Download Shakespeare in the 20 Century

Shakespeare in the 20th Century
A recital of songs in celebration of
the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth
presented by the London Shakespeare Centre,
Arts and Humanities Research Institute, King’s College London
St Davids Room, King’s Building
7.30pm
16th January 2014
Ashley Riches, baritone & Emma Abbate, piano
Programme
Roger Quilter (1877-1953): Four Shakespeare Songs op. 30
Who is Sylvia?
When Daffodils begin to peer
How should I your true love know?
Sigh no more, ladies
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968): From Shakespeare Sonnets op. 125
Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly? (Sonnet 8)
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought (Sonnet 30)
To me, fair friend, you never can be old (Sonnet 104)
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed (Sonnet 27)
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore (Sonnet 60)
Erich Korngold (1897-1957):
Come away, death op. 29 no.1
Adieu, Good Man Devil op. 29 no. 3
Hey, Robin! op. 29 no. 4
For the rain, it raineth every day op. 29 no. 5
My mistress’ eyes op. 38 no. 5
Roxanna Panufnik(b. 1968):
Mine eye (Sonnet 24)
Sweet Love Remember’d (Sonnet 29)
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956): Let us garlands bring op. 18
Come away, Death
Who is Silvia?
Fear no more the heath o' the sun
O mistess mine
It was a lover and his lass
Ashley Riches is a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists programme at the Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden. Previously he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama at Cambridge University, where he was a member of the King’s College Chapel
Choir under Stephen Cleobury.
Concert appearances include the UK Premiere of Shostakovich Orango with Esa-Pekka
Salonen and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Messiah in Symphony Hall, Birmingham
with Stephen Cleobury, Mass in B Minor with Arcangelo at Flanders Festival in Ghent,
Belshazzar’s Feast with David Temple at the Royal Festival Hall, Beethoven Missa
Solemnis with Sir Roger Norrington, Verdi Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall and
Winchester Cathedral, Handel L’Allegro with the Gabrieli Consort at St John’s, Smith
Square and in Beaune, Mozart Requiem with David Hill and the Bach Choir, Britten War
Requiem with Jan Latham-Koenig and Novaya Opera, Moscow, Bach Cantatas with the
AAM and Richard Egarr at the Wigmore Hall and Handel’s Israel in Egypt at Dartington
with Jonathan Cohen.
In November 2012 he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden singing
with Roberto Alagna in a Gala Concert and appeared as Salieri in Rimsky Korsakov’s
Mozart and Salieri with the Jette Parker Young Artists at the Linbury Studio Theatre,
Covent Garden for which he received outstanding reviews in the National Press.
He has given song recitals at Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, the City of London Festival,
Chelsea Schubert Festival and Ludlow Festival and has recorded Poulenc Chansons
Gaillardes with Graham Johnson for Hyperion. He recently sang several Handel arias for a
David Starkey TV series “Monarchy and Music” with the AAM and Richard Egarr and has
recorded Pilate St John Passion with Richard Egarr and Mercury in Daniel Purcell’s The
Judgement of Paris.
Future plans include Guglielmo Così fan tutte with Garsington Opera, title role Owen
Wingrave at Opéra National de Lorraine, Messiah with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
and Egarr. His roles at Covent Garden in the 2013/14 season include Morales Carmen,
Mandarin Turandot, Baron Douphol La Traviata, Officier Les Dialogues des Carmelites and
Osmano L’Ormindo at the Globe Theatre.
The Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate pursues a varied career as a chamber musician and
vocal coach, working with some of the finest singers and instrumentalists of her generation.
She has performed in duo recitals for international festivals and concert societies in
Salzburg, Lisbon, Naples, Ischia, Koscierzyna and Sorrento, and at many prestigious UK
venues such as the Wigmore Hall, St George’s, Bristol and for the Aldeburgh Festival.
Described as 'an amazingly talented pianist' by the leading Italian magazine Musica, Emma
is planning a series of recordings devoted to 20th century Italian vocal chamber music, the
first of which, entitled L’Infinito, has been released on Urania Records with the mezzosoprano Kamelia Kader. Her discography also includes world-premières recordings of works
for cello and piano by Krzysztof Meyer and Algernon Ashton with the cellist Evva
Mizerska. Published by Toccata Classics, their performances have been praised by The
Strad for their "great expressive range and impressive authority".
Based in London, Emma is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Following her graduation from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatoire in Naples at the age of
only 19 and an Advanced Diploma from the S. Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome, Emma
studied in London with Yonty Solomon. She completed her studies with Geoffrey Pratley
and Patsy Toh as a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, from where she was awarded
the Postgraduate Diploma in Accompaniment with Distinction. Her many prizes have
included the Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust Award, the International Ibla Grand Prize as
Distinguished Musician, the Grover Bennett Prize and the AMA Calabria Award. She was
also awarded an Italian Literature and Culture degree cum laude from the Federico II
University in Naples. www.emmaabbate.com
Emma Abbate is planning the world-première recording of Shakespeare Sonnets by Italian
composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. These 29 songs are as yet unpublished, and a copy
of the autograph manuscript was obtained by Emma with the kind permission of the
composer's niece, Lisbeth Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The disc will explore an important though
as yet neglected area of the vocal repertoire that is unusual in its rich combination of
Shakespeare and the sophisticated world of 20th-century Italian art song.
In 1916, King’s College London – in the person of Professor Sir Israel Gollancz – was
substantially involved in leading celebrations for the Shakespeare Tercentenary both in
London and around the world. The London Shakespeare Centre is centrally involved in
planning and facilitating events for the Quatercentenary in 2016 (see
http://www.shakespeare400.org for more information). Today’s concert marks the
beginning of a period of Shakespearean commemoration that runs from 2014 (the 450th
anniversary of the playwright’s birth) to 2016 (the 400th anniversary of his death): across
this period the London Shakespeare Centre will be exploring the meanings of
Shakespearean commemoration and the role and place of Shakespeare in global culture.
The London Shakespeare Centre is run by a group of Shakespeare scholars based at King’s
College London. As part of the Arts and Humanities Research Institute at King’s, we run
seminars, conferences, events and celebrations of all aspects of English literature of the early
modern period, especially Shakespeare.
We are very grateful to Pelagia Pais, Abbie Gerrard and Ola Sakowska for their help in
making today’s event possible.