Die Fledermaus - Was it really over a week ago?

Company Bow

Producing a concert at this level is never easy and you are never certain how it will all turn out. So many elements to be considered ie Singers, Orchestra, Chorus, Movement, Artwork etc. Our recent Die Fledermaus was a major jump for us; not one but two performances plus the addition of a world famous concert pianist for good measure. I am happy to say that Die Fledermaus was one of LLO's greatest successes and provided a fitting end to our first season.


Charne Rochford - Eisenstein

"Charne Rochford, as Eisenstein, showed a special gift for comic roles: he has a huge talent for physical comedy, creating an expressive, hilarious and appropriately ridiculous portrait of the character." Seen and Heard. Margarita Mota-Bull


The performance was a great success on so many levels. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played beautifully. This is the RPO's third opera with us and each time they astound me with their dedication to the score and commitment to the performance. I don't believe that we would have reached such artistic heights without them. The scoring requires outstanding playing from all sections:


Leslie Howard with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

"The real stars of the night though, were not the solo singers but Strauss’s music and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who delivered an excellent performance, under Madeleine Lovell's baton."
Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull



Philharmonia Chorus

"The Philharmonia Chorus did full justice to the music too, giving a solid, excellent rendition of their powerful pieces during Act II, as various guests and servants at Prince Orlofsky's party." Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull


Lise Christensen - Prince Orlofsky

"Lise Christensen created an interesting Prince Orlofsky, particularly when singing the difficult high notes of Chacun à son gout, as the higher register of her voice is solidly assured." Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull


Debra Morley - Ida
Nicky Spence - Dr Blind

"and of course Nicky Spence extracted every inch as the muddlesome lawyer."
Serena Fenwick, Musical Pointers



Garrie Davislim - Alfred

"Garrie Davislim was the attractively sung and personable Alfred, and he managed to convey that slight disdain of an opera tenor slumming it in operetta. " Peter Reed, classicalsource.com


Simon Thorpe - Falke
Jeffrey Black - Frank

"Jeffrey Black’s warm baritone made an agreeable Frank and Simon Thorpe was a convincing Dr Falke." Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull


Debra Morley - Ida
Ana James - Adele

Pictured above are Debra Morley and Ana James. Debra gave a wonderfully rich account of Adele's sister, Ida. I hope that she will work with us again as she truly gave this relatively small role life and was an asset in every scene she was in. Oh and her top notes are stunning and sounded superb in the big finales.

"Ms James delivered possibly the outstanding performance of the evening. She was a member of the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artist Programme and its influence showed throughout. She gave an accomplished, dramatically expressive performance, playing a sassy, very funny Adele, with some superb singing, especially in her final big moment, during Act III."
Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull



Sarah Redgwick - Rosalinda

"Sarah Redgwick’s warm lyric soprano had the poise, good taste and understated humour of the role; her looks were a bit too English and wholesome for her to be entirely convincing as the mysterious Hungarian countess, but when she sang it was another matter, with the ‘czardas’ agreeably insinuating and instinctive." Peter Reed, classicalsource.com



Leslie Howard played with the grace and style of a great virtuoso. His performance of the Liszt, Hungarian Fantasies was mesmerising. The change of mood was accepted readily by the audience who all sat back and watched and listened to one of the worlds great Lisztians playing a devilishly difficult piece for piano and orchestra. He was a revelation to us all. The reviewers all agree with me on this point:



Leslie Howard - mozbphotography.com

"The mystery guest was not a star singer but a star pianist, Leslie Howard, who continued the Hungarian tendency with a performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy, very much in the heavily melancholic ‘rhapsody’ style and thrillingly played by this great Liszt virtuoso. It sat rather oddly within the context of champagne and decadence, but who cares? It’s a terrific piece." Peter Reed, classicalsource.com

"Act II traditionally includes a guest celebrity making a cabaret appearance. On this occasion Liszt specialist pianist, Leslie Howard, gave a rare performance of the Fantasie uber ungarische Volksmelodien, one of the few works that Liszt composed for piano and orchestra, which raised the loudest applause of the evening." Serena Fenwick, Musical Pointers

We were terribly lucky to find Bernard Horsfall to play Frosch, the gaoler. Bernard has a rich pedigree acting with the RSC, Dr Who, James Bond etc He agreed to be our dialogue coach, in hindsight this was one of the most important decisions we made. He came to every rehearsal and took detailed notes which he methodically passed on to the cast. His influence was vital to the dramatic integrity we were seeking and ensured that the dialogue reached the same level as the music.


Bernard Horsfall - Frosch

"The speaking part of Frosch, the gaoler, was wonderfully played by Bernard Horsfall; his appearance though brief was unforgettable."
Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull

Last but not least I must mention our conductor Madeleine Lovell. This was really her baby. Her fingerprint could be found in every element of the evening. It was a pleasure to develop this project with her.

"She is a young, graceful and exciting conductor who led the orchestra and the chorus into an intelligent, expressive and elegant rendition of this popular work. Ms Lovell had an intuitive understanding of Strauss’s witty score and ensured that the music made its full impact on a delighted audience. "
Seen and Heard, Margarida Mota-Bull


Madeleine Lovell - Conductor

"Madeline Lovell, who was highly praised for her “Fidelio” with LLO earlier this year, conducted superbly, with her fresh, springy and spontaneous approach to the Overture energising the whole evening with an instinctively light Viennese lilt that was very engaging." Peter Reed, classicalsource.com



Post Concert Reception - Mick Hurrell, Wardour; Sarah Redgwick; Liz Hughes, HSBC.




Reviews to date courtesy of www.theoperacritic.com


Sponsored by Wardour www.wardour.co.uk
Photography: www.mozbphotography.com
Venue: Cadogan Hall www.cadoganhall.com

A teaser from Act 1 - Recorded at the Vernon Ellis concert on Monday 8th June

I wish I had some clever excuse for offering only a small 'snippet' of the Act 1 trio with Eisenstein, Adele and Rosalinda but I am afraid it is nothing more exciting than running out of room on the memory card.

This was recorded at the Vernon Ellis concert on Monday 8th June. Once again I admit my bias but Sarah Redgwick is singing the role of Rosalinda beautifully. Sarah, a Guildhall Gold Medal winner, has made her reputation singing Marzelline, Susanna, Zerlina for Scottish Opera, Opera Holland Park, Clonter Opera, Welsh National Opera etc and has recently started singing Violetta for Scottish Opera and Opera de Bauge. Many singers reach a point in their careers where they have to change repertoire as their voices develop and grow. This is such a case. What makes us so happy is the fact that Sarah still performs with the joie de vivre of a Soubrette but with the voice of a Diva. I think this is evident in the clip attached.

Charne Rochford has been a revelation to Madeleine and me. His biography is impressive. He sang First Armed Man at Glyndebourne and for English Touring Opera and sang the 1st Priest in Kenneth Branagh's film of the Magic Flute but his strong assumption of the role of Eisenstein with a voice that matches his dramatic resolve is wonderful to see...and hear. Only a small clip here so you will have to come to one of our performances if you wish to hear more of this exciting young tenor.

Ana James is, to me, the perfect Adele but I think I have already made my feelings about this exceptional soprano clear in the previous post. Unfortunately you don't get to hear much of her in this clip. :( I really should get a larger memory card.

Introducing our lovely Adele, Miss Ana James

Rehearsals are in full swing and the cast are working hard to make our performances as good as they possibly can. Ana James was cast relatively late. Our original choice had a clash with the Buxton Festival so we reluctantly agreed that we had to find a new Adele. Luckily we were told about this beautiful soprano from New Zealand with the gorgeous voice and magnetic stage presence. A few days later Ana came, sang for Madeleine and was promptly engaged on the spot.

We have been incredibly lucky with our cast. Simon Thorpe and Charne Rochford work together as if they were brothers and Lise Christensen plays the bored and world weary character of Prince Orlofsky with aplomb. Jeffrey Black brings real experience to Frank with the bonus of a beautiful baritone voice and has a perfect foil in Bernard Horsfall playing Frosch.

Nicky Spence is a younger than usual Blind. He is playing him like a young turk lawyer who unfortunately... isn't very good at his job. Debra Morley who I have worked with on several occasions is luxury casting as Ida. Debra has sung most of the lyric coloratura repertoire with great success. The fact that she is a wonderful colleague is another matter.

Garrie Davislim has spent most of his career in Vienna, Milan and guesting in Germany singing most of the lead romantic tenor roles of his Fach. A graduate of the National Opera Studio he is a perfect Alfred and a very believable 'lover' of our Rosalinda, Sarah Redgwick.

I will stop babbling on and let you enjoy the film.

Wait until you here Ana sing...

Die Fledermaus is on sale...Two performances

Die Fledermaus is now on sale at Cadogan Hall. Sponsored by Wardour for the first time we will have two performances. The first on Tuesday 16th June and the second on
Friday 19th June. Both performances will begin at 7.00pm with a pre-performance talk at 6.00 in the main auditorium.

This is a major step forward for us. I hope we manage to repeat the success we had with Fidelio with a near sell out house.

Adele completes our cast...Ana James to sing this wonderful role for LLO.

Ana James has just accepted our offer to sing Adele. After an exhaustive search we are thrilled to have a singer of her quality in our cast. A native of New Zealand, graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and the ROH Young Artist programme : Attached is the announcement we made on our Twitter account. More information here.

Now that our cast is complete the real work begins. Madeleine. Myself and Bernard are working though the dialogue, score and stage directions now. We plan to follow the style of our previous two productions; Singing from memory, dramatically convincing and strong performances from the cast. The added element of a world class concert pianist playing with the RPO will give the audience a memorable night at the opera.

The international nature of our cast is evident. Simon Thorpe, Garrie Davislim [half Irish] and Jeffrey Black (Australia), Nicky Spence (Scotland), Edel Shannon (Ireland), Ana James (New Zealand), Sarah Redgwick, Charne Rochford and Bernard Horsfall (England) and Lise Christensen (Denmark).