HERE - London Handel Festival

15TH YEAR
FINAL
MONDAY 4 APRIL 2016 7pm
St George's, Hanover Square
St George Street
London
W1S 1FX
FINALISTS
GALINA AVERINA SOPRANO
SHAKED BAR SOPRANO
PAVLA FLÁMOVÁ SOPRANO
MARIE LYS SOPRANO
WILLIAM WALLACE TENOR
ADJUDICATORS
IAN PARTRIDGE CHAIRMAN (all rounds)
EDWARD BLAKEMAN (Final)
CATHERINE DENLEY (all rounds)
MICHAEL GEORGE (all rounds)
VALERIE MASTERSON (Final)
HSC
SUPPORTED BY
Franz and Regina Etz
The Farinelli Prize
The Groner Trust
The Michael Oliver Trust
Mr Michael Normington
The Selma D and Leon Fishbach
Memorial Prizes
London Handel Society Ltd
Horton House, 8 Ditton Street
Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 0BQ
01460 53500
londonhandelfestival@gmail.com
Handel Singing Competition
inaugurated in 2002
Promoted by the London Handel Society Ltd
Charity no. 269184
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FESTIVAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LONDON HANDEL SOCIETY
Incorporating
London Handel Festival
London Handel Orchestra
London Handel Singers
London Handel Players
Promoted by the
London Handel Society Ltd
Charity no 269184
The Board of Directors of the London
Handel Society would like to thank all
those involved in the 39th London Handel
Festival and is very grateful to those
who have given donations to support
the Festival.
PATRONS
Dame Emma Kirkby
Ian Partridge CBE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mr Richard Hopkin Chairman
Mr Michael Normington Treasurer
Mr Stephen Cooke
Mr John Chown
Ms Mary Deissler
Mr Nigel Fletcher
Ms Judith Ingham
Mr Simon Jennings
Dr Alan King
Mr Richard Moyse
Mr Leslie Porter
Founder Conductor Denys Darlow
Musical Director Laurence Cummings
Associate Director/Leader
Adrian Butterfield
Festival Director Catherine Hodgson
Orchestra Manager
Anne-Marie Norman
HSC & Front of House Manager
Ann Allen
Box Office Manager
Latasha Lamb
Festival assistants
Yvonne Eddy, Tristan Teller, Orsi Torjak
Sophie Maisey, Susan Palmer
Thank you to all the PERFORMERS who
are featured on the event pages in the
Festival programmes.
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Festival programmes
Catherine Hodgson
Festival programme notes
Graydon Beeks, Donald Burrows
Corrina Connor, Katie Hawks
Miranda Jackson, Peter Jones
Anthony Pither
Advertising for programme
Vicki Stoten at VGS Connect
Programme printers Impress Print Ltd
Instant Print West One, Creeds of Bridport
PROVIDERS & INSTRUMENTS
The chamber organ used in the Festival is
the Handel House Museum Chamber organ
built to Handel’s specification by Martin
Goetze and Dominic Gwynn.
Claire Hammett harpsichords: Flemish
double by Mackinnon & Waitzman, Giusti
Italian by David Evans, Ruckers single by
Richard Kingston.
Keith McGowan: Klop 3.5 stop organ,
Fleischer single harpsichord by Goble.
Edmund Pickering: Ruckers-Hemsch
double harpsichord by Ian Tucker.
Andrew Wooderson: Rose, Richerby &
Wooderson 4 stop German organ.
Mark Ransom: Grimaldi Italian single
harpsichord by Ransom & Hammett.
Malcolm Greenhalgh: Kirckman double
harpsichord by Huw Saunders.
LONDON VENUES
BRITTEN THEATRE, ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BS
CHANDOS HOUSE
2 Queen Anne Street, London, W1G 9LQ
THE FOUNDLING MUSEUM
40 Brunswick Square London WC1N 1AZ
GROSVENOR CHAPEL
24 South Audley Street, London W1K 2PA
HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM
25 Brook Street, London W1K 4HB
ST GEORGE’S, HANOVER SQUARE
St George Street, London W1S 1FX
ST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE
Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA
ST LAWRENCE, LITTLE STANMORE
Whitchurch Lane, Edgware,
Middx, HA8 6QS
WIGMORE HALL
36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Valerie Barber PR
MUSIC PREPARATION
Clifford Bartlett, Peter Jones
BOX OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATION
Horton House, 8 Ditton Street,
Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 0BQ
Tel: 01460 53500
Box Office: 01460 54660
Charity registration number 269184
CONTACT:
Catherine Hodgson
Email: londonhandelfestival@gmail.com
www.london-handel-festival.com
Latasha Lamb & Susan Palmer
latasha-lamb@btconnect.com
susan-palmer@btconnect.com
HANDEL SINGING COMPETITION
lhfhsc@gmail.com
Ann Allen and Susan Palmer
DIARY OF EVENTS 2016
VENUES
BT, RCM - Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music
FM - The Foundling Museum
GC - Grosvenor Chapel
HH - Handel House Museum
SGHS - St George’s, Hanover Square
SL - St Lawrence, Little Stanmore
SJSS - St John’s, Smith Square
WH - Wigmore Hall.
MARCH
TUESDAY 8 MARCH
1.10-1.50pm
GC
Tom Winpenny Organ Concert
TUESDAY 8 MARCH
5.45pm
Walk - Arts and Music
TUESDAY 8 MARCH
7pm
BT, RCM
Performance 1 - Handel Ariodante
WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH
1-2pm
SGHS
RCM Baroque Lunchtime
WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH
4-5pm
BT, RCM
Talk by Katie Hawks on Ariodante
WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH
7pm
BT, RCM
Performance 2 - Handel Ariodante
FRIDAY 11 MARCH
12-1pm
BT, RCM
Ariodante Young Person’s Matinée
FRIDAY 11 MARCH
1-2pm
SGHS
Guildhall Cantata Ensemble
FRIDAY 11 MARCH
7pm
SGHS
Youthful Mastery
SATURDAY 12 MARCH
4-5pm
BT, RCM
Talk by Donald Burrows on Ariodante
SATURDAY 12 MARCH
7pm
BT, RCM
Performance 3 - Handel Ariodante
MONDAY 14 MARCH
1-2pm
SGHS
Maria Ostroukhova Lunchtime Recital
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MONDAY 14 MARCH
7pm
BT, RCM
Performance 4 - Handel Ariodante
TUESDAY 15 MARCH
1.10-1.50pm
SGHS
Robin Walker Organ Concert
THURSDAY 17 MARCH
1-2pm
SGHS
Ingrida Gápová Lunchtime Recital
THURSDAY 17 MARCH
7pm
SGHS
Handel Berenice
FRIDAY 18 MARCH
7pm
SGHS
Southbank Sinfonia Baroque
MONDAY 21 MARCH
6pm
GC
HSC Semi-Final
TUESDAY 22 MARCH
1.10-1.50pm
GC
Grosvenor Chapel Choir
WEDNESDAY 23 MARCH
5.30pm
Walk - The sick, poor and abandonned
WEDNESDAY 23 MARCH
7pm
FM
Musica da Camera
THURSDAY 24 MARCH
12-1pm
HH
Bach meets Handel
FRIDAY 25 MARCH
2.30pm
SGHS
Bach St Matthew Passion
TUESDAY 29 MARCH
1.10-1.50pm
SGHS
Nicholas Morris Organ Concert
WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH
1.10-2.10pm GC
Josep-Ramon Olivé Lunchtime Recital
THURSDAY 31 MARCH
7pm
Handel Elpidia
SGHS
APRIL
MONDAY 4 APRIL
5.30pm
Walk - Handel’s Mayfair
MONDAY 4 APRIL
7pm
SGHS
HSC Final
TUESDAY 5 APRIL
1.10-1.50pm
SGHS
James Johnstone Organ Concert
TUESDAY 5 APRIL
7.30pm
WH
European Connections
WEDNESDAY 6 APRIL
1.10-2.10pm
GC
Alice Privett Lunchtime Recital
THURSDAY 7 APRIL
7pm
SL
Chandos 300
FRIDAY 8 APRIL
1.10-2.10pm
GC
Sarah Hayashi Lunchtime Recital
MONDAY 11 APRIL
5.45pm
Walk - 1000 Years of destruction
MONDAY 11 APRIL
4-5pm
SGHS
Talk by Natassa Varka
(note change) on Alexander Balus
MONDAY 11 APRIL
SJSS
7pm
HSC ADJUDICATORS:
Ian Partridge (Chairman & all three rounds)
Edward Blakeman (Final only)
Catherine Denley (all three rounds)
Michael George (all three rounds)
Valerie Masterson (Final only)
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Handel Alexander Balus
HARPSICHORD ACCOMPANISTS:
Chad Kelly
Nathaniel Mander
Asako Ogawa
Heather Tomala
HSC ADMINISTRATORS
Ann Allen & Susan Palmer
MONDAY 4 APRIL 7PM
FINAL 2016 AT ST GEORGE'S, HANOVER SQUARE
GALINA AVERINA SOPRANO
Aria: Mio caro bene (Rodelinda HWV19)
Aria: Tu del ciel ministro eletto
(Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno HWV46a)
Aria: Da tempeste (Giulio Cesare in Egitto HWV17)
SHAKED BAR Recitative & Aria: Aria: Recitative & Aria: SOPRANO
S’e’ corrisposto un core … Amor e’ qual vento (Orlando HWV31)
Il mio crudel martoro (Ariodante HWV33)
Ah, Lisaura tradita! … No, più soffrir non voglio (Alessandro HWV21)
WILLIAM WALLACE TENOR
Recitative & Aria:
'Tis well, my friends ... Call Forth Thy Powers
(Judas Maccabaeus HWV63)
Recitative & Aria:
Hide thou thy hated beams, O sun ...
Waft her angels through the skies (Jephtha HWV70)
Recitative & Aria:
Fatto inferno ... Pastorello d’un povero armento (Rodelinda HWV19)
PAVLA FLÁMOVÁ SOPRANO
Recitative & Aria: Me, when the sun begins to fling … Hide me from day’s garish
(L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato HWV55)
Aria: Credete al mio dolore (Alcina HWV34)
Aria:
Come nembo che fugge col vento
(Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno HWV46a)
MARIE LYS
Aria:
Recitative & Aria:
SOPRANO
Ah! mio cor (Alcina HWV34)
Ingrato Polinesso ... Neghittosi, or voi che fate? (Ariodante HWV33)
LAURENCE CUMMINGS CONDUCTOR
London Handel Orchestra
ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD LEADER
VIOLIN I
BASS
VIOLIN II
James Eastaway, Catherine Latham
Adrian Butterfield, Laura Vadjon
William Thorp, Diane Moore
Oliver Webber, Theresa Caudle
Ellen O'Dell, Stephen Bull
VIOLAS
Rachel Byrt, Malgosia Ziemkiewicz
Cecelia Bruggemeyer
OBOES
BASSOON
Nathaniel Harrison
HARPSICHORD
Laurence Cummings
CELLOS
Katherine Sharman
Melanie Woodcock
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GALINA AVERINA
SOPRANO
Mio caro bene
(Rodelinda HWV19)
Aria
Mio caro bene!
Non ho più affanni
e pene al cor.
Vedendoti contento,
nel seno mio già sento,
che sol vi alberga amor.
Mio caro bene ... da capo
My dearest beloved!
I have no more anguish and pain,
I have no more pain in my heart.
Seeing you happy,
in my heart I already feel
only love making its home.
My dearest beloved, etc.
Tu del ciel ministro eletto
(Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
HWV46a)
Accompagnato
Pure del Cielo intelligenze eterne,
che vera scuola a ben amare aprite,
udite, angeli, udite il pianto mio,
e se la Verità dal Sole eterno
tragge luce immortale, e a me lo scopre,
fate che al gran desio rispondam l'opre.
Pure and eternal beings of Heaven,
who reveal true lessons of pure love,
harken, angels, hear my plaint,
and as Truth draws immortal light
from the eternal Sun, and reveals it to me,
let my deeds respond to my great desire.
Aria
Tu del Ciel ministro eletto
non vedrai più mio petto
voglia infida, o vano ardor.
E si vissi ingrata a Dio
tu custode del cor mio
a lui porta il nuovo cor.
Tu del Ciel ... da capo
You, the chosen minister of Heaven,
shall see no more in my breast
an unfaithful wish or vain desire.
And though I lived ungrateful to God,
may you, guardian of my soul,
bring to him a renewed heart.
You, the chosen minister, etc.
Da tempeste
(Giulio Cesare in Egitto HWV17)
Aria
Da tempeste il legno infranto,
se poi salvo giunge in porto,
non sa più che desiar.
Così il cor tra pene e pianto,
or che trova il suo conforto,
torna l'anima a bear.
Da tempeste ... da capo
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The boat that, battered by the tempest,
safely reaches the harbour,
Does not know what more to ask for.
And so a heart that dwelt in pains
when at last it finds peace again, gives itself
over to rejoicing.
SHAKED BAR
SOPRANO
S’e’ corrisposto un core …
Amor e’ qual vento
(Orlando HWV31)
Recitativo
S’è corrisposto un core
Teme ancor del suo amore.
Se un altro è mal gradito
Prova il martir del barbaro Cocito.
Nel mar d’amor per tutto v’è lo scoglio
E vedo ben, che amare è un
grand’imbroglio.
Aria
Amor è qual vento che gira il cervello
ho inteso che a cento comincia bel bello
a farli godere.
Ma a un corto piacere dà un lungo dolor
Se uniti due cori si credon beati
gelosi timori li fan sfortunati
Se un core è sprezzato divien arrabbiato,
così fa l’Amor.
Amore è qual vento ... da capo
If a lover is successful,
fear still plagues her,
but if the lover sees himself rejected
he feels the horrors of infernal pangs.
The sea of love is strewn with dangerous rocks,
and I see that love is a tremendous anguish.
Love is like a gust of wind
that spins the head,
I’ve heard it starts well and is pleasing,
But after a short while, there is a long
sadness.
If two hearts are united, and believe themselves blessed, jealousy and fear soon get
the better of them; if a heart is betrayed, it
becomes deranged. That’s what love can do.
Love is like a gust of wind etc.
Il mio crudel martoro
(Ariodante HWV33)
Aria
Il mio crudel martoro
crescer non può di più;
morte, dove sei tu,
che ancor non moro?
My cruel torment
could not get worse;
death, where are you,
since I still do not die.
Vieni, de' mali miei,
no, che il peggior non sei,
ma sei ristoro.
Il mio crudel ... da capo
Come. Of my ills,
no, you are not the worst,
but you are my comfort.
My cruel torment, etc.
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Ah, Lisaura tradita! …
No, più soffrir non voglio
(Alessandro HWV21)
Recitativo
Ahi Lisaura tradita!
del pari che l'Amor,
vano è il tuo sdegno.
Risolvi non soffrir quest'atto indegno.
Ah, betrayed Lisaura!
just like your love,
your fury is in vain;
I resolve not to bear this unworthy act.
Aria
No, più soffrir non voglio.
E' troppa infedeltà.
Instabile qual onda,
più mobile che fronda
è l'incostante.
Non lo vorria l'Orgoglio,
se lo volesse amor.
No 'l voglio più soffrir
d'un altra amante.
No, più soffrir ... da capo
No, I will not bear it,
it is too much faithlessness,
unstable as the waves,
more restless than the leaves
is this inconstant one.
My pride will not bear it,
although Love would endure much;
no, I cannot bear
that he should have another lover.
No, I will not bear it, etc.
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WILLIAM WALLACE
TENOR
'Tis well, my friends ... Call Forth Thy Powers
(Judas Maccabaeus HWV63)
Recitativo
'Tis well, my friends; with transport I behold
The spirit of our fathers, fam'd of old
For their exploits in war. Oh, may their fire
With active courage you, their sons inspire:
As when the mighty Joshua fought,
And those amazing wonders wrought,
Stood still, obedient to his voice, the sun,
Till kings he had destroy'd, and kingdoms won.
Aria
Call forth thy pow'rs, my soul, and dare
The conflict of unequal war.
Great is the glory of the conqu'ring sword,
That triumphs in sweet liberty restor'd.
Hide thou thy hated beams, O sun ...
Waft her, angels, through the skies
(Jephtha HWV70)
Accompagnato
Hide thou thy hated beams, O sun, in clouds
And darkness, deep as is a father's woe;
A father, off'ring up his only child
In vow'd return for victory and peace.
Aria
Waft her, angels, through the skies,
Far above yon azure plain,
Glorious there, like you, to rise,
There, like you, for ever reign.
Waft her ... da capo
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Fatto inferno ...
Pastorello d'un povero armento
(Rodelinda HWV19)
Recitativo
Fatto inferno è il mio petto;
di più flagelli armate ho dentro il core
tre furie: gelosia, sdegno ed amore.
E da più gole io sento,
quasi mastin crudele,
il rimorso latrar per mio tormento,
chiamandomi infedele,
spergiuro, usurpator, empio e tiranno.
Ma pur voi lusingate
le stanche mie pupille
ad un breve riposo, aure tranquille!
Sì, dormi Grimoaldo, e se ritrovi
pace tra i fonti e l’erbe,
delle regie superbe
le mal sicure soglie in abbandono
lascia; che prezioso
è dell’alma riposo al par del trono.
My breast has become a hell;
I’ve three furies armed with many whips
in my heart: jealousy, disdain and love.
And from the depths I hear,
like a cruel hound,
remorse howling to torment me,
calling me faithless,
perjurer, usurper, villain and tyrant.
But yet, console
my tired eyes
with a brief repose, O gentle breezes!
Yes, sleep, Grimoaldo, and if you find again
peace among the streams and meadows,
leave the unsteady throne
of proud kingdoms,
for a peaceful heart
is as precious as the throne.
Aria
Pastorello d’un povero armento
Pur dorme contento,
sotto l’ombra d’un faggio o d’alloro.
Io, d’un regno monarca fastoso,
non trovo riposo,
sotto l’ombra di porpora e d’oro.
Pastorello … da capo
The shepherd of a poor flock
may sleep content
beneath the shade of a beech or laurel.
I, king of a magnificent realm,
can find no peace
under the shade of purple and gold.
The shepherd … etc.
10
PAVLA FLÁMOVÁ
SOPRANO
Me, when the sun begins to fling …
Hide me from day’s garish
(L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato HWV55)
Accompagnato
Me, when the sun begins to fling
His flaring beams, me goddess bring
To arched walks of twilight groves,
And shadows brown that Sylvan loves;
There in close covert by some brook,
Where no profaner eye may look.
Aria
Hide me from day's garish eye,
While the bee with honied thigh,
Which at her flow'ry worth doth sing,
And the waters murmuring,
With such consort as they keep
Entice the dewy-feather'd sleep;
And let some strange mysterious dream
Wave at his wings in airy stream
Of lively portraiture display'd,
Softly on my eyelids laid.
Then as I wake, sweet music breathe,
Above, about, or underneath,
Sent by some spirit to mortals good,
Or th'unseen genius of the wood.
Credete al mio dolore
(Alcina HWV34)
Aria
Credete al mio dolore,
luci tiranne, e care!
Languo per voi d'amore,
bramo da voi pietà!
Believe me when I say I suffer,
dear, compelling eyes!
I pine for love of you,
I crave your pity.
Se pianger mi vedete,
Se mio tesor vi chiamo,
E dite, che non v’amo,
E’ troppa crudeltà.
Credete al mio dolore … da capo
If you see me weep,
if I call you my treasure,
and if you say that I do not love you,
then cruelty is too great.
Believe me, etc.
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Come nembo che fugge col vento
(Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
HWV46a)
Aria
Come nembo che fugge col vento
da te fuggo sdegnato e severo.
Se l'inganno è il mio solo alimento
come viver io posso nel vero?
Come nembo ... da capo
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As a cloud flies with the wind,
I fly from you, indignant and angry.
Since deceit is my only succour,
how can I live with truth?
As a cloud, etc.
MARIE LYS
SOPRANO
Ah! mio cor!
(Alcina HWV34)
Aria
Ah! mio cor! schernito sei!
Stelle! Dei!
Nume d'amore!
Traditore!
T'amo tanto;
puoi lasciarmi sola in pianto,
oh Dei! Perchè?
Ma, che fa gemendo Alcina?
Son reina, è tempo ancora:
resti o mora,
peni sempre, o torni a me.
Ah, mio cor ... da capo
Ah! my heart! you are scorned!
You stars! ye gods!
Deity of love!
Betrayer!
I love you so;
how can you leave me alone, in tears?
O gods! Why?
But what is Alcina doing complaining?
I am queen, and there is yet time.
He shall stay or die,
suffer eternally, or return to me!
Ah, my heart, etc.
Ingrato Polinesso ...
Neghittosi, or voi che fate?
(Ariodante (HWV33)
Recitativo
Ingrato Polinesso! E in che peccai,
che con la morte ricompensi amore?
Ah, sì, questo è l’error; troppo t’amai
Aria
Neghittosi, or voi che fate?
Fulminate,
Cieli, ormai sul capo all’empio!
Fate scempio dell’ingrato,
del crudel che m’ha tradita,
impunita l’empietà
riderà
nel veder poi fulminato
qualche scoglio o qualche tempio.
Neghittosi ... da capo
Ungrateful Polinesso! And how have I
offended
that you reward my love with death?
Ah, yes, this was my mistake: I loved you too
much.
Indifferent ones, what are you doing?
Send thunderbolts,
heaven, on the head of the evil one!
Make an example of the ingrate,
of the cruel one who has betrayed me,
unpunished, the pitiless one
will laugh
if he sees lightning destroy
some rock or some temple.
Indifferent ones, etc.
Translations by Corrina Connor and Peter Jones
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PROGRAMME NOTE
ALLEGORY
‘Come nembo che fugge col vento’
Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
‘Tu del ciel ministro eletto’
Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
‘Me, when the sun begins to fling …
Hide me from day’s garish eye’
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
During his sojourn in Rome in the first
decade of the eighteenth century, Handel
had been immersed in the music of the
oratorio’s spiritual home, where these
narrative dramas on sacred, allegorical,
mythological, or historical themes had
been developing since the early seventeenth century. Handel’s first oratorio,
Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
(1707) was composed for Rome, where
opera was banned by papal decree, and
oratorios and cantatas were substitutes:
the devotional, or at least moral, slant
to the oratorio libretto could benefit the
sensibilities of the audience whilst fulfilling
certain intellectual ideals. Without
trappings of opera – costumes, scenery,
stage machinery and special effects – it
was arguably necessary that the music
be even more dramatic and affective in
order to hold the attention of the
audience.
Handel’s patron, the connoisseur Cardinal
Pamphili, was the librettist for Il trionfo,
and he drew on a long Italian literary
tradition of morally imperative allegorical
-dramatic writing: Pamphili gives us four
allegorical personifications, Bellezza
(‘Beauty’, a young woman), Piacere
(‘Pleasure’, a young man), Disinganno
(‘Enlighted Insight), and Tempo (Old
Father Time). Bellezza’s longing for a life
of worldly pleasure is encouraged by
Piacere, but Bellezza is eventually won
over by Disinganno and Tempo. ‘Come
nembo che fugge col vento’ comes from
the end of the oratorio, the response of
a petulant Piacere to the repentant
Bellezza’s dismissal. Bellezza then sings
the transcendent aria ‘Tu del ciel ministro
eletto’. Bellezza’s conversion is a triumph
for Pamphili, the Jesuit ‘fisher of souls’,
14
and Handel succeeded magnificently in his
musical evocation of sublime redemption.
James Harris (1709-1780) was a writer
and aesthetician, and according to Fanny
Burney a man ‘whose soul seems all music.’
He made an initial arrangement of poems
from Milton’s L’Allegro and Il Penseroso at
the request of Handel’s librettist Charles
Jennens, in order to create a libretto for
an allegorical pastoral ode by Handel.
Milton’s visions of pastoral poetic melancholy in Il Penseroso were popular
throughout the eighteenth century,
providing inspiration for many poets,
including William Blake who made a
series of engravings to illustrate the
verses. With some amendments by
Charles Jennens, Handel set the sequence
of poems for a first performance on 27
February 1740 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
Handel’s setting of the poems, some
following ‘particular musical treatments’
suggested by Harris in his original draft,
takes Milton’s verse to a still-higher
aesthetic plane.
There are four allegorical characters in
the ode: L’Allegro (tenor), Il Penseroso
(a soprano) and Il Moderato (a bass),
as well as a chorus. In the recitative and
air ‘Me, when the sun begins to fling …
Hide me from day’s garish eye’, we hear
Penseroso singing of sleep and rest, with
a text containing many references to
literary precedents. The ‘bee with honied
thigh’ alludes to Michael Drayton’s The
Owle (1604), while the ‘strange mysterious
dream’ has a parallel with Ben Jonson’s
The Vision of Delight and Night’s speech:
Break, Phat’sie, from thy cave of cloud
And spread thy purple wings;
Now all thy figures are allowed,
And various shapes of things;
Create of ariry forms a stream.
RODELINDA
Rodelinda: ‘Mio caro bene’
Rodelinda: ‘Fatto inferno … Pastorello
povero armento’
In Act III of Rodelinda, Grimoaldo is at low
ebb; having seized the throne of Bertradio,
King of Lombardy, Grimoaldo realises that
the head that wears the stolen crown lies
very uneasily indeed. His accompagnato
and aria ‘Fatto inferno ... Pastorello d’un
povero armento’ find Grimaldo unable to
rest: his heart is filled with jealousy, love,
and anger, and his conscience troubles
him. As ever for Handel, the orchestral role
is crucial to characterisation as it illustrates
each character’s psychology, beyond their
mere words. For his setting of this scena
for Grimoaldo, Handel brilliantly contrasts
the rough viciousness of the string writing
at the start of the accompagnato section
(‘Fatto inferno’), with the smoothness of
the ‘sleep’ music, as Grimoaldo longs for
repose, but musically it is apparent that his
conscience keeps pricking him. Similarly,
Handel juxtaposes the lilting Siciliana
metre of the aria (appropriate for the
‘pastoral’ subject of the shepherd)
with motivic material that continues to
emphasise unease and spiritual torment. Rodelinda’s final aria ‘Mio caro bene’ is
full of rejoicing: having been under the
impression that her Bertradio is dead,
while she herself must suffer Grimoaldo’s
dastardly advances, Rodelinda is overjoyed
to find that Bertradio lives. Grimoaldo,
tortured by guilt and unease, and then
astounded when the virtuous Bertradio
spares his life, decides to give the throne
of Lombardy back to its rightful holders.
Rodelinda, a faithful and virtuous wife, who
is also unafraid to challenge and threaten
her enemies for the sake of her family,
emerges triumphant.
ARIODANTE
Ariodante: ‘Il mio crudel martoro’
Ariodante: ‘Ingrato Polinesso... Neghittosi,
or voi che fate?’
Ariodante opened Handel’s first opera
season at the Covent Garden Theatre, on
8 January 1735, and the production ran for
11 performances. Its libretto is anonymous,
but based on Ginerva, principessa
di Scozia, which was derived from
Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. The aria ‘Il
crudel martoro’ comes from the end of
Act II: Ginerva is confused. Her father was
about to adopt Ariodante (her betrothed)
as his heir, but apparently Ariodante has
just flung himself into the sea, tortured by
rumours of Ginerva’s unchaste conduct.
Ginerva – who has been the victim of plotting by her servant, Dalinda, and Polinesso
(the Duke of Albany) – is driven mad by
this news. She wants to die, to escape the
horror of Ariodante’s death, and the slanderous tale of her promiscuity.
It transpires that Ariodante, although
unhinged, is not dead: at the start of Act
III, Dalinda meets Ariodante wandering
in a forest, and indeed, he saves her life.
They discover that they have both been
victims of Polinesso’s duplicity, and in
‘Ingrato Polinesso ... Neghittosi, or voi
che fate?’ Dalinda realises that her love for
Polinesso blinded her to his evil: she calls
for lightning bolts, represented by jagged
string figurations, to strike the perfidious
monster.
ORATORIO
Jephtha
Accompagnato: ‘Hide thou thy hated
beams, O sun’
Air: ‘Waft her, angels, through the skies’
Judas Maccabaeus
Air: ‘Call Forth Thy Powers’
Handel wrote the beautiful tenor part of
his last English oratorio, Jeptha (1751) for
the tenor John Beard, whose career was
closely linked with Handel’s. Born in
c. 1717, John Beard received his early
training as a chorister in the Chapel Royal,
and his first solo role in a Handel oratorio
was as the Priest of the Israelites in Esther
in 1732. On 23 March 1743 Beard was also
the tenor soloist in the first London
performance of Messiah. In 1739, Beard
had married Lady Henrietta Herbert, the
daughter of an illegitimate son of James II,
James Waldegrave. The marriage was
widely derided, with the Earl of Egmont
commenting that because Beard was
rumoured to have had ‘the pox’, Lady
Harriet would be deprived of ‘the only
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thing she married him for, which was her
lust.’ Throughout his marriage, Beard
continued working as a successful singer
– which was necessary as their finances
were uncertain – and the many beautiful
roles which Handel wrote for him demonstrate Beard’s capacity for sensitive,
expressive, lyrical singing. ‘Hide thou thy
hated beams’ and ‘Waft her, angels’
demonstrate some of these qualities in the
tragic story of Jeptha, which librettist
Thomas Morrell took from chapters 11-12 in
the Book of Judges, with some material
from George Buchannan’s Jepthas sive
votum of 1554. The Israelite warrior,
Jeptha, promised the Almighty that if he
were victorious in battle against the
children of Ammon, ‘Then it shall be, that
whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of
my house, when I return in peace … shall
surely be the LORD’s.’ The first person
Jeptha meets is his daughter, Iphis.
Morrell’s libretto saves Jeptha from
sacrificing Iphis, with the dubious vitiation
of sentencing her to a life of perpetual
virginity.
At the start of Part 3 of the oratorio,
Jeptha is tortured by the results of his rash
promise: the moment has come when he
must sacrifice Iphis. Jeptha’s desolation is
palpable in ‘Hide thou, thy hated beams’,
in which Handel’s musical colours are so
dark that they seem prescient of the later
eighteenth-century’s Sturm und Drang.
Jeptha’s despair turns to hope as he sings
‘Waft her, angels’: here, rather like
Orpheus wooing Charon, Jeptha uses
vocal eloquence to strengthen his pleas.
John Beard had sung the title role in
Handel’s earlier Judas Maccabeus (1746);
the librettist was also Thomas Morrell. This
oratorio is unusual for its overt pertinence
to current events: following the great rout
of Jacobite forces at Culloden in 1745, the
Dean of the Chapel Royal was required to
procure a new anthem ‘upon the Account
of the Duke of Cumberland’s Success
against the Rebels’, which Maurice Greene
produced. Handel’s oratorio was not a
direct result of Cumberland’s victory, but
the subject (Maccabeus rescues the
people of Judea from the pagan rule of the
Seleucid Empire, and forms an alliance
with Rome that will continue to protect the
Judeans) could easily be interpreted as a
metaphor for Protestant Hanoverian
triumph over Catholic pretenders. Morrell
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recalled that the oratorio was ‘a compliment to the Duke of Cumberland upon his
returning victorious from Scotland.’ The air
‘Call forth thy powers’, in a sturdy D major,
is one for Maccabeus himself, from Part I of
the oratorio: Maccabeus invokes the spirit
of Joshua, as he urges his followers to fight
for their faith.
‘L’OPÉRA OU LA DÉFAITE DES FEMMES’
Alcina: ‘Credete al mio dolore’
Alcina: Ah! mio cor
Giulio Cesare in Egitto: ‘Da tempeste’
Orlando: ‘S’e’ corrisposto un core …
Amor e’ qual vento’
Alessandro: ‘Ah, Lisaura tradita! …
No, più soffrir non voglio’
The ‘undoing of women’ – whether through
their own misguided and irrational folly,
political machination, or supernatural
meddling – is a common theme in the
history of opera: whether this can be
attributed to historical narratives of
patriarchal oppression is open to debate.
Anxious heroines are omnipresent in
Handel’s operas: regardless of their status
and power, they all suffer for love, and in
some cases are defeated by it. Alessandro
(which had its premiere in March 1726),
was the first opera of Handel’s in which the
‘rival queens’ Francesca Cuzzoni and
Faustina Bordoni appeared together. Its
Scythian princess Lisaura (Cuzzoni) is in
the difficult position of vying for the
attentions of Alexander the Great
(Alessandro). Her recitative and aria ‘Ah,
Lisaura tradita! … No, più soffrir non
voglio’ occurs half-way through Act I,
when the histrionic Lisaura learns that
Alessandro favours the Persian princess
Rossane, whom he captured on an earlier
campaign. Enraged by the vainglorious
lout Alessandro, Lisaura must eventually
settle for the besotted Tassile.
Another pragmatic, but nonetheless
wounded character is Dorinda, the
shepherdess in Orlando. She is caught
in a love-triangle with an African prince
(Medoro) and the Queen of Cathay
(Angelica). By the end of the opera,
despite much sadness and confusion,
Dorinda is able to find similes for her
uncertainty and sadness in natural
phenomena: ‘Amore e qual vento’
compares the love-struck state with
having one’s head spun by gusts of wind
(giddy pleasure soon becomes pain) and
Dorinda harbours no illusions that a heart
that is betrayed is likely to become
deranged.
Lisaura and Dorinda both survive their
turmoil, disappointed and wiser, but in
Alcina and Giulio Cesare the fates of
Alcina, Morgana, and Cleopatra are still
more interesting. As a sorceress, who
transforms her former lovers into animals,
rocks and trees, it is clear that Alcina is
not a ‘good’ woman: she is known to
spend her time ‘in wanton Idleness’ with
Ruggerio (whom she has bewitched), and
she lacks womanly decency. Alcina is also
a powerful character, with her own
kingdom, in the form of an enchanted
island. However, Alcina’s situation is
complex: she has used magic to make
Ruggerio love her, but it becomes clear
that her passion for him is genuine,
although she herself is tainted. Eventually,
overcome by the forces of morality (in
the form of Ruggerio’s virtuous lover,
Bradamante), Alcina and her sister
Morgana crumble into dust.
Handel compensates for this by giving
Alcina magnificent, humanising music:
before Alcina’s Act II aria ‘Ah, mio cor’,
Bradamante broke the spell that held
Ruggerio captive to Alcina, and Alcina
comprehends this threat to her power, and
the inevitable loss of Ruggerio. Handel’s
accompaniment vividly illustrates Alcina’s
despair, and the anguished thudding of her
heart. Although she vows vengeance in the
second part of the aria, Handel renders
these words hollow with a da capo
structure, showing that this is an aria about
true suffering. Beginning in G minor,
Handel makes use of recurring minor and
diminished harmonies in the upper strings’
chords: the lack of harmonic respite is
another indication of Alcina’s oppressive
sorrow.
Morgana’s Act III aria ‘Credete al mio
dolore’ also has great musical eloquence,
and would have been performed at the
premiere on 16 April, 1735 by Cecilia
Young (the wife of Thomas Arne). The
differences in Handel’s writing for ‘Mrs
Young’, and Anna Maria Strada del Pò,
who sang the role of Alcina, demonstrate
how well Handel understood the distinctive qualities of his singers’ voices. In
‘Credete’, which is the first aria of Act III,
Morgana has just been abandoned by her
great love, Oronte, who declared that his
vow of constancy was blown away on the
winds; Morgana wonders if this is punishment for her own inconstancy, after she
became infatuated with ‘Ricciardo’
(Bradamante in disguise). The instrumental obligato, suitable for cello or viola
da gamba, adds tremendous pathos to the
aria, showing that Morgana’s words are not
superficial: the cello or gamba is Handel’s
vivid musical illustration of Morgana’s inner
torment. Like Alcina, she is a sorceress, but
we hear and see that she can feel human
pain, and is now destined for destruction.
Cleopatra, in Giulio Cesare, is also ill-fated,
but her death does not occur within
Handel’s opera, which ends with Cleopatra
gloriously in love with Caesar, and declaring herself ‘tributary queen to the Emperor
of Rome’. However, just as we can see
doom in the eyes of Charles I in van Dyck’s
portrait, our knowledge of Cleopatra’s
eventual fate pervades her progress
through Handel’s opera. Handel’s Cleopatra is a manipulative seductress, but
there is no doubting her sincere love for
Caesar. In Act III, ‘Da tempeste’ is Cleopatra’s ecstatic response to her release
from her brother Ptolomy’s imprisonment.
In spiky E major, the skips and leaps of this
aria are a perfect example of how Handel’s
music for Cleopatra expresses her personality through dynamic, imperious virtuosity. The coloratura, over which Cleopatra
has effortless control, is another expression of her power, but also one of Handel’s
power: when Giulio Cesare had its premiere on 20 February, 1724, Handel was in
the ascendant, with the opera garnering
enthusiastic praise, as a Monsieur de
Fabrice wrote to a friend on 10 March:
‘…the opera is in full swing also, since
Hendell’s new one, called Jules César – in
which Cenesino and Cozzuna shine beyond
all criticism – has been put on. The house
was just as full at the seventh performance
as at the first’.
© Corrina Connor, 2016
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HSC BIOGRAPHIES
ANN ALLEN HSC ADMINISTRATOR
Ann Allen was bitten by the early music
bug at an early age and has never quite
recovered. She studied music at Manchester University before going on to
specialise in Early Music Performance
Practice at the Royal Academy of Music
and Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
(Switzerland) playing historical woodwinds. She now freelances as a musician
throughout the whole of Europe, as well
as setting up and running the Early Music
Crossover Festival NOX ILLUMINATA.
GALINA AVERINA SOPRANO
Russian soprano Galina Averina made her
first professional appearance as a soloist
in Perm Opera Theatre (2010-2013). In July
2013, Galina made her international debut
as Despina in Così fan tutte in Dubrovnik
Summer Festival.
Choosing to develop her professional
skills in UK, she graduated with distinction
from the Welsh International Academy of
Voice in 2014, where she studied under
renowned tenor Dennis O’Neill. Galina is
in her second year of RCM International
Opera School studying under Dinah Harris,
supported by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK and Independent Opera Voice
Scholarship. She performed the role of
Pamina in Magic Flute, Calisto in Handel’s
opera Giove in Argo and Adele in Die
Fledermaus at the RCM Britten Theatre.
Galina is a Samling Artist; notable prizes
include First Prize in Bampton Classical
Opera Competition, Sixth Prize and
Audience Prize at Francisco Viñas
International Singing Contest (Barcelona
2015) and Junior Prize at Les Azuriales
Competition in Nice. In 2016 Galina will
sing Zerlina for Winslow Hall Opera and
Atalanta for English Touring Opera.
SHAKED BAR SOPRANO
Shaked Bar holds a Bachelor’s degree
from the Jerusalem Academy of Music
where she studied with Marina Levit,
Efrat Ben-Nun, and Zvi Zemel. In 2014
she studied with Sherman Lowe and with
Joyce Fieldsend in Venice. She currently
studies with Patricia McCaffrey in New
York and with Anna Skibinsky in Israel.
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She participated in masterclasses held
by Kenneth Weiss, Jill Feldman, Andreas
Scholl, Sonia Prina, Lella Cuberli and
Fabio Luisi.
Among the roles she has performed
are Poppea and Nerone in Monteverdi’s
L’incoronazione di Poppea, Dido in Dido
and Aeneas, Serpetta in Mozart’s La finta
giardiniera and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.
Shaked performed with the Jerusalem
Symphony Orchestra IBA, with the
Barrocade ensemble and the Jerusalem
Baroque Orchestra and is part of the
Jerusalem Opera’s soloist ensemble.
She received the Faculty of Performing
Arts Dean’s Prize for the 2012-2013
academic year, and the America-Israel
Cultural Foundation scholarship for the
years 2013-2015.
EDWARD BLAKEMAN HSC ADJUDICATOR
Edward Blakeman is a commissioning and
programme Editor at BBC Radio 3, where
his responsibilities include the planning
and administration of the BBC Proms. He
previously co-ordinated the prize-winning
Sounding the Century project for Radio
3 and produced a wide range of music
features, documentaries, live relays and
recordings of orchestral concerts and
operas.
Before joining the BBC, he was a freelance
flute player, writer and presenter. He
studied at Lancaster and Birmingham
Universities and in Paris on scholarships
from the British Council and the CNRS.
He held a research fellowship at the Royal
Northern College of Music and was Head
of the Wind Department at the London
College of Music. He is a trustee of the
Royal Philharmonic Society and the
Britten-Pears Foundation, editor of various
music editions, and author of two recent
books: Taffanel - Genius of the Flute (OUP)
and The Faber Pocket Guide to Handel.
ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD
LHF ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Adrian is a violinist, director and
conductor who specialises in performing
music from 1600-1900 on period
instruments. He is Musical Director of
the Tilford Bach Society and Associate
Director of the London Handel Festival
and regularly directs the London Handel
Orchestra and Players as well as working
as a guest soloist and director in Europe
and North America with modern and
period ensembles.
The London Handel Players perform
regularly at Wigmore Hall and throughout Europe and North America and made
their debut at Carnegie Hall in 2014. The
Revolutionary Drawing Room specialises
in classical and romantic music on period
instruments and has also performed in
North America and Europe. A new recording of quartets by Haydn, Mozart, Vanhal
and Dittersdorf has been released by RDR
to coincide with their 25th anniversary in
2015. Adrian’s world premiere complete
recordings of Leclair’s Books 1 and 2 violin
sonatas were released in 2009 and 2013
on Naxos Records.
He works annually with the Southbank
Sinfonia, teaches at the Royal College of
Music in London and on the Aestas Musica
International Summer School of Baroque
Music and Dance in Croatia.
He has conducted the major choral works
of Bach as well as Handel’s Israel in Egypt
at St George’s, Hanover Square and La
Resurrezione at the Wigmore Hall, and
directed ensembles such as the Croatian
Baroque Ensemble in Zagreb and the
London Mozart Players.
Plans for the 2015/16 season include an
invitation to the Sweetwater Music Festival
in Ontario, Canada, RDR appearances at
St John’s, Smith Square and at the BachFest 2015, conducting Bach’s B minor Mass
in Tilford and London and directing the
London Handel Orchestra at Wigmore Hall.
CORRINA CONNOR PROGRAMME NOTES
Corrina Connor began her musical life as
a violinist, but then started playing the
cello at the age of 14, and a few years later,
began studying the baroque cello with
Katrin Eickhorst in Wellington, New
Zealand. Corrina completed her BMus at
Victoria University of Wellington, before
successfully reading for an MPhil in
Performance and Musicology at the
University of Oxford. There she researched
ideas of eloquence in Pelham Humfrey's
penitential anthems. In addition to
instrumental teaching, writing, and
performing with a variety of ensembles,
including Dartington Baroque Orchestra,
Belsize Baroque, Trinity Laban Baroque
Orchestra, Solomon's Knot, and the
Amadè Players, Corrina particularly
enjoys working with Austentatious: An
Improvised Jane Austen Novel at the
Edinburgh Fringe, and during their recent
UK tours. Corrina is currently working
on a PhD at VUW, focussing on ideas of
masculinity in Johann Strauss's Die
Fledermaus and other Viennese operetta.
LAURENCE CUMMINGS
LHF MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Laurence Cummings is one of Britain’s
most exciting and versatile exponents of
historical performance both as conductor
and harpsichord player. He has been
Artistic Director of the London Handel
Festival since 1999 and of the Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen since 2012,
as well as Music Director for Orquestra
Barroca Casa da Musica, Porto.
He has conducted productions for English
National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Gothenburg Opera,
Opernhaus Zurich, Opera de Lyon and
Garsington Opera. He regularly conducts
the English Concert and the Orchestra of
the Age of Enlightenment and has worked
with the Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony,
Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National
Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society
(Boston), St Paul Chamber Orchestra
(Minnesota), Wiener Akademie and
Musikcollegium Winterthur.
His numerous recordings include the first
recording of Handel’s newly discovered
Gloria with Emma Kirkby, and Handel
Arias with Angelika Kirchschlager and
the Basel Chamber Orchestra for Sony.
DENYS DARLOW (1921-2015)
FOUNDER OF THE LHF
Denys was born in May 1921, and started
his musical life as a chorister at St James’
Muswell Hill, where he also began studying
the organ with HA Bate.
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During the war he served in the RAF in this
country (choices were limited owing to his
appalling eyesight!) which enabled him
to maintain his organ practice.
It was as an organist and director of
church choirs that he started his professional career as a musician. Later founding
the Alexandra choir and orchestra, which
in 1952, became the Tilford Bach Choir and
Orchestra, with the creation of the Tilford
Bach Festival, which continues to this day.
In the 1960’s he toured Europe with his
choir and orchestra, was guest conductor
for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Swedish
Radio Orchestra, Berlin Symphony
Orchestra, and others. It was at this time
he broadcast over 150 Bach cantatas for
the BBC, with frequent outside broadcasts
by the BBC from the little church of All
Saints Tilford.
Denys was fortunate to have received
advice and encouragement from several
inspirational musicians, such as organists
- HA Bate, Arthur Pritchard, and Harold
Darke; conductors - Stanford Robinson,
Beecham, Sargent Rafael Kubelik, and
composition with Edmund Rubbra. He
was keen to support other musicians,
through the commissioning of new works,
and the encouragement of young singers
starting their careers, often whilst still
students at the Royal College of music,
where he taught for many years.
In 1978 Denys founded the London
Handel Festival. Based at the beautiful
St Georges Church, Hanover Square,
(where he was organist for many years),
he was responsible for reviving many
of Handel’s lesser known and rarely
performed works.
Latterly he received encouragement and
support for his own compositions from
Edmund Rubbra, to whom he dedicated
his Requiem in 1986, which was performed
in Bath Abbey. In 1988 his Te Deum was
given it’s first performance at a celebration
of the 250th anniversary of Handel’s birth,
during the LHF that year, attended by
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen
Mother, who was at that time Patron of
the Royal Society of Musicians, the charity
in part founded by Handel as the “Fund
for Decay’d Musicians”
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CATHERINE DENLEY HSC ADJUDICATOR
Catherine Denley studied at Trinity
College of Music, winning both the
coveted prizes there for Lieder and
French Song. After two years with the
BBC Singers she embarked on an international solo career which has spanned
many years and taken her all over the
world. She has worked as a soloist with
all the major British orchestras and with
renowned conductors such as Rostropovich, Boulez, Rozhdestvensky, Rattle,
Marriner, Nagano as well as most of the
principal early music directors.
Her concert experience has been
extensive, but a few notable highlights
include the première of Europera by
John Cage in London, Paris and Berlin;
Handel’s Messiah with the Boston
Symphony Orchestra and the San
Francisco Symphony - and of course
countless others; Britten’s Spring
Symphony for Dutch and Polish Radio;
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with
Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Japan; Mahler’s
Resurrection Symphony in Odessa, Kiev
and Boston USA, and his Symphony of a
Thousand in York Minster and for TV in
Dublin; Bach’s St Matthew Passion in
the Gewandhaus, Leipzig and Mozart’s
Requiem in the Salzburg Mozartwoche
and at the BBC Proms.
Catherine has well over sixty recordings
to her credit - these cover a wide range
of repertoire from Monteverdi right
through to contemporary music - but she
is particularly renowned for her Handel
roles, many of which she has also sung
on the opera stage. Her recordings of
Bach and Vivaldi have also received
great acclaim. Catherine often acts as an
external assessor in the most prestigious
conservatoires, and now travels worldwide
as a diploma examiner for Trinity, bringing
her almost back to where she started!
PAVLA FLÁMOVÁ SOPRANO
Pavla Flámová now specialises in
historical interpretation of early music.
She is passionate about the works of
JS Bach and Handel. Meanwhile, feeding
another side of her musical soul, is the
music with folklore roots, e.g. songs of
Janáček and another Czech composers.
In the future she would also like to
continue exploring music of the 20th
century.
Pavla has sung, and still sings with
Ostrava´s Janacek Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Berg Orchestra, Ensemble
Collegium Marianum, the Camerata
Janáček orchestra and other modern
and baroque orchestras. She is working
with David Blunden and Andrea Marcon,
Sara Mingardo and Alessandro de Marchi.
She sings music from early baroque to
music of 20th century.
MICHAEL GEORGE HSC ADJUDICATOR
Bass-baritone Michael George began
his musical life as a chorister at King’s
College Cambridge. Later he studied at
the Royal College of Music where he
was a major prize winner. His career has
included performances with all the
leading orchestras in Britain and in many
international festivals. Conductors he
has worked with include Marriner, Eliot
Gardiner, Norrington, Mackerras,
Christophers, Pinnock, Handley, Sanderling, Zinman, Muti, Elder and Nagano.
His recordings include most of Handel’s
oratorios, Gerontius, Creation, Bach’s
Passions, Cantatas, Missa Solemnis, Ninth
Symphony, the complete songs, odes and
church anthems of Purcell, contributions
to six volumes of Graham Johnson’s
Schubert Series, Gurney’s songs, Finzi’s
Let Us Garlands Bring and Zelenka’s
Lamentations.
He has worked at ENO, Scottish Opera
and Buxton Opera and toured various
baroque opera projects with Philip Pickett
and Jonathan Miller in Europe, Mexico
and China. In 2014 he was involved in
productions of Purcell’s Faerie Queen in
Mexico.
CLAIRE HAMMETT
Claire Hammett received a BFA from
Tulane University in New Orleans, USA
and a Post-Graduate Early Music Diploma
from Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Having studied keyboard performance,
she developed a career in providing,
maintaining and tuning harpsichords,
organs, fortepianos, and clavichords for
both concerts and recordings. Until her
recent retirement, she maintained the
early keyboard instruments for the Royal
College of Music. She has worked with
many organisations and as the main tuner
and instrument provider for the London
Handel Players and The English Concert.
She has provided and maintained harpsichords and organs for the London Handel
Festival since 2002. Claire is retiring from
London and moving to Florida this
summer.
CATHERINE HODGSON FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Following a period in the Arts Council
Art Department, Catherine trained as a
bookbinder, specialising in repair and
modern design binding. Once her three
children were at school she joined the
staff of the Academy of St Martin in the
Fields, from where she moved to the
administrative staff of the Royal College
of Music.
In 1999, Denys Darlow invited her to take
on the organisation of the London Handel
Festival which he founded in 1978. She
runs the administration from her office in
Ilminster, Somerset where she also set up
Concerts in the West in 2006, an annual
series of concerts for young professional
musicians and spanning three counties.
She is handing over the administrative
reins of the LHF in summer 2016 after 17
years of learning about Handel’s wonderful
music and working with the most amazing
musicians.
RICHARD HOPKIN
LHS CHAIRMAN
Richard Hopkin succeeded Stephen
Cooke as Chairman of the London
Handel Society in 2014. Before becoming
Chairman, Richard served as a trustee for
the Society for several years, during
which time he was also a trustee of the
Handel House. Richard was born and
brought up in South Wales from where
he won a place at Gonville & Caius
College, Cambridge to read law. After
university, he qualified as a solicitor in
the City where he has worked for the last
thirty years, most recently in financial
regulation. He is a keen concert-goer,
amateur pianist and singer.
PETER JONES MUSIC PREPARATION
Peter Jones was born in Pontlottyn,
South Wales. After leaving university he
studied singing privately with Ivor Evans.
His singing repertoire concentrated on
Handel, Bach, Haydn and Mozart. He was
encouraged to develop his interest in score
editing and engraving by the late Denys
Darlow. He has prepared editions of
Handel’s operas and other works for the
21
London Handel Festival, the Göttingen
Handel Festival, English Touring Opera,
the Buxton Festival, The Sixteen, The
Early Opera Company, Garsington
Opera, Bampton Classical Opera and
the London Mozart Players, among
others. He collaborated with the late
Anthony Hicks on several editions,
notably Saul. He has just prepared
Agrippina for Brisbane Baroque. Peter
has provided translations for the annual
opera collaboration between the London
Handel Festival and the Royal College of
Music for several years, and has prepared
the translations for this year's Singing
Competition. He has entered into an
agreement with ChesterNovello to
market his Handel editions.
CHAD KELLY HARPSICHORD
Chad enjoys a rich and diverse career as
a performer and director, spanning almost
all genres of music, from historically
-informed performance and chamber
music to Opera and Musical Theatre. He
is currently the Lucille Graham fellow at
the Royal Academy of Music, where he is
an Assistant Conductor and Répétiteur
for Royal Academy Opera. He is also
Director of Music at the historic church
of St. Anne’s, Kew Green. Chad is Lector
in Music at Trinity College, Cambridge,
supervising undergraduates on the Music
Tripos. He is also co-founder and Artistic
Director of the period-instrument
ensemble Ars Eloquentiae.
Before leaving Chetham's School of Music,
Chad became a Fellow of the Royal
College of Organists and a Licentiate
of the Royal Schools of Music in Piano
Performance. He then took up the organ
scholarship at Girton College, Cambridge,
where he read music. He graduated in
2011 with double first-class honours,
achieving the highest mark in the history
of the university in Practical Musicianship
and Keyboard Skills. Chad continued
postgraduate studies at the Royal
Academy of Music where, in 2013, he
graduated with distinction and the
coveted DipRAM.
MARIE LYS SOPRANO
Marie Lys (-Jaermann) is studying under
Amanda Roocroft at the International
Opera School of the Royal College of
Music, where she graduated from her
Masters with First Class Honours in 2014.
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Her operatic appearances include the roles
of Adele Die Fledermaus, Nanetta Falstaff,
Königin der Nacht Die Zauberflöte, Galatea
Acis and Galatea, Lauretta Gianni Schicchi
and Clara La Vie Parisienne.
In 2015 she was a prize winner in the
'Concours de chant du Pour-cent culturel
Migros' in Zurich, and won the First Prize
in the 'Göttinger Reihe Historischer Musik
Competition' with Abchordis Ensemble
that she co-founded in 2011, and whose
first recording ‘Stabat Mater’ was
published by Sony Deutsche Harmonia
Mundi in January 2016.
A Samling Artist and an Aldama
Scholar supported by a Basil Coleman
Opera Award, Marie is also proud to be
a Scholar of the Drake Calleja Trust, and
has been supported by the Leenaards,
Dénéréaz, Colette Mosetti and Friedl Wald
Foundations and by the Josephine Baker
Trust.
NATHANIEL MANDER HARPSICHORD
Nathaniel Mander is much in demand as
a recitalist, continuo player and chamber
musician throughout Europe and the
United States.
His most recent tours have been in the
United States with performances in
Washington and New York and in Italy
with a series of concerts through Tuscany,
Umbria and in Rome. As teacher,
Nathaniel has given masterclasses at the
Handel House Museum and regularly gives
harpsichord classes at the Morley College.
In 2015-16 Nathaniel will hold again the
Linda Hill Junior Fellowship in Harpsichord
at the Royal College of Music.
VALERIE MASTERSON HSC ADJUDICATOR
Valerie Masterson is a retired opera
singer who studied at the Royal College
of Music where she was awarded the
Queen’s Prize for the most outstanding
student of the year and a Countess of
Munster Award to study singing in Milan.
She made her concert debut in the Henry
Wood Promenade Concerts under Sir
Malcolm Sargent whilst still a student.
Her operatic debut came a year later at
the Landestheater in Salzburg. Valerie
went on to sing in all the major opera
houses including English National Opera,
Glyndebourne Festival Opera, The Royal
Opera House Covent Garden along with
the Metropolitan New York, La Scala
Milan, in Munich, Paris, Prague, Geneva,
Barcelona, Santiago, San Francisco and
many more.
She has made numerous recordings and
regularly appeared in all the major concert
halls as well as on television and the radio.
Valerie has many awards to her credit
including the Sir Laurence Olivier Award
for the most outstanding solo operatic
performance. She was awarded a CBE in
1987; in 1993 she was made a Fellow of
the Royal College of Music, a RAM in 1994
and a Doctor of Letters by South Bank
University in 1999.
She is Vice-President of British Youth
Opera, The Rossini Society of Paris, The
Mousehole Male Voice Choir and many
others. Valerie Masterson continues to
work with young singers and with the
Musicians Benevolent Fund.
ANNE-MARIE NORMAN
ORCHESTRA MANAGER
Anne-Marie Norman studied music at
Southampton University and began a
career in music administration with four
seasons on the staff of the Royal Opera
House, and a further four years as
administrator for The Sixteen. She went
on to work in artist management, first
with Magenta Music International and
later with Hazard Chase. She has been
freelance since 2005 and currently works
with the London Handel Orchestra and
award-winning professional chamber
choirs The Cardinall’s Musick and
Polyphony, as well as being administrator
for the Rehearsal Orchestra, a musical
charity which runs weekend courses and
a week-long residential course during
the Edinburgh Festival for conservatoire
students and talented amateurs, and external engagements co-ordinator for
the National Youth String Orchestra.
ASAKO OGAWA HARPSICHORD
Asako Ogawa is originally from Gifu City,
Japan. Asako obtained her postgraduate
diploma in Early Music at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama in 2006,
and was then awarded a fellowship in
the following year. She was awarded the
Accompanist’s Prize in the London Handel
Singing Competition 2007, and performed
with the winners of the competition for
the Brighton Early Music festival, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 Early Music Live.
Since then, Asako has been working as
official accompanists for the London
Handel Singing Competition. She was
also one of the finalists in the Broadwood
Early Keyboard Ensemble Competition in
2008 and was selected to participate in
the public masterclass with Ton Koopman,
Colin Tilney, and Bob van Asperen. Her
baroque ensemble LUX performed to
much acclaim at the Georgian Concert
Society’s prestigious Concert Series,
Edinburgh in March 2015 followed by
the concerts in Tokyo and Chiba, Japan.
She studied harpsichord with Nicholas
Parle, James Johnstone, and Laurence
Cummings. Currently Asako is a baroque
repertoire coach at the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama.
IAN PARTRIDGE
CHAIRMAN OF HSC
Ian Partridge has an international
reputation as a concert singer and
recitalist. His wide repertoire encompassed the music of Monteverdi, Bach
and Handel, Elizabethan lute songs,
German, French and English songs
and first performances of new works.
Ian’s phenomenal list of recordings
includes Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin
(first choice in BBC Radio 3’s Building
a Library), Schumann’s Dichterliebe and
Liederkreis Opus 39, and Britten’s
Serenade, Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock
Edge and Warlock’s The Curlew. He sang
the Evangelist in Bach’s St John Passion
and was the tenor soloist in Simon
Preston’s performance of Israel in Egypt
and also sang in the complete set of
Handel’s Chandos Anthems recorded
with The Sixteen, conducted by Harry
Christophers.
Ian has also enjoyed taking masterclasses
on Lieder, English Song and EarlyMusic.
He retired from public performance in
2008 but remains a professor at the Royal
Academy of Music. He was awarded the
CBE in 1992 for services to music.
HEATHER TOMALA HARPSICHORD
Combining her interests in music, theatre
and languages, Heather enjoys a varied
career as an audition and rehearsal pianist,
continuo player and musical director.
Répétiteur work includes the Southbank
23
Centre, Classical Opera Company,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,
Tenebrae, Trafalgar Sinfonia, London
conservatoires, and numerous choirs and
instrumental ensembles. She accompanied
the inaugural Bel Canto Summer School
in Dublin last year, and is currently
supporting a new masterclass series for
Yorkshire Young Sinfonia.
Heather has coached for Dartington
International Summer School, London
Mahler Orchestra and small London opera
companies. She is a member of Junior
Guildhall’s Musical Awareness staff (also
directing their Baroque Ensemble for
5 years), Keyboard skills & Musicianship
tutor at the National Opera Studio,
Répétiteur and Musicianship leader for
Ingenium Academy Summer School, and
Theory & Aural tutor for St. Paul’s School.
Off duty Heather is a Director of the Lucille
Graham Trust, and a dedicated member
of the Delaney Academy of Irish Dance.
WILLIAM WALLACE TENOR
William Wallace is a 2015-2016 Young
Artist at the National Opera Studio
funded by the Nelly Groner Trust. William
graduated from the Royal College of Music
Performance Masters (Distinction) where
he studied and continues to study with
Tim Evans Jones and Chris Glynn.
William’s operatic roles include Tybalt
in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Gastone
in Verdi’s La Traviata. William played the
roles of Zweiter Preister in Die Zauberflöte
and The Mayor Albert Herring for the
Royal College of Music International
Opera School.
Alongside opera, William has extensive
oratorio experience having performed
Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Theodora,
Judas Maccabeus and Acis and Galatea,
Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, Bach
Cantatas, Magnificats and multiple
St John Passions. Last summer William
performed the role of the Schoolmaster in
Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen with British
Youth Opera, winning the 2015 Patrick
Fyffe Dame Hilda Bracket Award for the
best performance in an opera at Sadler’s
Wells.
___________________________________
24
HSC 2002-2007
2002 2005
1st ANDREW KENNEDY TENOR
2nd Natalie Clifton-Griffith SOPRANO Finalists
Lucy Crowe SOPRANO
Christopher Dixon BARITONE
Christian Immler BARITONE
1st FFLUR WYN SOPRANO 2nd Tim Mead COUNTER-TENOR
Finalists Katherine Manley SOPRANO
Nicholas Mulroy TENOR
Andrew Radley COUNTER-TENOR
2003
2006
1st ELIZABETH ATHERTON SOPRANO
2nd Miriam Allan SOPRANO Finalists Grace Davidson SOPRANO
Caitlin Hulcup MEZZO-SOPRANO
Alexandra Gibson MEZZO-SOPRANO
1st NATHAN VALE TENOR
2nd Helen Withers SOPRANO
Finalists Jane Harrington SOPRANO
Lisa Rijmer SOPRANO
Maria Kontra MEZZO-SOPRANO
2004
2007
1st ANGHARAD GRUFFYDD JONES SOPRANO
2nd Iestyn Davies COUNTER-TENOR Finalists
Ildikó Allen SOPRANO
Rabihah Davis SOPRANO
Kevin Kyle TENOR
Clare Wilkinson MEZZO-SOPRANO
1st DEREK WELTON BARITONE
2nd Christopher Ainslie COUNTER-TENOR
Finalists Anna Devin SOPRANO
Gillian Ramm SOPRANO
Julia Riley MEZZO-SOPRANO
Joana Seara SOPRANO
25
HSC 2008 TO 2013
2008
1st ERICA ELOFF SOPRANO
2nd Rhona McKail SOPRANO
Finalists Clara Mouriz MEZZO-SOPRANO
Greg Tassell TENOR
Lisandro Abadie BARITONE
2011
2009
2012
2010
2013
1st RUBY HUGHES SOPRANO
2nd Anna Huntley MEZZO-SOPRANO
Finalists
David Allsopp COUNTER-TENOR
Gary Crichlow COUNTER-TENOR
Luanda Siqueira SOPRANO
1st SOPHIE JUNKER SOPRANO
2nd Christopher Lowrey COUNTER-TENOR
Finalists
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli soprano
Elinor Rolfe Johnson SOPRANO
Sarah Power SOPRANO
Katie Bray MEZZO-SOPRANO
26
1st STEFANIE TRUE SOPRANO
2nd Emilie Renard MEZZO-SOPRANO (Alford)
Finalists
Carleen Ebbs SOPRANO
Keri Fuge SOPRANO
Rachel Kelly MEZZO-SOPRANO
1st ANNA STARUSHKEVYCH
MEZZO-SOPRANO
2nd Alexander Sprague TENOR
Finalists
Lucy Hall SOPRANO
Raphaela Papadakis SOPRANO
Niel Joubert TENOR
Anna Gorbachyova SOPRANO
1st RUPERT CHARLESWORTH TENOR
2nd Stephen Chambers TENOR
Finalists
Heimi Lee SOPRANO
Frederick Long BASS-BARITONE
Natalie Montakhab SOPRANO
Hagar Sharvit MEZZO-SOPRANO
HSC 2014 TO 2015
HSC 2016
2014
1st EWA GUBAŃSKA MEZZO-SOPRANO
2nd Maria Valdmaa SOPRANO
Finalists Susanna Fairbairn SOPRANO
Edward Grint BARITONE
Timothy Nelson BARITONE
FIRST ROUND
1, 2, 3 FEBRUARY
Craxton Studios
14 Kidderpore Avenue
London, NW3 7SU
SEMI-FINAL
MONDAY 21 MARCH
Grosvenor Chapel
24 South Audley Street
London, W1K 2PA
PRIZES
First: REGINA ETZ PRIZE - £5000
and a performance in 2017
Second: MICHAEL OLIVER PRIZE - £2000
and a recital in 2017
2015
1st JOSEP-RAMON OLIVÉ BARITONE
2nd Maria Ostroukhova MEZZO-SOPRANO
Finalists
Sarah Hayashi SOPRANO
Alice Privett SOPRANO
Ingrida Gápová SOPRANO
FARINELLI PRIZE for counter-tenors if
awarded £2000
Audience: MICHAEL NORMINGTON PRIZE
£300
THE SELMA D AND LEON FISHBACH
MEMORIAL PRIZES FOR FINALISTS
£300 each
27
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