Berlioz L'enfance du Christ - brochure

BERLIOZ L’ENFANCE DU CHRIST

MONTEVERDI CHOIR ORCHESTRE RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE ET ROMANTIQUE JOHN ELIOT GARDINER

BERLIOZ L’ENFANCE DU CHRIST

2021 Ely Cathedral Cambridgeshire, UK Friday 10 December St Martin-in the-Fields London, UK Saturday 11 December

Part of a European tour Tonhalle Zürich, Switzerland Saturday 27 November Tonhalle Zürich, Switzerland Sunday 28 November Palau de la Música Barcelona, Spain Thursday 16 December

INTRODUCTION JOHN ELIOT GARDINER Berlioz is a composer of contrasts and contradictions. He was largely self-taught, yet he developed into one of the most learned musical authorities of his day witness his treatise on orchestration which was hugely influential and used almost as a bible by Mahler, Richard Strauss and Rimsky-Korsakov. Berlioz had the ability to convert the phantasmagoria that churned around in his supercharged imagination into music of colossal force and originality. Yet at the other extreme, given the promptings of his active literary mind together with his innate feeling for human drama, he found ways to bring heroes and heroines of antiquity back to life in music of extraordinary tenderness and empathy. Possibly more often than any other composer, Berlioz can come up with a melodic strain or a turn of phrase so poignant that it catches you by the throat. In that moment he persuades you that there is no other way to express such depths of emotion.

All these facets are in evidence to some degree in his fascinating oratorio, ‘L’Enfance du Christ’. Having conducted it a number of times in varied locations - in a perfect Gothic church just outside Lyon, in the timber-covered market square of his hometown, La Côte Saint André, at a Prom in the Royal Albert Hall, and most recently at La Scala, Milan - ‘L’Enfance’ is a work I have come to love and cherish. Although not designed to be staged in a theatre, ‘L’Enfance’ is brim-full of drama. It seems to work its particular magic in all these contrasted settings thanks to Berlioz’s ability to visualise the events of the Christmas story afresh, and to delineate the separate characters so vividly and sympathetically.

At first It can strike one as faintly oldfashioned - archaic, even - compared to pretty well all his other glorious works.

That is partly deliberate, I believe, and partly misleading. Berlioz is drawing on his memories of childhood belief and its accompanying rituals, while at the same time reconnecting with music of the French Baroque - Charpentier, Couperin, Campra and Rameau all come to mind - composers about whom he was either deliberately ignorant or willing to dismiss out of hand.

Yet traces of their music are clearly audible in ‘L’Enfance’.

At the same time there are features that appear extraordinarily modern - like the soothsayers’ cabalistic dance in 7/4 time.

But most of all these occur in the protocinematic way he progresses and melts from one tableau to another. One very effective example comes immediately after Herod’s aria of tortured remorse as the manger at Bethlehem comes slowly into focus. Another occurs towards the very end when, having evoked the warm welcome offered to the refugees by the family of Ishmaelites, Berlioz tracks away from the scene and causes the picture to fade by means of a soft chain of unison notes which dissolve into silence. His biographer, David Cairns, explains that “their purpose is to separate us from the scenes we have been witnessing, to make them recede, across the centuries and return to the ancient past from which they have been called up.

This distancing process, by removing us from the action, achieves the necessary transition to the final meditation on the meaning of the Christian drama”.

© Sim Canetty-Clarke

The Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras presents

L’ENFANCE DU CHRIST Sacred trilogy composed by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Part I

Le Songe d’Hérode / Herod’s Dream

Part II

La Fuite en Égypte / The Flight into Egypt

Part III L’Arrivée à Saïs / The Arrival in Saïs Monteverdi Choir Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique John Eliot Gardiner conductor Michael Spyres Narrator Ann Hallenberg Mary Lionel Lhote Joseph William Thomas Herod Alex Ashworth Father/Polydorus Gareth Treseder Centurion with the Trinity Boys Choir

These performances of L’enfance du Christ use the edition by David Lloyd-Jones, published by Bärenreiter as part of Hector Berlioz, New Edition of the Complete Works.

All information in this brochure was correct at the time of going to press.

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt (1563) by Pieter Bruegel

BERLIOZ’S ACCIDENTAL ORATORIO

By Hugh Macdonald One might almost say that Berlioz composed L’Enfance du Christ by mistake.

His career, which had begun with the sensational impact of the Symphonie fantastique in 1830, went from strength to strength in the next few years, culminating in the great masterpiece La Damnation de Faust in 1846. But the lukewarm reception this work received in Paris and Berlioz’s deepening disgust at the decline of artistic taste in France turned him away from composition, which in any case could hardly provide him with a livelihood.

His two other careers, as critic and as conductor, were more profitable, and they gradually absorbed the time and energy which he once devoted to composition.

He continued to entertain grand and impossible ideas for new works, but repressed all such temptations as foolish and unaffordable.

In his Mémoirs Berlioz tells with wry humour the story of how L’Adieu des bergers, the tender chorus at the centre of L’Enfance du Christ, came to be written.

He certainly did not plan a large work of any kind, nor had he ever expected to draw on a biblical story, since his lifelong literary passions (for Shakespeare, Byron, Goethe and Virgil) were so different. One evening in 1850 he found himself at a party where everyone was playing cards. Since this was something he particularly disliked, his friend Joseph-Louis Duc, an architect, asked him to inscribe something in his album. ‘I took a piece of paper and scribbled a few staves on which a four-part andantino for organ appeared. It seemed to have a rustic character and to suggest a naive mystical feeling, so I at once made up some suitable words for it. The organ piece disappeared and it became a chorus of shepherds in Bethlehem bidding farewell to the child Jesus as the Holy Family leave for Egypt.’

heard to say: ‘It has real melody, which is remarkably rare nowadays. At all events M. Berlioz will never write music like that.’

He still had no intention of enlarging this ‘Mystery in Ancient Style’. He did not even trouble to perform the three movements he had already composed. Le Repos de la Sainte Famille was first heard in London in 1853, and the full Fuite en Égypte was first performed in Leipzig a few months later.

He had composed no music for three years and had effectively abandoned his career as a composer. But the performance in

Perhaps Berlioz had recently been looking at the many paintings in the Louvre that depict the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt.

Something must have suggested this image as a match for his music. A few days after writing this single chorus, he composed Le Repos de la Sainte Famille, which follows it, and then the little overture which precedes it, all for a tiny orchestra. He was delighted by the modal flavour of the music: ‘more like plainchant, which academics will tell you is derived from the Phrygian or Dorian or Lydian modes of ancient Greece. That’s nothing to do with it; all that matters is that it has a melancholy and slightly simple character, as in ancient popular laments.’

In November 1850 Berlioz needed a choral piece to fill up a programme, and the idea came to him to pun on his friend’s name and insert L’Adieu des Bergers under the name of Pierre Ducré, an imaginary French composer of the 17th century. Berlioz had almost no interest in early music and would no more go hunting in libraries for lost masterpieces than torment himself listening to Italian opera. Incredible though it may seem, the Paris public was taken in, and even the press approved Berlioz’s supposed unearthing of the work. One lady was

Photograph of Hector Berlioz (1863) by Pierre Petit

Leipzig, just before Berlioz’s 50th birthday in December 1853, aroused enormous enthusiasm among the group of young German musicans who were eager to hear Berlioz’s unusual music (one of them was Brahms), and this encouraged him to break his long silence and add a sequel, L’Arrivée à Saïs.

No sooner had he taken the story into Egypt and described the Holy Family’s search for shelter and the generous hospitality of an Ishmaelite family, than he decided that this would in its turn require a preliminary part to balance it. This was originally to be called Le Massacre des Innocents but was later changed to Le Songe d’Hérode. It was completed in the summer of 1854 and the entire work now entitled L’Enfance du Christ was first

performed on 10 December 1854 in the Salle Herz, Paris. For the first time in his career the majority of both press and public agreed in praising the work, and in the words of the official newspaper of the day ‘its success could not be more complete or more brilliant. The composer has reaped in a single day the harvest of so many years of struggle, patience and toil.’

Berlioz was the first to see the irony of the critics’ change of heart. ‘The good people of Paris say I have changed my style, and that I have mended my ways. I need hardly explain that I have simply changed my subject. My other works never had such good fortune in Paris, and they deserve it more than this.’ He gave several more performances of L’Enfance du Christ in Paris, and this success was a vital factor

The Massacre of the Innocents (1611–12) by Peter Paul Rubens

in persuading him to embark on his grand opera Les Troyens, a work on a much larger scale which he had been dreaming about for some years. In short, he became a composer again, with the courage to defy Parisian taste and follow his destiny.

Parisians could not sustain their admiration for long. For the rest of his life and well into the 1880s Berlioz was regarded by his compatriots as a remote, somewhat tragic figure, passed over by fame and too lofty in his ideals to be a serious contender for the celebrity accorded to such men as Meyerbeer or Offenbach.

Apart from its intrinsic beauty L’Enfance du Christ is of inestimable value in demonstrating an aspect of Berlioz’s genius that we might easily overlook. This was the case in 1854, and there are still many people who associate his name with the enormous and the grandiose, even though instances of simplicity and deliberate naiveté are to be found in almost all his works. As the first work in his final period, L’Enfance du Christ displays a complete command of the expressive qualities of music, allowing him to match the text in a dramatic or meditative manner according to its nature.

While some held that expression should be banished from devotional music, Berlioz was never likely to deny himself the use of ‘passionate expression’ or ‘expressive truth’, the essential goals of all artistic endeavour, in his view.

The modal feeling in many parts of the work is thus derived more from the expressive nature of altered notes than from conscious archaism. The recurrent A flat in Herod’s air ‘O misère des rois’ (in G minor) creates ‘sombre harmonies and cadences of a particular nature that seemed to me suited to the dramatic text,’ as he told Hans von Bülow. In this first part Herod is in fact the protagonist, drawn with deep sympathy, a man tortured by the fear of some power stronger than himself and driven to villainy by his faith in the

soothsayers’ prognostications. In the vivid March nocturne, with Roman soldiers on patrol, and in later sections also, there is a predominance of free counterpoint in the texture that looks forward to similar things in Mahler.

Many details of the score are felicitious and apt in a way truly Berlioz’s own: in particular the frolics of the lambs in the stable at Bethlehem, the jostling crowds of Saïs (tremolo cellos and basses, divisi) when Joseph and Mary are looking for shelter, their distress pictured in a wailing viola figure. The threefold knocking at the door in this scene and the comforting voice of the Ishmaelite father were an echo, in Berlioz’s mind, of the solemn scenes in the Magic Flute and the character of Sarastro, which Berlioz much admired. There is a strong sense of domesticity in the busy fugato as the Ishmaelite family attend to the visitors’ welcome.

There is unmistakable tenderness in the music for Mary and Joseph at the end of the first part, and her first entry, ‘Ô mon cher fils,’ has a beauty that Berlioz never surpassed.

L’Enfance du Christ is no conventional oratorio, nor is it an offering of religious faith. Its differing levels of dramatic intensity betray its haphazard genesis as well as Berlioz’s fondness for mixing genres within individual works. It is not hard to understand why the subject appealed to him so strongly. Even in his stage works he rarely portrayed his characters so deeply or so touchingly as he does here with Herod, Joseph and Mary, and the whole has a picturesque quality, broken only by the mystic contemplation of the final chorus, that has singled it out for praise by men as diverse as Brahms, Nietzsche, Massenet and Debussy.

Hugh Macdonald, General Editor of the New Berlioz Edition

L’ENFANCE DU CHRIST

THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST

Première Partie Le Songe d'Hérode

Part I Herod's dream

Le Récitant Dans la crèche, en ce temps, Jésus venait de naître, Mais nul prodige encor ne l'avait fait connaître; Et déjà les puissants tremblaient, Déjà les faibles espéraient, Tous attendaient…

Narrator At the time when the new-born Jesus lay in the manger No wonders had yet made known the news of his birth; But already the mighty trembled, Already the humble cherished hope, All the world was waiting…

Or, apprenez, chrétiens, quel crime épouvantable Au roi des Juifs alors suggéra la terreur Et le céleste avis que, dans leur humble étable, Aux parents de Jésus envoya le Seigneur.

Hear now, Christians all, to what dreadful crime The king of the Jews was prompted by fear, And the divine counsel that Our Lord sent To the parents of Jesus in their lowly stable.

Scène I Une rue de Jérusalem. Un corps de garde.

Soldats romains faisant la ronde de nuit.

Scene I A street in Jerusalem. A bodyguard. Roman soldiers on night patrol.

Marche nocturne

Nocturnal March

Un Centurion Qui vient?

A Centurion Who goes there?

Polydorus Rome.

Polydorus Rome.

Le Centurion Avancez!

Centurion Advance!

Polydorus Halte!

Polydorus Halt!

Le Centurion Polydorus!

Je te croyais déjà, soldat, aux bords du Tibre!

Centurion Polydorus!

I thought you were back on the banks of the Tiber, my friend.

Polydorus J'y serais en effet si Gallus, notre illustre Prêteur, M'eût enfin laissé libre.

Mais il m'a, sans raison, Imposé pour prison Cette triste cité, pour y voir ses folies, Et d'un roitelet juif garder les insomnies.

Polydorus I would be now if Gallus, our illustrious Praetor, Had let me.

But without any reason He has confined me to This dreary city, to witness his antics, And to watch over the sleepless nights of a petty Jewish king.

Le Centurion Que fait Hérode?

Centurion What news of Herod?

Polydorus Il rêve, il tremble, Il voit partout des traîtres, il assemble Son conseil chaque jour, et du soir au matin Il faut sur lui veiller… il nous obsède enfin.

Polydorus He dreams, he trembles, He sees traitors all around him, he calls His council every day, and from dusk till dawn We have to watch over him… He pesters us.

Le Centurion Ridicule tyran! Mais va, poursuis ta ronde…

Centurion Ridiculous tyrant! But now move on, continue your patrol…

Polydorus Il le faut bien. Adieu! Jupiter le confonde!

Le patrouille se remet en marche et s'éloigne

Polydorus I must. Farewell, Jupiter confound him!

The patrol marches off

Scène II L'intérieur du palais d'Hérode

Scene II The interior of Herod's palace

Hérode seul Toujours ce rêve! Encore cet enfant Qui doit me détrôner! Et ne savoir que croire De ce présage menaçant Pour ma vie et ma gloire…

Herod alone That dream again! Again this vision of the child That will dethrone me! And I know not what to believe Of this omen that threatens My life and my power…

Ô misère des rois!

Régner et ne pas vivre!

A tous donner des lois, Et désirer de suivre Le chevrier au fond des bois! Ô nuit profonde Qui tient le monde Dans le repos plongé!

A mon sein ravagé Donne la paix une heure, Et que ton voile effleure Mon front d'ennuis chargé…

Effort stérile!

Le sommeil fuit; Et ma plainte inutile Ne hâte point ton course, interminable nuit.

O the miseries of kingship!

To reign and yet not to live!

To ordain laws for all men, And yet long to follow The goatherd to the heart of the woods!

O darkest night That holds the world In the grasp of sleep, To my ravaged breast Grant one hour's peace, May your veil caress My careworn brow…

Fruitless longing!

Sleep flees from me; And my vain complaint Never hastens your course, O never-ending night.

Scène III

Scene III

Polydorus Seigneur!

Polydorus My Lord!

Hérode tirant son épée Läches! Tremblez! Je sais tenir encore une épée!

Herod drawing his sword Coward! Stand back! I can still handle a sword!

Polydorus Arrêtez!

Polydorus Stop!

Hérode le reconnaissant Ah! c'est toi, Polydorus! Que viens-tu m'annoncer?

Herod recognising him Ah, you, Polydorus! What news?

Polydorus Seigneur, les devins juifs Viennent de s'assembler par vos ordres.

Polydorus My Lord, the Jewish soothsayers Have just assembled, on your orders.

Hérode Enfin!

Herod At last!

Polydorus Ils sont là.

Polydorus They are here.

Hérode Qu'ils paraissent!

Herod Bring them in.

Scène IV

Scene IV

Les Devins Les sages de Judée, ô roi, te reconnaissent Pour un prince savant et généreux; Ils te sont dévoués; parle, qu'attends-tu d'eux?

Soothsayers The wise men of Judah, O king, know you As the wise and bountiful prince; They are your devoted servants; speak, what do you ask of them?

Hérode Qu'ils veuillent m'éclairer. Est-il quelque rémède Au souci dévorant qui dès longtemps m'obsède?

Herod Let them reveal for me whether there is some remedy Against the gnawing suspicions that have long been oppressing my mind.

Les Devins Quel est-il?

Soothsayers What is their nature?

Hérode Chaque nuit Le même songe m'épouvante; Toujours une voix grave et lente Me repète ces mots: "Ton heureux temps s'enfuit, Un enfant vient de naître Qui fera disparaître Ton trône et ton pouvoir."

Puis-je de vous savoir Si cette terreur qui m'accable Est fondée, et comment ce danger redoutable Peut être détourné?

Herod Every night The same dream haunts me; The same slow and solemn voice Repeats these words: "Your days of fortune are numbered, There is born a child That will overthrow Your kingdom and your might."

May I learn of you Whether this terror that overcomes me Has some foundation, and how this formidable danger May be averted?

Les Devins Les esprits le sauront, Et, par nous consultés, bientôt ils répondront.

Les devins font des évolutions cabalistiques et procèdent à la conjuration

Soothsayers The spirits will know; We will consult them and they will shortly answer us.

The Soothsayers perform a cabalistic dance and evoke the spirits

Les Devins La voix dit vrai, Seigneur, Un enfant vient de naître Qui fera disparaître Ton trône et ton pouvoir.

Mais nul ne peut savoir Ni son nom ni sa race.

Soothsayers The voice tells the truth, O king.

There is born a child That will overthrow Your kingdom and your might.

But none shall know His name or his line.

Hérode Que faut-il que je fasse?

Herod What must I do?

Les Devins Tu tomberas, à moins que l'on ne satisfasse Les noirs esprits, et si, pour conjurer le sort, Des enfants nouveaux-nés tu n'ordonnes pas la mort.

Soothsayers You shall fall unless you obey The spirits of darkness, and unless, to exorcise your fate, You order the slaughter of new-born children.

Hérode il semble hésitant Eh bien… il se lève et s'avance Eh bien! Par le fer qu'ils périssent!

Je ne puis hésiter. Que dans Jérusalem, A Nazareth, à Bethléem, Sur tous les nouveaux-nés mes coups s'appesantissent!

Malgré les cris, malgré les pleurs De tant de mères éperdues, Des rivières de sang vont etre répandues.

Je serai sourd à ces douleurs.

La beauté, la grâce, ni l'âge Ne feront faiblir mon courage: Il faut un terme à mes terreurs!

Herod he seems hesitant So…. he rises and comes forward So be it! Let them perish by the sword, I can hesitate no longer. In Jerusalem, In Nazareth and in Bethlehem Let my sword fall heavy on all new-born babes!

Pity neither the cries nor the tears Of their despairing mothers, Rivers of blood shall flow.

I shall be deaf to their wailing.

Neither beauty, grace, nor age Shall weaken my resolve: My fears must be allayed!

Les Devins Oui, oui! Par le fer qu'ils périssent!

N'hésite pas. Que dans Jérusalem, A Nazareth, à Bethléem, Sur tous les nouveaux-nés mes coups s'appesantissent!

Malgré les cris, malgré les pleurs De tant de mères éperdues, Les rivières de sang qui seront répandues.

Demeure sourd à ces douleurs.

Que rien n'ébranle ton courage!

Et vous, Esprits, pour attiser sa rage, Redoublez ses terreurs!

Soothsayers Yes, yes! Let them perish by the sword!

Hesitate no longer. In Jersualem, In Nazareth and in Bethlehem Let your sword fall heavy on all new-born babes!

Yes, pity neither the cries nor the tears Of their despairing mothers.

Rivers of blood shall flow.

Be deaf to their wailing; Let nothing shake your resolve!

And you, spirits, to fan his fury, Redouble his fears!

Scène V L'étable à Bethléem

Scene V The stable at Bethlehem

Sainte Marie Ô mon cher fils, donne cette herbe tendre A ces agneaux qui vers toi vont bélant; Ils sont si doux! Laisse-les prendre, Ne les fais pas languir, ô mon enfant.

St Mary O dearest son, give this tender grass To the lambs that come to you bleating, They are so gentle! Let them take it, Let them not pine, my child!

Joseph et Marie ensemble Répands encor ces fleurs sur leur litière, Ils sont heureux de tes dons, cher enfant, Vois leurs jeux, vois leur gaité, vois leur mère Tourner vers toi son regard caressant.

Joseph and Mary together Spread out these flowers on their straw.

Your gifts make them happy, dear child, Watch their joy and their gambols, watch their mother Gaze caressingly on you.

Marie Oh! sois béni, mon cher et tendre enfant!

Mary God bless you, my dear and tender child!

Jospeh Oh! sois béni, divin enfant!

Joseph God bless you, divine child!

Scène VI

Scene VI

Les Anges Invisibles Joseph! Marie! Écoutez-nous!

Invisible Angels Joseph! Mary! Hearken unto us!

Joseph et Marie Esprits de vie, Est-ce bien vous?

Joseph and Mary Spirits of life, Is it truly you?

Les Anges Il faut sauver ton fils qu'un grand péril menace, Marie!

Angels You must save your son From a great danger that threatens, Mary!

Marie O ciel! mon fils!

Mary O Heaven! My son!

Les Anges Oui, vous devez partir Et de vos pas bien dérober la trace; Dès ce soir au désert vers l'Egypte il faut fuir.

Angels Yes, you must depart And leave no trace of your going; This evening you must flee into the desert towards Egypt.

Joseph et Marie A vos ordres soumis, purs esprits de lumière, Avec Jésus au désert nous fuirons, Mais accordez à notre humble prière La prudence, la force, et nous le sauverons.

Joseph and Mary Obedient to your command, pure spirits of light, We shall flee into the desert with Jesus.

But grant our humble prayer For wisdom, and strength, and we shall save him.

Les Anges La puissance céleste Saura de vos pas écarter Toute rencontre funeste…

Angels The powers of heaven Will ward off all danger From your path.

Joseph et Marie En hâte allons tout préparer.

Joseph and Mary Let us haste to make ready.

Les Anges Hosanna! Hosanna!

Angels Hosanna! Hosanna!

Deuxième Partie La Fuite en Égypte

Part II The Flight into Egypt

Ouverture Les bergers se rassemblent devant l'étable de Bethléem

Overture The shepherds gather before the stable in Bethlehem

L'Adieu des Bergers à la Sainte Famille

The Shepherds' Farewell to the Holy Family

Chœur des Bergers Il s'en va loin de la terre Où dans l'étable il vit le jour, De son père et de sa mère Qu'il reste le constant amour!

Qu'il grandisse, qu'il prospère, Et qu'il soit bon père à son tour!

Chorus of Shepherds He goes forth far from the land Where, in the stable, he first saw the light, May he ever be adored By his father and mother.

May be grow, may he prosper, May he in his turn be a good parent.

Oncques si, chez l'idolâtre Il vient à sentir le malheur, Fuyant la terre marâtre, Chez nous qu'il revienne au bonheur!

Que la pauvreté du pâtre Reste toujours à son cœur!

Should he ever, in the land of the idolater Meet with misfortune, May he flee his foster-land And return to happiness with us!

May the shepherds' poor lot Remain for ever dear to his heart!

Cher enfant, Dieu te bénisse!

Dieu vous bénisse, heureux époux!

Que jamais de l'injustice

Dear child, God bless thee!

God bless you, happy pair!

May the cruelty of injustice

Vous ne puissiez sentir les coups!

Qu'un bon ange vous avertisse Des dangers planant sur vous!

Never afflict you; May a guardian angel keep you From all danger round about you!

Le Repos de la Sainte Famille

The Holy Family at Rest

Le Récitant Les pèlerins étant venus En un lieu de belle apparence Où se trouvaient arbres touffus Et de l’eau pure en abondance, Saint Joseph dit: "Arrêtez-vous Près de cette claire fontaine.

Après si longue peine Reposons-nous."

L’enfant Jésus dormait.

Pour lors Sainte Marie, Arrêtant l’âne, répondit: "Voyez ce beau tapis d’herbe douce et fleurie, Le Seigneur pour mon fils au désert l’étendit."

Puis, s’étant assis sous l’ombrage De trois palmiers au vert feuillage, L’âne paissant, L’enfant dormant, Les sacrés voyageurs quelque temps sommeillèrent, Bercés par des songes heureux, Et les anges du ciel, à genoux autour d’eux, Le divin enfant adorèrent.

Narrator The pilgims arriving At a pleasant place Where were leafy trees And pure water in abundance, Saint Joseph said: "Let us stop By this clear spring, After such toils Let us rest here."

The child Jesus lay asleep…

The Holy Mary Stopping the ass, replied: "See here this beautiful carpet of gentle grass and flowers, The Lord has spread it in the desert for my son."

Then, sitting in the shade Of three leafy palm trees, The ass grazing, The child sleeping, The holy travellers slumbered awhile.

Lulled by sweet dreams; And the angels of heaven knelt around them In adoration of the holy child.

Chœur d'Anges Alleluia! Alleluia!

Chorus of Angels Alleluia! Alleluia!

The Flight into Egypt (1609) by Adam Elsheimer

Troisième Partie L'Arrivée à Saïs

Part III The Arrival in Saïs

Le Récitant Depuis trois jours, malgré l’ardeur du vent, Ils cheminaient dans le sable mouvant.

Le pauvre serviteur de la famille sainte, L’âne, dans le désert était déjà tombé; Et, bien avant de voir d’une cité l’enceinte, De fatigue et de soif son maître eût succombé Sans le secours de Dieu. Seule Sainte Marie Marchait calme et sereine, et de son doux enfant La blonde chevelure et la tête bénie Semblaient la ranimer sur son cœur reposant.

Mais bientôt ses pas chancelèrent ...

Combien de fois les époux s’arrêtèrent ...

Enfin, pourtant, ils arrivèrent A Saïs, haletants, Presque mourants.

C’était une cité dès longtemps réunie A l’Empire Romain, Pleine de gens cruels, au visage hautain.

Oyez combien dura la navrante agonie Des pèlerins cherchant un asile et du pain.

Narrator For three days, despite the keen winds, They travelled on through the shifting sand.

The poor servant of the Holy Family, The ass, had already fallen in the desert; And long before coming within sight of city walls The master too would have succumbed to fatigue and thirst Without the help of God. Holy Mary alone Walked on calm and serene, and her gentle child's Fair locks and blessed head Seemed to give her strength, resting on her breast.

But soon her steps faltered.

How many times the pair halted!...

But at last they arrived At Saïs, breathless, Almost lifeless.

It was a city long since within The Roman Empire, Full of cruel and disdainful people.

Hear how long the pilgrims suffered The heart-rending agony of seeking shelter and food.

Scène I L'intérieur de la ville de Saïs

Scene I Within the city of Saïs

Marie Dans cette ville immense Où le peuple en foule s’élance, Quelle rumeur!

Joseph! J’ai peur ...

Je n’en puis plus ... las! ... Je suis morte ...

Allez frapper à cette porte.

Mary In this huge city Full of jostling crowds What tumult!

Joseph, I am afraid!

I can go no further… Alas I am dying…

Go and knock at that door.

Joseph Ouvrez, ouvrez, secourez-nous, Laissez-nous reposer chez vous!

Que l’hospitalité sainte soit accordée A la mère, à l’enfant. Hélas! de la Judée Nous arrivons à pied.

Joseph knocking Open, open to us, help us!

Let us rest beneath your roof!

Grant sacred hospitality To the mother and her child. Alas! From Judah Have we come on foot.

Chœur de Romains Arrière, vils Hébreux!

Les gens de Rome n’ont que faire De vagabonds et de lépreux!

Chorus of Romans Get away, vile Hebrews!

The people of Rome have no use For vagabonds and lepers.

Marie Mes pieds de sang teignent la terre!

Mary My feet are staining the ground with blood!

Joseph Seigneur! ma femme est presque morte!

Joseph O Lord! My wife is near to death!

Marie Jésus va mourir ... c’en est fait.

Mon sein tari n’a plus de lait.

Mary Jesus is dying… all is lost: My breasts are dry of milk!

Joseph Frappons encore à cette porte.

Oh! par pitié, secourez-nous!

Laissez-nous reposer chez vous!

Que l’hospitalité sainte soit accordée A la mère, à l’enfant. Hélas! de la Judée Nous arrivons à pied.

Joseph Let us try knocking at this door.

Oh! for pity's sake, help us!

Let us rest beneath your roof!

Grant sacred hospitality To the mother and her child. Alas! From Judah Have we come on foot.

Chœur d'Egyptiens Arrière, vils Hébreux!

Les gens d’Égypte n’ont que faire De vagabonds et de lépreux!

Chorus of Egyptians Get away, vile Hebrews!

The people of Egypt have no use For vagabonds and lepers!

Joseph Seigneur! sauvez la mère!

Marie expire ... c’en est fait ...

Et son enfant n’a plus de lait.

Votre maison, cruels, reste fermée.

Vos cœurs sont durs. Sous la ramée De ces sycomores, l’on voit, Tout à l’écart, un humble toit ...

Frappons encor ...

Mais qu’à ma voix unie Votre voix si douce, Marie, Tente aussi de les attendrir.

Joseph O Lord, save the mother!

Mary is dying… all is lost…

And her child has no more milk.

Your house, cruel people, stays shut!

Your hearts are hard! Beneath the branches Of those sycamores I see A humble dwelling, standing apart…

Le us try knocking once more…

But with your gentle voice, Mary, Joined with mine this time, Let us try to soften their hearts.

Marie Hélas! nous aurons à souffrir Partout l’insulte et l’avanie.

Je vais tomber ...

Mary Alas! Shall we everywhere have to suffer Insult and affront?

I am falling…

Joseph Oh! par pitié …

Joseph O, pity us!

Marie, Joseph Oh! par pitié, secourez-nous!

Laissez-nous reposer chez vous!

Que l’hospitalité sainte soit accordée Aux parents, à l’enfant. Hélas! de la Judée Nous arrivons à pied.

Mary and Joseph O pity us! Help us!

Let us rest beneath your roof!

Grant sacred hospitality To the parents and their child. Alas! From Judah Have we come on foot.

Scène II L'intérieur de la maison des Ismaélites

Scene II The interior of the house of the Ishmaelites

Le père de famille Entrez, entrez, pauvres Hébreux!

La porte n’est jamais fermée, Chez nous, aux malheureux.

Pauvres Hébreux, entrez, entrez !

Joseph et Marie entrent Grands Dieux! Quelle détresse!

Qu’autour d’eux on s’empresse!

Filles et fils et serviteurs, Montrez la bonté de vos cœurs!

Que de leurs pieds meurtris on lave les blessures!

Donnez de l’eau, donnez du lait, des grappes mûres; Préparez à l’instant Une couchette pour l’enfant.

The Ishmaelite Father Come in, come in, poor Hebrews, Our door is never closed To those in distress.

You poor Hebrews, come in, come in!

Joseph and Mary enter Great God! What suffering!

Hasten to attend to them, Daughters, sons, servants, Show the goodness of your hearts.

Wash the wounds of their bruised feet.

Give them water and milk, and ripe grapes; Make ready at once A cradle for the child.

Chœur d'Ismaëlites Que de leurs pieds meurtris on lave les blessures!

Donnez de l’eau, donnez du lait, des grappes mûres; Préparez à l’instant Une couchette pour l’enfant.

Les jeunes Ismaélites et leurs serviteurs se dispersent dans la maison, exécutant les ordres divers du Père de famille.

Chorus of Ishmaelites Wash the wounds of their bruised feet.

Give them water and milk, and ripe grapes; Make ready at once A cradle for the child.

Le père de famille Sur vos traits fatigués La tristesse est empreinte.

Ayez courage, nous ferons Ce que nous pourrons Pour vous aider.

Bannissez toute crainte; Les enfants d’Ismaël Sont frères de ceux d’Israël.

Nous avons vu le jour au Liban, en Syrie.

Comment vous nomme-t-on ?

Father On your weary features Is imprinted the mark of sorrow; Take cheer, we shall do All we can To help you.

Banish all fear; The children of Ishmael Are brothers to those of Israel.

We were born in Lebanon, in Syria.

What are your names?

Joseph Elle a pour nom Marie, Je m’appelle Joseph, et nous nommons l’enfant Jésus.

Joseph Her name is Mary, I am Joseph, and we call the child Jesus.

Le père de famille Jésus! quel nom charmant!

Dites, que faites-vous pour gagner votre vie?

Oui, quel est votre état?

Father Jesus! What a charming name!

Tell me, what is your occupation?

Yes, what is your trade?

Joseph Moi, je suis charpentier

Joseph I am a carpenter.

Le père de famille Eh bien, c’est mon métier!

Vous êtes mon compère.

Ensemble nous travaillerons, Bien des deniers nous gagnerons.

Laissez faire.

Près de nous Jésus grandira, Puis bientôt il vous aidera Et la sagesse il apprendra.

Laissez, laissez faire.

Father Indeed! That is my profession, We are fellow-workers.

We shall work together And make a good living, Let us do it!

Jesus will grow up amongst us, Then in time he will assist you, And grow in wisdom.

Let us do it!

Chœur d'Ismaëlites Laissez, laissez faire.

Près de nous Jésus grandira Puis bientôt il vous aidera, Et la sagesse il apprendra.

Chorus Let us do it!

Jesus will grow up amongst us, Then in time he will assist you, And grow in wisdom.

Le père de famille Pour bien finir cette soirée Et réjouir nos hôtes, employons La science sacrée, Le pouvoir des doux sons.

Prenez vos instruments, mes enfants; toute peine Cède à la flûte unie à la harpe thébaine.

Father To conclude this evening fittingly And to divert our guests, let us have recourse To the sacred science, To the power of sweet music.

Take your instruments, my children: all suffering Yields to the flute and the Theban harp.

The young Ishmaelites go about the house, obeying the various orders of the Father.

Trio pour deux flûtes et harpe (exécuté par les jeunes Ismaëlites)

Trio for two flutes and harp (played by the young Ishmaelites)

Le père de famille s’adressant à Marie Vous pleurez, jeune mère.

Douces larmes, tant mieux!

Allez dormir, bon père, Bien reposez, Mal ne songez, Plus d’alarmes.

Que les charmes De l’espoir du bonheur Rentrent en votre cœur.

Father You weep, young mother…

Gentle tears, that is good.

Sleep now, good father, Sweet repose, Untroubled dreams, No more cares; May the delights Of hope and happiness Return to your heart.

Marie, Joseph Adieu, merci, bon père, Déjà ma peine amère Semble s’enfuir, S’évanouir.

Plus d’alarmes.

Oui, les charmes De l’espoir du bonheur Rentrent en notre cœur.

Mary and Joseph Goodnight and thankyou, good father, Already my bitter suffering Seems to disappear, Seems to fade away.

No more cares; Yes, the delights Of hope and happiness Return to our hearts.

Chœur d'Ismaëlites Allez dormir, bon père, Doux enfant, tendre mère, Bien reposez, Mal ne songez, Plus d’alarmes.

Que les charmes De l’espoir du bonheur Rentrent en votre cœur.

Chorus Sleep now, good father, Sweet child, tender mother, Sweet repose, Untroubled dreams, No more cares; May the delights Of hope and happiness Return to your heart.

Scène III: Epilogue

Scene III: Epilogue

Le Récitant Ce fut ainsi que par un infidèle Fut sauvé le Sauveur.

Pendant dix ans Marie, et Joseph avec elle Virent fleurir en lui la sublime douceur, La tendresse infinie A la sagesse unie.

Puis enfin de retour Au lieu qui lui donna le jour Il voulut accomplir le divin sacrifice Qui racheta le genre humain De l’éternel supplice Et du salut lui fraya le chemin.

Narrator Thus it came to pass that by an unbeliever Was our Saviour saved.

For ten years Mary, and Joseph with her, Watched the flowering of sublime gentleness, Of infinite tenderness And wisdom; Then at last returning To the place where he was born, It was his will to fulfil the holy sacrifice That redeemed the human race From eternal damnation, And traced our path to salvation.

Le Récitant, Chœur Ô mon âme, pour toi que reste-t-il à faire, Qu’à briser ton orgueil devant un tel mystère? ... Ô mon cœur, emplis-toi du grave et pur amour Qui seul peut nous ouvrir le céleste séjour.

Narrator, Chorus O my soul, what remains for thee But to bow thy pride before this mystery?

O my heart, be filled with that pure and noble love Which alone can open for us the gates of Heaven!

Amen.

Amen.

© Marco-Borrelli

© Liliya Olkhovaya

JOHN ELIOT GARDINER

MICHAEL SPYRES

CONDUCTOR

TENOR

John Eliot Gardiner is revered as one of the world’s most innovative and dynamic musicians and is a leader in the contemporary musical world. His work, as Founder and Artistic Director of the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists (EBS) and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) has made him a key figure both in the early music revival and historically informed performance practice.

Michael Spyres was born and raised in the Ozarks and is one of the most sought-after tenors of his generation. He has been celebrated in the world’s most prestigious opera houses, festivals and concert halls: Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opéra, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid, Lyric Opera Chicago, La Monnaie, Dutch National Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Carnegie Hall, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Bunka Kaikan Tokyo, Salzburg Festival, Pesaro, Edinburgh Festival and BBC Proms.

Gardiner is a regular guest of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, conducting repertoire from the 16th to the 20th centuries.

Recent highlights with the Monteverdi ensembles include the RPS award winning Monteverdi 450 project in 2017, new productions of Handel’s Semele and Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, and debut performances in Colombia, Russia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile in 2019.

In 2020 Gardiner conducted the ORR in three Beethoven symphony cycles as part of the Beethoven 250 anniversary celebrations, with concerts at Barcelona’s Palau de la Música, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and the Harris Theatre in Chicago. In 2021 he has performed at several of Europe’s most prestigious music festivals, including his 60th appearance at the BBC Proms.

This season sees Michael’s solo album debut for Warner/Erato, BariTenor as well as his role debut as Wagner’s Tristan in a concert version of act 2 with Opéra de Lyon, his debut as Canio in Pagliacci with the OLOpera, his return as Gounod’s Roméo to the Houston Grand Opera, as well as his debut as Mozart’s Idomeneo in Baden-Baden and later in Aix-en-Provence.

In addition to the opera stage, he appears in recital in Tourcoing, Toulouse, Nîmes and Paris.

On the concert stage Michael stars with the Ravello Festival, Opera Philadelphia, Strasbourg Philharmonie, Warsaw Philharmonia, Liceu Barcelona, Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Staatsoper Berlin and Teatro alla Scala.

Since 2015 Michael has been the Artistic Director of his hometown opera company, the Ozarks Lyric Opera.

© Jacques Leinne

© Örjan Jakobsson

ANN HALLENBERG

LIONEL LHOTE

MEZZO-SOPRANO

BARITONE

Mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg studied at the National College of Operatic Art in Stockholm.

Lionel Lhote graduated from the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles, where he won the First Prize of concert singing and gained the Superior Diploma of Lyric Art.

She regularly appears at the world’s leading opera houses and festivals, such as Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, La Fenice in Venice, La Scala in Milan, Netherlands Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra National de Paris, Royal Swedish Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, Theater an der Wien, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Zurich Opera, Salzburger Festspiele and the BBC Proms.

Her operatic repertoire includes works by Rossini, Mozart, Gluck, Massenet, Bizet, Handel, Vivaldi and Monteverdi. Equally at home on the concert platform, she frequently appears at venues and festivals throughout Europe and North America. She has built an unusually large concert repertoire that spans music from the early 17th to the late 20th century.

Ann Hallenberg has worked regularly with many of the world’s foremost conductors, including Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Teodor Currentzis, Patrick Fournillier, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Emmanuelle Haïm, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Paavo Järvi, Louis Langrée, Andrea Marcon, Cornelius Meister, Marc Minkowski, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Antonio Pappano, Christophe Rousset and Alberto Zedda.

She has made more than 45 CD and DVD recordings, of works by J. S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Bruckner. Two of her solo CDs have won the award for “Best Operatic Recital” at the International Opera Awards in London.

Since his international breakthrough, he has appeared in many of the leading theatres and opera houses in Europe, with roles such as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (company debut at Liceu de Barcelona), Dandini in La Cenerentola (among others at La Monnaie de Bruxelles), Schaunard in La bohème (company debut at Opéra de Paris), Leporello in Don Giovanni, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, the title role of Falstaff, Amonasro in Aida, Rodrigue in Don Carlos, Scarpia in Tosca, Conte di Luna in Il trovatore, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette (Opéra de Monte-Carlo), and Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon (Glyndebourne Festival).

Lionel has also appeared as a soloist with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonia and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Since October 2015 he has been teaching at the Royal Conservatorium of Brussels.

Among his latest performances are Nuits d’été at Festival Berlioz, Benvenuto Cellini with Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras conducted

by John Eliot Gardiner, Giorgio Germont in La traviata at Opéra National de Bordeaux, Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

© Thomas Gimson

WILLIAM THOMAS

ALEX ASHWORTH

BASS

BASS-BARITONE

A recent graduate of the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and recipient of a number of major awards, British bass William Thomas is fast making a name for himself as one of today’s most promising young singers.

Alex Ashworth is a concert and opera singer working across Europe and the United Kingdom.

His recordings include Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with the London Symphony Orchestra, Monteverdi’s Vespers with both the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Monteverdi Choir, Bach’s B Minor Mass and St Matthew Passion with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists, and Bach’s Magnificat with Solomon’s Knot.

As a Jerwood Young Artist he sang the role of Nicholas in the British premiere of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa at the Glyndebourne Festival, he has sung Shepherd in Pelléas et Mélisande for Garsington Opera and he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as Snug in a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Upcoming engagements include Priest/Badger/ Harašta in concert performances of The Cunning Little Vixen with the CBSO/Mirga GražinytėTyla, Parsi Rustomji in Satyagraha, Sciarrone in Tosca and Colline in La bohème for the English National Opera, as well as his debut for the Opéra National de Paris as Gralsritter in Parsifal.

Concert engagements have included Bach’s St John Passion with the Monteverdi Choir/ Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Handel’s Messiah with the Orchestra of the English National Opera/ Laurence Cummings, Bartok’s Cantata Profana with the London Symphony Orchestra/FrançoisXavier Roth and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre national de Lyon/Alan Gilbert.

Recent performance highlights include Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht at the Salzburg Festival, Buxtehude and Bach at the Three Choirs’ Festival in Worcester, and three Bach Cantatas with Solomon’s Knot in Eisenach and the Wigmore Hall, London.

Future engagements include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the Wigmore Hall with Solomon’s Knot, and Telemann’s Donnerode in Bern. Alex is a Professor of Singing at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

GARETH TRESEDER

TRINTIY BOYS CHOIR

TENOR Welsh tenor and composer Gareth Treseder studied at the University of Bristol and Cardiff’s Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He has since been made an Honorary Associate of the RWCMD in recognition of his musical achievements.

Following his Apprenticeship in the Monteverdi Apprentices Programme, Gareth has performed for HRH The Prince of Wales in Buckingham Palace as a consort soloist in Handel’s Dixit Dominus. He performed the role of The Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex alongside the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin’s Philharmonie, following a performance with the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican and for the LSO’s CD release. He features as a soloist on the following Soli Deo Gloria recordings: Love Is Come Again (2019); Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (2018); Live At Milton Court: Handel Bach Scarlatti (2014); Bach Motets (2013).

Gareth’s choral works have been published

by Boosey & Hawkes, Stainer & Bell and the RSCM. The John Bradburne Memorial Society commissioned him to set Bradburne’s Feast Of The Ascension, 1949, which featured as part of the poet’s Centenary Concert Celebration in September 2021. Upcoming premieres include A Christmas Suite for Trebles, Harp and Organ for London’s Temple Church Choir and Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring for Sonoro’s Choral Inspirations 2 project.

Trinity Boys Choir comprises pupils of Trinity School in Croydon and is one of the busiest and most successful boys’ choirs in the world, having recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.

The boys frequently appear in operas at Glyndebourne, The Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Garsington, the Aix-en-Provence Festival. The choir is especially well known for its role in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which it has appeared in over one hundred and fifty professional performances.

Trinity’s famed soloists frequently perform principal roles in operas and concerts and recent appearances have included La Scala, Milan, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Paris Philharmonie and the Palau de les Arts in Valencia.

On the concert platform, the choir is regularly invited to perform at the BBC Proms, appearing in 2019 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; with all the major London orchestras, and with Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK. TV appearances have included The Royal Variety Performance, Children in Need and Strictly Come Dancing and the boys can be heard on the soundtracks of numerous films, including Maleficent, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Fantastic Beasts 1 and 2.

In 2020 Trinity Boys Choir became an Associate Ensemble of the newly refurbished Fairfield Halls.

MONTEVERDI CHOIR Ever since its founding in the 1960s, the Monteverdi Choir has been a leading force in the world of choral music. Through a combination of consummate technique, historically informed performance practice and a strong appreciation for visual impact, the Choir constantly strives to bring fresh perspectives, immediacy and drama to its performances across the world.

In 2020, the Monteverdi Choir accompanied the ORR in performances of Beethoven’s 9th symphony in Barcelona, New York and Chicago, forming part of a wider project celebrating the 250th anniversary of the composer. So far in 2021, the Choir has performed its first live streamed concert; Bach’s St John Passion with the English Baroque Soloists, filmed in Oxford’s historic Sheldonian Theatre. The ensemble also returned to live performing in the summer with concerts at the Salzburger Festspiele and Festival Berlioz, as well as the BBC Proms and Berliner Festspiele where it performed a programme of Handel & Bach to critical acclaim.

In 2019, the Choir showcased a new production of Handel’s Semele alongside Gardiner and the EBS, touring to celebrated halls across Europe, including Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. The highlights continued into the summer as the Choir joined Gardiner, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) and an international cast of soloists for critically acclaimed performances of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. The Choir rounded off the year with a series of debut performances in Russia and South America, performing sacred choral works by Monteverdi, Carissimi, Purcell and Scarlatti.

The Choir has taken part in a variety of projects across different repertoires, ranging from a tour of Bach’s St Matthew Passion (performed from memory) with the English Baroque Soloists (EBS) to Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and Verdi’s Requiem with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR). In 2017 the Choir took part in the RPS award-winning Monteverdi 450 project, which saw them perform all three of Monteverdi’s surviving operas with Gardiner and the EBS across Europe and the United States.

Amongst its many trailblazing tours was the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, during which the Choir performed all 198 of Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred cantatas in over 60 churches throughout Europe and North America. The entire project was recorded and released by the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra’s record label, Soli Deo Gloria, with Gramophone hailing the venture as ‘one of the most ambitious musical projects of all time’. The Monteverdi Choir has over 150 recordings to its name and has won numerous prizes.

© Renato Mangolin

SOPRANO I Sam Cobb Hilary Cronin Emily Dickens* Lucy Knight Alison Ponsford-Hill Elinor Rolfe-Johnson SOPRANO II Rachel Allen* Emily Armour Charlotte La Thrope Gwendolen Martin Emily Owen Angharad Rowlands ALTO I Rosie Clifford* Annie Gill Bethany Horak-Hallett Rebekah Jones ALTO II Francesca Biliotti Margaret Bridge Christie Cook Sarah Denbee* Milette Gillow*

TENOR I Ben Alden Edmund Hastings* Thomas Kelly Gareth Treseder TENOR II John Bowen Graham Neal Benedict Quirke* Ben Thapa BASS I Alex Ashworth Jack Comerford Peter Edge Tom Herring* BASS II Alistair Ollerenshaw David Stuart* Lawrence Wallington Christopher Webb

*Ely performance only

ORCHESTRE RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE ET ROMANTIQUE Founded in 1989 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) strives to provide bold new perspectives on the music of the 19th and early 20th centuries through its stylistic exploration and intensity of expression.

Since its inception the ORR has won plaudits for its interpretations of major early Romantic composers, from Berlioz to Beethoven, as well as later works by composers ranging from Verdi to Debussy.

Major projects have included Beethoven symphony cycles, ‘Schumann Revealed’ and ‘Brahms: Root and Memories’, in which the ensemble recorded the complete symphonies of each respective composer. Additionally, the ORR has performed operas by Weber (Oberon and Le Freyschutz), Bizet (Carmen), Chabrier (L’Etoile), Verdi (Falstaff) and Debussy (Pelléas et Mélisande), and gave the first complete staged performances in Paris of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.

The 2019/20 season marked 30 years since the founding of the ORR, as well as the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. In celebration of these twin milestones, the orchestra embarked on another momentous project, performing a cycle of all nine of the composer’s symphonies in residencies across Europe and the United States. Before the COVID-19 pandemic brought this tour to a halt, the ORR gave critically-acclaimed performances of the Beethoven Symphony Cycle in Barcelona’s Palau de la Música,

New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Chicago’s Harris Theater. The ORR recently returned to live performance with a concert at the Festival Berlioz, alongside the Monteverdi Choir and John Eliot Gardiner.

In 2015 the ORR began a five-year exploration of the Berlioz’s large-scale works, performing Roméo et Juliette, La damnation de Faust, Symphonie fantastique, Harold en Italie and Lélio across Europe and the United Sates, featuring five consecutive appearances at London’s BBC Proms. The project culminated in 2019, marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death with the first contemporary performances of his opera Benvenuto Cellini on period instruments. The orchestra was joined by the Monteverdi Choir and a cast of international soloists for a series of critically acclaimed staged concerts of the opera at the BBC Proms, Berliner Festspiele, Festival Berlioz and Château de Versailles.

© Richard Termine

VIOLIN I Peter Hanson Beatrice Philips Miranda Playfair Martin Gwilym-Jones Catherine van de Geest Clare Hoffman Bradley Creswick* Jane Gordon* Lucy Waterhouse* Rachel Rowntree* Hatty Haynes+ Gabi Jones*+ VIOLIN II Lucy Jeal Jayne Spencer Iona Davies Davina Clarke Emil Chakalov Håkan Wikström Beatrice Scaldini* William Harvey* Chloé Jullian+ Will McGahon+ VIOLA Judith Busbridge Alexandru Mihai Bota Fanny Paccoud Lisa Cochrane Catherine Musker* Aliye Cornish* George White+

CELLO Kate Gould Catherine Rimer Ruth Alford Olaf Reimers Lucile Perrin* Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde+ Eglantine Latil+ DOUBLE BASS Valerie Botwright Cecelia Bruggemeyer Markus van Horn* Elizabeth Bradley* Miguel Pliego-García+ FLUTE Gareth Davies David Westcombe OBOE Michael Niesemann Rachel Chaplin CLARINET Nicola Boud Fiona Mitchell

HORN Anneke Scott Gijs Laceulle TRUMPET Neil Brough Michael Harrison CORNET Peter Mankarious Gareth Hoddinott TROMBONE Laura Agut Martyn Sanderson James Buckle TIMPANI Tim Palmer HARP Gwyneth Wentink ORGAN James Johnstone

BASSOON Veit Scholz Diane Mugot

*Ely performance only +2020-22 Monteverdi Apprentice

2018/19 Monteverdi Apprentices in rehearsal with John Eliot Gardiner © Genevieve Girling

MONTEVERDI APPRENTICES PROGRAMME The Monteverdi Apprentices Programme is a training scheme for young musicians that seeks to bridge the gap between university or conservatoire education and the world of the professional musician.

Participants in this long-established artist development programme take part in projects ranging from workshops and masterclasses to paid performances with the Monteverdi ensembles. With the help of guidance from John Eliot Gardiner and a team of dedicated mentors, we hope to nurture and showcase the development of all our Apprentices by providing challenging and rewarding performance opportunities and exposing them to world-class coaching from experts in a range of fields.

John Eliot Gardiner’s introduction to the Monteverdi Apprentices Programme The Apprentices Programme was set up in 2007 - the first of its kind in the UK - its aim being to nurture exceptional musical talent and an aptitude for ensemble performing.

We felt there was a pressing need to create a safe environment and opportunity for gifted young singers and instrumentalists to dip their toes in the waters of professional

music-making while still exploring their own musical potential - simply plunging into the professional world straight out of college can be a daunting prospect at the best of times.

The Apprentices Programme follows the age-old apprenticeship principle of learning a craft on the job from older hands. At the start of the year each Apprentice is assigned a mentor - an experienced musician within the Monteverdi Choir, EBS

The current Monteverdi string Apprentices

or ORR - on hand to give encouragement and one-to-one advice on the multiple challenges that arise from ensemble singing and playing at the highest professional level. Furthermore, over the course of their Apprentice year these young musicians are integrated with the Monteverdi ensembles, rehearsing and performing in concerts at home and on tour overseas. Our aim is to round out their musical education and to help equip them for future challenges by giving them the opportunity to work alongside some of the best and most experienced musicians in the business.

By the end of the year, a Monteverdi Apprentice should be able to gauge his or her individual worth as a singer or instrumentalist with greater objectivity.

They will have been given a taste of the life of a professional musician and be in a better position to weigh up if this is genuinely the path that they wish to pursue either as a soloist, an ensemble musician, or both. And if they have shown that they can meet the requisite musical, technical and stylistic standards that define the Monteverdi Choir, EBS or ORR, they may

be offered a place whenever there is a vacancy. The Programme now has over 70 alumni, and many Apprentices still perform regularly with the Monteverdi ensembles.

CURRENT APPRENTICES Our current Apprentices – 11 string players from the UK, Netherlands, Spain, France, and Canada – have worked with us since December 2019. Following a hiatus lasting until this Autumn, we are truly delighted that they have been able to join the ORR for performances of L’enfance du Christ.

They will take part in further projects next year, by which time they will have experienced the full range of the ORR’s repertoire – from Beethoven to Berlioz and much more in between. You can see our Apprentices in performances of their own at St Martin-in-the-Fields next year, on 25 February and 25 March. Please keep an eye on our website and social media for the latest information and tickets.

SUPPORT THE MONTEVERDI ENSEMBLES The Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras is committed to producing work of the highest calibre and to sharing our distinctive performance practice with audiences around the world. Our supporters are a group of dedicated and discerning music lovers who take pride in the knowledge that their donations help us to achieve our artistic vision.

As a registered charity without public subsidy, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to continue planning our ambitious, historically inspired artistic programme, and regularly perform world-class concerts at our new central London home, St Martin-in-the-Fields. This support also allows us to share our concerts with music lovers around the world through top-quality film and audio content, and helps us nurture and develop the next generation of musical talent. Here are the ways in which you can get involved: Handel Semele at the Palau de la Música Catalana, April 2019 © Antoni Bofill

© Slawek Przerwa

JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP SCHEME Our membership schemes start from £250 per year. Members enjoy a range of benefits including a personalised priority booking service for all our concerts, monthly e-bulletins, and invitations to post-concert receptions,. At higher levels, additional benefits include invitations to exclusive open rehearsals, backstage access after our performances, and an Annual Conductor’s Dinner.

JOIN AS A BENEFACTOR By supporting our charity at this highest level, you will contribute substantially towards our landmark projects, allow us to perform regularly in our new London home at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and share our music globally via our filmed concerts.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES We can offer creative and collaborative sponsorship packages that enable you to align your business with our work. There are opportunities to sponsor individual performances, or an entire season of concerts at our new London home, St Martinin-the-Fields.

LEAVE A LEGACY By choosing to leave a Legacy Gift to the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras, you will play a crucial role in ensuring that the performers

and listeners of the future will continue to be enthralled by the power of our music-making.

JOIN OUR AMERICAN FRIENDS Our American Friends play a valuable part in supporting and championing the work of the Monteverdi ensembles both in the US and beyond. The American Friends of the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras, Inc is a registered 501(c)(3) and donations to the AFMCO are tax deductible for US taxpayers.

CONTACT US On our website you will find the facility to make a donation (which we warmly welcome at any level), purchase one of our memberships for yourself, or treat a friend via a Gift Membership. If you would like to discuss how you could support us by becoming a Benefactor, or how your organisation could partner with us, please contact us to arrange a no obligation discussion with our General Director, Rosa Solinas. development@monteverdi.org.uk +44 (0)20 7719 0120 Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm www.monteverdi.co.uk

MONTEVERDI SUPPORTERS The Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the following individuals, organisations and Trusts & Foundations: ROYAL PATRON HRH The Prince of Wales PRESIDENT Ian Hay Davison CBE BENEFACTORS Mrs Carol Grigor & Mr Murray Grigor Judith McCartin Scheide With grateful thanks to those who wish to remain anonymous

MEMBERSHIP SCHEME Platinum David Best Michael Beverley David & Sandra Brierwood Andrey Kidel William Lock Francis Norton Sir David Walker And those who wish to remain anonymous Gold Lord Burns Lady Virginia Fraser Sir Stephen Gomersall Gordon Gullan Stephen & Victoria Swift And those who wish to remain anonymous Silver Geoffrey Barnett Roger & Rosemary Chadder Peter & Stephanie Chapman Dr Carol Cobb Jake Donovan & Gracia Lafuente Mrs Felicity Fairbairn Lady Nixon Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA Christian & Myrto Rochat Anthony C. Shoults And those who wish to remain anonymous

Bronze Mary Bernard Donald D. Campbell John Canady Peter J. Chapman Miss Vanessa Claypole Anthony de Grey Steve Edge János & Dietlinde Hidasi George & Jenny Hill Richard Jacques Gareth & Charlotte Keene Jane Kellett Yi-Peng Li Mollie Norwich Nicholas & Christylle Phillips Mary Pinnell Daan Posthuma Thomas Richter Dr Paul A. Sackin Steven & Olivia Schaefer Christopher J. H. Thornhill Andrew Tusa Andrew Wales David Ward And those who wish to remain anonymous

CORPORATE PARTNERS Morgan Stanley

TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS

The Claude Greenhill Trust Dunard Fund The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation

© Sim Canetty-Clarke

AMERICAN FRIENDS Conductor’s Circle - Platinum The Negaunee Foundation The New York Community Trust The Scheide Fund Conductor’s Circle - Gold Laurie & Bill Benenson Jeffrey Calman Conductor’s Circle - Silver Neil Graham Seth Levi Conductor’s Circle - Bronze Leslie Calman Mandy DeFilippo Gwen DeLuca Francesca Hayslett Sébastien Heinis Andrew Hunt Marsha Hunter Ferne Mele Matthias Ohr & Shannon Coulter Judith Perlman And those who wish to remain anonymous

CURRENT SUPPORTERS OF THE MONTEVERDI APPRENTICES PROGRAMME Geoffrey Barnett Jeffrey Calman Mr Roger Chadder Ian Hay Davison CBE & Morny Davison Mrs Felicity Fairbairn Dr Paul A. Sackin Antony C. Shoults Mrs Helen Skinner Morgan Stanley The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The Derek Hill Foundation The Golsoncott Foundation The Idlewild Trust The Kirby Laing Foundation The Thistle Trust And those who wish to remain anonymous

IN MEMORIAM Donald Gorman Kevin Lavery Christopher Stewart Laura Youens

LEGACIES The Estate of Howard Hodgkin The Estate of Kevin Lavery We are grateful for the donations made in memory of our supporters.

With many thanks to those other individuals who give regular donations in support of our work.

MARTIN RANDALL FESTIVALS sends its best wishes to the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras as they begin their new creative partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Martin Randall Festivals bring together world-class musicians for a sequence of private concerts in Europe’s glorious historic buildings, many of which are not normally accessible. We take care of all logistics, from flights and hotels, to pre-concert talks.

Our plans for 2022 include a festival of choral music in Portugal, concerts of sacred works performed in Suffolk churches, a music cruise along the Danube, and a series of performances in some of Venice’s finest venues. The artists – among the foremost specialists in their fields – include The Tallis Scholars, Odhecaton, The Gesualdo Six, I Fagiolini, La Serenissima, Imogen Cooper, Roderick Williams, Amatis Piano Trio and Haydn Philharmonie.

Find out more or register your interest: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 martinrandall.com/music-festivals

ATOL 3622 ABTA Y6050 AITO 5085

A NEW PARTNERSHIP Our performance at St Martin-in-the-Fields marks the inaugural concert in our new creative partnership with the central London church, which is now the first-ever home of the three Monteverdi ensembles.

We have been invited to play a central role in St Martin’s ambitious artistic programme, and we look forward to returning there on multiple occasions in 2022, for concerts and recitals with the English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir and the current Monteverdi Apprentices. Future dates for your diary include: Saturday 23 April 2022 Mozart & Haydn: Symphonies and Violin Concertos English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner conductor Isabelle Faust violin Thursday 16 June 2022 Bach, Schütz & Schein: The Music of Consolation Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner conductor

Friday 25 February 2022 Monteverdi Apprentices Lunchtime Recital Chamber music for strings by Schubert, Puccini and Rossini Friday 25 March 2022 Monteverdi Apprentices Evening Recital A programme of Romantic chamber music for strings

To book tickets for these performances, and for information about other events at St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2022, visit: www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on or email: boxoffice@smitf.org

MCO Team

MCO Board of Directors

Rosa Solinas General Director & Chief Executive

Sir David Walker (Chairman) David Best Lady Deben Virginia Fraser Sir Stephen Gomersall Andrey Kidel Francis Norton

Martin Wheeler Finance & Administration Manager Matthew Broom Planning & Casting Manager James Halliday Artistic Advisor & Librarian Emily Parker Artistic Operations Manager Andrew Softley Tours & Concerts Manager Tom Hansell Projects & Partnerships Manager (Choir Manager) Conor O’Dwyer Marketing & Communications Coordinator Dinis Sousa Associate Conductor Philip Turbett Orchestra Fixer Matthew Muller Stage Manager Robin Jennings Keyboard Technician (keyboards provided by Jennings Organs) Bonzo’s Consultancy Ltd Instrument Transport

With thanks to the Philharmonia for providing acoustic screens and music stands for these performances.

THE MONTEVERDI CHOIR AND ORCHESTRAS LIMITED Level 12, 20 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London E14 4AD, UK +44 (0)20 7719 0120 www.monteverdi.co.uk info@monteverdi.org.uk Social icon

Find us on social media

Rounded square Only use blue and/or white.

For more details check out our Brand Guidelines.

Registered charity 272279 Company registered in England & Wales 01277513