perhaps, recollections of the sins of his youth finally drove him to seek belatedly some religious consolation. He had had a not inconsiderable reputation in his youth with the ladies to the extent at least that he suffered for much of his life with ‘a social disease due to the abuse of Venus when young. He had lived life to the full- indeed so much so that twice he saw his own obituary published consequent on rumours that he had succumbed! Against this background Rossini wrote his Stabat Mater, whether from religious fervour, or in attempted appeasement of God, we cannot say. The Stabat Mater is a setting of a sequence from the Roman liturgy for Passion Week of 13th century origin. It describes the agonies of Jesus’ Mother at the foot of the Cross.

Unashamedly operatic in form, this work for four soloists, chorus and orchestra, displays allo the hallmarks of Rossini’s genius. Dramatic, sonorous and lyrical by turns, it was intended as an offering by the composer who had also perhaps been prompted to compose again by virtue of a marked improvement in health from 1857 onwards. He was poignantly aware of his past and it is not fanciful to see this work as a plea for restoration to God’s favour. For all his wit and vivacity, so clearly communicated through his music; for all his ability with and understanding of the human voice, its scope and beauty, Rossini, sadly, died bearing this thought: ‘Glory is no compensation for the trials of living’.

Verdi
Quatro Pezzi Sacri (Four Sacred Pieces)

Guiseppe Verdi 1813-1901

Throughout the 19th century, Verdi dominated the world of Italian Opera, in spite of his humble origins. After studies in Busetto and Milan his early operas were only moderately successful, until Nabucco in 1842. Thereafter the acclaim that greeted Rogoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata not to mention the late masterpieces Otello and Falstaff established the composer as the natural successor to Rossini and Donizetti and Verdi became the most famous operatic composer in Europe. He was also closely involved in the movement for Italian unity and independence and for a short time he was a senator in the Italian Parliament. Besides the 32 operas and the famous setting of the Requiem (1974 - written to commemorate the death of Rossini), the Four Sacred Pieces were written at various times in the composer’s later years but first published as a group in 1898. Thus they represent the full maturity of Verdi’s work, just as the Rossini Stabat Mater represents the earlier composer’s last public offering.

In 1888 a professor of music, Adolfo Crescentini, published in the Gazzetta musicale di Milano an “enigmatic” scale (that is, a scale made up of bizarre intervals), which he invited composers to harmonise. Verdi decided to write a setting of Ave Maria , his fouth setting. He wrote to his friend and colleague Arrrigo Boito; “perhaps I can look forward to being sanctified after my death!” To which Boito replied; “You will need a great many Ave Maris’s if his holiness is to forgive you Iago’s Credo!”

The Stabat Mater is set simply for chorus and orchestra, with no repetition of the text (unlike Rossini) but with immense expressive power and a huge dynamic climax. The following Laudi alla Vergine Maria a setting of lines from Dante’s Paradiso , evokes the spirit of sixteenth-century polyphony in modern terms, each verse beginning with a new motif illustrative of the text. It is scored for four female voices, like the Ave Maria without accompaniment.

The concluding Te Deum was written between the years 1895 and 1897 for a large double chorus (up to 16 parts) and orchestra, with a short Soprano solo at the end. This is not based on any earlier musical forms, but a truly dramatic setting, which reflects the change of mood from rejoicing to fear in the face of divine justice. Using the wealth of his operatic expericnce it is one of the most powerful and original of all versions of the canticle.

Verdi reluctantly agreed to all four being published together, but did not expect the Ave Maria to be performed, thinking of it more as a technical exercise. In fact it is now perhaps the best-known of the four. The first performance of the other three pieces was given in Paris, conducted by Boito, while Turin saw the first Italian performance, under Toscanini’s direction. These pieces have now become fully established as a fitting testament to one whose invention was as remarkable for its range as for its sublime originality.

Jeni Bern
Soprano

Born in Glasgow, Jeni graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and from the opera course of the Royal College of Music. The winner of numerous college prizes, including a Countess of Munster Award and, for two consecutive years, the President Emerita Award. She was recently a participant in the prestigious Samling Foundation masterclasses.

On the concert platform, Jeni has sung the Teixera Te Deum with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen in Macao, Cupid King Arthur with Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort in the Bergen Festival, with Trevor Pinnock in the Stour Festival, with the Bach Choir and Sir David Willcocks, Haydn's Creation in Spain with Sir Neville Marriner, Messiah with Rudi Lutz in Switzerland, the Beethoven Missa Solemnis and the Bruckner Te Deum, a UK tour of Vivaldi by Candlelight, the UK première of Michael Torke’s Book of Proverbs with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Belinda Dido & Aeneas for the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, and with countless choral societies throughout the UK. Most recently, Carmina Burana for RSNO and The Creation with Nicholas Kraemer and the SCO.

She has also appeared on television as Ann Trulove in the series Of Beauty and Consolation with the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vredenburg, Utrecht; for BBC1 Scotland. She has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 & 4 and recorded for Naxos. Her CD of Handel and Purcell with Crispian Steele Perkins for Carlton achieved widespread critical acclaim. Recent recordings include: The Divan of Moses Ibn-Ezra by Castelnuovo Tedesco for Somm Records and Haydn’s Stabat Mater with Christ Church Cathedral Choir.

Her stage roles have included The Guardian of the Threshold Die Frau ohne Schatten, Heavenly Voice Palestrina, Barbarina Le Nozze di Figaro and Blumenmädchen Parsifal for the Royal Opera House; Amor Orpheo and Eurydice for ENO; La Princesse L’Enfant et les Sortilèges for Opera North; Amor Orphée et Eurydice for WNO; Jano Jenufa for GFO; Susanna The Marriage of Figaro for English Touring Opera; Christa The Makropoulos Case for Scottish Opera Go Round; the title role Deidamia and Sigismondo Arminio for the London Handel Festival, Atalanta Serse for the Early Opera Company, Elissa Tolomeo with Nicholas Kraemer; Narcissa Philemon und Baucis (Haydn) with Trevor Pinnock, Dalinda Ariodante in the Covent Garden Festival; Adina L’Elisir d’Amore in Cambridge.

Recent engagements: Sophie Rosenkavalier at ENO, Oscar Un Ballo in Maschera for Opera Zuid and a recording of Edward Joseph Collins Hymn to the Earth with the RSNO.

Current season/future plans: Yum-Yum The Mikado for ENO, Musetta La Bohème for Opera Zuid.

Kathleen Wilkinson
Mezzo soprano

Kathleen studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where she received an entrance scholarship. During her time at the college she won several major awards including the Webster Booth Competition and Peter Moores' Foundation Scholarships, which enabled her to have coaching with Ludmilla Andrew and Theresa Cahill. She studied with Barbara Robotham, who remains her coach. A short period of study in Florence followed, during which she sang in a concert at Puccini's house - filmed by Italian television.

She has sung with most of Britain's major companies including Scottish Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera Ireland, Civit Hills, Holland Park, and Grange Park. Roles have included Madame de la Haltere in Cendrillon, Britten's Lucretia, Mercedes and the title role in Carmen, Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin, Suzuki in Madam Butterfly, Martha in Faust, Azucena in II Trovatore and Madam - By Ends in the highly acclaimed RNCM staging and subsequent recording of The Pilgrim's Progress, (Vaughan-Williams).

For Scottish Opera she created the roles of Margaret Muir in the world premiere of Friend of the People - by David Home, and Mary Lamb in Monster by Sally Beamish. She has also sung the demanding roles of Nurse / Old Woman in Ines di Castro by James MacMillan in Glasgow, Edinburgh and at the Teatro Coliseu in Oporto.

She has been very heavily involved in the highly acclaimed Scottish Opera / Edinburgh Festival Ring project over the past 3 years, singing the roles of Schwertleite and Erda. She is due to return to Scottish Opera next season for the entire Ring where she will also be covering lst Norn. Other covers for Scottish Opera include Amneris in Aida, and Adalgisa in Norma. She is also involved in future installments of the Ring at the Edinburgh International Festival and at the Lowry.

Kathleen has most recently been working at Glyndebourne where she covered the roles of Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring and Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin (Sung in Russian).

She has also appeared at the Festivals of Buxton, Brighton, Ryedale, Waterford and Torre del Lago. She has sung throughout the country in oratorio, including virtually all the major works. This has included Elijah with both Willard White and David Wilson Johnson and Verdi Requiem with many internationally acclaimed artists.

Her many appearances in concert, oratorio and recital include engagements as soloist with the Manchester Camerata, the English Sinfonia and the Hallé Orchestra, most notably singing Rule Britannia at the Hallé’s Last Night of the Proms at the Free Trade Hall, and the Russian Requiem, (Pekhonen), with the Birmingham Festival Chorus. Kathleen has also performed in many evenings of lighter music, including operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Gershwin. She has played virtually all the Gilbert & Sullivan mezzo-soprano roles, most notably an award winning performance of Katisha in The Mikado at the Buxton Festival. She also won the award for best female performer at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera for her Valencienne in The Merry Widow.

Huw Rhys-Evans
Tenor

Born in Tregaron, Huw Rhys-Evans won the Blue Riband Prize for the Singer of the Year at the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales and, on three occasions, the Tenor Solo Award. Following studies with Kenneth Bowen at the Royal Academy of Music, he was awarded the Tenor Prize at the 1990 Great Grimsby International Competition for Singers and completed his studies at the National Opera Studio.

His many and varied oratorio engagements have included the Bach Passions at the Netherlands, the B Minor Mass in Besançon, the St Matthew Passion with the Northern Chamber Orchestra, Joshua at St John's, Smith Square, Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall, Saul with the Darmstadt Konzertchor, The Creation with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Nelson Mass at the Fenice Theatre, Venice, Elijah with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Rossini Stabat Mater at Westminster Abbey, Bach St Matthew Passion in Manchester and Southwark Cathedrals, the Lloyd Webber Requiem with the Scottish Opera Orchestra and Carmina Burana at both the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall.

Huw Rhys-Evans' operatic engagements have included Ernesto Don Pasquale and Ismaele Nabucco for WNO, Vivaldo Die Hochzeit des Camacho at the Flanders International Festival, Ferrando Cosi fan tutte with Madrid Comic Opera and Opera d'Automne, Don Ottavio Don Giovanni for Perth Festival Opera, Belmonte Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail for Opera Project, Nadir The Philosopher's Stone with Collegium Musicum 90 (broadcast on BBC Radio 3), Tamino Die Zauberflöte with the North Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Pang Turandot with Mid-Wales Opera, Brighella Ariadne auf Naxos for the Fondation Royaumont and for English Touring Opera and First Jew Salome at the Bastille Opera.

Huw Rhys-Evans is particularly celebrated as a singer of Rossini, his roles including Carlo/Goffredo Armida, Almaviva II barbiere di Siviglia, Don Ramiro La Cenerentola, ldreno Semiramide and Belflore II viaggio a Reims sung for companies such as the Fondation Royaumont, the Spier Arts Trust, South Africa, Chelsea Opera Group and Opera North. In the summer of 2002 he sang the title role of Rossini’s Count Ory at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival in Germany under the eminent young conductor, Brad Cohen and returned this summer to sing the title role of Torvaldo E Dorliska.

Huw Rhys-Evans’ Carnegie Hall debut was in October 2001 when he appeared as a guest with the Morriston Male Voice Choir. He has since made his Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 2002 singing in the Kurt Weill opera The Royal Palace conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. He returned again this summer to sing in the Richard Strauss concert performance of Elektra, which was televised nationally. He appeared on Friday Night is Music Night in January 2002 and performed throughout the UK in December 2001/January 2002 with the London Festival Orchestra having debuted with the orchestra singing Messiah in Rhodes.

Huw Rhys-Evans has recorded Tamino and Almaviva for Opera Vox Cartoons and his varied CD credits include the title role in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory on the Naxos label, All Through the Night (Welsh Songs for Harp), Judge Le calife de Bagdad, Gouvy Stabat Mater, Vivaldo Mendelssohn Die Hochzeit des Camacho, Ferrando Cosi fan tutte, Pedrillo Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail, Carmina Burana, Handel Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah and Elgar The Kingdom.

Paul Keohone
Baritone/Bass Baritone

Born in Scotland, Paul trained with Norman Bailey CBE at the Royal College of Music. For English National Opera he has understudied the roles of Teddy Foran in Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassiei, The Poacher in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Michel in Martin Butler’s A Better Place, Raevsky and Denisov in Prokoviev’s War and Peace.

For Scottish Opera he has covered Alberich in Siegfried and will cover the role in Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Edinburgh Festival in 2003.

Other roles include Scarpia Tosca with European Chamber Opera and with the University of Kent; Jochanaan Salome at Piggots’ Music Camp; Escamillo Carmen, Schaunard La Boheme and Masetto Don Giovanni with Opera on a Shoestring in Glasgow; Der Bauer Schubert Des Teufels Lustschloss for Opera de Nancy; Water Sprite Tchaikovsky Cherevichki at Wexford; Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Brava; Cascada Lehar The Merry Widow, Mars Offenbach Orpheus in the Underworld and Masetto Don Giovanni at Holland Park;Corpo Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo with Opera Italiana; Caspar Der Freischutz in concert with King Edward Music Society; Edgar in the British Premier of the opera Vision of Lear at the Linbury Studio Theatre and Ghost of Virgil Rachmaninov Francesca da Rimini and Servant Rachmaninov The Miserly Knight with Chelsea Opera Group.

Paul was a finalist in the Wagner Society’s Mastersingers Prize for Male Wagnerian Voices 2003.

Numerous broadcasts include Classic FM, Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4), Mr Anderson’s Fine Tunes (BBC Radio Scotland), Don’t Look Down (Scottish Television) and Cutting Edge (Channel 4). Paul recently made his EMI recording debut as baritone soloist on the new Roberto Alagna CD ‘Bel Canto’.

Paul’s performances in Oratorio have included over 40 Choral societies in the UK performing works from Bach St Matthew Passion to Verdi Requiem, in venues including the cathedrals of Canterbury, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Southwark and Ripon. Recent highlights include Messiah with The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Christus Bach St Matthew Passion in Liverpool Cathedral, Haydn Nelson Mass in Canterbury Cathedral, Elgar The Dream of Gerontius with London Festival Chorus and Verdi Requiem with City Philharmonic Choral Society.

Future work includes educational projects on Wagner’s Ring Cycle for Scottish Opera’s Education Programme – including singing Alberich scenes on the main stage with Richard Armstrong conducting; Scottish Opera for All; concerts of Das Rhinegold for the Wagner Society and opera gala concerts with Opera on a Shoestring. "Paul Keohone’s powerful singing of Don Jose’s successful toreador rival Escamillo…… so suave and self-confident" Carmen – Cottier Theatre, Scottish Herald

David Gibson
Conductor

David Gibson began his musical training as a chorister and Lay Clerk in Chichester Cathedral Choir. As an Organ Scholar, he later studied music at the universities of London and Sussex. He has worked extensively as a pianist and organist but has been a freelance conductor for the past twelve years, working with many of the top orchestras in the country, including the Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and the New London Sinfonia, which he founded in 1987. In 1991 he was appointed Assistant Director of Music and Chorus Master of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Since then he has worked for them as Guest Conductor, performing all the major G & S works together with Die Fledermaus and Orpheus in the Underworld throughout the UK. He is currently Musical Director of the Southampton Philharmonic Society, Basingstoke Choral Society, the Occam Singers and, since 1999 the Croydon Philharmonic Choir.

In 1994 he was appointed Musical Director of European Chamber Opera and took up a similar post with Opera Holland Park in 1996. He has also conducted extensively for Travelling Opera with repertoire including Carmen, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Magic Flute, Barber of Seville, La Bohème, Tosca, Madam Butterfly and Un Ballo in Maschera, performing in Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Barbados, and the USA.

Other engagements have included a return visit to the Barbados Opera Festival, a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Philharmonia and a series of concerts with the London Mozart Players as part of their 50th Anniversary. This included a world premiere of Michael Nyman's Suite from Drowning by Numbers. David has also worked as Musical Director in the West End for Raymond Gubbay in the highly successful D’Oyly Carte production of The Pirates of Penzance at the Queen’s Theatre.

Recent successes include further concerts with the London Mozart Players, a Michael Nyman opera at the Bridewell Theatre in London and a memorable performance of Belshazzar’s Feast with the New Queens Hall Orchestra. In 2002, he took up a new post as Director of Music of the Surrey Festival Choir, founded by Vaughan Williams.

Future plans include a series of concerts with the British Philharmonic Orchestra in Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Truro and the release of a debut CD with the Occam Singers.

The Southampton Philharmonic Choir

The New London Sinfonia

The New London Sinfonia

Musical Director: David Gibson

Leader: Martin Smith

The New London Sinfonia is a fully professional Symphony Orchestra that was formed in 1987 from a pool of talented young instrumentalists who have formed the backbone of the orchestra ever since. Although based in London, it has performed throughout the South of England specialising in the accompaniment of opera and choral works.

Performance venues have included St John’s Smith Square in London, Guildford, Winchester and Chichester Cathedrals and most of the major concert halls in the region, gaining an ever-increasing reputation for the quality of their work. The orchestra has also received critical acclaim for its performance of purely orchestral repertoire; leading to a growing number of engagements.

Recent projects have included recording the soundtrack for a feature film on general release, a highly successful premiere of a new work by Dominic Muldowney (The Fall of Jerusalem) and several performances at Fairfield Hall, Croydon that have received outstanding critical acclaim.