Longborough Festival Opera continues its Wagner voyage with Siegfried opening its 2022 season. Other works are Korngold Die tote Stadt, Bizet’s Carmen and a double bill of Waley-Cohen’s Spell Book and Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina.
The new Ring cycle began with critically acclaimed performances of Das Rheingold in 2019 and a concert staging of Die Walküre in 2021. “With Siegfried we return to fully-staged Wagner and take another step on our journey towards the Ring cycle with this remarkably funny and exuberant third instalment of Wagner’s cycle ” – Polly Graham, Artistic Director
The season runs from May 30 to August 2.
Walkure can be streamed fr free by visiting https://lfo.org.uk/event/die-walk%C3%BCre-stream-for-free
Wagner Siegfried
30 May, 1, 3, 5, 7 June 2022
Fully staged performances return for Siegfried in 2022. The cycle continues with Götterdämmerung in 2023, building to the full cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen in 2024.
All productions in the cycle are created especially for Longborough by Amy Lane, Artistic Director of Copenhagen Opera Festival, and Longborough Music Director and eminent Wagnerian Anthony Negus.
Korngold Die tote Stadt
21, 23, 25, 27 June 2022
The 2022 season continues with a dramatised concert production of Korngold’s youthful drama of desire, Die tote Stadt, in what will be the composer’s 125th anniversary year. Director Carmen Jakobi and acclaimed conductor Justin Brown offer a new take on this rarely performed work. Die tote Stadt will feature the Longborough Youth Chorus, following their performance in The Cunning Little Vixen in the 2021 season.
Conductor Justin Brown said, “It’s incredible how the 23-yr-old Korngold was able to assimilate the latest trends, particularly Puccini and Strauss, almost outdoing them with his sense of colour and gift for beautiful melody, while already demonstrating an unmistakeable personal voice and idiom. The music is at once seductive, charming and subtly complex, providing exciting challenges for orchestra and singers alike. The only challenge for the audience is to resist falling under its spell!”
Bizet Carmen
9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19 July 2022
Director Mathilde Lopez returns to Longborough following her production of Cavalli’s La Calisto in 2019 to direct what the company says promises to be a radical take on Bizet’s tale of freedom, passion and high drama, with the Longborough Festival Orchestra under the baton of Jeremy Silver. Margaret Plummer makes her Longborough debut in the title role, with Peter Gijsbertsen (La traviata 2018) as Don José, and featuring the Longborough Youth Chorus.
–
Waley-Cohen Spell BookCaccini La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina
28, 30, 31 July, 2 August 2022
Longborough’s Emerging Artist programme gives a vital opportunity to singers at the beginning of their careers. In 2022 audiences are treated to a double bill of love, freedom and magic.
Members of the Emerging Artists ensemble offer the first complete staging of Freya Waley-Cohen’s Spell Book, a dramatic song cycle inspired by the composer’s encounter with Rebecca Tamás’ collection of poems, WITCH.
Polly Graham said, “The women of Freya’s songs create spells that celebrate hard won freedoms, as well as spells that lay out the divisions and injustices yet to be overcome. A perfect project for a new generation of performers.”
Following this is a performance of Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, the earliest surviving opera written by a female composer. With a story from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, La liberazione di Ruggiero will be performed in a new arrangement by conductor Yshani Perinpanayagam, featuring CHROMA Ensemble and directed by Jenny Ogilvie.
Main image: Das Rheingold, image by Matthew Williams-Ellis
Don’t miss any of our posts – just add your email address – and it is free!
