Ferrier Awards
Continuing a long line of successes for Samling Artists at the Ferrier Awards, we are delighted that tenor Dafydd Jones won the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize at this year’s finals, held in Wigmore Hall on Friday 21 April. Dafydd is pictured above following the announcement with pianist Caroline Dowdle who accompanied him and Samling Institute’s Artistic and Executive Director Karon Wright. Congratulations to Dafydd from all of us.
We have also heard that Dafydd will make his debut with Opera North in January 2024 singing the title role in Albert Herring. The performance at Howard Assembly Room in Leeds will also be available to watch for free on Opera Vision.
New releases
Soprano Alexandra Lowe has released her debut recital album ‘Le Voyage’, an international journey through Greece, the Middle East and Spain – Alexandra’s home country – told through French romantic song. The album, with pianist Patrick Milne includes Shéhérazade settings by Ravel and Koechlin, Ravel’s Cinq mélodies populaires grecques in the original Greek and songs by Debussy, Bizet and Viardot.
Christopher Maltman appears as Père Laurence on a new recording of Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with Joyce di Donato, Cyrille Dubois and Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg that was named Record of the Week by BBC Radio 3 Record Review.
Look out too for ‘Fallen to Dust’ a new recital disc to be released in early May of English song by James Newby and Joseph Middleton – more details in next month’s round-up.
BBC Proms
Details of the BBC Proms were announced this month. We’ve been through the listings to bring you details of all the Samling Artists appearing in this year’s festival:
Sunday 23 July, 7.30pm Prom 12 Nicky Spence is the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth. This Prom will be shown on BBC television.
Sunday 6 August, 11am, Prom 29 Lucy Crowe, Nardus Williams and Benjamin Hulett are soloists for Mozart’s Mass in C minor K427 with the Dunedin Consort and John Butt.
Sunday 6 August, 3pm, Proms at Dewsbury pianist Jâms Coleman joins Laura van der Heijden for a programme of 20th and 21st century music for cello and piano.
Monday 7 August, 7pm, Prom 31 Sally Matthews is Blanche de la Force in a concert performance of Glyndebourne Festival’s Dialogues of the Carmelites conducted by Robin Ticciati.
Friday 11 August, 7.30pm Prom 36 Jennifer France joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner for György Ligeti’s Requiem, in a prom inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.
Tuesday 22 August, 7.30pm, Prom 49 The London Symphony Chorus conducted by Sir Simon Rattle give the first complete Proms performance of Robert Schumann’s choral and orchestral cycle Das Paradies und die Peri with Lucy Crowe among the line-up of soloists.
Wednesday 23 August, 7pm, Prom 50 Jonathan Lemalu sings the role of Manoa in Handel’s oratorio Samson, with the Academy of Ancient Music directed by Laurence Cummings.
Sunday 3 September. 4pm, Prom 64 Beth Taylor makes her Proms debut as Anna and William Thomas singers the role of Narbal in a concert performance of Berlioz’s The Trojans with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
Thursday 7 September, 7pm, Prom 69 in the second of two Proms in her debut season, Beth Taylor is the mezzo-soprano soloist in a concert of Mozart’s Requiem interspersed with some of the composer’s other pieces, performed by Pygmalion, directed by Raphaël Pichon.
All concerts are broadcast live on Radio 3, and Proms 12 and 29 are scheduled to be shown on BBC television, although broadcast dates have not been announced yet.
Edinburgh International Festival
Tickets go on sale this week for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, where you can see Samling Artists in orchestral concerts and recitals.
Sunday 6 August Jennifer France sings Hans Abrahamsen’s orchestral song cycle Let me tell you with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a celebration of contemporary classical music presented by Nicola Benedetti and Tom Service.
Saturday 12 August Catriona Morison is Second Lady in a concert performance of The Magic Flute with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Sunday 13 August Catriona Morison and Paul Grant are soloists in Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem with the National Youth Choir of Scotland
Monday 21 August Catriona Morison and pianist Malcom Martineau give a recital including songs by Franz Schubert, Gustav Mahler, Josephine Lang and Pauline Viardot.
Wednesday 23 August a morning recital by Nick Pritchard and Ian Tindale including L’horizon chimérique by Gabriel Fauré, songs by Francis Poulenc and Benjamin Britten’s Canticle I and Winter Words.
Sunday 27 August David Butt Philip is soloist in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s choral symphony The Bells in the festival’s closing concert.
Royal Opera House 2023/24
The Royal Opera House 2023/24 season has been announced, including four appearances for bass Jamie Woollard in his first season as a Jette Parker Artist. He will also be covering Brindley Sherratt as Zebul Jephtha and Orest’s Tutor in Elektra.
Das Rheingold, Christopher Maltman – Wotan, Kiandra Howarth – Freia
Picture a Day like this George Benjamin, Ema Nikolovska – Woman
Rigoletto, Jamie Woollard – Count Ceprano (house debut)
Jeptha, Jennifer France – Iphis
Hänsel und Gretel, Anna Stéphany is Hänsel in one cast and Lauren Fagan makes her role debut as Gretel in the other cast.
La bohème, Simona Mihai – Musetta
Tosca, Jamie Woollard – Sciarrone
The Flying Dutchman, Toby Spence – Eric
Madama Butterfly, Romanas Kudriašovas – Imperial Commissioner
Carmen, Jamie Woollard – Zuniga
Lucia di Lammermoor, Andrés Presno – Arturo Bucklaw
Andrea Chénier, Jamie Woollard – Dumas
Così fan tutte, Jennifer France – Despina
Other Debuts
After several Covid-related cancellations, Ema Nikolovska made her role debut as Octavian Der Rosenkavalier at Staatsoper Berlin where she is a member of their International Opera Studio.
Sam Carl makes his French debut on 13 May as soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Orchestre national de Montpellier Occitanie
Faryl Smith joins the chorus at Glyndebourne Festival this summer for Dialogues des Carmélites and Semele and she will also be covering the role of Giannetta L’elisir d’amore.
Other announcements
Madison Nonoa has been selected for the 2023-24 cohort of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s ‘Rising Stars of the Enlightenment’ programme. Madison follows in the footsteps of Bethany Horak-Hallett, James Newby, Rowan Pierce, Nick Pritchard and Dominic Sedgwick who have all been part of the scheme since it began in 2017.
Benson Wilson joins James Black Management
David Butt Philip has been made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in their 2023 Honours.
Nicky Spence will take up the year-long role of President of the ISM (Independent Society of Musicians) in April 2024.
