Kieran is delighted to return to Garsington for 2021, to play the role of Der Notar in Der Rosenkavalier.
The Marschallin and her young lover Octavian enjoy a glorious morning together. The sudden arrival of her cousin, the lecherous Baron Ochs, intent on securing the hand of Sophie, ignites a comic and bittersweet chain of events. With honour at risk, social status bartered and happiness illusive, the Marschallin accepts time cannot be stopped and she must set young love free.
Exquisite music captures perfectly the poignant comedy and fairy tale romance of the story, reaching its emotional climax in one of opera’s greatest moments, the beautiful final trio.
We are delighted to bring you Strauss’s most famous opera for the first time, with Miah Persson (Countess, Capriccio, 2018) making her role debut as the Marschallin alongside Hanna Hipp (title role, Fantasio, 2019) as Octavian and Derrick Ballard making his Garsington Opera debut as Ochs. Bruno Ravella (Falstaff, 2018) directs and the Philharmonia Orchestra is conducted by Jordan de Souza, who appears at Garsington for the first time.
Kieran is delighted to return to Garsington for 2021, to play the role of Der Notar in Der Rosenkavalier.
The Marschallin and her young lover Octavian enjoy a glorious morning together. The sudden arrival of her cousin, the lecherous Baron Ochs, intent on securing the hand of Sophie, ignites a comic and bittersweet chain of events. With honour at risk, social status bartered and happiness illusive, the Marschallin accepts time cannot be stopped and she must set young love free.
Exquisite music captures perfectly the poignant comedy and fairy tale romance of the story, reaching its emotional climax in one of opera’s greatest moments, the beautiful final trio.
We are delighted to bring you Strauss’s most famous opera for the first time, with Miah Persson (Countess, Capriccio, 2018) making her role debut as the Marschallin alongside Hanna Hipp (title role, Fantasio, 2019) as Octavian and Derrick Ballard making his Garsington Opera debut as Ochs. Bruno Ravella (Falstaff, 2018) directs and the Philharmonia Orchestra is conducted by Jordan de Souza, who appears at Garsington for the first time.
Guy Elliott – tenor
Kieran Rayner – baritone
Nigel Foster – piano
David Mildon – speaker
An exploration of the songs and the life of Peter Warlock, real name Philip Heseltine, one of the greatest composers of that incredible flowering of English song that took place in the first half of the twentieth century. This concert combines many of his most beautiful songs with extracts from his letters, read by actor David Mildon, to paint a fascinating portrait of this bon vivant and lover of life and music.
Kieran is delighted to return to Garsington for 2021, to play the role of Der Notar in Der Rosenkavalier.
The Marschallin and her young lover Octavian enjoy a glorious morning together. The sudden arrival of her cousin, the lecherous Baron Ochs, intent on securing the hand of Sophie, ignites a comic and bittersweet chain of events. With honour at risk, social status bartered and happiness illusive, the Marschallin accepts time cannot be stopped and she must set young love free.
Exquisite music captures perfectly the poignant comedy and fairy tale romance of the story, reaching its emotional climax in one of opera’s greatest moments, the beautiful final trio.
We are delighted to bring you Strauss’s most famous opera for the first time, with Miah Persson (Countess, Capriccio, 2018) making her role debut as the Marschallin alongside Hanna Hipp (title role, Fantasio, 2019) as Octavian and Derrick Ballard making his Garsington Opera debut as Ochs. Bruno Ravella (Falstaff, 2018) directs and the Philharmonia Orchestra is conducted by Jordan de Souza, who appears at Garsington for the first time.
A vixen cub strays across a forester’s path, and is captured and taken to his home. She makes her escape, and begins her adventures in the wild. With its juxtaposition of humans and animals, The Cunning Little Vixen shifts from the comic world of everyday village life into the mystical cycle of nature. Conducted by Justin Brown, the current Music Director of Karlsruhe State Theatre, and directed by Olivia Fuchs.
Longborough Festival Opera is proud to present this production, postponed from 2020. This will be Kieran’s fourth time performing the Forester in his career so far. He is greatly looking forward to diving back into one of his all-time favourite roles.
Vixen Sharp-Ears: Julieth Lozano
Forester: Kieran Rayner
Fox Gold-Spur / Dog: Frances Gregory
Harašta: Aaron Holmes
Priest / Badger: David Howes
A vixen cub strays across a forester’s path, and is captured and taken to his home. She makes her escape, and begins her adventures in the wild. With its juxtaposition of humans and animals, The Cunning Little Vixen shifts from the comic world of everyday village life into the mystical cycle of nature. Conducted by Justin Brown, the current Music Director of Karlsruhe State Theatre, and directed by Olivia Fuchs.
Longborough Festival Opera is proud to present this production, postponed from 2020. This will be Kieran’s fourth time performing the Forester in his career so far. He is greatly looking forward to diving back into one of his all-time favourite roles.
Vixen Sharp-Ears: Julieth Lozano
Forester: Kieran Rayner
Fox Gold-Spur / Dog: Frances Gregory
Harašta: Aaron Holmes
Priest / Badger: David Howes
A vixen cub strays across a forester’s path, and is captured and taken to his home. She makes her escape, and begins her adventures in the wild. With its juxtaposition of humans and animals, The Cunning Little Vixen shifts from the comic world of everyday village life into the mystical cycle of nature. Conducted by Justin Brown, the current Music Director of Karlsruhe State Theatre, and directed by Olivia Fuchs.
Longborough Festival Opera is proud to present this production, postponed from 2020. This will be Kieran’s fourth time performing the Forester in his career so far. He is greatly looking forward to diving back into one of his all-time favourite roles.
Vixen Sharp-Ears: Julieth Lozano
Forester: Kieran Rayner
Fox Gold-Spur / Dog: Frances Gregory
Harašta: Aaron Holmes
Priest / Badger: David Howes
A vixen cub strays across a forester’s path, and is captured and taken to his home. She makes her escape, and begins her adventures in the wild. With its juxtaposition of humans and animals, The Cunning Little Vixen shifts from the comic world of everyday village life into the mystical cycle of nature. Conducted by Justin Brown, the current Music Director of Karlsruhe State Theatre, and directed by Olivia Fuchs.
Longborough Festival Opera is proud to present this production, postponed from 2020. This will be Kieran’s fourth time performing the Forester in his career so far. He is greatly looking forward to diving back into one of his all-time favourite roles.
Vixen Sharp-Ears: Julieth Lozano
Forester: Kieran Rayner
Fox Gold-Spur / Dog: Frances Gregory
Harašta: Aaron Holmes
Priest / Badger: David Howes
High summer in New Orleans: a battlefield tour group has waded through swamps and hurricane damage to see where notorious pirate Pierre Lafitte was imprisoned in 1814. Captivated, one tourist imagines the story of Lafitte’s escape. Could it be that love was his key to freedom? Or is that just wishful thinking from Mary, whose honeymoon is turning out to be less romantic than she’d hoped…?
Incorporating folk and Creole influences, Cabildo is the only opera from pioneering composer Amy Beach, written in 1932 and not performed until after her death. Beach’s repertoire and article ‘To the Girl Who Wants to Compose’ have inspired women in music for over a century.
In this production from director Emma Jude Harris, Cabildo is thrillingly re-conceived for the present to uncover the dark underside of the American Dream. It asks, can we ever memorialise the past without bringing back the things we would rather not remember?
Cabildo arrives at Wilton’s Music Hall after an acclaimed run at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival.
Pierre Lafitte: Kieran Rayner
Lady Valerie: Julieth Lozano
Libretto: Nan Bagby Stephens
Musical director: Yshani Perinpanayagam
Set and costume designer: Zoë Hurwitz
Running time: 55 minutes, no interval
High summer in New Orleans: a battlefield tour group has waded through swamps and hurricane damage to see where notorious pirate Pierre Lafitte was imprisoned in 1814. Captivated, one tourist imagines the story of Lafitte’s escape. Could it be that love was his key to freedom? Or is that just wishful thinking from Mary, whose honeymoon is turning out to be less romantic than she’d hoped…?
Incorporating folk and Creole influences, Cabildo is the only opera from pioneering composer Amy Beach, written in 1932 and not performed until after her death. Beach’s repertoire and article ‘To the Girl Who Wants to Compose’ have inspired women in music for over a century.
In this production from director Emma Jude Harris, Cabildo is thrillingly re-conceived for the present to uncover the dark underside of the American Dream. It asks, can we ever memorialise the past without bringing back the things we would rather not remember?
Cabildo arrives at Wilton’s Music Hall after an acclaimed run at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival.
Pierre Lafitte: Kieran Rayner
Lady Valerie: Julieth Lozano
Libretto: Nan Bagby Stephens
Musical director: Yshani Perinpanayagam
Set and costume designer: Zoë Hurwitz
Running time: 55 minutes, no interval
High summer in New Orleans: a battlefield tour group has waded through swamps and hurricane damage to see where notorious pirate Pierre Lafitte was imprisoned in 1814. Captivated, one tourist imagines the story of Lafitte’s escape. Could it be that love was his key to freedom? Or is that just wishful thinking from Mary, whose honeymoon is turning out to be less romantic than she’d hoped…?
Incorporating folk and Creole influences, Cabildo is the only opera from pioneering composer Amy Beach, written in 1932 and not performed until after her death. Beach’s repertoire and article ‘To the Girl Who Wants to Compose’ have inspired women in music for over a century.
In this production from director Emma Jude Harris, Cabildo is thrillingly re-conceived for the present to uncover the dark underside of the American Dream. It asks, can we ever memorialise the past without bringing back the things we would rather not remember?
Cabildo arrives at Wilton’s Music Hall after an acclaimed run at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival.
Pierre Lafitte: Kieran Rayner
Lady Valerie: Julieth Lozano
Libretto: Nan Bagby Stephens
Musical director: Yshani Perinpanayagam
Set and costume designer: Zoë Hurwitz
Running time: 55 minutes, no interval
High summer in New Orleans: a battlefield tour group has waded through swamps and hurricane damage to see where notorious pirate Pierre Lafitte was imprisoned in 1814. Captivated, one tourist imagines the story of Lafitte’s escape. Could it be that love was his key to freedom? Or is that just wishful thinking from Mary, whose honeymoon is turning out to be less romantic than she’d hoped…?
Incorporating folk and Creole influences, Cabildo is the only opera from pioneering composer Amy Beach, written in 1932 and not performed until after her death. Beach’s repertoire and article ‘To the Girl Who Wants to Compose’ have inspired women in music for over a century.
In this production from director Emma Jude Harris, Cabildo is thrillingly re-conceived for the present to uncover the dark underside of the American Dream. It asks, can we ever memorialise the past without bringing back the things we would rather not remember?
Cabildo arrives at Wilton’s Music Hall after an acclaimed run at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival.
Pierre Lafitte: Kieran Rayner
Lady Valerie: Julieth Lozano
Libretto: Nan Bagby Stephens
Musical director: Yshani Perinpanayagam
Set and costume designer: Zoë Hurwitz
Running time: 55 minutes, no interval
High summer in New Orleans: a battlefield tour group has waded through swamps and hurricane damage to see where notorious pirate Pierre Lafitte was imprisoned in 1814. Captivated, one tourist imagines the story of Lafitte’s escape. Could it be that love was his key to freedom? Or is that just wishful thinking from Mary, whose honeymoon is turning out to be less romantic than she’d hoped…?
Incorporating folk and Creole influences, Cabildo is the only opera from pioneering composer Amy Beach, written in 1932 and not performed until after her death. Beach’s repertoire and article ‘To the Girl Who Wants to Compose’ have inspired women in music for over a century.
In this production from director Emma Jude Harris, Cabildo is thrillingly re-conceived for the present to uncover the dark underside of the American Dream. It asks, can we ever memorialise the past without bringing back the things we would rather not remember?
Cabildo arrives at Wilton’s Music Hall after an acclaimed run at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival.
Pierre Lafitte: Kieran Rayner
Lady Valerie: Julieth Lozano
Libretto: Nan Bagby Stephens
Musical director: Yshani Perinpanayagam
Set and costume designer: Zoë Hurwitz
Running time: 55 minutes, no interval
City of Bristol Choir
Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra
Catherine Black leader
Esther Mallett soprano
Annie Gill mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
Conducted by David Ogden
W.A. Mozart Requiem
W.A. Mozart Ave Verum
Elgar Sospiri
In a poignant return to the concert platform, City of Bristol Choir marks its 30th anniversary season with a programme that includes the first piece that the choir ever performed – Mozart’s Requiem. The work is full of drama and exquisitely crafted music for soloists, choir and orchestra. Each hour-long performance also includes Mozart’s bite-sized masterpiece, his setting of the Ave Verum, and Elgar’s atmospheric and reflective orchestral work, Sospiri.
Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for students in full time education and under 18s, available from City of Bristol Choir’s online box office
City of Bristol Choir
Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra
Catherine Black leader
Esther Mallett soprano
Annie Gill mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
Conducted by David Ogden
W.A. Mozart Requiem
W.A. Mozart Ave Verum
Elgar Sospiri
In a poignant return to the concert platform, City of Bristol Choir marks its 30th anniversary season with a programme that includes the first piece that the choir ever performed – Mozart’s Requiem. The work is full of drama and exquisitely crafted music for soloists, choir and orchestra. Each hour-long performance also includes Mozart’s bite-sized masterpiece, his setting of the Ave Verum, and Elgar’s atmospheric and reflective orchestral work, Sospiri.
Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for students in full time education and under 18s, available from City of Bristol Choir’s online box office
Claire Lees – soprano
Katy Thomson – soprano
Kieran Rayner – baritone
Susanna Stranders – piano
A preview concert to celebrate the launch of VIARDOT200, a festival in Dorset next year celebrating the composer Pauline Viardot.
Lotte Betts-Dean: Mezzo-Soprano
Kieran Rayner: Baritone
Nigel Foster: Piano
A concert exploring the 40-year long relationship between Pauline Viardot, composer and celebrity opera singer whose bicentenary falls in 2021, and the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, telling their story through her songs. The programme touches on Viardot’s friendships with Chopin, Liszt, Gounod, Berlioz and Tchaikovsky and shines a light on her extraordinary life at the centre of the international musical world of the 19th century, moving from St Petersburg to Paris, their château at Courtavenel, Baden-Baden and back to France.
BambinO at Home
An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00
BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.
This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.
Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!
BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.
Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark
Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films
https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home
BambinO at Home
An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00
BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.
This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.
Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!
BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.
Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark
Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films
https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home
BambinO at Home
An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00
BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.
This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.
Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!
BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.
Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark
Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films
https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home
BambinO at Home
An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00
BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.
This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.
Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!
BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.
Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark
Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films
https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home
BambinO at Home
An operatic adventure for 6 to 18 month olds. 5 Performances: 9 December 14:00, 10 – 11 December 11:00 & 14:00
BambinO at Home is produced by Improbable. Originally co-produced with Scottish Opera and Manchester International Festival. Made possible with support from Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation.
This unique and colourful work for infants aged 6 to 18 months is a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination. BambinO reinvents operatic language and traditions for children at an age when their minds are wide open to new sounds, images and experiences.
Following sell out runs in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), New York (Metropolitan Opera), Manchester International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Improbable bring you a made-for-screen adaptation so you can access the magic of BambinO wherever you are!
BambinO at Home will be streamed live and combine performance from the show with puppetry and live illustration from children’s illustrator Viviane Schwarz. We’ll also send you specially made activities and ideas to do at home as you watch with your bambini.
Soprano: Charlotte Hoather
Baritone: Kieran Rayner
Cello: Semay Wu
Percussion: Michael D Clark
Composer: Lliam Paterson
Director: Phelim McDermott
Designers: Giuseppe Belli & Emma Belli
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Filming: Chocolate Films
https://www.improbable.co.uk/current-projects/bambino-at-home
The Concert Hall, King’s College School
Southside, Wimbledon Common SW19 4TT
Byrd Lullaby, my sweet little baby
Palestrina Magnificat primi toni
Pärt Magnificat
Scheidt Puer natus in Bethlehem
Flecha Ríu ríu chíu
Arr. Wall Gaudete
Pearsall In dulci jubilo
Joubert Torches
Gjeilo The Coventry Carol
Arr. Wilberg Ding! Dong! Merrily on High
Plus congregational carols for all to join in!
Join Australians Lotte Betts-Dean – a versatile mezzo soprano whose performance experience includes contemporary repertoire, early music, art song and opera – and Royal Academy of Music alumnus, pianist Joseph Havlat, as well as award-winning New Zealand baritone Kieran Rayner on Friday 11 February 2022 from 6pm to 7pm.
The programme will feature works by British, Australian and NZ composers and is part of the FANZA Festival to complement the 2021/2022 Season of Culture celebrating the cultural relationship between Australia and the UK.
The venue, St Mary-at-Hill Church, has a beautiful interior designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is a popular venue for concerts and recitals. Doors will open at 5.30pm and the ticket price of £25 includes a glass of wine afterwards. [Special price tickets for young adults and under-25s.]
There are many good restaurants within walking distance of the Church for those who wish to make a night of it.
Sit in on an exciting coaching session focusing on French Song.
Named as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, pianist Susan Manoff is currently a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. She is devoted to the relationship between singer, pianist, composer and poet. For this masterclass she will be joined by singers and pianists from the 2021-22 cohort of Britten Pears Young Artists.
Sit in on an exciting coaching session focusing on French Song.
Named as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, pianist Susan Manoff is currently a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. She is devoted to the relationship between singer, pianist, composer and poet. For this masterclass she will be joined by singers and pianists from the 2021-22 cohort of Britten Pears Young Artists.
Outstanding singers and pianists from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme give an end of course recital, following an intensive course of coaching and public masterclasses with Susan Manoff.
The German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion with an original libretto by playwright Ross McGregor, in Southwark Cathedral (7pm 17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (6pm 19 March).
Kieran Rayner will play Robert Scholl (Sophie’s father) and Möhr (an interrogator), as well as singing the bass arias.
Hans and Sophie Scholl are amongst the most famous personalities in Germany. Nearly every town has a Scholl Square, a Geschwister Scholl School, or a Sophie Scholl Street. Their lives are a set part of the German history curriculum in every school and every year new books, documentaries and films about their lives are published.
On May 9, 2021, it would have been Sophie Scholl’s 100th Birthday.
The lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl, founder of the White Rose resistance group, are widely unknown in the UK. That there was resistance in the public during NS time is for many British still news, having learnt at school mainly about the obeying Germans during the war and the enormous following for Hitler.
The German Choir of London wants to tell a different story.
For this concert the German Choir commissioned a play that accompanies J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion to highlight the story of Sophie Scholl, executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for opposing Hitler with a campaign of non-violence during the Second World War.
The concert will tell the story of Sophie, confined in Stadelheim Prison, Munich in the period before her death, through an original libretto created by playwright Ross McGregor, by combining letters, newspaper articles, the White Rose leaflets and court protocols with the music of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
This new interpretation will be performed with the German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir in Southwark Cathedral (17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (19 March). It will encourage us to remember that the courage of Sophie Scholl and her fellow conspirators is an inspiration through time, a reminder that fighting injustice, fighting against systems which are wrong, even against the greatest odds, is truly a message of our time.
The German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion with an original libretto by playwright Ross McGregor, in Southwark Cathedral (7pm 17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (6pm 19 March).
Kieran Rayner will play Robert Scholl (Sophie’s father) and Möhr (an interrogator), as well as singing the bass arias.
Hans and Sophie Scholl are amongst the most famous personalities in Germany. Nearly every town has a Scholl Square, a Geschwister Scholl School, or a Sophie Scholl Street. Their lives are a set part of the German history curriculum in every school and every year new books, documentaries and films about their lives are published.
On May 9, 2021, it would have been Sophie Scholl’s 100th Birthday.
The lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl, founder of the White Rose resistance group, are widely unknown in the UK. That there was resistance in the public during NS time is for many British still news, having learnt at school mainly about the obeying Germans during the war and the enormous following for Hitler.
The German Choir of London wants to tell a different story.
For this concert the German Choir commissioned a play that accompanies J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion to highlight the story of Sophie Scholl, executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for opposing Hitler with a campaign of non-violence during the Second World War.
The concert will tell the story of Sophie, confined in Stadelheim Prison, Munich in the period before her death, through an original libretto created by playwright Ross McGregor, by combining letters, newspaper articles, the White Rose leaflets and court protocols with the music of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
This new interpretation will be performed with the German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir in Southwark Cathedral (17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (19 March). It will encourage us to remember that the courage of Sophie Scholl and her fellow conspirators is an inspiration through time, a reminder that fighting injustice, fighting against systems which are wrong, even against the greatest odds, is truly a message of our time.
The VIARDOT200 festival in Dorset is a celebration of the bicentenary of 19th Century composer (and glamorous singer!) Pauline Viardot. The weekend festival will feature Viardot’s Cendrillon (Cinderella) in which Kieran plays Cinderella’s father Baron Duphol, plus a concert of art songs written or inspired by Viardot.
At the end of the festival, Kieran will play Hero in the premiere of young composer Zygmund de Somogyi’s chamber opera hikikomori!, an exciting new work exploring love, loss and the boundaries between fantasy and reality.
Where: Oborne, Dorset
When: Cendrillon: 2 April
Art song concert: 3 April
hikikomori! : 4 April
Booking details and further information to be announced soon.
Conducted by Dominic Ellis-Peckham, Aldeburgh Voices, The Suffolk Ensemble and soloists perform selections from Bach’s three great Easter passions and Easter choral settings by composers from the 16th to 21st centuries: Victoria, Lotti, Bruckner, Copland and Taverner.
A story-led song recital with a twist: the audience chooses the direction of the narrative.
Baritone (and scriptwriter) Kieran Rayner, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts Dean and pianist Bradley Wood present a vocal recital where the audience decides the direction of the narrative, influencing which songs are performed. Featuring potential song repertoire ranging from Schubert, Poulenc and Finzi to new works.
Composer Jasmine Morris’s multi-media chamber opera responding to George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm. Kieran Rayne will play Farmer Jones, a ruthless investor targeting profit by any means necessary.
This promenade piece invites you to follow your guides around the spaces of the Hoffmann Building to see scenes performed.
La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).
Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.
Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.
Rita, the somewhat tyrannical inn-owner and wife of Peppe is shocked by the return of her former husband Gasparo whom she had thought dead by drowning (he had run away to far-off lands). Gasparo is back to acquire Rita’s death certificate so he can remarry – because he, in turn, thought she had died. In the middle is poor Peppe who wants out, and perhaps Gasparo’s return provides the opportunity? The opera is a comedy of deceit and ill-manners (it was originally called The Beaten Husband which tells you something of Rita’s inclinations) but it glitters with Donizetti’s trademark vivacity, formed around eight core musical ‘numbers’ connected by spoken dialogue. The opera has, in the past few decades, become one of the most frequently performed of Donizetti’s short operas.
La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).
Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.
Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.
Rita, the somewhat tyrannical inn-owner and wife of Peppe is shocked by the return of her former husband Gasparo whom she had thought dead by drowning (he had run away to far-off lands). Gasparo is back to acquire Rita’s death certificate so he can remarry – because he, in turn, thought she had died. In the middle is poor Peppe who wants out, and perhaps Gasparo’s return provides the opportunity? The opera is a comedy of deceit and ill-manners (it was originally called The Beaten Husband which tells you something of Rita’s inclinations) but it glitters with Donizetti’s trademark vivacity, formed around eight core musical ‘numbers’ connected by spoken dialogue. The opera has, in the past few decades, become one of the most frequently performed of Donizetti’s short operas.
La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).
Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.
Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.
The course of true love runs far from smooth for Dido, Queen of Carthage, and Trojan hero Aeneas in Purcell’s famous opera. We are thrilled that our If Opera Company singers will be working with guest conductor Christopher Bucknall for this very special concert performance of Dido and Aeneas. Intimate in scale, this timeless tale of love and anguish, sorcery, war and betrayal punches well above its weight and includes one of the most beautiful arias in all Baroque opera – When I am Laid in Earth.
DIDO Fleur Barron
AENEAS Kieran Rayner
SORCERESS Katherine McIndoe
BELINDA Nardus Williams
FIRST WITCH Lorena Paz Nieto
SECOND WITCH Helen Maree Cooper
La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).
Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.
Director Bruno Ravella, a former Iford Arts favourite, joins us fresh from extraordinary acclaim for his Rosenkavalier at Garsington in 2021, and If Opera’s Artistic Director Oliver Gooch conducts.
Kieran reprises one of his favourite song cycles with orchestra, Mahler’s heartbreaking Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). With the Lambeth Orchestra conducted by Peter Selwyn, at All Saints Church, West Dulwich.
Concert also features:
LISZT: Les Preludes
MAHLER: Blumine
STRAUSS: Tod und Verklärung
To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Emmy Destinn Foundation Under the auspices of HE Mrs. Marie Chatardová, Czech Ambassador to the UK.
Featuring brilliant young artists, the winners of our biennial competition The Emmy Destinn Young Singers Awards performing arias by Janáček, Dvořák, Smetana, Mozart and Puccini.
They will be accompanied by accomplished pianists Raya Kostova, Panaretos Kyriatzidis and Max Bilbe, winners of the Lady Grenfell-Baines Accompanist’s Prize.
The concert will also feature talented Czech violinist Leona Gogolicynová, accompanied by celebrated pianist Anthony Hewitt, and renowned Swedish trumpeter Magnus Johansson who performed at the inaugural Emmy Destinn Foundation concert in 1997
The evening will be presented by voice over actress and narrator Veronika Hyks
The Foundation is dedicated to upholding the legacy of Emmy Destinn, the greatest Czech diva, by supporting talented young singers and preserving the traditional cultural link between Britain and Czech Republic, as well as cultivating awareness of Czech repertoire’s great riches.
Featuring arias and scenes from operas by:
Leoš Janáček
Antonín Dvořák
Bedřich Smetana
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Giacomo Puccini
Josef Suk
A co-production by Britten Pears Arts and The Royal Opera House.
In a world brutalised by conflict, one woman’s experience of horrific violence becomes the defining moment of an era.
Benjamin Britten’s shattering chamber opera explores some of the darkest drives in the human psyche – and what happens when power and war give them free rein. In this contemporary new staging, Oliver Mears directs, while Corinna Niemeyer conducts a cast drawn from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker Artists Programme.
Throughout the autumn, we will be exploring aspects of this production and its wider context in a series of talks and presentations online. Keep your eye on the website for more details.