MozartDon Giovanni

DonizettiAnnaBolena

Carlisle FloydSusannah

ENGLISHTOURINGOPERASPRING 2008

CONTENTS2 TOUR SCHEDULE3 WELCOME4 DON GIOVANNI5 DON GIOVANNI SYNOPSIS6 DON GIOVANNI ESSAY8 ANNA BOLENA

10 ANNA BOLENA SYNOPSIS12 ANNA BOLENA ESSAY16 SUSANNAH17 SUSANNAH SYNOPSIS18 SUSANNAH ESSAY21 NETWORKS22 SPRING 2008 COMPANY24 ORCHESTRA AND

TOUR STAFF

25 DESIGN FOR A SEASON26 ETO IN THE COMMUNITY27 SUPPORT US28 EDUCATION30 BIOGRAPHIES41 OUR SUPPORTERS42 ETO’S BOARD OF

DIRECTORS AND STAFF45 BEHIND THE SCENES

Supported 2008 by

Gaetano Donizetti’s Anna Bolena

Lyric tragedy in 2 acts by Felice Romani. Premiere Milan, Teatro Carcano, 26 December 1830

Published by Ricordi Milan.

Carlyle Floyd’s Susannah

Musical drama in 2 acts by the composer. Premiere Florida State University, Tallahassee,

24 February 1955. By permission of Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Il dissoluto punito, ossia Don Giovanni Dramma giocoso by Lorenzo da Ponte. English Version

by David Parry Premiere Prague, Estates Theatre, 29 October 1787 ETO productions

in 1985-6, 1992, 2002-3.

3

Welcome to ETO’s Spring 2008 season.

In contrast to the season just finished, inwhich we concentrated on two eighteenthcentury jewels (and thank you for all yourvery kind letters about Teseo and CountryMatters), you have before you comparativetitans of the last three centuries. We hope that you have brought along somefriends who are innocent of opera’s manypleasures, and that you share with themyour experience and enthusiasm.

It’s exciting to present a beautiful colt of an opera like Susannah for the first time in so many cities, and to revive a rarelyperformed masterpiece like Anna Bolena(another of our series of operas looking at stories from British history) - and it is always a complex and joyous thing to engage with Mozart, da Ponte and Don Juan.

At the same time, Voithia! - a new opera byRachel Leech and Tim Yealland - continuedthe story of Teseo with an account of theGreek hero’s exploits (designed forchildren aged 6 - 11) and Red Riding Hood,Tom Smail’s musical telling of that tale for 3 - 7 year olds, tours schools and theatres around the country.

While we have been preparing theseshows, there have been changes back at the ETO office. With the generous help of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation,

Henriette Krarup has just joined the teamto coordinate our work in a few keyvenues - Wolverhampton, Truro, Cambridgeand Exeter - and to develop our nETwOrks.

Have I encouraged you to help us byjoining a nETwOrk? nETwOrks are aninvaluable source of local knowledge forus: groups of interesting, dissimilar peoplewho like opera, who are our ambassadorsand advisors around the country. Theyhold events like recitals and talks, theyhost singers, they tell us how to reach new audiences and they help us stay in touch with the ones we know. Join,please, if you like what we do, and youwant to help us get better! Informationabout joining or setting up a nETwOrk is on page 23 of this programme.

2

SPRING TOUR 08 WELCOME

James Conway

General Director

London Hackney Empire

020 8985 2424

Thu 13 Mar Anna Bolena

Fri 14 Mar Susannah ●

Sat 15 Mar Don Giovanni ●

Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

0114 249 6000

Mon 17 Mar Don Giovanni

Tue 18 Mar Anna Bolena

Wed 19 Mar Susannah ●

Cheltenham Everyman Theatre

01242 572573

Tue 25 Mar Don Giovanni

Wed 26 Mar Anna Bolena

Thu 27 Mar Susannah ●

Fri 28 Mar Don Giovanni

Sat 29 Mar Anna Bolena

Exeter Northcott Theatre

01392 493493

Tue 1 Apr Don Giovanni

Wed 2 Apr Anna Bolena

Thu 3 Apr Susannah

Fri 4 Apr Don Giovanni

Sat 5 Apr Anna Bolena

Truro Hall for Cornwall

01872 262466

Mon 7 Apr Don Giovanni ◆

Tue 8 Apr Anna Bolena

Wed 9 Apr Susannah

Poole The Lighthouse

08700 668 701

Fri 11 Apr Don Giovanni

Sat 12 Apr Anna Bolena ●

Bexhill De La Warr Pavillion

01424 229 111

Tue 15 Apr Don Giovanni ◆

Wed 16 Apr Anna Bolena ●

Crawley The Hawth

01293 553 636

Fri 18 Apr Don Giovanni

Sat 19 Apr Anna Bolena

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

01902 429 212

Mon 21 Apr Don Giovanni ●

Tue 22 Apr Anna Bolena

Buxton Buxton Opera House

0845 127 2190

Thu 24 Apr Anna Bolena ●

Fri 25 Apr Don Giovanni

Sat 2 Apr Susannah ●

Cambridge Cambridge Arts Theatre

01223 503 333

Tue 29 Apr Don Giovanni ◆

Wed 30 Apr Anna Bolena ●

Thu 1 May Susannah ●

Fri 2 May Don Giovanni

Sat 3 May Anna Bolena

Snape Maltings Concert Hall

01728 687110

Thu 8 May Don Giovanni ●

Fri 9 May Susannah ●

Sat 10 May Anna Bolena

Coventry Warwick Arts Centre

024 7652 4524

Tue 13 May Don Giovanni

Wed 14 May Anna Bolena

Thu 15 May Susannah ●

Fri 16 May Anna Bolena

Sat 17 May Don Giovanni

Durham Gala Theatre

0191 332 4041

Mon 19 May Don Giovanni

Tue 20 May Anna Bolena

Perth Perth Festival

0845 612 6330

Thu 22 May Don Giovanni

Sat 24 May Anna Bolena

All performances at 7.30pm● Pre-show talk, contact the venue

for more information◆ Captioned performances

Audio described performances

Jonathan Munby’s new production of Don Giovanni

is English Touring Opera’s fourth version of

Mozart’s masterpiece. The role of Don Giovanni

is surely one of the greatest baritone roles in the

repertoire, and ETO’s productions have showcased

some of the finest singers of their generation.

We catch up with a Don Giovanni from each

of ETO’s past productions, to find out whether

they have had a happier fate than the

character they portrayed!

Tim Yealland (1985) was ETO’s first Don Giovanni,

playing him in a controversial modern dress

production directed by the late Steven Pimlott,

and conducted by David Parry Bolton. Tim now

works for English Touring Opera as their Artistic

Associate (Education), and is one of the leading

directors of music education projects in the

country. His most recent projects for ETO include

directing the community opera A House on the

Moon at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

(featuring nearly 200 members of the local

community), and the schools’ opera Voithia! which

toured to schools

and family audiences in early 2008.

William Dazeley (1992) played a young,

dangerously attractive Don Giovanni for ETO in

1992, directed by Stephen Medcalf and conducted,

by Ivor Bolton. Since then, he has established

himself as one of today’s leading baritones, and

has appeared with many of the world’s important

opera houses including the Deutsche Oper Berlin,

Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Festival Opera,

Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Théâtre du

Châtelet, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, and

Chorégies d'Orange. Prominent conductors with

whom he has performed include Sir Colin Davis, Sir

Charles Mackerras, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel

Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis and

Leonard Slatkin.

Håkan Vramsmo (Spring 2002) sang the title

role in the original 2002 season of this Mozart

masterpiece. Håkan has performed extensively

as a recitalist, including appearances at the

Wigmore Hall and Bridgewater Hall, and at the

Aldeburgh, Bath and Newbury Spring Festivals.

He also appeared with the Gothenberg Symphony

Orchestra, recorded for BBC Radio 3 and

Stockholm Radio and gave concerts in Dublin,

Sweden, Denmark and France. Since his 2002

ETO appearance, Håkan has covered the role

of Papageno in Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s

production of The Magic Flute and sang the role

of Valentin in Opera Omnibus’s production

of Gounod’s Faust. His wife, mezzo soprano

Louise Poole, played Ruggiero in ETO’s 2005

production of Alcina.

D’arcy Bleiker (Autumn 2002) played Don

Giovanni in the autumn revival of ETO’s 2002

production, set in the back streets and ballrooms

of 1950s Seville. In 2003, just after playing Don

Giovanni, he had to withdraw from the Cardiff

Singer of the World competition because of illness.

Since then, his fortunes have picked up - and he

has made the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni his

own, appearing in the role for Glyndebourne

Festival Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and

Scottish Opera! Further credits include Angelotti

in Tosca for English National Opera, Hairdresser

in Ariadne auf Naxos for the Royal Opera House,

Covent Garden, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos

for Welsh National Opera, and various roles for

Garsington Opera. D’Arcy recently opened a

restaurant - the Malt Shovel near Ripon - in

October 2006, with his parents and his wife

(mezzo-soprano Anna Burford), and he now

combines being a chef with singing.

SYNOPSIS

4 5

DON GIOVANNIINTRODUCING

DON GIOVANNIAct 1 Concealing his identity, Don Giovanni is

attempting to seduce Donna Anna inside her

house. Outside, his servant Leporello complains

about having to keep watch. Soon Don Giovanni

rushes out, pursued by Donna Anna and her father,

the Commendatore. In a fight the Commendatore is

killed, and Donna Anna and her fiancé Don Ottavio

swear vengeance on the unknown assassin.

A little while later Don Giovanni is found by Donna

Elvira, whom he had once promised to marry and

then deserted. He leaves her with Leporello,

who recites an extravagant list of his master’s

conquests in the hope of deterring her from

her pursuit.

Don Giovanni arrives at the wedding party of

two peasants, Zerlina and Masetto. He quickly

persuades Zerlina to come to his house for some

fun. He is interrupted by Donna Elvira (followed by

Donna Anna and Don Ottavio) who warns Zerlina

about his cruelty. Don Giovanni accuses Elvira of

madness and leaves, but as he is going Donna

Anna recognises her assailant and vows revenge.

Don Giovanni tells Leporello to invite everyone to

a party on his estate. At the gathering Zerlina begs

forgiveness from Masetto, before being pursued

(again) by Don Giovanni. Donna Anna, Don Ottavio

and Donna Elvira arrive masked to catch their prey,

but in a moment of confusion Don Giovanni

manages to escape.

Interval

Act 2 Leporello wants to leave his master’s

service, but money persuades him to stay.

Don Giovanni then orders Leporello to exchange

clothes with him, in order to seduce Elvira’s maid.

He makes Donna Elvira believe that he still loves

her, sends her off with the disguised Leporello,

and then serenades her maid.

Masetto arrives, looking to kill Zerlina’s seducer.

The disguised Don Giovanni deceives and then

attacks him. Zerlina finds Masetto and

comforts him.

A little while later, Leporello (still disguised as Don

Giovanni) is found by the vengeance-seekers. They

threaten to kill him (except Elvira, who pleads for

his life) but he reveals himself and escapes.

In a cemetery the statue of the Commendatore

warns Don Giovanni that his career of crime will

soon be cut short. Giovanni replies with an

invitation to supper.

Don Giovanni is at supper when Elvira bursts in and

vainly begs him to turn away from his wicked life.

He refuses, and as she leaves, Giovanni’s next

guest, the statue of the Commendatore, arrives.

The unrepentant libertine then discovers hell.

Running Time: Act I 76 minutes, Act II 65 minutes

James Patterson as Leporello and Tim Yealland as Don Giovanni, ETO, 1985

7

showed the force of this paradox by turning it on

its head: ‘Tragedy is when I cut my finger,’ he said.

‘Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer

and die.’

The critic Ernest Newman described the libretto of

Don Giovanni as ‘one of the sorriest pieces of stage

joinery ever nailed together by a hack in a hurry’,

and though this seems unduly harsh, it is certainly

true that Da Ponte had a lot on his plate when

writing it. He was simultaneously penning two

other libretti and complained that ‘With only brief

breaks, I continued to work twelve hours a day for

two months.’ He therefore quarried his character

sketches and some of the text of Act 1 from a short

one-act opera called Don Giovanni Tenorio, or The

Stone Guest with music by Giuseppe Gazzaniga and

words by Giovanni Bertati. Sheila Hodges, one of

Da Ponte’s biographers, is clear about the extent to

which Mozart’s librettist is indebted to the earlier

writer. ‘Da Ponte’s reliance on Bertati by

no means led him slavishly to copy,’ she writes,

‘for he has brought his own particular genius to

the task. One of the women has been eliminated…

most of the characters have greater subtlety…

and Zerlina becomes less of a country hoyden and

considerably more interesting and complex.’

Bertati’s libretto treats the legend more or less

as a joke. Da Ponte, realizing that the story needed

comedy in the mix to bring out the horror, spent

considerable energy persuading Mozart not to

overcompensate too far in the other direction and

treat the legend solely as a high-toned morality

piece. (It is also worth pointing out that Mozart’s

father died soon after he had begun work on the

opera. Many commentators have speculated on the

effect this may have had on the darker moments

of Don Giovanni.) Late in life, when he was a grocer

and Italian teacher living in New York, the librettist

told his friend Dr John Francis about his efforts:

‘Mozart determined to cast the opera exclusively

as serious, and had well advanced in the work.

Da Ponte assured me,’ writes Dr Francis, ‘that he

remonstrated and urged the expediency on the

great composer of the introduction of the vis

comica in order to accomplish a greater success.’

Whether this is true or not is open to debate. Da

Ponte’s own memoirs - let alone the ones recorded

at second hand - are notoriously unreliable and

inaccurate, and it seems unlikely that, especially

after the success of The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart

wouldn’t be fully aware of the possibilities of serio-

comic opera. Whatever the reality, the decision

to cast the piece as a blend of high and low

was taken, and Don Giovanni triumphed when

it was first seen in Prague in October 1787.

Unfortunately it failed dismally when it came to the

much more important musical centre of Vienna

in May 1788. According to Da Ponte the Emperor

Joseph’s response was ‘The opera is divine, but it

isn’t the right food for the teeth of my Viennese.’

To which Mozart replied, ‘Give them time to chew

it.’ Unfortunately the composer never knew the

piece to be a success because it was pulled from

the theatre after 15 performances in 1788 and not

put on again until after his death. But he was right

about it needing time to be appreciated, for over

two hundred years after the premiere we’re still

chewing on its complexities and still succumbing

to its ravishing power.

Warwick Thompson

2002

* A bullfighting term denoting the first man to

enter the ring - his task is to provoke the bull.

It is always something of a surprise to be

reminded that the full title of Don Giovanni doesn’t

use the term ‘opera’ but drama giocoso (comic

drama). A surprise, because the Don’s murder of

the Commendatore, his subsequent dealings with

the statue and his descent into the sulphurous

regions can hardly be described as a barrel of

laughs, and these are the scenes which often leave

the greatest impression on the audience. Mozart

himself said of the composition of this piece,

‘Whenever I sit at the piano with my new opera,

I have to stop, for it stirs my emotions too deeply.’

And yet of course there are plenty of comic

moments; Don Giovanni’s wooing of Elvira’s

maid, Leporello’s cowardice and Zerlina’s

coquettish repentance for her fickleness are all

moments which cast an ironic sidelight on the

grander and more heroic (or anti-heroic) aspects

of the piece. This blend of hilarity and hellishness

has often perplexed commentators. Composer

Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-75) said that while the

Commendatore’s death and his revenge are

the essential parts of the opera, ‘the rest is

a parenthesis in the history of opera, but still

a parenthesis,’ and Beethoven wondered how

Mozart could have bothered with such a frivolous

libretti as those with which Da Ponte provided

him. A brief look at the origins of the story helps

explain where this unique and intriguing mix of

brimstone and burlesque sprang from and why

it is so theatrically successful.

The first version of the story to hit the stage,

El Burlador de Sevilla y el Combidado de Pietra,

(The Burlador* of Seville and the Stone Guest) was

written in Spain in 1630 by Tirso de Molina and

based on a series of events which (as legend would

have it) took place in the middle ages. Don Juan,

a member of one of the great families of Seville,

killed a Commendatore after having seduced his

daughter. The monks in the monastery where

the nobleman was buried decided to make

an example of the Don, and lured him into the

cemetery one night and killed him. They then

spread a rumour that their victim had insulted

the statue of the Commendatore and had been

swallowed up by the ground. The playwright turned

the monastic fib into theatrical reality, and in

so doing gave birth to one of the theatre’s most

enduring spectres: the Stone Guest.

Molina’s highly moralizing version of this tale

remained popular, but after it had been presented

on stage it seemed to develop a life of its own. The

basic elements of the story - which after all, have

an undeniable raciness and immediacy about

them - were quickly taken up by strolling players

and puppeteers, and the legend of Don Juan being

dragged to hell by his victim’s statue spread across

Europe as a piece of rough and ready popular

theatre complete with gags and slapstick.

Whiffs of the story’s popularity soon reached the

noses of the great dramatists of the day and they

set to work to produce their own versions. Moliere

wrote Le Festin de Pierre (The Stone Feast) in 1665

and introduced both the character of Elvira and a

philosophical debate about the nature of individual

liberty. Purcell wrote music for Shadwell’s The

Libertine in 1676, and in 1736 Carlo Goldoni wrote

the first version of the play in which the anti-hero’s

name appears in the title. There was a ballet by

Gluck in 1761… and so the list goes on. The story

had clearly evolved in two directions, the demotic

(comic) and the patrician (serious) - but it took the

combined genius of Da Ponte and Mozart to realize

that the fear and terror they wanted their ending

to inspire could only be achieved by a carefully

controlled series of dramatic contrasts, mixing

high and low sentiments. The comedy helps the

audience sympathise with the characters, making

their plight all the more affecting. Mel Brooks once

6

DON GIOVANNIESSAY

9

Anne Boleyn, the younger daughter of an

ambitious courtier, had an excellent education,

and had learned the manners of Europe at the

courts of Margaret of Austria and Claude of France.

Known more for her wit than her beauty, she was

still the most fashionable woman at court; she

was also strong willed, and did not intend to

become the king’s mistress, as her sister had been.

Her interest in religious reform helped advance the

cause of Thomas Cranmer, and it was she who had

him appointed Archbishop of Canterbury; later, of

course, he had enough sense to forget that he had

married her to Henry, to enjoy the favour of the

king through four more marriages, and to survive

the rule of Jane Seymour’s son (and regency

of her brother). Anne Boleyn’s protégé was then

burned by the step-daughter who hated her -

Mary Tudor, daughter of Catharine of Aragon.

Anne’s misfortune was that after the birth of a

healthy daughter - later Elizabeth I - she had several

miscarriages in rapid succession. Anne’s strong

will had won few friends at court, and the King

readily believed the charges that were trumped up

against her. Curiously, even her enemies, including

Thomas Cromwell, who oversaw her conviction for

treason, adultery and incest, criticised her using

the same terms that we use to praise her

daughter, Elizabeth:

‘…religious yet aggressive, calculating yet

emotional, with the light touch of the courtier yet

the strong grip of the politician… A woman in her

own right - taken on her own terms in a man’s

world; a woman who mobilized her education,

her style and her presence to outweigh the

disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good

looks, but taking a court and a king by storm...’*

*Eric William Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn

(2004)

ANNABOLENA

8

Anne Boleyn’s Speech at her execution

May 19, 1536, 8 o’clock in the morning

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die,

for according to the law, and by the law I am

judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing

against it. I am come hither to accuse no man,

nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am

accused and condemned to die, but I pray God

save the king and send him long to reign over

you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince

was there never: and to me he was ever a good,

a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person

will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge

the best. And thus I take my leave of the world

and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to

pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God

I commend my soul.

‘‘WWhhoossoo list ttoo hhuunntt,, II kknnooww wwhheerree iiss aann hhiinndd......’’

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,

But as for me, alas, I may no more;

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that furthest come behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow; I leave off therefore,

Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I, may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain,

There is written her fair neck round about,

‘Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.’

Thomas Wyatt

The Opera Anna Bolena was Donizetti’s first

international success, after a long apprenticeship

in the theatre at Venice and Naples. For many

years it was thought to show a departure from his

earlier work, which was more influenced by Rossini;

a better understanding of his early work has shown

that Anna Bolena more acccurately represents

a new artistic maturity for the composer - an

eloquent, powerful work in his own voice - while

it contains many borrowed elements from

earlier work.

At its premiere on December 26, 1830 at the Teatro

Carcano in Milan, the formidable cast included

Giuditta Pastia in the title role, Giovanni Battista

Rubini as Percy, and Filippo Galli as Henry. (The

season at the Carcano, set up by a group of

noblemen seeking to discredit the management at

La Scala, also included the premiere of Bellini’s La

Sonnambula a few months later!). Anna Bolena was

a triumph, and remained in the repertoire for 50

years, giving Donizetti an introduction to the opera

audiences of Paris and London. The 1957 revival

at La Scala with Maria Callas in the title role re-

established Anna Bolena in ‘the repertoire’, and

was part of a general resurgence of interest

in bel canto opera.

The Historical Background Henry VIII repudiated

his first wife, Catharine of Aragon, with whom

he had one daughter but no sons. Before their

marriage, she had been married to his brother

Arthur, but he died without consummating the

marriage; after Arthur’s death, Henry’s widower

father, Henry VII, seemed intent on marrying

Catharine in order to retain her dowry, but the

young prince was fond of Catharine, and he

prevailed. When much later Henry fell in love with

Anne Boleyn, one of Catharine’s ladies in waiting,

he used the Queen’s earlier marriage to his

brother as grounds for divorce.

Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII Jane Seymour

Anne Mason and Sarah Jillian Cox - ETO'sMary Queen of Scots 2005

1110

Act 1 Scene 1 At Windsor, courtiers are aware that

King Henry no longer visits his wife, Anne Boleyn.

One of Queen Anne’s favourite attendants, Jane

Seymour, knows the reason: Henry is now in love

with her. After another long night of waiting for the

King, Anne asks her young page, Smeaton, to sing

a song to divert them - but when he sings of a lost,

first love, she stops him suddenly, remembering her

own, early love for the exiled noble Richard Percy.

Anne and the rest retire, but Jane awaits Henry,

who has arranged to meet her. When he arrives she

tells him that she will not sacrifice her honour by

agreeing to be his mistress, and to her surprise

he explains that he will marry her once he has

disposed of Anne Boleyn. Jane is consumed

by remorse.

Scene 2 Anne’s brother, Rochford, meets his friend

Percy at Windsor Park, where the King plans to

hunt. The gloom that settled on Percy during his

exile is not lifted by return to England, for he has

not recovered from his love for Anne. Even in exile,

he has heard that Anne is unhappy. Henry, of

course, has recalled Percy from exile in order to

entrap him with Anne. When Anne arrives, having

set out early from the castle in order to meet her

husband, Henry notes her consternation when

confronted by Percy. Ironically, all praise the

king’s clemency, while he observes his prey.

Scene 3 Mark Smeaton is infatuated with Queen

Anne. He has come to her chamber in order to

replace a stolen locket containing her portrait.

Interrupted by Anne and her brother, he hides

himself. Rochford urges his sister to meet the

inconsolable Percy, and she reluctantly agrees.

To Percy she confides that her crown has become

a crown of thorns, a just punishment for her

ambition and her abandonment of Percy; the king,

she confesses, hates her. Percy does not hesitate

to declare his love. Anne urges him to flee

England again, but he says that he will die before

he leaves her again. As he draws his dagger,

Smeaton emerges from concealment, imagining

that he is defending the Queen from Percy’s

attack. Too late, Rochford warns them of the

king’s approach. Seeing weapons drawn in the

palace, Henry summons the guards. When

Smeaton pleads innocence, Anne’s locket falls

from his breast pocket. Henry proclaims to all

present that Anne has betrayed him with Smeaton

and Percy. Anne begs him to allow her to explain,

and is horrified when Henry retorts that she will

explain to judges - a terrible humiliation for

a crowned queen, recalling the fate of her

predecessor, Catharine. Percy imagines that

Anne’s reluctance to open her arms to him was

caused by her affair with Smeaton. From this

point, Anne’s downfall is assured.

Act 2 Scene 1 Anne’s ladies note that she is

friendless: even Jane Seymour has deserted the

court. Henry’s official Hervey orders her last

attendants to appear before the court. Alone, Anne

prays until she is interrupted by Jane Seymour.

Jane asks her to admit her guilt and give up the

crown in order to save her life. Astonished, Anne

upbraids her: Jane urges her case again, in the

name of Henry, and in the name of the guilty

woman Henry intends to put on the throne in

Anne’s place. Anne’s curses cause Jane to

prostrate herself, and Anne at last recognises

her rival. Weeping, Jane confesses that the king

seduced her, and that she now loves him. Anne’s

forgiveness only sharpens Jane’s pangs.

Scene 2 A group of courtiers learn from Hervey

that Smeaton has confessed to being Anne’s lover,

led to believe by the king that in so doing he will

save her. Alone with the king, Hervey explains that

Smeaton has fallen into the trap they set. Anne

and Percy are led in, and Anne insists

on telling him that she will die at his hand, but not

go to trial. Henry wonders how she can claim the

rights of a Queen when she has slept with Percy;

then he taunts the outraged Percy with Anne’s

misconduct with a mere page. Anne throws back

the accusation, asserting that her only crime was

ambition, in desiring to be the wife of a king. Percy

is moved to forgive her, and declares that justice

will save them. When Anne doubts the efficacy of

Henry’s justice, he explains that he

will soon have a new queen; impetuously, Percy

retaliates with an assertion that Anne and he were

married long before she met the king. He and Anne

somehow convince themselves that the English

people will have an appetite for the truth that

will thwart Henry’s plans to eliminate them.

This is bitter news for Henry. If she was never truly

his wife, but Percy’s, how could she be guilty of

treason? Darkly, he promises that their daughter

Elizabeth will share her infamy. His frustration is

only aggravated by Jane Seymour, who is unwilling

to be the cause of Anne’s death. When she begs

to be allowed to leave Henry and the court, he

hates Anne all the more. Hervey announces that

the court has annulled his marriage to Anne, and

condemned her to death, together with Smeaton,

Rochford (incest is actually the most serious

of Anne’s alleged sins) and Percy. Jane and

courtiers plead for mercy, but Henry

is unmoved.

Scene 3 In the tower, Percy and Rochford are

confined together. Percy is morose because

Rochford, at least, is certainly innocent; Rochford,

on the other hand, confesses that he influenced

Anne to aim for the throne. Hervey announces that

the king has pardoned them, but neither is willing

to accept the pardon if Anne is to die. Ecstatically,

they pledge friendship and loyalty in death as in

life, though Hervey orders them to be separated.

Scene 4 Anne has suffered a breakdown in

confinement, described by her loyal attendants.

She emerges from her cell, imagining that it is the

day of her wedding to Henry, but then she fancies

that she sees Percy, accusing her. She begs this

phantom to lead her back to childhood innocence.

Percy, Smeaton and Rochford are led in for

execution; after lucid moments her mind wanders

again, and she calls on Smeaton to sing for her.

Jubilant sounds wake her again, and when it is

explained to her that they mark the King’s

marriage festivities, she calls on heaven to rain

mercy, not vengeance on the guilty pair.

Running Time: Act I 65 minutes, Act II 75 minutes

ANNA BOLENASYNOPSIS

Julie Unwin (Anna) and Luciano Botelho (Percy)

in ETO's Anna Bolena

12

LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD...

ESSAY ANNA BOLENA

Ludmilla Andrew introduces the title role, one

of the greatest bel canto roles for soprano.

I first sang the role of Anna Bolena at

Glyndebourne. I was a young, relatively

inexperienced soprano and absolutely thrilled

to be sharing the role with the great Turkish diva

Leyla Gencer. I knew I could learn so much by

watching and listening to such an experienced

singer in this role. But she cancelled and, suddenly,

I was catapulted into all the performances weeks

before I was due to sing my own scheduled dates.

This certainly taught me early on in my career

just how vital it is to always be thoroughly

prepared well in advance, especially when it comes

to tackling a tour-de-force like Bolena.

The role of Anna is one of the most demanding and

taxing roles in the dramatic bel canto repertoire.

Technically there must be no surprises once you’re

out on that stage. Everything must be worked

out beforehand so that the voice always sounds

effortless, beautiful, exciting and expressive. You

must be able to produce the softest, sweetest

sound possible and in the next moment crescendo

to a full-blooded, passionate outcry! Stamina and

control! And, of course, flexibility is essential - runs,

trills and cadenzas which must be thrilling to listen

to while always conveying whatever emotion is

called upon at that instant. Dazzling stuff when it

all comes together - incredibly satisfying for both

audience and artist.

Then there is the acting. It’s simply not enough to

sing absolutely beautifully and spoil it all by

standing on the stage like a limp, damp dish-cloth

or a stiff bump on a log! Bolena

is full of pathos and drama and is a gift for a

singing actress. The fusion of vocal and histrionic

art is so exciting! One has also to delve into the

historic background. Henry VIII, Jane Seymour,

Anne Boleyn - actual people and part of our history.

Who were they... how did they behave in those

days... what did they wear?

Speaking of what they wore brings back a memory

I would love to share with you. After my incredible

time at Glyndebourne, I went on to sing the role in

Barcelona. At Glyndebourne, meticulous care had

been taken over the authenticity of the costumes.

The Catalan concept of an English queen was also

elegant and beautiful, but hardly ‘Tudor’ in style.

They were determined to send Anne Boleyn to her

execution in an elaborate jewelled gown and

a tiara! I asked for a simple frock - no frills or

furbelows - and I dug my heels in over being

beheaded while wearing a crown! I think I spent

more energy convincing the costume department

than I spent singing the whole opera on stage.

But I’m glad to report that a truce was reached

and this Anna Bolena went to the scaffold without

a tiara!

Finally, of course, it’s not just Anna alone, but a

whole cast of characters who have all prepared

their roles with the same commitment and who

make this opera so special. Each character is so

interesting and challenging and

it makes for a very exciting evening when there

is evident team work.

I wish ETO the very best of luck with this

marvellous opera which was so important and

dear to my heart. I look forward to being in the

audience now. I shall enjoy this wonderful music

and be delighted to hear a new generation

of brilliant young singers. Good luck to one

and all.

Ludmilla Andrew Andrew Rupp (Cecil) & Jennifer Rhys Davies

(Elizabeth) in ETO’s 2005 production of

Mary, Queen of Scots (Maria Stuarda)Ph

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1514

I used to feel about librettists rather as Samuel

Butler felt about historians: ‘It has been said that

although God cannot alter the past, historians can;

it is perhaps because they can be useful to Him

in this respect that He tolerates their existence.’

Certainly I tolerated their existence: and as a

passionate opera lover, I had every reason to feel

that they had been most useful in many respects

providing splendid (and frequently absurd) words

for my heroes and heroines to sing, magnificent

(and at the same time often ludicrous) words for

my composers to launch. But I did have this God-

like historian’s belief that no libretto of a real

incident or character could in fact add any

conceivable particle of knowledge to our greater

understanding of that incident or character in the

historical sense. This was because God-like truth

was always abandoned, if indeed it was ever

sought, in the interests of dramatic tension,

simplification of story, or even the straightforward

demands of singing. And without truth, what

insight towards reality could be provided?

Recently however the most welcome revival of

Donizetti’s Tudor operas, if I may so term the trio

of Anna Bolena, Roberto Devereux and Maria

Stuarda, has led me to modify this view, or at least

replace it with one much less pedantic and more

sympathetic to the aims of the librettist. It is not

a total coincidence of course that it is the impact

of these three particular operas which caused a

change of heart: all three are set in periods which

I know well, where the documents, historical

arguments and received historical opinions are

familiar to me. Nevertheless my compliments to

Donizetti’s trio are most emphatically not based

on their historical accuracy as such, which in any

case varies among the operas. Nor, as a 16th and

17th century specialist, do I necessarily feel

fascinated, historically speaking, by any opera

which is based on a period I have studied.

I should admit that Anna Bolena, the first

performed in 1830, is the least satisfactory

historically - although I find it a most moving and

satisfying operatic theme. Of course the basic

story of Felice Romani’s libretto is not at issue - that

Henry VIII (Enrico) had a wife called Anne Boleyn

(Anna), had her executed for treasonable adultery,

and subsequently and rapidly married Jane

Seymour (Giovanna) - this is the sort of knowledge

which one might describe as being at the fingertips

of any British schoolchild today and any Italian

librettist in the 19th-century.

Furthermore, many of the more colourful aspects

of Donizetti’s opera have more foundation in fact

than one might suppose from seeing them

dramatically brought to life. For example, Anne

Boleyn did actually have a youthful romance with

a Percy, Henry (not Richard) subsequently 6th

Earl of Northumberland, when Percy and Anne

were both in attendance at the court of Cardinal

Wolsey. There was even a suggestion of a

precontract which the Cardinal insisted on

breaking off: in 1532 Percy’s own wife, with whom

he was extremely unhappy, pleaded (admittedly

unsuccessfully) a precontract with Anne Boleyn to

put the marriage to an end. The same possibility

was raised at Anne’s trial, in order to invalidate her

subsequent marriage to the King, and it was only

after the suggestion had been dismissed once

more, that the King’s men had recourse to the

novel idea of Henry’s relationship with Anne’s

sister Mary as a source of invalidity. Of course

Percy never appeared in front of Henry VIII as he

does to such effect in the opera, reminding him

that long ago the Queen had been promised to

him. Nevertheless the trio of Act 2 of Anna Bolena,

‘Fin dall’ età più tenera,’ in which Percy tells Anna

that from her earliest years she has always been

his, does have some historical basis to it.

TRUTH AND REALITY INOPERATIC LIBRETTOS

ESSAY ANNA BOLENA

Likewise it would be wrong to regard Anna’s great

and mad scene as pure fabrication, or simply

as evidence of Donizetti’s strong predilections

for sopranos in the grip of hysterical if tuneful

delusions. ‘Piangete voi?’ Anna asks her ladies-

in-waiting, as she wanders about her prison

distractedly, her clothes in disorder, her head bare.

‘This is my wedding day. The King awaits me,’ she

continues somewhat over optimistically in true

Ophelia vein. It comes almost as a surprise to

find that Anne Boleyn was indeed hysterical

for much of her time in prison, and there were

many contemporary suggestions that she

had in fact gone mad.

It is the entire approach of the opera’s story

which is completely unhistorical, whatever the

coincidence of detail. Sixteenth century Anne

Boleyn, wanton, reckless, sexual, indiscreet if

at the same time unlucky in her fate, was never

anything like the pious romantic basically innocent

and therefore wronged heroine of 19th century

Donizetti and Romani. In Anna Bolena, then,

we have the classic of the fictionalised historical

opera - accurate in many of its small points

perhaps but basically false in its conception

of characters and situations...

Antonia Fraser

In Antonia Fraser’s complete essay (Opera, January

1974), she goes on to consider Robert Devereux and

Maria Stuarda (which ETO toured in 2005 as Mary,

Queen of Scots) and suggests that in Maria Stuarda

there is ‘the finest illustration of the kind of truth

which can be contained within an operatic libretto,

a truth not necessarily born out by reality.’ Antonia

Fraser is inclined to a more sympathetic view of

‘artistic truth’, at any rate in operatic terms, thanks

to the positive affirmation afforded the character

and conduct of Mary Stuart by Donizetti’s opera,

despite the fast-and-loose attitude of his librettist

to sequence and fact. Those who attended one of

the ETO performances on tour will recall the great

dignity of the final scenes, and the understanding

shown toward one of Britain’s most remarkable

Queens - as well as the terrific clash of character

and fortune in the hunt scene, describing the

famous (and fictional) meeting of Mary Stuart

and Elizabeth Tudor.

1716

Act 1 On Monday evening, in New Hope Valley,

a small settlement in Appalachian Tennessee, the

Elders and their wives prepare for the annual

church revival meeting.

A square dance is in progress, and all eyes are on

Susannah Polk, a nineteen year old who has been

raised by her drunken brother since the deaths

of their parents. The arrival of itinerant preacher

Olin Blitch briefly interrupts the dancing.

Susannah arrives at her mountain shanty home

after the dance with Little Bat McLean, the

backward son of on of the most prominent elders.

Susannah tells him how she longs to see the world

beyond the valley, but speculates that she would

miss it if she left. The return of her brother

Sam scares off Little Bat.

Early the next morning, the Elders come to look

for a creek near the Polk place, thinking it will

be a good place for baptisms. Coming upon

Susannah bathing there, they are scandalised

and attracted. Ashamed, they resolve to condemn

her immorality. At the church supper that evening,

rumour has already condemned Susannah. When

she arrives with her offering for the supper she is

ostracised. Hurt and confused, Susannah is then

indignant to hear from Little Bat that under

pressure from his parents he has falsely accused

her of seducing him. Sam, who has overheard,

laments like a powerless prophet the wickedness

of mankind.

Act 2 It is Friday morning. Susannah is

unconsoled. Sam encourages her to go to the

evening church meeting and protest her

innocence; it transpires that he wants to go

hunting, and is uneasy about her staying alone

at home. Reluctantly, she agrees.

Blitch’s sermon is in full swing when Susannah

arrives at church. As the preacher urges sinners to

come forward, he focuses on her; mesmerised, she

is halfway up the aisle before she remembers her

innocence and flees.

Blitch follows Susannah home, still hoping to

‘save’ her. She is unable to convince him of her

innocence, but he is drawn to her. Ascertaining that

Sam is away, he confesses his own loneliness, and

his desire for her; exhausted and demoralised,

she does not resist him.

The next morning, Blitch is wracked by guilt: he

knows that Susannah was a virgin before he forced

himself on her. Fearing that God has deserted him,

he tries vainly to convince the congregation of her

innocence, without admitting his own guilt.

At sundown, as the baptisms are in progress at

the creek, Sam returns from hunting, drunk.

Bitterly, Susannah tells him what happened while

he was away. When she goes in to prepare his

supper, Sam sets out to kill the preacher. Susannah

is terrified when she notices that he is gone, and

remorseful as the shot rings out from the creek.

Sam will be hanged, the enraged congregation say,

and she will be driven from the valley. Hardened

and scornful, Susannah stands them off; she will

never leave the valley now.

Running Time: Act I 38 minutes, Act II 50 minutes

Now when the people departed away at noon,

Susanna went into her husband’s garden to walk.

And the two elders saw her going in every day, and

walking; so that their lust was inflamed toward her.

And they perverted their own mind, and turned

away their eyes, that they might not look unto

heaven, nor remember just judgments. And albeit

they both were wounded with her love, yet durst

not one shew another his grief. For they were

ashamed to declare their lust, that they desired

to have to do with her. Yet they watched diligently

from day to day to see her…

And it fell out, as they watched a fit time, she went

in as before with two maids only, and she was

desirous to wash herself in the garden: for it was

hot. And there was nobody there save the two

elders, that had hid themselves, and watched her.

Then she said to her maids, Bring me oil and

washing balls, and shut the garden doors, that I

may wash me. And they did as she bade them, and

shut the garden doors, and went out themselves

at privy doors to fetch the things that she had

commanded them: but they saw not the elders,

because they were hid. Now when the maids were

gone forth, the two elders rose up, and ran unto

her, saying, Behold, the garden doors are shut, that

no man can see us, and we are in love with thee;

therefore consent unto us, and lie with us. If thou

wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a

young man was with thee: and therefore thou didst

send away thy maids from thee. Then Susanna

sighed, and said, I am straitened on every side: for

if I do this thing, it is death unto me: and if I do it

not I cannot escape your hands. It is better for me

to fall into your hands, and not do it, than to sin

in the sight of the Lord.

St James Bible. Apocrypha: Susannah,

v7-12, 15-23

SUSANNAH-CARLISLE FLOYD SUSANNAH

SYNOPSIS

18

INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE IN CARLISLEFLOYD’S SUSANNAH

ESSAY

‘The triumph of one human being over the

depredations and moral pressure of a community

is a wonderful source of drama, and the

destruction of innocence is as heartbreaking a

theme as we have to deal with.’ Carlisle Floyd

Early in 1953, Floyd rediscovered the Apocryphal

story of ‘Susanna and the Elders’ and he recalls

being immediately struck by its operatic potential:

‘the innocent and virtuous Susanna’s being spied

upon while bathing by lustful Elders who, when she

refuses their advances, falsely accuse her of being

an adulteress’. After this ‘basic premise’, however,

Floyd’s vision diverged from the ancient text (and

from the plot as it appears in Handel’s oratorio).

First, he transplanted the story in time and space,

moving it pointedly to ‘the present’ and setting it

‘against the backdrop of a summer revival meeting’

in a remote community in the mountains of eastern

Tennessee. More important, Floyd reversed the

message of the traditional tale. Instead of the

prophet Daniel (divinely inspired to cross-examine

the Elders and bring justice to the situation),

Floyd’s New Hope Valley is visited by the Reverend

Olin Blitch, who himself succumbs to lust despite

his terrifyingly fervent religiosity. Susannah thus

traces not a story of wickedness punished, but a

collective fall from grace: the church congregation

becomes a mob, Susannah’s dissolute brother

becomes a desperate murderer, the weak-willed

fear-filled Little Bat perjures himself, Blitch

commits a sin he cannot live with, and Susannah

herself is transformed almost beyond recognition.

The irrevocable changes wrought in New Hope

Valley are rapid, even when measured by operatic

standards. By the end of the first scene, almost all

the characters are clearly delineated. The acid-

tongued Mrs McLean holds the other women under

her sway, while their husbands vie with one

another to dance with the exuberant and attractive

Susannah. Mistrust of strangers brings the

community’s dancing to a temporary halt at the

entrance of Olin Blitch, but his association with the

Church gives him immediate and unquestioned

moral authority over all subsequent proceedings.

Even the physical setting contributes to Floyd’s

almost startling efficiency. The stifling summer

heat mirrors the suffocating mores of the close-

knit community, and the fact that almost all of the

action takes place either at the Polk home or in the

church grounds reinforces the claustrophobic

context of Susannah’s ruin.

Like many of Floyd’s other works, including Of

Mice and Men (1970), Susannah is a plainspoken

opera, relying on a gentle southern US dialect and

occasionally incorporating spoken words to great

dramatic effect, especially during Blitch’s sermon

at the pivotal revival meeting. The directness

of Floyd’s prose is matched by his music, which

takes the majority of its rhythms from the natural

inflections of speech. Lyrical outpourings are

few and far between, but heightened declamation

makes even routine dialogue memorable. The

composer’s melodic lines have endeared him to

singers worldwide. While rarely predictable at first

hearing, they employ stepwise motion and

consonant intervals that spell out the traditional

triads of major and minor keys. Even the most

surprising utterances quickly come to sound ‘right’.

Introduced as an object of desire, Susannah finds

her voice in Scene 2, with the opera’s lyric

highpoint. The entire scene is framed by the

characteristic rising leap of one of the most Donna BatemanPh

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THE CHELTENHAM OPERA SOCIETY

nETwOrks

famous soprano arias in the American repertory,

‘Ain’t It a Pretty Night’. Here, Susannah sketches

a Tennessee Eden, full of youthful wonder and

an eagerness to see what lies ‘beyond them

mountains’. By the beginning of Act II, her

enthusiasm has been stunted by the injustice of

her situation. ‘I ain’t gonna leave this place no

more’, she states flatly to Sam, ‘That’s one thing

I know fer sure’. Her next (and last) true aria, the

ballad of Act II, Scene 3 shows how drastically her

worldview has darkened: ‘The trees on the

mountain are cold and bare. The summer jes’

vanished an’ left them there’.

Standing like a pillar between Susannah’s two lyric

moments is the fiery revival meeting itself. Justly

celebrated as a showpiece for Blitch, the scene also

conveys the potentially devastating power of the

misguided community as the chorus bursts forth

in vociferous repetitions of a revival hymn calling

sinners to confession. Floyd minces no words when

he describes the actual revival meetings that he

experienced as a youngster: ‘First of all, they’re

very frightening–especially for children, but even

for grown-ups who buy into their violently

mysterious life-and-death proposition. It’s mass

coercion to conform, whether people are really

convinced of the doctrine or not. You simply bend

the knee without question, which is the basis

of any totalitarian society.’

This vision of a twisted moral order suggests a

powerful parallel between the opera’s plot and the

cultural context of its conception: the aftermath of

the so-called ‘Red Scare’, during which US Senator

Joseph McCarthy and others pursued suspected

communists with a combination of religious zeal,

innuendo, and intimidation. While distancing

himself from any directly political interpretation

of his work - ‘I’m too practical a man of theatre’,

he says - Floyd admits that the witch-hunts of the

1950s made their mark on Susannah. He recalls, ‘I

did write the work during the McCarthy years, and

I lived through the terrors. At Florida State an

accusation was tantamount to guilt. We faculty

had to sign a pledge of loyalty or lose our jobs.

It affected me and informed me emotionally. And

there it is in the opera. But I can’t say I put it

there’. With the precedent of Arthur Miller’s

The Crucible (1953) in mind, it is easy to see

McCarthyism continuing to cast its long shadow

over Floyd’s own theocratic parable of 1976,

Bilby’s Doll (based on A Mirror for Witches, Esther

Forbes’s novel about 17th-century Salem).

Despite winning a New York Music Critics’ Circle

Award, being selected to represent American opera

at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, and achieving

resounding successes on stages worldwide, forty-

four years would pass before Susannah was invited

to that most prestigious of US operatic venues, the

Met, probably thanks to the intercession of such

singers as Renée Fleming, who had sung Susannah

with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 1993. Bernard

Holland of The New York Times may have called

Susannah ‘as simple as it seems’, comparing it

to ‘something small and innocent’, ‘some lonely

tourist lost in the vastness of Grand Central

Terminal’, but it is precisely this intimacy and

immediacy that has ensured the opera’s ability

to speak to audiences in revival productions far

removed from any revival meeting. Its continued

popularity speaks for the enjoyment gained and

the lessons learned each time Susannah has

travelled ‘beyond them mountains’.

Dr Beth E. Levy

Dr Beth E. Levy is a musicologist at the University of

California, Davis, where she works on twentieth-century

American music. © 2005 Wexford Festival Opera.

Reprinted by permission.

ETO supporter Robert Padgett introduces the

Cheltenham Opera Society, a valuable ETO

regional partner.

I find that the more I know about operas before

seeing them the more I enjoy them, whether this

is through lectures, study days or pre-performance

talks. So when I moved to Cheltenham in August

2006 and found that there wasn’t an opera society

I started thinking about starting one.

When I went to the operas performed by ETO at

the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham in the spring

of 2007 I picked up a brochure about ETO, which

mentioned the ETO nETwOrk and asked for

volunteers to set up nETwOrks in other parts

of the country. When I was next in London I met

Andrew Higgins and Esyllt Wyn Owen at ETO and

they said that Cheltenham was one of the places

where they would like to have a network

so I agreed to set one up. But when I thought

about it I thought it would be better to form an

opera society which could be a nETwOrk for ETO

as well as doing other things separately from

ETO and I set up The Cheltenham Opera Society

during the summer of 2007.

The first meeting was in September and I played

a recital of CDs of arias by stars of the past and

the present. I had no idea how many people would

attend but I had publicized the society a bit during

the Cheltenham Music Festival and over thirty

people came to the first meeting. Then in October

James Conway came to talk to us about the

operas being performed by ETO in Malvern and

in November sixty of us went to Malvern

to see Teseo. I organized a coach and we had

dinner at the theatre before the performance.

In January James Conway came back to talk

to us about the operas to be performed by ETO

in Cheltenham in March. I would like to say a big

“thank you” to James for his talks. He knows all

the operas intimately and is full of enthusiasm.

He gives us some real insights into the operas

before we see them.

ETO is important to us but not everything

we do involves ETO. In December we watched

a DVD of Rossini’s The Journey to Rheims and in

March Simon Rees, the dramaturge of the Welsh

National Opera, is coming to talk to us about the

WNO’s production of Falstaff. A party from

Cheltenham is going to see it in Birmingham

later in the month.

The Cheltenham Opera Society now has over

80 paid-up members. I have enrolled a small

committee and we have to provide a programme

which makes the members feel that they are

getting value for their money. I can only say that

the Society has grown far faster than I expected

when I set it up last summer. Thank you to ETO

for helping that to happen.

If you would like to establish a nETwOrk in your

area, or if you would like to join one of our existing

nETwOrks , please do not hesitate to contact

Henriette Krarup on 020 7833 2555 English

Touring Opera, 020 7833 2555 or email

henriette.krarup@englishtouringopera.org.uk

2120

Giovanni BolenaDon AnnaSusannah

SEASONPRODUCTION TEAM

Designer Soutra Gilmour

Associate Designer Mark Bouman

Lighting Designer Guy Hoare

Choreographer / Bernadette

Assistant Director Iglich

Assistant Director Barnaby

(Don Giovanni) Rayfield

ENSEMBLE IIona Domnich(Susannah)

Lisajane Ellis

Cheryl Enever

Jassy Husk

Helen Johnson

Serena Kay(Susannah)

Niamh Kelly

Sandra Porter

Renée Salewski

Olivia Shrive

Samuel Boden

Stephen AnthonyBrown

Sean Clayton

Anthony Cleverton

Mark Cunningham

Simon Lobelson

Adam Miller

Jonathan Pugsley(Don Giovanni)

Robert DouglasWilliams

Conductor Michael Rosewell

John Andrews(7 April, 19 May)

Director Jonathan Munby

Don Giovanni Roland Wood

A nobleman of Seville Riccardo

Simonetti (25 April)

Leporello Jonathan

His servant Gunthorpe

The Commendatore Andrew Slater

Donna Anna Julia Sporsén

His daughter Cheryl Enever(18 April)

Don Ottavio Eyjólfur

Her betrothed Eyjólfsson

Donna Elivra Laura Parfitt

A lady from Burgos

Zerlina IIona Domnich

A peasant girl

Masetto Adrian Powter

Betrothed to Zerlina

Peasants and Spirits

Conductor Alexander Ingram

Director James Conway

Susannah Polk Donna Bateman

Sam Polk Todd Wilander

Susannah’s brother

Olin Blitch Andrew Slater

A preacher

Elder McLean Anthony Cleverton

Mrs McLean Sandra Porter

Little Bat McLean Sean Clayton

Elder Gleaton Mark Cunningham

Mrs Gleaton Renée Salewski

Elder Hayes Stephen Anthony

Brown

Mrs Hayes Cheryl Enever

Elder Ott Jonathan Pugsley

Mrs Ott Niamh Kelly

Man Simon Lobelson

People of the Valley

2322

Conductor Michael Lloyd

John Andrews(12 April, 3, 14 May)

Director James Conway

Anne (Anna) Boleyn Julie Unwin

Second wife of Henry

VIII of England

Jane (Giovanna) Julia RileySeymour

Lady in waiting

to Queen Anne

Henry VIII (Enrico) Riccardo

King of England Simonetti

Lord Rochford Jonathan Pugsley(Rochefort)

Brother of Anne,

friend of Percy

Lord Percy Luciano Botelho(Riccardo)

Nobleman, formerly

betrothed to Anne

Lord Hervey Todd Wilander

Official of King Henry

Smeaton (Smeton) Serena Kay

Page and musician Niamh Kelly (20, 24 May)

Mary Tudor Renée Salewski

Cranmer Stephen Anthony

Brown

Courtiers, Guards, Ladies in Waiting to Queen Anne

ORCHESTRA

Violin 1

Andrew Court (Leader)

Cathy Schofield

John Smart

Nicolette Brown

Vernon Dean

Ciaran McCabe

Anne Martin

Violin 2

Jeremy Metcalfe

Vladimir Naumov

Robert Higgs

Non Peters

Charlotte Newman

Viola

John Rogers

Sarah Harris

Rachel Robson

Cello

Ben Davies

Jonathan Kitchen

Claire Constable

Double Bass

Caroline Harding

Mark Thistlewood

Harp

Catrin Morris Jones

Julia Webb

Flute

Luke Strevens

Katy Gainham

Nicola Smedley

Oboe

Owen Dennis

Rachel Harwood-White

Rosalie Philips

Clarinet

Peter Thompson

Mark Simmons

Helen Bishop

Bassoon

Lizbeth Elliott

Simon Chiswell

Julia Staniforth

Horn

Jonathan Hassan

Jo Greenberg

Duncan Fuller

Trumpet

Alan Cramp

John MacDominic

Ruth Ross

Trombone

Mark Townend

Andrew Gourlay

Jayne Murrill

Timpani

Henry Baldwin

Adam Dennis

ORCHESTRA AND TOUR STAFF DESIGN FOR A SEASON

24 25

ETO TOUR STAFF

Staff Music Director

John Andrews

Staff Director

Barnaby Rayfield

Technical Stage

Manager

John Slater

Stage Manager

Vickki Maiden

Deputy Stage Manager

Vicky Eames

Assistant Stage

Manager

Rosina Webb

Production Electricians

Barry Abbotts

Andrew S J Grant

Production Carpenter

Alex Hale

Wardrobe Mistress

Jessie Fleck

Transport

John Farrant, Star

Trucking

When I asked Soutra Gilmour to design the sets

for 3 main parts of this season (an 18th century

classic version of the story of the ‘Stone Guest’,

a nineteenth century Italian bel canto opera about

one of Henry VIII’s splendidly unfortunate wives,

and a modern version of a biblical story set in 1950s

Appalachia), I knew that it was a tall order. I

compounded it by saying that I wanted them to

share ‘an uncommon amount’ physically, so that

we could tour them effectively and present them

beautifully in many diverse venues. Had she had

the good sense to ask what they had in common,

I would have cited nothing more helpful than that

all three have really strong libretti (scripts) – though

here presented diversely (in English translation, in

the original Italian with surtitles, and in Tennessee

dialect) – and a strong interest in religion!

Soutra found her own way through it, working with

me and Jonathan Munby, and with ETO Production

Manager Paul Tucker. For Giovanni she created an

enclosed courtyard in post-war Seville and the ice-

blue emptiness of the heart of a seducer; the same

structure, re-configured and re-clad with tapestries

and prison grills, suggests the restless innovation

of Tudor architecture, and the equally restless

reconfiguring of parties at court of Henry VIII and

Anne Boleyn; stripped back, re-clad in rough oak,

and re-defined by benches that map a social order,

these same materials suggest a preaching house,

a village social space, and Susannah Polk’s

primitive mountain cabin.

Together with Mark Bouman, Soutra then set to

work on very different costumes palettes – radical

chic in Tudor shapes to recreate the high fashion

Anne Boleyn brought to Westminster from Paris,

dark shades of Franco’s Spain, and the cheap, light

clothes of early summer, when Appalachian creeks

host baptisms. At the same time, Guy Hoare was

staring at the logistics of adapting one lighting rig

to all 3 shows, and to accommodating that rig in

the design world overhead, already crowded with

our own acoustic panelling!

James Conway

PRODUCTION STAFF

Repetiteurs

Andrew Macmillan

Andrew Smith

Sergey Rybin

Italian Coach

Verina Gilardoni Jones

Fight Director

Terry King

Costume Supervisor

Adrian Gwillym

Ginny Humphries

Set Construction

Steel the Scene

Costume Construction

Academy Costumes

Scenic Artist

Di Spalding

Costume Cutter

Christopher Beals

Costume Assistant

Mia Slodquist

Hair and make-up

Sophie Attia

Additional Costumes

by Central School of

Speech and Drama

students

One of Soutra Gilmour's design boards for Don Giovanni (ETO, 2008)

ETO IN THECOMMUNITY SUPPORT USSpring 2008 is a particularly busy season with all

of our work in schools (see page 28). An extremely

exciting initiative in the last few months has been

the award of a major grant from the Paul Hamlyn

Foundation, which will allow us to develop work

alongside four of our regional venues. One

immediate result of this is the opportunity to

continue existing partnerships with schools and the

community in Wolverhampton, following last year’s

community opera A House on the Moon. We are

creating a new work that will be performed on the

stage of the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in

June. Meanwhile in Truro we have begun planning

an exciting project that will culminate in 2009

when 200 local people will perform with us in a

new community opera at the Hall for Cornwall.

Turtle Song was a wonderful project. In this

collaboration with both Turtle Key Arts and the

Royal College of Music, we set out to create

a song-cycle with people with Alzheimer’s and

dementia. The final performance took place in the

main concert hall of Royal College in February,

and was also recorded. The sessions took place

over three months, with a clientele of participants

and carers from across London. Experienced

animateurs worked alongside RCM students. The

group created its own song-cycle which told the

tale of an extraordinary elopement (based on

one participant’s own experiences), and a hectic

trans-continental journey. The project will

continue later this year.

Tim Yealland

Artistic Associate (Education)

26

Maciek O’Shea (Daedalus) in ETO’s Voithia! Kevin Grogan (Icarus) in ETO’s Voithia!

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Join English Touring Opera and

help keep us on the road!

Since 1980, English Touring Opera has been

committed to bringing opera of the highest quality

to regions throughout the UK, and we now give

over 100 performances a year in traditional theatre

spaces to more than 50,000 audience members

across the country. Our Spring Season 2008 marks

a new milestone, as we, for the first time, present

three new, fully staged productions reinforcing

our artistic ambition of bringing vibrant and

innovative opera to new and existing audiences

from Truro to Perth.

Complimenting our exciting and varied programme

of performance is ETO’s comprehensive Education

and Community Participation Programme. The

2007-08 programme included creative learning

as well as drama and music therapy as part of ten

projects with more than 5,000 participants of all

abilities, aged from 3 to 90. A collaboration for

people with Alzheimer’s or dementia using musical

exploration and movements to stimulate the body

as well as the mind, was a recent highlight.

A small and ambitious company, we refuse to let

financial restrictions limit our creative ambitions,

so please help keep us on the road by supporting

our work. With ticket revenue covering just a

third of our costs, ETO continues to rely on the

generosity from our individual supporters

in order to bring opera of the highest quality

to your region.

Join our Friends Scheme and benefit from

advance information about forthcoming tours,

and priority booking at most theatres.

Join our Patron Scheme and you will play

an integral part in making our work happen.

Receive exclusive access to the heart of the

company, including invitations to our rehearsals,

special events and recitals, as well as personalised

booking of an exclusive selection of seats directly

with the ETO Development Department.

Business Relationships

English Touring Opera offers individual, tailored

and rewarding Business Relationships by working

closely with each company to develop a bespoke

programme. Whether it is access for employees,

entertaining clients or fulfilling Corporate Social

Responsibility commitments, we can help you

accomplish your philanthropic vision by offering

exclusive hospitality and branding opportunities

in some of the most prestigious venues

in the country.

Legacies

We can also tell you about ETO’s Legacies

programme. Remembering us in your will is

a highly effective way of securing our

long-term future.

For more information about how to get involved

and learn more about ways of supporting ETO

please talk to one of our representatives tonight.

Alternatively, please contact Henriette

Krarup on 020 7833 2555 or email

henriette.krarup@englishtouringopera.org.uk.

You can also do it all quickly and easily

online at www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

We hope that you will join us.

For every £10 you give, ETO can receive

an extra £2.80 from the Inland

Revenue if you are a UK

taxpayer - simply tick

the Gift Aid box.

EDUCATIONWe have tried to challenge the boundaries of our

work in the community this coming year. People

aged from 3 to 90 will be, or are currently taking

part in outreach projects in a wide variety of

contexts. Projects for very young children and

workshops with people with Alzheimer’s take place

alongside commissioned new opera for primary

schools, workshops for secondary schools and

creative residencies in special schools.

ETO - for young people

This season has seen us already take a brand new

opera - Voithia! - to primary schools and smaller

theatre venues across the country in January and

February. This was the second in a trilogy of myth-

based interactive operas written specially for

young people, and followed the success of Crossing

the Styx a year ago. Voithia! was based on the

mixed stories of Icarus, Theseus and the Minotaur,

and featured a multi-skilled cast of 5 performers.

Singing, multiple instruments, acting, and dancing

all combined to bring these famous myths to life.

Some 6,000 children took part in about 30

performances of the show, which was fully

interactive: cartoons, participatory songs on CD,

and teachers’ packs accompanied the project. With

music was by Rachel Leach. The piece lasted just

over an hour, and was hugely successful. Dominic,

aged 10, wrote: ‘It made me feel like I was being

sucked into every second of it.’ One teacher wrote:

‘Seeing this restored my faith in human nature’.

Another: ‘Superb! The children were enthralled.’

During the coming months we will deliver major

projects to special schools in Preston and

Upminster - a key part of our ongoing creative

work. Two schools receive week-long residencies

leading to performance. Young people with

learning needs and physical disability, working

alongside composers, directors, singers and

designers, create their own operas, one

based on Madam Butterfly, the other exploring the

landscape of Don Giovanni.

Staying in the wolfish world of the Don, for

younger children we are touring a version of Red

Riding Hood by composer Tom Smail and writer

Emma House. Written for 10 players and 3 singer-

actors it will travel to 8 venues and schools across

the country. The piece is designed for children

aged 3-7, and is a fantastic introduction to the

instruments of the orchestra as well as an

engaging retelling of the story.

Other work this spring includes day-long and

two-day creative workshops on Don Giovanni,

and introductory workshops to Susannah. In

London we are collaborating with the National

Portrait Gallery, working with secondary school

students from Islington and Greenwich to

create operatic responses to chosen portraits.

We will perform in one of the public spaces

in the gallery.

‘The show was superb! The

children were (and are) buzzing

with excitement. A truly

fantastic experience -

come back again!’

Hilary Carter, year 4 teacher from

Goldthorn Primary school

28

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Luciano Botelho

Tenor

Percy Anna Bolena

Born

Brazil

Training

CIAV; GSMD; University

of Rio de Janeiro

Opera

Tamino Zauberflöte (Teatro

Amazonas/TMRJ); Don

Ottavio Don Giovanni (Teatro

Amazonas); Le Comte Ory

Le Comte Ory (Nantes/

Angers); Giannetto La Gazza

ladra (Massy); Don Ramiro

La Cenerentola (Belgrade

National Theatre); Nemorino

L’elisir d’amore (TMRJ);

Fenton Falstaff (Palácio

das Artes/GSMD); Fadinard

Il Cappelo di Paglia di

Firenze (TMSP); Orfeo Orfeo

(TMRJ/TMSP); Rinuccio

Gianni Schicchi (GSMD)

Concerts

Britten Serenade for Tenor,

Horn and Strings (Teatro

Amazonas); Britten Les

Illuminations (Teatro

Amazonas); Rossini

Stabat Mater (Ravenna);

Mozart Requiem

Recordings

Gianni Schicchi (Radio

Cultura SP); Stabat Mater

(RAI 3) Il cappello di

paglia di Firenze

(Radio cultura SP)

Mark Bouman

Associate Designer

Born

The Netherlands

Training

Wimbledon School of Art

Opera

Mitridate, (Granada Festival),

Idomeneo; La Bohème

(Glyndebourne); Don

Giovanni; Le Nozze di Figaro

(Garsington) Leonore

(Bologna, Italy)

Theatre

Angels in America (Lyric

& Tour), Bent (Trafalgar

Studios); King Lear; Hamlet

& Aladdin (Old Vic) Mother

Courage and Her Children,

The Old Country and

Hamlet (both also West

End), Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern Are Dead,

Twelfth Night, Romeo and

Juliet, King Lear (also

The Old Vic), Ghosts, John

Gabriel Borkman, Love’s

Labour’s Lost, Fool for Love,

The Cherry Orchard, Master

Builder, Don Juan, The

Taming of the Shrew,

A Difficult Age, Shellfish,

Measure for Measure,

The Seagull, Henry IV Parts

I and II (all for English

Touring Theatre)

Television and Film

Various for: BBC,

Channel 4; Independent

Films and Music Videos

Sean Clayton

Tenor

Little Bat Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Wolverhampton

Training

Birmingham Conservatoire,

RCM

Awards

Van Beugel Scholarship

(RCM)

Opera

Aurelius King Arthur

(Lautten Compagney,

Berlin); Sandy The

Lighthouse (Montepulciano

Festival); Sailor Dido and

Aeneas (ETO); Elder Gleaton

Susannah (Wexford Festival),

Fenton Falstaff, Giocondo

La Pietra del Paragone

(Stanley Hall Opera)

Concerts

Bach St John Passion (Irish

Baroque Orchestra); Handel

Messiah (English Chamber

Orchestra, Gåvle Symphony

Orchestra); Rossini Petite

Messe Solennelle (Rome)

Broadcasts

Floyd Susannah (RTE Radio);

The Lighthouse (RAI Radio,

Italy)

Future

The Fairy Queen (Aix-en-

Provence Académie)

Anthony Cleverton

Baritone

Elder McLean Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Tunbridge Wells

Training

RNCM

Awards

Rosin Kay Memorial;

Frederic Cox Award;

Peter Moores Scolarship

Opera

Don Alfonso Così Fan Tutte

(Opera by Definition);

Zaretsky Eugene Onegin

(ETO); Guglielmo Così

Fan Tutte (Glyndebourne

Touring); 2nd prisoner

Fidelio, Cover Ferdinand

Betrothal in a Monastery

(Glyndebourne Festival);

Germont Pere La Traviata

(Opera En Plein Air;

Idée Fixe)

Concerts

Rossini Petite Messe

Solenelle (St John’s Smith

Square); Tippett A Child

of Our Time (Bridgewater

Hall); Elgar Dream of

Gerontius (Liverpool

Philharmonic Hall)

John Andrews

Conductor

Staff Music Director

Born

Nairobi, Kenya

Training

Cambridge

Awards

Orchestra Prize, 1st Bela

Bartok Opera Conducting

Competition 2005

Opera

As Conductor: Don

Pasquale; Riccardo Primo

(Opera de Baugé); Robinson

Crusoe (Ilford Arts); as

Assistant Conductor: Don

Pasquale, La Donna del lago

(Garsington); as Offstage

Conductor: Tosca (ROH)

Concerts

Handel Semele (Cannons

Scholars); Saint-Saëns

Carnival of the Animals

(RPO); Bach St John

Passion (Kings Chamber

Orchestra and Harpenden

Choral Society)

Future

Die Entführung aus dem

Serail (Opera de Baugé);

The Judgment of Paris

(English Music Festival)

Stephen Anthony Brown

Tenor

Elder Hayes Susannah

Ensemble

Born

London

Training

RCM; TCM

Awards

Margot Hamilton Recital

Prize; Knights of the Round

Table Prize (RCM)

Opera

Basilio Camacho’s Wedding

(UCL Opera); Pinkerton

Il Tempo Del Postino

(Manchester Intl. Festival);

Don Ramiro Cenerentola

(Opera South East); Pedro

Betrothal in a Monastery

(GFO); Ernesto Don Pasquale

(Opera South East)

Concerts

Verdi Requiem (Barbican);

Rossini Stabat Mater

(Norwegian Radio);

Beethoven Symphony

No. 9 (Barcelona

Symphony Orchestra)

Recordings

A Masque at Kenilworth

(Symposium); The Maid of

Artois (Campion Cameo)

Donna Bateman

Soprano

Susannah Susannah

Born

Lincolnshire

Training

RAM; GSMD

Awards

G Embley Memorial Prize

Winner; National Federation

of Music Societies Award

Winner; Kathleen Ferrier

Memorial Prize Finalist;

Royal Overseas League

Finalist; Associated Board

Scholarship Winner

Opera

Cunegonde, Candide,

Zerbinetta, Prologue

Ariadne Auf Naxos (BOC);

Susannah, The Marriage Of

Figaro; Pamina The Little

Magic Flute (ETO), Miranda

The Gentle Giant (ROH 2);

Ms Pescado Armida

(Channel 4 Television)

Concerts

Stravinsky Le Rossignol

(CBSO Symphony Hall

Birmingham); Mahler

Symphony No.8 (Symphony

Hall Birmingham);

Bernstein Mass (LSO

Barbican Hall London)

Recordings

Ms Pescado Judith Weirs

Armida (Channel 4

Television); Valkyrie

Flashmob (BBC Television)

Samuel Boden

Tenor

Cover Little Bat Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Carshalton, Surrey

Training

TCM

Awards

Harold Hyam Wingate

Scholarship; Ricordi

Opera Prize, Derek Butler

London Prize

Opera

Billy Mahoggany Songspiel

(Cantiere Festival

Montepulciano); Chevalier

de la Force Le Dialogue des

Carmélites (TCM); Orfeo

L’Orfeo (TCM); Orpheus

Crossing the Styx (ETO);

Septimius Theodora

(Opéra de Baugé)

Concerts

Leeds Lieder Plus;

Magrikialos Festival, Crete;

Bach Weinachts Oratorium,

Johannes Passion; Britten

War Requiem; Tippett Child

of our Time

Recordings

Broadcast performances

for BBC Radio 3

30

James Conway

Director Susannah and

Anna Bolena

Born

Quebec

Opera

Teseo, Eugene Onegin,

Orfeo, Tolomeo, Erismena,

Jenufa, Alcina, Mary, Queen

of Scots, A Midsummer

Night’s Dream (all ETO);

Ariodante, The Cunning

Little Vixen (both ETO/OTC);

Flavio, Tamerlano, Amadigi,

Rodelinda, L’Elisir d’Amore,

Katya Kabanova, The Rake’s

Progress (OTC); Cinderella

(De Vlaamse Opera/

Transparant); Don Giovanni

(Canadian Opera Company);

La Voix Humaine (Teatro

Nacional São João, Oporto);

staging of Kurt Weill songs

(Culturgest, Lisbon);

La Spinalba (Casa da

Musica, Porto)

Other

James is General Director of

ETO and has written original

libretti for two operas and

translations for three others,

as well as several works

of fiction

Mark Cunninghham

Tenor

Elder Gleaton Susannah

Cover Hervey Anna Bolena

Ensemble

Born

South Wales

Training

GSMD; Birmingham

Conservatoire

Awards

Countess of Munster

Scholarship

Opera

Almaviva Barber of Seville

(Swansea City Opera; Savoy

Opera); Passareno Phantom

of the Opera (Her Majesty’s

Theatre); Remondado

Carmen (OHP); Dorvil

La Scala di Seta (GSMD)

Concerts

Handel Messiah (Derby

Cathedral); Rossini

Petite Messe Solennelle

(Canterbury Festival);

Mozart Requiem (St

David’s Hall, Cardiff)

IIona Domnich

Soprano

Zerlina Don Giovanni

Born

St Petersburg, Russia

Training

RCM; ENO; Jerusalem

Music Academy

Opera

Laura Romeo & Juliet

(Bampton Classical Opera);

Elle La Voix Humane

(Highgate & Hampstead

Festival); Tatiana Eugene

Onegin (Riverside Opera);

Gasparina La Canterina

(New Chamber Opera);

Colombina The Jewel Box

(Bampton Classical Opera);

Pamina The Little Magic

Flute (ETO)

Concerts

Recital of Spanish Music

(London Song Festival);

Live Song Recital (Israeli

Radio); Recital with Nigel

Foster (Lauderdale

House, Highgate)

Other

Ilona Domnich is featured in

the Opera Now Magazine’s

pick of the most promising

new talent of the

2007 season

Lisajane Ellis

Soprano

Cover Mrs Gleaton Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Scotland

Training

Napier University;

Birmingham

Conservatoire; TCM

Awards

Mario Lanza Opera Prize;

Birmingham and Midland

Vocal Prize; Paul Simm

Vocal Prize TCM

Opera

Maria Corona The Saint

of Bleecker Street, Mimi

La Bohème (both TCM);

Agatha Der Freischutz

(Birmingham Conservatoire);

Zerlina Don Giovanni (Opera

School Wales); Chorus

Macbeth, La Sonnambula,

L’Elisir d’Amore, Fedora,

Manon Lescaut (OHP)

Concerts

Cantiga, for Soprano and

orchestra - David Matthews

Mahler Symphony No. 4

32

Cheryl Enever

Soprano

Mrs Hayes Susannah

Cover Donna Anna

Don Giovanni (Perf 18 April)

Cover Susannah Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Ilford

Opera

Countess The Marriage

of Figaro (Surrey Opera);

Franzi Wienerblut; Tatiana

Eugene Onegin (ETO);

Eva Meistersinger; Sandrina

L’Infedelta Delusa (Bampton

Classical Opera)

Concerts

Verdi Requiem (Blackheath

Concert Halls); Mozart

Exsultate Jubilate (QEH);

Mozart Requiem (St John’s

Smith Square)

Recordings

In Tune (BBC Radio 3);

Don Giovanni (Opera

Anywhere/Channel 4);

Film of Perfect Picnic

(BBC 3/Opera Play)

Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson

Tenor

Don Ottavio Don Giovanni

Born

Reykjavík

Training

GSMD; Hafnarfjördur

School of Music

Opera

Liberto Poppea; Ensemble

L’Orfeo (ENO); Sellem

The Rake’s Progress

(Icelandic Opera); Sailor

Dido & Aeneus (ON);

Poet Shadowplay

(Icelandic Opera)

Concerts

Bach Christmas Oratorio

(Hallgrímskirkja); Berlioz

Messe Solennelle (King’s

College Cambridge);

Handel Messiah (La

Maestranza, Seville)

Recordings

Ìslands Minni (Toast

to Iceland)

Soutra Gilmour

Designer

Born

London

Training

Wimbledon School of Art

Opera

Saul and Hansel & Gretel

(Opera North), The Shops

(Bregentz Festival), Girl

of Sand (Almeida Opera),

A Better Place (ENO), Mary

Stuart nominated for best

opera production Southbank

show awards and Così Fan

Tutte (ETO), Marriage

of Figaro (Opera Ireland

Touring Nominated for

Best Costume Design

by Irish Times)

Theatre

The Lover / The Collection

(Comedy Theatre) Last

Easter (Birmingham Rep)

Angels in America (Lyric

Hammersmith) The

Caretaker (Sheffield/Tricycle

The Evening Standard

nomination for Best Set

Design) Brief History of

Helen of Troy (ATC/Soho

Theatre TMA nomination for

Best Touring Production)

HAIR (Gate Theatre Time

Out nomination for Best

Musical) Shadow of a Boy

Jonathan Gunthorpe

Baritone

Leporello Don Giovanni

Cover Rochefort Anna

Bolena

Born

Brackley

Training

BC, RCM, NOS

Opera

Dancairo Carmen (CBSO);

English Clerk Death in Venice

(ENO); Angelotti Tosca and

Nachtigall Die Meistersinger

(ROH); Faber The Knot

Garden (Montepulciano

Festival); Noye Noyes Fludde

(Nuremberg Festival);

Papageno Zauberflöte (ETO

and Lyrique-en-Mer), Quain

Thwaite and Elephant The

Cricket Recovers (Almeida/

Aldeburgh); Giant Gentle

Giant (ROH2); Nanni Country

Matters (ETO)

Concerts

Handel Messiah (The

Sixteen’s Tour of Spain),

Mozart Requiem (Mostly

Mozart Festival, Barbican),

Shostakovich Symphony No.

14 (City of London Sinfonia)

Recordings

Brahms Volkslieder (Crear

Classics); Lalande Music

for the Sun King (Hyperion);

Spicer Easter Oratorio

(Birmingham Bach Choir)

Future

English Clerk Death in Venice

(La Monnaie, Brussels)

33Biography

35

Guy Hoare

Lighting Designer

Born

Epping

Opera

Includes Onegin, Seraglio

(ETO), Ring Cycle, The

Magic Flute, Hansel &

Gretel (Longborough);

Tosca, Simon Boccanegra,

The Merry Widow,

Così Fan Tutte (Opera UK)

Dance

Includes Square Map of Q4

(Rafael Bonachela); Frontline

(Henri Oguike); Sea of Bones

(Mark Bruce); Flicker

(Shobana Jeyasingh); And

Who Shall Come to The

Ball..? (Candoco); Thought

Latching On To Thought

And Pulling (Ben Wright)

Theatre

Includes Amadeus (Sheffield

Crucible), The Lion, The

Witch And the Wardrobe,

Bollywood Jane, Macbeth

(West Yorkshire Playhouse),

Season’s Greetings

(Liverpool Playhouse); Of

Mice and Men (Mercury

Theatre, Colchester); A

Streetcar Named Desire

(Clwyd Theatr Cymru)

Musicals / Concerts

Includes Aspects of Love

(UK Tour), My Fair Lady

(Singapore); City of Angels

(Frankfurt); Assassins

(Sheffield Crucible)

Jassy Husk

Soprano

Cover Zerlina Don Giovanni

Cover Mrs Hayes Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Tasmania, Australia

Training

RCM; Hobart

Conservatorium

Opera

Lucille Cover The Sofa

(Independent Opera); Cover

Hermia/Flozette Blue Beard

(Buxton Festival Opera);

Queen of the Night The

Magic Flute (St George

Hanover Square); Chorus

Roberto Devereux (Buxton

Festival Opera); Chorus

The Departure

(Independent Opera)

Concerts

Mozart Requiem (St

George’s Hanover Square);

Memorial Concert for the

Mayor of Westminster

(Westminster Cathedral)

Recordings

The Music Is Killing Me and

Superfreak (singles released

by Minstry of Sound)

Bernadette Iglich

Associate Director and

Choreographer Susannah

Assistant Director

Anna Bolena

Choreographer Don Giovanni

Born

Johannesburg

Opera and Theatre

Choreographer: The Cunning

Little Vixen (ETO, OTC);

Sweeney Todd (RAM); Who

Killed Mr Drum (Treatment

Theatre), Jenufa, Eugene

Onegin (both ETO);

Casanova (Told by an Idiot)

Director: Hansel and Gretel

(Stowe Opera); Jephte (ETO)

Other

Bernadette’s career as a

dancer and performer

includes working for

Tanztheater Wuppertal, ARC

Dance Company, Siobhan

Davies, Aletta Collins,

London Contemporary

Dance Theatre, Fabulous

Beast Dance Theatre, Corp

Feasa and many leading

choreographers and

directors in dance, opera

and theatre

Alex Ingram

Conductor Susannah

Born

London

Training

Cambridge; GSMD; NOS

Opera

Tosca; La Boheme; Madam

Butterfly; Don Pasquale;

Les Pêcheurs de Perles

(All ENO); Il Trovatore;

Tosca (Opera Queensland);

Tosca (ONZ)

Ballet

Swan Lake (Covent Garden,

Bolshoi and Mariinsky

Theatres); Sleeping

Beauty; Romeo and Juliet;

Nutcracker (ENB); Cinderella

(Göteborg Ballet);

and ballets for Sylvie

Guillem (Japan)

Recordings

Radio (with Adelaide SO);

Turandot excerpts for the

film Life of David Gale

(Alan Parker)

34

Helen Johnson

Mezzo

Cover Giovanna Seymour

Anna Bolena

Ensemble

Born

Tonbridge

Training

TCM

Awards

Malpas and Palamoke; Joan

Greenfield Trust Award;

Lloyd Scholarship; Wagner

Society Bayreuth Bursary

Competition 2008 Finalist

Opera

Rosalinde Bluebeard (Buxton

Festival Opera); Cover

Boulotte Bluebeard (Buxton

Festival Opera); Filipyevna

Eugene Onegin (ETO);

Kolusina Jenufa (ETO); Mrs

Goodbody/Ruth The Parson’s

Pirates (Opera Della Luna);

Jezibaba Rusalka (Ilford

Opera); Bianca The Rape

of Lucretia (Opera East)

Concerts

Mahler Symphony No. 3

(Fairfield Halls, Croydon)

Serena Kay

Mezzo

Smeaton Anna Bolena

Ensemble Susannah

Born

London

Training

RCM; BBIOS; GSMD

Awards

Rosemary Bugden Junior

Fellowship (RCM); Veronica

Mansfield Scholarship (RCM)

Opera

Hansel Hansel & Gretel

(OTC); Rosina Barber of

Seville (Grange Park, Pimlico

Opera); Nancy T’Ang Nixon

in China (ENO); Hermia

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

(ETO); Second Lady The

Magic Flute (ON); Tisbe

La Cenerentola (WNO)

Concerts

Wagner Wesendock Lieder

(Metropolitan Orchestra of

Lisbon); Handel Messiah

(Huddersfleild Choral);

Remembrance Day Concert

(St David’s Hall, Cardiff)

Recordings

Earth Story

soundtrack (BBC)

Niamh Kelly

Mezzo

Mrs Ott Susannah

Cover Smeton Anna Bolena

(Perf 20, 24 May)

Born

Moville, County Donegal

Training

RNCM; University of

Limerick; NUI Maynooth

Opera

Olga Eugene Onegin (ETO)

(British Youth Opera, cover);

Eurynome Pénélope

(Wexford Festival Opera);

Rosina Il Barbière di Siviglia,

Mistress Quickly Falstaff,

Bianca The Rape of

Lucretia (all RNCM)

Ensemble Macbeth,

l’Elisir d’Amore (GOT)

Concerts

Lieder Recitals (Brahms,

Schumann), Exeter,

Cheltenham (ETO),

Mozart Requiem, Vespers

& Così Fan Tutte (excerpts)

(Bolton Choral Society);

Stephen McNeff Names

of the Dead (Opera North)

Michael Lloyd

Conductor Anna Bolena

Born

Malvern

Training

University of East Anglia

and the RCM

Opera

Advisor: OperaGenesis

(ROH); Music Director:

Sound of Music. Guest

Conductor: British Youth

Opera 2007 (The Magic

Flute), Trondheim (Puccini

double bill). Repertoire

Coach: (RCM); (GSMD).

Assistant Music Director and

Senior Resident Conductor

(ENO) from 1985-2003

Concerts

Music Director: Birmingham

Philharmonic Orchestra,

Chandos Symphony

Orchestra. Guest Conductor:

Australian Ballet’s European

Tour; Nutcracker

(Australian ballet); Romeo

and Juliet (Royal New

Zealand Ballet) and Den

Norske Opera (Lightfoot/

Leon programme)

Biography

37Biography

Adam Miller

Baritone

Ensemble

Born

Melbourne, Australia

Training

RAM

Awards

Edna Graham Scholarship

(RAM); Royal Overseas

League Bursary

Opera

Marcello La Bohème

(Caymans Arts Festival);

Schaunard La Bohème

(Garden Opera); Cover

Figaro Il Barbiere di

Siviglia (Scottish Opera);

Cover Enrico Lucia di

Lammermoor (SO);

Papageno The Magic Flute

(Bloomsbury Festival)

Concerts

Essential Scottish Opera

Tour (SO); Aria Adventures

(Merchant City Festival)

Jonathan Munby

Director Don Giovanni

Born

Beverley

Training

University of Bristol

Theatre

Henry V, Mirandolina (Royal

Exchange Theatre) The

Canterbury Tales (RSC:

Stratford, West End and

International tour); She

Stoops to Conquer

(Birmingham RCP and

National Tour); A Number,

The Comedy of Errors, Bird

Calls (Sheffield Crucible);

Madness In Valencia (RSC:

The Other Place); Nakamitsu

(Gate Theatre); Noises Off

(Arena Stage, Washington

DC); Journeys Among the

Dead (Young Vic); Bed

Show (Bristol Old Vic); The

Anniversary (Garrick

Theatre, London); John

Bull’s Other Island (Lyric

Theatre, Belfast); Tartuffe

(Watermill Theatre and

national tour)

Opera

Sweetness and Badness

(WNO)

Other

Jonathan was an Assistant

Director at the RSC from

1999-2001

Laura Parfitt

Soprano

Donna Elvira Don Giovanni

Born

Newport, South Wales

Training

RAM; RWCMD; CIAV

Awards

Dame Eva Turner Prize for

Dramatic Soprano; Harriet

Cohen Memorial Prize; Sir

Geraint Evans Scholarship

Opera

Adina L’elisir D’amore (Opera

della Luna and Ilford Arts);

Bertha Il Barbiere di Siviglia

(SO); Queen of the Night The

Magic Flute (RAM); Noémie

Cendrillon (Royal Academy

Opera); Abigaille Nabucco

(Crosskeys Choral Society)

Concerts

Bellini and Donizetti extracts

Mira O Norma (Wales

Millenium Centre); Gala

Concert with Dame Kiri Te

Kanawa and Dennis O’Neill;

Rossini Petite Messe

(Duomo di Barga, Tuscany)

Recordings

Gala with Dennis O’Neill

and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

(S4C Television)

Future

Rosina Barber of Seville

(WNO); Gretchen Lorting’s

Der Wildschütz (Buxton

Opera House)

36

Simon Lobelson

Baritone

Cover Masetto Don Giovanni

Ensemble

Born

Sydney, Australia

Training

RCM; University of Sydney

Opera

Nottingham Roberto

Devereux (Valladolid Opera);

L’Horloge/Le Chat L’Enfant

et les Sortilèges (European

Opera Centre); Marcello

La Bohème (BYO); Falke

Die Fledermaus (RCM);

Don Alfonso Così Fan

Tutte (RCM)

Concerts

Vaughan Williams Five Tudor

Portraits (Sydney Town Hall);

Gubaidulina Jetzt Immer

Schnee (Lucerne Festival);

Vaughan Williams Fantasia

on Christmas Carols

(St Martin in the Fields)

Recordings

Purcell The Fairy Queen

(ABC Classics); Star Wars

3 - Soundtrack

Sandra Porter

Mezzo

Mrs McLean Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Edinburgh

Training

RCM; Napier University

Awards

RCM Opera Scholarship;

Clara Butt Award

Opera

Filipyeviva Eugene Onegin

(Riverside Opera);

Maddalena Rigoletto

(European Chamber Opera);

The Witch Hansel & Gretel

(Buxton Festival Opera)

Concerts

Bach St Matthew Passion

(Beijing); Mahler Symphony

No. 3 (Edinburgh Festival);

MacMillan Raising Sparks

Cantata (Milan)

Recordings

BBC Broadcasts including

premiere performances of

songs by MacMillan

Adrian Powter

Masetto Don Giovanni

Cover Enrico Anna Bolena

Born

Cambridge

Training

RNCM

Opera

Capulet Romeo & Juliet

(Bampton Classical Opera);

Frank Die Fledermaus

(SO); Schaunard La Bohème

(Castleward Opera); Abbot

Curlew River (Opéra de

Rouen); Philip The

Last Supper (GFO,

Deutsche Staatsoper)

Concerts

Bach St Matthew Passion

(Apollo Chamber Orchestra);

Finzi In terra Pax (Victoria

Hall, Singapore); Handel

Messiah (Academy

of Ancient Music)

Recordings

Friday Night is Opera Night

(BBC Radio 2); Opera

Works (BBC TV)

Future

Philip The Last Supper

(London Sinfonietta); Rocco

Leonora (Bampton Classical

Opera); Scottish Opera);

Baron La Traviata (SO)

Jonathan Pugsley

Bass Baritone

Rochfort Anna Bolena

Elder Ott Susannah

Cover Leporello Don

Giovanni

Ensemble

Born

Dorset

Training

RNCM

Opera

Nick Shadow The Rake’s

Progress (RNCM); Achillas

Julius Caesar (Yorke Trust);

Page Amahl and the Night

Visitors (Northern Sinfonia);

Zaccaria Nabucco (Preston

Opera); Colline La Boheme

(Opus 1); Uberto La Serva

Padrona (The Goldberg

Ensemble); Guglielmo Così

fan tutte (Ryedale Festival);

Don Alfonso Così fan tutte

(Hayes Symphony

Orchestra); Sparafucile

Tosca (Birmingham Chamber

Orchestra); Mr Page

Merry Wives of Windsor

(Opera South)

Concerts

Mahler Rückert Lieder

(RNCM); Schumann

Dichterliebe; Vaughan

Williams Songs of Travel

(Hinton St Mary)

Barnaby Rayfield

Assistant Director

Don Giovanni

Staff Director

Born

Hampshire

Training

Bristol University

Opera

Assistant and Revival

Director: Le Nozze di Figaro,

Don Giovanni, Tosca (London

Opera Players); Director:

Viennese Operetta Evening

(London Opera Players);

Assistant Director: Country

Matters (ETO); work for

Teatro Technis and

Richmond Theatre

39Biography

Julia Riley

Mezzo

Giovanna Anna Bolena

Born

York

Training

National Opera Studio; RAM

Awards

1st Prize National Mozart

Competition 2007; Susan

Chilcott Scholarship

Opera

Nancy Albert Herring (GOT);

Flora La Traviata (Opera

Holland Park); Cherubino

Le Nozze di Figaro (GOT)

Concerts

Mozart Requiem (BBC Welsh

Proms); Jonathan Dove

All You Who Sleep

Tonight (Glyndebourne

Jerwood Project); English

Song Recital (Leeds

Lieder Festival)

Future

2nd Lady (GTO); Nancy

(Paris Opera Comique)

Michael Rosewell

Conductor Don Giovanni

Born

Bristol

Training

RCM

Opera

Barber of Seville, Onegin,

A Midsummer Night’s Dream,

Jenufa (ETO); The Magic

Flute, Mikado, Don Quixote,

Timon of Athens (ENO);

A Midsummer Night’s Dream,

L’infeldelta Delusa, The

Magic Flute (Aldeburgh

Festival); Radamisto, Ottone,

Flavio (London Handel

Festival); Billy Budd, Hansel

and Gretel, Rosenkavalier,

Falstaff, Tosca, La Bohème

(Nationaltheater Mannheim)

Concerts

London Mozart Players

Mahler Symphony No. 4

(Philharmonic Hall,

Zagreb); Rheinische

Philharmonie, Koblenz

Recordings

Radio France Musique;

Südwestfunk, Baden-Baden

Other

Michael has worked closely

with Nicklaus Harnoncourt

and Jean Claude Magliore

and assisted Claudio Abbado

as a member of music

staff, Vienna State Opera.

Resident conductor,

Nationaltheater, Mannheim.

Director of Opera,

(RCM) and Associate

Conductor (ETO)

Renee Salewski

Soprano

Mrs Gleaton Susannah

Mary Tudor (non singing)

Anna Bolena

Ensemble

Born

Ontario, Canada

Training

Queen’s University (Ontario)

Opera

Marsinah, Kismet (Arcola

Theatre); Barbarina Le

Nozze di Figaro (Opera á

la Carte); Lisi (role)/Franzi

(cover) The Spirit of

Vienna (ETO); Cobweb

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

(ETO); Ensemble/Dance

Captain Iolanthe (D’Oyly

Carte); Frasquita Carmen

(Kingston Symphony)

Concerts

Haydn The Creation, Mozart

C minor Mass (Canterbury

Cathedral); From Lamplight

to Limelight (Canterbury

Festival); Mozart Requiem

(Whitstable Choral)

Recordings and Film

Noise Ensemble Original

Soundtrack; Reporter

Exodus Channel 4/Art Angel

Olivia Shrive

Mezzo

Cover Mrs McLean,

Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Norwich

Training

Abbey Opera, University of

London; RWCMD

Opera

Second Bridesmaid Le Nozze

di Figaro (Grange Park

Opera); Cover Gianetta and

Ensemble L’Elisir d’Amore

(Pimlico Opera); Ensemble

Maria Stuarda, Thais, South

Pacific (Grange Park Opera);

Dorabella Così Fan Tutte

(Starlight Opera); Carmen

Carmen (City Opera),

Ensemble Eugene Onegin,

The Seraglio and Weiner

Blut (ETO)

Recordings

Joe St Johanser

The Tempest (BBC)

Joe St Johanser

Pierrot Alone (BBC)

Other

Sang at memorial service of

Walter Sisulu, ANC founder,

at St Martin-in-the-Fields

and also at a Royal banquet

in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

38

Riccardo Simonetti

Baritone

Enrico Anna Bolena

Cover Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

Born

Lancashire

Training

RNCM

Awards

Anne Ziegler; ESSO Award

Opera

Don Giovanni Don Giovanni

(Cork Opera, GFO);

Papageno The Magic Flute,

Belcore The Elixir of Love

(ON); Kramer Tangier Tattoo

(Glyndebourne On Tour);

Pish-Tush The Mikado

(La Fenice)

Concerts

Handel Messiah (Guildford

Philharmonic); Orff Carmina

Burana (Symphony Hall,

Birmingham); Rachel

Portman The Water Diviner’s

Tale (BBC Proms)

Recordings

Puccini La Rondine (EMI);

Verdi Il Trovatore (EMI)

Radio

The Proms; Friday Night

is Music Night (BBC)

Andrew Slater

Bass-Baritone

Commendatore

Don Giovanni

Blitch Susannah

Born

Northwich

Training

RNCM, St Petersburg

Conservatoire

Opera

Falstaff Falstaff, Bottom

A Midsummer Night’s Dream;

Ariodante Ariodante;

Erimante Erismena (both

ETO); Pistol Falstaff (Opera

North); Colline La Bohème

(WNO and ENO), Truffaldino

Ariadne (Garsington); Da

House of the Gods (Music

Theatre Wales); Patsy Love

Counts (Almeida Festival)

Concerts

Verdi Requiem (RLPO);

Brahms Requiem (RTE

Orchestra Dublin); Britten

War Requiem (Orchestra de

l’Ile de France) Mozart

Requiem Bath Abbey

Recordings

Michael Berkeley Jane Eyre

(Chandos); Stravinsky The

Flood (Twentieth Century

Classics); Mozart The

Marriage of Figaro (BBC TV);

Love Counts (MNR Label);

Dom Sebastien (Opera Rara)

Julia Sporsen

Soprano

Donna Anna Don Giovanni

Born

Göteborg, Sweden

Training

RAM; Opera Studio 67

(Stockholm)

Awards

Opera Rara Patric Schmidt

Bel Canto Prize 2007

Opera

Donna Elvira Don Giovanni

(Amersham Music Festival);

Iolanta Iolanta (RAM); Iphise

Dardanus (RAM); Violetta

La Traviata (Clonter Opera);

Musetta Cover La Bohème

(SO)

Concerts

Haydn Stabat Mater (London

Mozart Players); ROH

Lunchtime Concert (ROH);

Glastonbury Abbey Concert

(Royal Philharmonic Society)

Julie Unwin

Soprano

Anna Bolena Anna Bolena

Born

Warrington

Training

GSMD, NOS, studies with

Jacqueline Bremar

Awards

John Christie Award

(Glyndebourne),International

Singer of the Year at the

Llangollen International

Eistedfodd, Harold

Rosenthal Opera Award

Opera

Alice Ford Falstaff; Tosca

Tosca (ETO) Madame

Butterfly Madame Butterfly

(HPO), Countess The

Marriage of Figaro (GOT,

ETO and OHP), Donna Anna

Don Giovanni (GTO) Mimì

La Bohème (Opera Zuid),

Cleone Ermione (GFO),

Micaela Carmen (RAH,

WNO), Pamina The Magic

Flute (ENO), Nancy Silas

Marner (City of Birmingham

Touring Opera), Tatyana

Eugene Onegin (HPO)

Concerts

Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ

(Helsinki Philharmonic),

Beethoven Symphony

No. 9 (Helsinki

Philharmonic), Mahler

Symphony No. 2 (Kaplan

and London Philharmonic),

Strauss Four Last Songs

41

Todd Wilander

Tenor

Hervey Anna Bolena

Sam Susannah

Cover Percy Anna Bolena

Born

Pasadena, California, USA

Training

Northwestern University;

California State

University, LA

Awards

Winner: Metropolitan Opera

National Council; Oratorio

Society of NY; Belvedere

Competition, Vienna

Opera

Arturo Lucia, Count

Almaviva Barbiere

(Metropolitan Opera); Frère

Massée Saint François (San

Francisco, Deutsche Oper

Berlin); Nanki-Poo Mikado

(La Fenice, Venice); Nadir

Pêcheurs de Perles (Anna

Livia Opera, Dublin); Essex

Roberto Devereux, Renaud

Armide (Buxton Opera);

Uberto Donna del Lago

(NY City Opera); Percy Anna

Bolena (Opera Orchestra

NY); Leicester Maria Stuarda

(Chelsea Opera Group);

Italian Singer Rosenkavalier

(Israeli Opera); Faust

Faust (NZO)

Future

Tonio La Fille du Régiment

(Opera Zuid, Netherlands)

www.wilander.com

Robert Douglas Williams

Bass-Baritone

Cover Elder McLean

Susannah

Ensemble

Born

Adelaide

Training

University of Southern

Queensland

Opera

Sacristan Tosca (London

Opera Productions); Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro,

Masetto Don Giovanni (both

London Opera Players);

El Dancairo Carmen (Stowe

Opera); Sarastro The Magic

Flute (Opera Queensland);

Ensemble (ETO)

Concerts

Handel Samson

(Deddington); Mozart

Requiem (Germany Tour);

Beethoven Choral

Symphony 9 (Brisbane)

Roland Wood

Baritone

Don Giovanni Don Giovanni

Cover Blitch Susannah

Born

Reading

Training

RNCM; NOS

Awards

Prizewinner 2003 Cardiff

Singer of the World; 2nd

Prize 2000 Kathleen

Ferrier Awards

Opera

Eugene Onegin Eugene

Onegin (ETO); Henry

Kissinger Nixon in China

(ENO); Papageno The Magic

Flute, Schaunard La Boheme

and Falke Die Fledermaus

(SO as Company Principal

Artist); Nick Shadow

Rake’s Progress (GFO);

Concerts

Rosenblatt Recital (St

John’s, Smith Square);

Walton Belshazzar’s Feast

(Hallé); Britten War

Requiem (Bydgoscz/

Filarmonika Pomorska);

Bernstein Candide

(Edinburgh Festival)

Recordings

Fauré Requiem; A Masked

Ball, Madam Butterfly and

The Carmelites (Chandos)

Future

Shelkalov Boris Godunov

(ENO); Renato Ballo in

maschera (Reisopera);

Belcore L’Elisir

d’Amore(WNO)

40

Abbreviations

BBIOS Benjamin Britten

International Opera School

BCS Bristol Choral Society

BOC Birmingham Opera Company

BYO British Youth Opera

CBSO City of Birmingham

Symphony Orchestra

CIAV Cardiff International

Academy of Voice

CLF City of London Festival

COH Cork Opera House

DIF Delphi International Festival

DVO De Vlaamse Opera

ENO English National Opera

ETO English Touring Opera

GFO Glyndebourne Festival Opera

GSMD Guildhall School

of Music and Drama

GOT Glyndebourne on Tour

LAMDA London Academy

of Music and Dramatic Art

OAE Orchestra of the Age

of Enlightenment

OHP Opera Holland Park

ONE Opera North Education

OTC Opera Theatre Company

NOS National Opera Studio

NZO New Zealand Opera

RAH Royal Albert Hall

RAM Royal Academy of Music

RCM Royal College of Music

RIAM Royal Irish Academy

of Music

RLPO Royal Liverpool

Philharmonic Orchestra

RNCM Royal Northern

College of Music

RNT Royal National Theatre

ROH Royal Opera House

RPO Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

RSAMD Royal Scottish

Academy of Music and Drama

RSC Royal Shakespeare Company

RSTC Red Shift Theatre Company

RWCMD Royal Welsh College

of Music and Drama

SO Scottish Opera

TMRJ Theatro Municipal do Rio

de Janeiro

WNO Welsh National Opera

Arts Council England

Patrons

Mr Christopher Ball

Miss Rosemary Burns

Mr Jerry Cowhig

Mrs Joanna Dickson Leach

Professor D T Donovan

Mr David Elliot

Miss Serena Fenwick

Mr & Mrs Paul Findlay

Mr & Mrs Nick J Forman Hardy

Mr & Mrs John and Elizabeth Forrest

Mr Roger Gifford

Mr and Mrs Richard Christopher

Gregory

Mr & Mrs Noel Harwerth

Mr & Mrs Michael Higgins

Dr Peter Hughes

Mrs Susan Jane Joyce

Mr Joseph Karaviotis

Mr Robin Leggate

Dame Felicity Lott

The Hon. Richard Lyttelton

The Hon. Nick R MacAndrew

Ms J Massey

Mrs Christine McRitchie Pratt

Mr Sean Rafferty

Mr W M Samuel

Mr & Mrs John Tattersall

Mrs I Van't Spijker

Mr David G Wilson

Associates

Mrs Hilary Anne Albright

Lady Wendy Ball

Mr Barry Browne

Mr L Carlisle

Mr Greg Chapman

Ms Jilly Cooper

Mr & Mrs Alex and Susan de Mont

Dr C J Dilloway

Mrs Hilary Stephanie Dixon-Nuttall

Mrs E Barbara Fairhurst

Mrs Harriet Feilding

Mrs E M Frost

Mr Colin Gamage

Mr Nicholas Gold

Mr P Gray

Mr & Reverend Charles and Pauline

Green

Mr James H Gregory

Mr N J Guthrie

Mr David Hadley

Mr R D Harris

Mr N J Hawkins

Mr Ralph Huckle

Sir Christopher and Lady Lawrence-

Jones

Mrs Judith Lorman

Mr Matthew Thomas Maxwell

Mrs Julia Money

Dr Christine O'Brien

Mr K J Omar

Mr Jaspal Pachu

Mr Robert Padgett

Mr John S Ransom

Mr H J Sims-Hilditch

Miss Marilyn Stock

Mr Ian James Sutherland

Mr Ian Tegner

Mrs M M Thierry

Mr H J Tripp

Ms Deirdre Sandra Wakefield

Mr Michael Watkins, OBE

Mr Paul Watts

Mr Ian Welham

Mr A Whitelegge

Mr Tony Wingate

Mr & Mrs Michael and Ruth Wright

Mr B Youel

Trusts and Foundations

Angus Allnat Trust

Awards for All

Baron Davenport Charity

Creative Partnerships

Elmgrant Trust

Equitable Charitable Trust

Ernest Cook Trust

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation

Eveson Charitable Trust

The Forman Hardy Charitable Trust

The Golsoncott Foundation

Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation

Helena Oldacre Foundation

James Beattie Trust

The John Lyon’s Charity

The Joyce Fletcher Charitable Trust

The Lynn Foundation

Morgan Crucible Company Plc

Charitable Trust

Nicholas John Trust

Northern Rock Foundation

Peter Moores Foundation

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Youth Music

Corporate Supporters

Brunswick Group

Chandos Records

EMI Group

Forman Hardy Holdings Limited

James Stewart Printers (printers)

John Lewis Partnership Plc

Lorimer Longhurst Lees

Pricewaterhouse Coopers

Rose Bruford College

Slaughter & May Trust Ltd

Smith & Williamson Investment

Management

OUR SUPPORTERSENGLISH TOURING OPERA WOULD LIKE TO THANK

After the curtain comes down, you can stay in touch with all the latestnews on ETO through our website.

Why not join us online to listento music clips, watch video of the operas, learn more about ETO and our autumn tour, and get in touch with other supporters through our exciting new message board.

ENGLISHTOURING OPERA

englishtouringopera.org.uk020 7833 2555

43

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Hon. Richard Lyttelton

(Chairman)

Judith Ackrill

Ewen Balfour

Verena Cornwall

David Elliott

Jane Forman Hardy

Joseph Karaviotis

Robin Leggate

Bill Mason

Ursula Owen

John Tattersall

Lucy Wylde

Sam Younger

ETO’S BOARDOF DIRECTORSAND STAFF

ETO STAFF

General Director

James Conway

Associate Conductor

Michael Rosewell

Artistic Associate Education

Tim Yealland

General Manager

David Burke

Production Manager

Paul Tucker

Artistic Administrator

Shawn McCrory

Office and Education

Administrator

Naomi Collins

Marketing Manager

Gareth Spillane

Senior Marketing Officer

Esyllt Wyn Owen

Press Officer

Chantelle Staynings

Marketing Officer

Sebastian Stern

Development and Finance Officer

Brendan Dinen

Strategic Development Officer

Henriette Krarup

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Bob Bliss

Davina Chung

Jean Cole

Joanna Dickson Leach

Jim Follett

Iris Goldsmith

Bob Hall

Peter Nicolson

Dennis O’Neill

Robert Padgett

Sarah Roberts

John Symon

Shaun Webb Design

Wexford Festival Opera

Bob Workman - Photographer

42