Vale Elizabeth Connell (1946 - 2012)

In February 2009 London Lyric Opera mounted an ambitious concert performance of Beethoven's, Fidelio at the Cadogan Hall. Elizabeth Connell was an early adviser and supporter when I established the company and to my delight and amazement said that she would love to sing Leonora again.

Conducted by Madeleine Lovell and with the support of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus and Queens College Chapel Choir and soloists including Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Andrew Staples, Sarah Nicholls, Richard Wiegold and myself the evening was one of the highlights for the company.

Singing to a sold out Cadogan Hall the concert was an undoubted success. From the very beginning she was ever helpful even to the point of suggesting we use the dialogue version that she had perrformed in Hamburg in the 70's which she offered to us at an early meeting. Her advice and encouragement during our piano rehearsals will never be forgotten by the cast. From beginning to end Miss Connell was the perfect colleague.



Last week Elizabeth Connell passed away after a long and brave battle with cancer. I, like many of her friends, colleagues and fans, was terribly saddened by her death. Her voice was unique. For a singer of the 'big' roles by Verdi and Wagner it was always a revelation to hear her sing again as the voice never lost its youthful brilliance or delicacy yet had an incredible ability to cut through the largest of orchestras with a blade of tone that too was always beautiful and impeccably controlled.



I last saw her at a Tait Memorial Trust concert at 49 Queen's Gate Terrace in December 2011. As ever we had a good chat and the inevitable, "What are you planning James?" came up. I told her that Tosca was being seriously considered. We had a conductor, orchestra but just needed to cast it oh plus little things like a venue, funding, artwork. I almost fell off my chair when she said that Tosca was one of her favourite roles but she had not yet had the opportunity to sing it. "James, I would love to sing Tosca with you..." Christmas, New Year, Kids back to school etc filled the coming months. I was about to call her about the time her brother Paul posted his message on facebook announcing that she was 'gravely ill'. She was gone a few days later.

Now hearing her singing 'Vissi d'arte' that would have been something...

Tomorrow a requiem mass will given for her. May god bless and keep her and if possible let her know how her wonderful bubbly and ever joyful personality is missed by so many people all over the world.

James Hancock

A tribute site has been created by her friend and agent, Helmut Fischer

http://www.elizabeth-connell.co.uk/

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.

Strauss' Waltz of Marriage: Sin, Satire and Spin...

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Our performances of Die Fledermaus at Cadogan Hall begin in 10 days. First performance at 7pm on Tuesday 16th June & the second on Friday 19th June. Soloist rehearsals begin tomorrow and the Sitzprobe with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorus is on Sunday 14th...we are literally in the home straight.

Can't wait to see it all come together. Must admit hearing Leslie Howard playing Liszt's Hungarian Fantasy will be fantastic. His rehearsal with Madeleine went extremely well...it will be quite a concert.

More about Leslies involvement here



Below is the article which our conductor, Madeleine Lovell has written for the programme. For those of you who don't know this operetta this is a very helpful and enjoyable form of introduction.


Strauss' Waltz of Marriage: Sin, Satire and Spin

After 135 glorious years as a mainstay of the operatic repertoire, it is all too easy to take Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus a little for granted. The warm familiarity of the score can perhaps endanger our appreciation of Haffner’s and Génee’s well-aimed satire – on marriage, fidelity, mid-life crisis, the aspiring actress, the self aggrandizing tenor, and the sore loser – when, in truth, Strauss’ music provides the perfect foil. It is hard to imagine a musical setting more focused on awkwardness and discomfort.

While calling upon all the stock-intrades of comedy – mistaken identity, the battle of the sexes, class-warfare, as well as the requisite happy ending – Strauss never loses sight of the emotional core of the action. Consider, for example, the giddy succession of new themes in the Finale of Act 1 (the trio for Alfred, Rosalinda and Frank), spiralling out of control just as management of the situation spins away from Rosalinda. The middle portion of this Finale (‘Dear Sir, what can you think of me?’ … ‘It’s getting late, we’re tête-à-tête’) reveals what Rosalinda is trying her best to conceal, with a vocal line whose potential urbanity is undermined by sudden leaps, awkward breaks and deliberately fussy grace notes. She uses the sophistication of the waltz to paper over her anxiety.

The underlying menace of Orlofsky is suggested in a similar way. The vocal register of Chacun à son gout, largely based around the lower-middle part of the voice, suddenly erupts into the highest part of a mezzo’s range. Strauss’ music uncovers the erratic nature of this Prince, and, through remarkable use of the high part of the voice (whose timbre will, inevitably, be very penetrating) in this aria and throughout Act 2, shows us a domineering character.

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Power play is also at the heart of Rosalinda’s Act 2 show-stopper Csárdás. Supposedly the moment at which Eisenstein’s wife is least sincere, Strauss produces music of unparalleled beauty and emotional strength. Her impersonation of a Hungarian Countess ceases to be an exercise in fabulous fakery (unlike, for instance, Adele’s Audition Aria) and becomes instead a lament for the marriage that she has just seen falling apart. This mesmeric music, with its virtuoso display of the singer’s legato line and dazzling coloratura, makes us appreciate the depths of Rosalinda’s character. This in turn sheds light on why Eisenstein in the end cannot live without her.

Eisenstein’s short temper, and the associated issue of his violent jealousy, are brilliantly evoked in trios at either end of the opera. The Act 1 Trio with Rosalinda and Blind begins noisily as Eisenstein storms in, biting out his criticism of his incompetent lawyer, and barely letting anyone else get a word in. Despite Rosalinda’s best efforts to calm him with two passages of soothing Andante, Eisenstein’s bad mood shows no sign of abating. Blind’s ill-conceived and long-winded description of how he will sort things out merely tips him over the edge. Strauss demonstrates an equally masterful handling of pace in the Act 3 Trio for Eisenstein, Rosalinda and Alfred. Time and again Eisenstein’s short fuse looks set to sabotage his ambush of his ‘unfaithful wife’ as he cannot stop his own horrified outbursts as more details of the story are revealed. The sheer rhythmic force of the final section, as well as the contrast between a heavily accented three-note ascent high in the voice (‘Ei-sen-stein’) followed by a legato four-note descent low in the voice (‘though I was cheated’) drives this Trio to its breathless conclusion. Strauss, of course, last used this music at the beginning of the Overture, cleverly rounding off the opera by identifying its main musical theme with the belligerent
main character.

No account of Strauss’ handling of pace in Die Fledermaus would be complete, however, without mention of the descent into paralytic drunkeness that is the multi-sectional Act 2 Finale. What begins with a champagne toast, quickly dissolves into hiccups and a joyous collective decision to invade one another’s most personal space. The lurching theme of the final section shows us the revellers in the last stages of intoxication. Bacchus would have approved.


© Madeleine Lovell
Queens’ College Cambridge


Please don't forget our Fledermaus launch concert at Vernon Ellis' House 49 Queen's Gate Terrace. Monday 8th June. 7 - 7.30pm.

As usual we have pulled out all the stops with appearances by Sarah Redgwick, Rosalinda singing the Czardas; Ana James, Adele will sing the Audition Aria; Simon Thorpe, Falke will sing the famous Bruederlein and Lise Christensen, Orlofsky will sing Orlofsky's famous aria.

Plus 30 members of the Philharmonia Chorus who will sing the final champagne chorus. A wonderful way to spend a summers evening. Madeleine Lovell will conduct and give a short talk about the piece, with Margaret Marinkovic on the piano.

Fine wines and canapes will be served. Seats are still available please book here

Please email us at info@londonlyricopera.com if you would like any further information.

LLO Die Fledermaus - Press Release

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Deborah Riedel (1958 - 2009) Die Fledermaus dedicated to the Inspirational Australian Soprano

Earlier this year the opera world lost one of its brightest stars, the inspirational Australian Soprano, Deborah Riedel passed away in January after a 10 year battle with Cancer. The news hit all singers in Australia and many overseas very hard as few people knew that she was so ill. I first met her in the mid 80's when she gave a concert in Melbourne with other members of the Australian Opera ( Opera Australia today) Chorus at the Wesley Church in Melbourne. Donald Solomon, an old friend of my parents introduced us all to her. From that moment on I was an admirer of her work and was captivated by her lovely, warm nature. Here I was not alone. She was truly universally loved...an example to us all.

Years later she returned to Melbourne to sing Leila in the Pearlfishers and later had a triumph as Marguerite in Ian Judge's brilliant production of Faust both staged by the Victoria State Opera and conducted by Richard Divall. Like many of my contemporaries I rated Deborah Riedel as one of the great singers of her generation. When I first heard her she had a beautiful warm Mezzo-Soprano voice. Later she made the change into a full lyric Soprano and so began a major International career.

She enjoyed the support of Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge who conducted many of her greatest triumphs some during her courageous 10 year battle with cancer. Her loss at such a young age is so cruel for many reasons. Some of her greatest work especially her Sieglinde in the State Opera of South Australia's historic Ring Cycle (note: Her Siegmund was the Tenor, Stuart Skelton currently singing Peter Grimes for ENO) was during this time.

LLO began this tradition when I dedicated LLO's concert performance of The flying Dutchman at the Barbican to my late father, Eric Hancock and followed this by dedicating Fidelio to a dear German lady, opera lover and supporter, Edith Kraus. I wrote an email to the cast asking them for suggestions and her old friend and colleague Jeffrey Black (Frank in Die Fledermaus) wrote back suggesting Deborah Riedel. Dedicating these performances is a small gesture but we hope it will offer comfort to her husband the tenor, Paul Ferris (who will be attending one of the performances) and also encourage members of our audience to give to one of the charities that we support, Marie Curie Cancer Care whose work is so important.

Obituaries:
A Statement by Richard Bonynge from the Opera Australia website
The Independent
The Times
The Australian

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Haydn's, The Creation at Cadogan Hall

Jane Glover - Conductor

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing the London Mozart Player's performance of Haydn's, The Creation at Cadogan Hall. Soloists were Carolyn Sampson, who jumped in for an indisposed Joan Rogers; Andrew Staples, Tenor and Iain Patterson, Bass. The Vasari Singers, a London chamber choir that I was unfamiliar with, were wonderful.

The performance was conducted with vigour and an incredible energy by Jane Glover. I enjoyed it immensely, it was an outstanding performance of this great work by 'Papa' Haydn. Andrew Staples, our Jaquino in Fidelio, sang with ease and glorious purity of tone. Iain Patterson was incredible. I can see why his career is so meteoric. He coloured every line and had the most beautiful sound in every part of his seamless voice. Carolyn Sampson complimented this strong line-up with elan and grace. When I started writing this a review was furthest from my mind but a wish to share my sadness with the attendance. I heard that it was somewhere in the region of 350, less than half of the capacity of Cadogan Hall. The concert game is a risky one but a concert with such strong constitiuent parts deserved a much larger audience.

This is the lot of a concert promoter/ orchestra or choir giving a concert. Trying to reach your prospective audience is hard enough...a science in itself ...but then converting that into a ticket sale is another matter entirely.

Cadogan Hall, London ©mozbphotography.com

Cadogan Hall,as you can imagine, is one of my favourite venues in London. The location is priceless and convenient to one of the nicest parts of London. The acoustic is superb, the seats are very comfortable and the overall feel of the venue is one of comfort and style. As I am discovering there is no textbook which explains concert attendance. How often do you go to a well attended concert and the standard is poor, the artists are below par? The logic should be that the great concerts should have full houses. Sadly this isn't the case. No great mystery there as one of the joys of live performance is that you never know what is going to happen. Is the soprano going to soar effortlessly? Is the tenor going to crack? etc so when all of the elements are right well...it is magical. Maybe one day Apple will invent an app that will point us in the right direction. If they did I wouldn't want one. Where is the fun in that?

I wish London Mozart Player's well in their 60th anniversary year. The next 60 years look very sound if Friday's concert is an example. Bravo.

Madeleine Lovell, Conductor of Die Fledermaus, introduces London Lyric Opera's Cadogan Hall spring season

Madeleine Lovell, conductor for Die Fledermaus introduces LLO's coming concert performances at Cadogan Hall. We had a valuable day meeting Gill Dixon, Events Manager at Cadogan Hall and a brief meeting with James Tapping their Technical Director to discuss our requirements for Die Fledermaus. Thanks to Cadogan Hall's state of the art lighting rig we have a myriad of options available to us to enhance the look of the evening. With 68 singers in the Philharmonia Chorus and 46 in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra we have to be sure of our planning to ensure we maximise the performance space but avoid singers 'bumping' into the orchestra. As you can imagine space will be at a premium. The concert Steinway grand has to be moved centre stage after the first act...this is the easy part...getting it off in a 'unobtrusive' way will be fun.



Madeleine Lovell - Conductor ©mozbphotography.com

Afterwards a very helpful time was spent planning the entrances and exits plus props and the many other requirements. A very enjoyable day with a constant stream of ideas coming from Bernard and a couple of very silly ones thrown in for good measure.

Music calls have begun. Madeleine is personally coaching the cast before rehearsals begin. This was a tradition started by Lionel Friend when he prepared The flying Dutchman cast months before.

Our beautiful flyer is here.. Die Fledermaus at Cadogan Hall

Delighted to share the flyer for Die Fledermaus with you all.
Illustration by Amelie Hegardt/Darling Management and designed by the talented Orla McAvinue at Wardour

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Jeffrey Black - The busy baritone

Jeffrey Black is singing Frank for LLO in our upcoming performances of Die Fledermaus at Cadogan Hall. After a major international career as a lyric baritone he decided to take two years off to focus on the dramatic Verdi baritone repertory. After we engaged him as the Inspector, Frank he was booked by Chelsea Opera Group to sing the title role in Simon Boccanegra with them on June 7th. A few weeks later and he has been booked to understudy Falstaff at Glyndebourne in the current production. We are looking forward to working with this very highly sort after baritone in Fledermaus at Cadogan Hall, Tuesday June 16th and Friday June 19th 2009.

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).

Veteran Actor Bernard Horsfall to star as Frosch in London Lyric Opera's Concert Performances of Die Fledermaus at Cadogan Hall

Bernard Horsfall has appeared in many television and film roles including On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Enemy at the Door (ITV, 1978-1980), Gandhi (1982) , The Jewel in the Crown (1984), The Hound of the Baskervilles (ITV, 1988) and Braveheart (1995). 



He has made several guest appearances in the BBC science fiction television series
 Doctor Who. His first was as Lemuel Gulliver The Mind Robber (1968). His other appearances were as a Time Lord The War Games (1969), Taron Planet of the Daleks (1973) and Chancellor Goth The Deadly Assassin (1976).

Other television credits include : Doctors BBC: Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes BBC: Casualty BBC: Poirot ITV: Between the Lines BBC and The Bill Thames TV.

Bernard toured Europe in a production of My Fair Lady as Colonel Pickering and appeared at the Royal Opera House and the Chatelet, Paris as Merlin King Arthur (Purcell) dir. Graham Vick, cond. William Christie.

Theatre credits include the title role in Cymbaline dir. Bill Alexander; Pistol Henry V dir. Adrian Noble; Player King Hamlet dir. Adrian Noble; Old Capulet Romeo & Juliet; Old Shepherd Winter’s Tale dir. Tony Hands; The Director Sarcophagus; York Richard II and Le Grue Red Noses all at the RSC. Old Shepherd and Hymen As you like it at the Crucible, Sheffield and Sir Patrick Cullen The Doctor’s Dilemna at the Almeida both directed by Michael Grandage.

George Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Dir. John Fernald; George Jumpers dir. Phil Young; Solness The Master Builder dir. John Fernald all at the Leeds Playhouse. The Severed Head (Iris Murdoch) dir. Val May at the Criterion Theatre; Hancock 1776 (musical) dir. Peter Hunt at the Albery; The Marquis Camille (RSC Prod.) dir. Ron Daniels at the Comedy Theatre.

Bernard Horsfall’s Showreel



Bernard Horsfall website

Appearing in Die Fledermaus

Die Fledermaus - Update and Casting

Illustration by Amelia Hegardt, Design by Wardour

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy. Planning for our 2010 season is well in hand and the confirmation of a second performance of Fledermaus has created its own excitement.

Madeleine and I heard many fine singers and are thrilled with our cast. Sarah Redgwick will be a sensational Rosalinde. Sarah not only sings beautifully etc but has incredible charisma and presence when she is on the stage. Her husband will be the charming Charne Rochford as Eisenstein.

Falke will be sung by rising baritone ( WNO,ON, GTO, OA ) Simon Thorpe and the Alfred by tenor Garrie Davislim who completely beguiled us in his audition and we offered him the role on the spot.

Internationally experienced baritone Jeffrey Black is luxury casting as Frank. Jeffrey has graced the stages of the Met, ROH and many other great houses throughout the world and we are delighted to have him in our cast. Lise Christensen singing Orlofsky who has sung the role for Scottish Opera. Nicky Spence returns to LLO after his beautifully sung first prisoner in Fidelio and the delightful Edel Shannon completes the cast as Ida...but not quite. Veteran actor, Bernard Horsfall who has starred in Dr Who and James Bond will be a perfect Frosch. I have known Bernard for many years and was thrilled when he agreed to be involved.

Finally we come to Adele. We will be able to confirm her early next week. What I can say is that she is fabulous. All in all a very fine ensemble cast.

Fidelio triumphant

For my first attempt at a blog I couldn't think of a better way to begin but to thank the Cast who were galvanised by Elizabeth Connell's stunning Leonore,our wonderful guest Conductor, Madeleine Lovell; our first class orchestra the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Chorus and Queens' College Chapel Choir who gave such a brilliant performance on Tuesday night. We were all delighted to see such a fantastic audience. A full house is always inspiring for the performers so we all want to thank those who braved a cold Winters night to come to Cadogan Hall.

Illustration, Sam Weber;Design, Wardour

Reviews have started appearing and once again we are thrilled to see such positive comments from the press.


Full Company Bow - Fidelio ©mozbphotography.com



As I said I am new at this and will hopefully relax into the idea of sharing LLO's thoughts with the world.


Philharmonia Chorus & Queen's College Chapel Choir - Fidelio

Until my next post

James H